title,url,timestamp,content,source,clean_date,clean_content,arti_score,pos_sent,neg_sent,rnn_arti_score,rnn_pos_sent,rnn_neg_sent,date_extracted
ESPN’s model is eroding. Past and present execs are split on how it can protect its dominance,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/espn-executives-talk-streaming-plans-in-cnbc-documentary.html,2024-03-21T19:22:22+0000,"In this articleDisney's ESPN is at a crossroads.For more than 40 years, the world's largest all-sports network has grown annual revenue by increasing cable subscription fees. ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s. In 2023, ESPN's monthly carriage fee was $9.42 per subscriber, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.That business model is eroding. Since 2013, tens of millions of Americans have canceled their cable TV subscriptions, raising questions about ESPN's future in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. CNBC spoke with multiple current and former Disney and ESPN executives about the network's path ahead as part of the digital documentary ""ESPN's Fight for Dominance.""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter. The network can no longer rely on price increases to make up the difference as the number of cable customers declines.The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth. First, this fall, Disney will make ESPN available outside the traditional cable TV bundle for the first time as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. The service, which does not yet have a price, will target noncable customers who want to watch sports but don't want to pay $80 or $100 a month for a full bundle of networks.Second, in fall 2025 ESPN will launch its flagship streaming service that will include everything ESPN has to offer, both live and on demand. It will include unprecedented personalization and will interact with ESPN Bet, the company's licensed online sportsbook, and fantasy sports to cater to younger fans. The product will go well beyond ESPN+, which exists as a $10.99 streaming service that doesn't include ESPN's most expensive programming, such as all of ""Monday Night Football.""""The industry is in a transition phase right now,"" ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in an interview as part of CNBC's documentary.""We're seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. ""There's a transition to digital. That is by far the biggest component of our future.""Pitaro and head of programming Roz Durant defended ESPN's growth plan to CNBC, while former Disney and ESPN executives Bob Chapek, John Skipper and Mark Shapiro noted the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports faces multiple potential obstacles while it charts its path forward.Watch the documentary for the full story.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleDisney's ESPN is at a crossroads."", ""For more than 40 years, the world's largest all-sports network has grown annual revenue by increasing cable subscription fees."", 'ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s.', ""In 2023, ESPN's monthly carriage fee was $9.42 per subscriber, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence."", 'That business model is eroding.', ""Since 2013, tens of millions of Americans have canceled their cable TV subscriptions, raising questions about ESPN's future in an increasingly fragmented media landscape."", 'CNBC spoke with multiple current and former Disney and ESPN executives about the network\'s path ahead as part of the digital documentary ""ESPN\'s Fight for Dominance.', '""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter.', 'The network can no longer rely on price increases to make up the difference as the number of cable customers declines.', 'The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth.', 'First, this fall, Disney will make ESPN available outside the traditional cable TV bundle for the first time as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox.', ""The service, which does not yet have a price, will target noncable customers who want to watch sports but don't want to pay $80 or $100 a month for a full bundle of networks."", 'Second, in fall 2025 ESPN will launch its flagship streaming service that will include everything ESPN has to offer, both live and on demand.', ""It will include unprecedented personalization and will interact with ESPN Bet, the company's licensed online sportsbook, and fantasy sports to cater to younger fans."", 'The product will go well beyond ESPN+, which exists as a $10.99 streaming service that doesn\'t include ESPN\'s most expensive programming, such as all of ""Monday Night Football.', '""""The industry is in a transition phase right now,"" ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in an interview as part of CNBC\'s documentary.', '""We\'re seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. ""', ""There's a transition to digital."", 'That is by far the biggest component of our future.', '""Pitaro and head of programming Roz Durant defended ESPN\'s growth plan to CNBC, while former Disney and ESPN executives Bob Chapek, John Skipper and Mark Shapiro noted the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports faces multiple potential obstacles while it charts its path forward.', 'Watch the documentary for the full story.']",0.0337630750174359,The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth.,ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s.,0.0013536512851715,"""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter.","""We're seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. """,2024-03-28
Can Sweden keep its edge in the music industry?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68499740,2024-03-15T00:17:40.000Z,"From Abba to Spotify, Avicii to Soundcloud, Stockholm has spawned both some of the world's most successful musicians and music tech companies. Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven times, a gong it holds jointly with Ireland - and Malmö will host this year's competition. That legacy is evident moments after stepping off the underground at Stockholm's central station. Sergels torg, the capital's main square paved in black and white triangles, is home to the Avicii Experience, an interactive museum celebrating the late Tim Bergling. He grew up here and became one of the world's bestselling DJs under his artist name Avicii. On the fifteenth floor sits Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse Entertainment which runs the museum. The company is focussed on creating the ""next generation"" of high-tech entertainment experiences, with a portfolio that also includes the Abba Voyage stage show in London, performed by avatar versions of Sweden's biggest supergroup. It is developing plans for a new show in 2027 involving digital versions of the US rock band Kiss, after testing the technology at the band's final real-life gig last year. ""What's the similarity between Kiss and Abba?,"" asks Mr Sundin rhetorically from his private office with floor-to-ceiling windows. ""They really have super fans, both artists, and they have a wide catalogue, and they have global presence all over the world."" Despite selling more than two million tickets for Abba Voyage since May 2022, he says Pophouse Entertainment still hasn't broken even on its investments, which include the technology (created in collaboration with US filmmaker George Lucas's visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic), and the event's bespoke east London arena. But Mr Sundin - a former Universal Music executive - says he has faith in the concept, and hopes it can be adapted for a handful of other big-name legacy artists in future.  ""This is for those who can't tour anymore, can't really make themselves as good [as they were]... or [want to] do different kinds of things with their music legacy,"" says Mr Sundin.  Pophouse's innovations follow a string of other music tech success stories emerging from Stockholm, a capital with a population of just one million. Daniel Ek's Spotify launched here in 2008, while Soundcloud was founded a year earlier by two students from Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin. Other companies who've made a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand, which provides a subscription service enabling businesses to play commercial music without licensing issues, and Epidemic Sound, a platform for rights-free music for content creators, recently valued at 12.5bn kronor (£950m; $1.2bn), according to Swedish business news site Dagens Industri.  ""We all know there must be something in the water,"" laughs Sarah Herlin, co-founder of Stockholm Music City, an organisation that encourages collaboration between the capital's music and tech sectors, and provides support to start-ups. On a more serious note, she argues that there are several key ingredients in Stockholm's recipe for music tech success. These include Sweden's historically strong music scene, with artists like Roxette, The Cardigans and legendary pop producer/songwriter Max Martin cementing the reputation set by Abba, and giving credibility to Swedish tech companies with a music-related focus. Plus, the country has long had a tech-savvy population, with many of today's entrepreneurs growing up in the 1990s when there were tax cuts on home hardware in Sweden, followed by an early adoption of broadband. The business culture in Sweden, which tends to promote collaboration over competition has also created a supportive ecosystem, argues Herlin. ""If you realise someone else is doing the same thing, you contact each other and see how can we do this together,"" she says. ""That often means that they all succeed instead of nobody succeeding."" More technology of business One recent example is Elk, a company that provides a remote, collaborative recording platform for artists, which was founded after two local businesses figured out they were developing similar software tools. Ms Herlin has just finished a meeting at The Node, a physical recording studio hub which opened last year on the same square as the Avicii museum, and includes some of the late DJ's equipment. ""Where you have producers, you will have music tech start-ups, and you will have investors coming to check it out,"" she says. Late on a Monday afternoon the neon-pink lit cafe area is largely empty, save for several nonchalant staff. But Ms Herlin says the space is creating a global buzz. ""We've noticed already people pop up here from New York and from London to check it out."" Seedtable, a platform that tracks the fastest growing companies in Europe lists 69 music and and audio start-ups to watch and work for in 2024, with 13 of them based in Stockholm, more than any other city in relation to population size. A few blocks away from The Node, one of them, Snafu Records, is based at a shared office space with a parquet floor and a cocktail bar. Described by its co-founder and chief executive Ankit Desai as ""the first AI enabled music label in the world"", the start-up has developed an algorithm which trawls the internet to pinpoint new artists it believes can make an impact. ""We try to find those diamonds in the rough… those undervalued artists and give them a platform to shine,"" says Mr Desai.  Since launching in 2019, the company has signed more than 150 artists. Snafu Records takes a 50% cut of all its artists earnings, although Desai says most traditional labels take up to 80%. The start-up's investors include Agnetha Fältskog (Agnetha from Abba), Finnish gaming entrepreneur Mikko Kodisoja, and Pophouse Entertainment, and it raised $7m (£5.5m) in its second funding round in late 2023. But Mr Desai admits that raising capital was ""a lot harder"" than when the label first launched in 2019, and the company is yet to turn a profit.  Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm's music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. ""People tend to move towards more safe investments in more difficult times, and music tech companies in general aren't producing profits, not even Spotify."" Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs. But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up. Some music tech entrepreneurs argue the speed at which AI tools are growing globally is also putting pressure on Stockholm's well-oiled music tech ecosystem. ""One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""It's really a race, I would say, with a lot of companies doing a lot of cool things at the same time."" Corite has also struggled to turn a profit, and is pinning its hopes on a new tool for artists and other content creators which is launching later this year.  ""We are about to raise money again and we are definitely humble,"" says Ms Olsson. ""I think, companies have a bit more to prove a bit earlier than they had before."" ",BBC,15/03/2024,"[""From Abba to Spotify, Avicii to Soundcloud, Stockholm has spawned both some of the world's most successful musicians and music tech companies."", ""Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven times, a gong it holds jointly with Ireland - and Malmö will host this year's competition."", ""That legacy is evident moments after stepping off the underground at Stockholm's central station."", ""Sergels torg, the capital's main square paved in black and white triangles, is home to the Avicii Experience, an interactive museum celebrating the late Tim Bergling."", ""He grew up here and became one of the world's bestselling DJs under his artist name Avicii."", 'On the fifteenth floor sits Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse Entertainment which runs the museum.', 'The company is focussed on creating the ""next generation"" of high-tech entertainment experiences, with a portfolio that also includes the Abba Voyage stage show in London, performed by avatar versions of Sweden\'s biggest supergroup.', 'It is developing plans for a new show in 2027 involving digital versions of the US rock band Kiss, after testing the technology at the band\'s final real-life gig last year. ""', 'What\'s the similarity between Kiss and Abba?,""', 'asks Mr Sundin rhetorically from his private office with floor-to-ceiling windows. ""', 'They really have super fans, both artists, and they have a wide catalogue, and they have global presence all over the world.""', ""Despite selling more than two million tickets for Abba Voyage since May 2022, he says Pophouse Entertainment still hasn't broken even on its investments, which include the technology (created in collaboration with US filmmaker George Lucas's visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic), and the event's bespoke east London arena."", 'But Mr Sundin - a former Universal Music executive - says he has faith in the concept, and hopes it can be adapted for a handful of other big-name legacy artists in future. ""', 'This is for those who can\'t tour anymore, can\'t really make themselves as good [as they were]... or [want to] do different kinds of things with their music legacy,"" says Mr Sundin.', ""Pophouse's innovations follow a string of other music tech success stories emerging from Stockholm, a capital with a population of just one million."", ""Daniel Ek's Spotify launched here in 2008, while Soundcloud was founded a year earlier by two students from Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin."", 'Other companies who\'ve made a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand, which provides a subscription service enabling businesses to play commercial music without licensing issues, and Epidemic Sound, a platform for rights-free music for content creators, recently valued at 12.5bn kronor (£950m; $1.2bn), according to Swedish business news site Dagens Industri. ""', 'We all know there must be something in the water,"" laughs Sarah Herlin, co-founder of Stockholm Music City, an organisation that encourages collaboration between the capital\'s music and tech sectors, and provides support to start-ups.', ""On a more serious note, she argues that there are several key ingredients in Stockholm's recipe for music tech success."", ""These include Sweden's historically strong music scene, with artists like Roxette, The Cardigans and legendary pop producer/songwriter Max Martin cementing the reputation set by Abba, and giving credibility to Swedish tech companies with a music-related focus."", ""Plus, the country has long had a tech-savvy population, with many of today's entrepreneurs growing up in the 1990s when there were tax cuts on home hardware in Sweden, followed by an early adoption of broadband."", 'The business culture in Sweden, which tends to promote collaboration over competition has also created a supportive ecosystem, argues Herlin. ""', 'If you realise someone else is doing the same thing, you contact each other and see how can we do this together,"" she says. ""', 'That often means that they all succeed instead of nobody succeeding.""', 'More technology of business One recent example is Elk, a company that provides a remote, collaborative recording platform for artists, which was founded after two local businesses figured out they were developing similar software tools.', 'Ms Herlin has just finished a meeting at The Node, a physical recording studio hub which opened last year on the same square as the Avicii museum, and includes some of the late DJ\'s equipment. ""', 'Where you have producers, you will have music tech start-ups, and you will have investors coming to check it out,"" she says.', 'Late on a Monday afternoon the neon-pink lit cafe area is largely empty, save for several nonchalant staff.', 'But Ms Herlin says the space is creating a global buzz. ""', 'We\'ve noticed already people pop up here from New York and from London to check it out.""', 'Seedtable, a platform that tracks the fastest growing companies in Europe lists 69 music and and audio start-ups to watch and work for in 2024, with 13 of them based in Stockholm, more than any other city in relation to population size.', 'A few blocks away from The Node, one of them, Snafu Records, is based at a shared office space with a parquet floor and a cocktail bar.', 'Described by its co-founder and chief executive Ankit Desai as ""the first AI enabled music label in the world"", the start-up has developed an algorithm which trawls the internet to pinpoint new artists it believes can make an impact. ""', 'We try to find those diamonds in the rough… those undervalued artists and give them a platform to shine,"" says Mr Desai.', 'Since launching in 2019, the company has signed more than 150 artists.', 'Snafu Records takes a 50% cut of all its artists earnings, although Desai says most traditional labels take up to 80%.', ""The start-up's investors include Agnetha Fältskog (Agnetha from Abba), Finnish gaming entrepreneur Mikko Kodisoja, and Pophouse Entertainment, and it raised $7m (£5.5m) in its second funding round in late 2023."", 'But Mr Desai admits that raising capital was ""a lot harder"" than when the label first launched in 2019, and the company is yet to turn a profit.', 'Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm\'s music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. ""', 'People tend to move towards more safe investments in more difficult times, and music tech companies in general aren\'t producing profits, not even Spotify.""', ""Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs."", 'But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up.', 'Some music tech entrepreneurs argue the speed at which AI tools are growing globally is also putting pressure on Stockholm\'s well-oiled music tech ecosystem. ""', 'One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""', 'It\'s really a race, I would say, with a lot of companies doing a lot of cool things at the same time.""', 'Corite has also struggled to turn a profit, and is pinning its hopes on a new tool for artists and other content creators which is launching later this year. ""', 'We are about to raise money again and we are definitely humble,"" says Ms Olsson. ""', 'I think, companies have a bit more to prove a bit earlier than they had before.""']",0.2732650350345871,"One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""","Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm's music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. """,0.2579860185322009,But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up.,"Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs.",2024-03-28
Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68673728,2024-03-28T00:02:33.000Z,"Drivers are being warned to expect long delays as millions of Britons set off on Easter getaway trips, with Thursday afternoon set to be the busiest. Meanwhile, airports and airlines expect numbers over the bank holiday weekend and school holidays to return to pre-pandemic levels. And rail passengers are advised to plan ahead because of engineering works. Strong winds are forecast for the south of England, forcing the closure of a number of tourist attractions. Elsewhere in the UK, spells of dry and fairly sunny weather are expected, though the low pressure is likely to mean clouds and downpours, with snow already falling in Devon. Motoring company RAC warned journeys on popular routes could take twice as long as the bank holiday weekend coincides with the start of the Easter holidays.  A survey by RAC and Transport analysis company Inrix suggested 14 million Easter getaway trips are expected to be made.  Inrix predict Thursday afternoon will see the worst congestion.  ""With Easter falling earlier than usual at the start of the school holidays, it could be carmageddon for holidaymakers,"" an RAC breakdown spokesperson said.  In particular, journeys on the M25, between the M23 for Gatwick the M1 in Hertfordshire, are expected to take over two hours - twice the usual time.  The M5 southbound between Bristol and Taunton is also likely to be congested.  Meanwhile, tourist board Visit England said 11 million people in the UK are planning an overnight trip this Easter.  Airports and airlines are expecting big numbers, in some cases above 2019 levels. Manchester Airport said it was preparing for about 320,000 passengers this weekend, 8% more than the equivalent last year. Glasgow Airport said it would have extra staff in place during ""three exceptionally busy weekends ahead"". Low-cost airline Easyjet is predicting its busiest ever Easter weekend. Travellers may have to also contend with the weather, however. Ryanair issued a warning to travellers on Thursday morning that high winds could disrupt air travel from London. Network Rail is urging people to check their journey details before they travel.  There will be disruption on some rail routes over the bank holiday as some major routes close due to engineering work.  London Euston, one of the UK's busiest railway stations, will be closed between Good Friday and Easter Monday - except for London Overground trains. It is because Network Rail engineering works between London and Milton Keynes will close part of the West Coast Main Line.  There will be replacement buses on this stretch. Avanti West Coast will operate a revised service on its network. There is more information about other changes to train services around the country on the National Rail website. The weather has also affected train travel with Great Western Railway (GWR) warning of disruption after flooding at Chipping Sodbury in south Gloucestershire forced a track line to close on Thursday.  French authorities at Dover have stepped up border monitoring following the Moscow concert hall attack. Drivers are being advised to plan ahead and leave extra time.  Around 20,000 cars are expected to travel through the port between Thursday and Easter Sunday.  People heading to the Channel Tunnel at the Port of Dover will find the traffic management system Operation Brock in place on the M20.  At peak times over the next few days, Dover has told coach operators that even with the right resources in place at the border, wait times could be up to 2.5 hours.  Eurotunnel told the BBC it was putting on extra shuttles and staff to cope with expected high numbers.  The Easter break is likely to begin with some less-than-preferable weather before calming down through the weekend, says BBC Weather presenter Chris Fawkes. Overnight rain turned to snow in parts of southwest England and Wales, giving a wintry start to Thursday. Europe is contending with Storm Nelson, which was named by Spanish forecasters, the winds of which are due to be felt in England's south. Gusts are likely to reach up to 80mph in France on Thursday, and up to 65mph Portugal, where waves up to 11 metres high will pummel the coast. Similar wind speeds may be felt in England's most exposed coastal locations, but are more likely to be around the 50mph mark in towns and villages. High winds have forced a number of tourist attractions to close early, including London's Kew Gardens, parts of Kensington Gardens, a number of National Trust properties in the south west and Dartmoor Zoo. By Good Friday the UK is set to see a mix of sunshine and showers with the potential for some heavy rain and hail, though temperatures will remain close to average. Throughout Saturday and Sunday, some showers are expected, though these are unlikely to be as widespread, and slightly warmer temperatures will mean pockets of sunshine will feel quite pleasant. By Monday wet and windy weather is likely to lash England and Wales, but Scotland and Northern Ireland look to remain pleasant with sunny spells. What are your travel plans for Easter? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.  ",BBC,28/03/2024,"['Drivers are being warned to expect long delays as millions of Britons set off on Easter getaway trips, with Thursday afternoon set to be the busiest.', 'Meanwhile, airports and airlines expect numbers over the bank holiday weekend and school holidays to return to pre-pandemic levels.', 'And rail passengers are advised to plan ahead because of engineering works.', 'Strong winds are forecast for the south of England, forcing the closure of a number of tourist attractions.', 'Elsewhere in the UK, spells of dry and fairly sunny weather are expected, though the low pressure is likely to mean clouds and downpours, with snow already falling in Devon.', 'Motoring company RAC warned journeys on popular routes could take twice as long as the bank holiday weekend coincides with the start of the Easter holidays.', 'A survey by RAC and Transport analysis company Inrix suggested 14 million Easter getaway trips are expected to be made.', 'Inrix predict Thursday afternoon will see the worst congestion. ""', 'With Easter falling earlier than usual at the start of the school holidays, it could be carmageddon for holidaymakers,"" an RAC breakdown spokesperson said.', 'In particular, journeys on the M25, between the M23 for Gatwick the M1 in Hertfordshire, are expected to take over two hours - twice the usual time.', 'The M5 southbound between Bristol and Taunton is also likely to be congested.', 'Meanwhile, tourist board Visit England said 11 million people in the UK are planning an overnight trip this Easter.', 'Airports and airlines are expecting big numbers, in some cases above 2019 levels.', 'Manchester Airport said it was preparing for about 320,000 passengers this weekend, 8% more than the equivalent last year.', 'Glasgow Airport said it would have extra staff in place during ""three exceptionally busy weekends ahead"".', 'Low-cost airline Easyjet is predicting its busiest ever Easter weekend.', 'Travellers may have to also contend with the weather, however.', 'Ryanair issued a warning to travellers on Thursday morning that high winds could disrupt air travel from London.', 'Network Rail is urging people to check their journey details before they travel.', 'There will be disruption on some rail routes over the bank holiday as some major routes close due to engineering work.', ""London Euston, one of the UK's busiest railway stations, will be closed between Good Friday and Easter Monday - except for London Overground trains."", 'It is because Network Rail engineering works between London and Milton Keynes will close part of the West Coast Main Line.', 'There will be replacement buses on this stretch.', 'Avanti West Coast will operate a revised service on its network.', 'There is more information about other changes to train services around the country on the National Rail website.', 'The weather has also affected train travel with Great Western Railway (GWR) warning of disruption after flooding at Chipping Sodbury in south Gloucestershire forced a track line to close on Thursday.', 'French authorities at Dover have stepped up border monitoring following the Moscow concert hall attack.', 'Drivers are being advised to plan ahead and leave extra time.', 'Around 20,000 cars are expected to travel through the port between Thursday and Easter Sunday.', 'People heading to the Channel Tunnel at the Port of Dover will find the traffic management system Operation Brock in place on the M20.', 'At peak times over the next few days, Dover has told coach operators that even with the right resources in place at the border, wait times could be up to 2.5 hours.', 'Eurotunnel told the BBC it was putting on extra shuttles and staff to cope with expected high numbers.', 'The Easter break is likely to begin with some less-than-preferable weather before calming down through the weekend, says BBC Weather presenter Chris Fawkes.', 'Overnight rain turned to snow in parts of southwest England and Wales, giving a wintry start to Thursday.', ""Europe is contending with Storm Nelson, which was named by Spanish forecasters, the winds of which are due to be felt in England's south."", 'Gusts are likely to reach up to 80mph in France on Thursday, and up to 65mph Portugal, where waves up to 11 metres high will pummel the coast.', ""Similar wind speeds may be felt in England's most exposed coastal locations, but are more likely to be around the 50mph mark in towns and villages."", ""High winds have forced a number of tourist attractions to close early, including London's Kew Gardens, parts of Kensington Gardens, a number of National Trust properties in the south west and Dartmoor Zoo."", 'By Good Friday the UK is set to see a mix of sunshine and showers with the potential for some heavy rain and hail, though temperatures will remain close to average.', 'Throughout Saturday and Sunday, some showers are expected, though these are unlikely to be as widespread, and slightly warmer temperatures will mean pockets of sunshine will feel quite pleasant.', 'By Monday wet and windy weather is likely to lash England and Wales, but Scotland and Northern Ireland look to remain pleasant with sunny spells.', 'What are your travel plans for Easter?', 'Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.', 'Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.', ""You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk."", 'Please include your name, age and location with any submission.']",0.096933593478194,"By Monday wet and windy weather is likely to lash England and Wales, but Scotland and Northern Ireland look to remain pleasant with sunny spells.","Inrix predict Thursday afternoon will see the worst congestion. """,-0.3549583024448818,"Airports and airlines are expecting big numbers, in some cases above 2019 levels.",The weather has also affected train travel with Great Western Railway (GWR) warning of disruption after flooding at Chipping Sodbury in south Gloucestershire forced a track line to close on Thursday.,2024-03-28
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in federal prison,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/business/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-sentencing/index.html,"
  Updated
        1:04 PM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for defrauding customers and investors in his failed crypto exchange FTX, a Manhattan court ruled Thursday.
    
            Before announcing the sentence, Judge Lewis Kaplan said there was a risk “that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future, and it’s not a trivial risk.”
    
            Kaplan agreed with prosecutors’ claim that Bankman-Fried “wanted to be a hugely, hugely politically influential person in this country,” and that this propelled his financial crimes.
    
            Bankman-Fried’s sentence of 25 years was about half of what prosecutors had asked for, but still puts him at the high end for sentence length in prominent white-collar fraud cases. Ahead of him is Bernard Madoff, who was sentenced to 150 years behind bars for the $20 billion Ponzi scheme he led. He died around 12 years into his sentence. Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes, who was convicted on four charges of defrauding investors while running the failed blood-testing startup Theranos, was sentenced to a little over 11 years.
    
            There is no parole in federal cases, but Bankman-Fried may still be able to shave years off his term.
    
            “SBF may serve as little as 12.5 years, if he gets all of the jailhouse credit available to him,” Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor, told CNN.
    
            Federal prisoners generally can earn up to 54 days of time credit a year for good behavior, which could result in an approximately 15% reduction. Since 2018, however, nonviolent federal inmates can reduce their sentence by as much as 50% under prison reform legislation known as the First Step Act.
    
            Epner said the First Step Act was billed as a civil rights measure, to help minority offenders who committed nonviolent drug-trafficking offenses.
    
            “It has turned out to be an enormous boon for white-collar criminal defendants, who are already given much lower sentences … than drug-traffickers,” Epner added.
    
            There is also a provision that allows a court to reduce a person’s sentence for extraordinary and compelling reasons, which are often medical, according to Jordan Estes, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Kramer Levin.
    
            “Since the pandemic, courts have been more willing to grant early release under this provision if the defendant has served a substantial portion of his or her sentence,” Estes said.
    
            In addition to the prison sentence, Kaplan also ordered a forfeiture of $11.02 billion.
    
            The forfeiture is intended to be paid over time, and Bankman-Fried will likely be required to pay all of his available assets, plus a nominal sum every month.
    
            “The forfeiture will follow him for the rest of his life,” Epner said. “It would take the vast majority of what he makes after he gets out of jail.”
    
            However, he said there would be no restitution because it would “impractical” in this case, with so many victims.
    
            Judge Lewis Kaplan said he would recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that Bankman-Fried be placed in a medium-security facility or any lower-security facility the bureau finds appropriate. He also noted that it should be as close as possible to the San Francisco area so Bankman-Fried’s family can visit him.
    
            Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, issued a statement after leaving the Manhattan courtroom Thursday, saying: “We are heartbroken and will continue to fight for our son.”
    
            Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said they would continue to appeal his conviction.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for defrauding customers and investors in his failed crypto exchange FTX, a Manhattan court ruled Thursday.', 'Before announcing the sentence, Judge Lewis Kaplan said there was a risk “that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future, and it’s not a trivial risk.”', 'Kaplan agreed with prosecutors’ claim that Bankman-Fried “wanted to be a hugely, hugely politically influential person in this country,” and that this propelled his financial crimes.', 'Bankman-Fried’s sentence of 25 years was about half of what prosecutors had asked for, but still puts him at the high end for sentence length in prominent white-collar fraud cases.', 'Ahead of him is Bernard Madoff, who was sentenced to 150 years behind bars for the $20 billion Ponzi scheme he led.', 'He died around 12 years into his sentence.', 'Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes, who was convicted on four charges of defrauding investors while running thefailed blood-testing startupTheranos, was sentenced to a little over 11 years.', 'There is no parole in federal cases, but Bankman-Fried may still be able to shave years off his term.', '“SBF may serve as little as 12.5 years, if he gets all of the jailhouse credit available to him,” Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor, told CNN.', 'Federal prisoners generally can earn up to 54 days of time credit a year for good behavior, which could result in an approximately 15% reduction.', 'Since 2018, however, nonviolent federal inmates can reduce their sentence by as much as 50% under prison reform legislation known as the First Step Act.', 'Epner said the First Step Act was billed as a civil rights measure, to help minority offenders who committed nonviolent drug-trafficking offenses.', '“It has turned out to be an enormous boon for white-collar criminal defendants, who are already given much lower sentences … than drug-traffickers,” Epner added.', 'There is also a provision that allows a court to reduce a person’s sentence for extraordinary and compelling reasons, which are often medical, according to Jordan Estes, aformer federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Kramer Levin.', '“Since the pandemic, courts have been more willing to grant early release under this provision if the defendant has served a substantial portion of his or her sentence,” Estes said.', 'In addition to the prison sentence, Kaplan also ordered a forfeiture of $11.02 billion.', 'The forfeitureis intended to be paid over time, and Bankman-Fried will likely be required to pay all of his available assets, plus a nominal sum every month.', '“Theforfeiturewill follow him for the rest of his life,” Epner said. “', 'It would take the vast majority of what he makes after he gets out of jail.”', 'However, he said there would be no restitution because it would “impractical” in this case, with so many victims.', 'Judge Lewis Kaplan said he would recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that Bankman-Fried be placed in a medium-security facility or any lower-security facility the bureau finds appropriate.', 'He also noted that it should be as close as possible to the San Francisco area so Bankman-Fried’s family can visit him.', 'Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, issued a statement after leaving the Manhattan courtroom Thursday, saying: “We are heartbroken and will continue to fight for our son.”', 'Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said they would continue to appeal his conviction.']",-0.1167357459895839,"Kaplan agreed with prosecutors’ claim that Bankman-Fried “wanted to be a hugely, hugely politically influential person in this country,” and that this propelled his financial crimes.","Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, issued a statement after leaving the Manhattan courtroom Thursday, saying: “We are heartbroken and will continue to fight for our son.”",0.5380944907665253,"“It has turned out to be an enormous boon for white-collar criminal defendants, who are already given much lower sentences … than drug-traffickers,” Epner added.","However, he said there would be no restitution because it would “impractical” in this case, with so many victims.",2024-03-28
Why is Thames Water in so much trouble?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66051555,2023-06-29T12:22:03.000Z,"Thames Water may have to be taken over by the government if it runs out of money. But why is the UK's largest water company facing a crisis - and are other firms facing similar problems? When the company was privatised in 1989, it had no debt. But over the years it borrowed heavily and is currently £14.7bn in debt, by one measure. A large proportion of that was added when Macquarie, an Australian infrastructure bank, owned Thames Water, reaching over £10bn when the company was sold in 2017. Analysts say Thames Water's current debt amounts to about 80% of the value of the business, making it the most heavily indebted of England and Wales' water companies.  Also, interest payments on more than half of Thames' debt rise with inflation, which has been high in recent years, adding to the firm's woes. Macquarie said that it invested billions of pounds in upgrading Thames's water and sewage infrastructure while it owned the company.   But critics argue that it took billions of pounds out of the company in loans and dividends - which is a share of a business's profits that is paid to shareholders. Thames Water said that it has not paid dividends to external shareholders since 2017.   However, dividends can also be used to move money around companies that are ultimately owned by one parent company. Thames Water has paid over £200m in dividends to other companies within the group in the past five years.  Most of this money has then been paid as interest to outside investors who have loaned the group money.   Critics argue that the dividends were paid with money that could have been spent on improving Thames Water's infrastructure and services. However, Thames Water is legally obliged to make those debt interest payments. Thames Water's travails have certainly put a spotlight on what is a debt-laden industry. According to the regulator Ofwat, the sector's total debt reached £60.6bn by March last year.  Of the 11 companies that provide water and sewage services in England and Wales, six are owned by or controlled by overseas investors from countries including Hong Kong, Canada and Malaysia. Like Thames Water, critics claim that overseas owners have loaded water companies up with debt and paid themselves handsome dividends at the expense of investment.   While the sector has - like other industries - been hit by higher costs for things like chemicals and energy, one problem for water companies is that the interest that they pay on their debt is linked to the retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation.  This is usually higher than the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation. For example, in February RPI inflation was 4.5% compared with CPI inflation of 3.4%. Ofwat estimates that half of water companies' debt is linked to inflation and the vast majority of that is tied to the RPI measure.  Meanwhile, in December 2022 Ofwat raised concerns about the financial resilience of five companies: Thames Water, Southern Water, Yorkshire Water, SES and Portsmouth. Yorkshire, Southern, Portsmouth and SES all say they have taken steps to address Ofwat's concerns. Thames Water is owned by a group of investors spanning four continents. The largest is the Canadian pension fund, OMERS, with 31.8%.  The second-largest is the Universities Superannuation Scheme, with 19.7%, a pension fund for UK academics. Other investors include sovereign wealth funds from China and Abu Dhabi, which invest those nations' assets on behalf of their governments.   Three other pension funds and two investment firms make up the rest.   The entire water and waste sector was privatised 34 years ago under the late Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government for £7.6bn. At the time, Mrs Thatcher wrote off the industry's £5bn debt, leaving companies with a clean slate and gave them £1.5bn in public money.  The government had wanted to privatise the industry in 1984 but a public backlash against the plan saw it shelved until after the general election three years later. At the time, the UK was under pressure from Europe to improve the purity of its water. However, meeting European standards would cost billions of pounds worth of investment which, it was hoped, would come from the private sector and, by extension, companies' customers.  ""If we want environmental improvement, it will cost money,"" said Mrs Thatcher in 1988. ""It will be the people who want those improvements in water who will have to pay."" Former Labour MP Ann Taylor later said of privatising the water industry: ""The message is always the same - maximise the cost to the consumer to ensure maximum return to the investor. We should not be surprised at that. After all, that is what private investors expect of their companies.""  ",BBC,29/06/2023,"['Thames Water may have to be taken over by the government if it runs out of money.', ""But why is the UK's largest water company facing a crisis - and are other firms facing similar problems?"", 'When the company was privatised in 1989, it had no debt.', 'But over the years it borrowed heavily and is currently £14.7bn in debt, by one measure.', 'A large proportion of that was added when Macquarie, an Australian infrastructure bank, owned Thames Water, reaching over £10bn when the company was sold in 2017.', ""Analysts say Thames Water's current debt amounts to about 80% of the value of the business, making it the most heavily indebted of England and Wales' water companies."", ""Also, interest payments on more than half of Thames' debt rise with inflation, which has been high in recent years, adding to the firm's woes."", ""Macquarie said that it invested billions of pounds in upgrading Thames's water and sewage infrastructure while it owned the company."", ""But critics argue that it took billions of pounds out of the company in loans and dividends - which is a share of a business's profits that is paid to shareholders."", 'Thames Water said that it has not paid dividends to external shareholders since 2017.', 'However, dividends can also be used to move money around companies that are ultimately owned by one parent company.', 'Thames Water has paid over £200m in dividends to other companies within the group in the past five years.', 'Most of this money has then been paid as interest to outside investors who have loaned the group money.', ""Critics argue that the dividends were paid with money that could have been spent on improving Thames Water's infrastructure and services."", 'However, Thames Water is legally obliged to make those debt interest payments.', ""Thames Water's travails have certainly put a spotlight on what is a debt-laden industry."", ""According to the regulator Ofwat, the sector's total debt reached £60.6bn by March last year."", 'Of the 11 companies that provide water and sewage services in England and Wales, six are owned by or controlled by overseas investors from countries including Hong Kong, Canada and Malaysia.', 'Like Thames Water, critics claim that overseas owners have loaded water companies up with debt and paid themselves handsome dividends at the expense of investment.', 'While the sector has - like other industries - been hit by higher costs for things like chemicals and energy, one problem for water companies is that the interest that they pay on their debt is linked to the retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation.', 'This is usually higher than the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation.', 'For example, in February RPI inflation was 4.5% compared with CPI inflation of 3.4%.', ""Ofwat estimates that half of water companies' debt is linked to inflation and the vast majority of that is tied to the RPI measure."", 'Meanwhile, in December 2022 Ofwat raised concerns about the financial resilience of five companies: Thames Water, Southern Water, Yorkshire Water, SES and Portsmouth.', ""Yorkshire, Southern, Portsmouth and SES all say they have taken steps to address Ofwat's concerns."", 'Thames Water is owned by a group of investors spanning four continents.', 'The largest is the Canadian pension fund, OMERS, with 31.8%.', 'The second-largest is the Universities Superannuation Scheme, with 19.7%, a pension fund for UK academics.', ""Other investors include sovereign wealth funds from China and Abu Dhabi, which invest those nations' assets on behalf of their governments."", 'Three other pension funds and two investment firms make up the rest.', ""The entire water and waste sector was privatised 34 years ago under the late Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government for £7.6bn."", ""At the time, Mrs Thatcher wrote off the industry's £5bn debt, leaving companies with a clean slate and gave them £1.5bn in public money."", 'The government had wanted to privatise the industry in 1984 but a public backlash against the plan saw it shelved until after the general election three years later.', 'At the time, the UK was under pressure from Europe to improve the purity of its water.', 'However, meeting European standards would cost billions of pounds worth of investment which, it was hoped, would come from the private sector and, by extension, companies\' customers. ""', 'If we want environmental improvement, it will cost money,"" said Mrs Thatcher in 1988. ""', 'It will be the people who want those improvements in water who will have to pay.""', 'Former Labour MP Ann Taylor later said of privatising the water industry: ""The message is always the same - maximise the cost to the consumer to ensure maximum return to the investor.', 'We should not be surprised at that.', 'After all, that is what private investors expect of their companies.""']",0.0163001296057768,"Other investors include sovereign wealth funds from China and Abu Dhabi, which invest those nations' assets on behalf of their governments.",But why is the UK's largest water company facing a crisis - and are other firms facing similar problems?,-0.3219455083211263,"At the time, the UK was under pressure from Europe to improve the purity of its water.","Meanwhile, in December 2022 Ofwat raised concerns about the financial resilience of five companies: Thames Water, Southern Water, Yorkshire Water, SES and Portsmouth.",2024-03-28
Your complete guide to earning and redeeming points in the Citi ThankYou Rewards program,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/citi-thankyou-points-rewards,"
  Updated
        12:10 PM EST, Wed January 10, 2024
    ","The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has evolved over the past decade and is now a formidable competitor with established programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Citi’s got a relatively small portfolio of quality credit cards and a rewarding program to boot. In fact, its credit cards offer some of the most generous category bonuses in exchange for reasonable annual fees.
    
            When it comes to redeeming your hard-earned points, Citi has an impressive transfer partner list that makes it possible to maximize your rewards for travel bookings. And if you don’t want to learn the ins and outs of various loyalty programs, Citi also gives you the option to use points for statement credits and direct travel bookings.
    
            If you’re curious about how the Citi ThankYou program works, here’s everything you need to know about how to get the most out of the program for travel.
    
            You can earn Citi ThankYou points in numerous ways. The easiest is through credit card sign-up bonuses, which range depending on the card. But that’s not the only way to earn points in this program. Between checking account bonuses and authorized user incentives, there are many ways to earn ThankYou points beyond credit cards.
    
            Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards. The issuer’s credit cards are generally split into two categories: traditional ThankYou points-earning cards and cash back cards. However, recently, Citi made a change to its program that now sees its cash back credit cards earning ThankYou Rewards points, which can also be redeemed for traditional cash back.
    
            Citi has two cards that earn ThankYou points directly. These cards are ideal for maximizing rewards on everyday purchases, with the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Rewards+® Card specifically offering significant bonuses in those everyday categories.
    
            As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditional cash back credit cards in the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings. They can be incredibly valuable, considering the Citi® Double Cash Card earns 2% on everything. By adding this card to your wallet, you’ll earn a minimum of 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent on all purchases that aren’t eligible for the bonus categories on the Citi Premier or Rewards+ cards.
    
            Considering Citi’s cash back cards have no annual fees, adding one to your wallet could make a lot of sense. You’ll enhance your point earning across the board without additional annual fees.
    
            By combining the Citi cards you have in your wallet, you can maximize your earnings and ensure you continue to work your way toward your next redemption.
    
            Adding an authorized user can help you earn more Citi points in two ways: bonus points for adding someone and for all of their purchases. First, you’ll sometimes get bonus points just for adding someone to your account. Citi frequently sends out authorized user bonuses to targeted card holders. These bonuses are typically around 2,500 bonus points but can vary.
    
            Secondly, you’ll earn Citi ThankYou points based on all the spending your authorized user puts on their card. Of course, you’ll only want to consider adding a member of your household or someone you trust to pay you back as an authorized user on your account. Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.
    
            If you’d like to earn even more ThankYou points, you can do so with a checking account. That’s because Citi offers several checking accounts that earn ThankYou points as a benefit: The Citigold, Citi Priority, Citi Private Bank and Citibank Account. With these accounts, you can earn up to 1,600 points per month on everyday banking activities. The exact number of ThankYou points you’ll earn depends on your account type and qualifying activities. Generally, Citigold, Citi Priority and Citi Private Bank accounts earn the most points.
    
            Sharing points is a great way to consolidate existing points with a significant other or family member. Citi ThankYou is one of the few programs that allows members to share points free of charge. The only stipulation is that you can only share points with someone who has a Citi ThankYou card, and Citi Custom Cash card holders are not eligible.
    
            It’s worth noting that shared points expire 90 days after receipt. So you shouldn’t transfer points unless you or the person you’re sending them to has an immediate use for them. Also, note that you can’t send or receive more than 100,000 points per calendar year.
    
            Once you’ve earned a slew of Citi ThankYou points comes the fun part of redeeming them. And thankfully, Citi offers many different ways for you to redeem your ThankYou points. You’ll get the most bang for your buck by redeeming points for travel, though that’s certainly not the only option.
    
            Here’s a look at your Citi ThankYou travel redemption options and how they work.
    
            Transferring points will get you the most value from your Citi ThankYou points. Citi has 18 airline and hotel partners, most of which you can transfer points to at a 1-to-1 ratio — however, that ratio can vary. You can redeem them for stays at all-inclusive resorts, international business-class tickets, domestic award flights and more. But keep in mind that not all airline and hotel loyalty programs are equal.
    
            Ultimately, you’ll want to research which program will offer you the most in return, depending on what your travel plans are. Like with the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, Capital One miles and American Express Membership Rewards program, you’ll need to link your accounts with each of the transfer partners, and you’ll also need to search for award availability with the airline of your choice before transferring any points.
    
            If you’re interested in transferring your Citi ThankYou points to a travel partner, these are your 18 options as well as the transfer rate.
    
            By transferring Citi ThankYou points to partner airlines, you unlock the ability to travel for next to nothing — in most cases when redeeming travel rewards, you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees on a ticket. As a result, points and miles open up the door for flying experiences that would otherwise be out of reach.
    
            Keep in mind that the most obvious airline choice may not always be your best option. Airlines typically have extensive alliance networks, allowing you to redeem points for partner airlines through their respective programs. For example, Delta Air Lines and Air France/KLM are both members of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue and redeem for flights operated by Delta Air Lines.
    
            Citi’s airline partners will get you the most value for your points, especially if you redeem them for business- and first-class travel. That being said, Citi’s airline partners offer several sweet spot awards. These heavily discounted awards will save you points on travel and make earning ThankYou points worthwhile. Some of these sweet spots awards that will get you maximum value for your ThankYou points include the following:
    
            Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points by transferring them to airline or hotel partners. But that may not always make sense for all card holders — and it’s not your only option.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each when you use them to book travel through the Citi ThankYou portal. That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions. While transferring points is the best way to maximize your ThankYou points, doing so isn’t always possible. If that’s the case — or if you’re not interested in researching award availability — redeeming at a fixed value for travel via the ThankYou portal is a decent option.
    
            Citi offers several fixed redemption options where you’ll redeem your points at 1 cent per point. This is ideal for folks who would rather leverage points for daily expenses than travel bookings. While redeeming points this way isn’t advisable, as you won’t get as much value out of each point, you should use them however they suit you best.
    
            For example, if you have no travel plans in the foreseeable future but mounting expenses at home, then redeeming your ThankYou points for mortgage or student loan payments might make sense. Here are some additional ways you can redeem your ThankYou points:
    
            Generally speaking, if you’re looking to get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points, your worst option is when redeeming for a fixed value. However, if you’re willing to sacrifice the value of your points and instead want to save some cash, it could be a solid option. Ultimately, every card holder’s goals for their points will be different, but it’s good that you have options with ThankYou points.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are worth about 1.7 cents each when you redeem them for travel through transfer partners, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy. The exact amount varies depending on the cabin and destination you’re flying to. Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value by redeeming points for international business- and first-class flights. While 1.7 cents per point isn’t guaranteed for all redemptions, it’s a number you should aim for if you want to redeem ThankYou points for maximum value.
    
            Aside from travel redemptions, you can use ThankYou points for mortgage payments, student loans, statement credits or charitable contributions, and they’re worth 1 cent apiece.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are an incredibly valuable currency and can help you meet your most aspirational travel goals. Whether you’re using points for domestic or international travel, Citi’s wide selection of transfer partners offers terrific redemption value. Between a good credit card selection, top-notch travel partners and flexibility in use, Citi ThankYou points are definitely worth adding to your points portfolio.
    
            Looking for a new travel credit card? Check out CNN Underscored’s list of the best credit cards currently available.
    
            Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
    
            Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.",CNN,10/01/2024,"['The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has evolved over the past decade and is now a formidable competitor with established programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards.', 'Citi’s got a relatively small portfolio of quality credit cards and a rewarding program to boot.', 'In fact, its credit cards offer some of the most generous category bonuses in exchange for reasonable annual fees.', 'When it comes to redeeming your hard-earned points, Citi has an impressive transfer partner list that makes it possible to maximize your rewards for travel bookings.', 'And if you don’t want to learn the ins and outs of various loyalty programs, Citi also gives you the option to use points for statement credits and direct travel bookings.', 'If you’re curious about how the Citi ThankYou program works, here’s everything you need to know about how to get the most out of the program for travel.', 'You can earn Citi ThankYou points in numerous ways.', 'The easiest is through credit card sign-up bonuses, which range depending on the card.', 'But that’s not the only way to earn points in this program.', 'Between checking account bonuses and authorized user incentives, there are many ways to earn ThankYou points beyond credit cards.', 'Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards.', 'The issuer’s credit cards are generally split into two categories: traditional ThankYou points-earning cards andcash back cards.', 'However, recently, Citi made a change to its program that now sees its cash back credit cards earning ThankYou Rewards points, which can also be redeemed for traditional cash back.', 'Citi has two cards that earn ThankYou points directly.', 'These cards are ideal for maximizing rewards on everyday purchases, with the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Rewards+® Card specifically offering significant bonuses in those everyday categories.', 'As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditionalcash back credit cardsin the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings.', 'They can be incredibly valuable, considering the Citi® Double Cash Card earns 2% on everything.', 'By adding this card to your wallet, you’ll earn a minimum of 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent on all purchases that aren’t eligible for the bonus categories on the Citi Premier or Rewards+ cards.', 'Considering Citi’s cash back cards have no annual fees, adding one to your wallet could make a lot of sense.', 'You’ll enhance your point earning across the board without additional annual fees.', 'By combining the Citi cards you have in your wallet, you can maximize your earnings and ensure you continue to work your way toward your next redemption.', 'Adding an authorized user can help you earn more Citi points in two ways: bonus points for adding someone and for all of their purchases.', 'First, you’ll sometimes get bonus points just for adding someone to your account.', 'Citi frequently sends out authorized user bonuses to targeted card holders.', 'These bonuses are typically around 2,500 bonus points but can vary.', 'Secondly, you’ll earn Citi ThankYou points based on all the spending your authorized user puts on their card.', 'Of course, you’ll only want to consider adding a member of your household or someone you trust to pay you back as anauthorized useron your account.', 'Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.', 'If you’d like to earn even more ThankYou points, you can do so with a checking account.', 'That’s because Citi offers several checking accounts that earn ThankYou points as a benefit: The Citigold, Citi Priority, Citi Private Bank and Citibank Account.', 'With these accounts, you can earn up to 1,600 points per month on everyday banking activities.', 'The exact number of ThankYou points you’ll earn depends on your account type and qualifying activities.', 'Generally, Citigold, Citi Priority and Citi Private Bank accounts earn the most points.', 'Sharing points is a great way to consolidate existing points with a significant other or family member.', 'Citi ThankYou is one of the few programs that allows members to share points free of charge.', 'The only stipulation is that you can only share points with someone who has a Citi ThankYou card, and Citi Custom Cash card holders are not eligible.', 'It’s worth noting that shared points expire 90 days after receipt.', 'So you shouldn’t transfer points unless you or the person you’re sending them to has an immediate use for them.', 'Also, note that you can’t send or receive more than 100,000 points per calendar year.', 'Once you’ve earned a slew of Citi ThankYou points comes the fun part of redeeming them.', 'And thankfully, Citi offers many different ways for you to redeem your ThankYou points.', 'You’ll get the most bang for your buck by redeeming points for travel, though that’s certainly not the only option.', 'Here’s a look at your Citi ThankYou travel redemption options and how they work.', 'Transferring points will get you the most value from your Citi ThankYou points.', 'Citi has 18 airline and hotel partners, most of which you can transfer points to at a 1-to-1 ratio — however, that ratio can vary.', 'You can redeem them for stays atall-inclusive resorts,international business-class tickets, domestic award flights and more.', 'But keep in mind that not all airline and hotel loyalty programs are equal.', 'Ultimately, you’ll want to research which program will offer you the most in return, depending on what your travel plans are.', 'Like with the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, Capital One miles andAmerican Express Membership Rewards program, you’ll need to link your accounts with each of the transfer partners, and you’ll also need to search for award availability with the airline of your choice before transferring any points.', 'If you’re interested in transferring your Citi ThankYou points to a travel partner, these are your 18 options as well as the transfer rate.', 'By transferring Citi ThankYou points to partner airlines, you unlock the ability to travel for next to nothing — in most cases when redeeming travel rewards, you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees on a ticket.', 'As a result, points and miles open up the door for flying experiences that would otherwise be out of reach.', 'Keep in mind that the most obvious airline choice may not always be your best option.', 'Airlines typically have extensive alliance networks, allowing you to redeem points for partner airlines through their respective programs.', 'For example, Delta Air Lines and Air France/KLM are both members of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue and redeem for flights operated by Delta Air Lines.', 'Citi’s airline partners will get you the most value for your points, especially if you redeem them for business- and first-class travel.', 'That being said, Citi’s airline partners offer several sweet spot awards.', 'These heavily discounted awards will save you points on travel and make earning ThankYou points worthwhile.', 'Some of these sweet spots awards that will get you maximum value for your ThankYou points include the following:  Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points by transferring them to airline or hotel partners.', 'But that may not always make sense for all card holders — and it’s not your only option.', 'Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each when you use them to book travel through the Citi ThankYou portal.', 'That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions.', 'While transferring points is the best way to maximize your ThankYou points, doing so isn’t always possible.', 'If that’s the case — or if you’re not interested in researching award availability — redeeming at a fixed value for travel via the ThankYou portal is a decent option.', 'Citi offers several fixed redemption options where you’ll redeem your points at 1 cent per point.', 'This is ideal for folks who would rather leverage points for daily expenses than travel bookings.', 'While redeeming points this way isn’t advisable, as you won’t get as much value out of each point, you should use them however they suit you best.', 'For example, if you have no travel plans in the foreseeable future but mounting expenses at home, then redeeming your ThankYou points for mortgage or student loan payments might make sense.', 'Here are some additional ways you can redeem your ThankYou points:  Generally speaking, if you’re looking to get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points, your worst option is when redeeming for a fixed value.', 'However, if you’re willing to sacrifice the value of your points and instead want to save some cash, it could be a solid option.', 'Ultimately, every card holder’s goals for their points will be different, but it’s good that you have options with ThankYou points.', 'Citi ThankYou points are worth about 1.7 cents each when you redeem them for travel through transfer partners, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy.', 'The exact amount varies depending on the cabin and destination you’re flying to.', 'Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value by redeeming points for international business- and first-class flights.', 'While 1.7 cents per point isn’t guaranteed for all redemptions, it’s a number you should aim for if you want to redeem ThankYou points for maximum value.', 'Aside from travel redemptions, you can use ThankYou points for mortgage payments, student loans, statement credits or charitable contributions, and they’re worth 1 cent apiece.', 'Citi ThankYou points are an incredibly valuable currency and can help you meet your most aspirational travel goals.', 'Whether you’re using points for domestic or international travel, Citi’s wide selection of transfer partners offers terrific redemption value.', 'Between a good credit card selection, top-notch travel partners and flexibility in use, Citi ThankYou points are definitely worth adding to your points portfolio.', 'Looking for a new travel credit card?', 'Check out CNN Underscored’s list of thebest credit cardscurrently available.', 'Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.', 'Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.']",0.419572580688158,"Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards.","Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.",0.8711563621958097,"As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditionalcash back credit cardsin the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings.",That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions.,2024-03-28
The U.S. is the top country for millionaires and billionaires,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/the-us-is-the-top-country-for-millionaires-and-billionaires.html,2024-03-22T16:57:55+0000,"A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.The U.S. has rapidly overwhelmed China as the world's top spot for millionaires and billionaires, according a new report.  There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.Over the past five years, the population of millionaires in the U.S. has grown 35%, nearly twice as fast as China's. The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder. The U.S. has 9,850 centi-millionaires — those worth $100 million or more — compared with China's 2,352. The U.S. has about 788 billionaires to China's 305.""The USA remains the world's undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation,"" according to the report.Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley, said the strict Covid lockdowns in China coupled with increases in its government intervention in the private sector have slowed the growth in wealth creation.""China has certainly slowed a lot due to these elements and the U.S. has benefited,"" he said.The shift from China to the U.S. is also reflected in wealth migration patterns. A net 13,500 Chinese millionaires left China in 2023, marking a new record. The U.S. had a net inflow of 2,200 millionaires in 2023 and a projected inflow of 3,500 in 2024, according to the Henley report.""The USA remains a top draw for wealthy tech entrepreneurs and engineers, especially from Asia, Europe, and the UK,"" the report said. America's leadership in wealth creation is spilling over into spending and investing. A report from UBS and Art Basel finds that the U.S. is the leader in global art sales, accounting for 42% of sales by value. The U.S. also leads the world in sales of the highest-priced works.Bain now predicts that China will account for only 35% to 40% of global luxury goods consumption by 2030, up only slightly from current levels. Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain. Luxury sales in the U.S. last year totaled $80 billion, to China’s $52 billion, Bain found.While analysts and economists say China will still be a major source of luxury and wealth growth in the coming years, the U.S. has become both the dominant market and source of growth for the high-net-worth economy.""The wealth creation opportunities in the U.S. are second to none globally,"" Volek said.Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer."", 'Sign upto receive future editions, straight to your inbox.', ""The U.S. has rapidly overwhelmed China as the world's top spot for millionaires and billionaires, according a new report."", 'There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.', ""Over the past five years, the population of millionaires in the U.S. has grown 35%, nearly twice as fast as China's."", ""The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder."", ""The U.S. has 9,850 centi-millionaires — those worth $100 million or more — compared with China's 2,352."", 'The U.S. has about 788 billionaires to China\'s 305.""The USA remains the world\'s undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation,"" according to the report.', 'Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley, said the strict Covid lockdowns in China coupled with increases in its government intervention in the private sector have slowed the growth in wealth creation.', '""China has certainly slowed a lot due to these elements and the U.S. has benefited,"" he said.', 'The shift from China to the U.S. is also reflected in wealth migration patterns.', 'A net 13,500 Chinese millionaires left China in 2023, marking a new record.', 'The U.S. had a net inflow of 2,200 millionaires in 2023 and a projected inflow of 3,500 in 2024, according to the Henley report.', '""The USA remains a top draw for wealthy tech entrepreneurs and engineers, especially from Asia, Europe, and the UK,"" the report said.', ""America's leadership in wealth creation is spilling over into spending and investing."", 'A report from UBS and Art Basel finds that the U.S. is the leader in global art sales, accounting for 42% of sales by value.', 'The U.S. also leads the world in sales of the highest-priced works.', 'Bain now predicts that China will account for only 35% to 40% of global luxury goods consumption by 2030, up only slightly from current levels.', 'Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain.', 'Luxury sales in the U.S. last year totaled $80 billion, to China’s $52 billion, Bain found.', 'While analysts and economists say China will still be a major source of luxury and wealth growth in the coming years, the U.S. has become both the dominant market and source of growth for the high-net-worth economy.', '""The wealth creation opportunities in the U.S. are second to none globally,"" Volek said.', ""Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.""]",0.3810456003682411,"There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.",,0.5784277379512787,"The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder.","Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain.",2024-03-28
"Lululemon shares plunge 16% on weak guidance, slowing North America growth",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/lululemon-lulu-earnings-q4-2023.html,2024-03-22T20:06:12+0000,"In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.Here's how the company did in its fourth fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Jan. 28 was $669.5 million, or $5.29 per share, compared with $119.8 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $3.21 billion, up about 16% from $2.77 billion a year earlier.Shares of Lululemon closed about 16% lower Friday. As of Friday's close, shares are down about 21% this year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500, which is up about 10% in that time.Like its peers, Lululemon has been grappling with uncertain demand and a slowdown in discretionary spending that's hit the apparel space particularly hard. Investors have watched how Lululemon performs in North America, its largest region by sales, as it laps tougher prior year comparisons and contends with consumers who are choosing experiences over goods like clothes and shoes. During the quarter, sales rose 9% in the Americas, compared to 29% growth in the year-ago period. While Lululemon is still growing in the region, the rate has slowed down significantly as Lululemon focuses on expanding internationally.""As you've heard from others in our industry, there has been a shift in the U.S. consumer behavior of late and we're navigating what has been a slower start to the year in this market,"" CEO Calvin McDonald said on a call with analysts Thursday. ""We view this as an opportunity to keep playing offense as we lean into investments that will continue our growth trajectory. Outside the U.S., our business remains strong.""McDonald added that both traffic and conversions are down in the U.S. He attributed that to a lack of products in sizes zero to four, key sizes for the U.S. customer base, and not enough colorful items.Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets.Comparable sales rose 12% during the quarter, just shy of the 12.3% uptick analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.For the current quarter, Lululemon expects net revenue to be between $2.18 billion and $2.20 billion, representing growth of 9% to 10%. Analysts were expecting a forecast of $2.25 billion, or growth of 12.5%, according to LSEG.It expects diluted earnings per share to be between $2.35 and $2.40, below the $2.55 analysts had expected, according to LSEG.For the full year, it expects sales to be between $10.7 billion and $10.8 billion, compared with estimates of $10.9 billion, according to LSEG.It anticipates diluted earnings per share will be between $14 and $14.20 for the year, compared to estimates of $14.13, according to LSEG.Lululemon has long been one of the market leaders for women's athletic apparel, but the Vancouver-based company is facing more competition than ever. Newer entrants like Alo Yoga and Vuori have been nipping at Lululemon's market share, and it's had to work harder to set itself apart in the more crowded category. The retailer has been working to build out its footwear offering and grow its men's business. During the quarter, it opened its first men's store in Beijing — a key growth market for the company. In February, it debuted its first men's sneaker, CityVerse, and plans to launch new running styles for both men and women as performance sneakers continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise stagnant shoewear market. Headed into the holidays, McDonald said Black Friday was the ""single biggest day"" in the company's history and he was ""encouraged"" by the trends he was seeing at the start of the season. But the retailer's holiday-quarter outlook came in a bit short of analysts' expectations. In January, it raised that guidance after it saw sales ""balanced across channels, categories, and geographies,"" finance chief Meghan Frank said in a news release. Read the full earnings release here.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market."", 'The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.', ""Here's how the company did in its fourth fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Jan. 28 was $669.5 million, or $5.29 per share, compared with $119.8 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier."", 'Sales rose to $3.21 billion, up about 16% from $2.77 billion a year earlier.', 'Shares of Lululemon closed about 16% lower Friday.', ""As of Friday's close, shares are down about 21% this year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500, which is up about 10% in that time."", ""Like its peers, Lululemon has been grappling with uncertain demand and a slowdown in discretionary spending that's hit the apparel space particularly hard."", 'Investors have watched how Lululemon performs in North America, its largest region by sales, as it laps tougher prior year comparisons and contends with consumers who are choosing experiences over goods like clothes and shoes.', 'During the quarter, sales rose 9% in the Americas, compared to 29% growth in the year-ago period.', 'While Lululemon is still growing in the region, the rate has slowed down significantly as Lululemon focuses on expanding internationally.', '""As you\'ve heard from others in our industry, there has been a shift in the U.S. consumer behavior of late and we\'re navigating what has been a slower start to the year in this market,"" CEO Calvin McDonald said on a call with analysts Thursday. ""', 'We view this as an opportunity to keep playing offense as we lean into investments that will continue our growth trajectory.', 'Outside the U.S., our business remains strong.', '""McDonald added that both traffic and conversions are down in the U.S. He attributed that to a lack of products in sizes zero to four, key sizes for the U.S. customer base, and not enough colorful items.', ""Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets."", 'Comparable sales rose 12% during the quarter, just shy of the 12.3% uptick analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'For the current quarter, Lululemon expects net revenue to be between $2.18 billion and $2.20 billion, representing growth of 9% to 10%.', ""Analysts were expecting a forecast of $2.25 billion, or growth of 12.5%, according to LSEG.It expects diluted earnings per share to be between $2.35 and $2.40, below the $2.55 analysts had expected, according to LSEG.For the full year, it expects sales to be between $10.7 billion and $10.8 billion, compared with estimates of $10.9 billion, according to LSEG.It anticipates diluted earnings per share will be between $14 and $14.20 for the year, compared to estimates of $14.13, according to LSEG.Lululemon has long been one of the market leaders for women's athletic apparel, but the Vancouver-based company is facing more competition than ever."", ""Newer entrants like Alo Yoga and Vuori have been nipping at Lululemon's market share, and it's had to work harder to set itself apart in the more crowded category."", ""The retailer has been working to build out its footwear offering and grow its men's business."", ""During the quarter, it opened its first men's store in Beijing — a key growth market for the company."", ""In February, it debuted its first men's sneaker, CityVerse, and plans to launch new running styles for both men and women as performance sneakers continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise stagnant shoewear market."", 'Headed into the holidays, McDonald said Black Friday was the ""single biggest day"" in the company\'s history and he was ""encouraged"" by the trends he was seeing at the start of the season.', ""But the retailer's holiday-quarter outlook came in a bit short of analysts' expectations."", 'In January, it raised that guidance after it saw sales ""balanced across channels, categories, and geographies,"" finance chief Meghan Frank said in a news release.', 'Read the full earnings release here.']",0.229511879571783,"The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.","In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.",0.0951000303030014,"Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets.","In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.",2024-03-28
Target doubles bonuses for salaried employees as profits recover,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/target-doubles-bonuses-for-salaried-employees-as-profits-recover-.html,2024-03-21T17:31:03+0000,"In this articleTarget will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as the big-box retailer's profits recover from a bumpy nearly two-year stretch.Salaried employees at the Minneapolis-based retailer receive an annual bonus, based on Target's performance and the eligible amount set as part of their compensation. The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, a company spokesperson said Thursday. That is an increase from 50% in the prior year.In a statement, Target said the annual bonus payout is based on how the retailer performs against sales and profit goals set at the beginning of the fiscal year.""Based on Target's performance in 2023, including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year, we're rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.Target will pay out the annual cash bonuses in late March. The amount paid out won't be as high as it could be, however. It tops out at 175% of each employee's eligible bonus amount.The vast majority of Target's approximately 415,000 employees, such as those at its stores and warehouses, are paid hourly and do not qualify for the bonuses. Yet it does offer bonuses to store and supply-chain leaders, along with many corporate employees. Top executives at Target have a different bonus structure. The increased bonus payout was first reported by Bloomberg.Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft. In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period.The discounter said it expects the sales challenges will continue. For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen. For the fiscal year, Target said, it expects adjusted earnings per share will range from $8.60 to $9.60. The higher end of that range would top the adjusted earnings per share of $8.94 that it reported for the previous fiscal year.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleTarget will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as the big-box retailer's profits recover from a bumpy nearly two-year stretch."", ""Salaried employees at the Minneapolis-based retailer receive an annual bonus, based on Target's performance and the eligible amount set as part of their compensation."", ""The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, a company spokesperson said Thursday."", 'That is an increase from 50% in the prior year.', 'In a statement, Target said the annual bonus payout is based on how the retailer performs against sales and profit goals set at the beginning of the fiscal year.', '""Based on Target\'s performance in 2023,including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year,we\'re rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.', 'Target will pay out the annual cash bonuses in late March.', ""The amount paid out won't be as high as it could be, however."", ""It tops out at 175% of each employee's eligible bonus amount."", ""The vast majority of Target's approximately 415,000 employees, such as those at its stores and warehouses, are paid hourly and do not qualify for the bonuses."", 'Yet it does offer bonuses to store and supply-chain leaders, along with many corporate employees.', 'Top executives at Target have a different bonus structure.', 'The increased bonus payout was first reported by Bloomberg.', 'Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft.', ""In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period."", 'The discounter said it expects the sales challenges will continue.', 'For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen.', 'For the fiscal year, Target said, it expects adjusted earnings per share will range from $8.60 to $9.60.', 'The higher end of that range would top the adjusted earnings per share of$8.94 that it reported for the previous fiscal year.']",0.4483384428773163,"""Based on Target's performance in 2023,including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year,we're rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.","Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft.",0.3977267444133758,"For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen.","In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period.",2024-03-28
Viking Therapeutics stock jumps more than 15% on promising weight loss pill data,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/viking-therapeutics-weight-loss-pill-shows-positive-study-results.html,2024-03-26T20:27:20+0000,"In this articleViking Therapeutics shares closed more than 15% higher on Tuesday after the company said its experimental weight loss pill showed positive results in a small study and will enter the next stage of development later this year.The study results add to the excitement around the drugmaker's prospects in the budding weight loss drug market.Viking is one of several small biotech companies hoping to compete with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the space, which analysts say could grow into a $100 billion market by the end of the decade. Some analysts view Viking as a particularly strong potential player, or takeover target for a larger company. Based on Tuesday's results, Viking plans to start a phase two trial of its weight loss pill later this year. The once-a-day tablet is an oral version of the company's experimental weight loss injection, which showed encouraging results in a mid-stage trial last month. Optimism about Viking's potential in the market has sent its shares flying 345% higher this year.The phase one trial for the pill followed more than 40 patients with obesity for around a month. Those people took different dose sizes of the drug or received a placebo.Viking said patients who received the pill once a day lost up to 5.3% of their weight on average, or up to 3.3% more than those who took a placebo, at 28 days. Up to 57% of patients who received Viking's pill lost at least 5% of their body weight. Meanwhile, no people who took the placebo shed that much weight, the company said. Notably, those who received higher doses of the experimental pill appeared to maintain or add to their weight loss at 34 days in the study, six days after their last dose of the drug. Weight loss for those patients ranged up to 3.6% higher than those who received a placebo. Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it's unclear ""how durable"" the weight loss is. Still, he noted that the sustained weight loss seen in the trial may be encouraging to patients who might miss a dose because they are traveling or don't have access to their medication. ""I think that's an encouraging sign that you don't necessarily have to take it every day,"" he said.In a release, Viking said it believes that treating patients beyond 28 days may provide ""further reductions in body weight."" The company also said the trial suggested the pill is safe and tolerable to take. The majority of side effects that patients experienced after starting the oral drug were mild in severity. The majority of gastrointestinal events that patients experienced were mild. Gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, are commonly seen across all weight loss and diabetes treatments.But people who received Viking's pill did not report vomiting. Patients who took the placebo also reported diarrhea more frequently than those treated with the oral drug, the company said.Analysts have compared Viking's weight loss injection to Eli Lilly's injectable drug Zepbound because both drugs imitate two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP.GLP-1 helps reduce food intake and appetite. GIP, which also suppresses appetite, may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's weight loss injection Wegovy only targets GLP-1.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleViking Therapeutics shares closed more than 15% higher on Tuesday after the company said its experimental weight loss pill showed positive results in a small study and will enter the next stage of development later this year.', ""The study results add to the excitement around the drugmaker's prospects in the budding weight loss drug market."", 'Viking is one of several small biotech companies hoping to compete with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the space, which analysts say could grow into a $100 billion market by the end of the decade.', 'Some analysts view Viking as a particularly strong potential player, or takeover target for a larger company.', ""Based on Tuesday's results, Viking plans to start a phase two trial of its weight loss pill later this year."", ""The once-a-day tablet is an oral version of the company's experimental weight loss injection, which showed encouraging results in a mid-stage trial last month."", ""Optimism about Viking's potential in the market has sent its shares flying 345% higher this year."", 'The phase one trial for the pill followed more than 40 patients with obesity for around a month.', 'Those people took different dose sizes of the drug or received a placebo.', 'Viking said patients who received the pill once a day lost up to 5.3% of their weight on average, or up to 3.3% more than those who took a placebo, at 28 days.', ""Up to 57% of patients who received Viking's pill lost at least 5% of their body weight."", 'Meanwhile, no people who took the placebo shed that much weight, the company said.', 'Notably, those who received higher doses of the experimental pill appeared to maintain or add to their weight loss at 34 days in the study, six days after their last dose of the drug.', 'Weight loss for those patients ranged up to 3.6% higher than those who received a placebo.', 'Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it\'s unclear ""how durable"" the weight loss is.', ""Still, he noted that the sustained weight loss seen in the trial may be encouraging to patients who might miss a dose because they are traveling or don't have access to their medication."", '""I think that\'s an encouraging sign that you don\'t necessarily have to take it every day,"" he said.', 'In a release, Viking said it believes that treating patients beyond 28 days may provide ""further reductions in body weight.', '""The company also said the trial suggested the pill is safe and tolerable to take.', 'The majority of side effects that patients experienced after starting the oral drug were mild in severity.', 'The majority of gastrointestinal events that patients experienced were mild.', 'Gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, are commonly seen across all weight loss and diabetes treatments.', ""But people who received Viking's pill did not report vomiting."", 'Patients who took the placebo also reported diarrhea more frequently than those treated with the oral drug, the company said.', ""Analysts have compared Viking's weight loss injection to Eli Lilly's injectable drug Zepbound because both drugs imitate two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP.GLP-1 helps reduce food intake and appetite."", 'GIP, which also suppresses appetite, may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.', ""Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's weight loss injection Wegovy only targets GLP-1.""]",0.0570222720908987,Optimism about Viking's potential in the market has sent its shares flying 345% higher this year.,"Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it's unclear ""how durable"" the weight loss is.",0.6855462690194448,In this articleViking Therapeutics shares closed more than 15% higher on Tuesday after the company said its experimental weight loss pill showed positive results in a small study and will enter the next stage of development later this year.,Weight loss for those patients ranged up to 3.6% higher than those who received a placebo.,2024-03-28
"Novo Nordisk's $1,000 diabetes drug Ozempic can be made for less than $5 a month, study suggests",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/27/novo-nordisk-ozempic-can-be-made-for-less-than-5-a-month-study.html,2024-03-27T20:41:02+0000,"The blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic could be manufactured for less than $5 a month, even as Novo Nordisk charges close to $1,000 per month for the injection in the U.S. before insurance, a study released Wednesday suggests.The study, from researchers at Yale University, King's College Hospital in London and the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders, raises more questions about the hefty price tag of the top-selling diabetes treatment and similar drugs for weight loss, which are all part of a new class of treatments called GLP-1s.Demand for those medicines has soared over the last year, even as more insurers drop them from their plans due to cost, leaving some patients unable to afford the drugs. The study also comes after years of political pressure on Novo Nordisk and other drugmakers to slash high costs of diabetes care, especially insulin. Ozempic can generally be produced for less than various forms of insulin, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers found that a month's supply of the treatment could be manufactured for an estimated 89 cents to $4.73. They evaluated manufacturing costs for the weekly injection along with a profit margin with an allowance for tax to produce those estimates, which they call ""cost-based prices."" Novo Nordisk's list price for a monthly package of Ozempic is $935.77 before insurance and other rebates. The findings suggest that GLP-1s ""can likely be manufactured for prices far below current prices, enabling wider access,"" the researchers concluded. In a statement on Wednesday, Novo Nordisk declined to provide production costs for Ozempic and its weight loss drug counterpart Wegovy. But the Danish drugmaker noted that it spent almost $5 billion on research and development last year, and will spend more than $6 billion on a recent deal to boost manufacturing to meet demand for GLP-1s.It also said 75% of its gross earnings go to rebates and discounts to ensure patients have access to its products. The company also said out-of-pocket costs for Ozempic depend on a patient's insurance coverage. Patients with private or commercial coverage for Ozempic can access a savings card and pay as little as $25 for a one-month, two-month or three-month supply of the treatment for up to 24 months. Separate research from the University of Liverpool and other researchers has found that Wegovy could be produced for $40 a month.A survey released this month from Evercore ISI found that more than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket. Nearly 75% of respondents who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount.",CNBC,27/03/2024,"['The blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic could be manufactured for less than $5 a month, even as Novo Nordisk charges close to $1,000 per month for the injection in the U.S. before insurance, a study released Wednesday suggests.', ""The study, from researchers at Yale University, King's College Hospital in London and the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders, raises more questions about the hefty price tag of the top-selling diabetes treatment and similar drugs for weight loss, which are all part of a new class of treatments called GLP-1s."", 'Demand for those medicines has soared over the last year, even as more insurers drop them from their plans due to cost, leaving some patients unable to afford the drugs.', 'The study also comes after years of political pressure on Novo Nordisk and other drugmakers to slash high costs of diabetes care, especially insulin.', 'Ozempic can generally be produced for less than various forms of insulin, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open.', ""Researchers found that a month's supply of the treatment could be manufactured for an estimated 89 cents to $4.73."", 'They evaluated manufacturing costs for the weekly injection along with a profit margin with an allowance for tax to produce those estimates, which they call ""cost-based prices.', '""Novo Nordisk\'s list price for a monthly package of Ozempic is $935.77 before insurance and other rebates.', 'The findings suggest that GLP-1s ""can likely be manufactured for prices far below current prices, enabling wider access,"" the researchers concluded.', 'In a statement on Wednesday, Novo Nordisk declined to provide production costs for Ozempic and its weight loss drug counterpart Wegovy.', 'But the Danish drugmaker noted that it spent almost $5 billion on research and development last year, and will spend more than $6 billion on a recent deal to boost manufacturing to meet demand for GLP-1s.', 'It also said 75% of its gross earnings go to rebates and discounts to ensure patients have access to its products.', ""The company also said out-of-pocket costs for Ozempic depend on a patient's insurance coverage."", 'Patients with private or commercial coverage for Ozempic can access a savings card and pay as little as $25 for a one-month, two-month or three-month supply of the treatment for up to 24 months.', 'Separate research from the University of Liverpool and other researchers has found that Wegovy could be produced for $40 a month.', 'A survey released this month from Evercore ISI found that more than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket.', 'Nearly 75% of respondents who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount.']",0.0084798000529251,"They evaluated manufacturing costs for the weekly injection along with a profit margin with an allowance for tax to produce those estimates, which they call ""cost-based prices.","Demand for those medicines has soared over the last year, even as more insurers drop them from their plans due to cost, leaving some patients unable to afford the drugs.",0.9920660704374312,"But the Danish drugmaker noted that it spent almost $5 billion on research and development last year, and will spend more than $6 billion on a recent deal to boost manufacturing to meet demand for GLP-1s.",,2024-03-28
"Canada Goose to cut 17% of its corporate workforce, following string of retail layoffs",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/canada-goose-to-cut-17percent-of-its-corporate-workforce.html,2024-03-26T20:31:34+0000,"In this articleCanada Goose said Tuesday that it will cut about 17% of its corporate workforce, following a string of other retailers that have laid off employees this year as consumers continue to pull back on discretionary spending. It is not clear how many employees will be laid off. The cuts will affect staff at Canada Goose's corporate headquarters, which had about 915 employees as of April 2023, according to a securities filing. Between April 2021 and April 2023, Canada Goose nearly doubled the number of employees at its corporate head offices from 544 to 915 to support its ""continued growth,"" the filing says.In a statement Tuesday, CEO Dani Reiss said, ""Today, we are realigning our teams to ensure that corporate resources are fit for purpose to fuel our next phase of growth across geographies, categories, and channels.""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.The cuts, part of the company's ongoing ""Transformation Program,"" come after what it called a ""comprehensive review"" of its organizational structure and the roles it needs to reach its goals. It expects the cuts will bring ""immediate"" cost savings and simplify its workforce, allowing it to make decisions more quickly and become more efficient. Shares of Canada Goose closed about 7% lower. In the three months that ended Dec. 31, Canada Goose saw sales grow 6% compared to the year-ago period, but the results fell short of analysts' expectations, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. When releasing its holiday-quarter results, Canada Goose noted that its wholesale revenues were particularly weak, an ongoing dynamic for the company that many other retailers have felt.Several retailers, including Under Armour and Nike, have said recently that wholesale orders have been sluggish as department stores look to keep inventories in check and contend with a slowdown in demand. The layoffs at Canada Goose come after Nike, Macy's, Wayfair, Hasbro and Etsy all announced widespread layoffs over the past few months. In many cases, the companies were looking to focus on what they can control by becoming more efficient and focusing on profits, even as shoppers pull back on discretionary items such as clothes, shoes and toys.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleCanada Goose said Tuesday that it will cut about 17% of its corporate workforce, following a string of other retailers that have laid off employees this year as consumers continue to pull back on discretionary spending.', 'It is not clear how many employees will be laid off.', ""The cuts will affect staff at Canada Goose's corporate headquarters, which had about 915 employees as of April 2023, according to a securities filing."", 'Between April 2021 and April 2023, Canada Goose nearly doubled the number of employees at its corporate head offices from 544 to 915 to support its ""continued growth,"" the filing says.', 'In a statement Tuesday, CEO Dani Reiss said, ""Today, we are realigning our teams to ensure that corporate resources are fit for purpose to fuel our next phase of growth across geographies, categories, and channels.', '""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.', 'The cuts, part of the company\'s ongoing ""Transformation Program,"" come after what it called a ""comprehensive review"" of its organizational structure and the roles it needs to reach its goals.', 'It expects the cuts will bring ""immediate"" cost savings and simplify its workforce, allowing it to make decisions more quickly and become more efficient.', 'Shares of Canada Goose closed about 7% lower.', ""In the three months that ended Dec. 31, Canada Goose saw sales grow 6% compared to the year-ago period, but the results fell short of analysts' expectations, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv."", 'When releasing its holiday-quarter results, Canada Goose noted that its wholesale revenues were particularly weak, an ongoing dynamic for the company that many other retailers have felt.', 'Several retailers, including Under Armour and Nike, have said recently that wholesale orders have been sluggish as department stores look to keep inventories in check and contend with a slowdown in demand.', ""The layoffs at Canada Goose come after Nike, Macy's, Wayfair, Hasbro and Etsy all announced widespread layoffs over the past few months."", 'In many cases, the companies were looking to focus on what they can control by becoming more efficient and focusing on profits, even as shoppers pull back on discretionary items such as clothes, shoes and toys.']",0.1798259420435697,"""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.","Several retailers, including Under Armour and Nike, have said recently that wholesale orders have been sluggish as department stores look to keep inventories in check and contend with a slowdown in demand.",0.0681341886520385,"""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.","When releasing its holiday-quarter results, Canada Goose noted that its wholesale revenues were particularly weak, an ongoing dynamic for the company that many other retailers have felt.",2024-03-28
Hyundai considering hybrid vehicle production at $7.6 billion Georgia EV plant,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/27/hyundai-may-add-hybrid-production-to-7point6-billion-georgia-plant-.html,2024-03-27T20:40:18+0000,"In this articleNEW YORK – Hyundai Motor is reevaluating its plans to exclusively produce all-electric vehicles at a new plant under construction in Georgia, an executive told CNBC on Wednesday.José Muñoz, Hyundai president and global chief operating officer, said the company is evaluating whether or not to produce hybrid or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at the $7.59 billion plant in addition to all-electric vehicles.  ""We are now getting ready for a ramp-up on electric vehicles and then we are evaluating if we need to maybe add some additional technologies into the plan depending on the market evaluation,"" Muñoz said on the sidelines of the New York International Auto Show.The reassessment comes amid slower-than-excepted adoption of EVs, as well as the Biden administration revising emissions rules to better take into account hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles rather than a focus on all-electric vehicles.Hyundai is in the middle of investing $12.6 billion in Georgia, including for the new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America site in Bryan County and battery manufacturing through joint ventures with fellow South Korea-based companies LG Energy Solution and SK On, which will be a separate facilityMuñoz said Hyundai remains committed to EVs but also knows hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles may be better for some consumers.  ""Everything is on the table,"" Muñoz said. ""We will adjust to the market demand and, for the time being, we are on track for what the regulators are requesting.""Hyundai on Wednesday revealed a refreshed Tucson crossover that will be offered as a traditional gas engine, hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.""I think the PHEV is a key strategic topic for us. We've been one of the pioneers on PHEV and I think we want to take advantage of that,"" Muñoz said. ""But hybrid is very important … our hybrid production in growing. There's a high demand for it. So you're going to see an increase in the mix of hybrids in Hyundai as well.""",CNBC,27/03/2024,"['In this articleNEW YORK – Hyundai Motor is reevaluating its plans to exclusively produce all-electric vehicles at a new plant under construction in Georgia, an executive told CNBC on Wednesday.', 'José Muñoz, Hyundai president and global chief operating officer, said the company is evaluating whether or not to produce hybrid or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at the $7.59 billion plant in addition to all-electric vehicles. ""', 'We are now getting ready for a ramp-up on electric vehicles and then we are evaluating if we need to maybe add some additional technologies into the plan depending on the market evaluation,"" Muñoz said on the sidelines of the New York International Auto Show.', 'The reassessment comes amid slower-than-excepted adoption of EVs, as well as the Biden administration revising emissions rules to better take into account hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles rather than a focus on all-electric vehicles.', 'Hyundai is in the middle of investing $12.6 billion in Georgia, including for the new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America site in Bryan County and battery manufacturing through joint ventures with fellow South Korea-based companies LG Energy Solution and SK On, which will be a separate facilityMuñoz said Hyundai remains committed to EVs but also knows hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles may be better for some consumers. ""', 'Everything is on the table,"" Muñoz said. ""', 'We will adjust to the market demand and, for the time being, we are on track for what the regulators are requesting.', '""Hyundai on Wednesday revealed a refreshed Tucson crossover that will be offered as a traditional gas engine, hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.', '""I think the PHEV is a key strategic topic for us.', 'We\'ve been one of the pioneers on PHEV and I think we want to take advantage of that,"" Muñoz said. ""', 'But hybrid is very important … our hybrid production in growing.', ""There's a high demand for it."", 'So you\'re going to see an increase in the mix of hybrids in Hyundai as well.""']",0.2229048408775856,"Hyundai is in the middle of investing $12.6 billion in Georgia, including for the new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America site in Bryan County and battery manufacturing through joint ventures with fellow South Korea-based companies LG Energy Solution and SK On, which will be a separate facilityMuñoz said Hyundai remains committed to EVs but also knows hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles may be better for some consumers. """,,0.4889906793832779,"So you're going to see an increase in the mix of hybrids in Hyundai as well.""","The reassessment comes amid slower-than-excepted adoption of EVs, as well as the Biden administration revising emissions rules to better take into account hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles rather than a focus on all-electric vehicles.",2024-03-28
Largest U.S. sportsbooks join forces to tackle problem gambling,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/27/largest-us-sportsbooks-join-forces-to-tackle-problem-gambling.html,2024-03-27T16:54:22+0000,"In this articleSeven of the nation's largest gaming companies are joining forces to create a trade group to promote responsible gaming, and for the first time ever, will share information about problem gamblers.The seven operators — FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Penn Entertainment, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Hard Rock Digital and bet365 — will form the Responsible Online Gaming Association, or ROGA, the group announced Wednesday.The members account for more than 85% of the legal online betting market in the United States. Collectively they have pledged more than $20 million to fund ROGA.""I'm incredibly excited to move this forward and to really do some impactful things and to really expand the knowledge through the research and to create these evidence-based best practices and to really empower players with information,"" said Jennifer Shatley, executive director of ROGA.ROGA members commit to work together on issues ranging from education, responsible gaming best practices, conscientious advertising and marketing across the industry.The new group will also create an independent clearinghouse, or database, that will allow them to share key information related to protection of consumers, though the details on how it would work aren't yet clear.ROGA says it will create a certification program to assess members' responsible gaming efforts and provide an incentive for operators to participate.The new consortium comes as sports betting, both online and in retail outlets, has seen dramatic growth across the nation since 2018. Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., now offer legal sports wagering.This year, a record number of Americans bet on the Super Bowl. Online transactions totaled nearly 15,000 per second, doubling last year's peak, according to geolocating platform GeoComply.But as gambling has become more mainstream — and as advertising for sportsbooks spans television, streaming and social feeds — so, too, have headlines involving betting scandals and sports.In recent days, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has found himself at the center of a $4 million betting scandal involving his interpreter and an illegal bookie. Ohtani insists he's never bet on sports. The NBA is investigating Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for irregularities around wagering. And U.S. Integrity, a tech firm working to combat illicit betting in college sports, flagged anomalies around the betting lines for Temple University men's basketball games.A result of those claims: The potential to provoke outrage and public criticism that could become an inflection point for the U.S. gambling industry. There's also the potential for gambling's explosive growth to undermine integrity in sports and entice bettors into addiction.An estimated 2 million U.S. adults meet the criteria for a severe gambling problem, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling. Another 5 million to 8 million U.S. adults are considered to have a mild or moderate gambling problem.Problem gambling prompted regulatory crackdowns in Europe and especially in the United Kingdom over the last couple years, impacting sportsbooks' profitability and changing the way they conduct business.There has been a concerted effort in the United States for the gambling industry to police itself and ward off harsher regulatory frameworks.U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko of New York is introducing national legislation that would crack down on what he calls ""a public health crisis."" Tonko's ""Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act,"" which he introduced last week, would regulate gambling advertising, limit the number and size of deposits, and restrict how artificial intelligence is deployed to acquire customers.""Your going to have a lot more people saturated with this opportunity, with all these clever concepts of bonus bets, free bets and celebrity spokespersons,"" Tonko told CNBC.An influx of gamblers will result in a dramatic increase in the number of people struggling with addiction, he said.Some states have slapped operators with fines over gaming violations. In August, Maryland fined DraftKings $94,000 for marketing to underage players. PrizePicks reached a $15 million settlement in New York for operating illegally. In Indiana, the gaming commission fined FanDuel after eight people used illegally obtained debit cards to fund their betting accounts, causing ""great harm"" to partners on shared bank accounts, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission Chairman Milton Thompson.Some gambling insiders are skeptical of ROGA, suspicious of what they consider a marketing stunt to address a public relations problem.Caesars, which is noticeably absent from the group founding ROGA, told CNBC it's learned best practices from 35 years grappling with responsible gaming.""While we applaud all efforts to ensure online gaming is both operated and marketed in a responsible manner, we are confident in our [own] Responsible Gaming approach,"" the company said in a statement.Caesars said it's solely focused on the 21-and-older crowd and does not permit anyone younger than that to sign up for a Caesars rewards account, even in states like Rhode Island or Kentucky where 18-year-olds are permitted to wager.Many fantasy sports and social betting platforms that operate on a sweepstakes model permit players 18 and older, and many of Caesars' competitors allow 18-and-up customers to play fantasy sports. Some, too, allow sports betting in that age group in the few states that permit it.But the industry is working to better insulate its youngest and most vulnerable customers.The American Gaming Association launched last March an agreement aimed at providing college-aged students protections against the marketing and advertising of sports betting.Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, said responsible gaming comes down to good business. Yet, he warns that as legal operators come together to improve responsible gambling, the illegal marketplace will always be willing to take wagers from problem gamblers.""I urge the state regulators to help us by clamping down on some of those black market operators,"" Jackson told CNBC.",CNBC,27/03/2024,"[""In this articleSeven of the nation's largest gaming companies are joining forces to create a trade group to promote responsible gaming, and for the first time ever, will share information about problem gamblers."", 'The seven operators — FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Penn Entertainment, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Hard Rock Digital and bet365 — will form the Responsible Online Gaming Association, or ROGA, the group announced Wednesday.', 'The members account for more than 85% of the legal online betting market in the United States.', 'Collectively they have pledged more than $20 million to fund ROGA.""I\'m incredibly excited to move this forward and to really do some impactful things and to really expand the knowledge through the research and to create these evidence-based best practices and to really empower players with information,"" said Jennifer Shatley, executive director of ROGA.ROGA members commit to work together on issues ranging from education, responsible gaming best practices, conscientious advertising and marketing across the industry.', ""The new group will also create an independent clearinghouse, or database, that will allow them to share key information related to protection of consumers, though the details on how it would work aren't yet clear."", ""ROGA says it will create a certification program to assess members' responsible gaming efforts and provide an incentive for operators to participate."", 'The new consortium comes as sports betting, both online and in retail outlets, has seen dramatic growth across the nation since 2018.', 'Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., now offer legal sports wagering.', 'This year, a record number of Americans bet on the Super Bowl.', ""Online transactions totaled nearly 15,000 per second, doubling last year's peak, according to geolocating platform GeoComply."", 'But as gambling has become more mainstream — and as advertising for sportsbooks spans television, streaming and social feeds — so, too, have headlines involving betting scandals and sports.', 'In recent days, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has found himself at the center of a $4 million betting scandal involving his interpreter and an illegal bookie.', ""Ohtani insists he's never bet on sports."", 'The NBA is investigating Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for irregularities around wagering.', ""And U.S. Integrity, a tech firm working to combat illicit betting in college sports, flagged anomalies around the betting lines for Temple University men's basketball games."", 'A result of those claims: The potential to provoke outrage and public criticism that could become an inflection point for the U.S. gambling industry.', ""There's also the potential for gambling's explosive growth to undermine integrity in sports and entice bettors into addiction."", 'An estimated 2 million U.S. adults meet the criteria for a severe gambling problem, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling.', 'Another 5 million to 8 million U.S. adults are considered to have a mild or moderate gambling problem.', ""Problem gambling prompted regulatory crackdowns in Europe and especially in the United Kingdom over the last couple years, impacting sportsbooks' profitability and changing the way they conduct business."", 'There has been a concerted effort in the United States for the gambling industry to police itself and ward off harsher regulatory frameworks.', 'U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko of New York is introducing national legislation that would crack down on what he calls ""a public health crisis.""', 'Tonko\'s ""Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act,"" which he introduced last week, would regulate gambling advertising, limit the number and size of deposits, and restrict how artificial intelligence is deployed to acquire customers.', '""Your going to have a lot more people saturated with this opportunity, with all these clever concepts of bonus bets, free bets and celebrity spokespersons,"" Tonko told CNBC.An influx of gamblers will result in a dramatic increase in the number of people struggling with addiction, he said.', 'Some states have slapped operators with fines over gaming violations.', 'In August, Maryland fined DraftKings $94,000 for marketing to underage players.', 'PrizePicks reached a $15 million settlement in New York for operating illegally.', 'In Indiana, the gaming commission fined FanDuel after eight people used illegally obtained debit cards to fund their betting accounts, causing ""great harm"" to partners on shared bank accounts, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission Chairman Milton Thompson.', 'Some gambling insiders are skeptical of ROGA, suspicious of what they consider a marketing stunt to address a public relations problem.', ""Caesars, which is noticeably absent from the group founding ROGA, told CNBC it's learned best practices from 35 years grappling with responsible gaming."", '""While we applaud all efforts to ensure online gaming is both operated and marketed in a responsible manner, we are confident in our [own] Responsible Gaming approach,"" the company said in a statement.', ""Caesars said it's solely focused on the 21-and-older crowd and does not permit anyone younger than that to sign up for a Caesars rewards account, even in states like Rhode Island or Kentucky where 18-year-olds are permitted to wager."", ""Many fantasy sports and social betting platforms that operate on a sweepstakes model permit players 18 and older, and many of Caesars' competitors allow 18-and-up customers to play fantasy sports."", 'Some, too, allow sports betting in that age group in the few states that permit it.', 'But the industry is working to better insulate its youngest and most vulnerable customers.', 'The American Gaming Association launched last March an agreement aimed at providing college-aged students protections against the marketing and advertising of sports betting.', 'Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, said responsible gaming comes down to good business.', 'Yet, he warns that as legal operators come together to improve responsible gambling, the illegal marketplace will always be willing to take wagers from problem gamblers.', '""I urge the state regulators to help us by clamping down on some of those black market operators,"" Jackson told CNBC.']",0.1957878066649391,"Collectively they have pledged more than $20 million to fund ROGA.""I'm incredibly excited to move this forward and to really do some impactful things and to really expand the knowledge through the research and to create these evidence-based best practices and to really empower players with information,"" said Jennifer Shatley, executive director of ROGA.ROGA members commit to work together on issues ranging from education, responsible gaming best practices, conscientious advertising and marketing across the industry.",A result of those claims: The potential to provoke outrage and public criticism that could become an inflection point for the U.S. gambling industry.,0.0347215784223456,"The new consortium comes as sports betting, both online and in retail outlets, has seen dramatic growth across the nation since 2018.",There's also the potential for gambling's explosive growth to undermine integrity in sports and entice bettors into addiction.,2024-03-28
"Walgreens tops quarterly revenue estimates, but narrows profit outlook in 'challenging' economy",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/28/walgreens-wba-earnings-q2-2024.html,2024-03-28T14:52:26+0000,"In this articleWalgreens on Thursday reported fiscal second-quarter sales that beat Wall Street's expectations, but lowered the high end of its full-year adjusted earnings outlook in part due to a ""challenging"" retail environment in the U.S.The company also posted a steep net loss for the quarter as it recorded a hefty nearly $6 billion charge related to the decline in value of its investment in primary-care provider VillageMD. Walgreens has closed 140 VillageMD clinics amid financial woes for the business, which it sees as critical to its ongoing push to transform from a major drugstore chain into a large health-care company.But Walgreens does not believe the VillageMD charge ""will have a significant impact on our financial position, or our ability to invest across businesses going forward,"" Walgreens global CFO Manmohan Mahajan said during an earnings call Thursday.The results come as Walgreens' new CEO, Tim Wentworth, works to slash costs and steer the company out of a rough spot with a slate of new executives. Shares of Walgreens fell 30% last year as the company faced weakening demand for Covid products, low pharmacy reimbursement rates, an unsteady push into health care and a challenging macroeconomic environment. In a release Thursday, the company said it is confident it will meet its goal of saving $1 billion during fiscal 2024 through its ongoing cost-cutting program. Walgreens has laid off employees, closed unprofitable stores and used artificial intelligence to make its supply chain more efficient, among other efforts.Here's what Walgreens reported for the quarter, compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:Walgreens narrowed its fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings guidance to between $3.20 and $3.35 per share. That compares with the company's previous outlook of $3.20 to $3.50 per share. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expect full-year adjusted earnings of $3.24 per share.Walgreens said the new guidance reflects the hurdles facing retailers in the U.S. and an early wind-down of its sales-leaseback program. It also takes into account lower earnings due to Walgreens' forward sale of shares of drug distributor Cencora, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen.The company said a stronger performance in its pharmacy services segment and a lower adjusted effective tax rate helped to offset the factors dragging on its earnings. But Mahajan said Walgreens expects the current economic backdrop will ""continue to negatively impact our U.S. retail sales in the short term.""Wentworth noted on the call that the company is ""exploring innovative ways to boost profitability and growth"" in its retail pharmacy division, such as through new pharmacy reimbursement models.The company did not give a new revenue forecast for the fiscal year. Walgreens has not provided that guidance since October, when it said it sees $141 billion to $145 billion in sales. The company reported a net loss of $5.91 billion, or $6.85 per share, for the quarter. That compares with a net income of $703 million, or 81 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. aExcluding certain items, including the $5.8 billion non-cash charge related VillageMD, adjusted earnings per share were $1.20 for the quarter.The company booked sales of $37.05 billion in the quarter, a roughly 6% jump from the same period a year ago. The company said that increase reflects sales growth across its three business segments. But Walgreens' U.S. health-care division stood out as sales jumped about 33% in the fiscal second quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Revenue for the segment came in at $2.18 billion.The company said the higher sales reflect VillageMD's acquisition of multispecialty care provider Summit Health and growth across all businesses in the segment on a pro-forma basis.VillageMD sales grew 20% due to same-clinic growth, among other factors. Sales from the segment's specialty pharmacy company, Shields Health Solutions, grew 13%, due to new contracts and expansions of current partnerships.Specialty pharmacies are designed to deliver medications with unique handling, storage and distribution requirements, often for patients with complex conditions such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.Meanwhile, Walgreens' U.S. retail pharmacy segment generated $28.86 billion in sales in the fiscal second quarter, an increase of almost 5% from the same period last year.That segment operates more than 8,000 drugstores across the U.S., which sell prescription and nonprescription drugs as well as health and wellness, beauty, personal care, and food products. Walgreens said pharmacy sales for the quarter rose 8.2% compared with the year-ago quarter. Comparable sales climbed 8.7% due to price inflation in brand medications and ""strong execution"" in pharmacy services, largely driven by the company's vaccine portfolio.Total prescriptions filled in the quarter including immunizations totaled 305.7 million, a more than 2% increase from the same period a year ago. Retail sales for the quarter fell 4.5% from the prior-year quarter, and comparable retail sales declined 4.3%. The company pointed to a challenging retail environment and a weaker respiratory season, among other factors. Walgreens' international segment, which operates more than 3,000 retail stores abroad, posted $6.02 billion in sales in the fiscal second quarter. That's an increase of more than 6% from the year-ago period. The company said sales from its U.K. subsidiary, Boots, grew 3%.When asked on the call about Eli Lilly's new direct-to-consumer website aimed at expanding access to its weight loss drug Zepbound, Wentworth did not comment on the program specifically.But he noted that the company is a ""natural partner"" for pharmaceutical companies that may ""want to go directly to patients for a particular product, where the normal supply chain, reimbursement model, et cetera isn't working effectively.""As an example, Wenworth pointed to GLP-1s, a new class of weight loss and diabetes drugs that includes Zepbound. Those drugs must be taken chronically but carry hefty price tags, which can be a hurdle for both patients and insurance plans and other payers.Walgreens is ""uniquely positioned"" to distribute drugs and serve as a ""clinically aligned partner"" that can help patients navigate their treatment safely, according to Wentworth.",CNBC,28/03/2024,"['In this articleWalgreens on Thursday reported fiscal second-quarter sales that beat Wall Street\'s expectations, but lowered the high end of its full-year adjusted earnings outlook in part due to a ""challenging"" retail environment in the U.S.The company also posted a steep net loss for the quarter as it recorded a hefty nearly $6 billion charge related to the decline in value of its investment in primary-care providerVillageMD.', 'Walgreens has closed 140 VillageMD clinics amid financial woes for the business, which it sees as critical to its ongoing push to transform from a major drugstore chain into a large health-care company.', 'But Walgreens does not believe the VillageMD charge ""will have a significant impact on our financial position, or our ability to invest across businesses going forward,"" Walgreens global CFO Manmohan Mahajan said during an earnings call Thursday.', ""The results come as Walgreens' new CEO, Tim Wentworth, works to slash costs and steer the company out of a rough spot with a slate of new executives."", 'Shares of Walgreens fell 30% last year as the company faced weakening demand for Covid products, low pharmacy reimbursement rates, an unsteady push into health care and a challenging macroeconomic environment.', 'In a release Thursday, the company said it is confident it will meet its goal of saving $1 billion during fiscal 2024 through its ongoing cost-cutting program.', 'Walgreens has laid off employees, closed unprofitable stores and used artificial intelligence to make its supply chain more efficient, among other efforts.', ""Here's what Walgreens reported for the quarter, compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:Walgreens narrowed its fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings guidance to between $3.20 and $3.35 per share."", ""That compares with the company's previous outlook of $3.20 to $3.50 per share."", 'Analysts surveyed by LSEG expect full-year adjusted earnings of $3.24 per share.', 'Walgreens said the new guidance reflects the hurdles facing retailers in the U.S. and an early wind-down of its sales-leaseback program.', ""It also takes into account lower earnings due to Walgreens' forward sale of shares of drug distributor Cencora, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen."", 'The company said a stronger performance in its pharmacy services segment and a lower adjusted effective tax rate helped to offset the factors dragging on its earnings.', 'But Mahajan said Walgreens expects the current economic backdrop will ""continue to negatively impact our U.S. retail sales in the short term.', '""Wentworth noted on the call that the company is ""exploring innovative ways to boost profitability and growth"" in its retail pharmacy division, such as through new pharmacy reimbursement models.', 'The company did not give a new revenue forecast for the fiscal year.', 'Walgreens has not provided that guidance since October, when it said it sees $141 billion to $145 billion in sales.', 'The company reported a net loss of $5.91 billion, or $6.85 per share, for the quarter.', 'That compares with a net income of $703 million, or 81 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.', 'aExcluding certain items, including the $5.8 billion non-cash charge related VillageMD, adjusted earnings per share were $1.20 for the quarter.', 'The company booked sales of $37.05 billion in the quarter, a roughly 6% jump from the same period a year ago.', 'The company said that increase reflects sales growth across its three business segments.', ""But Walgreens' U.S. health-care division stood out as sales jumped about 33% in the fiscal second quarter compared with the same period a year ago."", 'Revenue for the segment came in at $2.18 billion.', ""The company said the higher sales reflect VillageMD's acquisition of multispecialty care provider Summit Health and growth across all businesses in the segment on a pro-forma basis."", 'VillageMD sales grew 20% due to same-clinic growth, among other factors.', ""Sales from the segment's specialty pharmacy company, Shields Health Solutions, grew 13%, due to new contracts and expansions of current partnerships."", 'Specialty pharmacies are designed to deliver medications with unique handling, storage and distribution requirements, often for patients with complex conditions such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.', ""Meanwhile, Walgreens' U.S. retail pharmacy segment generated $28.86 billion in sales in the fiscal second quarter, an increase of almost 5%from the same period last year."", 'That segment operates more than 8,000 drugstores across the U.S., which sell prescription and nonprescription drugs as well as health and wellness, beauty, personal care, and food products.', 'Walgreens said pharmacy sales for the quarter rose 8.2% compared with the year-ago quarter.', 'Comparable sales climbed 8.7% due to price inflation in brand medications and ""strong execution"" in pharmacy services, largely driven by the company\'s vaccine portfolio.', 'Total prescriptions filled in the quarter including immunizations totaled 305.7 million, a more than 2% increase from the same period a year ago.', 'Retail sales for the quarter fell 4.5% from the prior-year quarter, and comparable retail sales declined 4.3%.', 'The company pointed to a challenging retail environment and a weaker respiratory season, among other factors.', ""Walgreens' international segment, which operates more than 3,000 retail stores abroad, posted $6.02 billion in sales in the fiscal second quarter."", ""That's an increase of more than 6% from the year-ago period."", ""The company said sales from its U.K. subsidiary, Boots, grew 3%.When asked on the call about Eli Lilly's new direct-to-consumer website aimed at expanding access to its weight loss drug Zepbound, Wentworth did not comment on the program specifically."", 'But he noted that the company is a ""natural partner"" for pharmaceutical companies that may ""want to go directly to patients for a particular product, where the normal supply chain, reimbursement model, et cetera isn\'t working effectively.', '""As an example, Wenworth pointed to GLP-1s, a new class of weight loss and diabetes drugs that includes Zepbound.', 'Those drugs must be taken chronically but carry hefty price tags, which can be a hurdle for both patients and insurance plans and other payers.', 'Walgreens is ""uniquely positioned"" to distribute drugs and serve as a ""clinically aligned partner"" that can help patients navigate their treatment safely, according to Wentworth.']",0.2392783246676357,"That segment operates more than 8,000 drugstores across the U.S., which sell prescription and nonprescription drugs as well as health and wellness, beauty, personal care, and food products.","Specialty pharmacies are designed to deliver medications with unique handling, storage and distribution requirements, often for patients with complex conditions such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.",0.3645550685544168,"Comparable sales climbed 8.7% due to price inflation in brand medications and ""strong execution"" in pharmacy services, largely driven by the company's vaccine portfolio.","Shares of Walgreens fell 30% last year as the company faced weakening demand for Covid products, low pharmacy reimbursement rates, an unsteady push into health care and a challenging macroeconomic environment.",2024-03-28
Insurance loss for US bridge collapse could hit $3bn,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68688856,2024-03-28T20:18:10.000Z,"The collapse of a bridge in the US city of Baltimore will result in the largest single marine insurance loss ever, a British insurance marketplace said. Six people were presumed dead after a ship crashed into the bridge, and divers have recovered two bodies. Experts say the damages could cost as much as $3bn (£2.3bn).  ""I would say it's certainly going to be one of the largest marine losses in history,"" said John Neal, chief executive officer of Lloyd's of London.  ""Of that there is little or no doubt,"" Mr Neal told the BBC. ""But genuinely the good news is it's insured.""  Mr Neal said the port and the ship that crashed into the bridge are also insured.  ""So from a financial point of view, there is a process that will allow for financial compensation to be made and for the claim to be settled,"" he said.  The Maryland Department of Transportation has so far asked the Biden administration for $60m in emergency funds to help clear debris and clean up after the incident.  Addressing the bridge collapse is not the only expense, either. Until the shipping lane is reopened, experts say the incident could lead to losses of up to $15m (£11.8m) because of how vital the Baltimore port is to global commerce. Mr Neal would not offer a number for how much insurance companies may be billed for the collision, but analysts at Barclays have said the claims could cost insurance companies as much as $3bn. The analysts said damages to the bridge itself could amount to $1.2bn, while insurance companies may face fees between $350m and $700m for wrongful deaths.  Closure of one of the US' biggest ports while the bridge is repaired could also cost millions of dollars, Barclays' analysts said.  The Port of Baltimore is the 14th largest in the US. In 2023, 52.3 million tonnes of foreign cargo, worth $80.8bn, passed through Baltimore, according to data from the state of Maryland.  Experts have stressed that the closure of the part could have ripple effects on global supply chains.  President Joe Biden has said the federal government should cover the cost to rebuild the bridge. Paul Wiedefeld, secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, and other officials noted that resolving the bridge collapse will not be a quick process. But he promised at a press conference on Wednesday that officials were working to ""come up with a design for the replacement of that bridge as quickly as possible to get the port back up and the community back up and running"". ",BBC,28/03/2024,"['The collapse of a bridge in the US city of Baltimore will result in the largest single marine insurance loss ever, a British insurance marketplace said.', 'Six people were presumed dead after a ship crashed into the bridge, and divers have recovered two bodies.', 'Experts say the damages could cost as much as $3bn (£2.3bn). ""', 'I would say it\'s certainly going to be one of the largest marine losses in history,"" said John Neal, chief executive officer of Lloyd\'s of London. ""', 'Of that there is little or no doubt,"" Mr Neal told the BBC. ""', 'But genuinely the good news is it\'s insured.""', 'Mr Neal said the port and the ship that crashed into the bridge are also insured. ""', 'So from a financial point of view, there is a process that will allow for financial compensation to be made and for the claim to be settled,"" he said.', 'The Maryland Department of Transportation has so far asked the Biden administration for $60m in emergency funds to help clear debris and clean up after the incident.', 'Addressing the bridge collapse is not the only expense, either.', 'Until the shipping lane is reopened, experts say the incident could lead to losses of up to $15m (£11.8m) because of how vital the Baltimore port is to global commerce.', 'Mr Neal would not offer a number for how much insurance companies may be billed for the collision, but analysts at Barclays have said the claims could cost insurance companies as much as $3bn.', 'The analysts said damages to the bridge itself could amount to $1.2bn, while insurance companies may face fees between $350m and $700m for wrongful deaths.', ""Closure of one of the US' biggest ports while the bridge is repaired could also cost millions of dollars, Barclays' analysts said."", 'The Port of Baltimore is the 14th largest in the US.', 'In 2023, 52.3 million tonnes of foreign cargo, worth $80.8bn, passed through Baltimore, according to data from the state of Maryland.', 'Experts have stressed that the closure of the part could have ripple effects on global supply chains.', 'President Joe Biden has said the federal government should cover the cost to rebuild the bridge.', 'Paul Wiedefeld, secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, and other officials noted that resolving the bridge collapse will not be a quick process.', 'But he promised at a press conference on Wednesday that officials were working to ""come up with a design for the replacement of that bridge as quickly as possible to get the port back up and the community back up and running"".']",-0.0944209485662888,The Maryland Department of Transportation has so far asked the Biden administration for $60m in emergency funds to help clear debris and clean up after the incident.,"The collapse of a bridge in the US city of Baltimore will result in the largest single marine insurance loss ever, a British insurance marketplace said.",-0.7172760143876076,"But genuinely the good news is it's insured.""","I would say it's certainly going to be one of the largest marine losses in history,"" said John Neal, chief executive officer of Lloyd's of London. """,2024-03-28
What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61646214,2022-05-31T11:46:37.000Z,"UK airports and airlines are preparing for a busy Easter holiday period, with flight numbers expected to return to pre-pandemic levels. Two million Brits are due to head abroad over the bank holiday weekend, according to the ABTA travel association.  If your flight is covered by UK law, your airline must let you choose between either getting a refund or being booked on to an alternative flight, regardless of how far in advance the cancellation was made.  You can get your money back for any part of the ticket you have not used.  So if you booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket refunded.  If you still want to travel, your airline must find you an alternative flight.  If another airline is flying to your destination significantly sooner, or there are other suitable modes of transport available, then you have a right to be booked onto that alternative transport instead.  If you are stuck abroad or at the airport because of a flight cancellation, airlines must also provide you with other assistance until you are able to fly to your destination.  This includes:  If your airline is unable to arrange assistance, you have the right to organise this yourself and claim back the cost later.  In this case, the Civil Aviation Authority advises people to keep receipts and not spend more than necessary.  You are entitled to the same assistance as for a cancellation if your flight is delayed by more than two hours.  You may also be able to claim compensation if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late.  The amount is based on how far you are flying.  If you are delayed by more than five hours and no longer want to travel, you can get a full refund. If you booked a package holiday with a company that is an ABTA member and your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a suitable alternative flight or a full refund.  Disruption caused by things like strikes by airport or air traffic control staff, bad weather or other ""extraordinary circumstances"" does not entitle you to extra compensation. However, in other circumstances - when it is considered to be the airline's fault - you have a number of rights under UK law. These apply as long as you are flying from a UK airport on any airline, arriving at a UK airport on an EU or UK airline, or arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline.  What you are entitled to depends on what caused the cancellation and how much notice you are given.  If your flight is cancelled with less than two weeks' notice, you may be able to claim compensation based on the timings of the alternative flight you are offered. The amount you are entitled to also depends on how far you were travelling:  Airlines will not refund you for loss of earnings. They are only responsible for covering direct costs, such as hotel rooms, meals and alternative flights. They are not obliged to cover consequential losses. Travel insurance policies will not usually cover loss of earnings either.  If you think you're going to be late back at work because of flight delays, you have a responsibility to contact your employer to let them know you won't be back as planned, legal experts say. You should agree with your employer how to deal with the absence - for example, by using more annual leave or time banked in lieu. Taking unpaid leave could also be an option. Employers have no legal obligation to pay employees who are absent in this situation, experts say, unless it is stated in their contract. Have you been personally affected by the disruption to flights? Get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.  ",BBC,31/05/2022,"['UK airports and airlines are preparing for a busy Easter holiday period, with flight numbers expected to return to pre-pandemic levels.', 'Two million Brits are due to head abroad over the bank holiday weekend, according to the ABTA travel association.', 'If your flight is covered by UK law, your airline must let you choose between either getting a refund or being booked on to an alternative flight, regardless of how far in advance the cancellation was made.', 'You can get your money back for any part of the ticket you have not used.', 'So if you booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket refunded.', 'If you still want to travel, your airline must find you an alternative flight.', 'If another airline is flying to your destination significantly sooner, or there are other suitable modes of transport available, then you have a right to be booked onto that alternative transport instead.', 'If you are stuck abroad or at the airport because of a flight cancellation, airlines must also provide you with other assistance until you are able to fly to your destination.', 'This includes: If your airline is unable to arrange assistance, you have the right to organise this yourself and claim back the cost later.', 'In this case, the Civil Aviation Authority advises people to keep receipts and not spend more than necessary.', 'You are entitled to the same assistance as for a cancellation if your flight is delayed by more than two hours.', 'You may also be able to claim compensation if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late.', 'The amount is based on how far you are flying.', 'If you are delayed by more than five hours and no longer want to travel, you can get a full refund.', 'If you booked a package holiday with a company that is an ABTA member and your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a suitable alternative flight or a full refund.', 'Disruption caused by things like strikes by airport or air traffic control staff, bad weather or other ""extraordinary circumstances"" does not entitle you to extra compensation.', ""However, in other circumstances - when it is considered to be the airline's fault - you have a number of rights under UK law."", 'These apply as long as you are flying from a UK airport on any airline, arriving at a UK airport on an EU or UK airline, or arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline.', 'What you are entitled to depends on what caused the cancellation and how much notice you are given.', ""If your flight is cancelled with less than two weeks' notice, you may be able to claim compensation based on the timings of the alternative flight you are offered."", 'The amount you are entitled to also depends on how far you were travelling: Airlines will not refund you for loss of earnings.', 'They are only responsible for covering direct costs, such as hotel rooms, meals and alternative flights.', 'They are not obliged to cover consequential losses.', 'Travel insurance policies will not usually cover loss of earnings either.', ""If you think you're going to be late back at work because of flight delays, you have a responsibility to contact your employer to let them know you won't be back as planned, legal experts say."", 'You should agree with your employer how to deal with the absence - for example, by using more annual leave or time banked in lieu.', 'Taking unpaid leave could also be an option.', 'Employers have no legal obligation to pay employees who are absent in this situation, experts say, unless it is stated in their contract.', 'Have you been personally affected by the disruption to flights?', 'Get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.', 'Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.', ""You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk."", 'Please include your name, age and location with any submission.']",-0.0041762192291783,"If you booked a package holiday with a company that is an ABTA member and your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a suitable alternative flight or a full refund.","Disruption caused by things like strikes by airport or air traffic control staff, bad weather or other ""extraordinary circumstances"" does not entitle you to extra compensation.",0.9241650104522704,"UK airports and airlines are preparing for a busy Easter holiday period, with flight numbers expected to return to pre-pandemic levels.",,2024-03-28
McDonald's to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts nationwide by the end of 2026,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/mcdonalds-to-sell-krispy-kreme-doughnuts-nationwide-by-end-of-2026.html,2024-03-26T20:22:10+0000,"In this articleMcDonald's is planning to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts at its restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026, the chains announced Tuesday.The rollout will start in the second half of this year, but it will take roughly two and a half years as Krispy Kreme more than doubles its distribution to satisfy the partnership. For the duration of the agreement, McDonald's will be the exclusive fast-food partner for Krispy Kreme in the U.S.Shares of Krispy Kreme soared 39% on Tuesday. The stock was earlier on track for its best day ever.The doughnut chain uses a ""hub and spoke"" model that lets it make and distribute its treats efficiently. Production hubs, which are either stores or doughnut factories, send off freshly made doughnuts every day to retail locations such as grocery stores and gas stations.The partnership with McDonald's is a major opportunity for Krispy Kreme to expand its reach. It delivers its doughnuts to 6,800 third-party stores, as of Dec. 31. McDonald's has roughly 13,500 restaurants in the U.S. and plans to open 900 new locations nationwide by 2027.""We think we can service about 6,000 restaurants with our existing infrastructure, mostly doughnut shops, which have excess capacity,"" Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth told CNBC.Krispy Kreme has also been expanding its capacity so it can deliver fresh doughnuts to the roughly 7,500 McDonald's restaurants that it can't currently reach.While McDonald's is the primary reason the company is expanding its distribution so quickly, Charlesworth said Krispy Kreme will also be using the opportunity to land in grocery and convenience stores that prefer national suppliers.""That means that the overall efficiency and productivity of our distribution network will significantly improve over time, not just because of all those local deliveries,"" he said.Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell. The extra demand from McDonald's and other new customers means its production lines can churn out higher volume with few additional costs.""Overall, therefore, it makes our system more profitable to grow the deliver fresh daily channel, and McDonald's is an accelerator of that,"" Charlesworth said.The two chains' relationship started about a year and a half ago, when McDonald's began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at nine restaurants as a test. Months later, the pilot had expanded to roughly 160 restaurants across Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky. Those initial restaurants will keep selling the doughnuts during the national rollout.Demand from McDonald's customers during the tests exceeded both chains' expectations, according to Charlesworth.For McDonald's, the addition of Krispy Kreme doughnuts helps bolster its bakery and breakfast offerings. The burger chain has been leaning into coffee, a common drink pairing for doughnuts, but trimming other bakery items such as cinnamon rolls from its menu.McDonald's customers will be able to order the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts, either individually or in packs of six. The restaurants will sell the doughnuts all day.In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations. The chain's doughnuts can currently be found in more than 14,100 stores across 39 countries.Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion. As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales.Similar concerns have weighed on McDonald's, although its stock has risen 2% in the past year as consumers trade down to its cheap food and drinks. The company has a market value of $201 billion.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"[""In this articleMcDonald's is planning to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts at its restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026, the chains announced Tuesday."", 'The rollout will start in the second half of this year, but it will take roughly two and a half years as Krispy Kreme more than doubles its distribution to satisfy the partnership.', ""For the duration of the agreement, McDonald's will be the exclusive fast-food partner for Krispy Kreme in the U.S.Shares of Krispy Kreme soared 39% on Tuesday."", 'The stock was earlier on track for its best day ever.', 'The doughnut chain uses a ""hub and spoke"" model that lets it make and distribute its treats efficiently.', 'Production hubs, which are either stores or doughnut factories, send off freshly made doughnuts every day to retail locations such as grocery stores and gas stations.', ""The partnership with McDonald's is a major opportunity for Krispy Kreme to expand its reach."", 'It delivers its doughnuts to 6,800 third-party stores, as of Dec. 31.', 'McDonald\'s has roughly 13,500 restaurants in the U.S. and plans to open 900 new locations nationwide by 2027.""We think we can service about 6,000 restaurants with our existing infrastructure, mostly doughnut shops, which have excess capacity,"" Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth told CNBC.Krispy Kreme has also been expanding its capacity so it can deliver fresh doughnuts to the roughly 7,500 McDonald\'s restaurants that it can\'t currently reach.', ""While McDonald's is the primary reason the company is expanding its distribution so quickly, Charlesworth said Krispy Kreme will also be using the opportunity to land in grocery and convenience stores that prefer national suppliers."", '""That means that the overall efficiency and productivity of our distribution network will significantly improve over time, not just because of all those local deliveries,"" he said.', ""Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell."", ""The extra demand from McDonald's and other new customers means its production lines can churn out higher volume with few additional costs."", '""Overall, therefore, it makes our system more profitable to grow the deliver fresh daily channel, and McDonald\'s is an accelerator of that,"" Charlesworth said.', ""The two chains' relationship started about a year and a half ago, when McDonald's began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at nine restaurants as a test."", 'Months later, the pilot hadexpandedto roughly 160 restaurants across Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky.', 'Those initial restaurants will keep selling the doughnuts during the national rollout.', ""Demand from McDonald's customers during the tests exceeded both chains' expectations, according to Charlesworth."", ""For McDonald's, the addition of Krispy Kreme doughnuts helps bolster its bakery and breakfast offerings."", 'The burger chain has been leaning into coffee, a common drink pairing for doughnuts, but trimming other bakery items such as cinnamon rolls from its menu.', ""McDonald's customers will be able to order the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts, either individually or in packs of six."", 'The restaurants will sell the doughnuts all day.', 'In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations.', ""The chain's doughnuts can currently be found in more than 14,100 stores across 39 countries."", 'Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion.', ""As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales."", ""Similar concerns have weighed on McDonald's, although its stock has risen 2% in the past year as consumers trade down to its cheap food and drinks."", 'The company has a market value of $201 billion.']",0.2322509842203297,"Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell.","As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales.",0.7299659132957459,"In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations.","Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion.",2024-03-28
Papa Johns pizza to shut nearly a tenth of UK sites,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68663844,2024-03-26T08:51:18.000Z,"Pizza chain Papa Johns has said it will close nearly a tenth of its UK restaurants - all of which it says are ""underperforming"". The closures follow a review of the business which identified sites that were ""no longer financially viable"". The chain, which has 450 restaurants plus others in service stations and holiday parks, will close 43 sites but has not said how many jobs will be hit. Separately, Revolution Bars has said it could sell ""all or part of the group"".   Its announcement followed reports that said Revolution could shut about 20 bars, or a roughly a quarter of its outlets.  Announcing the Papa Johns site closures, UK managing director Chris Phylactou said: ""Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process. ""Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available."" The closures are all in England and extend from Harrogate, North Yorkshire to St Helens, Merseyside, Billericay, Essex and Eastbourne, East Sussex.    All of them were ""underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable"", the company said. While other sectors of the hospitality industry have faced serious problems in recent years, takeaway outlets in general are booming, according to consultancy PwC. It said last year, a net 151 chain takeaway shops opened. ""It's a good sector to be in, albeit that there's a lot more competition as others open,"" said PwC senior retail adviser Kien Tan.  ""There's increasing consumer demand for takeaway and for takeaway outlets. If you're trading down from eating out or going out it's more affordable than going out for the evening."" Papa Johns had previously said it planned ""strategic closures"" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites. It plans to expand further into non-traditional sites like holiday parks and the chain said it would ""announce other large retail partners in the coming months"". US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was ""committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term"".  Revolution Bars, which also owns Revolucion de Cuba, said that following a period of ""external challenges"" which had hit trading it was ""actively exploring all the strategic options available to it to improve the future prospects of the group"".  This could include restructuring parts of the group or a sale of ""all or part of"" the group, it said. Revolution also said it was talking to ""key shareholders"" and other investors about raising extra funds. When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder. Earlier this month, figures showed there was a rise in new retail outlets opened last year, dominated by coffee drive-throughs, bubble tea shops and fast food restaurants, mostly located outside city centres. But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK. So far this year, the Body Shop and night club chain Pryzm have already run into difficulties, announcing the closure of sites. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Pizza chain Papa Johns has said it will close nearly a tenth of its UK restaurants - all of which it says are ""underperforming"".', 'The closures follow a review of the business which identified sites that were ""no longer financially viable"".', 'The chain, which has 450 restaurants plus others in service stations and holiday parks, will close 43 sites but has not said how many jobs will be hit.', 'Separately, Revolution Bars has said it could sell ""all or part of the group"".', 'Its announcement followed reports that said Revolution could shut about 20 bars, or a roughly a quarter of its outlets.', 'Announcing the Papa Johns site closures, UK managing director Chris Phylactou said: ""Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process. ""', 'Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available.""', 'The closures are all in England and extend from Harrogate, North Yorkshire to St Helens, Merseyside, Billericay, Essex and Eastbourne, East Sussex.', 'All of them were ""underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable"", the company said.', 'While other sectors of the hospitality industry have faced serious problems in recent years, takeaway outlets in general are booming, according to consultancy PwC. It said last year, a net 151 chain takeaway shops opened. ""', 'It\'s a good sector to be in, albeit that there\'s a lot more competition as others open,"" said PwC senior retail adviser Kien Tan. ""', ""There's increasing consumer demand for takeaway and for takeaway outlets."", 'If you\'re trading down from eating out or going out it\'s more affordable than going out for the evening.""', 'Papa Johns had previously said it planned ""strategic closures"" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.', 'It plans to expand further into non-traditional sites like holiday parks and the chain said it would ""announce other large retail partners in the coming months"".', 'US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was ""committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term"".', 'Revolution Bars, which also owns Revolucion de Cuba, said that following a period of ""external challenges"" which had hit trading it was ""actively exploring all the strategic options available to it to improve the future prospects of the group"".', 'This could include restructuring parts of the group or a sale of ""all or part of"" the group, it said.', 'Revolution also said it was talking to ""key shareholders"" and other investors about raising extra funds.', 'When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder.', 'Earlier this month, figures showed there was a rise in new retail outlets opened last year, dominated by coffee drive-throughs, bubble tea shops and fast food restaurants, mostly located outside city centres.', 'But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK.', 'So far this year, the Body Shop and night club chain Pryzm have already run into difficulties, announcing the closure of sites.']",0.1123842760171208,"Papa Johns had previously said it planned ""strategic closures"" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.","When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder.",0.0878363966941833,"US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was ""committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term"".","But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK.",2024-03-28
Nelson Peltz withholds votes from Disney CEO Bob Iger in proxy battle,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/nelson-peltz-withholds-votes-from-disney-ceo-bob-iger-in-proxy-battle.html,2024-03-25T14:22:59+0000,"In this articleNelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management withheld its votes from Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger when voting its shares in the bitter proxy battle the asset management firm is waging against the entertainment giant, according to sources who monitor the situation.The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board.In recent weeks, Disney has stepped up its attacks on Trian and Peltz. ""Correcting Trian's Fact With Fiction"" was the headline of a recent investor presentation from Disney, over a picture of Pinocchio with a growing nose.""Disney is stupid because I'm not trying to fire Bob Iger, I want to help him,"" Peltz recently told the Financial Times. ""We don't fire CEOs.""When asked for comment, a Trian spokesperson directed CNBC to a press release repeating its proxy recommendations and stating that Trian supports Iger as a candidate for the board and as CEO.Withholding its votes from Iger, however, is hardly a supportive move of his leadership, and it raises questions about how toxic of an environment the boardroom would be if Peltz is elected to the Disney board next month.Disney has nominated a slate of 12 directors, including Iger. Trian is officially recommending shareholders vote for Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and to withhold votes for Disney nominees Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman, who are current board members.Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle. The Disney board meeting will be held April 3, and Trian could change its vote between now and then.",CNBC,25/03/2024,"[""In this articleNelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management withheld its votes from Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger when voting its shares in the bitter proxy battle the asset management firm is waging against the entertainment giant, according to sources who monitor the situation."", 'The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.', ""However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board."", 'In recent weeks, Disney has stepped up its attacks on Trian and Peltz. ""', 'Correcting Trian\'s Fact With Fiction"" was the headline of a recent investor presentation from Disney, over a picture of Pinocchio with a growing nose.', '""Disney is stupid because I\'m not trying to fire Bob Iger, I want to help him,"" Peltz recently told the Financial Times. ""', ""We don't fire CEOs."", '""When asked for comment, a Trian spokesperson directed CNBC to a press release repeating its proxy recommendations and stating that Trian supports Iger as a candidate for the board and as CEO.Withholding its votes from Iger, however, is hardly a supportive move of his leadership, and it raises questions about how toxic of an environment the boardroom would be if Peltz is elected to the Disney board next month.', 'Disney has nominated a slate of 12 directors, including Iger.', 'Trian is officially recommending shareholders vote for Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and to withhold votes for Disney nominees Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman, who are current board members.', 'Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle.', 'The Disney board meeting will be held April 3, and Trian could change its vote between now and then.']",0.0365678119739758,"Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle.","The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.",-0.8371050159136454,,"However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board.",2024-03-28
Boeing CEO to step down in broad management shake-up as 737 Max crisis weighs on aerospace giant,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/boeing-ceo-board-chair-commercial-head-out-737-max-crisis.html,2024-03-26T11:44:51+0000,"In this articleBoeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant.Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for reelection at Boeing's annual meeting in May, Boeing said Monday. He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and is a former CEO of Qualcomm. Mollenkopf will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said.And Stan Deal, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, is leaving the company effective immediately. Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services.The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes. Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.""As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing,"" Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. ""We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years,"" he wrote.Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday that the decision to resign was ""100%"" his own.""We have another mountain to climb,"" Calhoun said. ""Let's not avoid the call for action. Let's not avoid the changes that we have to make in our factory. Let's not avoid the need to slow down a bit and let the supply chain catch up.""Calhoun, a more than decade-long board member at Boeing, took the top job in January 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes. In 2021, Boeing's board extended the CEO's mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70, a vote of confidence in Calhoun, who turns 67 next month.For months Calhoun has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad quality struggles under control. The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing, and agency Administrator Mike Whitaker after the Alaska Airlines accident said Boeing will be barred from increasing 737 production until the FAA is satisfied with the company's quality control.Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans. CEOs of some of the company's largest customers, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have publicly complained about the delays.Ryanair, Boeing's largest airline customer in Europe, said in a statement Monday it welcomes the management changes.""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years, but he's not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that's where most of the problems have been in recent years,"" Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said in a video posted to social media platform X.United's CEO, Scott Kirby, earlier this month said he urged Boeing to stop making yet-to-be-certified Max 10 planes for the company because it wasn't clear when the FAA would clear those aircraft to fly.Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes. The meetings were to include Kellner and one or more other board members. Those meetings will go ahead with Mollenkopf, according to people familiar with the matter.Also last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at an industry conference that Boeing would burn more cash than expected because of limited 737 Max production.Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements. Its shares are down more than 26% so far this year.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleBoeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant.', ""Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for reelection at Boeing's annual meeting in May, Boeing said Monday."", 'He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and is a former CEO of Qualcomm.', 'Mollenkopf will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said.', ""And Stan Deal, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, is leaving the company effective immediately."", ""Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services."", 'The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes.', 'Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.', '""As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing,"" Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. ""', 'We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency.', 'We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.', '""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years,"" he wrote.', 'Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday that the decision to resign was ""100%"" his own.', '""We have another mountain to climb,"" Calhoun said. ""', ""Let's not avoid the call for action."", ""Let's not avoid the changes that we have to make in our factory."", ""Let's not avoid the need to slow down a bit and let the supply chain catch up."", '""Calhoun, a more than decade-long board member at Boeing, took the top job in January 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes.', ""In 2021, Boeing's board extended the CEO's mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70, a vote of confidence in Calhoun, who turns 67 next month."", 'For months Calhoun has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad quality struggles under control.', ""The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing, and agency Administrator Mike Whitaker after the Alaska Airlines accident said Boeing will be barred from increasing 737 production until the FAA is satisfied with the company's quality control."", ""Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans."", ""CEOs of some of the company's largest customers, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have publicly complained about the delays."", ""Ryanair, Boeing's largest airline customer in Europe, said in a statement Monday it welcomes the management changes."", '""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years, but he\'s not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that\'s where most of the problems have been in recent years,"" Ryanair CEO Michael O\'Leary said in a video posted to social media platform X.United\'s CEO, Scott Kirby, earlier this month said he urged Boeing to stop making yet-to-be-certified Max 10 planes for the company because it wasn\'t clear when the FAA would clear those aircraft to fly.', 'Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes.', 'The meetings were to include Kellner and one or more other board members.', 'Those meetings will go ahead with Mollenkopf, according to people familiar with the matter.', 'Also last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at an industry conference that Boeing would burn more cash than expected because of limited 737 Max production.', ""Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements."", 'Its shares are down more than 26% so far this year.']",0.0524294792326706,We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.,"Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes.",-0.1909587581952413,Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements.,Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans.,2024-03-28
'We need someone to fix Boeing.' Here's who could replace Calhoun as the troubled plane maker's CEO,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/boeing-ceo-who-could-replace-calhoun.html,2024-03-26T14:28:20+0000,"In this articleHelp wanted at Boeing.CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday announced he is stepping down from the aerospace giant's top post at year's end as the company struggles with a safety and production quality crisis tied to its bestselling airplane, the 737 Max. Boeing said it will begin a search for Calhoun's replacement.Boeing also announced Monday it's replacing board Chair Larry Kellner and the chief executive of its all-important commercial airplanes unit, Stan Deal.Calhoun told CNBC on Monday that the decision to retire was ""100%"" his own and that he would be involved in finding his successor. His departure isn't much of a surprise given the struggles of the last few months.Boeing's customers had grown frustrated under Calhoun's watch as they faced the fallout from recurring quality issues that span programs like the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the two 747s that will serve as Air Force One aircraft.""We need someone to fix Boeing,"" one major airline executive, who wasn't authorized to speak to the media, told CNBC after Boeing announced the management shake-up Monday. ""They unequivocally needed a change.""With supply chain issues, quality lapses and more regulator scrutiny in the wake of a panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, airplane deliveries are arriving late, and airline executives say the problems have forced them to change their growth and fleet plans.Executives at Boeing's customers told CNBC they want the company's new leader to have manufacturing acumen, expertise in the highly regulated and technical world of aviation, and, perhaps most difficult of all, the ability to rally Boeing's employees and ensure a culture of safety, consistency and innovation.""This is going to be a challenging role to fill. You're going to need someone with a huge amount of energy and commitment,"" said John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease, a major buyer of Boeing planes that leases them to airlines. ""You don't want somebody for two years. You want someone at the head of the ship for as long as possible.""The next boss at Boeing will have to contend not just with the company's internal struggles but lost market share to rival Airbus. Meanwhile, China has been pushing ahead with building its own commercial aircraft.""I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long-cycled business like ours,"" Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday while announcing his departure. ""It's not just the production of the airplane. It's the development of the next airplane. Our next lead is going to develop ... the next airplane for the Boeing company.""Financial analysts applauded the amount of time Boeing is giving itself to find Calhoun's replacement. Four-year Boeing board member Steve Mollenkopf, an ex-Qualcomm CEO who will take over as independent chairman of the board, will lead the search.""It provides leadership continuity, which a knee-jerk change would not, and CEO Dave Calhoun clearly is on board with the need to bolster safety,"" said TD Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr, in a note Monday.While Boeing didn't comment on its top candidates, here's who some aviation experts say could potentially lead Boeing:General Electric CEO Larry Culp is ""probably at the top of the list for a Boeing CEO,"" said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, an aviation consulting firm.Culp is set to head the aviation unit of GE that is about to spin off, a company that makes and overhauls engines that power both Boeing and rival Airbus planes. Culp has led a turnaround for the conglomerate and oversaw the split of the company.""The relationship with Boeing has never been stronger,"" Culp told reporters earlier this month at an investor event. ""Clearly, 2024 hasn't played out the way they would have liked let alone the way we would have liked. We're trying to support them in every possible way.""But Culp is focusing on GE's aerospace unit as a stand-alone company, a GE spokesperson said in response to questions about a potential future for him at Boeing.Pat Shanahan, the interim CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, is another possibility, Aboulafia said.A three-decade Boeing veteran, Shanahan was appointed last October to head the Boeing supplier, which makes fuselages for the company's 737 Max and other parts, as Spirit dealt with its own quality problems that have spilled over to Boeing.Boeing is in talks to buy Spirit, bringing the fuselage manufacturer back in-house after spinning it off almost two decades ago. A reunion could naturally slot Shanahan in as chief executive of the merged company.""Mr. Shanahan remains solely focused on driving a zero-defects culture across all aspects of Spirit AeroSystems,"" Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino told CNBC on Monday.Aboulafia also mentioned Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin, who serves on Boeing's board.Gitlin has experience in aviation, previously working as president and chief operating officer at Collins Aerospace. Aviation experts have said said someone with a strong background in manufacturing and operations would be needed.Carrier did not respond to a request for comment.Stephanie Pope, who was recently promoted to chief operating officer after serving as head of Boeing's global services unit, is the most obvious internal option to succeed Calhoun. (Former Boeing CFO Greg Smith retired from the company in 2021. He was also seen as a possible successor.)But Pope will take over from Deal, who is retiring from his post as head of Boeing's commercial airplane division. And one aviation executive questioned why Boeing wouldn't have announced her appointment on Monday if she were the choice.The ""management changes are geared to institutionalize a priority on safety throughout the company by bringing in new blood,"" TD Cowen's von Rumohr wrote.— CNBC's Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleHelp wanted at Boeing.', ""CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday announced he is stepping down from the aerospace giant's top post at year's end as the company struggles with a safety and production quality crisis tied to its bestselling airplane, the 737 Max."", ""Boeing said it will begin a search for Calhoun's replacement."", ""Boeing also announced Monday it's replacing board Chair Larry Kellner and the chief executive of its all-important commercial airplanes unit, Stan Deal."", 'Calhoun told CNBC on Monday that the decision to retire was ""100%"" his own and that he would be involved in finding his successor.', ""His departure isn't much of a surprise given the struggles of the last few months."", ""Boeing's customers had grown frustrated under Calhoun's watch as they faced the fallout from recurring quality issues that span programs like the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the two 747s that will serve as Air Force One aircraft."", '""We need someone to fix Boeing,"" one major airline executive, whowasn\'tauthorized to speak to the media, told CNBC after Boeing announced the management shake-up Monday. ""', 'They unequivocally needed a change.', '""With supply chain issues, quality lapses and more regulator scrutiny in the wake of a panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, airplane deliveries are arriving late, and airline executives say the problems have forced them to change their growth and fleet plans.', ""Executives at Boeing's customers told CNBC they want the company's new leader to have manufacturing acumen, expertise in the highly regulated and technical world of aviation, and, perhaps most difficult of all, the ability to rally Boeing's employees and ensure a culture of safety, consistency and innovation."", '""This is going to be a challenging role to fill.', 'You\'re going to need someone with a huge amount of energy and commitment,"" said John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease, a major buyer of Boeing planes that leases them to airlines. ""', ""You don't want somebody for two years."", 'You want someone at the head of the ship for as long as possible.', '""The next boss at Boeing will have to contend not just with the company\'s internal struggles but lost market share to rival Airbus.', 'Meanwhile, China has been pushing ahead with building its own commercial aircraft.', '""I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long-cycled business like ours,"" Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday while announcing his departure. ""', ""It's not just the production of the airplane."", ""It's the development of the next airplane."", 'Our next lead is going to develop ... the next airplane for the Boeing company.', '""Financial analysts applauded the amount of time Boeing is giving itself to find Calhoun\'s replacement.', 'Four-year Boeing board member Steve Mollenkopf, an ex-QualcommCEO who will take over as independent chairman of the board, will lead the search.', '""It provides leadership continuity, which a knee-jerk change would not, and CEO Dave Calhoun clearly is on board with the need to bolster safety,"" said TD Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr, in a note Monday.', 'While Boeing didn\'t comment on its top candidates,here\'s who some aviation experts say could potentially lead Boeing:General Electric CEO Larry Culp is ""probably at the top of the list for a Boeing CEO,"" said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, an aviation consulting firm.', 'Culp is set to head the aviation unit of GE that is about to spin off, a company that makes and overhauls engines that power both Boeing and rival Airbus planes.', 'Culp has led a turnaround for the conglomerate and oversaw the split of the company.', '""The relationship with Boeing has never been stronger,"" Culp told reporters earlier this month at an investor event. ""', ""Clearly, 2024 hasn't played out the way they would have liked let alone the way we would have liked."", ""We're trying to support them in every possible way."", '""But Culp is focusing on GE\'s aerospace unit as a stand-alone company, a GE spokesperson said in response to questions about a potential future for him at Boeing.', 'Pat Shanahan, the interim CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, is another possibility, Aboulafia said.', ""A three-decade Boeing veteran, Shanahan was appointed last October to head the Boeing supplier, which makes fuselages for the company's 737 Max and other parts, as Spirit dealt with its own quality problems that have spilled over to Boeing."", 'Boeing is in talks to buy Spirit, bringing the fuselage manufacturer back in-house after spinning it off almost two decades ago.', 'A reunion could naturally slot Shanahan in as chief executive of the merged company.', '""Mr.', 'Shanahan remains solely focused on driving a zero-defects culture across all aspects of Spirit AeroSystems,"" Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino told CNBC on Monday.', ""Aboulafia also mentioned Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin, who serves on Boeing's board."", 'Gitlin has experience in aviation, previously working as president and chief operating officer at Collins Aerospace.', 'Aviation experts have said said someone with a strong background in manufacturing and operations would be needed.', 'Carrier did not respond to a request for comment.', ""Stephanie Pope, who was recently promoted to chief operating officer after serving as head of Boeing's global services unit, is the most obvious internal option to succeed Calhoun. ("", 'Former Boeing CFO Greg Smith retired from the company in 2021.', ""He was also seen as a possible successor.)But Pope will take over from Deal, who is retiring from his post as head of Boeing's commercial airplane division."", ""And one aviation executive questioned why Boeing wouldn't have announced her appointment on Monday if she were the choice."", 'The ""management changes are geared to institutionalize a priority on safety throughout the company by bringing in new blood,"" TD Cowen\'s von Rumohr wrote.—', ""CNBC's Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.""]",0.1067049956915602,"Clearly, 2024 hasn't played out the way they would have liked let alone the way we would have liked.","""With supply chain issues, quality lapses and more regulator scrutiny in the wake of a panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, airplane deliveries are arriving late, and airline executives say the problems have forced them to change their growth and fleet plans.",0.0447759303179654,"""The relationship with Boeing has never been stronger,"" Culp told reporters earlier this month at an investor event. ""","Boeing's customers had grown frustrated under Calhoun's watch as they faced the fallout from recurring quality issues that span programs like the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the two 747s that will serve as Air Force One aircraft.",2024-03-28
Could AI take the grind out of accountancy?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68553123,2024-03-26T00:24:13.000Z,"Owen Hewitt, is a trainee chartered accountant at accountancy firm haysmacintyre. He's two years into his training with more exams coming up this year.  What's unusual about him and his peers, is that they will be the first generation of accountants to use artificial intelligence (AI) right from the beginning of their careers. Mr Hewitt is hoping that AI will take over some of the more tedious parts of the job. ""These (AI) can remove the burden of the more time-consuming tasks, like analysis of financial data,"" says Mr Hewitt. That leaves the humans to focus on more subjective - and more interesting - decisions, like whether a business is viable, or whether debts are likely to be paid. ""Whilst AI can learn from data and make predictions, it can't yet replace the human judgement required to weigh up different variables and make an informed decision,"" he says. So, AI is increasingly being used for routine and time-consuming tasks such as summarising documents, creating content, drafting documentation, advanced searching, analytics and insight and knowledge management - often work done by more junior accountancy staff. ""When you look at some of the tasks that auditors were doing - some of the boring, mundane tasks around churning data and manipulating it into a format where you can then actually do something valuable with it - that's where artificial intelligence can play a really big part,"" says Matthew Campbell, audit chief technology officer for KPMG UK. Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs. According to a KPMG survey, four in 10 senior audit professionals expect that the increased efficiency that AI can bring will lead to a reduction in the size of auditing teams. Already, many manual audit and reporting tasks have been outsourced to other countries, with most major banks in the UK now having taken on large numbers of qualified accountants in India, who perform a significant proportion of month-end financial reporting tasks. This, says Alex King, founder and chartered accountant at finance platform Generation Money, means that junior accountants working in audit will need to focus more on client-facing skills. ""Generally, the nature of a junior accountant's role is likely to change more towards systems management - overseeing AI powered software and databases - and relationship management, and away from the traditional reconciliations and ledgers work,"" he says. As a result, training programmes are changing. ""We're still recruiting a number of people, graduates, and we're also recruiting a number of apprentices. I think what will change over time is the skillsets of some of those individuals,"" says Mr Campbell. ""We're already starting to see that, so we've invested in putting a number of our auditors through a master's degree in applied data science, so they can take that auditing and accounting knowledge with their data science skills knowledge, to really bring the best of those skills together."" The accountancy industry has seen some high-profile failures in recent years. In March, KPMG was fined £1.5m for failings in its 2019 audit of advertising agency M&C Saatchi. And it's not alone in making errors. Last summer, a report from the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) found that four in 10 audits conducted by global accounting firms had significant flaws, and that the proportion was rising rapidly. Meanwhile, the UK's accountancy regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), carried out 19 investigations in the 2022-2023 financial year, slapping fines of £40.5 million on auditing firms and their clients for audit failings. As a result, auditing firms are now under great scrutiny; and to tighten up their procedures, many are turning to AI. ""As generative AI plays a more prominent role in contributing to first drafts of content, the human auditor role can be elevated to focus on areas of judgment and challenge,"" says Marc Bena, digital audit leader at PwC UK. ""The ability to analyse data at a much larger scale also means we can perform better risk assessments and analysis."" AI is particularly good at spotting anomalies in vast amounts of data, making it useful when examining what may amount to billions of transactions by a client. KPMG itself uses AI for high-risk transactions to look for such anomalies, such as the posting of unusual amounts, postings made by somebody unusual or postings made at a weekend. ""We get to a point where it's a truly data-driven audit, where we identify the risks from within a population of data and use that to help focus our audit efforts on the most complex, the high-risk, the most judgmental areas,"" says Mr Campbell. More technology of business As for more high-level jobs, AI may help here too. Auditing firms have been finding it hard to retain talent, with 90% of auditors telling Caseware last year that it is either somewhat or extremely difficult. Overall, auditing job vacancies rose during the last year by a quarter, according to a survey from automation platform DataSnipper. However, 86% of auditing staff agreed that AI helps cut down time on repetitive task - and 83% said they'd be more inclined to stay at a company with AI initiatives in place. ""They can get through some of the laborious, time-intensive tasks to actually get into the value of doing the analysis, the output and the interpretation,"" says Mr Campbell. ""The bits of their role that it's taking away is stuff that they weren't enjoying."" ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Owen Hewitt, is a trainee chartered accountant at accountancy firm haysmacintyre.', ""He's two years into his training with more exams coming up this year."", ""What's unusual about him and his peers, is that they will be the first generation of accountants to use artificial intelligence (AI) right from the beginning of their careers."", 'Mr Hewitt is hoping that AI will take over some of the more tedious parts of the job. ""', 'These (AI) can remove the burden of the more time-consuming tasks, like analysis of financial data,"" says Mr Hewitt.', 'That leaves the humans to focus on more subjective - and more interesting - decisions, like whether a business is viable, or whether debts are likely to be paid. ""', 'Whilst AI can learn from data and make predictions, it can\'t yet replace the human judgement required to weigh up different variables and make an informed decision,"" he says.', 'So, AI is increasingly being used for routine and time-consuming tasks such as summarising documents, creating content, drafting documentation, advanced searching, analytics and insight and knowledge management - often work done by more junior accountancy staff. ""', 'When you look at some of the tasks that auditors were doing - some of the boring, mundane tasks around churning data and manipulating it into a format where you can then actually do something valuable with it - that\'s where artificial intelligence can play a really big part,"" says Matthew Campbell, audit chief technology officer for KPMG UK.', ""Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs."", 'According to a KPMG survey, four in 10 senior audit professionals expect that the increased efficiency that AI can bring will lead to a reduction in the size of auditing teams.', 'Already, many manual audit and reporting tasks have been outsourced to other countries, with most major banks in the UK now having taken on large numbers of qualified accountants in India, who perform a significant proportion of month-end financial reporting tasks.', 'This, says Alex King, founder and chartered accountant at finance platform Generation Money, means that junior accountants working in audit will need to focus more on client-facing skills. ""', 'Generally, the nature of a junior accountant\'s role is likely to change more towards systems management - overseeing AI powered software and databases - and relationship management, and away from the traditional reconciliations and ledgers work,"" he says.', 'As a result, training programmes are changing. ""', ""We're still recruiting a number of people, graduates, and we're also recruiting a number of apprentices."", 'I think what will change over time is the skillsets of some of those individuals,"" says Mr Campbell. ""', 'We\'re already starting to see that, so we\'ve invested in putting a number of our auditors through a master\'s degree in applied data science, so they can take that auditing and accounting knowledge with their data science skills knowledge, to really bring the best of those skills together.""', 'The accountancy industry has seen some high-profile failures in recent years.', 'In March, KPMG was fined £1.5m for failings in its 2019 audit of advertising agency M&C Saatchi.', ""And it's not alone in making errors."", 'Last summer, a report from the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) found that four in 10 audits conducted by global accounting firms had significant flaws, and that the proportion was rising rapidly.', ""Meanwhile, the UK's accountancy regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), carried out 19 investigations in the 2022-2023 financial year, slapping fines of £40.5 million on auditing firms and their clients for audit failings."", 'As a result, auditing firms are now under great scrutiny; and to tighten up their procedures, many are turning to AI. ""', 'As generative AI plays a more prominent role in contributing to first drafts of content, the human auditor role can be elevated to focus on areas of judgment and challenge,"" says Marc Bena, digital audit leader at PwC UK. ""', 'The ability to analyse data at a much larger scale also means we can perform better risk assessments and analysis.""', 'AI is particularly good at spotting anomalies in vast amounts of data, making it useful when examining what may amount to billions of transactions by a client.', 'KPMG itself uses AI for high-risk transactions to look for such anomalies, such as the posting of unusual amounts, postings made by somebody unusual or postings made at a weekend. ""', 'We get to a point where it\'s a truly data-driven audit, where we identify the risks from within a population of data and use that to help focus our audit efforts on the most complex, the high-risk, the most judgmental areas,"" says Mr Campbell.', 'More technology of business As for more high-level jobs, AI may help here too.', 'Auditing firms have been finding it hard to retain talent, with 90% of auditors telling Caseware last year that it is either somewhat or extremely difficult.', 'Overall, auditing job vacancies rose during the last year by a quarter, according to a survey from automation platform DataSnipper.', 'However, 86% of auditing staff agreed that AI helps cut down time on repetitive task - and 83% said they\'d be more inclined to stay at a company with AI initiatives in place. ""', 'They can get through some of the laborious, time-intensive tasks to actually get into the value of doing the analysis, the output and the interpretation,"" says Mr Campbell. ""', 'The bits of their role that it\'s taking away is stuff that they weren\'t enjoying.""']",0.1626808889918358,"AI is particularly good at spotting anomalies in vast amounts of data, making it useful when examining what may amount to billions of transactions by a client.","Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs.",0.3071962833404541,"Overall, auditing job vacancies rose during the last year by a quarter, according to a survey from automation platform DataSnipper.","Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs.",2024-03-28
"Here's how much people are willing to spend on weight loss drugs, according to a new survey",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/23/weight-loss-drug-cost-how-much-people-are-willing-to-spend.html,2024-03-23T14:11:27+0000,"In this articleDemand for weight loss drugs is booming in the U.S. despite their limited insurance coverage and roughly $1,000 monthly price tags before discounts. But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.That's according to a recent survey from Evercore ISI focused on GLP-1s, a new class of medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, the firm surveyed more than 600 participants who are currently taking a GLP-1, considering the therapy or have taken it in the past but no longer do. The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.GLP-1s include Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, along with Eli Lilly's popular weight loss treatment Zepbound and diabetes injection Mounjaro. A monthly package of a GLP-1 costs between $900 and $1,350 before insurance and other rebates. Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have savings programs that aim to reduce out-of-pocket costs for weight loss drugs, regardless of whether a patient has commercial insurance coverage. The majority — nearly 60% — of people surveyed with annual incomes of more than $250,000 said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is more than $300 per month. Only about 4% of people with annual incomes of less than $75,000 said the same thing. Of that group, 64% said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is $50 per month or less. The maximum people currently on a GLP-1 said they are willing to pay out of pocket per month was roughly in line with what they actually paid for treatment, according to the survey. The highest price respondents would accept paying skewed lower among those who used to take a GLP-1 or are thinking of taking the drug. More than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket. Nearly 75% of those who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount. A small share of both groups paid more than $750 out of pocket per month for a GLP-1.The survey also asked respondents how long they stayed on the drugs.Notably, more than 80% of those who used to take a treatment were only on a therapy for 12 months or less. Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.That premature stoppage by some patients is one concern of certain insurers hesitant to cover them.Still, nearly half of people who are currently taking GLP-1s said they intend to stay on the drugs permanently. Only 10% of those thinking of taking a treatment said the same thing. Of that group, more than 70% said they intend to stay on a GLP-1 until they reach their weight loss goal.The survey also asked participants whether they would restart taking a GLP-1 if they regain weight after stopping the drug. The majority of patients across all groups — those currently on a GLP-1, thinking of it, or who used to take one — said ""yes."" Among those who used to take a GLP-1, 42% said they gained ""some"" weight back after stopping treatment. Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back. Another 23% said they remained at a lower weight after stopping the drug.That weight regain is consistent with what has been observed in some clinical trials on drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.Another part of the survey asked participants about whether taking a GLP-1 affected their eating and drinking habits. More than 70% of respondents reporting eating less when taking a GLP-1, regardless of whether they have pre-existing conditions. That refers to other health problems, such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.The survey finding is no surprise: GLP-1s work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and regulate blood sugar. Some treatments, such as Zepbound, mimic more than one gut hormone.More than half of those without preexisting conditions said they drank less alcohol when taking a GLP-1. Around 27% said the treatment had no effect on their alcohol consumption, while 22% said they abstain from drinking. A greater share — 51% — of those with preexisting conditions said they abstain from alcohol. The remainder said they consumed less alcohol when taking a GLP-1. Several studies have demonstrated that certain GLP-1s curb alcohol intake in rodents and monkeys. But more research is needed in humans.-- CNBC's Gabriel Cortés contributed to this report",CNBC,23/03/2024,"['In this articleDemand for weight loss drugs is booming in the U.S. despite their limited insurance coverage and roughly $1,000 monthly price tags before discounts.', 'But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.', ""That's according to a recent survey from Evercore ISI focused on GLP-1s, a new class of medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity."", 'Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, the firm surveyed more than 600 participants who are currently taking a GLP-1, considering the therapy or have taken it in the past but no longer do.', 'The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.', ""GLP-1s include Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, along with Eli Lilly's popular weight loss treatment Zepbound and diabetes injection Mounjaro."", 'A monthly package of a GLP-1 costs between $900 and $1,350 before insurance and other rebates.', 'Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have savings programs that aim to reduce out-of-pocket costs for weight loss drugs, regardless of whether a patient has commercial insurance coverage.', 'The majority — nearly 60% — of people surveyed with annual incomes of more than $250,000 said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is more than $300 per month.', 'Only about 4% of people with annual incomes of less than $75,000 said the same thing.', 'Of that group, 64% said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is $50 per month or less.', 'The maximum people currently on a GLP-1 said they are willing to pay out of pocket per month was roughly in line with what they actually paid for treatment, according to the survey.', 'The highest price respondents would accept paying skewed lower among those who used to take a GLP-1 or are thinking of taking the drug.', 'More than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket.', 'Nearly 75% of those who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount.', 'A small share of both groups paid more than $750 out of pocket per month for a GLP-1.The survey also asked respondents how long they stayed on the drugs.', 'Notably, more than 80% of those who used to take a treatment were only on a therapy for 12 months or less.', 'Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.', 'That premature stoppage by some patients is one concern of certain insurers hesitant to cover them.', 'Still, nearly half of people who are currently taking GLP-1s said they intend to stay on the drugs permanently.', 'Only 10% of those thinking of taking a treatment said the same thing.', 'Of that group, more than 70% said they intend to stay on a GLP-1 until they reach their weight loss goal.', 'The survey also asked participants whether they would restart taking a GLP-1 if they regain weight after stopping the drug.', 'The majority of patients across all groups — those currently on a GLP-1, thinking of it, or who used to take one — said ""yes.', '""Among those who used to take a GLP-1, 42% said they gained ""some"" weight back after stopping treatment.', 'Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back.', 'Another 23% said they remained at a lower weight after stopping the drug.', 'That weight regain is consistent with what has been observed in some clinical trials on drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.', 'Another part of the survey asked participants about whether taking a GLP-1 affected their eating and drinking habits.', 'More than 70% of respondents reporting eating less when taking a GLP-1, regardless of whether they have pre-existing conditions.', 'That refers to other health problems, such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.', ""The survey finding is no surprise: GLP-1s work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and regulate blood sugar."", 'Some treatments, such as Zepbound, mimic more than one gut hormone.', 'More than half of those without preexisting conditions said they drank less alcohol when taking a GLP-1.', 'Around 27% said the treatment had no effect on their alcohol consumption, while 22% said they abstain from drinking.', 'A greater share — 51% — of those with preexisting conditions said they abstain from alcohol.', 'The remainder said they consumed less alcohol when taking a GLP-1.Several studies have demonstrated that certain GLP-1s curb alcohol intake in rodents and monkeys.', ""But more research is needed in humans.-- CNBC's Gabriel Cortés contributed to this report""]",0.0154064542037785,But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.,"Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.",0.2664940953254699,"Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back.",The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.,2024-03-28
Why a small China-made EV has global auto execs and politicians on edge,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/byd-seagull-ev-puts-global-auto-execs-politicians-on-edge.html,2024-03-26T18:44:16+0000,"In this articleLIVONIA, Mich. – A small electric vehicle is having a big impact on the global automotive industry.It's not the EV itself that's making waves but its price — and its potential to disrupt domestic auto industries around the world.The China-built BYD Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000), and reportedly banks a profit for the increasingly influential Chinese automaker.That latter point — EV profits where U.S. automakers have mostly failed to turn any — combined with the expansion of Chinese automakers into Europe, Latin America and elsewhere has automotive executives and politicians, from Detroit and Texas to Germany and Japan, on edge.The Seagull could be a ""clarion call for the rest of the auto industry,"" said Terry Woychowski, a former General Motors executive who now serves as president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global. ""It's a significant event.""Though the Seagull isn't yet sold on U.S. soil, BYD is expanding its vehicles globally, and some believe it's only a matter of time before more China-made vehicles arrive in the U.S.There's fear among global automakers that Chinese rivals like the Warren Buffett-backed BYD could flood their markets, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices to the detriment of their own auto industries.""The introduction of cheap Chinese autos — which are so inexpensive because they are backed with the power and funding of the Chinese government — to the American market could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector,"" the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a U.S. manufacturing advocacy group, said in a report last month.BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020. That sales growth was enough to surpass Tesla to become the world's largest producer of electric vehicles in late 2023.The rise of BYD and other Chinese automakers led Tesla CEO Elon Musk in January to warn that Chinese automakers will ""demolish"" global rivals without trade barriers.Bernstein reports BYD's growth, including sales of non-EVs, has come by shipping more vehicles outside China: Overseas markets accounted for about 10% of BYD's more than 3 million sales last year, doubling that share from the beginning of the year.BYD did not respond for a request for comment.Driving the Seagull is no different than driving the Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf or BMW i3. It accelerates quickly. It's quiet. It has nice-looking screens and a mix of plastic and soft touch points, including sporty and comfortable seats.The Seagull, also known as the BYD Dolphin Mini in Latin America, is slightly smaller than GM's now-discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV.Its reported range of up to roughly 190 miles on a single charge (or 250 miles for certain models), is below that of many EVs on sale today in the U.S. but in line with many first-generation all-electric vehicles. The vehicle's top speed of about 80 mph and just 74 horsepower dwindle in comparison with most EVs currently on sale in the U.S.But its primary differences come in the construction, batteries and sourcing of parts, according to Caresoft.The consulting firm tore apart the BYD Seagull piece by piece to benchmark the small EV against vehicles from other startups and traditional automakers. The Livonia, Michigan-based company, with several offices across the globe, has torn down and benchmarked more than 30 China-built EVs from the likes of BYD, Nio, XPENG and others.Caresoft digitally and physically analyzes every part of a vehicle, from bolts and latches to seats, motors and battery casings. It then determines how its clients – mainly automakers and suppliers – can improve efficiencies and cut costs in their products.Its initial study of the BYD Seagull found it to be efficiently and simplistically designed, engineered and executed, but with unexpected quality and anticipated reliability.""What they did do is done very well,"" Woychowski said. ""It's efficiently done.""For the price it's a well-equipped vehicle. (BYD even lowered the starting price of the vehicle by 5% earlier this month, down from a roughly $11,000 price earlier this year.)Despite the cheap price, the company still makes ""some money"" on the Seagull or at a minimum breaks even, Caresoft CEO Mathew Vachaparampil said during an automotive conference hosted by the Chicago Federal Reserve in January.For BYD to sell the Seagull in the U.S., it would have to meet U.S. federal vehicle requirements that would add additional costs to the car. But the EV could likely still arrive on U.S. shores for tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than the current average price of an EV in the U.S., which Cox Automotive reports is more than $52,000.BYD last month announced it would begin selling the Seagull/Dolphin Mini EV in Mexico for 358,800 pesos (or about $20,990).BYD has found success in its battery technology; internal sourcing, also known as vertical integration; and production of parts, according to Caresoft. Most notable is BYD's development of lower-cost battery technologies that are far cheaper to manufacture than lithium-ion batteries commonly used in U.S. EVs.BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, first pioneered its ""Blade"" battery technologies in smartphones and has since grown into one of China's most well-known automakers.Its focus on vehicle efficiencies is reminiscent of U.S. EV leader Tesla, which has likewise been able to drive down the cost of its vehicles over the years.Traditional automakers are only now attempting to emulate some of Tesla's processes such as its gigacasting manufacturing process and vertical integration of crucial parts such as motors, batteries and other components. Tesla is also quick to adapt.The Tesla Model 3, for example, no longer has a floor. Instead, the car's highly protected battery case takes the place of a traditional vehicle body at the base. That type of change, enacted at Tesla over the last several years, wouldn't typically take place at a traditional automaker until a full redesign of a vehicle.BYD is similarly quick to adapt. The company has quickly rolled out new and updated products. It's also rapidly established manufacturing, as it has its eyes set on factories in Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan and, potentially, Mexico.Add in other advantages such as government support, lower labor costs and rising production capacity, and the company poses a growing threat to global counterparts.BYD's rise comes at a precarious time for global auto industry dynamics.While China's automakers expand, America's traditional automakers have shrunk in both their domestic market and China.Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.Politicians in the U.S., concerned about their local auto industries, have taken aim at Chinese imports and lawmakers in Europe have launched a probe into the rise of China-made EVs.""We are very concerned about China bigfooting our industry in the United States even as we are building up now this incredible backbone of manufacturing,"" Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said March 6 during a discussion panel at an Axios event.Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has proposed sharply boosting tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports by $20,000 per vehicle to stop the country ""from flooding U.S. auto markets.""Currently, Chinese-built EVs are subject to a 27.5% tariff when imported into the U.S. That includes a 2.5% tariff that generally applies to imported cars plus an additional 25% tariff introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 on China-made vehicles.Chinese automakers could still build in Mexico, though, and import vehicles to the U.S. from there through the USMCA, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.However, former President Donald Trump – the front-runner among Republicans in the 2024 presidential race – on Saturday suggested instituting a 100% tariff on cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies, should he be elected to a second term.""What we've seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,"" said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford's EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.Gjaja said while Ford can't control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can ""get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want"" and get more efficient to win customers.To compete with Chinese brands such as BYD, Woychowski contends traditional automakers must learn, unlearn and change quickly.He said companies such as the Detroit automakers each have a century of procedures, standards and other workflows that they must rethink to better compete against Chinese automakers before vehicles such as the BYD Seagull land on U.S. shores.""You have to learn. You have to unlearn and you have to do it quickly,"" he said. ""Because you've been doing something for 100 years, doesn't mean you should keep doing it. It's no longer appropriate.""– CNBC's Evelyn Cheng and Dylan Butts contributed to this report.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleLIVONIA, Mich. – A small electric vehicle is having a big impact on the global automotive industry.', ""It's not the EV itself that's making waves but its price — and its potential to disrupt domestic auto industries around the world."", 'The China-built BYD Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000), and reportedly banks a profit for the increasingly influential Chinese automaker.', 'That latter point — EV profits where U.S. automakers have mostly failed to turn any — combined with the expansion of Chinese automakers into Europe, Latin America and elsewhere has automotive executives and politicians, from Detroit and Texas to Germany and Japan, on edge.', 'The Seagull could be a ""clarion call for the rest of the auto industry,"" said Terry Woychowski, a former General Motors executive who now serves as president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global. ""', ""It's a significant event."", '""Though the Seagull isn\'t yet sold on U.S. soil, BYD is expanding its vehicles globally, and some believe it\'s only a matter of time before more China-made vehicles arrive in the U.S.There\'s fear among global automakers that Chinese rivals like the Warren Buffett-backed BYD could flood their markets, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices to the detriment of their own auto industries.', '""The introduction of cheap Chinese autos — which are so inexpensive because they are backed with the power and funding of the Chinese government — to the American market could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector,"" the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a U.S. manufacturing advocacy group, said in a report last month.', 'BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020.', 'That sales growth was enough to surpass Tesla to become the world\'s largest producer of electric vehicles in late 2023.The rise of BYD and other Chinese automakers led Tesla CEO Elon Musk in January to warn that Chinese automakers will ""demolish"" global rivals without trade barriers.', ""Bernstein reports BYD's growth, including sales of non-EVs, has come by shipping more vehicles outside China: Overseas markets accounted for about 10% of BYD's more than 3 million sales last year, doubling that share from the beginning of the year."", 'BYD did not respond for a request for comment.', 'Driving the Seagull is no different than driving the Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf or BMW i3.', 'It accelerates quickly.', ""It's quiet."", 'It has nice-looking screens and a mix of plastic and soft touch points, including sporty and comfortable seats.', ""The Seagull, also known as the BYD Dolphin Mini in Latin America, is slightly smaller than GM's now-discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV.Its reported range of up to roughly 190 miles on a single charge (or 250 miles for certain models), is below that of many EVs on sale today in the U.S. but in line with many first-generation all-electric vehicles."", ""The vehicle's top speed of about 80 mph and just 74 horsepower dwindle in comparison with most EVs currently on sale in the U.S.But its primary differences come in the construction, batteries and sourcing of parts, according to Caresoft."", 'The consulting firm tore apart the BYD Seagull piece by piece to benchmark the small EV against vehicles from other startups and traditional automakers.', 'The Livonia, Michigan-based company, with several offices across the globe, has torn down and benchmarked more than 30 China-built EVs from the likes of BYD, Nio, XPENG and others.', 'Caresoft digitally and physically analyzes every part of a vehicle, from bolts and latches to seats, motors and battery casings.', 'It then determines how its clients – mainly automakers and suppliers – can improve efficiencies and cut costs in their products.', 'Its initial study of the BYD Seagull found it to be efficiently and simplistically designed, engineered and executed, but with unexpected quality and anticipated reliability.', '""What they did do is done very well,"" Woychowski said. ""', ""It's efficiently done."", '""For the price it\'s a well-equipped vehicle. (', 'BYD even lowered the starting price of the vehicle by 5% earlier this month, down from a roughly $11,000 price earlier this year.)Despite the cheap price, the company still makes ""some money"" on the Seagull or at a minimum breaks even, Caresoft CEO Mathew Vachaparampil said during an automotive conference hosted by the Chicago Federal Reserve in January.', 'For BYD to sell the Seagull in the U.S., it would have to meet U.S. federal vehicle requirements that would add additional costs to the car.', 'But the EV could likely still arrive on U.S. shores for tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than the current average price of an EV in the U.S., which Cox Automotive reports is more than $52,000.BYD last month announced it would begin selling the Seagull/Dolphin Mini EV in Mexico for 358,800 pesos (or about $20,990).BYD has found success in its battery technology; internal sourcing, also known as vertical integration; and production of parts, according to Caresoft.', ""Most notable is BYD's development of lower-cost battery technologies that are far cheaper to manufacture than lithium-ion batteries commonly used in U.S. EVs."", 'BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, first pioneered its ""Blade"" battery technologies in smartphones and has since grown into one of China\'s most well-known automakers.', 'Its focus on vehicle efficiencies is reminiscent of U.S. EV leader Tesla, which has likewise been able to drive down the cost of its vehicles over the years.', ""Traditional automakers are only now attempting to emulate some of Tesla's processes such as its gigacasting manufacturing process and vertical integration of crucial parts such as motors, batteries and other components."", 'Tesla is also quick to adapt.', 'The Tesla Model 3, for example, no longer has a floor.', ""Instead, the car's highly protected battery case takes the place of a traditional vehicle body at the base."", ""That type of change, enacted at Tesla over the last several years, wouldn't typically take place at a traditional automaker until a full redesign of a vehicle."", 'BYD is similarly quick to adapt.', 'The company has quickly rolled out new and updated products.', ""It's also rapidly established manufacturing, as it has its eyes set on factories in Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan and, potentially, Mexico."", 'Add in other advantages such as government support, lower labor costs and rising production capacity, and the company poses a growing threat to global counterparts.', ""BYD's rise comes at a precarious time for global auto industry dynamics."", ""While China's automakers expand, America's traditional automakers have shrunk in both their domestic market and China."", 'Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.', 'The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.', 'Politicians in the U.S., concerned about their local auto industries, have taken aim at Chinese imports and lawmakers in Europe have launched a probe into the rise of China-made EVs.', '""We are very concerned about China bigfooting our industry in the United States even as we are building up now this incredible backbone of manufacturing,"" Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said March 6 during a discussion panel at an Axios event.', 'Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has proposed sharply boosting tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports by $20,000 per vehicle to stop the country ""from flooding U.S. auto markets.', '""Currently, Chinese-built EVs are subject to a 27.5% tariff when imported into the U.S. That includes a 2.5% tariff that generally applies to imported cars plus an additional 25% tariff introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 on China-made vehicles.', 'Chinese automakers could still build in Mexico, though, and import vehicles to the U.S. from there through the USMCA, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.However, former President Donald Trump – the front-runner among Republicans in the 2024 presidential race – on Saturday suggested instituting a 100% tariff on cars made in Mexicoby Chinese companies,should he be elected to a second term.', '""What we\'ve seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,"" said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford\'s EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.Gjaja said while Ford can\'t control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can ""get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want"" and get more efficient to win customers.', 'To compete with Chinese brands such as BYD, Woychowski contends traditional automakers must learn, unlearn and change quickly.', 'He said companies such as the Detroit automakers each have a century of procedures, standards and other workflows that they must rethink to better compete against Chinese automakers before vehicles such as the BYD Seagull land on U.S. shores.', '""You have to learn.', 'You have to unlearn and you have to do it quickly,"" he said. ""', ""Because you've been doing something for 100 years, doesn't mean you should keep doing it."", 'It\'s no longer appropriate.""–', ""CNBC's Evelyn Cheng and Dylan Butts contributed to this report.""]",0.1525936062031991,"""What we've seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,"" said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford's EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.Gjaja said while Ford can't control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can ""get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want"" and get more efficient to win customers.","Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.",0.2553900833483095,"BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020.","The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.",2024-03-28
Chrysler parent Stellantis laying off 400 salaried U.S. workers due to 'unprecedented uncertainties',https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/chrysler-parent-stellantis-laying-off-400-salaried-us-workers.html,2024-03-22T17:41:18+0000,"In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews."" Stellantis employed 11,800 U.S. salaried employees as of the end of last year.The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.A spokeswoman for the automaker declined to discuss the exact number of employees who are being laid off. A source familiar with the actions confirmed it at about 400 workers, a number first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.The layoffs occurred during a ""mandatory remote work day"" for U.S. salaried, nonunion employees in Stellantis' engineering and technology organization, according to an internal announcement confirmed by two sources who were not authorized to speak about the actions.The action is the latest by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to cut costs through layoffs, buyouts and other methods since the company was established through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in 2021.The cuts are part of a push to achieve Stellantis' ""Dare Forward 2030"" strategic plan that aims to increase profits and double the automaker's revenue to 300 billion euros, or $335 billion, by then, among other targets.""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"['In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.', 'Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews.""', 'Stellantis employed 11,800 U.S. salaried employees as of the end of last year.', 'The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.', 'A spokeswoman for the automaker declined to discuss the exact number of employees who are being laid off.', 'A source familiar with the actions confirmed it at about 400 workers, a number first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.', 'The layoffs occurred during a ""mandatory remote work day"" for U.S. salaried, nonunion employees in Stellantis\' engineering and technology organization, according to an internal announcement confirmed by two sources who were not authorized to speak about the actions.', 'The action is the latest by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to cut costs through layoffs, buyouts and other methods since the company was established through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in 2021.The cuts are part of a push to achieve Stellantis\' ""Dare Forward 2030"" strategic plan that aims to increase profits and double the automaker\'s revenue to 300 billion euros, or $335 billion, by then, among other targets.', '""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.']",0.1415057079365687,"The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.","Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews.""",0.5079136937856674,"""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.","In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.",2024-03-28
The wealth of the 1% just hit a record $44 trillion,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/28/wealth-of-the-1percent-hits-a-record-44-trillion.html,2024-03-28T20:32:39+0000,"A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.The wealth of the top 1% hit a record $44.6 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter, as an end-of-year stock rally lifted their portfolios, according to new data from the Federal Reserve.The total net worth of the top 1%, defined by the Fed as those with wealth over $11 million, increased by $2 trillion in the fourth quarter. All of the gains came from their stock holdings. The value of corporate equities and mutual fund shares held by the top 1% surged to $19.7 trillion from $17.65 trillion the previous quarter.While their real estate values went up slightly, the value of their privately held businesses declined, essentially canceling out all other gains outside of stocks.The quarterly gain marked the latest addition to an unprecedented wealth boom that began in 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic market surge. Since 2020, the wealth of the top 1% has increased by nearly $15 trillion, or 49%. Middle-class Americans have also seen a rising wealth tide, with the middle 50% to 90% of Americans seeing their wealth increase 50%.Economists say the rising stock market is giving an added boost to consumer spending through what is known as the ""wealth effect."" When consumers and investors see their stock holdings soar, they feel more confident spending and taking more risk.""The wealth effect from surging stock prices is a powerful tailwind to consumer confidence, spending and broader economic growth,"" said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. ""Of course, this highlights a vulnerability of the economy if the stock market were to falter. This isn't the most likely scenario, but it is a scenario given that stocks appear richly (over) valued.""Yet, the latest report also highlights how top-heavy stock ownership remains in the U.S. According to the Fed report, the top 10% of Americans own 87% of individually held stocks and mutual funds. The top 1% own half of all individually held stocks.Economists say a rising stock market brings outsized benefits to the wealthy, mainly boosting the high end of the consumer and spending markets. The wealth of middle-class and lower-income Americans depends more on wages and home values than stocks.""Those households in the top one-third of the income distribution and who own the bulk of the stock holdings account for approximately two-thirds of consumer spending,"" Zandi said.  Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said stocks represent a growing share of the assets of the top 1%. Stocks accounted for 37.8% of the overall share of household assets for the top 1% at the end of 2023, up from a recent low of 36.5%.Yet because the wealthy don't need to spend as much of their gains – a phenomenon known as the marginal propensity to consume – Sonders said the added stock wealth for the 1% may not have a substantial impact on the consumer economy.She noted that consumer confidence among those making more than $125,000 a year has been in ""secular decline"" since 2017, according to the Conference Board.""While the bump in stock prices might link to stronger confidence, it doesn't necessarily point to stronger spending at the higher end,"" she said.With the S&P 500 already up 10% this year, it is likely that the wealth of the upper echelon has already topped the record at the end of 2023. While inequality declined slightly in 2021 and 2022, as wages increased and housing prices surged, the wealth gap has since crept back to pre-pandemic levels.The top 1% accounted for 30% of the nation's wealth at the end of the fourth quarter, while the top 10% accounted for 67% of all wealth.Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.",CNBC,28/03/2024,"[""A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer."", 'Sign upto receive future editions, straight to your inbox.', 'The wealth of the top 1% hit a record $44.6 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter, as an end-of-year stock rally lifted their portfolios, according to new data from the Federal Reserve.', 'The total net worth of the top 1%, defined by the Fed as those with wealth over $11 million, increased by $2 trillion in the fourth quarter.', 'All of the gains came from their stock holdings.', 'The value of corporate equities and mutual fund shares held by the top 1% surged to $19.7 trillion from $17.65 trillion the previous quarter.', 'While their real estate values went up slightly, the value of their privately held businesses declined, essentially canceling out all other gains outside of stocks.', 'The quarterly gain marked the latest addition to an unprecedented wealth boom that began in 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic market surge.', 'Since 2020, the wealth of the top 1% has increased by nearly $15 trillion, or 49%.', 'Middle-class Americans have also seen a rising wealth tide, with the middle 50% to 90% of Americans seeing their wealth increase 50%.Economists say the rising stock market is giving an added boost to consumer spending through what is known as the ""wealth effect.""', 'When consumers and investors see their stock holdings soar, they feel more confident spending and taking more risk.', '""The wealth effect from surging stock prices is a powerful tailwind to consumer confidence, spending and broader economic growth,"" said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody\'s Analytics. ""', 'Of course, this highlights a vulnerability of the economy if the stock market were to falter.', ""This isn't the most likely scenario, but it is a scenario given that stocks appear richly (over) valued."", '""Yet, the latest report also highlights how top-heavy stock ownership remains in the U.S. According to the Fed report, the top 10% of Americans own 87% of individually held stocks and mutual funds.', 'The top 1% own half of all individually held stocks.', 'Economists say a rising stock market brings outsized benefits to the wealthy, mainly boosting the high end of the consumer and spending markets.', 'The wealth of middle-class and lower-income Americans depends more on wages and home values than stocks.', '""Those households in the top one-third of the income distribution and who own the bulk of the stock holdings account for approximately two-thirds of consumer spending,"" Zandi said.', 'Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said stocks represent a growing share of the assets of the top 1%.', ""Stocks accounted for 37.8% of the overall share of household assets for the top 1% at the end of 2023, up from a recent low of 36.5%.Yet because the wealthy don't need to spend as much of their gains – a phenomenon known as the marginal propensity to consume – Sonders said the added stock wealth for the 1% may not have a substantial impact on the consumer economy."", 'She noted that consumer confidence among those making more than $125,000 a year has been in ""secular decline"" since 2017, according to the Conference Board.', '""While the bump in stock prices might link to stronger confidence, it doesn\'t necessarily point to stronger spending at the higher end,"" she said.', 'With the S&P 500 already up 10% this year, it is likely that the wealth of the upper echelon has already topped the record at the end of 2023.', 'While inequality declined slightly in 2021 and 2022, as wages increased and housing prices surged, the wealth gap has since crept back to pre-pandemic levels.', ""The top 1% accounted for 30% of the nation's wealth at the end of the fourth quarter, while the top 10% accounted for 67% of all wealth."", ""Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.""]",0.5776866630399407,"Middle-class Americans have also seen a rising wealth tide, with the middle 50% to 90% of Americans seeing their wealth increase 50%.Economists say the rising stock market is giving an added boost to consumer spending through what is known as the ""wealth effect.""","Of course, this highlights a vulnerability of the economy if the stock market were to falter.",0.6448096387526568,The quarterly gain marked the latest addition to an unprecedented wealth boom that began in 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic market surge.,"She noted that consumer confidence among those making more than $125,000 a year has been in ""secular decline"" since 2017, according to the Conference Board.",2024-03-28
Vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso expands to lower-priced listings,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/vacation-home-co-ownership-site-pacaso-adds-lower-priced-listings.html,2024-03-26T12:32:23+0000,"Luxury vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso is attempting to appeal to the masses, as it grows its business during a pricey and competitive phase of the housing market.The company, which launched in 2020 with multimillion-dollar homes listed for co-ownership, is now introducing thousands more listings with share prices starting as low as $200,000. Previously, shares had been closer to half a million dollars, or higher.Pacaso lists shares of vacation homes, generally an eighth but sometimes larger shares, and then facilitates the purchase, including financing if necessary. It also furnishes and manages the home, divvying up the owners' time in the home through an app. It takes fees for both the purchase and the management.""You can afford a lot more home when you buy one eighth or one quarter of it when compared to purchasing the whole thing, and we're living in an environment right now where housing affordability is a problem,"" said Austin Allison, co-founder and CEO of Pacaso. ""Home prices are high, interest rates are high, so it's really difficult for people to afford the home of their dreams.""Unlike timeshares in resorts, where consumers buy the time, not the property, Pacaso owners can benefit from the home's value, which usually goes up over time.""Our owners who have resold have benefited from about 10% appreciation above and beyond what they paid for the underlying home previously. So the Pacaso shares generally track with the underlying real estate,"" said Allison.Wealthier buyers have been scooping up ski homes in Colorado and beach homes in Hawaii, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for their shares. Pacaso takes a hefty fee — between 10% and 15% of the value of the home on the front end — associated with aggregating the group of owners, facilitating the transaction, and setting up the co-ownership structure.Pacaso reached more than $1 billion in revenue last year, the company said.The company has, however, seen some backlash from communities that liken it to an Airbnb on steroids. There is even a website dedicated to fighting the company, called ""Stop Pacaso Now.""Residents of Sonoma, California, passed an ordinance prohibiting Pacaso from operating in that city. In St. Helena, California, which prohibits timeshares, Pacaso reached a settlement that protects its four homes already there, but the company is not allowed to expand to other properties.""We operate in more than 40 markets nationwide and in only a handful are we misunderstood,"" argued Allison. ""Our approach is to work with policymakers and educate them on the facts and benefits. Our belief is that over time this will prevail. It hasn't worked in Sonoma yet and a small handful of communities who have passed ordinances to resist the model.""Pacaso is also adding a new suite of services to help primary homebuyers access the home-sharing model. Roughly one-fifth of primary homebuyers last year purchased with either a friend or relative, according to real estate site Zillow.""People are now using co-ownership as a way to be able to afford houses that they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. So, it's not just happening in the vacation home space,"" said Allison.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['Luxury vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso is attempting to appeal to the masses, as it grows its business during a pricey and competitive phase of the housing market.', 'The company, which launched in 2020 with multimillion-dollar homes listed for co-ownership, is now introducing thousands more listings with share prices starting as low as $200,000.', 'Previously, shares had been closer to half a million dollars, or higher.', 'Pacaso lists shares of vacation homes, generally an eighth but sometimes larger shares, and then facilitates the purchase, including financing if necessary.', ""It also furnishes and manages the home, divvying up the owners' time in the home through an app."", 'It takes fees for both the purchase and the management.', '""You can afford a lot more home when you buy one eighth or one quarter of it when compared to purchasing the whole thing, and we\'re living in an environment right now where housing affordability is a problem,"" said Austin Allison, co-founder and CEO of Pacaso. ""', ""Home prices are high, interest rates are high, so it's really difficult for people to afford the home of their dreams."", '""Unlike timeshares in resorts, where consumers buy the time, not the property, Pacaso owners can benefit from the home\'s value, which usually goes up over time.', '""Our owners who have resold have benefited from about 10% appreciation above and beyond what they paid for the underlying home previously.', 'So the Pacaso shares generally track with the underlying real estate,"" said Allison.', 'Wealthier buyers have been scooping up ski homes in Colorado and beach homes in Hawaii, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for their shares.', 'Pacaso takes a hefty fee — between 10% and 15% of the value of the home on the front end — associated with aggregating the group of owners, facilitating the transaction, and setting up the co-ownership structure.', 'Pacaso reached more than $1 billion in revenue last year, the company said.', 'The company has, however, seen some backlash from communities that liken it to an Airbnb on steroids.', 'There is even a website dedicated to fighting the company, called ""Stop Pacaso Now.', '""Residents of Sonoma, California, passed an ordinance prohibiting Pacaso from operating in that city.', 'In St. Helena, California, which prohibits timeshares, Pacaso reached a settlement that protects its four homes already there, but the company is not allowed to expand to other properties.', '""We operate in more than 40 markets nationwide and in only a handful are we misunderstood,"" argued Allison. ""', 'Our approach is to work with policymakers and educate them on the facts and benefits.', 'Our belief is that over time this will prevail.', ""It hasn't worked in Sonoma yet and a small handful of communities who have passed ordinances to resist the model."", '""Pacaso is also adding a new suite of services to help primary homebuyers access the home-sharing model.', 'Roughly one-fifth of primary homebuyers last year purchased with either a friend or relative, according to real estate site Zillow.', '""People are now using co-ownership as a way to be able to afford houses that they otherwise wouldn\'t be able to afford.', 'So, it\'s not just happening in the vacation home space,"" said Allison.']",0.1709373374093423,"""Pacaso is also adding a new suite of services to help primary homebuyers access the home-sharing model.","""We operate in more than 40 markets nationwide and in only a handful are we misunderstood,"" argued Allison. """,0.5203466150495741,"""Our owners who have resold have benefited from about 10% appreciation above and beyond what they paid for the underlying home previously.","Home prices are high, interest rates are high, so it's really difficult for people to afford the home of their dreams.",2024-03-28
"Hyundai’s Genesis reveals all-electric SUV concept, the Neolun",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/hyundais-genesis-previews-all-electric-suv-concept-the-neolun.html,2024-03-26T17:29:29+0000,"NEW YORK – Hyundai's Genesis is previewing the future of the growingly prominent luxury brand with a new large all-electric concept vehicle called the Neolun.The full-size SUV features a sleek exterior design illuminated by long horizontal headlights and taillights reminiscent of the brand's current EVs, though more modern.The interior of the Neolun – derived from the Greek ""neo,"" or new, and the Latin ""luna,"" which means moon – is minimalistic compared with many recent concepts that include door-to-door screens. The SUV features a large central screen with physical buttons below it and a control panel and knob to the right of the driver.The vehicle's front seats can swivel to face the rear passengers for lounge seating.""The Neolun Concept is a concept model that showcases the future vision of Genesis, as well as the overall direction in which the brand is headed in terms of product, design and technological advancement,"" Genesis said in an emailed statement.Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand. The vehicles are not meant to be sold to consumers.The company declined to disclose whether the vehicle is a preview of an upcoming large all-electric SUV for Genesis, which has been growing its lineup in the U.S.Genesis' U.S. sales increased 23% last year to a record of 69,175 units compared with 2022. Genesis, which became its own brand in 2015, outsold more established luxury rival Infiniti and expects sales to continue to grow this year.""Our standalone retail footprint is rapidly expanding, and the brand continues to achieve record-breaking sales results in the United States,"" Tedros Mengiste, vice president of sales operations for Genesis Motor America, said in a release last week.Genesis also revealed another concept called the GV60 Magma Concept, a high-performance variant of its compact EV crossover.The brand said it aims to develop a high-performance Magma model for each production vehicle in the existing lineup.The concept vehicles were revealed Monday night ahead of their public debuts this week at the New York International Auto Show.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"[""NEW YORK – Hyundai's Genesis is previewing the future of the growingly prominent luxury brand with a new large all-electric concept vehicle called the Neolun."", ""The full-size SUV features a sleek exterior design illuminated by long horizontal headlights and taillights reminiscent of the brand's current EVs, though more modern."", 'The interior of the Neolun – derived from the Greek ""neo,"" or new, and the Latin ""luna,"" which means moon – is minimalistic compared with many recent concepts that include door-to-door screens.', 'The SUV features a large central screen with physical buttons below it and a control panel and knob to the right of the driver.', ""The vehicle's front seats can swivel to face the rear passengers for lounge seating."", '""The Neolun Concept is a concept model that showcases the future vision of Genesis, as well as the overall direction in which the brand is headed in terms of product, design and technological advancement,"" Genesis said in an emailed statement.', 'Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand.', 'The vehicles are not meant to be sold to consumers.', ""The company declined to disclose whether the vehicle is a preview of an upcoming large all-electric SUV for Genesis, which has been growing its lineup in the U.S.Genesis' U.S. sales increased 23% last year to a record of 69,175 units compared with 2022."", 'Genesis, which became its own brand in 2015, outsold more established luxury rival Infiniti and expects sales to continue to grow this year.', '""Our standalone retail footprint is rapidly expanding, and the brand continues to achieve record-breaking sales results in the United States,"" Tedros Mengiste, vice president of sales operations for Genesis Motor America, said in a release last week.', 'Genesis also revealed another concept called the GV60 Magma Concept, a high-performance variant of its compact EV crossover.', 'The brand said itaims to develop a high-performance Magma model for each production vehicle in the existing lineup.', 'The concept vehicles were revealed Monday night ahead of their public debuts this week at the New York International Auto Show.']",0.1497590928936046,"""The Neolun Concept is a concept model that showcases the future vision of Genesis, as well as the overall direction in which the brand is headed in terms of product, design and technological advancement,"" Genesis said in an emailed statement.",,0.9996995329856871,"The company declined to disclose whether the vehicle is a preview of an upcoming large all-electric SUV for Genesis, which has been growing its lineup in the U.S.Genesis' U.S. sales increased 23% last year to a record of 69,175 units compared with 2022.",,2024-03-28
Xiaomi: The Chinese smartphone giant taking on Tesla,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68672192,2024-03-28T03:54:12.000Z,"Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has launched its first electric vehicle (EV) and will begin taking orders. The company's chief executive Lei Jun said the Speed Ultra 7 (SU7) would be priced at 215,900 yuan ($29,900; £23,600). The move sees the technology giant taking on EV rivals including Tesla and BYD. Xiaomi's entry into the electric car market comes as sales growth has slowed globally, triggering a price war. The firm is hoping that the SU7's shared operating system with its phones, laptops and other devices will appeal to existing customers. Xiaomi is the third-largest seller of smartphones worldwide with a market share of about 12%, according to research firm Counterpoint. The SU7, which Xiaomi has been teasing since last year, has drawn comparisons to Porsche's Taycan and Panamera sports car models. It will be made by a unit of state-owned car manufacturer BAIC Group at a plant in Beijing that can produce as many as 200,000 vehicles a year. ""While getting this far is itself quite an achievement, the ultimate achievement would be to demonstrate that there is a consumer market for Xiaomi as a smart EVs brand,"" Bill Russo of Automobility told the BBC. In an indication of the challenges facing technology firms who want to make electric cars, iPhone maker Apple last month reportedly cancelled its plans to build an EV. Mr Russo added that Xiaomi's entry into the car market reflects its confidence ""in the relevancy for their brand"" in China while Apple did not see enough potential in the EV market outside of China. Xiaomi has said it will invest $10bn (£7.9bn) in its vehicles business over the next 10 years. ""The Chinese EV market is very mature and creates a very stable ecosystem for the EV manufacturers,"" said Abhishek Murali from research firm Rystad Energy.  ""For example, the battery supply chain is very strong, and the charging network in the country is also growing to meet the growing EV feed.""  The launch of Xiaomi's first car comes as a price war in China's EV market has been intensifying. Tesla, which is headed by multi-billionaire Elon Musk, has cut the cost of its cars in China by thousands of dollars in recent months as local rivals like the world's top-selling EV maker BYD have slashed prices. The world's biggest car market is already crowded so Xiaomi is one of the few new prospective entrants to gain approval from authorities as officials try to curb a flood of new players. Earlier this week, BYD posted record annual profits but said growth had slowed towards the end of last year. Shanghai-based electric car maker Nio on Wednesday lowered its forecast for first quarter deliveries as consumers tightened spending as China's economic growth weakens. American EV giant Tesla is due to announce its delivery numbers for the first three months of 2024 next week. At the same time, governments around the world are pushing back against imports of foreign-made EVs. On Tuesday, Beijing initiated dispute settlement proceedings against the US at the World Trade Organization to contest ""discriminatory subsidies"" under the US Inflation Reduction Act. Meanwhile, the European Union has launched an investigation into whether Chinese government subsidies have helped the country's electric car makers undercut European-made models. ",BBC,28/03/2024,"['Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has launched its first electric vehicle (EV) and will begin taking orders.', ""The company's chief executive Lei Jun said the Speed Ultra 7 (SU7) would be priced at 215,900 yuan ($29,900; £23,600)."", 'The move sees the technology giant taking on EV rivals including Tesla and BYD.', ""Xiaomi's entry into the electric car market comes as sales growth has slowed globally, triggering a price war."", ""The firm is hoping that the SU7's shared operating system with its phones, laptops and other devices will appeal to existing customers."", 'Xiaomi is the third-largest seller of smartphones worldwide with a market share of about 12%, according to research firm Counterpoint.', ""The SU7, which Xiaomi has been teasing since last year, has drawn comparisons to Porsche's Taycan and Panamera sports car models."", 'It will be made by a unit of state-owned car manufacturer BAIC Group at a plant in Beijing that can produce as many as 200,000 vehicles a year. ""', 'While getting this far is itself quite an achievement, the ultimate achievement would be to demonstrate that there is a consumer market for Xiaomi as a smart EVs brand,"" Bill Russo of Automobility told the BBC.', 'In an indication of the challenges facing technology firms who want to make electric cars, iPhone maker Apple last month reportedly cancelled its plans to build an EV.', 'Mr Russo added that Xiaomi\'s entry into the car market reflects its confidence ""in the relevancy for their brand"" in China while Apple did not see enough potential in the EV market outside of China.', 'Xiaomi has said it will invest $10bn (£7.9bn) in its vehicles business over the next 10 years. ""', 'The Chinese EV market is very mature and creates a very stable ecosystem for the EV manufacturers,"" said Abhishek Murali from research firm Rystad Energy. ""', 'For example, the battery supply chain is very strong, and the charging network in the country is also growing to meet the growing EV feed.""', ""The launch of Xiaomi's first car comes as a price war in China's EV market has been intensifying."", ""Tesla, which is headed by multi-billionaire Elon Musk, has cut the cost of its cars in China by thousands of dollars in recent months as local rivals like the world's top-selling EV maker BYD have slashed prices."", ""The world's biggest car market is already crowded so Xiaomi is one of the few new prospective entrants to gain approval from authorities as officials try to curb a flood of new players."", 'Earlier this week, BYD posted record annual profits but said growth had slowed towards the end of last year.', ""Shanghai-based electric car maker Nio on Wednesday lowered its forecast for first quarter deliveries as consumers tightened spending as China's economic growth weakens."", 'American EV giant Tesla is due to announce its delivery numbers for the first three months of 2024 next week.', 'At the same time, governments around the world are pushing back against imports of foreign-made EVs.', 'On Tuesday, Beijing initiated dispute settlement proceedings against the US at the World Trade Organization to contest ""discriminatory subsidies"" under the US Inflation Reduction Act.', ""Meanwhile, the European Union has launched an investigation into whether Chinese government subsidies have helped the country's electric car makers undercut European-made models.""]",0.1565148827163728,"The Chinese EV market is very mature and creates a very stable ecosystem for the EV manufacturers,"" said Abhishek Murali from research firm Rystad Energy. """,The launch of Xiaomi's first car comes as a price war in China's EV market has been intensifying.,-0.002440903867994,"For example, the battery supply chain is very strong, and the charging network in the country is also growing to meet the growing EV feed.""","Xiaomi's entry into the electric car market comes as sales growth has slowed globally, triggering a price war.",2024-03-28
Everyone got duped by Sam Bankman-Fried's big gamble,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67302950,2023-11-03T11:14:42.000Z,"Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years for stealing billions of dollars from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX. It's a spectacular downfall for Silicon Valley's dishevelled wunderkind, who rubbed elbows with celebrities like Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady.  On 7 November 2022, as his empire began its dizzying, irrevocable collapse, Bankman-Fried did what he always did: he weighed the odds.  Earlier that day, a rival executive had expressed concerns on social media about the finances of Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange, spooking customers into a multi-billion dollar bank run.  In an online chat, Bankman-Fried consulted two of his top deputies. ""To be clear you think the tweet is net bad?"" he asked them.  They considered their options. Was it possible that his rival would walk back the criticism? Was it probable that that would stem the bleeding? ""Fairly unlikely,"" Bankman-Fried wrote. Bankman-Fried faces decades in prison after guilty verdict It was the kind of calculus Bankman-Fried had been making for years, the quick equations friends said he used in nearly every situation - mulling a break-up, assessing a risky trade.  For a while, that approach seemed to work. As the boy-wonder of crypto, Bankman-Fried got rich faster than almost anyone in history, amassing an estimated $26bn in personal wealth, countless magazine covers and sweeping political influence. The flameout was even faster.  The tweet was, as discussed, net bad. Billions gushed out of the platform in less than five days. When it was all over, more than $8bn in customer funds were missing and the company was bankrupt. Five weeks after that, prosecutors in Manhattan charged Bankman-Fried, who had already resigned, with several financial offences including wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering. Over four weeks of trial, two contradictory stories emerged. In one, the former mogul was a brilliant but hapless savant, whose mistakes as CEO allowed for massive fraud to be carried out under his nose. In the other, supported by former members of his inner circle, Bankman-Fried syphoned billions of dollars of customer money, banking on the odds he'd never be caught.  Both tellings reveal how tightly the fortunes of FTX were tied to the image of its founder, whose oddball magnetism drew former presidents, celebrities, and corporate titans into his orbit and his multi-billion dollar gamble.  Bankman-Fried wasn't shy about it: he wanted to get rich. But, to hear him tell it, he wanted to make all those billions just to give them away.  An overachieving child born to two overachieving parents, Bankman-Fried and his younger brother were taught at an early age about utilitarianism, a doctrine holding that the most ethical choice is the one that does the most good for the most people.   As a student at MIT, Bankman-Fried went to a talk by Will MacAskill, a 25-year-old doctoral student at Oxford and founder of effective altruism, a utilitarian-tinged philosophy that uses maths to figure out how individuals can maximise their philanthropic impact.  To do the most good, Mr MacAskill told him, Bankman-Fried could take his considerable intellect to lucrative Wall Street, and donate most of his salary to important causes.  Bankman-Fried was sold. In 2014, he took his degree straight to Jane Street, a high-frequency trading firm, and reportedly gave away about half of his income to worthy causes.  Three years later, Bankman-Fried found an industry that could make him even richer than typical trading: crypto.  At the age of 25, he founded Alameda Research, a crypto investment firm, after noticing that prices of Bitcoin varied considerably in different countries. The arbitrage trading earned Alameda a reported $20m in just three weeks.  In 2019, he founded FTX, then a Hong Kong-based crypto exchange for international investors. Like Elizabeth Holmes - another Silicon Valley billionaire whose star came crashing down - he was able to convince big name investors to lend the company not only cash, but credibility.  Within months, daily trading volume on FTX had reached $300m. By 2021, he had debuted on the Forbes 400, the magazine's annual list of the richest Americans, with a fortune of $22.5bn.  Some have attributed his remarkable success to an unusually high tolerance for risk, a willingness to chance devastating consequences for a big reward.  ""He would be happy to flip a coin, if it came up tails and the world was destroyed,"" his ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison said at trial. ""As long as if it came up heads the world would be more than twice as good.""  According to internal accounts, life at FTX could sometimes resemble a grown-up maths camp, filled with a selection of brilliant misfits and led by the perpetually rumpled Bankman-Fried.  ""He was super disorganised, he was always in cargo shorts, he was always sloppy,"" a former FTX employee told the BBC. ""He would walk around the office in bare feet."" Those at the top were a tight-knit group who sometimes blindly listened to Sam, the employee said. ""It could be cult-like.""  Natalie Tien, who handled public relations and Bankman-Fried's schedule at FTX for more than two years, said he was charismatic to the point that the company sometimes felt ""toxic"". ""We just trusted him 100%,"" she told the BBC. ""To a degree that we kind of worried [about] speaking up for ourselves."" It wasn't only people inside the company that were enthralled. Appearing side-by-side with Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Gisele Bundchen and Katy Perry in shorts and ill-fitting T-shirts, he became an ambassador of sorts for the crypto industry as whole, just as it began to reach new heights.  Part of the mystique was that Bankman-Fried seemed to eschew the level of luxury his earnings could have afforded. He didn't own a yacht, his defence attorneys said at trial. He drove a beat-up Toyota Corolla. Meanwhile, he testified before Congress arguing for more regulation of the crypto market, setting him apart from many of his peers. ""In a weird way, he seemed kind of like the grown-up in the crypto world,"" said Zeke Faux, an investigative journalist and author of Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall. And, of course, there was his stated ultimate objective: Bankman-Fried was going to give it all away.  ""It was a great story, everybody loved it,"" said Mr Faux. ""People loved it in Congress, the VCs loved it, the bankers loved it.""  ""The problem with his story is that it was not true,"" he said.  In September of 2022, the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital ran a breathless profile of Bankman-Fried in its magazine. At the time, FTX was valued at $32bn.  In the since-deleted piece entitled FTX's SBF Has a Savior Complex, and Maybe You Should Too, author Adam Fisher described Bankman-Fried's efforts to maximise his wealth in order to maximise his impact on the world. It involved a risk, Fisher wrote. ""But the math couldn't be clearer."" ""To do the most good for the world,"" he said, ""SBF needed to find a path on which he'd be a coin toss away from going totally bust."" A month-and-a-half later, industry news site CoinDesk published a bombshell report alleging that Alameda had over half its $15bn portfolio in FTT - the crypto token printed by FTX. The disclosure raised questions about the actual value of Alameda's holdings, and the apparent conflict of interest between Alameda and FTX - ostensibly independent companies.  Then came that announcement on 6 November from industry rival, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, who said he would dump his own sizable stores of FTT.  On 11 November, the implosion of FTX was complete, the story of crypto's prodigy gone with it.  For some observers of the crypto boom, and Bankman-Fried's meteoric rise to power, the fall was not unexpected. As FTX rose to prominence, the actor Ben McKenzie, best known for his role on the television show the OC, emerged as one of the country's most vocal crypto sceptics.  In July 2022, Bankman-Fried agreed to sit down for an interview with Mr McKenzie for a book the actor was writing, titled Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud.  In a cramped Manhattan hotel room, in an encounter that Mr McKenzie described as ""probably the strangest hour of my life"", Bankman-Fried tried to pitch the actor on crypto - and Sam Bankman-Fried - as a force for good in the world. ""I think he marketed himself to me as a version of his public persona, which at the time was the California wunderkind, billionaire philanthropist,"" Mr McKenzie said. It was an image that even Mr McKenzie had bought into, to an extent, he said. Until they began talking, that is. ""He had trouble just giving me straight answers to basic questions, one of which was, what does crypto currency do?"" the actor said.  Over four weeks of trial in Manhattan, Bankman-Fried's attorneys painted their client as a math nerd who was overwhelmed by his expanding empire. On the stand, now in a suit, with his hair cut short, Bankman-Fried directed some of the blame at Ms Ellison, who had pleaded guilty to fraud, for failing to ""hedge"" bets to better protect Alameda from a downturn in the market, as he had instructed her to do.  The prosecution, in turn, painted Bankman-Fried as someone whose boundless aspiration went hand-in-hand with a hubris that led Bankman-Fried to play the odds with his company.  ""The defendant was gambling with customer money,"" prosecutor Nicolas Roos argued.  Bankman-Fried's courtroom downfall was aided by former members of his inner circle, including Ms Ellison, who acted as chief executive of Alameda, as well as college roommates Adam Yedida and Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh, a childhood friend of Bankman-Fried's younger brother. They testified that while promising to safeguard customer funds and clean up the industry, Bankman-Fried was directing them to commit fraud, opening up a back door between Alameda and FTX so he could use FTX as a personal piggybank. The money fuelled his rise, as he splashed out on property, billions in investments and some $100m in political donations - not to mention helping to cover billions in debts owed by Alameda. His physical appearance, too, was contrived, Ms Ellison testified - his messy hair and cheap car deemed ""better for his image"", because it made him look more authentic than a typical trader. But that down-to-earth image belied his intense ambition, she said. ""He thought there was a 5% chance he would become president someday,"" Ms Ellison said at trial. ""Of the United States."" While many have watched the trial as a sort of comeuppance, former FTX employee Natalie Tien has looked to it for closure, and is one of the few former employees to attend the trial regularly.  On the one hand, it was a relief to realise that her own doubts and questions about some things - like extravagant spending on celebrity sponsorships - had been justified. The last time she communicated with her former boss, in December 2022, he had just been released on bail and sent her a music video of Eminem, rapping ""Without Me"" to celebrate. But the 33-year-old also felt some parts of the story - especially around his schedule and his use of private jets - were being taken ""out of context"". ""He did lie and he took the money, yes, but I don't think it's because he was greedy,"" she said. ""Because I actually saw him every day wearing crappy old T-shirts with no shoes and driving a shitty car."" ""It was not an act,"" she said.  Bankman-Fried now faces up to 110 years in prison, and an indelible reputation as one of the greatest fraudsters in US history. Lawyers working on the bankruptcy case have said they have recovered more than $7bn in missing money. ""I think it says more about us than it does about him,"" Mr McKenzie said.  ""He got so far, I think, in many ways because of his lineage, because he is the son of Stanford professors, because he did go to MIT, because he worked on Wall Street. The myth of Sam Bankman-Fried grew in relation to the myth of crypto itself, right?"" You can watch Panorama's The Downfall of the Crypto King on BBC iPlayer (UK only) With additional reporting from James Clayton ",BBC,03/11/2023,"['Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years for stealing billions of dollars from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX.', ""It's a spectacular downfall for Silicon Valley's dishevelled wunderkind, who rubbed elbows with celebrities like Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady."", 'On 7 November 2022, as his empire began its dizzying, irrevocable collapse, Bankman-Fried did what he always did: he weighed the odds.', ""Earlier that day, a rival executive had expressed concerns on social media about the finances of Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange, spooking customers into a multi-billion dollar bank run."", 'In an online chat, Bankman-Fried consulted two of his top deputies. ""', 'To be clear you think the tweet is net bad?""', 'he asked them.', 'They considered their options.', 'Was it possible that his rival would walk back the criticism?', 'Was it probable that that would stem the bleeding? ""', 'Fairly unlikely,"" Bankman-Fried wrote.', 'Bankman-Fried faces decades in prison after guilty verdict It was the kind of calculus Bankman-Fried had been making for years, the quick equations friends said he used in nearly every situation - mulling a break-up, assessing a risky trade.', 'For a while, that approach seemed to work.', 'As the boy-wonder of crypto, Bankman-Fried got rich faster than almost anyone in history, amassing an estimated $26bn in personal wealth, countless magazine covers and sweeping political influence.', 'The flameout was even faster.', 'The tweet was, as discussed, net bad.', 'Billions gushed out of the platform in less than five days.', 'When it was all over, more than $8bn in customer funds were missing and the company was bankrupt.', 'Five weeks after that, prosecutors in Manhattan charged Bankman-Fried, who had already resigned, with several financial offences including wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering.', 'Over four weeks of trial, two contradictory stories emerged.', 'In one, the former mogul was a brilliant but hapless savant, whose mistakes as CEO allowed for massive fraud to be carried out under his nose.', ""In the other, supported by former members of his inner circle, Bankman-Fried syphoned billions of dollars of customer money, banking on the odds he'd never be caught."", 'Both tellings reveal how tightly the fortunes of FTX were tied to the image of its founder, whose oddball magnetism drew former presidents, celebrities, and corporate titans into his orbit and his multi-billion dollar gamble.', ""Bankman-Fried wasn't shy about it: he wanted to get rich."", 'But, to hear him tell it, he wanted to make all those billions just to give them away.', 'An overachieving child born to two overachieving parents, Bankman-Fried and his younger brother were taught at an early age about utilitarianism, a doctrine holding that the most ethical choice is the one that does the most good for the most people.', 'As a student at MIT, Bankman-Fried went to a talk by Will MacAskill, a 25-year-old doctoral student at Oxford and founder of effective altruism, a utilitarian-tinged philosophy that uses maths to figure out how individuals can maximise their philanthropic impact.', 'To do the most good, Mr MacAskill told him, Bankman-Fried could take his considerable intellect to lucrative Wall Street, and donate most of his salary to important causes.', 'Bankman-Fried was sold.', 'In 2014, he took his degree straight to Jane Street, a high-frequency trading firm, and reportedly gave away about half of his income to worthy causes.', 'Three years later, Bankman-Fried found an industry that could make him even richer than typical trading: crypto.', 'At the age of 25, he founded Alameda Research, a crypto investment firm, after noticing that prices of Bitcoin varied considerably in different countries.', 'The arbitrage trading earned Alameda a reported $20m in just three weeks.', 'In 2019, he founded FTX, then a Hong Kong-based crypto exchange for international investors.', 'Like Elizabeth Holmes - another Silicon Valley billionaire whose star came crashing down - he was able to convince big name investors to lend the company not only cash, but credibility.', ""Within months, daily trading volume on FTX had reached $300m. By 2021, he had debuted on the Forbes 400, the magazine's annual list of the richest Americans, with a fortune of $22.5bn."", 'Some have attributed his remarkable success to an unusually high tolerance for risk, a willingness to chance devastating consequences for a big reward. ""', 'He would be happy to flip a coin, if it came up tails and the world was destroyed,"" his ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison said at trial. ""', 'As long as if it came up heads the world would be more than twice as good.""', 'According to internal accounts, life at FTX could sometimes resemble a grown-up maths camp, filled with a selection of brilliant misfits and led by the perpetually rumpled Bankman-Fried. ""', 'He was super disorganised, he was always in cargo shorts, he was always sloppy,"" a former FTX employee told the BBC. ""', 'He would walk around the office in bare feet.""', 'Those at the top were a tight-knit group who sometimes blindly listened to Sam, the employee said. ""', 'It could be cult-like.""', 'Natalie Tien, who handled public relations and Bankman-Fried\'s schedule at FTX for more than two years, said he was charismatic to the point that the company sometimes felt ""toxic"". ""', 'We just trusted him 100%,"" she told the BBC. ""', 'To a degree that we kind of worried [about] speaking up for ourselves.""', ""It wasn't only people inside the company that were enthralled."", 'Appearing side-by-side with Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Gisele Bundchen and Katy Perry in shorts and ill-fitting T-shirts, he became an ambassador of sorts for the crypto industry as whole, just as it began to reach new heights.', 'Part of the mystique was that Bankman-Fried seemed to eschew the level of luxury his earnings could have afforded.', ""He didn't own a yacht, his defence attorneys said at trial."", 'He drove a beat-up Toyota Corolla.', 'Meanwhile, he testified before Congress arguing for more regulation of the crypto market, setting him apart from many of his peers. ""', 'In a weird way, he seemed kind of like the grown-up in the crypto world,"" said Zeke Faux, an investigative journalist and author of Number Go Up: Inside Crypto\'s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall.', 'And, of course, there was his stated ultimate objective: Bankman-Fried was going to give it all away. ""', 'It was a great story, everybody loved it,"" said Mr Faux. ""', 'People loved it in Congress, the VCs loved it, the bankers loved it."" ""', 'The problem with his story is that it was not true,"" he said.', 'In September of 2022, the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital ran a breathless profile of Bankman-Fried in its magazine.', 'At the time, FTX was valued at $32bn.', ""In the since-deleted piece entitled FTX's SBF Has a Savior Complex, and Maybe You Should Too, author Adam Fisher described Bankman-Fried's efforts to maximise his wealth in order to maximise his impact on the world."", 'It involved a risk, Fisher wrote. ""', 'But the math couldn\'t be clearer."" ""', 'To do the most good for the world,"" he said, ""SBF needed to find a path on which he\'d be a coin toss away from going totally bust.""', 'A month-and-a-half later, industry news site CoinDesk published a bombshell report alleging that Alameda had over half its $15bn portfolio in FTT - the crypto token printed by FTX.', ""The disclosure raised questions about the actual value of Alameda's holdings, and the apparent conflict of interest between Alameda and FTX - ostensibly independent companies."", 'Then came that announcement on 6 November from industry rival, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, who said he would dump his own sizable stores of FTT.', ""On 11 November, the implosion of FTX was complete, the story of crypto's prodigy gone with it."", ""For some observers of the crypto boom, and Bankman-Fried's meteoric rise to power, the fall was not unexpected."", ""As FTX rose to prominence, the actor Ben McKenzie, best known for his role on the television show the OC, emerged as one of the country's most vocal crypto sceptics."", 'In July 2022, Bankman-Fried agreed to sit down for an interview with Mr McKenzie for a book the actor was writing, titled Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud.', 'In a cramped Manhattan hotel room, in an encounter that Mr McKenzie described as ""probably the strangest hour of my life"", Bankman-Fried tried to pitch the actor on crypto - and Sam Bankman-Fried - as a force for good in the world. ""', 'I think he marketed himself to me as a version of his public persona, which at the time was the California wunderkind, billionaire philanthropist,"" Mr McKenzie said.', 'It was an image that even Mr McKenzie had bought into, to an extent, he said.', 'Until they began talking, that is. ""', 'He had trouble just giving me straight answers to basic questions, one of which was, what does crypto currency do?""', 'the actor said.', ""Over four weeks of trial in Manhattan, Bankman-Fried's attorneys painted their client as a math nerd who was overwhelmed by his expanding empire."", 'On the stand, now in a suit, with his hair cut short, Bankman-Fried directed some of the blame at Ms Ellison, who had pleaded guilty to fraud, for failing to ""hedge"" bets to better protect Alameda from a downturn in the market, as he had instructed her to do.', 'The prosecution, in turn, painted Bankman-Fried as someone whose boundless aspiration went hand-in-hand with a hubris that led Bankman-Fried to play the odds with his company. ""', 'The defendant was gambling with customer money,"" prosecutor Nicolas Roos argued.', ""Bankman-Fried's courtroom downfall was aided by former members of his inner circle, including Ms Ellison, who acted as chief executive of Alameda, as well as college roommates Adam Yedida and Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh, a childhood friend of Bankman-Fried's younger brother."", 'They testified that while promising to safeguard customer funds and clean up the industry, Bankman-Fried was directing them to commit fraud, opening up a back door between Alameda and FTX so he could use FTX as a personal piggybank.', 'The money fuelled his rise, as he splashed out on property, billions in investments and some $100m in political donations - not to mention helping to cover billions in debts owed by Alameda.', 'His physical appearance, too, was contrived, Ms Ellison testified - his messy hair and cheap car deemed ""better for his image"", because it made him look more authentic than a typical trader.', 'But that down-to-earth image belied his intense ambition, she said. ""', 'He thought there was a 5% chance he would become president someday,"" Ms Ellison said at trial. ""', 'Of the United States.""', 'While many have watched the trial as a sort of comeuppance, former FTX employee Natalie Tien has looked to it for closure, and is one of the few former employees to attend the trial regularly.', 'On the one hand, it was a relief to realise that her own doubts and questions about some things - like extravagant spending on celebrity sponsorships - had been justified.', 'The last time she communicated with her former boss, in December 2022, he had just been released on bail and sent her a music video of Eminem, rapping ""Without Me"" to celebrate.', 'But the 33-year-old also felt some parts of the story - especially around his schedule and his use of private jets - were being taken ""out of context"". ""', 'He did lie and he took the money, yes, but I don\'t think it\'s because he was greedy,"" she said. ""', 'Because I actually saw him every day wearing crappy old T-shirts with no shoes and driving a shitty car."" ""', 'It was not an act,"" she said.', 'Bankman-Fried now faces up to 110 years in prison, and an indelible reputation as one of the greatest fraudsters in US history.', 'Lawyers working on the bankruptcy case have said they have recovered more than $7bn in missing money. ""', 'I think it says more about us than it does about him,"" Mr McKenzie said. ""', 'He got so far, I think, in many ways because of his lineage, because he is the son of Stanford professors, because he did go to MIT, because he worked on Wall Street.', 'The myth of Sam Bankman-Fried grew in relation to the myth of crypto itself, right?""', ""You can watch Panorama's The Downfall of the Crypto King on BBC iPlayer (UK only) With additional reporting from James Clayton""]",0.0933476610366481,"People loved it in Congress, the VCs loved it, the bankers loved it."" ""","Five weeks after that, prosecutors in Manhattan charged Bankman-Fried, who had already resigned, with several financial offences including wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering.",-0.0221978939812758,"Like Elizabeth Holmes - another Silicon Valley billionaire whose star came crashing down - he was able to convince big name investors to lend the company not only cash, but credibility.","It's a spectacular downfall for Silicon Valley's dishevelled wunderkind, who rubbed elbows with celebrities like Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady.",2024-03-28
Amgen wants in on the booming weight loss drug market — and it's taking a different approach,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/24/amgen-aims-to-enter-weight-loss-drug-market-with-a-new-approach.html,2024-03-25T17:03:02+0000,"In this articleAmgen is taking a new approach as it tries to stand out in a crowded field of drugmakers racing to develop the next blockbuster weight loss drug.The biotech company is testing an injectable treatment that helps people lose weight differently from the existing injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, and other obesity medicines in development. Amgen's treatment, called MariTide, also appears to help patients keep weight off after they stop taking it.  The drugmaker is also testing its drug to be taken once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than the weekly medicines on the market. It's too early to say how competitive Amgen will be in the budding weight loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have so far dominated.Some analysts expect the market could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade, potentially leaving room for new competitors to enter. Goldman Sachs also projects that between 10 million and 70 million Americans will be taking weight loss drugs by 2028.The available data on Amgen's injectable drug is promising, but it's from a small, early-stage clinical trial. The Thousand Oaks, California-based company also is developing an oral medicine and other treatments for obesity, but has disclosed few details about them. Investors and health experts will likely get a better idea of Amgen's prospects later this year: The drugmaker expects to release initial data from an ongoing mid-stage trial on MariTide, along with phase one data on its obesity pill. It's also unclear whether Amgen's treatments will be cheaper than the existing weight loss drugs, which cost around $1,000 per month.Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Zepbound from Eli Lilly lead a new class of obesity treatments that has drawn unrelenting patient demand — and investor interest — despite their hefty price tags and limited insurance coverage. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.  Amgen's drug offers a new twist on weight loss. Much like Wegovy and Zepbound, one part of Amgen's treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help regulate a person's appetite. But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen's drug blocks it. Wegovy does not target GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.Amgen's decision to tamp down rather than boost GIP activity is based on genetics research suggesting that blocking the receptor is linked to lower fat mass and body weight, company executives have said. That appears to contradict how Zepbound works. Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial.But Amgen's MartiTide also was effective in a small, early-stage study. Patients given the highest dose of Amgen's drug — 420 milligrams — every month lost 14.5% of their body weight on average in just 12 weeks, according to data from the phase one trial published last month in the journal Nature Metabolism. There's a broader debate among researchers about why both approaches – blocking and activating GIP – are effective at promoting weight loss. One theory is that repeatedly activating the GIP receptor, as Zepbound does, ultimately causes the body to ""self-regulate"" itself and make sure there isn't too much GIP activity, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women's Hospital.That decreases GIP activity overall, which is thought to essentially mimic what Amgen's drug achieves when it blocks the GIP receptor. But Apovian cautioned that ""none of this is proven"" and more data is needed.Amgen's treatment may be better at helping people maintain weight loss than competitors, even though patients take it less frequently, early-stage trial data suggests.Amgen's study enrolled 110 patients with obesity but not diabetes. Patients in one group were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of the drug and were followed for 150 days, while a second group was given a dose every four weeks for three months. Patients who received a single shot of the highest dose of MariTide lost up to 8.2% of their body weight after 92 days. That suggests a single injection of the drug has a prolonged weight loss effect, according to the study authors. In the group that received multiple doses of the drug, patients appeared to maintain their maximum weight loss until around two months after their last dose. Their body weight started to slowly return after that. Still, their weight was as much as 11.2% lower five months after they received the last dose. ""We think meaningful weight loss is already 5%. If you take Amgen's drug, lose 14.5%, stop the drug and still have 11.2% weight loss after a few months, that's significant,"" said Dr. Holly Lofton, director of the Weight Management Program at NYU Langone Health and an obesity medicine physician. But she pointed out the need to study the treatment in a larger group of people. The sustained weight loss in Amgen's study appears to contrast with results seen in clinical trials on Zepbound and Wegovy. Patients in those studies saw their weight rebound sooner after stopping the injections. The frequency of Amgen's drug also sets it apart. Those on Wegovy or Zepbound have to take doses weekly, compared with the once-monthly MariTide. Amgen's trial used monthly dosing in part because patients saw sustained weight loss whether they had a single injection or multiple shots of the company's drug, according to the study authors. Amgen's treatment also can stay in the body for much longer than current therapies like Wegovy and Zepbound because it includes a monoclonal antibody, the authors added. Amgen's MariTide ""has that advantage where it's just going to last a lot longer. Even if you give a high dose, you're still going to have drug exposure in the body for a month or two months, so that clearly shows you don't need to take it every week,"" William Blair & Company analyst Matt Phipps told CNBC.Phipps said people typically don't want to get injections often, so some patients could prefer a monthly shot like Amgen's MariTide for a disease that will likely require chronic treatment. But he noted that a patient's choice may also depend on whether the level of weight loss and side effects of Amgen's drug end up being on par with those of the existing weekly injections. Amgen's ongoing phase two trial is exploring whether patients can take its drug even less frequently than once a month. Amgen's longer-term phase two study on nearly 600 patients will provide more clarity on how competitive MariTide will be against Wegovy and Zepbound. The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients. It expects to release initial trial results later this year. Some analysts have said the phase two trial could help address several questions, including how well patients tolerate the treatment at different dose regimens.The 52-week study is testing 11 different patient groups at a variety of dosing levels and regimens. That includes starting some patients at a lower dose of a drug and gradually increasing it until they reach a higher target dose. That dose escalation could help reduce side effects that some patients experienced after taking their first dose of MariTide in the phase one trial, according to Phipps.In that trial, the safety and side effects of Amgen's drug were similar to other GLP-1 medications. Nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported side effects, and typically lasted for about 72 hours. Four out of eight patients in a group receiving the highest dose of the treatment withdrew before getting a second shot after reporting mild gastrointestinal issues, according to the study. But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month. ""It's a little early to jump to the conclusion that the drug won't be tolerated by patients based on this phase one data,"" William Blair & Company's Phipps said.Another part of Amgen's phase two trial will also examine weight loss beyond 52 weeks, which will provide a clearer picture of how long the drug is effective.",CNBC,25/03/2024,"['In this articleAmgen is taking a new approach as it tries to stand out in a crowded field of drugmakers racing to develop the next blockbuster weight loss drug.', 'The biotech company is testing an injectable treatment that helps people lose weight differently from the existing injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, and other obesity medicines in development.', ""Amgen's treatment, called MariTide, also appears to help patients keep weight off after they stop taking it."", 'The drugmaker is also testing its drug to be taken once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than the weekly medicines on the market.', ""It's too early to say how competitive Amgen will be in the budding weight loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have so far dominated."", 'Some analysts expect the market could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade, potentially leaving room for new competitors to enter.', ""Goldman Sachs also projects that between 10 million and 70 million Americans will be taking weight loss drugs by 2028.The available data on Amgen's injectable drug is promising, but it's from a small, early-stage clinical trial."", 'The Thousand Oaks, California-based company also is developing an oral medicine and other treatments for obesity, but has disclosed few details about them.', ""Investors and health experts will likely get a better idea of Amgen's prospects later this year: The drugmaker expects to release initial data from an ongoing mid-stage trial on MariTide, along with phase one data on its obesity pill."", ""It's also unclear whether Amgen's treatments will be cheaper than the existing weight loss drugs, which cost around $1,000 per month."", 'Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Zepbound from Eli Lilly lead a new class of obesity treatments that has drawn unrelenting patient demand — and investor interest — despite their hefty price tags and limited insurance coverage.', 'Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.', ""Amgen's drug offers a new twist on weight loss."", ""Much like Wegovy and Zepbound, one part of Amgen's treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help regulate a person's appetite."", ""But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen's drug blocks it."", 'Wegovy does not target GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.', ""Amgen's decision to tamp down rather than boost GIP activity is based on genetics research suggesting that blocking the receptor is linked to lower fat mass and body weight, company executives have said."", 'That appears to contradict how Zepbound works.', ""Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial."", ""But Amgen's MartiTide also was effective in a small, early-stage study."", ""Patients given the highest dose of Amgen's drug — 420 milligrams — every month lost 14.5% of their body weight on average in just 12 weeks, according to data from the phase one trial published last month in the journal Nature Metabolism."", ""There's a broader debate among researchers about why both approaches – blocking and activating GIP – are effective at promoting weight loss."", 'One theory is that repeatedly activating the GIP receptor, as Zepbound does, ultimately causes the body to ""self-regulate"" itself and make sure there isn\'t too much GIP activity, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women\'s Hospital.', ""That decreases GIP activity overall, which is thought to essentially mimic what Amgen's drug achieves when it blocks the GIP receptor."", 'But Apovian cautioned that ""none of this is proven"" and more data is needed.', ""Amgen's treatment may be better at helping people maintain weight loss than competitors, even though patients take it less frequently, early-stage trial data suggests."", ""Amgen's study enrolled 110 patients with obesity but not diabetes."", 'Patients in one group were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of the drug and were followed for 150 days, while a second group was given a dose every four weeks for three months.', 'Patients who received a single shot of the highest dose of MariTide lost up to 8.2% of their body weight after 92 days.', 'That suggests a single injection of the drug has a prolonged weight loss effect, according to the study authors.', 'In the group that received multiple doses of the drug, patients appeared to maintain their maximum weight loss until around two months after their last dose.', 'Their body weight started to slowly return after that.', 'Still, their weight was as much as 11.2% lower five months after they received the last dose.', '""We think meaningful weight loss is already 5%.', 'If you take Amgen\'s drug, lose 14.5%, stop the drug and still have 11.2% weight loss after a few months, that\'s significant,"" said Dr. Holly Lofton, director of the Weight Management Program at NYU Langone Health and an obesity medicine physician.', 'But she pointed out the need to study the treatment in a larger group of people.', ""The sustained weight loss in Amgen's study appears to contrast with results seen in clinical trials on Zepbound and Wegovy."", 'Patients in those studies saw their weight rebound sooner after stopping the injections.', ""The frequency of Amgen's drug also sets it apart."", 'Those on Wegovy or Zepbound have to take doses weekly, compared with the once-monthly MariTide.', ""Amgen's trial used monthly dosing in part because patients saw sustained weight loss whether they had a single injection or multiple shots of the company's drug, according to the study authors."", ""Amgen's treatment also can stay in the body for much longer than current therapies like Wegovy and Zepbound because it includes a monoclonal antibody, the authors added."", 'Amgen\'s MariTide ""has that advantage where it\'s just going to last a lot longer.', 'Even if you give a high dose, you\'re still going to have drug exposure in the body for a month or two months, so that clearly shows you don\'t need to take it every week,"" William Blair & Company analyst Matt Phipps told CNBC.Phipps said people typically don\'t want to get injections often, so some patients could prefer a monthly shot like Amgen\'s MariTide for a disease that will likely require chronic treatment.', ""But he noted that a patient's choice may also depend on whether the level of weight loss and side effects of Amgen's drug end up being on par with those of the existing weekly injections."", ""Amgen's ongoing phase two trial is exploring whether patients can take its drug even less frequently than once a month."", ""Amgen's longer-term phase two study on nearly 600 patients will provide more clarity on how competitive MariTide will be against Wegovy and Zepbound."", 'The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients.', 'It expects to release initial trial results later this year.', 'Some analysts have said the phase two trial could help address several questions, including how well patients tolerate the treatment at different dose regimens.', 'The 52-week study is testing 11 different patient groups at a variety of dosing levels and regimens.', 'That includes starting some patients at a lower dose of a drug and gradually increasing it until they reach a higher target dose.', 'That dose escalation could help reduce side effects that some patients experienced after taking their first dose of MariTide in the phase one trial, according to Phipps.', ""In that trial, the safety and side effects of Amgen's drug were similar to other GLP-1 medications."", 'Nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported side effects, and typically lasted for about 72 hours.', 'Four out of eight patients in a group receiving the highest dose of the treatment withdrew before getting a second shot after reporting mild gastrointestinal issues, according to the study.', 'But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month.', '""It\'s a little early to jump to the conclusion that the drug won\'t be tolerated by patients based on this phase one data,"" William Blair & Company\'s Phipps said.', ""Another part of Amgen's phase two trial will also examine weight loss beyond 52 weeks, which will provide a clearer picture of how long the drug is effective.""]",0.0559512895439434,The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients.,"But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month.",0.7454101455708345,Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial.,"Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.",2024-03-28
Medicare can now cover certain weight loss drugs in a big step for patients,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/medicare-can-cover-weight-loss-drugs-if-used-for-added-health-benefit.html,2024-03-21T19:51:11+0000,"In this articleMedicare can start covering certain weight loss drugs for the first time — as long as they are approved for an added health benefit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday.That opens the door for broader coverage of some highly popular weight loss medications such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which is now approved in the U.S. for heart health. Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit. Medicare prescription drug plans administered by private insurers, known as Part D, currently cannot cover those drugs for weight loss alone.The agency's guidance means Medicare patients could soon get coverage for Wegovy, as long as they have obesity and a history of heart disease and are prescribed the treatment to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose.The guidance also will open the door to future coverage of other weight loss medications, many of which are being tested for additional health conditions.Drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk, which also makes the diabetes drug Ozempic, and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more. To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s which mimic a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and help regulate blood sugar. Coverage for those treatments when used for weight loss is a mixed bag. Roughly 110 million American adults are living with obesity and approximately 50 million of them have insurance coverage for weight loss drugs, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement last week.Some of the nation's largest insurers, such as CVS Health's Aetna, also cover the treatments.But many employers don't. An October survey of more than 200 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP, found only 27% provided coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss, compared with the 76% that covered those drugs for diabetes. Notably, 13% of employers indicated they were considering coverage for weight loss.A provision of a 2003 law established that Medicare Part D plans can't cover drugs used for weight loss, but the program does cover obesity screening, behavioral counseling and bariatric surgery. A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introduced legislation that would eliminate the provision, but its fate in Congress is far from certain.A CMS spokesperson told CNBC last week that Medicaid programs would be required to cover Wegovy specifically for its new cardiovascular use. By law, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage. Around 1 in 5 state Medicaid programs currently cover GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleMedicare can start covering certain weight loss drugs for the first time — as long as they are approved for an added health benefit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday.', ""That opens the door for broader coverage of some highly popular weight loss medications such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which is now approved in the U.S. for heart health."", 'Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.', 'Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit.', 'Medicare prescription drug plans administered by private insurers, known as Part D, currently cannot cover those drugs for weight loss alone.', ""The agency's guidance means Medicare patients could soon get coverage for Wegovy, as long as they have obesity and a history of heart disease and are prescribed the treatment to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes."", 'Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose.', 'The guidance also will open the door to future coverage of other weight loss medications, many of which are being tested for additional health conditions.', 'Drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk, which also makes the diabetes drug Ozempic, and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more.', 'To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.', ""Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s which mimic a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and help regulate blood sugar."", 'Coverage for those treatments when used for weight loss is a mixed bag.', 'Roughly 110 million American adults are living with obesity and approximately 50 million of them have insurance coverage for weight loss drugs, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement last week.', ""Some of the nation's largest insurers, such asCVS Health'sAetna, also cover the treatments."", ""But many employers don't."", 'An Octobersurveyof more than 200 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP, found only 27% provided coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss, compared with the 76% that covered those drugs for diabetes.', 'Notably, 13% of employers indicated they were considering coverage for weight loss.', ""A provision of a2003 lawestablished that Medicare Part D plans can't cover drugs used for weight loss, but the program does cover obesity screening, behavioral counseling and bariatric surgery."", 'A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introducedlegislationthat would eliminate the provision, but its fate in Congress is far from certain.', 'A CMS spokesperson told CNBC last week that Medicaid programs would be required to cover Wegovy specifically for its new cardiovascular use.', 'Bylaw, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage.', 'Around 1 in 5 state Medicaid programscurrently coverGLP-1 drugs for weight loss.']",-0.0074441399614407,"Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit.","Bylaw, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage.",0.9951892097791036,Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.,,2024-03-28
Fanatics fires back at DraftKings' claims of corporate espionage in bitter legal battle,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/fanatics-fires-back-at-draftkings-claims-of-corporate-espionage.html,2024-03-22T12:57:12+0000,"In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive.In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.In February, Hermalyn accepted a position as the president of Fanatics VIP and head of Fanatics' Los Angeles office. He reports directly to CEO Michael Rubin.DraftKings is suing Hermalyn in federal court, arguing he downloaded confidential company documents and tried to recruit other employees away from DraftKings.Fanatics alleges in its filing that DraftKings has a ""culture of retribution"" and is making an example of Hermalyn to instill fear in other ""DK employees looking to jump ship.""By its count, 186 DraftKings employees have applied to work at Fanatics since the company announced in 2021 it would launch a sportsbook, according to the filing.In the rapidly expanding sports gambling industry, Fanatics is the newcomer, late to the game but backed by billionaire Rubin and an enviable database of customers who buy team jerseys and ball caps online or sports memorabilia through its collectibles business.DraftKings ranks No. 2 in sports betting market share, behind FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter. But those two leaders dominate, with roughly 80% market share between them.And the competition is fierce — with even well-known gambling brands like Caesars and BetMGM fighting for customers' dollars. They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier. Much of that is proprietary.But sports gamblers are notoriously promiscuous. They chase promotions or the best odds and many have more than one betting app downloaded on their phones.The most valuable customers, the VIPs, work with casino or sportsbook hosts, who build relationships and try to engender loyalty.DraftKings alleges Hermalyn reached out to one of DraftKings' most valuable customers to alert him that Hermalyn would be leaving his employer.""The evidence against Mr. Hermalyn is open-and-shut. He stole valuable trade secrets, destroyed evidence to cover his tracks and then lied about it all,"" said Orin Snyder, an attorney with Gibson Dunn representing DraftKings, in a statement to CNBC on Thursday.In a brief filed March 14, DraftKings details what it describes as corporate espionage. Fanatics, it insists, is trying to steal its VIPs, its valuable employees and its strategy to clone DraftKings' business.Fanatics in its response vehemently denies those allegations, and says DraftKings is intentionally distorting reality and engaging in character assassination.""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.DraftKings had petitioned the court to keep Hermalyn from working for Fanatics. The judge declined that petition but issued a temporary restraining order to keep Hermalyn from soliciting clients or employees from his former employer.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive."", 'In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.', ""In February, Hermalyn accepted a position as the president of Fanatics VIP and head of Fanatics' Los Angeles office."", 'He reports directly to CEO Michael Rubin.', 'DraftKings is suing Hermalyn in federal court, arguing he downloaded confidential company documents and tried to recruit other employees away from DraftKings.', 'Fanatics alleges in its filing that DraftKings has a ""culture of retribution"" and is making an example of Hermalyn to instill fear in other ""DK employees looking to jump ship.', '""By its count, 186 DraftKings employees have applied to work at Fanatics since the company announced in 2021 it would launch a sportsbook, according to the filing.', 'In the rapidly expanding sports gambling industry, Fanatics is the newcomer, late to the game but backed by billionaire Rubin and an enviable database of customers who buy team jerseys and ball caps online or sports memorabilia through its collectibles business.', 'DraftKings ranks No.', '2 in sports betting market share, behind FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter.', 'But those two leaders dominate, with roughly 80% market share between them.', ""And the competition is fierce — with even well-known gambling brands like Caesars and BetMGM fighting for customers' dollars."", ""They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier."", 'Much of that is proprietary.', 'But sports gamblers are notoriously promiscuous.', 'They chase promotions or the best odds and many have more than one betting app downloaded on their phones.', 'The most valuable customers, the VIPs, work with casino or sportsbook hosts, who build relationships and try to engender loyalty.', ""DraftKings alleges Hermalyn reached out to one of DraftKings' most valuable customers to alert him that Hermalyn would be leaving his employer."", '""The evidence against Mr. Hermalyn is open-and-shut.', 'He stole valuable trade secrets, destroyed evidence to cover his tracks and then lied about it all,"" said Orin Snyder, an attorney with Gibson Dunn representing DraftKings, in a statement to CNBC on Thursday.', 'In a brief filed March 14, DraftKings details what it describes as corporate espionage.', ""Fanatics, it insists, is trying to steal its VIPs, its valuable employees and its strategy to clone DraftKings' business."", 'Fanatics in its response vehemently denies those allegations, and says DraftKings is intentionally distorting reality and engaging in character assassination.', '""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.', 'DraftKings had petitioned the court to keep Hermalyn from working for Fanatics.', 'The judge declined that petition but issued a temporary restraining order to keep Hermalyn from soliciting clients or employees from his former employer.']",0.052403567887878,"""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.","In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.",0.0735168606042862,"They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier.",In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive.,2024-03-28
Home Depot is acquiring specialty distributor SRS for $18.25 billion in huge bet on growing pro sales,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/28/home-depot-acquiring-srs-distribution-for-18point25-billion-to-grow-pro-sales.html,2024-03-28T14:44:53+0000,"In this articleHome Depot on Thursday said it is acquiring SRS Distribution in an $18.25 billion deal, the latest and largest sign of its ambitions to drive sales by winning more business from contractors, roofers and other home professionals.The home improvement retailer expects the acquisition to close this fiscal year, which ends in late January. It said it will finance the deal through cash on hand and debt.Home Depot already draws half of its business from pros, while the other half comes from do-it-yourself customers. With the deal, the Atlanta-based company is making yet another push to gain the customers who tackle complex and lucrative construction jobs, particularly as homeowners pull back on DIY projects. That was one of the priorities that Home Depot leaders laid out for this year. It's also why the company has been opening a growing network of distribution centers that can stock large quantities of items that pros need, such as lumber or shingles, and deliver them directly to a job site.The acquisition is the largest in Home Depot's history.In an interview with CNBC, CEO Ted Decker described the deal as ""a complementary accelerator"" to its efforts to attract more pros. He said the deal increases Home Depot's total addressable market by $50 billion.SRS Distribution sells supplies to professionals in the landscaping, pool and roofing businesses. It's owned by two private equity firms, Leonard Green & Partners and Berkshire Partners.The McKinney, Texas-based company has approximately 11,000 employees and 760 branches across 47 states. It also has a fleet of 4,000 delivery trucks and a dedicated salesforce that caters to the home pros, Decker said.The acquisition adds to other recent deals that the retailer has made in the pro space. They include the approximately $8 billion acquisition of HD Supply, a national distributor of maintenance, repair and operations products in the multifamily and hospitality markets, in 2020. Last year, it also made two other acquisitions for undisclosed amounts: International Designs Group, which owns Construction Resources, a distributor of surfaces, appliances and other products that sells to home pros; and Temco, an appliance delivery and installation company.Decker said he's confident the deal will get approved by federal regulators, even as they increase scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions.""With the separate customer base, different channels, different purchase occasions, we feel good that this will go through,"" he said.The acquisition is expected to be dilutive to Home Depot's earnings per share due to amortization, but accretive in terms of cash earnings per share in the first year after the deal closes.Home Depot has leaned into the pro business as its growth stagnates. The retailer, a major beneficiary of pandemic trends, has dealt with moderating sales as consumers take on fewer home projects and spend more on grocery bills and experiences. Over the past few quarters, customers have bought fewer big-ticket items and tackled smaller, less pricey projects. Decker said last month on an earnings call that Home Depot would focus on opening new stores, attracting more pro sales and trying to make customers' shopping experience more seamless.Home Depot plans to open a dozen new stores during the fiscal year. It recently announced it will open four distribution centers that help support sales to pros. The acquisition comes after the home improvement retailer said last month that it expects slower sales trends to continue. It said it anticipates total sales for the full year will grow about 1%, including an additional week in the fiscal year. Yet it expects comparable sales, which take out the effect of store openings and closures and do not include the additional week, to drop by about 1%.Home Depot had a total of 2,335 stores across the U.S., Mexico and Canada as of the end of the fiscal year in late January. It has about 465,000 employees. As of Wednesday's close, shares of Home Depot are up about 11% this year. That's slightly ahead of the 10% gains of the S&P 500. Home Depot's stock closed at $385.89 on Wednesday, bringing its market value to about $382 billion.",CNBC,28/03/2024,"['In this articleHome Depot on Thursday said it is acquiring SRS Distribution in an $18.25 billion deal, the latest and largest sign of its ambitions to drive sales by winning more business from contractors, roofers and other home professionals.', 'The home improvement retailer expects the acquisition to close this fiscal year, which ends in late January.', 'It said it will finance the deal through cash on hand and debt.', 'Home Depot already draws half of its business from pros, while the other half comes from do-it-yourself customers.', 'With the deal, the Atlanta-based company is making yet another push to gain the customers who tackle complex and lucrative construction jobs, particularly as homeowners pull back on DIY projects.', 'That was one of the priorities that Home Depot leaders laid out for this year.', ""It's also why the company has been opening a growing network of distribution centers that can stock large quantities of items that pros need, such as lumber or shingles, and deliver them directly to a job site."", ""The acquisition is the largest in Home Depot's history."", 'In an interview with CNBC, CEO Ted Decker described the deal as ""a complementary accelerator"" to its efforts to attract more pros.', ""He said the deal increases Home Depot's total addressable market by $50 billion."", 'SRS Distribution sells supplies to professionals in the landscaping, pool and roofing businesses.', ""It's owned by two private equity firms, Leonard Green & Partners and Berkshire Partners."", 'The McKinney, Texas-based company has approximately 11,000 employees and 760 branches across 47 states.', 'It also has a fleet of 4,000 delivery trucks and a dedicated salesforce that caters to the home pros, Decker said.', 'The acquisition adds to other recent deals that the retailer has made in the pro space.', 'They include the approximately $8 billion acquisition of HD Supply, a national distributor of maintenance, repair and operations products in the multifamily and hospitality markets, in 2020.', 'Last year, it also made two other acquisitions for undisclosed amounts:International Designs Group, which owns Construction Resources, a distributor of surfaces, appliances and other products that sells to home pros; and Temco, an appliance delivery and installation company.', ""Decker said he's confident the deal will get approved by federal regulators, even as they increase scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions."", '""With the separate customer base, different channels, different purchase occasions, we feel good that this will go through,"" he said.', ""The acquisition is expected to be dilutive to Home Depot's earnings per share due to amortization, but accretive in terms of cash earnings per share in the first year after the deal closes."", 'Home Depot has leaned into the pro business as its growth stagnates.', 'The retailer, a major beneficiary of pandemic trends, has dealt with moderating sales as consumers take on fewer home projects and spend more on grocery bills and experiences.', 'Over the past few quarters, customers have bought fewer big-ticket items and tackled smaller, less pricey projects.', ""Decker said last month on an earnings call that Home Depot would focus on opening new stores, attracting more pro sales and trying to make customers' shopping experience more seamless."", 'Home Depot plans to open a dozen new stores during the fiscal year.', 'It recently announced it will open four distribution centers that help support sales to pros.', 'The acquisition comes after the home improvement retailer said last month that it expects slower sales trends to continue.', 'It said it anticipates total sales for the full year will grow about 1%, including an additional week in the fiscal year.', 'Yet it expects comparable sales, which take out the effect of store openings and closures and do not include the additional week, to drop by about 1%.Home Depot had a total of 2,335 stores across the U.S., Mexico and Canada as of the end of the fiscal year in late January.', 'It has about 465,000 employees.', ""As of Wednesday's close, shares of Home Depot are up about 11% this year."", ""That's slightly ahead of the 10% gains of the S&P 500."", ""Home Depot's stock closed at $385.89 on Wednesday, bringing its market value to about $382 billion.""]",0.2337286943129077,"Decker said he's confident the deal will get approved by federal regulators, even as they increase scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions.","Yet it expects comparable sales, which take out the effect of store openings and closures and do not include the additional week, to drop by about 1%.Home Depot had a total of 2,335 stores across the U.S., Mexico and Canada as of the end of the fiscal year in late January.",0.5671585641409221,"As of Wednesday's close, shares of Home Depot are up about 11% this year.","Yet it expects comparable sales, which take out the effect of store openings and closures and do not include the additional week, to drop by about 1%.Home Depot had a total of 2,335 stores across the U.S., Mexico and Canada as of the end of the fiscal year in late January.",2024-03-28
"Nike shares slide on lackluster outlook, slowing China sales",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/nike-nke-earnings-q3-2024.html,2024-03-21T22:40:25+0000,"In this articleNike's China sales continued to slow during its holiday quarter, but the retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom line, helped by better than expected growth in North America and price changes.Here's how the company performed in its fiscal 2024 third quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 29 was $1.17 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.24 billion, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding 21 cents per share related to restructuring charges, earnings per share would have been 98 cents, the company said.Sales rose to $12.43 billion, up slightly from $12.39 billion a year earlier.In North America, where demand has been unsteady, sales rose about 3% to $5.07 billion, compared with estimates of $4.75 billion, according to StreetAccount.Meanwhile, sales in the rest of Nike's regions came in below estimates. In China, sales reached $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected. Revenues in the region climbed 5%, but growth there has decelerated as demand normalizes after Covid-19 lockdowns.In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. In China, sales grew 5% to $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected. Sales in Asia Pacific and Latin America rose 3% to $1.65 billion, below the $1.69 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.Nike shares rose about 5% after its report came out, but later dropped by as much as 7% after it released its guidance for the current quarter and fiscal 2025.Excluding restructuring charges, the company reiterated its sales outlook for fiscal 2024, and said it expects revenue to grow by 1%, in line with expectations of up 1.1%, according to LSEG. For the current quarter, it expects revenue to be up slightly, compared to estimates of up 2%, according to LSEG.Nike anticipates gross margins will grow 1.6 to 1.8 percentage points, helped by ""strategic price increases, lower ocean freight rates, lower product input costs and improved supply chain efficiency,"" finance chief Matthew Friend told analysts.The improvements are offset by higher markdowns and reduced benefits from Nike's channel mix, along with foreign exchange headwinds, Friend said. Those shifts in mix are related to changes in how often consumers are shopping online versus in stores or with Nike's wholesale partners.  For the full year, it expects gross margins to grow about 1.2 percentage points, below the 1.4 to 1.6 percentage point uptick that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. For fiscal 2025, Nike expects revenue and earnings to grow versus the prior year, but it didn't say by how much. Analysts had expected revenue guidance of up 5.6%, according to LSEG. Friend said Nike is ""prudently planning"" for revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 to be down low single digits, reflecting ""a subdued macro outlook around the world."" As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins. In December, it announced a broad restructuring plan to reduce costs by about $2 billion over the next three years. It also cut its sales guidance as it warned of softer demand in the quarters ahead. Two months later, it said it was shedding 2% of its workforce, or more than 1,500 jobs, so it could invest in its growth areas, such as running, the women's category and the Jordan brand.The early innings of Nike's cost cuts, which involve simplifying its assortment, reducing management layers and increasing automation, likely helped the retailer beat earnings expectations in the three months ended Nov. 30, even as it missed sales estimates for the second quarter in a row. The cuts, along with ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight rates,"" also contributed to a 1.7 percentage point gain in gross margin — the first time the company saw its gross margin increase compared to the prior year in at least six quarters. Nike's gross margin recovery continued during the quarter. The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs."" The gains were partially offset by higher product input costs and restructuring charges, company said.Nike is still considered a market leader in the sneaker and apparel space, but the category has become more crowded and the retailer has had to work harder to compete. Some analysts say its assortment has lost focus and say the company has fallen behind on innovation, giving up market share to newer entrants like Hoka and On Running, as well as legacy brands like Brooks Running and New Balance. Last month, Nike launched the Book 1, its latest basketball shoes with NBA star Devin Booker. But the release wasn't well received because it ""looked more like a casual sneaker instead of [a] basketball shoe,"" according to a research note from Jane Hali & Associates. The firm is now neutral on Nike long term, compared to its previous rating of positive, because it's unclear where the brand is headed, said senior analyst Jessica Ramirez.She's noticed that Nike has removed a lot of products from its offering, which indicates it's preparing to bring in new styles. But it's still unclear exactly what those changes will look like.""They've already said [those changes are] going to take some time,"" Ramirez told CNBC prior to Nike's earnings release. ""Its a little concerning to know they don't have a solid plan that we know of yet.""Read the full earnings release here.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleNike's China sales continued to slow during its holiday quarter, but the retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom line, helped by better than expected growth in North America and price changes."", ""Here's how the company performed in its fiscal 2024 third quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 29 was $1.17 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.24 billion, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier."", 'Excluding 21 cents per share related to restructuring charges, earnings per share would have been 98 cents, the company said.', 'Sales rose to $12.43 billion, up slightly from $12.39 billion a year earlier.', 'In North America, where demand has been unsteady, sales rose about 3% to $5.07 billion, compared with estimates of $4.75 billion, according to StreetAccount.', ""Meanwhile, sales in the rest of Nike's regions came in below estimates."", 'In China, sales reached $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected.', 'Revenues in the region climbed 5%, but growth there has decelerated as demand normalizes after Covid-19 lockdowns.', 'In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'In China, sales grew 5% to $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected.', 'Sales in Asia Pacific and Latin America rose 3% to $1.65 billion, below the $1.69 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'Nike shares rose about 5% after its report came out, but later dropped by as much as 7% after it released its guidance for the current quarter and fiscal 2025.Excluding restructuring charges, the company reiterated its sales outlook for fiscal 2024, and said it expects revenue to grow by 1%, in line with expectations of up 1.1%, according to LSEG.', 'For the current quarter, it expects revenue to be up slightly, compared to estimates of up 2%, according to LSEG.Nike anticipates gross margins will grow 1.6 to 1.8 percentage points, helped by ""strategic price increases, lower ocean freight rates, lower product input costs and improved supply chain efficiency,"" finance chief Matthew Friend told analysts.', ""The improvements are offset by higher markdowns and reduced benefits from Nike's channel mix, along with foreign exchange headwinds, Friend said."", ""Those shifts in mix are related to changes in how often consumers are shopping online versus in stores or with Nike's wholesale partners."", 'For the full year, it expects gross margins to grow about 1.2 percentage points, below the 1.4 to 1.6 percentage point uptick that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', ""For fiscal 2025, Nike expects revenue and earnings to grow versus the prior year, but it didn't say by how much."", 'Analysts had expected revenue guidance of up 5.6%, according to LSEG.Friend said Nike is ""prudently planning"" for revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 to be down low single digits, reflecting ""a subdued macro outlook around the world.', '""As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins.', 'In December, it announced a broad restructuring plan to reduce costs by about $2 billion over the next three years.', 'It also cut its sales guidance as it warned of softer demand in the quarters ahead.', ""Two months later, it said it was shedding 2% of its workforce, or more than 1,500 jobs, so it could invest in its growth areas, such as running, the women's category and the Jordan brand."", ""The early innings of Nike's cost cuts, which involve simplifying its assortment, reducing management layers and increasing automation, likely helped the retailer beat earnings expectations in the three months ended Nov. 30, even as it missed sales estimates for the second quarter in a row."", 'The cuts, along with ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight rates,"" also contributed to a 1.7 percentage point gain in gross margin — the first time the company saw its gross margin increase compared to the prior year in at least six quarters.', ""Nike's gross margin recovery continued during the quarter."", 'The retailer\'s gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""', 'The gains were partially offset by higher product input costs and restructuring charges, company said.', 'Nike is still considered a market leader in the sneaker and apparel space, but the category has become more crowded and the retailer has had to work harder to compete.', 'Some analysts say its assortment has lost focus and say the company has fallen behind on innovation, giving up market share to newer entrants like Hoka and On Running, as well as legacy brands like Brooks Running and New Balance.', 'Last month, Nike launched the Book 1, its latest basketball shoes with NBA star Devin Booker.', 'But the release wasn\'t well received because it ""looked more like a casual sneaker instead of [a] basketball shoe,"" according to a research note from Jane Hali & Associates.', ""The firm is now neutral on Nike long term, compared to its previous rating of positive, because it's unclear where the brand is headed, said senior analyst Jessica Ramirez."", ""She's noticed that Nike has removed a lot of products from its offering, which indicates it's preparing to bring in new styles."", ""But it's still unclear exactly what those changes will look like."", '""They\'ve already said [those changes are] going to take some time,"" Ramirez told CNBC prior to Nike\'s earnings release. ""', ""Its a little concerning to know they don't have a solid plan that we know of yet."", '""Read the full earnings release here.']",0.074849555456564,"""As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins.","The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""",0.3143576301377395,"The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""","In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.",2024-03-28
"Toyota could introduce electric, plug-in Tacoma and Tundra pickups",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/28/toyota-weighing-electric-plug-in-tacoma-and-tundra-pickups.html,2024-03-28T20:44:55+0000,"In this articleNEW YORK — Toyota Motor is evaluating an expansion of its U.S. truck lineup that could include all-electric or plug-in hybrid electric versions of its Tacoma and Tundra pickups.Jack Hollis, executive vice president of Toyota Motor North America, said the Japanese automaker is assessing its options to determine what makes the most sense based on expected customer demand and tightening federal emissions and fuel economy regulations.""I do think there's room to grow our entire truck footprint. Whether it be Tundra, Tacoma or something else in addition to the lineup,"" Hollis told CNBC on Tuesday during the New York Auto Forum conference. ""Whether that's a compact or something else, I think it's important for us to continue to see what the customers are looking for.""Toyota has previously discussed a broad lineup of battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, including a midsize pickup model like the segment-leading Tacoma. The latest conversations have introduced the potential for plug-in hybrid vehicles, or PHEVs.Toyota earlier this year said it would invest $1.3 billion in a Kentucky plant to produce a new all-electric, three-row SUV for the U.S. market. The automaker's Thailand president this week confirmed Toyota will produce a BEV of its small Hilux pickup for global markets, according to Reuters.Hollis said the electric Hilux is ""very cool."" He declined to speculate whether Toyota could bring that vehicle to the U.S.He confirmed, however, that the company is ""looking into both"" BEV and PHEV versions of the Tacoma and full-size Tundra. The Tundra was last redesigned for the 2022 model year, followed by Tacoma last year.""We're in the evaluation of both. There are reasons why a BEV can work and there's a reason why PHEV can work,"" he said, in posing the question, ""What's the best mix of those based upon each of those two trucks or even for 4Runner or Sequoia [SUVs]?""There are currently five all-electric pickup trucks on sale in the U.S., but they remain priced more so as luxury vehicles than mass-market models. Their prices range from $50,000 to easily more than $100,000, and sales of the vehicles have largely slowed after automakers rushed all-electric pickups to market.There are not any plug-in hybrid electric pickups currently on sale in the U.S. Stellantis' Ram brand is expected to release an ""extended-range"" plug-in vehicle with an electric generator powering an engine later this year.Toyota is one of several automakers reassessing its product portfolio amid slower-than-excepted adoption of EVs, and in light of the Biden administration's revised emissions rules that aim to better take into account hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.José Muñoz, Hyundai president and global chief operating officer, told CNBC on Wednesday the company is reevaluating its plans to exclusively produce all-electric vehicles at a new plant under construction in Georgia.""Everything is on the table,"" Muñoz said. ""We will adjust to the market demand and, for the time being, we are on track for what the regulators are requesting.""",CNBC,28/03/2024,"['In this articleNEW YORK — Toyota Motor is evaluating an expansion of its U.S. truck lineup that could include all-electric or plug-in hybrid electric versions of its Tacoma and Tundra pickups.', 'Jack Hollis, executive vice president of Toyota Motor North America, said the Japanese automaker is assessing its options to determine what makes the most sense based on expected customer demand and tightening federal emissions and fuel economy regulations.', '""I do think there\'s room to grow our entire truck footprint.', 'Whether it be Tundra, Tacoma or something else in addition to the lineup,"" Hollis told CNBC on Tuesday during the New York Auto Forum conference. ""', ""Whether that's a compact or something else, I think it's important for us to continue to see what the customers are looking for."", '""Toyota has previously discussed a broad lineup of battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, including a midsize pickup model like the segment-leading Tacoma.', 'The latest conversations have introduced the potential for plug-in hybrid vehicles, or PHEVs.', 'Toyota earlier this year said it would invest $1.3 billion in a Kentucky plant to produce a new all-electric, three-row SUV for the U.S. market.', ""The automaker's Thailand president this week confirmed Toyota will produce a BEV of its small Hilux pickup for global markets, according to Reuters."", 'Hollis said the electric Hilux is ""very cool.""', 'He declined to speculate whether Toyota could bring that vehicle to the U.S.He confirmed, however, that the company is ""looking into both"" BEV and PHEV versions of the Tacoma and full-size Tundra.', 'The Tundra was last redesigned for the 2022 model year, followed by Tacoma last year.', '""We\'re in the evaluation of both.', 'There are reasons why a BEV can work and there\'s a reason why PHEV can work,"" he said, in posing the question, ""What\'s the best mix of those based upon each of those two trucks or even for 4Runner or Sequoia [SUVs]?""There are currently five all-electric pickup trucks on sale in the U.S., but they remain priced more so as luxury vehicles than mass-market models.', 'Their prices range from $50,000 to easily more than $100,000, and sales of the vehicles have largely slowed after automakers rushed all-electric pickups to market.', 'There are not any plug-in hybrid electric pickups currently on sale in the U.S. Stellantis\' Ram brand is expected to release an ""extended-range"" plug-in vehicle with an electric generator powering an engine later this year.', ""Toyota is one of several automakers reassessing its product portfolio amidslower-than-exceptedadoption of EVs, and in light of the Biden administration'srevised emissionsrules that aim to better take into account hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles."", 'José Muñoz, Hyundai president and global chief operating officer, told CNBC on Wednesday the company is reevaluating its plans to exclusively produce all-electric vehicles at a new plant under construction in Georgia.', '""Everything is on the table,"" Muñoz said. ""', 'We will adjust to the market demand and, for the time being, we are on track for what the regulators are requesting.""']",0.092498307930648,"Toyota is one of several automakers reassessing its product portfolio amidslower-than-exceptedadoption of EVs, and in light of the Biden administration'srevised emissionsrules that aim to better take into account hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.",,0.041712000966072,"""I do think there's room to grow our entire truck footprint.","Their prices range from $50,000 to easily more than $100,000, and sales of the vehicles have largely slowed after automakers rushed all-electric pickups to market.",2024-03-28
Moderna moves three vaccines into final stage trials as it works to rebound from Covid slump,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/27/moderna-moves-three-vaccines-into-final-stage-trials.html,2024-03-28T00:22:11+0000,"In this articleModerna has more to offer beyond its Covid vaccine.The biotech company Wednesday announced positive clinical trial data on three experimental vaccines against other viruses. The company is moving those shots to final stage studies, it said.The update brings Moderna a step closer to having multiple products on the market, which it badly needs amid plunging demand for Covid shots worldwide. The company's Covid jab is its only commercially available product.Moderna's stock has long been tied to that vaccine, with shares falling nearly 45% last year. But shares of the company closed 3% higher on Wednesday after the announcements.Moderna will chart its post-Covid future Wednesday during its fifth annual ""Vaccines Day,"" an investor event in Boston focused on the company's vaccine portfolio.That business has an estimated total addressable market of $52 billion for infectious disease shots, which includes $27 billion for respiratory vaccines and more than $25 billion for latent shots and other jabs.A category of viruses called latent viruses linger inside patients for prolonged periods without causing any symptoms but can ""reactivate"" and cause serious health complications later in their lives. They represent a huge unmet need that Moderna can address, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.""Once those viruses are in your body, it's in your body forever,"" he said, adding that there are no approved shots for several of the latent viruses, including some that Moderna is targeting.The company will present new clinical trial data on the three vaccines, including some against latent viruses, at the event Wednesday.Those vaccines include a shot against norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea; a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus, a common herpes virus that can cause contagious infections and is associated with some cancers; and a shot designed to target a virus that causes shingles and chickenpox.Moderna will also discuss other updates across its vaccine business. The company has five other shots in late-stage clinical trials and said it expects to release data on two of those jabs this year. That includes its combination vaccine against Covid and the flu and a shot against another common herpes virus called cytomegalovirus, or CMV. Among the other vaccines in late-stage development is a jab against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which is expected to win regulatory approval in the U.S. in May. It also includes a new and improved version of Moderna's Covid shot. The company on Tuesday said its ""next-generation"" Covid shot triggered a stronger immune response against the virus than its current vaccine on the market in a late-stage clinical trial.Another shot in phase three trials is the company's flu vaccine.Also on Wednesday, Moderna said it recently entered into a development and commercialization funding agreement with Blackstone Life Sciences, a private equity segment of The Blackstone Group. Blackstone will fund up to $750 million to advance Moderna's flu shot program, with ""a return based on commercial milestones"" and low single-digit royalties. Bancel told CNBC the company's messenger RNA platform, used in its Covid vaccine, ""is working so well"" against other diseases. That mRNA technology works by teaching the body to produce a harmless piece of a virus, which triggers an immune response against certain diseases.""Think about the [total addressable market] Moderna is going after – we're going to be one of the most important vaccine companies in the world,"" he said.Still, it will take time before Moderna's pipeline will pay off.The company in its third-quarter earnings release in November said it expects revenue to fall to $4 billion in 2024 before it grows again in 2025. It expects to break even in 2026, executives said during a November earnings call.Moderna's latest shots to move into late-stage trials represent significant opportunities for the company.There is currently no approved shot to prevent norovirus, the most common cause of the stomach flu. The virus results in approximately 200,000 deaths per year and substantial health-care costs, according to Moderna. The company examined two different norovirus shot candidates in a phase one trial on more than 600 patients ages 18 to 49 and 60 to 80 in the U.S.An interim analysis showed that a single dose of a trivalent vaccine called mRNA-1403 targeting three norovirus strains triggered a strong immune response across all dose sizes. The shot also had a ""clinically acceptable"" safety profile. Moderna said it is moving that shot to a phase three trial. The market for norovirus vaccines represents a $3 billion to $6 billion annual market, according to the company. There are also no shots currently approved to prevent Epstein-Barr virus. It accounts for more than 90% of cases of infectious mononucleosis, a contagious infection known as mono, which can cause fever, sore throat and chronic fatigue.Both the virus and mono are associated with a higher risk of certain cancers. The virus also increases a patient's risk of developing multiple sclerosis by 32-fold, according to Moderna. That disease is characterized by the the immune system eating away at the protective covering of nerves.""It's a big issue for teenagers. There are sometimes kids who have to redo a year of high school or college, which is a big waste of your life,"" Bancel said. ""But it has also been associated with multiple sclerosis, which is a terrible disease affecting mostly women ... so we think we could prevent that.""Moderna has been developing two shots designed to tackle multiple conditions associated with Epstein-Barr virus. That includes a shot designed to prevent mono called mRNA-1189, which will move to a phase three study after positive early stage trial data.A phase one trial examined that vaccine in patients 12 to 30 years old in the U.S. The study found that the shot produced an immune response against mono and was overall well tolerated across all dose sizes.Moderna is developing another shot called mRNA-1195, which is designed to target multiple sclerosis and a subcategory of lymphoma in solid organ transplant patients. A phase one trial on that vaccine is fully enrolled, according to the company.Bancel said the company believes the Epstein-Barr virus will be ""a several billion dollar market.""Varicella-Zoster virus causes both chickenpox and shingles. Older adults have declining immunity against that virus, making them more vulnerable to developing painful, itchy and blister-like rashes. About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. will develop shingles at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moderna studied its vaccine against the virus, mRNA-1468, in an early to mid-stage trial on healthy adults ages 50 and older in the U.S.The shot caused a strong immune response at one month after the second dose and was generally well tolerated by patients, according to the company. Additional data from that ongoing trial will be available later this year.Moderna estimates that the market for Varicella-Zoster virus could be $5 billion to $6 billion annually.",CNBC,28/03/2024,"['In this articleModerna has more to offer beyond its Covid vaccine.', 'The biotech company Wednesday announced positive clinical trial data on three experimental vaccines against other viruses.', 'The company is moving those shots to final stage studies, it said.', 'The update brings Moderna a step closer to having multiple products on the market, which it badly needs amid plunging demand for Covid shots worldwide.', ""The company's Covid jab is its only commercially available product."", ""Moderna's stock has long been tied to that vaccine, with shares falling nearly 45% last year."", 'But shares of the company closed 3% higher on Wednesday after the announcements.', 'Moderna will chart its post-Covid future Wednesday during its fifth annual ""Vaccines Day,"" an investor event in Boston focused on the company\'s vaccine portfolio.', 'That business has an estimated total addressable market of $52 billion for infectious disease shots, which includes $27 billion for respiratory vaccines and more than $25 billion for latent shots and other jabs.', 'A category of viruses called latent viruses linger inside patients for prolonged periods without causing any symptoms but can ""reactivate"" and cause serious health complications later in their lives.', 'They represent a huge unmet need that Moderna can address, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.', '""Once those viruses are in your body, it\'s in your body forever,"" he said, adding that there are no approved shots for several of the latent viruses, including some that Moderna is targeting.', 'The company will present new clinical trial data on the three vaccines, including some against latent viruses, at the event Wednesday.', 'Those vaccines include a shot against norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea; a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus, a common herpes virus that can cause contagious infections and is associated with some cancers; and a shot designed to target a virus that causes shingles and chickenpox.', 'Moderna will also discuss other updates across its vaccine business.', 'The company has five other shots in late-stage clinical trials and said it expects to release data on two of those jabs this year.', 'That includes its combination vaccine against Covid and the flu and a shot against another common herpes virus called cytomegalovirus, or CMV.Among the other vaccines in late-stage development is a jab against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which is expected to win regulatory approval in the U.S. in May.', ""It also includes a new and improved version of Moderna's Covid shot."", 'The company on Tuesday said its ""next-generation"" Covid shot triggered a stronger immune response against the virus than its current vaccine on the market in a late-stage clinical trial.', ""Another shot in phase three trials is the company's flu vaccine."", 'Also on Wednesday, Moderna said it recently entered into a development and commercialization funding agreement with Blackstone Life Sciences, a private equity segment of The Blackstone Group.', 'Blackstone will fund up to $750 million to advance Moderna\'s flu shot program, with ""a return based on commercial milestones"" and low single-digit royalties.', 'Bancel told CNBC the company\'s messenger RNA platform, used in its Covid vaccine, ""is working so well"" against other diseases.', 'That mRNA technology works by teaching the body to produce a harmless piece of a virus, which triggers an immune response against certain diseases.', '""Think about the [total addressable market] Moderna is going after – we\'re going to be one of the most important vaccine companies in the world,"" he said.', ""Still, it will take time before Moderna's pipeline will pay off."", 'The company in its third-quarter earnings release in November said it expects revenue to fall to $4 billion in 2024 before it grows again in 2025.', 'It expects to break even in 2026, executives said during a November earnings call.', ""Moderna's latest shots to move into late-stage trials represent significant opportunities for the company."", 'There is currently no approved shot to prevent norovirus, the most common cause of the stomach flu.', 'The virus results in approximately 200,000 deaths per year and substantial health-care costs, according to Moderna.', 'The company examined two different norovirus shot candidates in a phase one trial on more than 600 patients ages 18 to 49 and 60 to 80 in the U.S.An interim analysis showed that a single dose of a trivalent vaccine called mRNA-1403 targeting three norovirus strains triggered a strong immune response across all dose sizes.', 'The shot also had a ""clinically acceptable"" safety profile.', 'Moderna said it is moving that shot to a phase three trial.', 'The market for norovirus vaccines represents a $3 billion to $6 billion annual market, according to the company.', 'There are also no shots currently approved to prevent Epstein-Barr virus.', 'It accounts for more than 90% of cases of infectious mononucleosis, a contagious infection known as mono, which can cause fever, sore throat and chronic fatigue.', 'Both the virus and mono are associated with a higher risk of certain cancers.', ""The virus also increases a patient's risk of developing multiple sclerosis by 32-fold, according to Moderna."", 'That disease is characterized by the the immune system eating away at the protective covering of nerves.', '""It\'s a big issue for teenagers.', 'There are sometimes kids who have to redo a year of high school or college, which is a big waste of your life,"" Bancel said. ""', 'But it has also been associated with multiple sclerosis, which is a terrible disease affecting mostly women ... so we think we could prevent that.', '""Moderna has been developing two shots designed to tackle multiple conditions associated with Epstein-Barr virus.', 'That includes a shot designed to prevent mono called mRNA-1189, which will move to a phase three study after positive early stage trial data.', 'A phase one trial examined that vaccine in patients 12 to 30 years old in the U.S. The study found that the shot produced an immune response against mono and was overall well tolerated across all dose sizes.', 'Moderna is developing another shot called mRNA-1195, which is designed to target multiple sclerosis and a subcategory of lymphoma in solid organ transplant patients.', 'A phase one trial on that vaccine is fully enrolled, according to the company.', 'Bancel said the company believes the Epstein-Barr virus will be ""a several billion dollar market.', '""Varicella-Zoster virus causes both chickenpox and shingles.', 'Older adults have declining immunity against that virus, making them more vulnerable to developing painful, itchy and blister-like rashes.', 'About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. will develop shingles at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.', 'Moderna studied its vaccine against the virus, mRNA-1468, in an early to mid-stage trial on healthy adults ages 50 and older in the U.S.The shot caused a strong immune response at one month after the second dose and was generally well tolerated by patients, according to the company.', 'Additional data from that ongoing trial will be available later this year.', 'Moderna estimates that the market for Varicella-Zoster virus could be $5 billion to $6 billion annually.']",0.091342032516668,"Moderna studied its vaccine against the virus, mRNA-1468, in an early to mid-stage trial on healthy adults ages 50 and older in the U.S.The shot caused a strong immune response at one month after the second dose and was generally well tolerated by patients, according to the company.","It accounts for more than 90% of cases of infectious mononucleosis, a contagious infection known as mono, which can cause fever, sore throat and chronic fatigue.",0.3071435153484344,"The company on Tuesday said its ""next-generation"" Covid shot triggered a stronger immune response against the virus than its current vaccine on the market in a late-stage clinical trial.",The company in its third-quarter earnings release in November said it expects revenue to fall to $4 billion in 2024 before it grows again in 2025.,2024-03-28
The top 10 richest cities in America,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/the-top-10-richest-cities-in-america.html,2024-03-21T18:56:30+0000,"A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.New York still leads the U.S. and the world when it comes to wealthy cities.With nearly 350,000 millionaires and 60 billionaires, the Big Apple is the richest city in America, according to the USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth. Despite all the headlines about the rich leaving the city, its millionaire population has grown 48% over the past decade.The San Francisco Bay Area ranks as the second richest city in America, despite topping New York for billionaires, with more than 305,000 millionaires and 68 billionaires. The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%. The surge in investment and growth in artificial intelligence is expected to add another boost to the area.The fastest-growing U.S. city for the ultra wealthy among the top 10 is Austin, Texas, which has more than doubled its millionaire population over the past decade to nearly 33,000. Miami is up there too, with 87% growth in millionaires over the past decade — but with one-tenth the New York City total.The numbers show that the twin wealth hubs in the U.S. endure, despite wealth migration to the Sun Belt — which is roughly defined as the southern third of the U.S. known for its sunny weather and lower tax states.""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America's wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.Here are the top 10:Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer."", 'Sign upto receive future editions, straight to your inbox.', 'New York still leads the U.S. and the world when it comes to wealthy cities.', 'With nearly 350,000 millionaires and 60 billionaires, the Big Apple is the richest city in America, according to the USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.', 'Despite all the headlines about the rich leaving the city, its millionaire population has grown 48% over the past decade.', 'The San Francisco Bay Area ranks as the second richest city in America, despite topping New York for billionaires, with more than 305,000 millionaires and 68 billionaires.', ""The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%."", 'The surge in investment and growth in artificial intelligence is expected to add another boost to the area.', 'The fastest-growing U.S. city for the ultra wealthy among the top 10 is Austin, Texas, which has more than doubled its millionaire population over the past decade to nearly 33,000.', 'Miami is up there too, with 87% growth in millionaires over the past decade — but with one-tenth the New York City total.', 'The numbers show that the twin wealth hubs in the U.S. endure, despite wealth migration to the Sun Belt — which is roughly defined as the southern third of the U.S. known for its sunny weather and lower tax states.', '""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America\'s wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.', ""Here are the top 10:Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.""]",0.561624820229274,"""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America's wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.",,0.9989487926165262,"The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%.",,2024-03-28
Powerball jackpot swells to an estimated $800 million after no grand prize winners Saturday,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/23/business/powerball-jackpot-saturday-drawing/index.html,"
  Updated
        6:13 AM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","When the next Powerball numbers are drawn Monday night, a lucky lottery player somewhere in the country could win an estimated $800 million grand prize.
    
            No tickets matched all six numbers for the $750 million jackpot in Saturday night’s drawing, so the jackpot continued to swell, according to the lottery.
    
            The numbers drawn Saturday were 6, 23, 25, 34, 51 and Powerball 3.
    
            Although there was no jackpot winner Saturday, five tickets won $1 million each in California, Florida, Indiana, Texas and Washington, according to the Powerball website.
    
            A lucky winner in Monday’s drawing would be able to choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take the estimated $384.8 lump sum.
    
            The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million. Since then, there have been 35 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.
    
            The Powerball jackpot isn’t the only lottery prize that’s been growing this week. No one won the Mega Millions jackpot during Friday’s drawing, sending the grand prize for Tuesday’s drawing to an estimated $1.1 billion, according to Mega Millions.
    
            Winning the Powerball jackpot means a ticket correctly guessed all five white balls plus the red Powerball. The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball.
    
            Powerball tickets cost $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET in Tallahassee, Florida.",CNN,24/03/2024,"['When the next Powerball numbers are drawn Monday night, a lucky lottery player somewhere in the country could win an estimated $800 million grand prize.', 'No tickets matched all six numbers for the$750 million jackpotin Saturday night’s drawing, so the jackpot continued to swell, according to the lottery.', 'The numbers drawn Saturday were 6, 23, 25, 34, 51 and Powerball 3.', 'Although there was no jackpot winner Saturday, five tickets won $1 million each in California, Florida, Indiana, Texas and Washington, according to the Powerball website.', 'A lucky winner in Monday’s drawing would be able to choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take the estimated $384.8 lump sum.', 'The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million.', 'Since then, there have been 35 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.', 'The Powerball jackpot isn’t the only lottery prize that’s been growing this week.', 'No one won theMega Millionsjackpot during Friday’s drawing, sending the grand prize for Tuesday’s drawing to an estimated $1.1 billion, according toMega Millions.', 'Winning the Powerball jackpot means a ticket correctly guessed all five white balls plus the red Powerball.', 'The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball.', 'Powerball tickets cost $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.', 'Drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET in Tallahassee, Florida.']",0.4361306012280815,"When the next Powerball numbers are drawn Monday night, a lucky lottery player somewhere in the country could win an estimated $800 million grand prize.","Since then, there have been 35 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.",0.9994261264801024,"No tickets matched all six numbers for the$750 million jackpotin Saturday night’s drawing, so the jackpot continued to swell, according to the lottery.",,2024-03-28
FTC investigating TikTok over privacy and security,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/ftc-tiktok-probe-privacy-and-security/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:11 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","The Federal Trade Commission is investigating TikTok for its data and security practices, two sources told CNN on the condition of anonymity.
    
            The probe is yet another complication for the social media platform, which is already facing the threat of a potential US ban or a forced divestment from its Chinese parent company.
    
            The sources said that the FTC is probing TikTok over an alleged violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection rule, which requires companies to notify parents and obtain consent before collecting data from children under 13.
    
            The agency is also investigating whether TikTok violated a portion of the FTC Act that prohibits “unfair or deceptive” business practices, the sources said, in denying that TikTok user data could be accessed by individuals in China.
    
            The FTC could bring a suit against TikTok or settle with the company in the coming weeks, according to one of the sources. Politico reported news of the probe earlier.
    
            When asked about the investigation, FTC Director of Public Affairs Douglas Farrar replied: “No comment.”
    
            TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
    
            The FTC probe comes as TikTok faces an existential threat in the US. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group in the US House of Representatives voted to pass a law forcing TikTok to be sold by ByteDance or face a ban from US app stores. The bill is now before the Senate, and President Joe Biden has said he would sign it if it gets to his desk. Senate leaders, however, have indicated they are taking a deliberate approach — which could lead to delays or even potentially doom the House bill.
    
            The short-form video company, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, has denied assertions that its app poses a national security threat to US citizens. TikTok, which does not operate in China, has said that the Chinese government has never accessed US user data.
    
            Cybersecurity experts say Chinese laws require ByteDance to cooperate with that country’s intelligence demands — a fact that, given ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok, could hypothetically put US user data at risk. To address that issue, TikTok has taken steps to store its US user data on cloud servers controlled by US tech giant Oracle and established internal protocols limiting access by non-US employees.
    
            TikTok acknowledged to Congress in 2022 that employees based in China could access US user data, following a report that year by BuzzFeed News that ByteDance employees had accessed that information on multiple occasions. TikTok CEO Shou Chew, in his first appearance before Congress last year, also acknowledged that several ByteDance employees were fired for spying on certain US journalists as part of a “misguided attempt” to hunt down leakers within the company.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['The Federal Trade Commission is investigating TikTok for its data and security practices, two sources told CNN on the condition of anonymity.', 'The probe is yet another complication for the social media platform, which is already facing the threat of a potential US ban or a forced divestment from its Chinese parent company.', 'The sources said that the FTC is probing TikTok over an alleged violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection rule, which requires companies to notify parents and obtain consent before collecting data from children under 13.', 'The agency is also investigating whether TikTok violated a portion of the FTC Act that prohibits “unfair or deceptive” business practices, the sources said, in denying that TikTok user data could be accessed by individuals in China.', 'The FTC could bring a suit against TikTok or settle with the company in the coming weeks, according to one of the sources.', 'Politico reported news of the probe earlier.', 'When asked about the investigation, FTC Director of Public Affairs Douglas Farrar replied: “No comment.”', 'TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.', 'The FTC probe comes as TikTok faces an existential threat in the US.', 'Earlier this month, a bipartisan group in the US House of Representatives voted to pass a law forcing TikTok to be sold by ByteDance or face a ban from US app stores.', 'The bill is now before the Senate, and President Joe Biden has said he would sign it if it gets to his desk.', 'Senate leaders, however, have indicated they are taking a deliberate approach —which could lead to delays or even potentially doom the House bill.', 'The short-form video company, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, has denied assertions that its app poses a national security threat to US citizens.', 'TikTok, which does not operate in China, has said that the Chinese government has never accessed US user data.', 'Cybersecurity experts say Chinese laws require ByteDance to cooperate with that country’s intelligence demands—a fact that, given ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok, could hypothetically put US user data at risk.', 'To address that issue, TikTok has taken steps to store its US user data on cloud servers controlled by US tech giant Oracle and established internal protocols limiting access by non-US employees.', 'TikTok acknowledged to Congress in 2022 that employees based in China could access US user data, following a report that year by BuzzFeed News that ByteDance employees had accessed that information on multiple occasions.', 'TikTok CEO Shou Chew, in his first appearance before Congress last year, also acknowledged that several ByteDance employees were fired for spying on certain US journalists as part of a “misguided attempt” to hunt down leakers within the company.']",-0.232320081688102,"The Federal Trade Commission is investigating TikTok for its data and security practices, two sources told CNN on the condition of anonymity.","The probe is yet another complication for the social media platform, which is already facing the threat of a potential US ban or a forced divestment from its Chinese parent company.",-0.8880719542503357,,"Senate leaders, however, have indicated they are taking a deliberate approach —which could lead to delays or even potentially doom the House bill.",2024-03-28
All major indexes rise for the fifth month in a row. Dow and S&P 500 strike new records,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/investing/stocks-first-quarter-higher-dow-sp/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:38 PM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","US markets ended Thursday little changed, but all major indexes managed to mark their fifth consecutive winning month.
    
            The S&P 500 was up 0.1% on Thursday, reaching a new record high. The Dow gained 47 points, or 0.1% also hitting a new high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 0.1% lower.
    
            Thursday was the final day of trading for March and the first quarter of 2024, wrapping up an outstanding quarter for US stocks.
    
            The S&P 500 notched 22 new highs in the first three months of 2024 alone, and the Dow is just points away from reaching the key threshold of 40,000 for the first time ever.
    
            For the quarter, the S&P 500 is about 10.2% higher, its strongest first quarter since 2019. The Dow is up 5.6% – its strongest first quarter since 2021. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, gained more than 9%.
    
            Tech stocks like Nvidia and the AI-craze have helped drive stocks higher in the first quarter. Shares of the chipmaker have surged more than 80% during the first three months of the year.
    
            Also fueling the market boom has been a potential pivot by the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. About 64% of investors now think a rate cut will occur in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
    
            US markets will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['US markets ended Thursday little changed, but all major indexes managed to mark their fifth consecutive winning month.', 'The S&P 500 was up 0.1% on Thursday, reaching a new record high.', 'The Dow gained 47 points, or 0.1% also hitting a new high.', 'The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 0.1% lower.', 'Thursday was the final day of trading for March and the first quarter of 2024, wrapping up an outstanding quarter for US stocks.', 'The S&P 500 notched 22 new highs in the first three months of 2024 alone, and the Dow is just points away from reaching the key threshold of 40,000 for the first time ever.', 'For the quarter, the S&P 500 is about 10.2% higher, its strongest first quarter since 2019.', 'The Dow is up 5.6% – its strongest first quarter since 2021.', 'The Nasdaq, meanwhile, gained more than 9%.', 'Tech stocks like Nvidia and the AI-craze have helped drive stocks higher in the first quarter.', 'Shares of the chipmaker have surged more than 80% during the first three months of the year.', 'Also fueling the market boom has been a potential pivot by the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.', 'About 64% of investors now think a rate cut will occur in June, according to theCME FedWatch tool.', 'US markets will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday.']",0.2803331688654264,"US markets ended Thursday little changed, but all major indexes managed to mark their fifth consecutive winning month.",The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 0.1% lower.,0.8228931535374034,The Dow is up 5.6% – its strongest first quarter since 2021.,The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 0.1% lower.,2024-03-28
Top soccer clubs are using an AI-powered app to scout future stars,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/tech/aiscout-app-soccer-scouting-spc-intl/index.html,"
  Published
        7:14 AM EST, Fri March 1, 2024
    ","A London-based technology company is looking to “democratize” talent-identification and scouting in soccer using a mobile app.
    
            Free to download and available globally, the aiScout app allows aspiring soccer stars to enter virtual trials for professional clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills. It offers 75 exercises, designed to test a range of skills, with videos showing users how to complete them.
    
            Performances are automatically scored by artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The data can then be accessed by clubs, allowing their scouts to peruse scores for viable talent, honing their search with a variety of filters; from age and gender to position on the pitch.
    
            The app currently has two English Premier League (EPL) partners, Chelsea and Burnley, and clubs can tailor their in-app trials to meet specific needs and set their own benchmarks by having their academy players complete the same drills.
    
            “We’re putting that data up front to make better use of [the scouts’] time,” said Richard Felton-Thomas, chief operating officer of ai.io, the company behind the app.
    
            “To say [to scouts], ‘Go over to this place today because there’s three players in that game that are all actually beating your Chelsea standard’ — that’s going to be the best use of your time.’”
    
            It already appears to be working for some. Ben Greenwood had never had a trial with a professional club until he downloaded the app in 2019. After uploading footage of himself, the 17-year-old landed a trial with Chelsea, becoming the first user of the app to get a trial with a pro club. He signed a contract with EPL team Bournemouth in 2021.
    
            Having beta-tested in with players spanning 125 countries, Greenwood among them, 135 players have been trialed or signed by pro clubs or national teams through the app — which fully launched in September 2023 — according to Felton-Thomas.
    
            Just over 100,000 players make up the current database, but with over 100 clubs lined up to join Chelsea and Burnley, as well as a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer in the US announced last May, Felton-Thomas projects user numbers to surge into the millions as the operation ramps up this year.
    
            Felton-Thomas said the “lion’s share” of its income comes from charging clubs a license fee to run the platform. Annual fees vary depending on the size of the club and the tools they require, ranging from six figures for “tier one” sides like Chelsea, to thousands of pounds for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid.
    
            The use of smart technology in sport continues to expand, including AI commentary tools and wearable tech for elite athletes. The global market for sports analytics, valued at $2.7 billion in 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.
    
            Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry? For Felton-Thomas, new technologies can co-exist with traditional methods.
    
            “It’s more about evolution than revolution,” Felton-Thomas explained.
    
            “We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity? What happens when he’s 2-0 down? What happens when someone’s shouting at him? What happens when he’s just made a massive mistake?”
    
            “We’ve got the ability to just augment real people to do their jobs better and faster, which then gives an opportunity to the player through the AI, but you’re still actually just connecting them to the human on the other side, which is the club and the scout.”
    
            While football remains ai.io’s primary focus, the company is looking into opportunities in other sports to launch in the coming years. Further ahead, it may branch out beyond sports.
    
            “You think about the notion that you can be at home and analyze your movements, and how this could spin into health care, physical assessments for military disciplines and emergency services,” Felton-Thomas told CNN.",CNN,01/03/2024,"['A London-based technology company is looking to “democratize” talent-identification and scouting in soccer using a mobile app.', 'Free to download and available globally, the aiScout app allows aspiring soccer stars to enter virtual trials for professional clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills.', 'It offers 75 exercises, designed to test a range of skills, with videos showing users how to complete them.', 'Performances are automatically scored by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.', 'The data can then be accessed by clubs, allowing their scouts to peruse scores for viable talent, honing their search with a variety of filters; from age and gender to position on the pitch.', 'The app currently has two English Premier League (EPL) partners, Chelsea and Burnley, and clubs can tailor their in-app trials to meet specific needs and set their own benchmarks by having their academy players complete the same drills.', '“We’re putting that data up front to make better use of [the scouts’] time,” said Richard Felton-Thomas, chief operating officer of ai.io, the company behind the app.', '“To say [to scouts], ‘Go over to this place today because there’s three players in that game that are all actually beating your Chelsea standard’ — that’s going to be the best use of your time.’”', 'It already appears to be working for some.', 'Ben Greenwood had never had a trial with a professional club until he downloaded the app in 2019.', 'After uploading footage of himself, the 17-year-old landed a trial with Chelsea, becoming the first user of the app to get a trial with a pro club.', 'He signed a contractwith EPL team Bournemouthin 2021.', 'Having beta-tested in with players spanning 125 countries, Greenwood among them, 135 players have been trialed or signed by pro clubs or national teams through the app — which fully launched in September 2023 — according to Felton-Thomas.', 'Just over 100,000 players make up the current database, but with over 100 clubs lined up to join Chelsea and Burnley, as well as a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer in the US announced last May, Felton-Thomas projects user numbers to surge into the millions as the operation ramps up this year.', 'Felton-Thomas said the “lion’s share” of its income comes from charging clubs a license fee to run the platform.', 'Annual fees vary depending on the size of the club and the tools they require, ranging from six figures for “tier one” sides like Chelsea, to thousands of pounds for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid.', 'The use of smart technology in sport continues to expand, includingAI commentary tools and wearable tech for elite athletes.', 'The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.', 'Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry?', 'For Felton-Thomas, new technologies can co-exist with traditional methods.', '“It’s more about evolution than revolution,” Felton-Thomas explained.', '“We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity?', 'What happens when he’s 2-0 down?', 'What happens when someone’s shouting at him?', 'What happens when he’s just made a massive mistake?”', '“We’ve got the ability to just augment real people to do their jobs better and faster, which then gives an opportunity to the player through the AI, but you’re still actually just connecting them to the human on the other side, which is the club and the scout.”', 'While football remains ai.io’s primary focus, the company is looking into opportunities in other sports to launch in the coming years.', 'Further ahead, it may branch out beyond sports.', '“You think about the notion that you can be at home and analyze your movements, and how this could spin into health care, physical assessments for military disciplines and emergency services,” Felton-Thomas told CNN.']",0.2022322827681825,"The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.","“We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity?",0.6922526104109628,"The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.",Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry?,2024-03-28
How can I pay off my debts and what help is available?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64291327,2023-01-16T12:06:14.000Z,"Two years of rising prices have left many people struggling to pay their bills and in debt. If you are in that position one option is to seek a debt relief order (DRO). From 6 April in England and Wales there will no longer be a £90 fee for applying for one. A DRO lets people who have got into severe difficulties start afresh. But there are other ways to tackle your debt. So what can you do if you find yourself in difficulty? First, work out how much you owe, who to, and how much you need to pay each month, says the charity Citizens Advice. Next, create a budget by adding up your income, such as your wage and any benefits you receive, then taking away the amount you need for essential living costs like food and housing. The amount left is what you have available to pay your debts. Once you have taken stock of your situation, see whether you can reduce your outgoings: you may be eligible for a reduction in your council tax or a lower tariff on your broadband or TV package for example.  You may also be able to boost your income. Check which benefits you are entitled to on the independent MoneyHelper website, backed by the government, or using benefits calculators run by Policy in Practice and charities Entitledto and Turn2us. It is important to talk about your financial difficulties - the earlier, the better - or you may find yourself in a spiral of debt. If you think you cannot pay your debts or are feeling overwhelmed, seek support. Help is available. A trained debt adviser can talk you through the options available. Information and support is free of charge - here are some organisations who may be able to help. Identify which bills and debts are most urgent and pay them first, says debt advice charity StepChange. That will include your rent or mortgage repayments, and any other loans secured on the home. It also includes gas and electricity bills, child support and maintenance payments, council tax, income tax, VAT and other taxes, TV licence payments, court fines and payments. These are all what are known as priority debts and bills, because there can be serious consequences if you do not pay them, such as losing your home or facing court proceedings. You may have additional debts, such as credit card and store card debts, pay-day loans, buy-now-pay-later payments, overdrafts, unsecured loans and water bills. If you do not pay these off, their cost can spiral and could lead to legal action or bailiffs seizing your property. StepChange advises trying to make the minimum payments on every debt to avoid default charges, which can affect your credit rating. After that pay most towards whichever debt has the highest borrowing cost or interest rate. Your energy supplier must give you a chance to clear your debt through a payment plan - that means you agree to pay off the outstanding amount you owe, but spread out in smaller amounts over a longer period. If you don't agree a plan they can switch you onto a pre-payment mode to make sure you do not fall further into arrears. People in England and Wales who are getting debt advice can apply for a break, lasting up to 60 days, as part of the ""breathing space"" scheme. It shields them from further interest and charges to prevent them falling into a spiral of debt. If you are receiving mental health crisis treatment you can also apply for a breathing space scheme which lasts for the length of your treatment, plus another 30 days. Consultation is under way for a similar scheme in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, an alternative short-term debt relief system is known as a Statutory Moratorium and lasts for six months. If you think there is no way to pay off your outstanding debts, you may have to consider some form of personal insolvency. This should only be done after seeking advice.  Going through an insolvency process can have an impact on your personal and professional life, debt charities warn, and will affect your credit rating for up to six years. A debt relief order (DRO) is the easiest form of insolvency and is designed for people with few assets on low incomes. Your debts must not exceed £30,000 (rising to £50,000 at the end of June). If your application is accepted, some of your debts will be frozen for one year, then written off. It previously cost £90 to apply for a DRO but from 6 April it will be free if you live in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Another option is an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). Under an IVA you make smaller payments over several years and then the rest of the debt is written off. Full bankruptcy, which is also usually completed within a year, can result in you having to sell assets such as a house or car to pay your debts. If you live in Scotland, bankruptcy is known legally as sequestration. There are three alternatives: a Debt Arrangement Scheme, a Debt Management Plan, or a Trust Deed. ",BBC,16/01/2023,"['Two years of rising prices have left many people struggling to pay their bills and in debt.', 'If you are in that position one option is to seek a debt relief order (DRO).', 'From 6 April in England and Wales there will no longer be a £90 fee for applying for one.', 'A DRO lets people who have got into severe difficulties start afresh.', 'But there are other ways to tackle your debt.', 'So what can you do if you find yourself in difficulty?', 'First, work out how much you owe, who to, and how much you need to pay each month, says the charity Citizens Advice.', 'Next, create a budget by adding up your income, such as your wage and any benefits you receive, then taking away the amount you need for essential living costs like food and housing.', 'The amount left is what you have available to pay your debts.', 'Once you have taken stock of your situation, see whether you can reduce your outgoings: you may be eligible for a reduction in your council tax or a lower tariff on your broadband or TV package for example.', 'You may also be able to boost your income.', 'Check which benefits you are entitled to on the independent MoneyHelper website, backed by the government, or using benefits calculators run by Policy in Practice and charities Entitledto and Turn2us.', 'It is important to talk about your financial difficulties - the earlier, the better - or you may find yourself in a spiral of debt.', 'If you think you cannot pay your debts or are feeling overwhelmed, seek support.', 'Help is available.', 'A trained debt adviser can talk you through the options available.', 'Information and support is free of charge - here are some organisations who may be able to help.', 'Identify which bills and debts are most urgent and pay them first, says debt advice charity StepChange.', 'That will include your rent or mortgage repayments, and any other loans secured on the home.', 'It also includes gas and electricity bills, child support and maintenance payments, council tax, income tax, VAT and other taxes, TV licence payments, court fines and payments.', 'These are all what are known as priority debts and bills, because there can be serious consequences if you do not pay them, such as losing your home or facing court proceedings.', 'You may have additional debts, such as credit card and store card debts, pay-day loans, buy-now-pay-later payments, overdrafts, unsecured loans and water bills.', 'If you do not pay these off, their cost can spiral and could lead to legal action or bailiffs seizing your property.', 'StepChange advises trying to make the minimum payments on every debt to avoid default charges, which can affect your credit rating.', 'After that pay most towards whichever debt has the highest borrowing cost or interest rate.', 'Your energy supplier must give you a chance to clear your debt through a payment plan - that means you agree to pay off the outstanding amount you owe, but spread out in smaller amounts over a longer period.', ""If you don't agree a plan they can switch you onto a pre-payment mode to make sure you do not fall further into arrears."", 'People in England and Wales who are getting debt advice can apply for a break, lasting up to 60 days, as part of the ""breathing space"" scheme.', 'It shields them from further interest and charges to prevent them falling into a spiral of debt.', 'If you are receiving mental health crisis treatment you can also apply for a breathing space scheme which lasts for the length of your treatment, plus another 30 days.', 'Consultation is under way for a similar scheme in Northern Ireland.', 'In Scotland, an alternative short-term debt relief system is known as a Statutory Moratorium and lasts for six months.', 'If you think there is no way to pay off your outstanding debts, you may have to consider some form of personal insolvency.', 'This should only be done after seeking advice.', 'Going through an insolvency process can have an impact on your personal and professional life, debt charities warn, and will affect your credit rating for up to six years.', 'A debt relief order (DRO) is the easiest form of insolvency and is designed for people with few assets on low incomes.', 'Your debts must not exceed £30,000 (rising to £50,000 at the end of June).', 'If your application is accepted, some of your debts will be frozen for one year, then written off.', 'It previously cost £90 to apply for a DRO but from 6 April it will be free if you live in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.', 'Another option is an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA).', 'Under an IVA you make smaller payments over several years and then the rest of the debt is written off.', 'Full bankruptcy, which is also usually completed within a year, can result in you having to sell assets such as a house or car to pay your debts.', 'If you live in Scotland, bankruptcy is known legally as sequestration.', 'There are three alternatives: a Debt Arrangement Scheme, a Debt Management Plan, or a Trust Deed.']",0.0708312938794804,"Check which benefits you are entitled to on the independent MoneyHelper website, backed by the government, or using benefits calculators run by Policy in Practice and charities Entitledto and Turn2us.",Two years of rising prices have left many people struggling to pay their bills and in debt.,-0.3993595913052559,You may also be able to boost your income.,"If you do not pay these off, their cost can spiral and could lead to legal action or bailiffs seizing your property.",2024-03-28
Chick-fil-A will stop using its ‘no antibiotics ever’ label on chicken,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/chick-fil-a-antibiotics/index.html,"
  Updated
        10:11 AM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Chick-fil-A is ditching its “no antibiotics ever” promise.
    
            Citing diminishing chicken supply, Chick-fil-A will back off its pledge never to serve chicken that was fed antibiotics, and instead it will embrace a looser industry standard: “no antibiotics important to human medicine.” Chick-fil-A first announced that it would abandon antibiotics in 2014.
    
            The change comes after Tyson, America’s biggest poultry company, last summer ended its eight-year-pledge to keep antibiotics out of its chicken. Like Chick-fil-A, Tyson said it will ensure the chicken it produces is not fed antibiotics that are important to the treatment of humans — a standard recognized by the USDA and the World Health Organization.
    
            As for other meat processors, Pilgrim’s Pride says it uses some antibiotics, while Perdue still says it does not.
    
            Antibiotic use in food production has come under intense scrutiny in recent years as some bacterial infections in humans have become increasingly resistant to treatment as a result of more frequent exposure to the drugs.
    
            But diseases in chicken coops can be difficult to control, as poultry farmers learned the hard way when a highly infectious avian flu ravaged their flocks over the past couple years, sending prices of chicken and eggs surging before coming back down to Earth late last year. That particular disease is not treatable with antibiotics, but other diseases that can kill chickens do respond to antibiotics.
    
            In addition to chickens’ health, antibiotics are particularly important to promote poultry growth — particularly for items like large broiler chickens.
    
            Chick-fil-A said in its statement that the company remains committed to serving only white breast meat with no added hormones, artificial preservatives or fillers. It expects to transition to sourcing chicken fed with antibiotics this spring.
    
            About half of US poultry farmers use some form of antibiotics to help keep chickens healthy, according to Tyson. In many chicken farms, animals are raised in crowded and unsanitary conditions and can be prone to disease.
    
            In WHO’s most recent publication on the “important to human medicine” standard, the group said there remains “clear evidence of adverse human health consequences due to resistant organisms resulting from non-human usage of antimicrobials.” It also said that the types of drugs used to promote growth and health in animals is “frequently the same, or closely related to those used in human medicine.”
    
            With the understanding that antibiotic treatments at times could be important to meat production, WHO in 2007 developed a set of risk assessments that aimed to prevent important antibiotics for humans from being used in animal production.
    
            It noted in that 2007 publication that “an appropriate balance should be struck between animal health needs and human health considerations – human health being, however, paramount compared to animal health.”",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Chick-fil-A is ditching its “no antibiotics ever” promise.', 'Citing diminishing chicken supply, Chick-fil-A will back off its pledge never to serve chicken that was fed antibiotics, and instead it will embrace a looser industry standard: “no antibiotics important to human medicine.”', 'Chick-fil-A first announced that it would abandon antibiotics in 2014.', 'The change comes after Tyson, America’s biggest poultry company, last summer ended its eight-year-pledge to keep antibiotics out of its chicken.', 'Like Chick-fil-A, Tyson said it will ensure the chicken it produces is not fed antibiotics that are important to the treatment of humans — a standard recognized by the USDA and the World Health Organization.', 'As for other meat processors, Pilgrim’s Pride says it uses some antibiotics, while Perdue still says it does not.', 'Antibiotic use in food production has come under intense scrutiny in recent years as some bacterial infections in humans have becomeincreasingly resistantto treatment as a result of more frequent exposure to the drugs.', 'But diseases in chicken coops can be difficult to control, as poultry farmers learned the hard way when ahighly infectious avian fluravaged their flocksover the past couple years, sending prices of chicken and eggs surging before coming back down to Earth late last year.', 'That particular disease is not treatable with antibiotics, but other diseases that can kill chickens do respond to antibiotics.', 'In addition to chickens’ health, antibiotics are particularly important to promote poultry growth — particularly for items like large broiler chickens.', 'Chick-fil-A said in its statement that the company remains committed to serving only white breast meat with no added hormones, artificial preservatives or fillers.', 'It expects to transition to sourcing chicken fed with antibiotics this spring.', 'About half of US poultry farmers use some form of antibiotics to help keep chickens healthy, according to Tyson.', 'In many chicken farms, animals are raised in crowded and unsanitary conditions and can be prone to disease.', 'In WHO’s most recentpublicationon the “important to human medicine” standard, the group said there remains “clear evidence of adverse human health consequences due to resistant organisms resulting from non-human usage of antimicrobials.”', 'It also said that the types of drugs used to promote growth and health in animals is “frequently the same, or closely related to those used in human medicine.”', 'With the understanding that antibiotic treatments at times could be important to meat production, WHO in 2007 developed a set of risk assessments that aimed to prevent important antibiotics for humans from being used in animal production.', 'It noted in that2007 publicationthat “an appropriate balance should be struck between animal health needs and human health considerations – human health being, however, paramount compared to animal health.”']",0.0988148235874387,"In addition to chickens’ health, antibiotics are particularly important to promote poultry growth — particularly for items like large broiler chickens.","That particular disease is not treatable with antibiotics, but other diseases that can kill chickens do respond to antibiotics.",-0.9933743178844452,,"But diseases in chicken coops can be difficult to control, as poultry farmers learned the hard way when ahighly infectious avian fluravaged their flocksover the past couple years, sending prices of chicken and eggs surging before coming back down to Earth late last year.",2024-03-28
"Wait, is TikTok really Chinese?",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/18/tech/tiktok-bytedance-china-ownership-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:21 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","The future of TikTok is mired in uncertainty in the United States after the House of Representatives passed a bill last week which could ultimately lead to the wildly popular video app being banned.
    
            US lawmakers are concerned about Beijing’s influence over the app, and are trying to force its Chinese owner to give up control.
    
            In particular, they worry that TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, could share data with the Chinese government or manipulate content displayed on its platform. So far, there’s little evidence to support these concerns.
    
            TikTok has never operated in mainland China — a fact that its Singaporean CEO, Shou Chew, has repeatedly touted when grilled by American officials. So, just how “Chinese” is it, and why does that matter?
    
            On the face of it, the answer would appear to be “no.” It was first incorporated in California in April 2015, according to US court documents.
    
            TikTok has never existed in mainland China, though the app was available in Hong Kong until July 2020, when it pulled out shortly after Beijing imposed a controversial national security law in the city.
    
            At the time, the app was trying to distance itself from China in the face of growing pressure from the Trump administration.
    
            In China, there is a different version of TikTok: a sister app called Douyin.
    
            It launched before TikTok and became a viral sensation in the massive mainland market. Its powerful algorithm became the foundation for TikTok and is key to its global success.
    
            In March 2023, CEO Chew was repeatedly pressed by US lawmakers on whether TikTok was Chinese. He didn’t answer the question directly, saying only that the app was not available in the country and that it was headquartered in Los Angles and Singapore.
    
            But TikTok is ultimately owned, through a complex multi-layered corporate structure, by ByteDance, a privately owned technology giant.
    
            The app is owned by TikTok LLC, a limited liability company incorporated in Delaware and based in Culver City, California. The LLC is controlled by TikTok Ltd, which is registered in the Cayman Islands and based in Shanghai. That firm is ultimately owned by ByteDance Ltd, also incorporated in the Cayman Islands and based in Beijing.
    
            ByteDance’s website shows that the company developed TikTok as a global short video product and formally launched it in May 2017. Six months later, it acquired rival Musical.ly and subsequently merged it with the main platform.
    
            According to TikTok’s own website, its subsidiaries around the world are all structured under Bytedance Ltd.
    
            Definitely.
    
            ByteDance was founded in 2012 in Beijing by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo, who were college roommates at Tianjin’s Nankai University, according to company information and Zhang’s public speeches.
    
            It has been based in the Chinese capital since then. In 2021, Zhang announced he would step down as CEO of ByteDance and handed the reins to Liang.
    
            ByteDance has more than 110,000 employees globally. Besides TikTok, it owns a number of popular Chinese apps such as Douyin, news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, video-sharing platform Xigua.
    
            At last year’s congressional hearing, Chew didn’t directly answer any questions about whether ByteDance is a Chinese company either.
    
            He only said ByteDance is a Chinese-founded private company operating many businesses in China, but is “global” in nature.
    
            Chew added that 60% of ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors such as the Carlyle Group, General Atlantic and Susquehanna International Group, while 20% of the firm is owned by Zhang and 20% owned by employees around the world. Three of the company’s five board members are Americans, he said.
    
            Chew has emphatically told Congress that ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government.
    
            However, like most other Chinese companies, ByteDance is legally compelled to establish an in-house Communist Party committee composed of employees who are party members.
    
            Zhang Fuping, the vice president and editor-in-chief of the company’s Chinese operation, serves as its secretary of the party committee. The committee often holds sessions to study the party and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. One session in 2018 was joined by Zhang Yiming and his management team, according to the Beijing government.
    
            Also, like its competitors, ByteDance has had to allow the Chinese government to take a so-called “golden share” in one of its key subsidiaries.
    
            That means the Chinese government now owns 1% of Beijing Douyin Information Service, which is the domestic Chinese unit of Bytedance. Wu Shugang, an official from the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet watchdog and censor, sits on its board.
    
            Analysts have said the “golden shares” provide a way for the Chinese government to get more directly involved with the day-to-day businesses of tech companies, including in the content they provide to the public.
    
            Chew has admitted that the “golden share” exists. But he said it was for the purpose of internet licensing for the Chinese business.
    
            ByteDance said on its website that it’s a common arrangement for companies operating news and information platforms in China and doesn’t affect its operations outside the country.
    
            As a China-based company, ByteDance is subject to a myriad of national intelligence, data security and cybersecurity laws.
    
            In 2018, China amended its National Intelligence Law, which requires any organization or citizen to support, assist and cooperate with national intelligence work.
    
            That means ByteDance is legally bound to help with gathering intelligence.
    
            In 2021, China introduced a new data security law, which applies to data processing activities conducted outside of the country that may “harm the national security or public interests.”
    
            There is also a cybersecurity law in China, which says the state will take measures to monitor, prevent and handle cybersecurity risks and threats “arising both within and outside the PRC’s territory.”
    
            These vague and broad laws apply to technology companies and may be used to regulate them.
    
            Yes, Beijing has the legal ability to do so and has already indicated it would.
    
            In August 2020, following an attempt by the Trump administration to force the sale of TikTok, Beijing revised its export control rules to cover a variety of technologies it deemed sensitive, including technology that appears similar to TikTok’s personalized information recommendation services.
    
            A few years later, in early 2023, a Commerce Ministry spokeswoman said in the government’s first direct response to the matter that China would oppose any forced sale of TikTok.
    
            This is because a sale or divestiture of the app would involve “exporting technology” and had to be approved by the Chinese government, said Shu Yuting, the spokeswoman.
    
            Beijing has not indicated any change to this position since that time.
    
            This story has been updated to clarify Zhang Fuping’s role at ByteDance.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['The future of TikTok is mired in uncertainty in the United States after the House of Representatives passed a bill last week which could ultimately lead to the wildly popular video app being banned.', 'US lawmakers are concerned about Beijing’s influence over the app, and are trying to force its Chinese owner to give up control.', 'In particular, they worry that TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, could share data with the Chinese government or manipulate content displayed on its platform.', 'So far, there’s little evidence to support these concerns.', 'TikTok has never operated in mainland China — a fact that its Singaporean CEO, Shou Chew, has repeatedly touted when grilled by American officials.', 'So, just how “Chinese” is it, and why does that matter?', 'On the face of it, the answer would appear to be “no.”', 'It was first incorporated in California in April 2015, according to US court documents.', 'TikTok has never existed in mainland China, though the app was available in Hong Kong until July 2020, when it pulled out shortly after Beijing imposed a controversialnational security lawin the city.', 'At the time, the app was trying to distance itself from China in the face of growing pressure from the Trump administration.', 'In China, there is a different version of TikTok: a sister app called Douyin.', 'It launched before TikTok and became a viral sensation in the massive mainland market.', 'Its powerful algorithm became the foundation for TikTok and is key to its global success.', 'In March 2023, CEO Chew was repeatedly pressed by US lawmakers on whether TikTok was Chinese.', 'He didn’t answer the question directly, saying only that the app was not available in the country and that it was headquartered in Los Angles and Singapore.', 'But TikTok is ultimately owned, through a complex multi-layered corporate structure, by ByteDance, a privately owned technology giant.', 'The app is owned by TikTok LLC, a limited liability company incorporated in Delaware and based in Culver City, California.', 'The LLC is controlled by TikTok Ltd, which is registered in the Cayman Islands and based in Shanghai.', 'That firm is ultimately owned by ByteDance Ltd, also incorporated in the Cayman Islands and based in Beijing.', 'ByteDance’s website shows that the company developed TikTok as a global short video product and formally launched it in May 2017.', 'Six months later, it acquired rival Musical.ly and subsequently merged it with the main platform.', 'According to TikTok’s own website, its subsidiaries around the world are all structured under Bytedance Ltd.  Definitely.', 'ByteDance was founded in 2012 in Beijing by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo, who were college roommates at Tianjin’s Nankai University, according to company information and Zhang’s public speeches.', 'It has been based in the Chinese capital since then.', 'In 2021, Zhang announced he would step down as CEO of ByteDance and handed the reins to Liang.', 'ByteDance has more than 110,000 employees globally.', 'Besides TikTok, it owns a number of popular Chinese apps such as Douyin, news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, video-sharing platform Xigua.', 'At last year’s congressional hearing, Chew didn’t directly answer any questions about whether ByteDance is a Chinese company either.', 'He only said ByteDance is a Chinese-founded private company operating many businesses in China, but is “global” in nature.', 'Chew added that 60% of ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors such as the Carlyle Group, General Atlantic and Susquehanna International Group, while 20% of the firm is owned by Zhang and 20% owned by employees around the world.', 'Three of the company’s five board members are Americans, he said.', 'Chew has emphatically told Congress that ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government.', 'However, like most other Chinese companies, ByteDance is legally compelled to establish an in-house Communist Party committee composed of employees who are party members.', 'Zhang Fuping, the vice president and editor-in-chiefof the company’s Chinese operation, serves as its secretary of the party committee.', 'The committee often holds sessions to study the party and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.', 'One session in 2018 was joined by Zhang Yiming and his management team, according to the Beijing government.', 'Also, like its competitors, ByteDance has had to allow the Chinese government to take a so-called “golden share” in one of its key subsidiaries.', 'That means the Chinese government now owns 1% of Beijing Douyin Information Service, which is the domestic Chinese unit of Bytedance.', 'Wu Shugang, an official from the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet watchdog and censor, sits on its board.', 'Analysts have said the “golden shares” provide a way for the Chinese government to get more directly involved with the day-to-day businesses of tech companies, including in the content they provide to the public.', 'Chew has admitted that the “golden share” exists.', 'But he said it was for the purpose of internet licensing for the Chinese business.', 'ByteDance said on its website that it’s a common arrangement for companies operating news and information platforms in China and doesn’t affect its operations outside the country.', 'As a China-based company, ByteDance is subject to a myriad of national intelligence, data security and cybersecurity laws.', 'In 2018, China amended its National Intelligence Law, which requires any organization or citizen to support, assist and cooperate with national intelligence work.', 'That means ByteDance is legally bound to help with gathering intelligence.', 'In 2021, China introduced a new data security law, which applies to data processing activities conducted outside of the country that may “harm the national security or public interests.”', 'There is also a cybersecurity law in China, which says the state will take measures to monitor, prevent and handle cybersecurity risks and threats “arising both within and outside the PRC’s territory.”', 'These vague and broad laws apply to technology companies and may be used to regulate them.', 'Yes, Beijing has the legal ability to do so and has already indicated it would.', 'In August 2020, following an attempt by the Trump administration to force the sale of TikTok, Beijing revised its export control rules to cover a variety of technologies it deemed sensitive, including technology that appears similar to TikTok’s personalized information recommendation services.', 'A few years later, in early 2023, a Commerce Ministry spokeswoman said in the government’s first direct response to the matter that China would oppose any forced sale of TikTok.', 'This is because a sale or divestiture of the app would involve “exporting technology” and had to be approved by the Chinese government, said Shu Yuting, the spokeswoman.', 'Beijing has not indicated any change to this position since that time.', 'This story has been updated to clarify Zhang Fuping’s role at ByteDance.']",0.1238617890926119,"In 2018, China amended its National Intelligence Law, which requires any organization or citizen to support, assist and cooperate with national intelligence work.","There is also a cybersecurity law in China, which says the state will take measures to monitor, prevent and handle cybersecurity risks and threats “arising both within and outside the PRC’s territory.”",-0.3575586229562759,"Analysts have said the “golden shares” provide a way for the Chinese government to get more directly involved with the day-to-day businesses of tech companies, including in the content they provide to the public.",The future of TikTok is mired in uncertainty in the United States after the House of Representatives passed a bill last week which could ultimately lead to the wildly popular video app being banned.,2024-03-28
European flying car technology sold to China,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68669296,2024-03-27T00:01:30.000Z,"The tech behind a flying car, originally developed and successfully test-flown in Europe, has been bought by a Chinese firm. Powered by a BMW engine and normal fuel, the AirCar flew for 35 minutes between two Slovakian airports in 2021, using runways for take-off and landing.  It took just over two minutes to transform from a car into an aircraft.  Now vehicles made based on its design will be used within a ""specific geographical region"" of China. Hebei Jianxin Flying Car Technology Company, headquartered in Cangzhou, has purchased exclusive rights to manufacture and use AirCar aircraft inside an undisclosed area. The firm has built its own airport and flight school after a previous acquisition from another Slovak aircraft manufacturer, said Anton Zajac, cofounder of KleinVision, the company which created AirCar. Having led the way in the  development of the EV revolution, China is now actively developing flying transport solutions. Last month a firm called Autoflight carried out a test flight of a passenger-carrying drone between the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai. The journey, which takes three hours by car, was completed in 20 minutes, it said - although the aircraft contained no passengers. And in 2023 the Chinese firm eHang was awarded a safety certificate by Chinese officials for its electric flying taxi. Here, the UK government has said flying taxis could become a regular feature of the skies by 2028.  But unlike these drone-like passenger aircrafts, AirCar does not take off and land vertically, and requires a runway. KleinVision declined to say how much it had sold the technology for. AirCar was issued with a certificate of airworthiness by the Slovak Transport Authority in 2022 and featured in a video published by YouTuber Mr Beast earlier this year. There are still considerable hurdles for this form of transport in terms of infrastructure, regulation and public acceptance of the technology.  ""This brave new world of personal transport is acting as a great leveller,"" said aviation consultant Steve Wright.  Global attempts to regulate the sector left ""everyone scrambling to come up with a whole new set of questions that need to be asked"".    ""In this respect the West's history can sometimes slow things down, as there is a bit of a temptation to try and squeeze these new machines into the old categories,"" Mr Wright added. ""China could well see this as an opportunity to get ahead."" Similar concerns once applied to electric cars - in which China which has become a global market leader. The sale of the Slovakian AirCar could raise questions about whether China might be poised to do the same with flying cars. Mr Wright said while prototypes like the AirCar were ""great fun"", the reality was likely to end up being more mundane ""with queues and baggage checks and whatnot"". ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['The tech behind a flying car, originally developed and successfully test-flown in Europe, has been bought by a Chinese firm.', 'Powered by a BMW engine and normal fuel, the AirCar flew for 35 minutes between two Slovakian airports in 2021, using runways for take-off and landing.', 'It took just over two minutes to transform from a car into an aircraft.', 'Now vehicles made based on its design will be used within a ""specific geographical region"" of China.', 'Hebei Jianxin Flying Car Technology Company, headquartered in Cangzhou, has purchased exclusive rights to manufacture and use AirCar aircraft inside an undisclosed area.', 'The firm has built its own airport and flight school after a previous acquisition from another Slovak aircraft manufacturer, said Anton Zajac, cofounder of KleinVision, the company which created AirCar.', 'Having led the way in the development of the EV revolution, China is now actively developing flying transport solutions.', 'Last month a firm called Autoflight carried out a test flight of a passenger-carrying drone between the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai.', 'The journey, which takes three hours by car, was completed in 20 minutes, it said - although the aircraft contained no passengers.', 'And in 2023 the Chinese firm eHang was awarded a safety certificate by Chinese officials for its electric flying taxi.', 'Here, the UK government has said flying taxis could become a regular feature of the skies by 2028.', 'But unlike these drone-like passenger aircrafts, AirCar does not take off and land vertically, and requires a runway.', 'KleinVision declined to say how much it had sold the technology for.', 'AirCar was issued with a certificate of airworthiness by the Slovak Transport Authority in 2022 and featured in a video published by YouTuber Mr Beast earlier this year.', 'There are still considerable hurdles for this form of transport in terms of infrastructure, regulation and public acceptance of the technology. ""', 'This brave new world of personal transport is acting as a great leveller,"" said aviation consultant Steve Wright.', 'Global attempts to regulate the sector left ""everyone scrambling to come up with a whole new set of questions that need to be asked"". ""', 'In this respect the West\'s history can sometimes slow things down, as there is a bit of a temptation to try and squeeze these new machines into the old categories,"" Mr Wright added. ""', 'China could well see this as an opportunity to get ahead.""', 'Similar concerns once applied to electric cars - in which China which has become a global market leader.', 'The sale of the Slovakian AirCar could raise questions about whether China might be poised to do the same with flying cars.', 'Mr Wright said while prototypes like the AirCar were ""great fun"", the reality was likely to end up being more mundane ""with queues and baggage checks and whatnot"".']",0.2617895401596791,"Mr Wright said while prototypes like the AirCar were ""great fun"", the reality was likely to end up being more mundane ""with queues and baggage checks and whatnot"".","The journey, which takes three hours by car, was completed in 20 minutes, it said - although the aircraft contained no passengers.",0.3180156449476878,And in 2023 the Chinese firm eHang was awarded a safety certificate by Chinese officials for its electric flying taxi.,"In this respect the West's history can sometimes slow things down, as there is a bit of a temptation to try and squeeze these new machines into the old categories,"" Mr Wright added. """,2024-03-28
"Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek breaks silence, says there's no strategic need for ESPN partners",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/ex-disney-ceo-bob-chapek-says-espn-doesnt-need-strategic-partners.html,2024-03-21T17:11:47+0000,"In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.""Strategically, I don't really see a benefit in bringing on yet another minority partner into ESPN,"" Chapek said as part of the CNBC documentary ""ESPN's Fight for Dominance,"" which chronicles the network's digital strategy, published Thursday.Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's David Faber in July that he'd consider selling a minority stake in ESPN to strengthen the sports network's content or technology as it plans a new direct-to-consumer offering, which he later said would launch by fall 2025.The company hasn't yet announced a deal to sell a stake in ESPN. CNBC reported in August that the network had held talks with the major American professional sports leagues, including the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, about potential partnerships or investments.Disney owns 80% of ESPN and Hearst owns the other 20%, a structure that's been in place since 1996. By searching for a partner, Disney wants to enhance the content, distribution and marketing of the direct-to-consumer ESPN, which hasn't yet been priced, Iger said during Disney's August quarterly earnings call.Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games. Bringing on a technology or telecommunications company such as Verizon or Apple could give ESPN broader distribution options by reaching larger customer bases.Still, it's unclear selling equity in ESPN is needed to strike an arrangement. ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, who also spoke with CNBC as part of the documentary, downplayed the need for the sports network to sell a stake in its business to build a partnership with a league or another company.""It's not about equity,"" Pitaro said. ""It's not about these partners taking an ownership interest in ESPN. That is something, as Bob [Iger] has said, that we are very much open to, but this is about partnership and accelerating the launch or the adoption of ESPN flagship.""Chapek's remarks are his first public statements since Disney's board fired him and brought back Iger as CEO about 16 months ago. He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September. Chapek declined to comment on anything other than ESPN's future for the CNBC documentary.While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion.""There's already one minority strategic partner in Hearst. So this would be bringing on a second minority strategic partner,"" Chapek said. ""Obviously, the benefit of doing that is that you make available some cash. And given some of the conversation that's been happening between Comcast and Disney in terms of needing to buy the final share of Hulu to make it wholly owned by the Disney company, it's possible that maybe that cash itself is what they're after.""Chapek also discussed the vision he had as CEO of turning ESPN into a centralized hub to direct consumers to where a game is streaming, no matter which company owns the rights to air it — a concept CNBC first reported in March 2023.""If I'm on my Apple TV and I want to watch a movie, I have no idea whether it's on Prime or Netflix or Disney+ or Hulu or wherever it's at,"" Chapek said. ""The way I find out is I go to Apple TV, I plug in the movie that I'm looking to watch, and they direct me exactly to where that movie is. And then they connect me seamlessly without me then having to exit and go to another app to go find the show on that app. I think ESPN should be that source for a central clearinghouse.""Adding one-stop navigation can help ESPN become the first place sports fans go to when they want to watch a game, even if Disney doesn't own the rights to certain sports, Chapek said.""How do you make yourself indispensable to the sports viewer so that they stay on with you as you evolve over to a streaming world? I think solving that problem would be one big way to do it,"" Chapek said.WATCH: Bob Chapek discusses ESPN's future",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.', '""Strategically, I don\'t really see a benefit in bringing on yet another minority partner into ESPN,"" Chapek said as part of the CNBC documentary ""ESPN\'s Fight for Dominance,"" which chronicles the network\'s digital strategy, published Thursday.', ""Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's David Faber in July that he'd consider selling a minority stake in ESPN to strengthen the sports network's content or technology as it plans a new direct-to-consumer offering, which he later said would launch by fall 2025.The company hasn't yet announced a deal to sell a stake in ESPN."", 'CNBC reported in August that the network had held talks with the major American professional sports leagues, including the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, about potential partnerships or investments.', ""Disney owns 80% of ESPN and Hearst owns the other 20%, a structure that's been in place since 1996."", ""By searching for a partner, Disney wants to enhance the content, distribution and marketing of the direct-to-consumer ESPN, which hasn't yet been priced, Iger said during Disney's August quarterly earnings call."", 'Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games.', 'Bringing on a technology or telecommunications company such as Verizon or Apple could give ESPN broader distribution options by reaching larger customer bases.', ""Still, it's unclear selling equity in ESPN is needed to strike an arrangement."", 'ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, who also spoke with CNBC as part of the documentary, downplayed the need for the sports network to sell a stake in its business to build a partnership with a league or another company.', '""It\'s not about equity,"" Pitaro said. ""', ""It's not about these partners taking an ownership interest in ESPN."", 'That is something, as Bob [Iger] has said, that we are very much open to, but this is about partnership and accelerating the launch or the adoption of ESPN flagship.', '""Chapek\'s remarks are his first public statements since Disney\'s board fired him and brought back Iger as CEO about 16 months ago.', ""He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September."", ""Chapek declined to comment on anything other than ESPN's future for the CNBC documentary."", ""While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion."", '""There\'s already one minority strategic partner in Hearst.', 'So this would be bringing on a second minority strategic partner,"" Chapek said. ""', 'Obviously, the benefit of doing that is that you make available some cash.', ""And given some of the conversation that's been happening between Comcast and Disney in terms of needing to buy the final share of Hulu to make it wholly owned by the Disney company, it's possible that maybe that cash itself is what they're after."", '""Chapek also discussed the vision he had as CEO of turning ESPN into a centralized hub to direct consumers to where a game is streaming, no matter which company owns the rights to air it — a concept CNBC first reported in March 2023.""If I\'m on my Apple TV and I want to watch a movie, I have no idea whether it\'s on Prime or Netflix or Disney+ or Hulu or wherever it\'s at,"" Chapek said. ""', ""The way I find out is I go to Apple TV, I plug in the movie that I'm looking to watch, and they direct me exactly to where that movie is."", 'And then they connect me seamlessly without me then having to exit and go to another app to go find the show on that app.', 'I think ESPN should be that source for a central clearinghouse.', '""Adding one-stop navigation can help ESPN become the first place sports fans go to when they want to watch a game, even if Disney doesn\'t own the rights to certain sports, Chapek said.', '""How do you make yourself indispensable to the sports viewer so that they stay on with you as you evolve over to a streaming world?', 'I think solving that problem would be one big way to do it,"" Chapek said.', ""WATCH: Bob Chapek discusses ESPN's future""]",0.0292013742260279,"While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion.","In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.",0.6626346806685129,"Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games.","He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September.",2024-03-28
The Scottish economy: 'Poor but improving',https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-68682295,2024-03-28T07:37:09.000Z,"Is the economy ""turning the corner""? Conservative MPs hope so. It's the only pathway for turning round the daunting polling lead for Labour in an election year.  As we end the first quarter of 2024, what's the evidence? In Scotland, where evidence tends towards scarcity, we have more than usual. Thursday brings publication of an important survey of members of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, all of them employing under 250 people, and at the same time, the quarterly assessment of the Fraser of Allander Institute. Having cornered much of the market in business surveys, it is that Strathclyde University institute which is behind both publications. Asked between mid-February and 11 March, members of the Chambers of Commerce are facing ""extreme cost pressures"", says their president, Stephen Leckie. This is partly due to the challenge of recruiting people, with nearly half of respondents facing problems, up from the end of last year.  The battle for scarce skills means wages are pushed up. Scottish wage inflation is faster than the rest of the UK, much of that explained by more generous public sector pay deals. And the legal minimum wage is about to rise. From Monday, it's going up from £10.42 per hour to £11.44, and the minimum age to qualify for that is coming down from 23 to 21. For those aged 23 and above, that's a welcome 10% increase in pay, and 12% for those in their early 20s. Lower minimum pay rates for under-21s and apprentices are up more steeply.   But the headline rate remains 56p per hour below the Real Living Wage, at £12, independently calculated to provide a basic standard of living to full-time workers.  For employees with price-sensitive custom and lots of younger staff on, or near, minimum wage - notably hospitality and retail - this is less welcome. Payroll is the main cost pressure bosses are facing. More than three-quarters in the Chambers survey say so, while three in five say energy costs continue to be a major input concern. For some, their concerns are worsened by the sharply tightened criteria for recruiting abroad. The minimum salary is going up, to a level far above the Scottish average wage. To quote the UK government's fact sheet, it is ""increasing the earning threshold for overseas workers by nearly 50% from its current position of £26,200 to £38,700 from 4 April 2024, encouraging businesses to look to British talent first and invest in their workforce, helping us to deter employers from over-relying on migration"". Over half of firms reported investment is frozen, and that's the way they expect it to remain during the second quarter of 2024, while economic uncertainty remains. Consumer price inflation has eased considerably - at 3.4% and soon to decline further as household energy bills fall from next week, it's the figure cited by those Tories looking for green shoots of recovery.  But of the Scottish firms surveyed, half say they expect to put prices up, and that's a sharp increase on price expectations at the end of last year. That is one reason economists at the Bank of England is holding off on an interest rate cut, until it can be more confident that wage and price inflation rates are under control. Earlier this week, a different view from the boardroom was published by the Institute of Directors in Scotland.  They were sizing up artificial intelligence, cyber-security and the transition to net zero as costs for some and market opportunities for others. They claim to see opportunities for their businesses in improved work contracts, inclusivity and diversity. But their concerns are focused on the problems of government getting the economic fundamentals right, says Catherine McWilliam.  She highlights problems with workforce skills and implementation of government policy and a lack of economic priority or business collaboration coming from Holyrood. Among their main concerns (82% of those responding) is the impact of another income tax bracket being introduced in Scotland next week, raising the tax bill for earnings above £75,000 to 45%, even if National Insurance is about to go down by 2p in the pound. Those earners can't expect much sympathy, but company directors say these are the people they need to recruit into Scotland, and the divergence in tax regimes is not helping. Nor does it impress potential inward investors, say more than quarter of them.  A further bit of data helps fill out the picture, issued by the Scottish government on Wednesday - its first estimate of growth across the Scottish economy during January. After a contraction of 0.6% across the preceding quarter, output rose in the first month of this year by the same amount.  December had also seen such an increase, indicating that the trend may, indeed, be turning a corner back to growth and away from a long period of stagnation. So what do they think at the Fraser of Allander Institute? Its forecast for this year, of 0.6% over the whole of 2024, has not changed since the last quarter. It sees that rising to 1.1% next year and 1.2% the year after, still below long-term trend. The Institute's commentary on the economy acknowledges falling inflation as a positive, moreso if it feeds through to lower borrowing costs. But it comes with a lot of uncertainty about other factors in the economy. There's a fear that the improving outlook could be clouded once more by factors controlled beyond Scotland, including wars, energy prices and supply disruption.  That feeds into an indicator that the Scottish government monitors of consumer confidence. It's improved, from a negative outlook while inflation was high, both the outlook for the Scottish economy and for people's household finances.  Expectations of household finances have risen to the point where they are finely balanced: as many people are positive as feel negatively.  That could be a vital trend to watch for those fighting the Westminster election. The Allander report has the headline ""Poor but Improving"".  The big question - one of them, at least - is ""do you feel better off?"", and whether people's consumer and political choices reflect the perception that they feel they've got poorer, or even if they have, that things might be improving? ",BBC,28/03/2024,"['Is the economy ""turning the corner""?', 'Conservative MPs hope so.', ""It's the only pathway for turning round the daunting polling lead for Labour in an election year."", ""As we end the first quarter of 2024, what's the evidence?"", 'In Scotland, where evidence tends towards scarcity, we have more than usual.', 'Thursday brings publication of an important survey of members of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, all of them employing under 250 people, and at the same time, the quarterly assessment of the Fraser of Allander Institute.', 'Having cornered much of the market in business surveys, it is that Strathclyde University institute which is behind both publications.', 'Asked between mid-February and 11 March, members of the Chambers of Commerce are facing ""extreme cost pressures"", says their president, Stephen Leckie.', 'This is partly due to the challenge of recruiting people, with nearly half of respondents facing problems, up from the end of last year.', 'The battle for scarce skills means wages are pushed up.', 'Scottish wage inflation is faster than the rest of the UK, much of that explained by more generous public sector pay deals.', 'And the legal minimum wage is about to rise.', ""From Monday, it's going up from £10.42 per hour to £11.44, and the minimum age to qualify for that is coming down from 23 to 21."", ""For those aged 23 and above, that's a welcome 10% increase in pay, and 12% for those in their early 20s."", 'Lower minimum pay rates for under-21s and apprentices are up more steeply.', 'But the headline rate remains 56p per hour below the Real Living Wage, at £12, independently calculated to provide a basic standard of living to full-time workers.', 'For employees with price-sensitive custom and lots of younger staff on, or near, minimum wage - notably hospitality and retail - this is less welcome.', 'Payroll is the main cost pressure bosses are facing.', 'More than three-quarters in the Chambers survey say so, while three in five say energy costs continue to be a major input concern.', 'For some, their concerns are worsened by the sharply tightened criteria for recruiting abroad.', 'The minimum salary is going up, to a level far above the Scottish average wage.', 'To quote the UK government\'s fact sheet, it is ""increasing the earning threshold for overseas workers by nearly 50% from its current position of £26,200 to £38,700 from 4 April 2024, encouraging businesses to look to British talent first and invest in their workforce, helping us to deter employers from over-relying on migration"".', ""Over half of firms reported investment is frozen, and that's the way they expect it to remain during the second quarter of 2024, while economic uncertainty remains."", ""Consumer price inflation has eased considerably - at 3.4% and soon to decline further as household energy bills fall from next week, it's the figure cited by those Tories looking for green shoots of recovery."", ""But of the Scottish firms surveyed, half say they expect to put prices up, and that's a sharp increase on price expectations at the end of last year."", 'That is one reason economists at the Bank of England is holding off on an interest rate cut, until it can be more confident that wage and price inflation rates are under control.', 'Earlier this week, a different view from the boardroom was published by the Institute of Directors in Scotland.', 'They were sizing up artificial intelligence, cyber-security and the transition to net zero as costs for some and market opportunities for others.', 'They claim to see opportunities for their businesses in improved work contracts, inclusivity and diversity.', 'But their concerns are focused on the problems of government getting the economic fundamentals right, says Catherine McWilliam.', 'She highlights problems with workforce skills and implementation of government policy and a lack of economic priority or business collaboration coming from Holyrood.', 'Among their main concerns (82% of those responding) is the impact of another income tax bracket being introduced in Scotland next week, raising the tax bill for earnings above £75,000 to 45%, even if National Insurance is about to go down by 2p in the pound.', ""Those earners can't expect much sympathy, but company directors say these are the people they need to recruit into Scotland, and the divergence in tax regimes is not helping."", 'Nor does it impress potential inward investors, say more than quarter of them.', 'A further bit of data helps fill out the picture, issued by the Scottish government on Wednesday - its first estimate of growth across the Scottish economy during January.', 'After a contraction of 0.6% across the preceding quarter, output rose in the first month of this year by the same amount.', 'December had also seen such an increase, indicating that the trend may, indeed, be turning a corner back to growth and away from a long period of stagnation.', 'So what do they think at the Fraser of Allander Institute?', 'Its forecast for this year, of 0.6% over the whole of 2024, has not changed since the last quarter.', 'It sees that rising to 1.1% next year and 1.2% the year after, still below long-term trend.', ""The Institute's commentary on the economy acknowledges falling inflation as a positive, moreso if it feeds through to lower borrowing costs."", 'But it comes with a lot of uncertainty about other factors in the economy.', ""There's a fear that the improving outlook could be clouded once more by factors controlled beyond Scotland, including wars, energy prices and supply disruption."", 'That feeds into an indicator that the Scottish government monitors of consumer confidence.', ""It's improved, from a negative outlook while inflation was high, both the outlook for the Scottish economy and for people's household finances."", 'Expectations of household finances have risen to the point where they are finely balanced: as many people are positive as feel negatively.', 'That could be a vital trend to watch for those fighting the Westminster election.', 'The Allander report has the headline ""Poor but Improving"".', 'The big question - one of them, at least - is ""do you feel better off?"",', ""and whether people's consumer and political choices reflect the perception that they feel they've got poorer, or even if they have, that things might be improving?""]",0.090307214889627,"To quote the UK government's fact sheet, it is ""increasing the earning threshold for overseas workers by nearly 50% from its current position of £26,200 to £38,700 from 4 April 2024, encouraging businesses to look to British talent first and invest in their workforce, helping us to deter employers from over-relying on migration"".","There's a fear that the improving outlook could be clouded once more by factors controlled beyond Scotland, including wars, energy prices and supply disruption.",0.3302256090300424,"But of the Scottish firms surveyed, half say they expect to put prices up, and that's a sharp increase on price expectations at the end of last year.","There's a fear that the improving outlook could be clouded once more by factors controlled beyond Scotland, including wars, energy prices and supply disruption.",2024-03-28
"Cars, coal and gas... key cargo at Baltimore port",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68681086,2024-03-28T00:01:52.000Z,"When a massive cargo ship sent Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge crashing into the water, it created both a human and economic disaster. Two bodies have been recovered and four other construction workers are missing, presumed dead. But the bridge's collapse has also cut off a main artery handling billions of dollars of goods to and from a key port. The Port of Baltimore is the 14th largest in the US.  Boat traffic is at a standstill and the wreckage of the bridge still lies across the Patapsco River. Officials warn that the closure could create massive ripple effects in the global supply chain. In 2023, 52.3 million tonnes of foreign cargo, worth $80.8bn (£64bn), passed through Baltimore, according to data from the state of Maryland, which makes it much smaller than neighbouring New York but a key port for certain goods.  Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg described it as the country's largest vehicle handling port, important not only for car imports and exports but also farm equipment. About a dozen ships are currently trapped in the port, Vice Admiral Peter Gautier told reporters, adding that the foreign-flagged vessels are ""dry bulk carriers, car carriers and a number of maritime administration ships"".  Under ordinary circumstances, an enormous variety of goods like automobiles, soybeans, pharmaceuticals, metals, textiles, animal feed, and even newsprint pass in and out of the port. It's also critical for maritime travel; 444,000 passengers cruised through Baltimore in 2023, according to state data.  Automobiles are the facility's signature product. Nearly 850,000 cars and light trucks flowed through the Port of Baltimore in 2023, according to Maryland state data, more than any other US port.  A majority of those cars come from foreign manufacturers like Mazda, Subaru, and Mercedes-Benz, meaning the closure could have major implications for the companies across the globe. Car manufacturers have already started to divert their products in the wake of the bridge collapse. Jeremie Papin, Chair of Nissan Americas, told the BBC: ""We have been re-routing our ships to other ports in the east coast, and so we think there will be minimal, if any, impact to our business in the near term."" Fossil fuels, particularly coal, are some of the biggest exports that go through the Port of Baltimore. Coal made up a lion's share of these shipments, with over 13.2 million tonnes exported in 2022, according the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Shipments of fuel oils, natural gas, and other fossil fuel products were also imported and exported. Plenty of goods used in everyday life were brought into the US through Baltimore in 2022, according to data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics.  Over 106,000 tonnes of furniture, 738,000 tonnes of newsprint, 36,000 tonnes of alcoholic beverages, and 83,000 tonnes of meat and seafood entered the port that year. Imports of plastics and rubber totalled more than 221,000 tonnes in 2022.  ""Our top priority is to get the shipping lane open because of the impact it has on our country and the global supply chain,"" US Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland said at a press conference on Wednesday. ""We are also working on a replacement bridge, so we can have those plans in place to reconstruct the bridge as quickly as possible."" But the economic toll of the bridge collapse goes beyond just the items that pass in and out. The port of Baltimore generates about 15,000 jobs, according to the Maryland governor's office, and nearly 140,000 jobs in total are linked to the port's activities. About 8,000 jobs have been directly affected by the closure. ""The collapse of the Key Bridge is not just a Maryland crisis, the collapse of the Key Bridge is a global crisis,"" Maryland Governor Wes Moore said on Wednesday. ""The national economy and the world's economy depends on the Port of Baltimore."" ",BBC,28/03/2024,"[""When a massive cargo ship sent Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge crashing into the water, it created both a human and economic disaster."", 'Two bodies have been recovered and four other construction workers are missing, presumed dead.', ""But the bridge's collapse has also cut off a main artery handling billions of dollars of goods to and from a key port."", 'The Port of Baltimore is the 14th largest in the US.', 'Boat traffic is at a standstill and the wreckage of the bridge still lies across the Patapsco River.', 'Officials warn that the closure could create massive ripple effects in the global supply chain.', 'In 2023, 52.3 million tonnes of foreign cargo, worth $80.8bn (£64bn), passed through Baltimore, according to data from the state of Maryland, which makes it much smaller than neighbouring New York but a key port for certain goods.', ""Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg described it as the country's largest vehicle handling port, important not only for car imports and exports but also farm equipment."", 'About a dozen ships are currently trapped in the port, Vice Admiral Peter Gautier told reporters, adding that the foreign-flagged vessels are ""dry bulk carriers, car carriers and a number of maritime administration ships"".', 'Under ordinary circumstances, an enormous variety of goods like automobiles, soybeans, pharmaceuticals, metals, textiles, animal feed, and even newsprint pass in and out of the port.', ""It's also critical for maritime travel; 444,000 passengers cruised through Baltimore in 2023, according to state data."", ""Automobiles are the facility's signature product."", 'Nearly 850,000 cars and light trucks flowed through the Port of Baltimore in 2023, according to Maryland state data, more than any other US port.', 'A majority of those cars come from foreign manufacturers like Mazda, Subaru, and Mercedes-Benz, meaning the closure could have major implications for the companies across the globe.', 'Car manufacturers have already started to divert their products in the wake of the bridge collapse.', 'Jeremie Papin, Chair of Nissan Americas, told the BBC: ""We have been re-routing our ships to other ports in the east coast, and so we think there will be minimal, if any, impact to our business in the near term.""', 'Fossil fuels, particularly coal, are some of the biggest exports that go through the Port of Baltimore.', ""Coal made up a lion's share of these shipments, with over 13.2 million tonnes exported in 2022, according the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics."", 'Shipments of fuel oils, natural gas, and other fossil fuel products were also imported and exported.', 'Plenty of goods used in everyday life were brought into the US through Baltimore in 2022, according to data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics.', 'Over 106,000 tonnes of furniture, 738,000 tonnes of newsprint, 36,000 tonnes of alcoholic beverages, and 83,000 tonnes of meat and seafood entered the port that year.', 'Imports of plastics and rubber totalled more than 221,000 tonnes in 2022. ""', 'Our top priority is to get the shipping lane open because of the impact it has on our country and the global supply chain,"" US Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland said at a press conference on Wednesday. ""', 'We are also working on a replacement bridge, so we can have those plans in place to reconstruct the bridge as quickly as possible.""', 'But the economic toll of the bridge collapse goes beyond just the items that pass in and out.', ""The port of Baltimore generates about 15,000 jobs, according to the Maryland governor's office, and nearly 140,000 jobs in total are linked to the port's activities."", 'About 8,000 jobs have been directly affected by the closure. ""', 'The collapse of the Key Bridge is not just a Maryland crisis, the collapse of the Key Bridge is a global crisis,"" Maryland Governor Wes Moore said on Wednesday. ""', 'The national economy and the world\'s economy depends on the Port of Baltimore.""']",-0.0986206396741311,"In 2023, 52.3 million tonnes of foreign cargo, worth $80.8bn (£64bn), passed through Baltimore, according to data from the state of Maryland, which makes it much smaller than neighbouring New York but a key port for certain goods.","The collapse of the Key Bridge is not just a Maryland crisis, the collapse of the Key Bridge is a global crisis,"" Maryland Governor Wes Moore said on Wednesday. """,-0.5930463552474976,"Jeremie Papin, Chair of Nissan Americas, told the BBC: ""We have been re-routing our ships to other ports in the east coast, and so we think there will be minimal, if any, impact to our business in the near term.""",Officials warn that the closure could create massive ripple effects in the global supply chain.,2024-03-28
What is a recession and how could it affect me?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52986863,2020-06-12T00:47:29.000Z,"The UK economy fell into recession during the final three months of 2023, according to official figures. However, the Bank of England has since suggested that the downturn might already be over. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said growing the economy was one of his five key priorities. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes figures for the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is the value of all the goods and services the UK produces. In normal times, a country's economy grows, GDP rises, and average incomes rise as a result. But sometimes the economy shrinks, GDP falls, and that's a sign that the economy is doing badly, which could hit people's pockets. The UK is in recession if GDP falls for two successive three-month periods - known as quarters.  The latest ONS figures confirm that the economy shrank 0.3% between October and December 2023.  That followed a 0.1% fall between July and September and means the economy went into recession at the end of 2023.  Across 2023 as a whole, the UK economy grew by 0.1%.  The government has never publicly said what measure should be used to assess the prime minister's pledge to ""grow the economy"", despite repeated requests. In private briefings, journalists were told it would be met if the economy was bigger in the fourth quarter of 2023 than in the previous quarter. The ONS figures show that it was not.  The last UK recession was in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. It only lasted for six months, although the 20.4% fall in GDP recorded between April and June 2020 was the largest on record. The previous recession started in 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis, and went on for five quarters, or 15 months.  Economic growth can mean more jobs are available and companies can pay more to employees and shareholders.  Higher wages and larger profits also generate money for the government through taxes.  It can choose to spend more on things like benefits and public services, or cut tax rates. When the economy shrinks and a country goes into recession, these things can go into reverse.  Some people might lose their jobs, and unemployment could rise. Graduates and school leavers could find it difficult to get their first job.  Others may find it harder to be promoted, or to get big enough pay rises to keep pace with price increases.  However, the pain of a recession is typically not felt equally across society, and inequality can increase.  Benefit recipients and those on fixed incomes are particularly likely to struggle, especially if the government decides to spend less on public services.  In a recession, the Bank of England - which is independent of government - typically cuts interest rates.  This makes it cheaper for businesses and households to borrow money which can boost spending and economic growth.   However, prices have been rising very quickly in the UK, and the Bank put interest rates up to tackle that inflation.   After 14 rate increases, the Bank has held interest rates at 5.25% four times in a row. When the economy is struggling to grow at the same time as there is high inflation, there can be a situation called ""stagflation"". This can be very difficult to solve, because the two issues require different solutions.  However in February 2024, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey told MPs that there were ""distinct signs of an upturn"" in the economy and the latest recession may already be over. The UK has been one of the weaker members of the G7 group of the world's largest economies. The US economy grew by 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023, which was much better than expected.  That put the US at 2.5% over 2023 as a whole, the best performance of all other advanced economies. It is also expected to outperform the rest of the G7 in 2024.  In October 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that the UK would grow by just 0.6% in 2024.   The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects the UK economy to grow by 0.7% in 2024, but that is less than half of its earlier prediction of 1.8% growth. ",BBC,12/06/2020,"['The UK economy fell into recession during the final three months of 2023, according to official figures.', 'However, the Bank of England has since suggested that the downturn might already be over.', 'Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said growing the economy was one of his five key priorities.', ""The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes figures for the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP)."", 'This is the value of all the goods and services the UK produces.', ""In normal times, a country's economy grows, GDP rises, and average incomes rise as a result."", ""But sometimes the economy shrinks, GDP falls, and that's a sign that the economy is doing badly, which could hit people's pockets."", 'The UK is in recession if GDP falls for two successive three-month periods - known as quarters.', 'The latest ONS figures confirm that the economy shrank 0.3% between October and December 2023.', 'That followed a 0.1% fall between July and September and means the economy went into recession at the end of 2023.', 'Across 2023 as a whole, the UK economy grew by 0.1%.', 'The government has never publicly said what measure should be used to assess the prime minister\'s pledge to ""grow the economy"", despite repeated requests.', 'In private briefings, journalists were told it would be met if the economy was bigger in the fourth quarter of 2023 than in the previous quarter.', 'The ONS figures show that it was not.', 'The last UK recession was in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.', 'It only lasted for six months, although the 20.4% fall in GDP recorded between April and June 2020 was the largest on record.', 'The previous recession started in 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis, and went on for five quarters, or 15 months.', 'Economic growth can mean more jobs are available and companies can pay more to employees and shareholders.', 'Higher wages and larger profits also generate money for the government through taxes.', 'It can choose to spend more on things like benefits and public services, or cut tax rates.', 'When the economy shrinks and a country goes into recession, these things can go into reverse.', 'Some people might lose their jobs, and unemployment could rise.', 'Graduates and school leavers could find it difficult to get their first job.', 'Others may find it harder to be promoted, or to get big enough pay rises to keep pace with price increases.', 'However, the pain of a recession is typically not felt equally across society, and inequality can increase.', 'Benefit recipients and those on fixed incomes are particularly likely to struggle, especially if the government decides to spend less on public services.', 'In a recession, the Bank of England - which is independent of government - typically cuts interest rates.', 'This makes it cheaper for businesses and households to borrow money which can boost spending and economic growth.', 'However, prices have been rising very quickly in the UK, and the Bank put interest rates up to tackle that inflation.', 'After 14 rate increases, the Bank has held interest rates at 5.25% four times in a row.', 'When the economy is struggling to grow at the same time as there is high inflation, there can be a situation called ""stagflation"".', 'This can be very difficult to solve, because the two issues require different solutions.', 'However in February 2024, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey told MPs that there were ""distinct signs of an upturn"" in the economy and the latest recession may already be over.', ""The UK has been one of the weaker members of the G7 group of the world's largest economies."", 'The US economy grew by 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023, which was much better than expected.', 'That put the US at 2.5% over 2023 as a whole, the best performance of all other advanced economies.', 'It is also expected to outperform the rest of the G7 in 2024.', 'In October 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that the UK would grow by just 0.6% in 2024.', 'The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects the UK economy to grow by 0.7% in 2024, but that is less than half of its earlier prediction of 1.8% growth.']",-0.0370619390386098,"That put the US at 2.5% over 2023 as a whole, the best performance of all other advanced economies.","The previous recession started in 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis, and went on for five quarters, or 15 months.",-0.0405489714057357,"Across 2023 as a whole, the UK economy grew by 0.1%.","It only lasted for six months, although the 20.4% fall in GDP recorded between April and June 2020 was the largest on record.",2024-03-28
Powerball jackpot soars to an estimated $935 million after no grand prize winner Wednesday,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/powerball-jackpot-wednesday-mega-millions/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:03 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","With no one winning the Powerball jackpot Wednesday, the grand prize for Saturday’s drawing grew closer to the billion-dollar mark, according to the lottery.
    
            Wednesday’s winning numbers were: 37, 46, 57, 60, 66 and Powerball 8.
    
            The $935 million Powerball jackpot in play Saturday jumped from $865 million after no tickets matched all six numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing. It would be the fifth-largest prize in the history of the game.
    
            A jackpot winner in Saturday’s drawing could choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take a lump sum estimated at $449.7 million.
    
            Although no jackpot was won Wednesday, three tickets still won $1 million each by matching the first five numbers. Those tickets were sold in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Texas, according to the Powerball website.
    
            This is the first Powerball jackpot to surpass $900 million this year. Powerball’s grand prize was last won in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a $842.4 million jackpot. Since then, 37 consecutive drawings have taken place without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.
    
            The largest Powerball jackpot – and the largest US lottery prize – ever won was $2.04 billion by a ticket purchased in California in November 2022, according to the lottery.
    
            Saturday’s estimated $935 million jackpot would rank fifth on Powerball’s all-time list. Ranking second through fourth are $1.765 billion (one ticket in California; 2023); $1.586 billion (three tickets; 2016); and $1.08 billion (one ticket in California, 2023).
    
            Winning the Powerball jackpot means a ticket matched all five white balls plus the red Powerball. The odds of winning any prize in a Powerball drawing are 1 in 24.9, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.
    
            Powerball tickets cost $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET in Tallahassee, Florida.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['With no one winning thePowerball jackpot Wednesday,the grand prize for Saturday’s drawing grew closer to the billion-dollar mark, according tothe lottery.', 'Wednesday’s winning numbers were: 37, 46, 57, 60, 66 and Powerball 8.', 'The $935 million Powerball jackpot in play Saturday jumped from $865 million after no tickets matched all six numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing.', 'It would be the fifth-largest prize in the history of the game.', 'A jackpot winner in Saturday’s drawing could choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take a lump sum estimated at $449.7 million.', 'Although no jackpot was won Wednesday, three tickets still won $1 million each by matching the first five numbers.', 'Those tickets were sold in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Texas, according to thePowerball website.', 'This is the first Powerball jackpot to surpass $900 million this year.', 'Powerball’s grand prize was last won in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a $842.4 million jackpot.', 'Since then, 37 consecutive drawings have taken place without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.', 'The largest Powerball jackpot – and the largest US lottery prize – ever won was $2.04 billion by a ticket purchased in California in November 2022, according to the lottery.', 'Saturday’s estimated $935 million jackpot would rank fifth on Powerball’s all-time list.', 'Ranking second through fourth are $1.765 billion (one ticket in California; 2023); $1.586 billion (three tickets; 2016); and $1.08 billion (one ticket in California, 2023).', 'Winning the Powerball jackpot means a ticket matched all five white balls plus the red Powerball.', 'The odds of winning any prize in a Powerball drawing are 1 in 24.9, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.', 'Powerball tickets cost $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.', 'Drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET in Tallahassee, Florida.']",0.3627053813684833,"The odds of winning any prize in a Powerball drawing are 1 in 24.9, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.","Since then, 37 consecutive drawings have taken place without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.",0.909492333730062,The $935 million Powerball jackpot in play Saturday jumped from $865 million after no tickets matched all six numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing.,,2024-03-28
The S&P 500 just turned in its best first quarter since 2019,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/investing/premarket-stocks-trading-first-quarter/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:18 PM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link. Before the Bell is off on Friday, March 29 and will be back on Sunday, March 31.
    
            The first quarter of 2024 was a record-smasher for markets, even as Wall Street contended with higher-for-longer interest rates.
    
            Investors ended 2023 on an exuberant note. Markets overcame a regional banking crisis and geopolitical turmoil and entered a powerful bull market. The economy avoided a widely expected recession. Traders eagerly anticipated the Fed would begin the first of six rate cuts this year in March.
    
            But a spate of hot economic data and warnings from Fed officials forced investors to recalibrate those hopes to align with the Fed’s projected three cuts, likely beginning in June or July.
    
            While the stock market saw intermittent sell-offs, it continued marching higher as robust corporate earnings and a strong labor market renewed hopes that the economy will avoid a recession. The S&P 500 index rose 10.2% during the first three months of the year, its best first-quarter performance since 2019. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite gained 5.6% and 9.1%, respectively.
    
            The S&P 500 on Thursday logged its 22nd record-high close of the year. The first 17 were recorded during the first 50 trading days of 2024, the largest tally during that period since 1998, according to Bespoke Investment Research. The Dow and Nasdaq have also notched repeated record highs.
    
            Some of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks have stumbled after spurring last year’s banner rally. Apple shares fell 11% during the first quarter on worries about lackluster sales in China. Tesla shares declined 29.3%. Alphabet shares have gained 8% so far this year but are trailing behind robust double-digit gains from Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon.
    
            More than just those four tech stocks have gained this quarter. The S&P 600 index, which tracks US small caps, hit a 52-week high this week after the Fed earlier this month reiterated its forecast of three rate cuts this year. The price of gold surged to multiple all-time highs. Bitcoin also reached fresh highs for the first time since 2021 after US regulators approved spot exchange-traded funds pegged to the cryptocurrency.
    
            What’s next? Leslie Thompson, chief investment officer at Spectrum Wealth Management, says that she expects the rally to continue broadening on strong corporate earnings. Companies in the S&P 500 saw earnings grow 4.3% during the fourth quarter of 2023 from the prior year, according to FactSet data. Analysts polled by FactSet expect S&P 500 earnings to grow by more than 10% for all of 2024.
    
            In another positive sign for markets, history suggests that new highs at the beginning of the year often portend positive annual returns. The S&P 500 has seen an average 15.8% return in years that it notched new highs in January and February, in contrast to an average 9.2% gain for all years, according to CFRA Research data going back to 1954.
    
            But some market indicators, including Warren Buffett’s favorite, suggest stocks are overvalued compared with the performance of the economy. And investors aren’t letting their guard down, even though they’re feeling upbeat. Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments, says he’s keeping careful watch for signs of stubborn inflation in the coming months that could derail the Fed’s plans.
    
            Still, “we don’t see a ton of major risks out there,” said Hill.
    
            A yearslong fight between Disney and Florida is set to end after the two parties agreed to a settlement, report my colleagues Elisabeth Buchwald and Samantha Delouya.
    
            In a meeting Wednesday morning, members of the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, a body that governs the special tax district Disney is located in, approved a settlement to end a legal dispute.
    
            Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis set up the Central Florida Tourism District to oversee the area in which Disney operates nearly two years ago, amid a growing conflict between the Florida governor and the entertainment giant.
    
            The war of words between Disney and DeSantis began in March 2022, after Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against the controversial bill that restricts certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. Opponents have labeled the controversial law “Don’t Say Gay.” Chapek called the bill a “challenge to basic human rights.”
    
            Shortly after, DeSantis asked Florida’s legislature to terminate the longstanding special privileges granted to Disney in Central Florida, appointing a new board of hand-picked supervisors to oversee the district.
    
            The board has threatened to hike taxes, raise utility rates and develop the land around the entertainment giant’s Central Florida theme parks. Disney sued DeSantis and his allies last year, claiming the company’s free speech was violated.
    
            “Everything we’ve done has been in the best interests of the state of Florida,” DeSantis said Wednesday at a press conference in Orlando. “I’m glad that they were able to do that settlement,” he said.
    
            Read more here.
    
            The collapse of the the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday is unfortunately not the first deadly collapse of a major interstate bridge in the US, reports my colleague Alicia Wallace. 
    
            But the response to a bridge failure in Minneapolis 17 years ago, one of the most catastrophic bridge failures in recent memory, could serve as a roadmap for Baltimore moving forward.
    
            On August 1, 2007, when cars were bumper to bumper in evening rush hour traffic along Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, the heavily trafficked, eight-lane bridge that spanned the Mississippi River suddenly failed and collapsed into the river and railyard below. Thirteen people were killed, and nearly 150 more were injured.
    
            In addition to the tragic loss of lives and the immediate damage, the collapse of the I-35W bridge cut off a major transportation artery for the Twin Cities. About 140,000 cars a day traversed the I-35W bridge that once stood more than 100 feet above the Mighty Mississippi.
    
            The loss of the I-35W bridge was initially estimated to sap $113,000 per day (about $17 million total in 2007 and $43 million in 2008) from the state’s economic output, according to projections from the state of Minnesota. Concern swelled about how traffic would snarl elsewhere in the state.
    
            The enormous traffic jams did not emerge as expected, and it took only 13 months for a brand new bridge to be built.
    
            “The economic impact was orders of magnitude less than people had feared,” Christopher Phelan, an economics professor at the University of Minnesota, told CNN.
    
            “There was a lot of almost instant adaptability.”
    
            Read more here.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter.', 'Not a subscriber?', 'You can sign upright here.', 'You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.', 'Before the Bell is off on Friday, March 29 and will be back on Sunday, March 31.', 'The first quarter of 2024 was a record-smasher for markets, even as Wall Street contended with higher-for-longer interest rates.', 'Investors ended 2023 on an exuberant note.', 'Markets overcame a regional banking crisis and geopolitical turmoil and entered a powerful bull market.', 'The economy avoided a widely expected recession.', 'Traders eagerly anticipated the Fed would begin the first of six rate cuts this year in March.', 'But a spate of hot economic data and warnings from Fed officials forced investors to recalibrate those hopes to align with the Fed’s projected three cuts, likely beginning in June or July.', 'While the stock market saw intermittent sell-offs, it continued marching higher as robust corporate earnings and a strong labor market renewed hopes that the economy will avoid a recession.', 'The S&P 500 index rose 10.2% during the first three months of the year, its best first-quarter performance since 2019.', 'The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite gained 5.6% and 9.1%, respectively.', 'The S&P 500 on Thursday logged its 22nd record-high close of the year.', 'The first 17 were recorded during the first 50 trading days of 2024, the largest tally during that period since 1998, according to Bespoke Investment Research.', 'The Dow and Nasdaq have also notched repeated record highs.', 'Some of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks have stumbled after spurring last year’s banner rally.', 'Apple shares fell 11% during the first quarter on worries about lackluster sales in China.', 'Tesla shares declined 29.3%.', 'Alphabet shares have gained 8% so far this year but are trailing behind robust double-digit gains from Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon.', 'More than just those four tech stocks have gained this quarter.', 'The S&P 600 index, which tracks US small caps, hit a 52-week high this week after the Fed earlier this month reiterated its forecast of three rate cuts this year.', 'The price of gold surged to multiple all-time highs.', 'Bitcoin also reached fresh highs for the first time since 2021 after US regulators approved spot exchange-traded funds pegged to the cryptocurrency.', 'What’s next?', 'Leslie Thompson, chief investment officer at Spectrum Wealth Management, says that she expects the rally to continue broadening on strong corporate earnings.', 'Companies in the S&P 500 saw earnings grow 4.3% during the fourth quarter of 2023 from the prior year, according to FactSet data.', 'Analysts polled by FactSet expect S&P 500 earnings to grow by more than 10% for all of 2024.', 'In another positive sign for markets, history suggests that new highs at the beginning of the year often portend positive annual returns.', 'The S&P 500 has seen an average 15.8% return in years that it notched new highs in January and February, in contrast to an average 9.2% gain for all years, according to CFRA Research data going back to 1954.', 'But some market indicators, including Warren Buffett’s favorite, suggest stocks are overvalued compared with the performance of the economy.', 'And investors aren’t letting their guard down, even though they’re feeling upbeat.', 'Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments, says he’s keeping careful watch for signs of stubborn inflation in the coming months that could derail the Fed’s plans.', 'Still, “we don’t see a ton of major risks out there,” said Hill.', 'A yearslong fight between Disney and Florida is set to end after the two parties agreed to a settlement, report my colleagues Elisabeth BuchwaldandSamantha Delouya.', 'In a meeting Wednesday morning, members of the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, a body that governs the special tax district Disney is located in, approved a settlement to end a legal dispute.', 'Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis set up the Central Florida Tourism District to oversee the area in which Disney operates nearly two years ago, amid a growing conflict between the Florida governor and the entertainment giant.', 'The war of words between Disney and DeSantis began in March 2022, after Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapekspoke out againstthe controversial bill that restricts certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom.', 'Opponents have labeled the controversial law “Don’t Say Gay.”', 'Chapek called the bill a “challenge to basic human rights.”', 'Shortly after, DeSantis asked Florida’s legislature to terminate the longstanding special privileges granted to Disney in Central Florida, appointing a new board of hand-picked supervisors to oversee the district.', 'Theboard has threatenedto hike taxes, raise utility rates and develop the land around the entertainment giant’s Central Florida theme parks.', 'Disneysued DeSantis and his allieslast year, claiming the company’s free speech was violated.', '“Everything we’ve done has been in the best interests of the state of Florida,” DeSantis said Wednesday at a press conference in Orlando. “', 'I’m glad that they were able to do that settlement,” he said.', 'Read more here.', 'Thecollapse of the the Francis Scott Key Bridgein Baltimore on Tuesday is unfortunately not the first deadly collapse of a major interstate bridge in the US, reports my colleague Alicia Wallace.', 'But the response to a bridge failure in Minneapolis 17 years ago, one of the most catastrophic bridge failures in recent memory, could serve as a roadmap for Baltimore moving forward.', 'On August 1, 2007, when cars were bumper to bumper in evening rush hour traffic along Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, the heavily trafficked, eight-lane bridge that spanned theMississippi River suddenly failed and collapsed into the riverand railyard below.', 'Thirteen people were killed, and nearly 150 more were injured.', 'In addition to the tragic loss of lives and the immediate damage, the collapse of the I-35W bridge cut off a major transportation artery for the Twin Cities.', 'About 140,000 cars a day traversed the I-35W bridge that once stood more than 100 feet above the Mighty Mississippi.', 'The loss of the I-35W bridge was initially estimated to sap $113,000 per day (about $17 million total in 2007 and $43 million in 2008) from the state’s economic output, according to projections from the state of Minnesota.', 'Concern swelled about how traffic would snarlelsewhere in the state.', 'The enormous traffic jams did not emerge as expected, and it took only 13 months for a brand new bridge to be built.', '“The economic impact was orders of magnitude less than people had feared,” Christopher Phelan, an economics professor at the University of Minnesota, told CNN.', '“There was a lot of almost instant adaptability.”', 'Read more here.']",0.0558693177382042,"Alphabet shares have gained 8% so far this year but are trailing behind robust double-digit gains from Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon.","But the response to a bridge failure in Minneapolis 17 years ago, one of the most catastrophic bridge failures in recent memory, could serve as a roadmap for Baltimore moving forward.",0.3296020385381338,"The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite gained 5.6% and 9.1%, respectively.",Apple shares fell 11% during the first quarter on worries about lackluster sales in China.,2024-03-28
Opinion: The drama around Sam Altman is an urgent warning,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/21/opinions/sam-altman-openai-ouster-danger-filipovic/index.html,"
  Published
        9:50 AM EST, Tue November 21, 2023
    ","The biggest tech news this week is the ouster of Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI, a move that has shaken the company and the industry. Hundreds of OpenAI employees have threatened to resign. Altman has already moved on to a role at Microsoft. And OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on its third CEO in as many days.
    
            It’s all very juicy. But this drama should also be raising larger questions, far beyond one company’s internal hirings and firings, including: Who are the people making the decisions that will determine so much of our technological future? What guiding principles are they using to make those decisions? And how should other institutions – governments, non-tech industries, global alliances, regulatory bodies – reign in the worst excesses of potentially dangerous AI innovators?
    
            OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, with an explicit mission to harness what may soon be superhuman intelligence “to benefit humanity as a whole.” But that sensibility hasn’t lasted. The company now has a multi-billion-dollar for-profit arm. They have been developing new technologies at lightning speed, and sometimes sending them out to the public before some employees believed they were ready. The company has already reportedly invented an AI technology so dangerous they will never release it – but they also won’t tell reporters or the public exactly what it is.
    
            This dynamic – a potentially dangerous technology developed at extreme speed, largely behind closed doors – is partly to blame for Altman’s firing. The OpenAI board, according to CNN’s David Goldman, worried that “the company was making the technological equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and its caretaker, Sam Altman, was moving so fast that he risked a global catastrophe.” At particular issue seemed to be Altman’s efforts to make the tools behind ChatGPT available to anyone who wanted to make their own version of the chatbot. This could be widely disastrous, some board members worried.
    
            But then they fired him without warning, and apparently without involving Microsoft, the company’s largest shareholder. Now, Altman is at the new AI group at Microsoft, and one has to wonder if the oversight and caution there will be on par with that at OpenAI, or if he’ll be handed carte blanche to push as fast and hard as he wants. And for all the justified reticence of the OpenAI board, the company has carried out much of its work in secrecy – without the public really understanding what a handful of unaccountable technologists are building, and how it is nearly guaranteed to indelibly change their lives.
    
            AI is broadly understood to have the potential to reshape vast swaths of human existence. At the very least, it seems nearly guaranteed to change how we process information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work (and if we work). And the ramifications could be much more extreme. AI technologies have already demonstrated the ability to lie and to cover their tracks. They have already been able to suggest the design to make a virus spread more quickly. Many researchers acutely understand just how quickly these machines could develop the capacity to annihilate us, including Altman: He has a prepper’s paradise prepared in Big Sur, complete with guns and “gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force” in case AI goes off the rails and the robots go to war against humans, according to reporting in the New Yorker.
    
            But don’t worry, he told an Atlantic reporter: If AI is determined to wipe us out, “no gas mask is helping anyone.” (If you want an excellent and terrifying rundown of AI’s risks – at least those we understand right now, which are almost certainly a mere sliver of the looming perils – the Atlantic profile of Altman and his technology is worth a read).
    
            AI is very exciting technology. But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”
    
            Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed. And yet the development is being left to a handful of people (who seem to be largely men) in Silicon Valley, and other tech pockets around the globe. And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit.
    
            Do the interests of the public align with the interests of the shareholders to whom profit-driven, potentially tremendously lucrative-for-a-few companies are beholden? Or with the interests of tech entrepreneurs who are primarily excited about being at the forefront of the AI revolution, regardless of the potential human costs?
    
            One thing is clear: AI is coming. And how it is built and unleashed on the public matters more than perhaps any technology of the past century. It is, indeed, up there with the atom bomb in its destructive potential – except likely more difficult to regulate and control.
    
            “Regulation” does not begin to scratch the surface of what’s needed to make sure that the AI future is not a catastrophic one, especially since the development of AI is now a massive international arms race, with particularly horrific implications if bad actors develop this technology first. But regulation is, at minimum, a necessary step.
    
            So is transparency: In the US, companies have wide leverage to work behind a veil of secrecy, and much of what AI companies do is kept secret to stymy competition. But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.
    
            The Altman story is fascinating because Altman is the most powerful figure in AI technology, which in effect makes him one of the most powerful men in the world. But that should give us pause: Who is he, what power does he hold, what is he doing with it, who does he answer to, and are we comfortable with this much life-altering potential being held by a few unaccountable people?",CNN,21/11/2023,"['The biggest tech news this week is theousterof Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI, a move that has shaken the company and the industry.', 'Hundreds of OpenAI employees have threatened toresign.', 'Altman has alreadymoved onto a role at Microsoft.', 'And OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on itsthird CEOin as many days.', 'It’s all very juicy.', 'But this drama should also be raising larger questions, far beyond one company’s internal hirings and firings, including: Who are the people making the decisionsthat will determine so much of our technological future?', 'What guiding principles are they using to make those decisions?', 'And how should other institutions – governments, non-tech industries, global alliances, regulatory bodies – reign in the worst excesses of potentially dangerous AI innovators?', 'OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, with an explicit mission to harness what may soon be superhuman intelligence “to benefit humanity as a whole.”', 'But that sensibility hasn’t lasted.', 'The company now has a multi-billion-dollar for-profit arm.', 'They have been developing new technologies at lightning speed, and sometimes sending them out to the publicbefore some employees believed they were ready.', 'The company has already reportedly invented an AI technology so dangerous they will never release it – but they alsowon’t tellreporters or the public exactly what it is.', 'This dynamic – a potentially dangerous technology developed at extreme speed, largely behind closed doors – is partly to blame for Altman’s firing.', 'The OpenAI board, according toCNN’s David Goldman, worried that “the company was making the technological equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and its caretaker, Sam Altman, was moving so fast that he risked a global catastrophe.”', 'At particular issue seemed to be Altman’s efforts to make the tools behind ChatGPT available to anyone who wanted to make their own version of the chatbot.', 'This could be widely disastrous, some board members worried.', 'But then they fired him without warning, and apparently without involving Microsoft, the company’s largest shareholder.', 'Now, Altman is at the new AI group at Microsoft, and one has to wonder if the oversight and caution there will be on par with that at OpenAI, or if he’ll be handed carte blanche to push as fast and hard as he wants.', 'And for all the justified reticence of the OpenAI board, the company has carried out much of its work in secrecy – without the public really understanding what a handful of unaccountable technologists are building, and how it is nearly guaranteed to indelibly change their lives.', 'AI is broadly understood to have the potential to reshape vast swaths of human existence.', 'At the very least, it seems nearly guaranteed to change how we process information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work (and if we work).', 'And the ramifications could be much more extreme.', 'AI technologies have already demonstrated the abilityto lie and to cover their tracks.', 'They have already been able tosuggest the designto make a virus spread more quickly.', 'Many researchersacutely understandjust how quickly these machines could develop the capacity to annihilate us, including Altman: He has a prepper’s paradise prepared in Big Sur, complete with guns and “gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force” in case AI goes off the rails and the robots go to war against humans,according to reporting in the New Yorker.', 'But don’t worry, he told an Atlantic reporter: If AI is determined to wipe us out, “no gas mask is helping anyone.” (', 'If you want an excellent and terrifying rundown of AI’s risks – at least those we understand right now, which are almost certainly a mere sliver of the looming perils –the Atlantic profile of Altman and his technologyis worth a read).', 'AI is very exciting technology.', 'But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”', 'Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed.', 'And yet the development is being left to a handful of people (who seem to belargelymen) in Silicon Valley, and other tech pockets around the globe.', 'And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit.', 'Do the interests of the public align with the interests of the shareholders to whom profit-driven, potentially tremendously lucrative-for-a-few companies are beholden?', 'Or with the interests of tech entrepreneurs who are primarily excited about being at the forefront of the AI revolution, regardless of the potential human costs?', 'One thing is clear: AI is coming.', 'And how it is built and unleashed on the public matters more than perhaps any technology of the past century.', 'It is, indeed, up there with the atom bomb in its destructive potential – except likely more difficult to regulate and control.', '“Regulation” does not begin to scratch the surface of what’s needed to make sure that the AI future is not a catastrophic one, especially since the development of AI is now a massive international arms race, with particularly horrific implications if bad actors develop this technology first.', 'But regulation is, at minimum, a necessary step.', 'So is transparency: In the US, companies have wide leverage to work behind a veil of secrecy, and much of what AI companies do is kept secret to stymy competition.', 'But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.', 'The Altman story is fascinating because Altman is the most powerful figure in AI technology, which in effect makes him one of the most powerful men in the world.', 'But that should give us pause: Who is he, what power does he hold, what is he doing with it, who does he answer to, and are we comfortable with this much life-altering potential being held by a few unaccountable people?']",0.0034737194649936,"But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.","But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”",-0.2999434590339661,AI technologies have already demonstrated the abilityto lie and to cover their tracks.,"But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”",2024-03-28
Nigeria Binance dispute: British-Kenyan executive Nadeem Anjarwalla escapes from custody,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68656119,2024-03-25T14:52:21.000Z,"An executive of the cryptocurrency firm Binance has escaped from custody in Nigeria, the authorities there say. Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national, was arrested in February with his US colleague Tigran Gambaryan. Their detention came as the Nigerian authorities investigated alleged wrongdoing by Binance. Nigeria said that Mr Anjarwalla fled the country with a ""smuggled passport"", but a family source has said he had left by ""by lawful means"". The country is now ""working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect"", the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said in a statement. Binance has not commented on the accusations it has been facing. ""We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody. Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.  Mr Anjarwalla, the company's Africa regional manager, and Mr Gambaryan, in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested on 26 February after attending meetings in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to which they had been invited by the government. The authorities reportedly demanded that they name Nigerians trading on their platform.  A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's request to detain the two executives for 14 days, but their continued detention was not authorised by the court and they were being held ""unlawfully"", a source close to the families told the BBC. They were due to appear again in court early next month.  ""The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention,"" the ONSA said. Nigerian media are reporting that Mr Anjarwalla asked the guards at a guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to the mosque last Friday but never returned. The authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport were unknown. Mr Gambaryan remains in custody. Meanwhile, the Nigerian authorities have formally filed tax evasion charges against Binance at the High Court in Abuja, and named Mr Anjarwalla among the respondents. The Federal Inland Revenue Service is accusing the cryptocurrency platform of non-payment of value added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.  Binance has not made a statement on these charges. Last month, the Nigerian authorities clamped down on cryptocurrency firms in general over allegations they were being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.  The country's central bank alleged that over $26bn (£20.6bn) worth of transactions had passed through Binance with untraceable sources.  It accused the platforms of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the naira, the local currency, and ordered the firm to pay a fine of $10bn.  Binance is understood to be one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms in Nigeria. Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['An executive of the cryptocurrency firm Binance has escaped from custody in Nigeria, the authorities there say.', 'Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national, was arrested in February with his US colleague Tigran Gambaryan.', 'Their detention came as the Nigerian authorities investigated alleged wrongdoing by Binance.', 'Nigeria said that Mr Anjarwalla fled the country with a ""smuggled passport"", but a family source has said he had left by ""by lawful means"".', 'The country is now ""working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect"", the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said in a statement.', 'Binance has not commented on the accusations it has been facing. ""', 'We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody.', 'Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.', ""Mr Anjarwalla, the company's Africa regional manager, and Mr Gambaryan, in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested on 26 February after attending meetings in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to which they had been invited by the government."", 'The authorities reportedly demanded that they name Nigerians trading on their platform.', 'A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission\'s request to detain the two executives for 14 days, but their continued detention was not authorised by the court and they were being held ""unlawfully"", a source close to the families told the BBC.', 'They were due to appear again in court early next month. ""', 'The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention,"" the ONSA said.', 'Nigerian media are reporting that Mr Anjarwalla asked the guards at a guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to the mosque last Friday but never returned.', 'The authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport were unknown.', 'Mr Gambaryan remains in custody.', 'Meanwhile, the Nigerian authorities have formally filed tax evasion charges against Binance at the High Court in Abuja, and named Mr Anjarwalla among the respondents.', 'The Federal Inland Revenue Service is accusing the cryptocurrency platform of non-payment of value added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.', 'Binance has not made a statement on these charges.', 'Last month, the Nigerian authorities clamped down on cryptocurrency firms in general over allegations they were being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.', ""The country's central bank alleged that over $26bn (£20.6bn) worth of transactions had passed through Binance with untraceable sources."", 'It accused the platforms of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the naira, the local currency, and ordered the firm to pay a fine of $10bn.', 'Binance is understood to be one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms in Nigeria.', ""Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.""]",-0.1973722181344786,"Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.","Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.",-0.9894911050796508,,"Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.",2024-03-28
Microsoft stock hits all-time high after hiring former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/20/investing/microsoft-stock-record-high-altman-openai/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:19 PM EST, Mon November 20, 2023
    ","Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg.
    
            Shares of the tech behemoth rose 2.1% to an all-time high close of $377.44 on Monday, beating the previous record of $376.17.
    
            That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup. Microsoft is the artificial intelligence firm’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the company.
    
            Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.
    
            Altman’s hiring ended days of speculation that the former chief executive could return to the firm after his dramatic firing. Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, will replace OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim chief executive.
    
            Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year. The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.
    
            Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, reiterated his $425 price target for Microsoft’s stock following Altman’s and Brockman’s hires.
    
            “We view Microsoft now even in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman” at the company, Ives wrote in a note on Monday.
    
            Other members of the “Magnificent Seven” saw a boost on Monday. Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to end the trading session at $504.20 ahead of its earnings due on Tuesday, notching a record-high close for the chipmaker.",CNN,20/11/2023,"['Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg.', 'Shares of the tech behemoth rose 2.1% to an all-time high close of $377.44 on Monday, beating the previous record of $376.17.', 'That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup.', 'Microsoft is the artificial intelligence firm’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the company.', 'Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.', 'Altman’s hiring ended days of speculation that the former chief executive could return to the firm after his dramatic firing.', 'Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, will replace OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim chief executive.', 'Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year.', 'The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.', 'Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, reiterated his $425 price target for Microsoft’s stock following Altman’s and Brockman’s hires.', '“We view Microsoft now even in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman” at the company, Ives wrote in a note on Monday.', 'Other members of the “Magnificent Seven” saw a boost on Monday.', 'Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to end the trading session at $504.20 ahead of its earnings due on Tuesday, notching a record-high close for the chipmaker.']",0.3148943375907157,"The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.","Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.",0.768821742799547,Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year.,"That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup.",2024-03-28
How Temu is shaking up the world of online shopping,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68563339,2024-03-19T00:09:28.000Z,"A record 123 million Americans tuned into this year's Super Bowl.  But as well as getting the nation's biggest sporting event, a blockbuster halftime performance and several camera cutaways of Taylor Swift in the crowd, they also got six 30-second commercials for Temu - a Chinese-owned e-commerce company. The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour. Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants. The company, which sells everything from clothes to electronics and furniture, first launched in the US in 2022 and later in the UK and the rest of the world. Since then, it has consistently topped global app download charts, with just under 152 million Americans using it every month, according to data gathered by analyst SimilarWeb. It's ""Amazon on steroids,"" says retail analyst Neil Saunders, and with the tagline ""shop like a billionaire"" it has exploded in popularity, shipping to around 50 countries worldwide. A typical 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs around $7m (£5.5m), during this year's event Temu had six of them.  ""It's a lot of money for a very, short commercial,"" Mr Saunders says.  ""But it is seen by an enormous number of people and we know that after that commercial Temu's downloads spiked,"" he adds.  SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app. In the same period, Amazon and Ebay's visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively.  ""They've also spent a lot of money on micro-marketing, persuading influencers to push products and to suggest buying things on the platform via social channels like TikTok and YouTube,"" says Mr Saunders.  These influencers typically have fewer than 10,000 followers according to Ines Durand, an e-commerce expert at SimilarWeb. ""Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains. Temu is owned by Chinese giant PDD Holdings - ""a monster in Chinese e-commerce,"" according to Shaun Rein, founder of the China Market Research Group.  ""Throughout China, everyone buys products on Pinduoduo, from speakers to t-shirts or socks,"" he says.  More technology of business The company consistently trades places with rival Alibaba for the top spot of most valuable Chinese firm listed on a US stock exchange. Its current worth sits at just under $150bn (£117bn). With the Chinese consumer market under its spell, PDD Holdings expanded overseas with Temu, using the same model that had ensured its previous success. According to Mr Rein, who is based in Shanghai, the firm has become a great source of pride and patriotism. ""They're proud that Chinese companies can slay the e-commerce dragons from the United States like Amazon,"" he adds.  A quick scroll through the Temu app or website will bring up anything from steel-toecap trainers to a device designed to help the elderly and pregnant women put on socks. A menagerie of manufactured goods, almost entirely produced in factories in China, Mr Rein explains. ""Temu use an amazing, system that relies on, heavy data collection at scale,"" says Ines Durand. ""They collect data on consumer trends, the most searched and clicked products, which they give to individual manufacturers."" Ms Durand says that while Amazon sells this data to manufacturers at a premium, Temu gives it to producers free of charge - information they use to ""test the market"" with a relatively small number of products.  A third of parcels that came into the US last year under a shipping loophole known as the de minimis threshold were from Temu and competitor Shein, according to a report from US Congress. Many countries - including the UK and USA have a de minimis threshold, designed to help citizens to import goods. So as Temu's goods are shipped directly from the factory floors, cutting out the middlemen, they become essentially duty-free. More regulation may be on the horizon to close up shipping loopholes, however, according to Mickey Diaz, chief operating officer at global freight company Unique Logistics.  ""The UK has already started to look at Temu with some scrutiny, including the sale of weapons that are otherwise not allowed into the UK, which were being imported because of these loopholes,"" she explains. Temu has been criticised for its supply chains too, with UK and US politicians accusing the e-commerce giant of allowing goods produced with forced labour to be sold on its site.  Last year, Alicia Kearns MP, head of the foreign affairs select committee, told the BBC she wanted greater scrutiny of the online marketplace to make sure ""consumers are not inadvertently contributing to the Uyghur genocide"". Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.  It told the BBC anyone doing business with it must ""comply with all regulatory standards and compliance requirements"". ""Temu's merchants, suppliers, and other third parties must pay their employees and contractors on time and comply with all applicable local wage and hours laws. ""Our current standards and practices are no different from other major e-commerce platforms trusted by consumers, and allegations in this regard are completely ungrounded,"" a spokesperson added.  Despite the controversy, analysts expect further expansion for Temu. ""We'll probably see teams start to round out its offer more, perhaps pushing into some slightly higher priced products"" predicts retail analyst Neil Saunders. According to Shaun Reid, the focus will be on grabbing an even bigger slice of the market. ""For the next two to three years, their strategy is just to grow brand awareness and market share. They don't care about profits.  ""That's exactly what happened with Pinduoduo when it launched in China. They were giving incredibly cheap deals just to grab market share."" ",BBC,19/03/2024,"[""A record 123 million Americans tuned into this year's Super Bowl."", ""But as well as getting the nation's biggest sporting event, a blockbuster halftime performance and several camera cutaways of Taylor Swift in the crowd, they also got six 30-second commercials for Temu - a Chinese-owned e-commerce company."", 'The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour.', 'Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.', 'The company, which sells everything from clothes to electronics and furniture, first launched in the US in 2022 and later in the UK and the rest of the world.', 'Since then, it has consistently topped global app download charts, with just under 152 million Americans using it every month, according to data gathered by analyst SimilarWeb.', 'It\'s ""Amazon on steroids,"" says retail analyst Neil Saunders, and with the tagline ""shop like a billionaire"" it has exploded in popularity, shipping to around 50 countries worldwide.', 'A typical 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs around $7m (£5.5m), during this year\'s event Temu had six of them. ""', 'It\'s a lot of money for a very, short commercial,"" Mr Saunders says. ""', 'But it is seen by an enormous number of people and we know that after that commercial Temu\'s downloads spiked,"" he adds.', 'SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app.', 'In the same period, Amazon and Ebay\'s visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively. ""', 'They\'ve also spent a lot of money on micro-marketing, persuading influencers to push products and to suggest buying things on the platform via social channels like TikTok and YouTube,"" says Mr Saunders.', 'These influencers typically have fewer than 10,000 followers according to Ines Durand, an e-commerce expert at SimilarWeb. ""', 'Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains.', 'Temu is owned by Chinese giant PDD Holdings - ""a monster in Chinese e-commerce,"" according to Shaun Rein, founder of the China Market Research Group. ""', 'Throughout China, everyone buys products on Pinduoduo, from speakers to t-shirts or socks,"" he says.', 'More technology of business The company consistently trades places with rival Alibaba for the top spot of most valuable Chinese firm listed on a US stock exchange.', 'Its current worth sits at just under $150bn (£117bn).', 'With the Chinese consumer market under its spell, PDD Holdings expanded overseas with Temu, using the same model that had ensured its previous success.', 'According to Mr Rein, who is based in Shanghai, the firm has become a great source of pride and patriotism. ""', 'They\'re proud that Chinese companies can slay the e-commerce dragons from the United States like Amazon,"" he adds.', 'A quick scroll through the Temu app or website will bring up anything from steel-toecap trainers to a device designed to help the elderly and pregnant women put on socks.', 'A menagerie of manufactured goods, almost entirely produced in factories in China, Mr Rein explains. ""', 'Temu use an amazing, system that relies on, heavy data collection at scale,"" says Ines Durand. ""', 'They collect data on consumer trends, the most searched and clicked products, which they give to individual manufacturers.""', 'Ms Durand says that while Amazon sells this data to manufacturers at a premium, Temu gives it to producers free of charge - information they use to ""test the market"" with a relatively small number of products.', 'A third of parcels that came into the US last year under a shipping loophole known as the de minimis threshold were from Temu and competitor Shein, according to a report from US Congress.', 'Many countries - including the UK and USA have a de minimis threshold, designed to help citizens to import goods.', ""So as Temu's goods are shipped directly from the factory floors, cutting out the middlemen, they become essentially duty-free."", 'More regulation may be on the horizon to close up shipping loopholes, however, according to Mickey Diaz, chief operating officer at global freight company Unique Logistics. ""', 'The UK has already started to look at Temu with some scrutiny, including the sale of weapons that are otherwise not allowed into the UK, which were being imported because of these loopholes,"" she explains.', 'Temu has been criticised for its supply chains too, with UK and US politicians accusing the e-commerce giant of allowing goods produced with forced labour to be sold on its site.', 'Last year, Alicia Kearns MP, head of the foreign affairs select committee, told the BBC she wanted greater scrutiny of the online marketplace to make sure ""consumers are not inadvertently contributing to the Uyghur genocide"".', 'Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.', 'It told the BBC anyone doing business with it must ""comply with all regulatory standards and compliance requirements"". ""', 'Temu\'s merchants, suppliers, and other third parties must pay their employees and contractors on time and comply with all applicable local wage and hours laws. ""', 'Our current standards and practices are no different from other major e-commerce platforms trusted by consumers, and allegations in this regard are completely ungrounded,"" a spokesperson added.', 'Despite the controversy, analysts expect further expansion for Temu. ""', 'We\'ll probably see teams start to round out its offer more, perhaps pushing into some slightly higher priced products"" predicts retail analyst Neil Saunders.', 'According to Shaun Reid, the focus will be on grabbing an even bigger slice of the market. ""', 'For the next two to three years, their strategy is just to grow brand awareness and market share.', 'They don\'t care about profits. ""', ""That's exactly what happened with Pinduoduo when it launched in China."", 'They were giving incredibly cheap deals just to grab market share.""']",0.2590481124794851,"Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains.","The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour.",0.5463065419878278,"SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app.","In the same period, Amazon and Ebay's visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively. """,2024-03-28
FAA says future United projects ‘may be delayed’ due to increased oversight,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/23/business/united-airlines-faa-oversight/index.html,"
  Published
        6:20 PM EDT, Sat March 23, 2024
    ","The Federal Aviation Administration warned Saturday its increased oversight of United Airlines — after a string of nearly a dozen incidents on flights this month — may mean the troubled airline will have to put some of its future plans on hold.
    
            “Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”
    
            The FAA also said it would initiate an evaluation of the company’s safety management and compliance.
    
            The civil aviation authority’s stepped up oversight comes after a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon, missing an external panel on March 15.
    
            While no passengers were injured, the incident was just one in a line of recent mishaps on United flights — all involving Boeing jets. In just the last month, another United Boeing plane spewed flames from an engine after taking off, one slid off the runway, one lost a wheel during takeoff and another trailed hydraulic fluid.
    
            The FAA did not specify what future projects may be delayed by its evaluation, but on Saturday, Bloomberg reported the agency is considering preventing United Airlines from adding new routes, curbing the airline’s growth.
    
            In a Friday memo, United told employees they would start seeing “more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”
    
            United said the FAA’s review would mean an “even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.”
    
            United’s troubles come at a time of heightened safety concerns around Boeing, the manufacturer of most of the airline’s jets.
    
            The most notable mishap on a Boeing jet this year occurred on January 5, when an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane lost a door midflight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane. Last week, a LATAM Airlines Boeing plane flying from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, suddenly plunged in midair, injuring some passengers as they were thrown to the cabin’s ceiling.
    
            CNN’s Gregory Wallace, Chris Isidore and Pete Muntean contributed to this report.",CNN,23/03/2024,"['The Federal Aviation Administration warned Saturday its increased oversight of United Airlines — after a string of nearly a dozen incidents on flights this month — may mean the troubled airline will have to put some of its future plans on hold.', '“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “', 'Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”', 'The FAA also said it would initiate an evaluation of the company’s safety management and compliance.', 'The civil aviation authority’s stepped up oversight comes after a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon,missing an external panel on March 15.', 'While no passengers were injured, the incident was just one in a line of recent mishaps on United flights — all involving Boeing jets.', 'In justthe last month, another United Boeing plane spewed flames from an engine after taking off, one slid off the runway, one lost a wheel during takeoff and another trailed hydraulic fluid.', 'The FAA did not specify what future projects may be delayed by its evaluation, but on Saturday, Bloomberg reported the agency is considering preventing United Airlines from adding new routes, curbing the airline’s growth.', 'In a Friday memo, United told employees they would start seeing “more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”', 'United said the FAA’s review would mean an “even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.”', 'United’s troubles come at a time of heightened safety concerns around Boeing, the manufacturer of most of the airline’s jets.', 'The most notable mishap on a Boeing jet this year occurred on January 5, when an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane lost a door midflight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane.', 'Last week, a LATAM Airlines Boeing plane flying from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, suddenly plunged in midair, injuring some passengers as they were thrown to the cabin’s ceiling.', 'CNN’s Gregory Wallace, Chris Isidore and Pete Muntean contributed to this report.']",0.2258031478302266,"“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “","Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”",-0.6982361163411822,"“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “","The FAA did not specify what future projects may be delayed by its evaluation, but on Saturday, Bloomberg reported the agency is considering preventing United Airlines from adding new routes, curbing the airline’s growth.",2024-03-28
China’s Xiaomi joins the crowded EV race with ‘dream car’ to take on Tesla,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/business/chinas-xiaomi-ev-launch-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        1:04 PM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","Xiaomi formally launched its much-anticipated electric car — the new Speed Ultra 7 (SU7) sedan — on Thursday night in Beijing.
    
            Lei Jun, founder and CEO of the popular Chinese smartphone brand, teased the launch earlier this week by saying he wanted the company’s first electric vehicle to be the “best-looking, easiest to drive, and smartest car” priced below 500,000 yuan ($69,180).
    
            “Xiaomi wants to build a ‘dream car’ comparable to Porsche and Tesla,” he said on Weibo Wednesday.
    
            “If we want to build good cars, we must seriously learn from these two best car manufacturers in the world,” he added.
    
            On Thursday, Xiaomi announced that prices for SU7 models would range from 215,900 yuan ($29,874) to 299,900 yuan ($41,497).
    
            The company’s big auto ambitions come at a time of intense competition in the industry in China. The world’s largest EV market, supercharged by heavy state subsidies in the past decade, has become overcrowded.
    
            There are currently more than 200 major manufacturers producing pure EVs and plug-in hybrids. A price war erupted last year as companies tried to boost sales in the face of weaker consumer demand. 
    
            Average profit margins fell to just 5% in 2023, according to official statistics. The biggest player in the industry, BYD, said earlier this week that its quarterly profit growth was the slowest in two years, as sales lost momentum.
    
            Xiaomi’s SU7 has been on display in showrooms in 29 cities across mainland China since Monday, according to Lei.
    
            Xiaomi, which made its name as manufacturer of smartphones and other consumer electronics, accounted for 13% of both global and Chinese smartphone sales in the last quarter of 2023, according to data from Counterpoint Research. It ranked No. 5 in China for the full year.
    
            In 2021, Xiaomi announced that it would invest $10 billion over the next decade into a subsidiary focused on smart EVs.
    
            The standard version of Xiaomi’s SU7 has a starting range of 700 kilometers (435 miles), which is better than the long-range version of Tesla’s Model 3, Lei said in his Weibo posts.
    
            Xiaomi appears to be targeting premium consumers. The standard SU7 is significantly cheaper than an imported Porsche Taycan, which starts at 898,000 yuan ($124,248). It’s also positioned competitively against Tesla’s Model S sedan, which starts at 698,900 yuan ($96,700).
    
            EVs in China are priced much lower than in the rest of the world. For example, BYD’s most affordable model, the Seagull hatchback, costs only 69,800 yuan ($9,658).",CNN,28/03/2024,"['Xiaomi formally launched its much-anticipated electric car — the new Speed Ultra 7 (SU7) sedan — on Thursday night in Beijing.', 'Lei Jun, founder and CEO of the popular Chinese smartphone brand, teased the launch earlier this week by saying he wanted the company’s first electric vehicle to be the “best-looking, easiest to drive, and smartest car” priced below 500,000 yuan ($69,180).', '“Xiaomi wants to build a ‘dream car’ comparable to Porsche and Tesla,” he said on Weibo Wednesday.', '“If we want to build good cars, we must seriously learn from these two best car manufacturers in the world,” he added.', 'On Thursday, Xiaomi announced that prices for SU7 models would range from 215,900 yuan ($29,874) to 299,900 yuan ($41,497).', 'The company’s big auto ambitions come at a time of intense competition in the industry in China.', 'The world’s largest EV market, supercharged by heavy state subsidies in the past decade, has become overcrowded.', 'There are currently more than 200 major manufacturers producing pure EVs and plug-in hybrids.', 'A price war erupted last year as companies tried to boost sales in the face of weaker consumer demand.', 'Average profit margins fell to just 5% in 2023, according to official statistics.', 'The biggest player in the industry, BYD, said earlier this week that its quarterly profit growth was the slowest in two years, as sales lost momentum.', 'Xiaomi’s SU7 has been on display in showrooms in 29 cities across mainland China since Monday, according to Lei.', 'Xiaomi, which made its name as manufacturer of smartphones and other consumer electronics, accounted for 13% of both global and Chinese smartphone sales in the last quarter of 2023, according to data from Counterpoint Research.', 'It ranked No.', '5 in China for the full year.', 'In 2021, Xiaomiannouncedthat it would invest $10 billion over the next decade into a subsidiary focused on smart EVs.', 'The standard version of Xiaomi’s SU7has a starting range of700 kilometers (435 miles), which is better than the long-range version of Tesla’s Model 3, Lei said in his Weibo posts.', 'Xiaomi appears to be targeting premium consumers.', 'The standard SU7 is significantly cheaper than an imported Porsche Taycan, which starts at 898,000 yuan ($124,248).', 'It’s also positioned competitively against Tesla’s Model S sedan, which starts at 698,900 yuan ($96,700).', 'EVs in China are priced much lower than in the rest of the world.', 'For example, BYD’s most affordable model, the Seagull hatchback, costs only 69,800 yuan ($9,658).']",0.1313365914736601,"Lei Jun, founder and CEO of the popular Chinese smartphone brand, teased the launch earlier this week by saying he wanted the company’s first electric vehicle to be the “best-looking, easiest to drive, and smartest car” priced below 500,000 yuan ($69,180).",A price war erupted last year as companies tried to boost sales in the face of weaker consumer demand.,-0.1262765592998928,"The standard version of Xiaomi’s SU7has a starting range of700 kilometers (435 miles), which is better than the long-range version of Tesla’s Model 3, Lei said in his Weibo posts.","The biggest player in the industry, BYD, said earlier this week that its quarterly profit growth was the slowest in two years, as sales lost momentum.",2024-03-28
Are you struggling to save for retirement?,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/investing/are-you-struggling-to-save-for-retirement/index.html,"
  Published
        12:03 PM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","The United States is on the brink of a retirement crisis.
    
            By the end of the decade, about 21% of the country’s population will be 65 or older, up from 15% in 2016, according to forecasts by the Census Bureau. Most non-retired adults have some type of retirement savings, but only 36% think their savings are on track.
    
            We want to know what you think. Are you planning to work past 65? Are you able to save enough? Sound off below.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['The United States is on the brink of a retirement crisis.', 'By the end of the decade, about 21% of the country’s population will be 65 or older, up from 15% in 2016, according to forecasts by the Census Bureau.', 'Most non-retired adults have some type of retirement savings, butonly 36% think their savings are on track.', 'We want to know what you think.', 'Are you planning to work past 65?', 'Are you able to save enough?', 'Sound off below.']",0.0361331303185776,Are you able to save enough?,The United States is on the brink of a retirement crisis.,0.0814160704612732,"By the end of the decade, about 21% of the country’s population will be 65 or older, up from 15% in 2016, according to forecasts by the Census Bureau.",The United States is on the brink of a retirement crisis.,2024-03-28
When do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68675348,2024-03-28T09:28:04.000Z,"Some British holidaymakers have been turned away at the airport because their passports are not valid for EU travel. The rules for UK passport holders travelling to Europe changed after Brexit.  UK travellers used to be able to carry up to nine months left on an old passport over to a new one. This meant that a passport could be valid for more than 10 years. This did not matter when the UK was a member of the European Union (EU).  But the rules changed after Brexit, and the majority of EU countries no longer accept British passports which were issued more than 10 years before the date of travel.  This is known as the ""10-year rule"".  To enter those countries now, your UK passport must: If your passport does not meet these requirements, you will be refused entry. The rules apply in all 27 EU countries, except Ireland, which has its own separate travel arrangements with the UK.  They also apply to passengers traveling to Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein - which are part of the European Economic Area (EEA) - and Switzerland. You must renew your passport before you travel if either: How much time you need on your passport depends where you are going.  You can check entry requirements for individual countries on the UK government's website. You can renew online at HM Passport Office or by filling in a paper application from certain Post Offices. You'll need your old passport and any valid passports you hold from a different country. For online applications, you'll also need a digital photo which meets specific requirements. For paper applications, you need two identical printed photos. The rules are different if you are renewing a passport for a child, your passport has been lost, stolen or damaged, or you need to change your name or personal details. It should take up to three weeks to renew a passport in the UK, but it can take longer during periods of high demand, such as before school holidays.  To get a passport issued urgently in the UK, you can book an appointment at your nearest passport office, subject to availability. It then takes up to a week to be issued. You can get more information on the Passport Office website or you can call the helpline on 0300 222 0000. The line is open 08:00 to 20:00, Monday to Friday, and 09:00 to 17:30 on Saturday, Sunday and UK bank holidays. It currently costs £82.50 to renew or replace your passport if you apply online and £93 if you fill in a paper form. A child's passport costs £53.50 if you apply online, or £64 if you apply by post. It costs more if you apply from abroad, or if you require a passport urgently. Passports are free for people born on or before 2 September 1929.  Passport fees are going up on 11 April.  A standard online application for an adult will cost £88.50, or £57.50 for a child. Postal applications will cost £100 for adults or £69 for children.  The increased fees apply to both new passport applications and renewals. ",BBC,28/03/2024,"['Some British holidaymakers have been turned away at the airport because their passports are not valid for EU travel.', 'The rules for UK passport holders travelling to Europe changed after Brexit.', 'UK travellers used to be able to carry up to nine months left on an old passport over to a new one.', 'This meant that a passport could be valid for more than 10 years.', 'This did not matter when the UK was a member of the European Union (EU).', 'But the rules changed after Brexit, and the majority of EU countries no longer accept British passports which were issued more than 10 years before the date of travel.', 'This is known as the ""10-year rule"".', 'To enter those countries now, your UK passport must: If your passport does not meet these requirements, you will be refused entry.', 'The rules apply in all 27 EU countries, except Ireland, which has its own separate travel arrangements with the UK.', 'They also apply to passengers traveling to Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein - which are part of the European Economic Area (EEA) - and Switzerland.', 'You must renew your passport before you travel if either: How much time you need on your passport depends where you are going.', ""You can check entry requirements for individual countries on the UK government's website."", 'You can renew online at HM Passport Office or by filling in a paper application from certain Post Offices.', ""You'll need your old passport and any valid passports you hold from a different country."", ""For online applications, you'll also need a digital photo which meets specific requirements."", 'For paper applications, you need two identical printed photos.', 'The rules are different if you are renewing a passport for a child, your passport has been lost, stolen or damaged, or you need to change your name or personal details.', 'It should take up to three weeks to renew a passport in the UK, but it can take longer during periods of high demand, such as before school holidays.', 'To get a passport issued urgently in the UK, you can book an appointment at your nearest passport office, subject to availability.', 'It then takes up to a week to be issued.', 'You can get more information on the Passport Office website or you can call the helpline on 0300 222 0000.', 'The line is open 08:00 to 20:00, Monday to Friday, and 09:00 to 17:30 on Saturday, Sunday and UK bank holidays.', 'It currently costs £82.50 to renew or replace your passport if you apply online and £93 if you fill in a paper form.', ""A child's passport costs £53.50 if you apply online, or £64 if you apply by post."", 'It costs more if you apply from abroad, or if you require a passport urgently.', 'Passports are free for people born on or before 2 September 1929.', 'Passport fees are going up on 11 April.', 'A standard online application for an adult will cost £88.50, or £57.50 for a child.', 'Postal applications will cost £100 for adults or £69 for children.', 'The increased fees apply to both new passport applications and renewals.']",0.0285406957350199,Passports are free for people born on or before 2 September 1929.,"The rules are different if you are renewing a passport for a child, your passport has been lost, stolen or damaged, or you need to change your name or personal details.",-0.7361878752708435,,Some British holidaymakers have been turned away at the airport because their passports are not valid for EU travel.,2024-03-28
NBC’s Ronna McDaniel disaster is dragging Comcast into the political firestorm,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/media/nbc-ronna-mcdaniel-comcast-brian-roberts/index.html,"
  Published
        6:49 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.
    
            What is Brian Roberts going to do?
    
            The Comcast boss is watching an unceasing five-alarm fire rage at 30 Rock, scarring the reputation of NBC News and threatening to consume multiple parts of the Cesar Conde-run NBC Universal News Group.
    
            It’s difficult to succinctly summarize the disastrous state of affairs at the news division, given that multiple engines are failing simultaneously. But one thing is clear: Conde has lost control of his organization, prompting industry insiders to wonder how he continues to remain in his role as chairman of the NBC News Group. In the words of one veteran media executive I spoke to Wednesday, “It’s inconceivable that he should.”
    
            Instead of extinguishing the inferno that broke out on Friday with the hiring of former Republican National committee chair Ronna McDaniel, sparking an unprecedented on-air mutiny over her role in working to subvert the 2020 vote, the actions of Conde and the NBC executives he has empowered have only hosed gasoline on it.
    
            While it was immediately obvious that the announcement was not going over well with the network’s staff, Conde froze still, digging his heels in the (Miami?) sand and refusing to dump McDaniel until after his top television personalities, including Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow, went on the air and excoriated the hire. By the time Conde moved to sever ties with McDaniel on Tuesday evening, however, the crisis had spiraled far out of control and given way to even larger problems for the network boss.
    
            The eventual decision to cut McDaniel earned him public praise from MSNBC hosts, but not before the 80-hour saga severely tarnished the reputations of Conde’s top executives and touched off an all-out civil war inside the news group which has sent the organization into a tailspin.
    
            Those details are starting to leak flood out of 30 Rock and into public view. On Wednesday evening, Puck’s Dylan Byers offered an inside look into the chaos that has broken out — and it’s quite an ugly sight to behold.
    
            Byers reported that Carrie Budoff Brown, NBC News’ senior vice president of politics, had recruited Republican Richard Walters to “advance conservative pushback on social media against Todd.” Brown denied that characterization but told Byers that she “had a conversation with Richard Walters and asked if [McDaniel] had supporters who could speak on behalf of her being an NBC News contributor,” but insisted that she “never discussed what to say, how to say it, or who to focus on.” Regardless, staffers inside NBC News are enraged at the fact an executive would have engaged in such behavior.
    
            Inside Conde’s inner circle, Stephen Labaton, executive vice president of communications, is also facing an accusation of professional misconduct. Amid the crisis, Labaton bashed his colleagues over at MSNBC, rebuking the hosts in a profane manner, Byers reported, citing a source. Labaton denied making the remark and suggested a disgruntled McDaniel had alleged it after being fired.
    
            Over at MSNBC, Rashida Jones, the network chief, did not escape unscathed. Byers reported that not only did Jones initially not object to McDaniel’s hiring, but that she expressed interest in having the election denier on the progressive cable network.
    
            And, outside of Byers’ report, I am told that staffers are not pleased with Rebecca Blumenstein, the NBC News president of editorial. During the network’s daily editorial meetings this week, Blumenstein has managed to remain almost entirely silent on the McDaniel mess, drawing consternation and dismay from staffers. That could, however, change on Thursday. Blumenstein, I’m told, will travel to Washington to meet with staffers.
    
            Meanwhile, as the top executives at NBCU News Group are ensnared in their own controversies, the company is under tremendous attack from right-wing figures, which are aiming to mar the reputation of NBC News.
    
            “NBC just hired & immediately fired Ronna McDaniel, because the team refused to let even one Republican join them – that’s how biased they are!” Elon Musk posted on his social platform X Wednesday.
    
            Of course, the reality is that the journalists rejected McDaniel because she participated in Donald Trump’s attempt to throw out votes in 2020 and in the years since publicly stated she did not believe Biden legitimately won the election. Nevertheless, the dishonest narrative is what outlets like Fox News are feeding their audiences — and that coverage has significant consequences for NBC News. Ironically, NBC News’ attempt to make inroads with Republicans through the hiring of McDaniel has had the opposite effect.
    
            By the time the right-wing media machine is through with NBC News, it will likely be one of the least trusted news organizations on the right. Instead of taking a few steps forward, the outlet has been sent a dozen steps back. The right is still animated by the Tom Cotton op-ed controversy that roiled The New York Times in 2020. That drama now appears relatively minor when compared to the seismic event that McDaniel’s ouster has wrought.
    
            And it is likely not over. Staffers inside the company are wondering amongst themselves who is going to be held accountable for the mess. Will any executives lose their jobs over the corporate catastrophe? That conversation is playing out as McDaniel hunts for an attorney as she prepares for a possible legal fight with NBC News over its decision to pull the plug on her contract and, potentially, the embarrassment the entire episode has caused.
    
            The right-wing fury has also reached the door of Roberts. On Wednesday, Trump spent part of the day ranting on Truth Social against the Comcast boss over the McDaniel disaster, characterizing Roberts as a weak leader whose employees are running amok.
    
            “The sick degenerates over at MSDNC are really running NBC, and there seems nothing Chairman Brian Roberts can do about it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He later added: “MSNDC fake anchors have taken over NBC from Chairman Brian Roberts, and he doesn’t know what to do!”
    
            It’s not the first time that Roberts has bore the brunt of Trump’s ire. In November, Trump wrote that the government “should come down hard” on Comcast and “make them pay” for the editorial positions of MSNBC. Given that Roberts and the executives who run the media conglomerate hold a significant distaste for drama, it’s difficult to imagine that he is thrilled to once again find himself in the former president’s crosshairs — and all because of Conde’s self-inflicted wounds.
    
            Put another way: The fire in the NBCU News Group house has spread to the Comcast neighborhood – and that can’t bode well for Conde, who I’m told had been remote-working during the crisis. (I asked Conde’s spokesperson on Wednesday whether the network boss had returned to 30 Rock to manage the situation in-person, but did not hear back.)
    
            While Conde struggles to quell the internal fighting, it is unclear what precisely Roberts and Comcast president Michael Cavanagh are doing — or will do — to help put out the flames. I asked Comcast spokespeople on Wednesday if either Roberts or Cavanagh were taking any action. Do they have confidence in Conde’s ability to lead, given that his portfolio has been thrown into absolute disarray?
    
            Comcast declined to comment. Suffice to say, that silence is rather deafening.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['Editor’s Note:A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter.', 'Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.', 'What is Brian Roberts going to do?', 'The Comcast boss is watching an unceasing five-alarm fire rage at 30 Rock, scarring the reputation of NBC News and threatening to consume multiple parts of the Cesar Conde-run NBC Universal News Group.', 'It’s difficult to succinctly summarize the disastrous state of affairs at the news division, given that multiple engines are failing simultaneously.', 'But one thing is clear: Conde has lost control of his organization, prompting industry insiders to wonder how he continues to remain in his role as chairman of the NBC News Group.', 'In the words of one veteran media executive I spoke to Wednesday, “It’s inconceivable that he should.”', 'Instead of extinguishing the inferno that broke out on Friday with the hiring of former Republican National committee chair Ronna McDaniel, sparking an unprecedented on-air mutiny over her role in working to subvert the 2020 vote, the actions of Conde and the NBC executives he has empowered have only hosed gasoline on it.', 'While it was immediately obvious that the announcement was not going over well with the network’s staff, Conde froze still, digging his heels in the (Miami?)', 'sand and refusing to dump McDaniel until after his top television personalities, including Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow, went on the air and excoriated the hire.', 'By the time Conde moved to sever ties with McDaniel on Tuesday evening, however, the crisis had spiraled far out of control and given way to even larger problems for the network boss.', 'The eventual decision to cut McDaniel earned him public praise from MSNBC hosts, but not before the 80-hour saga severely tarnished the reputations of Conde’s top executives and touched off an all-out civil war inside the news group which has sent the organization into a tailspin.', 'Those details are starting to leak flood out of 30 Rock and into public view.', 'On Wednesday evening, Puck’s Dylan Byers offered an inside look into the chaos that has broken out — and it’s quite an ugly sight to behold.', 'Byers reported that Carrie Budoff Brown, NBC News’ senior vice president of politics, had recruited Republican Richard Walters to “advance conservative pushback on social media against Todd.”', 'Brown denied that characterization but told Byers that she “had a conversation with Richard Walters and asked if [McDaniel] had supporters who could speak on behalf of her being an NBC News contributor,” but insisted that she “never discussed what to say, how to say it, or who to focus on.”', 'Regardless, staffers inside NBC News are enraged at the fact an executive would have engaged in such behavior.', 'Inside Conde’s inner circle, Stephen Labaton, executive vice president of communications, is also facing an accusation of professional misconduct.', 'Amid the crisis, Labaton bashed his colleagues over at MSNBC, rebuking the hosts in a profane manner, Byers reported, citing a source.', 'Labaton denied making the remark and suggested a disgruntled McDaniel had alleged it after being fired.', 'Over at MSNBC, Rashida Jones, the network chief, did not escape unscathed.', 'Byers reported that not only did Jones initially not object to McDaniel’s hiring, but that she expressed interest in having the election denier on the progressive cable network.', 'And, outside of Byers’ report, I am told that staffers are not pleased with Rebecca Blumenstein, the NBC News president of editorial.', 'During the network’s daily editorial meetings this week, Blumenstein has managed to remain almost entirely silent on the McDaniel mess, drawing consternation and dismay from staffers.', 'That could, however, change on Thursday.', 'Blumenstein, I’m told, will travel to Washington to meet with staffers.', 'Meanwhile, as the top executives at NBCU News Group are ensnared in their own controversies, the company is under tremendous attack from right-wing figures, which are aiming to mar the reputation of NBC News.', '“NBC just hired & immediately fired Ronna McDaniel, because the team refused to let even one Republican join them – that’s how biased they are!”', 'Elon Musk posted on his social platform X Wednesday.', 'Of course, the reality is that the journalists rejected McDaniel because she participated in Donald Trump’s attempt to throw out votes in 2020 and in the years since publicly stated she did not believe Biden legitimately won the election.', 'Nevertheless, the dishonest narrative is what outlets like Fox News are feeding their audiences — and that coverage has significant consequences for NBC News.', 'Ironically, NBC News’ attempt to make inroads with Republicans through the hiring of McDaniel has had the opposite effect.', 'By the time the right-wing media machine is through with NBC News, it will likely be one of the least trusted news organizations on the right.', 'Instead of taking a few steps forward, the outlet has been sent a dozen steps back.', 'The right is still animated by the Tom Cotton op-ed controversy that roiled The New York Times in 2020.', 'That drama now appears relatively minor when compared to the seismic event that McDaniel’s ouster has wrought.', 'And it is likely not over.', 'Staffers inside the company are wondering amongst themselves who is going to be held accountable for the mess.', 'Will any executives lose their jobs over the corporate catastrophe?', 'That conversation is playing out as McDaniel hunts for an attorneyas she prepares for a possible legal fight with NBC News over its decision to pull the plug on her contract and, potentially, the embarrassment the entire episode has caused.', 'The right-wing fury has also reached the door of Roberts.', 'On Wednesday, Trump spent part of the day ranting on Truth Social against the Comcast boss over the McDaniel disaster, characterizing Roberts as a weak leader whose employees are running amok.', '“The sick degenerates over at MSDNC are really running NBC, and there seems nothing Chairman Brian Roberts can do about it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.', 'He later added: “MSNDC fake anchors have taken over NBC from Chairman Brian Roberts, and he doesn’t know what to do!”', 'It’s not the first time that Roberts has bore the brunt of Trump’s ire.', 'In November, Trump wrote that the government “should come down hard” on Comcast and “make them pay” for the editorial positions of MSNBC.', 'Given that Roberts and the executives who run the media conglomerate hold a significant distaste for drama, it’s difficult to imagine that he is thrilled to once again find himself in the former president’s crosshairs — and all because of Conde’s self-inflicted wounds.', 'Put another way: The fire in the NBCU News Group house has spread to the Comcast neighborhood – and that can’t bode well for Conde, who I’m told had been remote-working during the crisis. (', 'I asked Conde’s spokesperson on Wednesday whether the network boss had returned to 30 Rock to manage the situation in-person, but did not hear back.)', 'While Conde struggles to quell the internal fighting, it is unclear what precisely Roberts and Comcast president Michael Cavanagh are doing — or will do — to help put out the flames.', 'I asked Comcast spokespeople on Wednesday if either Roberts or Cavanagh were taking any action.', 'Do they have confidence in Conde’s ability to lead, given that his portfolio has been thrown into absolute disarray?', 'Comcast declined to comment.', 'Suffice to say, that silence is rather deafening.']",-0.2397765425316502,"Do they have confidence in Conde’s ability to lead, given that his portfolio has been thrown into absolute disarray?","The Comcast boss is watching an unceasing five-alarm fire rage at 30 Rock, scarring the reputation of NBC News and threatening to consume multiple parts of the Cesar Conde-run NBC Universal News Group.",-0.7249053276103475,"Ironically, NBC News’ attempt to make inroads with Republicans through the hiring of McDaniel has had the opposite effect.","By the time Conde moved to sever ties with McDaniel on Tuesday evening, however, the crisis had spiraled far out of control and given way to even larger problems for the network boss.",2024-03-28
Japan nappy maker shifts from babies to adults,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68672186,2024-03-27T04:19:13.000Z,"A Japanese nappy maker has announced that it will stop producing diapers for babies in the country and, instead, focus on the market for adults. Oji Holdings is the latest firm to make such a shift in a rapidly ageing Japan, where birth rates are at a record low.  Sales of adult nappies outpaced those for infants in the country for more than a decade.  The number of babies born in Japan in 2023 - 758,631 - was down by 5.1% from the previous year. It was also the lowest number of births on record in Japan since the 19th Century. In the 1970s, that figure stood at more than two million.  In a statement, Oji Holdings said its subsidiary, Oji Nepia, currently manufactures 400 million infant nappies annually. Production has been falling since 2001, when the company hit its peak - 700 million nappies.  Back in 2011, Japan's biggest diaper maker, Unicharm, said its sales of adult diapers had surpassed those for babies. Meanwhile, the adult diaper market has been growing and is estimated to be worth more than $2bn (£1.6bn). Japan now has one of the world's oldest populations, with almost 30% of them aged 65 or older. Last year, the proportion of those aged above 80 surpassed 10% for the first time. Oji Holdings also said it would continue to make baby diapers in Malaysia and Indonesia where it expects demand to grow.  A shrinking population, the result of both ageing and plummeting birth rates, has become a crisis for Japan, one of the world's largest economies. But the Japanese government's efforts to address these challenges have met with little success so far.  Increased spending on child-related programmes and subsidies targeting young couples or parents don't appear to be boosting birth rates. Expert say the reasons are complex, ranging from lower marriage rates and more women joining the workforce, to the increased costs of raising children.  ""Japan is standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society,"" Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last year, adding that it was a case of ""now or never"".   But Japan is not alone. Fertility rates have also been dropping in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, the last of which has the lowest birth rate in the world.  China too saw its population fall for the second year in a row in 2023 and, like Japan, has introduced various incentives to boost birth rates. But an ageing population and the impact of a decades-long one child-policy, which ended in 2015, are creating demographic challenges in China too.  ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['A Japanese nappy maker has announced that it will stop producing diapers for babies in the country and, instead, focus on the market for adults.', 'Oji Holdings is the latest firm to make such a shift in a rapidly ageing Japan, where birth rates are at a record low.', 'Sales of adult nappies outpaced those for infants in the country for more than a decade.', 'The number of babies born in Japan in 2023 - 758,631 - was down by 5.1% from the previous year.', 'It was also the lowest number of births on record in Japan since the 19th Century.', 'In the 1970s, that figure stood at more than two million.', 'In a statement, Oji Holdings said its subsidiary, Oji Nepia, currently manufactures 400 million infant nappies annually.', 'Production has been falling since 2001, when the company hit its peak - 700 million nappies.', ""Back in 2011, Japan's biggest diaper maker, Unicharm, said its sales of adult diapers had surpassed those for babies."", 'Meanwhile, the adult diaper market has been growing and is estimated to be worth more than $2bn (£1.6bn).', ""Japan now has one of the world's oldest populations, with almost 30% of them aged 65 or older."", 'Last year, the proportion of those aged above 80 surpassed 10% for the first time.', 'Oji Holdings also said it would continue to make baby diapers in Malaysia and Indonesia where it expects demand to grow.', ""A shrinking population, the result of both ageing and plummeting birth rates, has become a crisis for Japan, one of the world's largest economies."", ""But the Japanese government's efforts to address these challenges have met with little success so far."", ""Increased spending on child-related programmes and subsidies targeting young couples or parents don't appear to be boosting birth rates."", 'Expert say the reasons are complex, ranging from lower marriage rates and more women joining the workforce, to the increased costs of raising children. ""', 'Japan is standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society,"" Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last year, adding that it was a case of ""now or never"".', 'But Japan is not alone.', 'Fertility rates have also been dropping in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, the last of which has the lowest birth rate in the world.', 'China too saw its population fall for the second year in a row in 2023 and, like Japan, has introduced various incentives to boost birth rates.', 'But an ageing population and the impact of a decades-long one child-policy, which ended in 2015, are creating demographic challenges in China too.']",0.048169653759512,"China too saw its population fall for the second year in a row in 2023 and, like Japan, has introduced various incentives to boost birth rates.","A shrinking population, the result of both ageing and plummeting birth rates, has become a crisis for Japan, one of the world's largest economies.",-0.1406213268637657,"Back in 2011, Japan's biggest diaper maker, Unicharm, said its sales of adult diapers had surpassed those for babies.","The number of babies born in Japan in 2023 - 758,631 - was down by 5.1% from the previous year.",2024-03-28
Fallen 'Crypto King' Sam Bankman-Fried gets for 25 years for fraud,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68677487,2024-03-28T16:12:40.000Z,"Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding customers and investors of his now-bankrupt firm.  The ruling cements the downfall of the former billionaire, who emerged as a high profile champion of crypto before his firm's dramatic collapse in 2022. He was found to have stolen billions from customers ahead of the failure. The 32-year-old said in court he knew ""a lot of people feel really let down"". ""I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry about what happened at every stage,"" he said, speaking quietly and clearly ahead of his sentencing.  FTX was one of the world's largest crypto exchanges before its demise, turning Bankman-Fried into a business celebrity and attracting millions of customers who used the platform to buy and trade cryptocurrency.  Rumours of financial trouble sparked a run on deposits in 2022, precipitating the firm's implosion and exposing Bankman-Fried's crimes.  He was convicted by a New York jury last year on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, after a trial that detailed how he had taken more than $8bn (£6.3bn) from customers, and used the money to buy property, make political donations and put toward other investments. Before reading the sentence on Thursday, Judge Lewis Kaplan provided a harsh assessment of Bankman-Fried's behaviour, saying he had lied during his testimony at trial when he claimed he was unaware until the last minute that his companies were taking money entrusted to them for safe-keeping by customers and using it for other purposes.  ""He knew it was wrong. He knew it was criminal. He regrets that he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught but he's not going to admit a thing,"" the judge said. Though Bankman-Fried had made ""protestations of sorrow"" about customer losses, he had uttered ""never a word of remorse for the commission of terrible crimes"", he added.  While 25 years constitutes a serious prison sentence, it is far less than the more than 100 years Bankman-Fried could have received under official government guidelines. Federal prosecutors in New York this month told the judge such a long term was not necessary. But they requested at least 40 years, arguing that Bankman-Fried had committed a massive fraud, while showing ""brazen disrespect"" for the law. Bankman-Fried's team, which is expected to appeal, had argued for a lighter sentence of roughly five to 6.5 years.  They said that he was a non-violent, first-time offender, and pointed to mental health struggles and argued that customers were poised to recover significant sums under a plan currently working through bankruptcy court.  ""The victims want their money back and they should get it,"" his lawyer, Marc Mukasey argued in court on Thursday morning. ""Sentence him to work hard and give it all away."" Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner, now a lawyer at Rottenberg Lipman Rich, said he was ""very surprised"" by the ruling, noting that Bankman-Fried could potentially be released from prison in about 13 years. But Jennifer Taub, a law professor at Western New England University and expert on white collar crime, said she thought the length of the sentence was appropriate. ""It is the right balance between how old he is and what is the purpose of deterrence,"" she said. In his sentencing remarks, Judge Kaplan said what could amount to a life sentence was unnecessary but that Bankman-Fried must receive a punishment sufficient to prevent him from committing future crimes. ""There is a risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future and it's not a trivial risk, not a trivial risk at all,"" he said.  He also ordered Bankman-Fried to forfeit $11bn that can be used to compensate victims.  The government has already seized some of those assets, such as shares Bankman-Fried owned in Robinhood, the trading app which raised more than $600m when they were sold last year.  Bankman-Fried showed little visible reaction to the ruling.  In a media statement, his parents, who attended the nearly every moment of the trial, said: ""We are heartbroken and will continue to fight for our son."" Bankman-Fried has admitted to mistakes of mismanagement, but maintained that he was acting in good faith. In his comments ahead of the sentencing, he stuck to his story that FTX had the holdings to repay customers at the time of its collapse and said he did not think that reasons behind customer suffering had been ""properly told"". ""They've been failed by more people than I can count"" including himself, he said, speaking of the exchange's customers. ""It's been excruciating to watch."" Bankman-Fried said he was sorry for disappointing not only customers but also former employees, including top lieutenants, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, formerly close friends who testified against him at trial and whom he praised in his remarks.  ""They all built something really beautiful, they threw themselves into it and then I threw it all away,"" he added. ""It haunts me every day."" Dozens of people, including former FTX customers, family, friends of his parents and complete strangers, had submitted letters to the court, trying to sway the outcome. Louis Dorigny of California, who had been an FTX customer said it was a ""bittersweet moment for creditors"".  ""I don't wish jail time on anybody, and 25 years is a very, very long time to be in prison, but it does nothing to compensate the victims for the loss of their cryptocurrency,"" he said.  Samuel Hapak, chief executive of software developer Wincent, whose firm represented 200 investors with millions of dollars at FTX when it entered bankruptcy, told the BBC that he thought the ruling was ""fair"". ""Twenty-five years is a lot and I believe that this sounds like a reasonable signal to the industry that it needs to step up the game,"" he said. Judge Kaplan said he would not recommend Bankman-Fried serve his sentence in a maximum security prison because the court had no reason to believe he posed a threat of violence.  He said he was also taking into account concerns raised by his lawyers and parents that Bankman-Fried's social awkwardness stemming from autism spectrum disorder would make him vulnerable in prison. Bankman-Fried's case has been closely watched by other crypto executives and firms facing charges. But he is not the first player in the industry to be sentenced.  Karl Sebastian Greenwood, who worked with so-called 'Cryptoqueen' Ruja Ignatova, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for his role convincing millions of people to invest more than $4bn in a fraudulent currency, OneCoin. His case also drew comparisons to Bernie Madoff, who was setenced to 150 years in prison after being found guilty of a $64bn Ponzi scheme.  Former federal prosecutor Marc Litt, who worked on the the case against Madoff and is now a lawyer at Wachtel Missry, said he saw big differences between the two fraudsters, noting Madoff was older when sentenced, had committed his crimes over several decades, stolen from people he knew well and had no one step forward to testify to his character. ""The court implicitly took those sorts of differences into consideration and I believe that the resulting lower sentence was both warranted and is unlikely to be disturbed on appeal,"" he said.  ",BBC,28/03/2024,"['Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding customers and investors of his now-bankrupt firm.', ""The ruling cements the downfall of the former billionaire, who emerged as a high profile champion of crypto before his firm's dramatic collapse in 2022."", 'He was found to have stolen billions from customers ahead of the failure.', 'The 32-year-old said in court he knew ""a lot of people feel really let down"". ""', ""I'm sorry about that."", 'I\'m sorry about what happened at every stage,"" he said, speaking quietly and clearly ahead of his sentencing.', ""FTX was one of the world's largest crypto exchanges before its demise, turning Bankman-Fried into a business celebrity and attracting millions of customers who used the platform to buy and trade cryptocurrency."", ""Rumours of financial trouble sparked a run on deposits in 2022, precipitating the firm's implosion and exposing Bankman-Fried's crimes."", 'He was convicted by a New York jury last year on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, after a trial that detailed how he had taken more than $8bn (£6.3bn) from customers, and used the money to buy property, make political donations and put toward other investments.', 'Before reading the sentence on Thursday, Judge Lewis Kaplan provided a harsh assessment of Bankman-Fried\'s behaviour, saying he had lied during his testimony at trial when he claimed he was unaware until the last minute that his companies were taking money entrusted to them for safe-keeping by customers and using it for other purposes. ""', 'He knew it was wrong.', 'He knew it was criminal.', 'He regrets that he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught but he\'s not going to admit a thing,"" the judge said.', 'Though Bankman-Fried had made ""protestations of sorrow"" about customer losses, he had uttered ""never a word of remorse for the commission of terrible crimes"", he added.', 'While 25 years constitutes a serious prison sentence, it is far less than the more than 100 years Bankman-Fried could have received under official government guidelines.', 'Federal prosecutors in New York this month told the judge such a long term was not necessary.', 'But they requested at least 40 years, arguing that Bankman-Fried had committed a massive fraud, while showing ""brazen disrespect"" for the law.', ""Bankman-Fried's team, which is expected to appeal, had argued for a lighter sentence of roughly five to 6.5 years."", 'They said that he was a non-violent, first-time offender, and pointed to mental health struggles and argued that customers were poised to recover significant sums under a plan currently working through bankruptcy court. ""', 'The victims want their money back and they should get it,"" his lawyer, Marc Mukasey argued in court on Thursday morning. ""', 'Sentence him to work hard and give it all away.""', 'Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner, now a lawyer at Rottenberg Lipman Rich, said he was ""very surprised"" by the ruling, noting that Bankman-Fried could potentially be released from prison in about 13 years.', 'But Jennifer Taub, a law professor at Western New England University and expert on white collar crime, said she thought the length of the sentence was appropriate. ""', 'It is the right balance between how old he is and what is the purpose of deterrence,"" she said.', 'In his sentencing remarks, Judge Kaplan said what could amount to a life sentence was unnecessary but that Bankman-Fried must receive a punishment sufficient to prevent him from committing future crimes. ""', 'There is a risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future and it\'s not a trivial risk, not a trivial risk at all,"" he said.', 'He also ordered Bankman-Fried to forfeit $11bn that can be used to compensate victims.', 'The government has already seized some of those assets, such as shares Bankman-Fried owned in Robinhood, the trading app which raised more than $600m when they were sold last year.', 'Bankman-Fried showed little visible reaction to the ruling.', 'In a media statement, his parents, who attended the nearly every moment of the trial, said: ""We are heartbroken and will continue to fight for our son.""', 'Bankman-Fried has admitted to mistakes of mismanagement, but maintained that he was acting in good faith.', 'In his comments ahead of the sentencing, he stuck to his story that FTX had the holdings to repay customers at the time of its collapse and said he did not think that reasons behind customer suffering had been ""properly told"". ""', 'They\'ve been failed by more people than I can count"" including himself, he said, speaking of the exchange\'s customers. ""', 'It\'s been excruciating to watch.""', 'Bankman-Fried said he was sorry for disappointing not only customers but also former employees, including top lieutenants, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, formerly close friends who testified against him at trial and whom he praised in his remarks. ""', 'They all built something really beautiful, they threw themselves into it and then I threw it all away,"" he added. ""', 'It haunts me every day.""', 'Dozens of people, including former FTX customers, family, friends of his parents and complete strangers, had submitted letters to the court, trying to sway the outcome.', 'Louis Dorigny of California, who had been an FTX customer said it was a ""bittersweet moment for creditors"". ""', 'I don\'t wish jail time on anybody, and 25 years is a very, very long time to be in prison, but it does nothing to compensate the victims for the loss of their cryptocurrency,"" he said.', 'Samuel Hapak, chief executive of software developer Wincent, whose firm represented 200 investors with millions of dollars at FTX when it entered bankruptcy, told the BBC that he thought the ruling was ""fair"". ""', 'Twenty-five years is a lot and I believe that this sounds like a reasonable signal to the industry that it needs to step up the game,"" he said.', 'Judge Kaplan said he would not recommend Bankman-Fried serve his sentence in a maximum security prison because the court had no reason to believe he posed a threat of violence.', ""He said he was also taking into account concerns raised by his lawyers and parents that Bankman-Fried's social awkwardness stemming from autism spectrum disorder would make him vulnerable in prison."", ""Bankman-Fried's case has been closely watched by other crypto executives and firms facing charges."", 'But he is not the first player in the industry to be sentenced.', ""Karl Sebastian Greenwood, who worked with so-called 'Cryptoqueen' Ruja Ignatova, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for his role convincing millions of people to invest more than $4bn in a fraudulent currency, OneCoin."", 'His case also drew comparisons to Bernie Madoff, who was setenced to 150 years in prison after being found guilty of a $64bn Ponzi scheme.', 'Former federal prosecutor Marc Litt, who worked on the the case against Madoff and is now a lawyer at Wachtel Missry, said he saw big differences between the two fraudsters, noting Madoff was older when sentenced, had committed his crimes over several decades, stolen from people he knew well and had no one step forward to testify to his character. ""', 'The court implicitly took those sorts of differences into consideration and I believe that the resulting lower sentence was both warranted and is unlikely to be disturbed on appeal,"" he said.']",-0.2882594071940351,"Bankman-Fried said he was sorry for disappointing not only customers but also former employees, including top lieutenants, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, formerly close friends who testified against him at trial and whom he praised in his remarks. """,Judge Kaplan said he would not recommend Bankman-Fried serve his sentence in a maximum security prison because the court had no reason to believe he posed a threat of violence.,-0.3342407626264235,"They said that he was a non-violent, first-time offender, and pointed to mental health struggles and argued that customers were poised to recover significant sums under a plan currently working through bankruptcy court. ""","Rumours of financial trouble sparked a run on deposits in 2022, precipitating the firm's implosion and exposing Bankman-Fried's crimes.",2024-03-28
"Port of Baltimore could reopen as soon as May, expert says",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/business/clearing-bridge-debris-reopen-port-of-baltimore/index.html,"
  Published
        3:58 PM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","Demolition workers could open a channel for ships to move in and out of the Port of Baltimore as soon as one month after required equipment arrives on scene, according to an expert in the field familiar with ongoing discussions.
    
            The expert, who spoke to CNN on condition that his name not be used, said it will likely take longer than that to remove all the debris from the Francis Scott Key Bridge that fell into the Patapsco River after one of the pillars holding up the bridge was rammed by the container ship Dali early Tuesday morning.
    
            However, the expert said clearing the 1,200-foot area between the two pillars that supported the bridge’s main span will be enough to reopen the port to traffic. That’s because the large cargo and passenger ships that call on the port need to stay in a channel where the Pataspco is the necessary 50 foot depth. That channel is in the middle of that 1,200-foot span.
    
            A heavy lift crane vessel will be on site at the Port of Baltimore later Thursday, White House director of intergovernmental affairs Tom Perez said in an interview on MSNBC. But other equipment will also be needed there, and contracts will need to be signed before demolition work can begin.
    
            The first job at the site will be removing the bridge’s remains that landed on the bow of the ship, and then getting the ship itself removed, according to the expert who spoke with CNN. He said removing the ship without it sinking could prove difficult in itself because its bow was impaled when it hit the support column.
    
            The expert said pipelines near the bridge could make removing the bridge debris more challenging. A large water line and a natural gas line both traverse the river bottom near where the bridge once stood. The two lines run underneath the power lines that run parallel to where the bridge was, as close as about 200 feet from the former bridge deck.
    
            How soon the channel can reopen will depend on a number of factors that experts don’t know yet because they are still examining the site. It will depend on the expertise of the firms brought in to conduct the demolition.
    
            According to the Maryland state government, the port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services. Those are jobs are on land, and does not include crews of the various ships that call on the port. It is the nation’s largest destination for ocean shipments of cars and trucks and the 9th largest cargo port in the United States.
    
            But no ships can call on the port until the channel is reopened. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that reopening the port is a priority.
    
            “We’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers,” he said.
    
            There is also a problem of lost income for ships stuck in the port that are unable to leave. The ships that remain at the port are three bulk carriers, one vehicles carrier, two general cargo ships, one oil/chemical tanker, and three logistics naval vessels, according to a count from the Port of Baltimore.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['Demolition workers could open a channel for ships to move in and out of the Port of Baltimore as soon as one month after required equipment arrives on scene, according to an expert in the field familiar with ongoing discussions.', 'The expert, who spoke to CNN on condition that his name not be used, said it will likely take longer than that to remove all the debris from the Francis Scott Key Bridge that fell into the Patapsco River after one of the pillars holding up the bridge was rammed by the container ship Dali early Tuesday morning.', 'However, the expert said clearing the 1,200-foot area between the two pillars that supported the bridge’s main span will be enough to reopen the port to traffic.', 'That’s because the large cargo and passenger ships that call on the port need to stay in a channel where the Pataspco is the necessary 50 foot depth.', 'That channel is in the middle of that 1,200-foot span.', 'A heavy lift crane vessel will be on site at the Port of Baltimore later Thursday, White House director of intergovernmental affairs Tom Perez said in an interview on MSNBC.But other equipment will also be needed there, and contracts will need to be signed before demolition work can begin.', 'The first job at the site will be removing the bridge’s remains that landed on the bow of the ship, and then getting the ship itself removed, according to the expert who spoke with CNN.', 'He said removing the ship without it sinking could prove difficult in itself because its bow was impaled when it hit the support column.', 'The expert said pipelines near the bridge could make removing the bridge debris more challenging.', 'A large water line and a natural gas line both traverse the river bottom near where the bridge once stood.', 'The two lines run underneath the power lines that run parallel to where the bridge was, as close as about 200 feet from the former bridge deck.', 'How soon the channel can reopen will depend on a number of factors that experts don’t know yet because they are still examining the site.', 'It will depend on the expertise of the firms brought in to conduct the demolition.', 'According to the Maryland state government, the portsupports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.', 'Those are jobs are on land, and does not include crews of the various ships that call on the port.', 'It is the nation’s largest destination for ocean shipments of cars and trucks and the 9th largest cargo port in the United States.', 'But no ships can call on the port until the channel is reopened.', 'President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that reopening the port is a priority.', '“We’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers,” he said.', 'There is also a problem of lost income for ships stuck in the port that are unable to leave.', 'The ships that remain at the port are three bulk carriers, one vehicles carrier, two general cargo ships, one oil/chemical tanker, and three logistics naval vessels, according to a count from the Port of Baltimore.']",0.0450597247265708,"“We’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers,” he said.",There is also a problem of lost income for ships stuck in the port that are unable to leave.,-0.8631026148796082,,There is also a problem of lost income for ships stuck in the port that are unable to leave.,2024-03-28
Barclays bank payments restored after app went down in outage,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68671228,2024-03-26T23:38:31.000Z,"Barclays has said its payment systems and banking app are fully operational after earlier glitches which began on Tuesday evening. The bank apologised for issues with payments into and out of the accounts of some of its UK customers. In an update at 03:25 GMT, it said customers could make and receive payments once more. Other firms such as Sainsbury's and McDonald's were recently hit by technical issues. Dozens of account holders spoke earlier of problems logging onto the Barclays app as well as the bank's online banking service. One business customer voiced their concern on social media, saying the issue was ""not a joke or glitch; this is people's lives"". ""We need to make emergency plans if our money is inaccessible or gone,"" they added. Responding to customers via its social media pages, the bank apologised and said it was aware of issues affecting some users logging into the app, with online banking and payments.  Barclays has about 20 million customers in the UK and has previously said it handles more than 50 million payments each month. DownDetector, a website which monitors IT issues with companies, noted outages being reported with the bank from about 21:15 on Tuesday. Barclays is the latest company to be affected by technical issues in recent days.  Last weekend, supermarket Sainsbury's was forced to cancel deliveries to customers after an IT problem and could only take cash in its supermarkets. Tesco was also affected by similar technical issues.  Earlier in the month fast food chain McDonald's had to close many of its restaurants after it suffered IT outages in stores around the world, it blamed the problems on a third-party provider. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Barclays has said its payment systems and banking app are fully operational after earlier glitches which began on Tuesday evening.', 'The bank apologised for issues with payments into and out of the accounts of some of its UK customers.', 'In an update at 03:25 GMT, it said customers could make and receive payments once more.', ""Other firms such as Sainsbury's and McDonald's were recently hit by technical issues."", ""Dozens of account holders spoke earlier of problems logging onto the Barclays app as well as the bank's online banking service."", 'One business customer voiced their concern on social media, saying the issue was ""not a joke or glitch; this is people\'s lives"". ""', 'We need to make emergency plans if our money is inaccessible or gone,"" they added.', 'Responding to customers via its social media pages, the bank apologised and said it was aware of issues affecting some users logging into the app, with online banking and payments.', 'Barclays has about 20 million customers in the UK and has previously said it handles more than 50 million payments each month.', 'DownDetector, a website which monitors IT issues with companies, noted outages being reported with the bank from about 21:15 on Tuesday.', 'Barclays is the latest company to be affected by technical issues in recent days.', ""Last weekend, supermarket Sainsbury's was forced to cancel deliveries to customers after an IT problem and could only take cash in its supermarkets."", 'Tesco was also affected by similar technical issues.', ""Earlier in the month fast food chain McDonald's had to close many of its restaurants after it suffered IT outages in stores around the world, it blamed the problems on a third-party provider.""]",-0.1695634957955034,,"Last weekend, supermarket Sainsbury's was forced to cancel deliveries to customers after an IT problem and could only take cash in its supermarkets.",-0.905144018786294,,"Earlier in the month fast food chain McDonald's had to close many of its restaurants after it suffered IT outages in stores around the world, it blamed the problems on a third-party provider.",2024-03-28
"Best mobile payment apps in 2024, tested by our editors",https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/reviews/best-mobile-payment-apps,"
  Updated
        4:04 PM EST, Tue January 9, 2024
    ","Mobile payment apps can be a convenient way to send and receive money using your smartphone or smartwatch. Paying for items this way has never been easier, thanks to the availability of numerous mobile payment apps, better payment terminal infrastructure, and wider support for Bluetooth/near-field communication (NFC) contactless credit cards by American issuers. The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.
    
            Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square). We tested Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on just their own devices and tested Google Pay, Venmo and Cash App on both Android and iOS.
    
            The apps work across a variety of web browsers (with the exception of Samsung) and watches. We tested the apps on an Apple Watch and a Samsung Galaxy Watch. We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support. As our testing concluded, two clear winners emerged: Apple Pay and Google Pay.
    
            While Apple Pay only works for its own devices, it is available in numerous countries, and its elegant and simple user interface (UI) and design make it a standout. Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments are only available in the United States. On your iOS device, you need to set up Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode. On your Apple Watch, you need to set up a passcode. You also need to be 13 years old or older.
    
            If you want to make a P2P payment, then you’ll need to send an Apple Message, which means you need to know your recipient’s phone number or email address. One nice feature is that all transactions generate 2% cash back. If you have an Apple Watch, then you need to connect your cards and bank accounts specifically on the watch for use in payments. Apple recently announced that users of other browsers besides Safari on their phones will be able to eventually use the software with the release of iOS 16.
    
            Google Pay has different lists of countries and regions in which it is available depending on the transaction type intended. Google Pay works across Android and iOS and is also designed to be capable in your browser. There aren’t any fees and immediate transfers are from debit cards only.
    
            Since Google Pay also works through browser cookies, it doesn’t require your phone to complete any online transactions. But, since it works through your Google account, you will have to exchange emails to set up the payment. Also, you will need a personal account (Pay won’t work with workspace or enterprise accounts).
    
            There are three different use cases for these apps (which we tested) that we will explain, as well as three other use cases that we will mention (even though we didn’t test these).
    
            The first use case we tested is making P2P cash payments. Two examples of this are splitting a restaurant check and sending gift money to family and friends. Consumers are increasingly using these apps according to a recent survey by Lending Tree. The survey showed that 84% of the 1,200 respondents (all U.S. consumers) have used at least one mobile payment app in the past year. Samsung Pay doesn’t support this mode but the other apps do.
    
            Some of the apps let you set up pools of funds, like a miniature version of GoFundMe to which your friends can send you contributions. There are several ways to identify your recipient: by their phone number and email address, or by their username (Block and Venmo support this) and, in some cases, by using a personal QR code (Block and Venmo are focused on this use case).
    
            The second use case we tested is paying for retail purchases instead of directly using a credit card or debit card. When the time comes to pay at a physical store, you hold your smartphone (or smartwatch) close to the payment terminal and it should read the appropriate card. This can be useful if you load multiple cards on the payment app, so you don’t have to cart around an overstuffed wallet with physical cards. It is also more secure because most of the payment apps create and then send a one-time token instead of your actual card number for each transaction. (Apple Pay and Google Pay are focused on this use case, although both also support P2P payments, too.)
    
            The third use case we tested is using them whenever you are shopping online. The Apple Pay and Google Pay apps can be used here. You can also store your card details in the various desktop browsers so that they can be auto-filled when you are at the checkout screen of your favorite retailer.
    
            So, now for the other use cases we didn’t test but are worth mentioning. Each of the payment apps has moved beyond these three core situations and now offer three other use cases: 1) a complex series of their own branded credit cards and debit cards, 2) support for Bitcoin purchases and other money-related features, and 3) cash-back offers. Again, we didn’t test these last three use cases; however, it is worth paying attention to at least the one about cash-back offers because those can really add up over time.
    
            Should you be worried about scammers when using mobile payment apps? Yes — the same Lending Tree survey we cited earlier found that 15% of the respondents have been victims of scams. And the survey also mentioned that, though P2P services are growing, they’re not FDIC insured (with the exception of Cash App, which is FDIC-insured). The survey found that “62% of consumers knew FDIC doesn’t insure P2P balances. However, 49% of those who keep a balance wrongly believe their money is protected.”
    
            If you intend to use any of these mobile payment apps on a regular basis, then you’ll want to follow these 6 steps:
    
            During our pretesting research, we found there are more than 20 different payment apps available, including apps from retailers like Starbucks and apps from Mastercard and Visa. We selected our five payment apps to test based on desired features, security options and user reviews. We tested each of them with the following criteria in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, customer support and fees.
    
            To begin our testing, we installed the apps on one or both types of smartphones (if supported) and on an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch.
    
            Next, we connected to various bank accounts and credit cards and debit cards, using them for retail purchases and P2P payments. We also tried each app when it was available for online retail purchases. We tested each app’s MFA support and other security features. We tested each app’s ability to notify you of payment transactions, and to block someone else from initiating a payment without your biometric data or other factors to approve it.
    
            Then we noted that the workflows for the payment apps were similar across the lot. We first ensured we were downloading the correct payment app from the legit app store. This is important and you should take care here. We then connected the app to either our phone number or email address (most apps want both), and then typed in a bank account or card that was to be the source and destination of our funds.
    
            This was the moment of truth, because not every payment app supported every bank card (and we didn’t find out until we got to this step). Apple Pay and Google Pay worked with more of our credit cards than the others did, but your experience could be different.
    
            After that, we set up our app’s security with our face or fingerprint to protect our transactions. It sounds more complicated than it actually was. After a flurry of confirmation emails and texts, we were ready to go shopping or send our friends some money.
    
            One of the big advantages of these apps is that you forgo the need to carry cash and you can pay someone on the spot. However, for all of these apps, our patience was rewarded. If we wanted to make a P2P payment and our recipient was willing to wait a few days, then there wasn’t any fee applied.
    
            But if we wanted the payment to happen in a matter of minutes, then it cost us.
    
            For example, all the apps were free to download. But when it came to fees, Apple charges 1.5% (with a minimum $0.25 and maximum $15 fee) and Venmo adds a 1% surcharge (with a maximum $10 fee). Square is free for all personal accounts but charges 2.75% for business users. Google Pay and Samsung Pay have no added fees.
    
            Lastly, we also reviewed complaints collected by CardPaymentOptions.com for Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Cash App and Venmo. And we tried out the various support options available for each service. All five apps had equivalent high scores on both. Cash App, Samsung Pay and Venmo all share data with third parties to track internal marketing. Apple Pay and Google Pay don’t do this, although they may use this data internally across their various properties.
    
            During our testing, we used an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch to gauge how easy it is to use a smartwatch versus a smartphone for mobile payments. So, is your smartwatch better to use than your phone for payments? No, we don’t think so.
    
            We found the watch movements needed to get close enough to the payment terminal to make a connection were more cumbersome than they were when we used our phone. And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par. If you use your watch for other apps, then great, but don’t rush out and get a watch just for payments.
    
            Free at Cash App
    
            With Cash App, which is owned by Block (formerly Square, Inc.), you set up a username that your friends can use to find you when sending or demanding funds. You do not need to know their phone number or email address. Cash App is limited to debit cards only for direct access. It also uses Plaid for connecting to your bank account, which we think adds another layer of security issues.
    
            There are also various transfer limits, too, for unidentified users (e.g., sending $250 over per week or receiving $1,000 over a month). You can set up recurring deposits, direct deposits, make bank transfers and even file your taxes.
    
            There is a 3% fee if you are moving funds with a credit card. You can also instantly purchase or sell Bitcoin from the app. Cash App also works with the Lightning network to pay anyone with these cryptocurrencies.
    
            Free at Samsung
    
            Samsung Pay works in several countries, but it is only available on Samsung smartphones and smartwatches. It is basically a stripped-down version of Google Pay, using the same banking backends. It requires your mobile number to complete its setup, and in our testing we found it didn’t support several of the debit cards we owned. It also doesn’t support any P2P payments: you’ll need to use the separate Samsung Pay Cash app.
    
            One advantage is that, while Apple Pay and Google Pay will only work with point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals equipped with NFC technology, Samsung Pay (from the phone, not from the watch) works at magnetic card terminals — those few that are left and haven’t been upgraded — as well.
    
            We had trouble getting the Samsung Pay app to work with the Samsung Galaxy Watch (like Apple Pay, you have to separately install each card to use on the watch), and needed to install and re-install various Samsung apps. We recommend using Google Pay instead.
    
            Free at Venmo
    
            Venmo, which is only available in the United States, was simple to set up and get connected to our bank card. Like Cash App, you can send money using a username, which obviates the need to know a friend’s phone number or email address. One drawback to Venmo is that all of your friends’ transactions are made public by default, so anyone can see them in its public feed. This means the first thing you need to do when using this service is turn these settings to Private.
    
            Venmo also supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum or Litecoin currency transactions. If you are sending funds from a credit card and can’t wait, then there is a 3% fee. Funds sent from your bank account are free if you can wait a few days. Fees are clearly described on their Resources page and there are fees for unverified users when sending more than $300 per week.
    
            Venmo’s browser client mirrors the UI for its phone app screens, which is useful for reviewing its numerous configuration settings. But it could do a better job explaining its security protocols.",CNN,09/01/2024,"['Mobile payment apps can be a convenient way to send and receive money using your smartphone or smartwatch.', 'Paying for items this way has never been easier, thanks to the availability of numerous mobile payment apps, better payment terminal infrastructure, and wider support for Bluetooth/near-field communication (NFC) contactless credit cards by American issuers.', 'The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.', 'Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square).', 'We tested Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on just their own devices and tested Google Pay, Venmo and Cash App on both Android and iOS.', 'The apps work across a variety of web browsers (with the exception of Samsung) and watches.', 'We tested the apps on an Apple Watch and a Samsung Galaxy Watch.', 'We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support.', 'As our testing concluded, two clear winners emerged: Apple Pay and Google Pay.', 'While Apple Pay only works for its own devices, it is available in numerous countries, and its elegant and simple user interface (UI) and design make it a standout.', 'Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments are only available in the United States.', 'On your iOS device, you need to set up Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode.', 'On your Apple Watch, you need to set up a passcode.', 'You also need to be 13 years old or older.', 'If you want to make a P2P payment, then you’ll need to send an Apple Message, which means you need to know your recipient’s phone number or email address.', 'One nice feature is that all transactions generate 2% cash back.', 'If you have an Apple Watch, then you need to connect your cards and bank accounts specifically on the watch for use in payments.', 'Apple recently announced that users of other browsers besides Safarion their phones will be able to eventually use the software with the release of iOS 16.', 'Google Pay has different lists of countries and regions in which it is available depending on the transaction type intended.', 'Google Pay works across Android and iOS and is also designed to be capable in your browser.', 'There aren’t any fees and immediate transfers are from debit cards only.', 'Since Google Pay also works through browser cookies, it doesn’t require your phone to complete any online transactions.', 'But, since it works through your Google account, you will have to exchange emails to set up the payment.', 'Also, you will need a personal account (Pay won’t work with workspace or enterprise accounts).', 'There are three different use cases for these apps (which we tested) that we will explain, as well as three other use cases that we will mention (even though we didn’t test these).', 'The first use case we tested is making P2P cash payments.', 'Two examples of this are splitting a restaurant check and sending gift money to family and friends.', 'Consumers are increasingly using these apps according to a recent survey by Lending Tree.', 'The survey showed that 84% of the 1,200 respondents (all U.S. consumers) have used at least one mobile payment app in the past year.', 'Samsung Pay doesn’t support this mode but the other apps do.', 'Some of the apps let you set up pools of funds, like a miniature version of GoFundMe to which your friends can send you contributions.', 'There are several ways to identify your recipient: by their phone number and email address, or by their username (Block and Venmo support this) and, in some cases, by using a personal QR code (Block and Venmo are focused on this use case).', 'The second use case we tested is paying for retail purchases instead of directly using a credit card or debit card.', 'When the time comes to pay at a physical store, you hold your smartphone (or smartwatch) close to the payment terminal and it should read the appropriate card.', 'This can be useful if you load multiple cards on the payment app, so you don’t have to cart around an overstuffed wallet with physical cards.', 'It is also more secure because most of the payment apps create and then send a one-time token instead of your actual card number for each transaction. (', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay are focused on this use case, although both also support P2P payments, too.)', 'The third use case we tested is using them whenever you are shopping online.', 'The Apple Pay and Google Pay apps can be used here.', 'You can also store your card details in the various desktop browsers so that they can be auto-filled when you are at the checkout screen of your favorite retailer.', 'So, now for the other use cases we didn’t test but are worth mentioning.', 'Each of the payment apps has moved beyond these three core situations and now offer three other use cases: 1) a complex series of their own branded credit cards and debit cards, 2) support for Bitcoin purchases and other money-related features, and 3) cash-back offers.', 'Again, we didn’t test these last three use cases; however, it is worth paying attention to at least the one about cash-back offers because those can really add up over time.', 'Should you be worried about scammers when using mobile payment apps?', 'Yes — the same Lending Tree survey we cited earlier found that 15% of the respondents have been victims of scams.', 'And the survey also mentioned that, though P2P services are growing, they’re not FDIC insured (with the exception of Cash App, which is FDIC-insured).', 'The survey found that “62% of consumers knew FDIC doesn’t insure P2P balances.', 'However, 49% of those who keep a balance wrongly believe their money is protected.”', 'If you intend to use any of these mobile payment apps on a regular basis, then you’ll want to follow these 6 steps:  During our pretesting research, we found there are more than 20 different payment apps available, including apps from retailers like Starbucks and apps from Mastercard and Visa.', 'We selected our five payment apps to test based on desired features, security options and user reviews.', 'We tested each of them with the following criteria in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, customer support and fees.', 'To begin our testing, we installed the apps on one or both types of smartphones (if supported) and on an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch.', 'Next, we connected to various bank accounts and credit cards and debit cards, using them for retail purchases and P2P payments.', 'We also tried each app when it was available for online retail purchases.', 'We tested each app’s MFA support and other security features.', 'We tested each app’s ability to notify you of payment transactions, and to block someone else from initiating a payment without your biometric data or other factors to approve it.', 'Then we noted that the workflows for the payment apps were similar across the lot.', 'We first ensured we were downloading the correct payment app from the legit app store.', 'This is important and you should take care here.', 'We then connected the app to either our phone number or email address (most apps want both), and then typed in a bank account or card that was to be the source and destination of our funds.', 'This was the moment of truth, because not every payment app supported every bank card (and we didn’t find out until we got to this step).', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay worked with more of our credit cards than the others did, but your experience could be different.', 'After that, we set up our app’s security with our face or fingerprint to protect our transactions.', 'It sounds more complicated than it actually was.', 'After a flurry of confirmation emails and texts, we were ready to go shopping or send our friends some money.', 'One of the big advantages of these apps is that you forgo the need to carry cash and you can pay someone on the spot.', 'However, for all of these apps, our patience was rewarded.', 'If we wanted to make a P2P payment and our recipient was willing to wait a few days, then there wasn’t any fee applied.', 'But if we wanted the payment to happen in a matter of minutes, then it cost us.', 'For example, all the apps were free to download.', 'But when it came to fees, Apple charges 1.5% (with a minimum $0.25 and maximum $15 fee) and Venmo adds a 1% surcharge (with a maximum $10 fee).', 'Square is free for all personal accounts but charges 2.75% for business users.', 'Google Pay and Samsung Pay have no added fees.', 'Lastly, we also reviewed complaints collected by CardPaymentOptions.com for Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Cash App and Venmo.', 'And we tried out the various support options available for each service.', 'All five apps had equivalent high scores on both.', 'Cash App, Samsung Pay and Venmo all share data with third parties to track internal marketing.', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay don’t do this, although they may use this data internally across their various properties.', 'During our testing, we used an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch to gauge how easy it is to use a smartwatch versus a smartphone for mobile payments.', 'So, is your smartwatch better to use than your phone for payments?', 'No, we don’t think so.', 'We found the watch movements needed to get close enough to the payment terminal to make a connection were more cumbersome than they were when we used our phone.', 'And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par.', 'If you use your watch for other apps, then great, but don’t rush out and get a watch just for payments.', 'Free at Cash App  With Cash App, which is owned by Block (formerly Square, Inc.), you set up a username that your friends can use to find you when sending or demanding funds.', 'You do not need to know their phone number or email address.', 'Cash App is limited to debit cards only for direct access.', 'It also uses Plaid for connecting to your bank account, which we think adds another layer of security issues.', 'There are also various transfer limits, too, for unidentified users (e.g., sending $250 over per week or receiving $1,000 over a month).', 'You can set up recurring deposits, direct deposits, make bank transfers and even file your taxes.', 'There is a 3% fee if you are moving funds with a credit card.', 'You can also instantly purchase or sell Bitcoin from the app.', 'Cash App also works with the Lightning network to pay anyone with these cryptocurrencies.', 'Free at Samsung  Samsung Pay works in several countries, but it is only available on Samsung smartphones and smartwatches.', 'It is basically a stripped-down version of Google Pay, using the same banking backends.', 'It requires your mobile number to complete its setup, and in our testing we found it didn’t support several of the debit cards we owned.', 'It also doesn’t support any P2P payments: you’ll need to use the separate Samsung Pay Cash app.', 'One advantage is that, while Apple Pay and Google Pay will only work with point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals equipped with NFC technology, Samsung Pay (from the phone, not from the watch) works at magnetic card terminals — those few that are left and haven’t been upgraded — as well.', 'We had trouble getting the Samsung Pay app to work with the Samsung Galaxy Watch (like Apple Pay, you have to separately install each card to use on the watch), and needed to install and re-install various Samsung apps.', 'We recommend using Google Pay instead.', 'Free at Venmo  Venmo, which is only available in the United States, was simple to set up and get connected to our bank card.', 'Like Cash App, you can send money using a username, which obviates the need to know a friend’s phone number or email address.', 'One drawback to Venmo is that all of your friends’ transactions are made public by default, so anyone can see them in its public feed.', 'This means the first thing you need to do when using this service is turn these settings to Private.', 'Venmo also supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum or Litecoin currency transactions.', 'If you are sending funds from a credit card and can’t wait, then there is a 3% fee.', 'Funds sent from your bank account are free if you can wait a few days.', 'Fees are clearly described on their Resources page and there are fees for unverified users when sending more than $300 per week.', 'Venmo’s browser client mirrors the UI for its phone app screens, which is useful for reviewing its numerous configuration settings.', 'But it could do a better job explaining its security protocols.']",0.190272273076097,"We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support.","Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square).",0.452835742632548,"The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.",And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par.,2024-03-28
"‘No force’ can stop China’s tech progress, Xi Jinping tells Dutch PM",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/tech/xi-china-asml-dutch-hnk-intl/index.html,"
  Published
        6:04 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","Chinese leader Xi Jinping has told Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte that “no force can stop China’s scientific and technological development.”
    
            Xi’s comments come as a chip war rages between China and Western countries, including the Netherlands, which is home to ASML — the world’s sole manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines needed to make advanced semiconductors.
    
            “Artificially creating technological barriers and cutting off industrial and supply chains will only lead to division and confrontation,” Xi told Rutte during a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday, according to a readout published by China’s foreign ministry.
    
            There was no mention of ASML in the readout, but the company said in January that it had been prohibited by the Dutch government from shipping some of its lithography machines to China.
    
            That came after the United States ramped up restrictions on the types of semiconductors that American companies can sell to China and pressed its allies to enact their own.
    
            Because of its dominance in the market, ASML has been cited by experts as a bellwether of the growing rift between China and the West over access to advanced technology.
    
            “The Chinese people also have the legitimate right to development,” Xi added in the meeting. “[We] hope that the Netherlands will continue to play an active role in promoting mutual understanding and developing constructive relations between China and Europe.”
    
            On the same day, Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao met with Dutch Trade Minister Geoffrey van Leeuwen, and asked for “normal trade” of lithography machines, without mentioning ASML.
    
            “We hope the Dutch side can support companies in fulfilling their contractual obligations,” Wang was quoted as saying in a readout of the meeting on the commerce ministry’s website.
    
            There was a surge in sales of ASML’s advanced chipmaking tools to China last year — ahead of the Dutch ban.
    
            In the fourth quarter of 2023, China accounted for 39% of ASML’s total revenue, according to the company. Although that was slightly lower than the 46% in the third quarter, it had increased nearly fivefold from the 8% in the first quarter.
    
            For 2023 as a whole, China’s share of ASML’s revenue was 29%, doubling from 14% in 2022.
    
            “We believe China has spared no effort in buying as many high-end [chipmaking] tools as it can since the rules were finalized, as ASML’s sales of net system to China witnessed a big surge since the second quarter of 2023,” Jefferies analysts said in a research report last month.
    
            “China’s access to [these high-end chipmaking] machines is key to its commercialization of 7-nanometer logic chips,” they added.
    
            Last year, Chinese manufacturer Huawei shocked industry experts by introducing a new phone powered by a 7-nanometer processor made by China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).
    
            SMIC, which is partially state-owned, was included in the export restrictions set up by the US government several years ago.
    
            At the time of the Huawei phone launch, analysts could not understand how the company would have the technology to make such a chip following sweeping efforts by the United States to restrict China’s access to foreign chip technology.
    
            “China has been aggressively buying semiconductor equipment to build out production lines in both advanced and mature nodes,” according to Jefferies.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['Chinese leader Xi Jinping has told Dutch Prime MinisterMark Rutte that “no force can stop China’s scientific and technological development.”', 'Xi’s comments come as a chip war rages between China and Western countries, including the Netherlands, which is home to ASML — the world’s sole manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines needed to make advanced semiconductors.', '“Artificially creating technological barriers and cutting off industrial and supply chains will only lead to division and confrontation,” Xi told Rutte during a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday, according to a readout published by China’s foreign ministry.', 'There was no mention of ASML in the readout, but the company said in January that it had been prohibited by the Dutch government from shipping some of its lithography machines to China.', 'That came after the United Statesramped uprestrictions on the types of semiconductors that American companies can sell to China and pressed its allies to enact their own.', 'Because of its dominance in the market, ASML has beencited byexperts as a bellwether of thegrowing riftbetween China and the West over access to advanced technology.', '“The Chinese people also have the legitimate right to development,” Xi added in the meeting. “[', 'We] hope that the Netherlands will continue to play an active role in promoting mutual understanding and developing constructive relations between China and Europe.”', 'On the same day, Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao met with Dutch Trade Minister Geoffrey van Leeuwen, and asked for “normal trade” of lithography machines, without mentioning ASML.', '“We hope the Dutch side can support companies in fulfilling their contractual obligations,” Wang was quoted as saying in a readout of the meeting on the commerce ministry’s website.', 'There was a surge in sales of ASML’s advanced chipmaking tools to China last year — ahead of the Dutch ban.', 'In the fourth quarter of 2023, China accounted for 39% of ASML’s total revenue, according to the company.', 'Although that was slightly lower than the 46% in the third quarter, it had increased nearly fivefold from the 8% in the first quarter.', 'For 2023 as a whole, China’s share of ASML’s revenue was 29%, doubling from 14% in 2022.', '“We believe China has spared no effort in buying as many high-end [chipmaking] tools as it can since the rules were finalized, as ASML’s sales of net system to China witnessed a big surge since the second quarter of 2023,” Jefferies analysts said in a research report last month.', '“China’s access to [these high-end chipmaking] machines is key to its commercialization of 7-nanometer logic chips,” they added.', 'Last year, Chinese manufacturer Huawei shocked industry experts by introducing a new phone powered by a 7-nanometer processor made by China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).', 'SMIC, which is partially state-owned, was included in the export restrictions set up by the US governmentseveral years ago.', 'At the time of the Huawei phone launch, analysts could not understand how the company would have the technology to make such a chip following sweeping efforts by the United States to restrict China’s access to foreign chip technology.', '“China has been aggressively buying semiconductor equipment to build out production lines in both advanced and mature nodes,” according to Jefferies.']",0.029696702928128,We] hope that the Netherlands will continue to play an active role in promoting mutual understanding and developing constructive relations between China and Europe.”,"Xi’s comments come as a chip war rages between China and Western countries, including the Netherlands, which is home to ASML — the world’s sole manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines needed to make advanced semiconductors.",0.596246580282847,"“We believe China has spared no effort in buying as many high-end [chipmaking] tools as it can since the rules were finalized, as ASML’s sales of net system to China witnessed a big surge since the second quarter of 2023,” Jefferies analysts said in a research report last month.","“Artificially creating technological barriers and cutting off industrial and supply chains will only lead to division and confrontation,” Xi told Rutte during a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday, according to a readout published by China’s foreign ministry.",2024-03-28
‘Uninvestible’: Britain’s biggest water company left in the lurch by shareholders,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/business/thames-water-shareholders-emergency-funding/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:49 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","Investors are refusing to inject billions in new money into Britain’s biggest water company, leaving the beleaguered business at risk of an emergency government takeover.
    
            The nine shareholders in Thames Water, which supplies water and wastewater services to 15 million people in London and the southeast of England, said in a statement Thursday that they were “not in a position” to provide an extra £3.25 billion ($4.1 billion) because UK water regulator Ofwat was insisting on conditions they could not accept.
    
            “After more than a year of negotiations with the regulator, Ofwat has not been prepared to provide the necessary regulatory support for a business plan which ultimately addresses the issues that Thames Water faces,” the shareholders said.
    
            The utility counts UK and Canadian pension funds, as well as sovereign wealth funds from China and Abu Dhabi, among its investors.
    
            In its turnaround plan published in October, Thames Water, which is saddled with £14 billion ($17.7 million) in debt, proposed to jack up the average annual customer bill by 40% by 2030.
    
            In July, the utility’s shareholders agreed to pour an extra £750 million ($945 million) into the company before March 2025 to stave off a temporary takeover by the government. The first £500 million ($630 million) of that sum was due by Sunday, March 31.
    
            The funding was subject to conditions, including the company improving services for customers and reducing its environmental impact, and approval by Ofwat.
    
            “Based on the feedback provided by Ofwat to Thames Water to date, the regulatory arrangements that would be expected to apply to Thames Water… make the (turnaround plan) uninvestible,” the utility said in a statement Thursday.
    
            Chris Weston, chief executive of Thames Water, added in the statement: “I’d like to reassure our customers that, despite this announcement, it is business as usual for Thames Water.”
    
            A spokesperson for Ofwat said “safeguards” were in place to protect customers from Thames Water’s troubles. “The company must now pursue all options to seek further equity for the business to turn around the performance of the company for customers.”
    
            According to Reuters, British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said Thursday that the government was monitoring Thames Water “very carefully.” “Our understanding is that the company is still solvent,” he was quoted as telling reporters.
    
            Water companies in England and Wales have racked up billions of pounds of debt since they were sold to private investors in 1989, while raising little new funding from shareholders and paying out billions of pounds in dividends.
    
            The indebted utilities have struggled as interest rates have soared over the past two years, and as their aging, leaking infrastructure has required billions of pounds of investment.
    
            Weston told the BBC Thursday that there was a “possibility” that Thames Water would be put into special administration — an arrangement that would effectively take it into temporary public ownership — but said the company was “a long way from that point.”
    
            “We remain in a solid financial position, we have about £2.4 billion of liquidity at the moment in cash and undrawn facilities, and that’s enough to last us until about May 2025,” he said.
    
            Olesya Dmitracova contributed reporting.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['Investors are refusing to inject billions in new money into Britain’s biggest water company, leaving the beleaguered business at risk of an emergency government takeover.', 'The nine shareholders in Thames Water, which supplies water and wastewater services to 15 million people in London and the southeast of England, said in a statement Thursday that they were “not in a position” to provide an extra £3.25 billion ($4.1 billion) because UK water regulator Ofwat was insisting on conditions they could not accept.', '“After more than a year of negotiations with the regulator, Ofwat has not been prepared to provide the necessary regulatory support for a business plan which ultimately addresses the issues that Thames Water faces,” the shareholders said.', 'The utility counts UK and Canadian pension funds, as well as sovereign wealth funds from China and Abu Dhabi, among its investors.', 'In its turnaround plan published in October, Thames Water, which is saddled with £14 billion ($17.7 million) in debt, proposed to jack up the average annual customer bill by 40% by 2030.', 'In July, the utility’s shareholders agreed to pour an extra £750 million ($945 million) into the company before March 2025 to stave off a temporary takeover by the government.', 'The first £500 million ($630 million) of that sum was due by Sunday, March 31.', 'The funding was subject to conditions, including the company improving services for customers and reducing its environmental impact, and approval by Ofwat.', '“Based on the feedback provided by Ofwat to Thames Water to date, the regulatory arrangements that would be expected to apply to Thames Water… make the (turnaround plan) uninvestible,” the utility said in a statement Thursday.', 'Chris Weston, chief executive of Thames Water, added in the statement: “I’d like to reassure our customers that, despite this announcement, it is business as usual for Thames Water.”', 'A spokesperson for Ofwat said “safeguards” were in place to protect customers from Thames Water’s troubles. “', 'The company must now pursue all options to seek further equity for the business to turn around the performance of the company for customers.”', 'According to Reuters, British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said Thursday that the government was monitoring Thames Water “very carefully.” “', 'Our understanding is that the company is still solvent,” he was quoted as telling reporters.', 'Water companies in England and Wales have racked up billions of pounds of debt since they were sold to private investors in 1989, while raising little new funding from shareholders and paying out billions of pounds in dividends.', 'The indebted utilities have struggled as interest rates have soared over the past two years, and as their aging, leaking infrastructure has required billions of pounds of investment.', 'Weston told the BBC Thursday that there was a “possibility” that Thames Water would be put into special administration —an arrangement that would effectively take it into temporary public ownership —but said the company was “a long way from that point.”', '“We remain in a solid financial position, we have about £2.4 billion of liquidity at the moment in cash and undrawn facilities, and that’s enough to last us until about May 2025,” he said.', 'Olesya Dmitracova contributed reporting.']",0.1000836428126368,"The funding was subject to conditions, including the company improving services for customers and reducing its environmental impact, and approval by Ofwat.","Investors are refusing to inject billions in new money into Britain’s biggest water company, leaving the beleaguered business at risk of an emergency government takeover.",0.0069794207811355,"“We remain in a solid financial position, we have about £2.4 billion of liquidity at the moment in cash and undrawn facilities, and that’s enough to last us until about May 2025,” he said.","The indebted utilities have struggled as interest rates have soared over the past two years, and as their aging, leaking infrastructure has required billions of pounds of investment.",2024-03-28
Why Nike wants to make Air Force 1 sneakers harder to find,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/nike-air-force-1-sneakers/index.html,"
  Published
        9:36 AM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Nike Air Force 1 and Nike Pegasus sneakers are everywhere. That’s a problem for Nike, and it wants to make them harder to buy.
    
            Nike is scaling back production of these classic sneaker lines to prevent discounting and make room for its newer lines.
    
            The Air Force 1 and Pegasus are staples of Nike’s sneaker lineup, and some of Nike’s oldest sneaker lines. The Air Force 1’s are known for their all-white design, while the Pegasus have large Nike swooshes on their mid-sole. They are both marketed for everyday wear, but growth has slowed for these lines and other Nike products, and stores have been promoting the shoes more frequently to clear the glut off shelves.
    
            This is a risk for Nike, which sees itself as a premium brand that wants to protect its ability to sell merchandise at higher prices and prevent products from being discounted too heavily.
    
            So Nike is cutting back supply to try to juice demand and sell them at full prices. Nike also wants to push shoppers to buy new, higher-priced Air Max shoes and newer Pegasus products.
    
            “We are in the midst of shifting our product portfolio” toward newer lines, Nike finance chief Matthew Friend said on an earnings call Thursday. “We are pulling back supply of classics such as the Air Force 1, and we’re reducing supply of Pegasus.”
    
            Nike’s moves could also make it harder for consumers to find traditional white Air Force 1 sneakers and Pegasus versions at shoe stores.
    
            But loyal Nike customers will transition to other Nike shoes, said Christopher Burns, a sneaker industry analyst and founder of Arch USA, a sneaker and lifestyle blog.
    
            And it won’t impact sneakerheads like Burns much. Sneaker collectors focus on limited-edition and special collaboration lines — not mass market lines like Air Force 1, he said.
    
            Still, Nike’s strategy will impact sales and could backfire if consumers aren’t keen on its new styles.
    
            Nike said the cutback will hurt its sales during its upcoming fiscal year. Sales during the first half of the year will fall to low single-digits, the company said.
    
            “It’s the right strategy long-term, but it’s unclear how strong new styles will resonate,” said Randal Konik, a retail analyst at Jefferies.
    
            Nike’s move to slash supply comes as the company faces a consumer slowdown for discretionary goods and tough competition from upstart running brands like Hoka and On.
    
            Customers are changing their behavior, passing up discretionary purchases of expensive sneakers and athletic clothing for basics and experiences such as concerts and travel.
    
            Nike slashed its revenue outlook for the year and said it was looking for as much as $2 billion in cost savings in the next three years. In January, Nike cut 1,700 employees.
    
            Nike is also facing new competition.
    
            Hoka, a French brand founded as a running shoe for hardcore marathoners that soon caught on in the mainstream, is growing.
    
            Known for its chunky insoles, even President Joe Biden was photographed earlier this week striding out of the White House in a new set of Hoka sneakers — far from a Gen Z-endorsement, but a sign that a once virtually unknown brand is making a dent in sales and visibility.
    
            Meanwhile, Nike has also changed its distribution strategy.
    
            The company in recent years has slashed the number of traditional retailers it sells its goods to while shifting to grow directly through its own channels, especially online. Nike has said it can make more than double the profit selling goods through its own website and physical stores than it can through wholesale partners.
    
            Nike has said it would focus its resources, marketing and top products on just 40 select retail partners, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Nike Air Force 1 and Nike Pegasus sneakers are everywhere.', 'That’s a problem for Nike, and it wants to make them harder to buy.', 'Nike is scaling back production of these classic sneaker lines to prevent discounting and make room for its newer lines.', 'The Air Force 1 and Pegasus are staples of Nike’s sneaker lineup, and some of Nike’s oldest sneaker lines.', 'The Air Force 1’s are known for their all-white design, while the Pegasus have large Nike swooshes on their mid-sole.', 'They are both marketed for everyday wear, but growth has slowed for these lines and other Nike products, and stores have been promoting the shoes more frequently to clear the glut off shelves.', 'This is a risk for Nike, which sees itself as a premium brand that wants to protect its ability to sell merchandise at higher prices and prevent products from being discounted too heavily.', 'So Nike is cutting back supply to try to juice demand and sell them at full prices.', 'Nike also wants to push shoppers to buy new, higher-priced Air Max shoes and newer Pegasus products.', '“We are in the midst of shifting our product portfolio” toward newer lines, Nike finance chief Matthew Friend said on an earnings call Thursday. “', 'We are pulling back supply of classics such as the Air Force 1, and we’re reducing supply of Pegasus.”', 'Nike’s moves could also make it harder for consumers to find traditional white Air Force 1 sneakers and Pegasus versions at shoe stores.', 'But loyal Nike customers will transition to other Nike shoes, said Christopher Burns, a sneaker industry analyst and founder of Arch USA, a sneaker and lifestyle blog.', 'And it won’t impact sneakerheads like Burns much.', 'Sneaker collectors focus on limited-edition and special collaboration lines — not mass market lines like Air Force 1, he said.', 'Still, Nike’s strategy will impact sales and could backfire if consumers aren’t keen on its new styles.', 'Nike said the cutback will hurt its sales during its upcoming fiscal year.', 'Sales during the first half of the year will fall to low single-digits, the company said.', '“It’s the right strategy long-term, but it’s unclear how strong new styles will resonate,” said Randal Konik, a retail analyst at Jefferies.', 'Nike’s move to slash supply comes as the company faces a consumer slowdown for discretionary goods and tough competition from upstart running brands like Hoka and On.', 'Customers are changing their behavior, passing up discretionary purchases of expensive sneakers and athletic clothing for basics and experiences such as concerts and travel.', 'Nike slashed its revenue outlook for the year and said it was looking for as much as $2 billion in cost savings in the next three years.', 'In January, Nike cut 1,700 employees.', 'Nike is also facing new competition.', 'Hoka, a French brand founded as a running shoe for hardcore marathoners that soon caught on in the mainstream, is growing.', 'Known for its chunky insoles,even President Joe Biden was photographed earlier this week striding out of the White House in a new set of Hoka sneakers — far froma Gen Z-endorsement, but a sign that a once virtually unknown brand is making a dent in sales and visibility.', 'Meanwhile, Nike has also changed its distribution strategy.', 'The company in recent years has slashed the number of traditional retailers it sells its goods to while shifting to grow directly through its own channels, especially online.', 'Nike has said it can make more than double the profitselling goodsthrough its own website and physical stores than it can through wholesale partners.', 'Nike has said it would focus its resources, marketing and top products on just 40 select retail partners, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker.']",0.0683004331819564,"They are both marketed for everyday wear, but growth has slowed for these lines and other Nike products, and stores have been promoting the shoes more frequently to clear the glut off shelves.",Nike said the cutback will hurt its sales during its upcoming fiscal year.,-0.3633997220742075,Nike has said it can make more than double the profitselling goodsthrough its own website and physical stores than it can through wholesale partners.,"Sales during the first half of the year will fall to low single-digits, the company said.",2024-03-28
‘I want to help people fly – and keep them safe’,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68489226,2024-03-22T00:15:02.000Z,"Student Pooja Umashankar clearly remembers when she first felt the roar of an aircraft taking off. She was 10 years old and travelling from Sri Lanka to the UK with her family. Through the window near her seat, she could see hundreds of tiny lights on the ground below.  ""It's just a piece of metal,"" she remembers marvelling, ""And it's flying now."" Today, a decade and a half later, Miss Umashankar has returned from Sri Lanka to study aircraft maintenance engineering at the University of South Wales. ""I knew that I wanted to do something that nobody had ever done in my town,"" she says. The aviation industry can't find enough people like Miss Umashankar. For years, airlines and engineering firms have struggled to hire maintenance engineers, and there is now a global shortage numbering in the tens of thousands.  This is a huge problem not least because aviation is expected to balloon in the coming decades. Industry estimates suggest that roughly 700,000 engineers will have to enter the profession between now and 2040 in order to satisfy demand.  Plus, after Boeing's recent 737 Max 9 door blowout - currently the subject of an investigation - engineers have been in especially high demand to perform increased checks on 737 Max aircraft of various models.  And trade association ADS says there are 10,000 vacancies in total across the UK's aerospace, defence, security and space industries. Miss Umashankar, who is now nearing the end of her three-year degree, says she wants to be a part of the solution. ""What motivates me is to… help people travel,"" she says. ""I want to help them fly - while being safe."" She says she has especially enjoyed working with electronics during her course but was not able to find an on-the-job training placement. However, Miss Umashankar has now started applying for full-time positions. She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.  Not many of her colleagues will be women, she knows. But that does not deter her: ""There's such a shortage of female engineers in this field, I just feel that maybe I should be one of them."" Redressing the severe gender imbalance in the industry could help tackle the shortage, some observers say. In the UK, fewer than 10% of aerospace and aviation engineers are women. The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University. Only 2.8% of US aircraft technicians are women. ""I don't think that there are enough women that are involved in the industry to act as mentors,"" she says. Multiple engineering firms contacted by the BBC declined to specify whether they were short of aviation technicians at present, or to what extent. AAR Corporation, however, says it has raised salaries and launched a programme to help US military veterans join the workforce. More than 60 such candidates have been hired since 2019, the firm notes. ST Engineering has started a mentorship programme in Singapore and is in talks to set up a training academy in the US. Meanwhile, Lufthansa Technik is working to attract more women into the industry. ""Large-scale recruitment of apprentices is still ongoing,"" a spokeswoman adds. The current focus on training is significant, says Daniel Olufisan, training director and principal consultant at Wing Engineering, which works in the aviation industry. It is partly down to the fact that fewer aircraft engineers these days are ex-military and, therefore, not as many people with hands-on experience are entering maintenance roles, he suggests. Another key reason for the shortage is that a high number of engineers in their 60s are now retiring from the profession. Aircraft maintenance is not as glamorous as it once was, suggests Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant at RW Mann & Company: ""Some of the benefits that then came with working for an airline, flying on staff passes for example, just aren't there anymore."" He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. ""This is not a test flying business, this is a consumer service,"" he says. Last year, manufacturer Airbus set a target of hiring 13,000 new employees, many of whom were engineers, though in Airbus's case most were destined to work on new aircraft designs rather than maintenance. A spokeswoman confirms that the company exceeded its target and also succeeded in hiring a large proportion of engineers (25% of the total). ""It does become harder and harder to source talented professional engineers,"" acknowledges Mark Crompton, global head of employment marketing. He adds that outreach to children of school age could help encourage them to consider the career. More technology of business Airbus, like many firms, is increasing apprenticeship and internship positions to help, too. The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023. But the industry as a whole is having to face up to the impact aviation is having on climate change and even more engineers are needed to develop cleaner aircraft, explains Mr Crompton. Nadeem Bandali is an aircraft maintenance engineer at Gatwick Airport. He says that when young people ask him about his job, he shows them videos of the kind of work he does to illustrate how practical it is. ""It's purely mechanical, fixing aircraft, troubleshooting aircraft systems,"" he explains.  As an example, just a few weeks ago, he and his colleagues were tasked with locating a fault in a long sensor wire that runs through the fuselage and wings of an A320. It took a few hours, but they found it and fixed it.  He is aware of the engineer shortage but says, ""I don't think safety is an issue at the moment."" Keeping planes in the air, without incident, is a worthwhile endeavour for Miss Umashankar. ""Aircraft,"" she says, ""connect the whole world into one."" ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Student Pooja Umashankar clearly remembers when she first felt the roar of an aircraft taking off.', 'She was 10 years old and travelling from Sri Lanka to the UK with her family.', 'Through the window near her seat, she could see hundreds of tiny lights on the ground below. ""', 'It\'s just a piece of metal,"" she remembers marvelling, ""And it\'s flying now.""', 'Today, a decade and a half later, Miss Umashankar has returned from Sri Lanka to study aircraft maintenance engineering at the University of South Wales. ""', 'I knew that I wanted to do something that nobody had ever done in my town,"" she says.', ""The aviation industry can't find enough people like Miss Umashankar."", 'For years, airlines and engineering firms have struggled to hire maintenance engineers, and there is now a global shortage numbering in the tens of thousands.', 'This is a huge problem not least because aviation is expected to balloon in the coming decades.', 'Industry estimates suggest that roughly 700,000 engineers will have to enter the profession between now and 2040 in order to satisfy demand.', ""Plus, after Boeing's recent 737 Max 9 door blowout - currently the subject of an investigation - engineers have been in especially high demand to perform increased checks on 737 Max aircraft of various models."", ""And trade association ADS says there are 10,000 vacancies in total across the UK's aerospace, defence, security and space industries."", 'Miss Umashankar, who is now nearing the end of her three-year degree, says she wants to be a part of the solution. ""', 'What motivates me is to… help people travel,"" she says. ""', 'I want to help them fly - while being safe.""', 'She says she has especially enjoyed working with electronics during her course but was not able to find an on-the-job training placement.', 'However, Miss Umashankar has now started applying for full-time positions.', 'She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.', 'Not many of her colleagues will be women, she knows.', 'But that does not deter her: ""There\'s such a shortage of female engineers in this field, I just feel that maybe I should be one of them.""', 'Redressing the severe gender imbalance in the industry could help tackle the shortage, some observers say.', 'In the UK, fewer than 10% of aerospace and aviation engineers are women.', 'The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University.', 'Only 2.8% of US aircraft technicians are women. ""', 'I don\'t think that there are enough women that are involved in the industry to act as mentors,"" she says.', 'Multiple engineering firms contacted by the BBC declined to specify whether they were short of aviation technicians at present, or to what extent.', 'AAR Corporation, however, says it has raised salaries and launched a programme to help US military veterans join the workforce.', 'More than 60 such candidates have been hired since 2019, the firm notes.', 'ST Engineering has started a mentorship programme in Singapore and is in talks to set up a training academy in the US.', 'Meanwhile, Lufthansa Technik is working to attract more women into the industry. ""', 'Large-scale recruitment of apprentices is still ongoing,"" a spokeswoman adds.', 'The current focus on training is significant, says Daniel Olufisan, training director and principal consultant at Wing Engineering, which works in the aviation industry.', 'It is partly down to the fact that fewer aircraft engineers these days are ex-military and, therefore, not as many people with hands-on experience are entering maintenance roles, he suggests.', 'Another key reason for the shortage is that a high number of engineers in their 60s are now retiring from the profession.', 'Aircraft maintenance is not as glamorous as it once was, suggests Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant at RW Mann & Company: ""Some of the benefits that then came with working for an airline, flying on staff passes for example, just aren\'t there anymore.""', 'He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. ""', 'This is not a test flying business, this is a consumer service,"" he says.', ""Last year, manufacturer Airbus set a target of hiring 13,000 new employees, many of whom were engineers, though in Airbus's case most were destined to work on new aircraft designs rather than maintenance."", 'A spokeswoman confirms that the company exceeded its target and also succeeded in hiring a large proportion of engineers (25% of the total). ""', 'It does become harder and harder to source talented professional engineers,"" acknowledges Mark Crompton, global head of employment marketing.', 'He adds that outreach to children of school age could help encourage them to consider the career.', 'More technology of business Airbus, like many firms, is increasing apprenticeship and internship positions to help, too.', 'The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023.', 'But the industry as a whole is having to face up to the impact aviation is having on climate change and even more engineers are needed to develop cleaner aircraft, explains Mr Crompton.', 'Nadeem Bandali is an aircraft maintenance engineer at Gatwick Airport.', 'He says that when young people ask him about his job, he shows them videos of the kind of work he does to illustrate how practical it is. ""', 'It\'s purely mechanical, fixing aircraft, troubleshooting aircraft systems,"" he explains.', 'As an example, just a few weeks ago, he and his colleagues were tasked with locating a fault in a long sensor wire that runs through the fuselage and wings of an A320.', 'It took a few hours, but they found it and fixed it.', 'He is aware of the engineer shortage but says, ""I don\'t think safety is an issue at the moment.""', 'Keeping planes in the air, without incident, is a worthwhile endeavour for Miss Umashankar. ""', 'Aircraft,"" she says, ""connect the whole world into one.""']",0.1132175272645693,She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.,"He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. """,0.1862073948508814,The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023.,"The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University.",2024-03-28
Apple announces its annual developers conference is set for June 10,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/apple-annual-developers-conference-june-10/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:20 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Apple announced its annual Worldwide Developer Conference will kick off on June 10, when the company is expected to show off its latest AI advancements.
    
            The conference, which is widely anticipated each year as a major showcase for Apple software news, will run Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14.
    
            Although last year’s WWDC focused on the unveiling of the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which launched in stores in February, this year is expected to turn to Apple’s AI efforts. The company is reportedly interested in licensing and building Google’s Gemini AI engine, which includes chatbots and other AI tools, into upcoming iPhones and its iOS 18 features.
    
            As more tech companies pour billions of dollars into the development and rollout of artificial intelligence, Apple has largely been left out of the conversation, with many other tech companies making big strides in the space. A partnership with Google would catapult Apple into the growing AI arms race.
    
            Apple researchers also recently said they’ve developed a family of multimodal models — which refers to an AI system that can interpret and generate different types of data, such as text and images at the same time — called MM1. A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.
    
            In a press release on Tuesday, the company said WWDC 2024 will also share software updates coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro headset.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Apple announced its annual Worldwide Developer Conference will kick off on June 10, when the company is expected to show off its latest AI advancements.', 'The conference, which is widely anticipated each year as a major showcase for Apple software news, will run Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14.', 'Although last year’s WWDC focused on the unveiling of the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which launched in stores in February, this year is expected to turn to Apple’s AI efforts.', 'The company is reportedly interested in licensing and building Google’s Gemini AI engine, which includes chatbots and other AI tools, into upcoming iPhones and its iOS 18 features.', 'As more tech companies pour billions of dollars into the development and rollout of artificial intelligence, Apple has largely been left out of the conversation, with many other tech companies making big strides in the space.', 'A partnership with Google would catapult Apple into the growing AI arms race.', 'Apple researchers also recently said they’ve developed a family of multimodal models — which refers to an AI system that can interpret and generate different types of data, such as text and images at the same time — called MM1.', 'A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.', 'In a press release on Tuesday, the company said WWDC 2024 will also share software updates coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro headset.']",0.3259092919755588,A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.,,0.9975101351737976,A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.,,2024-03-28
"Hull funeral home inquiry: 'I spent £2,700 on a fake funeral policy'",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68636654,2024-03-22T15:26:00.000Z,"Buyers of funeral plans from a Hull funeral home already at the centre of a police inquiry said they have been told their policies are non-existent. Rita Goldspink and Kevin Newton paid about £2,500 each for plans bought from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in 2018 and 2012 respectively. Each has been told separately that there is no trace of their policy on the third-party insurer's database. Legacy funeral home has been contacted for comment. Two people have been bailed in a police investigation of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors that began on 6 March, following a report of ""concern for care of the deceased"". Rachel Marshall, from Hull, said the pre-paid funeral plan for her mother, Rita Goldspink, 76, had cost £2,700 in April 2018, six months after Legacy had organised her father's funeral. After news emerged of the Humberside Police investigation, Ms Marshall said she contacted the insurer and discovered they could not find ""my mum's name on their database"". She said she was later told by the insurer that she should have received a welcome pack containing details of the plan shortly after purchase. ""My mum was absolutely devastated and I was in total shock,"" said Ms Marshall.  ""All that money is gone. ""I'm gutted and have started to realise through conversations [with others that] there are more of us with these fake policies."" Kevin Newton, 69, also from Hull, said he was ""mortified"" to learn that his pre-paid funeral plan, which had cost him £2,239, was similarly untraceable. He said when he bought the third-party policy in 2012, he had received written confirmation and a receipt from Legacy.  Shortly afterwards a pack had arrived in the post, which he had believed contained official documents about his policy. However, after his family raised concerns with him last week, Mr Newton said he had phoned the third-party insurer and was told there was no trace of the policy. His daughter Kerry, 35, said: ""It's absolutely shocking because it's a lot of money for my dad to fork out and it's not like he can [afford it] again. ""I know my dad's done it so me and my brother don't have to worry about him when the time comes. It's just devastating. ""It's unforgiveable."" Another woman from Hull, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she ""can't get [her] head round"" being told there was no record of her £2,500 pre-paid funeral plan, bought from Legacy in 2016. She said she had bought the plan after using the company to arrange the funerals of both her parents, who had died three weeks apart. She too had believed a pack she received was evidence of the third-party policy. But she discovered last week the policy did not exist, the woman said. ""Initially... all I was concerned about was my mum and dad. They're supposed to be buried together in the same grave. I hope they are but I just don't know now. I'm thinking: are they there?  ""But now - finding this policy is worthless - it's just a cherry on the icing, really. I'm completely shocked. ""I mean, I'm still more troubled about mum and dad at the moment. But I know I'll never get any answers on that."" The BBC has seen documents given to all three families who bought the plans from Legacy. It is unclear whether Legacy submitted the filled-in application forms to the insurer. In a statement, the third-party insurer, Ecclesiastical Planning Services, said: ""This is a deeply distressing incident for the families affected.  ""We are unable to comment on individual cases but we are working with families who contact us to establish if they have a plan with us."" All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations. The woman said: ""I think anyone setting up a funeral business should have some sort of qualification or have been trained. And there has to be regular inspections."" Ms Marshall urged anyone who had bought a pre-paid funeral plan to ""check your policy"". ""More or less everything goes on trust,"" she said. Few details about the police investigation have been revealed but a quantity of ashes and 35 bodies were recovered from Legacy's Hessle Road premises and taken to another mortuary. The families involved have been contacted, Humberside Police have said. A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position. They have since been released on bail while police inquiries continue. The force said its dedicated helpline numbers remain open. Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Are you affected by the issues raised in this story? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk Please include your name, age and location with any submission.  ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Buyers of funeral plans from a Hull funeral home already at the centre of a police inquiry said they have been told their policies are non-existent.', 'Rita Goldspink and Kevin Newton paid about £2,500 each for plans bought from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in 2018 and 2012 respectively.', ""Each has been told separately that there is no trace of their policy on the third-party insurer's database."", 'Legacy funeral home has been contacted for comment.', 'Two people have been bailed in a police investigation of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors that began on 6 March, following a report of ""concern for care of the deceased"".', ""Rachel Marshall, from Hull, said the pre-paid funeral plan for her mother, Rita Goldspink, 76, had cost £2,700 in April 2018, six months after Legacy had organised her father's funeral."", 'After news emerged of the Humberside Police investigation, Ms Marshall said she contacted the insurer and discovered they could not find ""my mum\'s name on their database"".', 'She said she was later told by the insurer that she should have received a welcome pack containing details of the plan shortly after purchase. ""', 'My mum was absolutely devastated and I was in total shock,"" said Ms Marshall. ""', 'All that money is gone. ""', 'I\'m gutted and have started to realise through conversations [with others that] there are more of us with these fake policies.""', 'Kevin Newton, 69, also from Hull, said he was ""mortified"" to learn that his pre-paid funeral plan, which had cost him £2,239, was similarly untraceable.', 'He said when he bought the third-party policy in 2012, he had received written confirmation and a receipt from Legacy.', 'Shortly afterwards a pack had arrived in the post, which he had believed contained official documents about his policy.', 'However, after his family raised concerns with him last week, Mr Newton said he had phoned the third-party insurer and was told there was no trace of the policy.', 'His daughter Kerry, 35, said: ""It\'s absolutely shocking because it\'s a lot of money for my dad to fork out and it\'s not like he can [afford it] again. ""', ""I know my dad's done it so me and my brother don't have to worry about him when the time comes."", 'It\'s just devastating. ""', 'It\'s unforgiveable.""', 'Another woman from Hull, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she ""can\'t get [her] head round"" being told there was no record of her £2,500 pre-paid funeral plan, bought from Legacy in 2016.', 'She said she had bought the plan after using the company to arrange the funerals of both her parents, who had died three weeks apart.', 'She too had believed a pack she received was evidence of the third-party policy.', 'But she discovered last week the policy did not exist, the woman said. ""', 'Initially... all I was concerned about was my mum and dad.', ""They're supposed to be buried together in the same grave."", ""I hope they are but I just don't know now."", 'I\'m thinking: are they there? ""', ""But now - finding this policy is worthless - it's just a cherry on the icing, really."", 'I\'m completely shocked. ""', ""I mean, I'm still more troubled about mum and dad at the moment."", 'But I know I\'ll never get any answers on that.""', 'The BBC has seen documents given to all three families who bought the plans from Legacy.', 'It is unclear whether Legacy submitted the filled-in application forms to the insurer.', 'In a statement, the third-party insurer, Ecclesiastical Planning Services, said: ""This is a deeply distressing incident for the families affected. ""', 'We are unable to comment on individual cases but we are working with families who contact us to establish if they have a plan with us.""', 'All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations.', 'The woman said: ""I think anyone setting up a funeral business should have some sort of qualification or have been trained.', 'And there has to be regular inspections.""', 'Ms Marshall urged anyone who had bought a pre-paid funeral plan to ""check your policy"". ""', 'More or less everything goes on trust,"" she said.', ""Few details about the police investigation have been revealed but a quantity of ashes and 35 bodies were recovered from Legacy's Hessle Road premises and taken to another mortuary."", 'The families involved have been contacted, Humberside Police have said.', 'A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.', 'They have since been released on bail while police inquiries continue.', 'The force said its dedicated helpline numbers remain open.', 'Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.', 'Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Are you affected by the issues raised in this story?', 'Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.', ""You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk Please include your name, age and location with any submission.""]",-0.1373784424526084,Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.,"A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.",-0.8656735040924766,,"All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations.",2024-03-28
Sam Bankman-Fried: Disgraced 'Crypto King' to be sentenced,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68560911,2024-03-28T00:00:04.000Z,"Sam Bankman-Fried, the former billionaire crypto boss who was convicted of fraud and money laundering last year, will return to court in New York on Thursday to be sentenced for his crimes. It is certain the 32-year-old will be going to jail; what is not known is how long for. The moment has revived debate about the extent of his crimes - and what punishment might fit.  His legal team have called for leniency, but prosecutors are seeking 40 to 50 years in prison. They say such a sentence is warranted for someone who lied to investors and banks, and stole billions in deposits from customers of his now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX. His defence team has proposed five to 6.5 years, accusing the government of adopting ""a medieval view of punishment"" by insisting on a lengthy term behind bars for a non-violent, first-time criminal. The question has generated hundreds of pages of letters from former FTX customers, family, friends of his parents - even complete strangers - trying to sway Judge Lewis Kaplan, the federal justice who will decide his fate. ""He has shown no remorse so why would any judge show any mercy?"" said Sunil Kavuri, a British investor who had more than $2m worth of holdings on the exchange when it collapsed, and one of the people mobilising former customers to share their experience with the court.  FTX's collapse in 2022 was a stunning fall for Bankman-Fried, who had become a billionaire and business celebrity promoting the firm, a platform people could use to deposit and trade crypto. It attracted millions of customers, before rumours of financial trouble sparked a run on deposits.  In November 2023, a US jury found Bankman-Fried had stolen billions in customer money from the exchange ahead of the collapse to buy property, make political donations and use for other investments. Many of those customers now appear poised to recover significant sums, under a plan being developed in the separate bankruptcy case. Under that proposal, former customers could receive money based on what their holdings were worth at the time the exchange collapsed. In court filings, the defence for Bankman-Fried, who is expected to appeal his conviction, has argued that such recovery warrants a lighter sentence.  They said it proved that ""money has always been available"" which ""would be impossible if [FTX's] assets had disappeared into Sam's personal pockets"".  But the repayment plan has left many former customers outraged, since they will miss out on the crypto rebound that has occurred since.  John Ray, the lawyer leading FTX through bankruptcy and a critic of Bankman-Fried, noted the concerns in his own letter to court. ""Make no mistake; customers, non-governmental creditors, governmental creditors, and non-insider stockholders have suffered and continue to suffer,"" he wrote to the court, arguing that the claims of minimal loss were a sign that Bankman-Fried continued to live ""a life of delusion"".  Former FTX customers interviewed by the BBC said they were offended by the blithe dismissal of their problems, and urged the judge to reject calls for leniency. ""The people who are saying this are not in a position like I'm in, where you've lost everything,"" said Arush Sehgal, a 38-year-old tech entrepreneur living in Barcelona, who, with his wife, is one of the exchange's biggest individual creditors, with about $4m worth in savings in dollars and bitcoin at FTX when it collapsed.  He is one of the customers suing over the current bankruptcy plan, which he said amounted to a ""second crime"" against Bankman-Fried's customers.  Angela Chang, of Vancouver, a 36-year-old who worked in software, said she had about $250,000 deposited in dollars with FTX when it collapsed. She said she feared the harm done to FTX customers was being discounted because they were in the crypto industry. ""People think that crypto is criminal and so they have sympathy for this guy .... But I'm not a criminal,"" she said, describing how the fall of the firm threw her into depression and left her running up credit card debt. Facing a cash crunch, she ultimately sold a portion of a claim to an investor. Columbia Law professor Daniel Richman said the scale of the crime was rarely as contested as in this case. But he said decisions are often shaped more by other issues, including a judge's own impressions of the defendant, and what it would take to deter him from further crimes.  In this case, Judge Kaplan, a veteran of the court system who has presided over a slew of high profile trials involving public figures such as Donald Trump and actor Kevin Spacey, has already proven to be sceptical of Bankman-Fried's actions, revoking his bail last year after finding he was trying to intimidate other witnesses.  ""Any judge or lawyer will tell you that one of the best things the defendant can do before being sentences is really really show he's on the right path, show some remorse and show some degree of self-knowledge as to his offence,"" Prof Richman said.  ""Here you not only have a defendant who went to trial but you have one who really, at least the judge believed, was obstructive prior to trial,"" he said, adding that it would be ""really surprising"" for Judge Kaplan to render a sentence anything like the defence request.   Since the 1980s, the US has significantly increased the length of its official recommendations for jail time for white collar criminals. Though judges frequently depart from the guidelines, introducing wide variability, ""the risk of harshness is greater than in most countries"" - particularly for high-profile cases, Prof Richman said. In her own appeal to the judge, Barbara Fried, Bankman-Fried's mother and a former law professor, noted the ""punitive nature"" of the US justice system ""which makes us an extreme outlier among democracies"".  ""I have no illusions about the redemptive power of prisons,"" she wrote. ""Being consigned to prison for decades will destroy Sam as surely as would hanging him."" ",BBC,28/03/2024,"['Sam Bankman-Fried, the former billionaire crypto boss who was convicted of fraud and money laundering last year, will return to court in New York on Thursday to be sentenced for his crimes.', 'It is certain the 32-year-old will be going to jail; what is not known is how long for.', 'The moment has revived debate about the extent of his crimes - and what punishment might fit.', 'His legal team have called for leniency, but prosecutors are seeking 40 to 50 years in prison.', 'They say such a sentence is warranted for someone who lied to investors and banks, and stole billions in deposits from customers of his now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX.', 'His defence team has proposed five to 6.5 years, accusing the government of adopting ""a medieval view of punishment"" by insisting on a lengthy term behind bars for a non-violent, first-time criminal.', 'The question has generated hundreds of pages of letters from former FTX customers, family, friends of his parents - even complete strangers - trying to sway Judge Lewis Kaplan, the federal justice who will decide his fate. ""', 'He has shown no remorse so why would any judge show any mercy?""', 'said Sunil Kavuri, a British investor who had more than $2m worth of holdings on the exchange when it collapsed, and one of the people mobilising former customers to share their experience with the court.', ""FTX's collapse in 2022 was a stunning fall for Bankman-Fried, who had become a billionaire and business celebrity promoting the firm, a platform people could use to deposit and trade crypto."", 'It attracted millions of customers, before rumours of financial trouble sparked a run on deposits.', 'In November 2023, a US jury found Bankman-Fried had stolen billions in customer money from the exchange ahead of the collapse to buy property, make political donations and use for other investments.', 'Many of those customers now appear poised to recover significant sums, under a plan being developed in the separate bankruptcy case.', 'Under that proposal, former customers could receive money based on what their holdings were worth at the time the exchange collapsed.', 'In court filings, the defence for Bankman-Fried, who is expected to appeal his conviction, has argued that such recovery warrants a lighter sentence.', 'They said it proved that ""money has always been available"" which ""would be impossible if [FTX\'s] assets had disappeared into Sam\'s personal pockets"".', 'But the repayment plan has left many former customers outraged, since they will miss out on the crypto rebound that has occurred since.', 'John Ray, the lawyer leading FTX through bankruptcy and a critic of Bankman-Fried, noted the concerns in his own letter to court. ""', 'Make no mistake; customers, non-governmental creditors, governmental creditors, and non-insider stockholders have suffered and continue to suffer,"" he wrote to the court, arguing that the claims of minimal loss were a sign that Bankman-Fried continued to live ""a life of delusion"".', 'Former FTX customers interviewed by the BBC said they were offended by the blithe dismissal of their problems, and urged the judge to reject calls for leniency. ""', 'The people who are saying this are not in a position like I\'m in, where you\'ve lost everything,"" said Arush Sehgal, a 38-year-old tech entrepreneur living in Barcelona, who, with his wife, is one of the exchange\'s biggest individual creditors, with about $4m worth in savings in dollars and bitcoin at FTX when it collapsed.', 'He is one of the customers suing over the current bankruptcy plan, which he said amounted to a ""second crime"" against Bankman-Fried\'s customers.', 'Angela Chang, of Vancouver, a 36-year-old who worked in software, said she had about $250,000 deposited in dollars with FTX when it collapsed.', 'She said she feared the harm done to FTX customers was being discounted because they were in the crypto industry. ""', 'People think that crypto is criminal and so they have sympathy for this guy .... But I\'m not a criminal,"" she said, describing how the fall of the firm threw her into depression and left her running up credit card debt.', 'Facing a cash crunch, she ultimately sold a portion of a claim to an investor.', 'Columbia Law professor Daniel Richman said the scale of the crime was rarely as contested as in this case.', ""But he said decisions are often shaped more by other issues, including a judge's own impressions of the defendant, and what it would take to deter him from further crimes."", 'In this case, Judge Kaplan, a veteran of the court system who has presided over a slew of high profile trials involving public figures such as Donald Trump and actor Kevin Spacey, has already proven to be sceptical of Bankman-Fried\'s actions, revoking his bail last year after finding he was trying to intimidate other witnesses. ""', 'Any judge or lawyer will tell you that one of the best things the defendant can do before being sentences is really really show he\'s on the right path, show some remorse and show some degree of self-knowledge as to his offence,"" Prof Richman said. ""', 'Here you not only have a defendant who went to trial but you have one who really, at least the judge believed, was obstructive prior to trial,"" he said, adding that it would be ""really surprising"" for Judge Kaplan to render a sentence anything like the defence request.', 'Since the 1980s, the US has significantly increased the length of its official recommendations for jail time for white collar criminals.', 'Though judges frequently depart from the guidelines, introducing wide variability, ""the risk of harshness is greater than in most countries"" - particularly for high-profile cases, Prof Richman said.', 'In her own appeal to the judge, Barbara Fried, Bankman-Fried\'s mother and a former law professor, noted the ""punitive nature"" of the US justice system ""which makes us an extreme outlier among democracies"". ""', 'I have no illusions about the redemptive power of prisons,"" she wrote. ""', 'Being consigned to prison for decades will destroy Sam as surely as would hanging him.""']",-0.2155700859375981,"Here you not only have a defendant who went to trial but you have one who really, at least the judge believed, was obstructive prior to trial,"" he said, adding that it would be ""really surprising"" for Judge Kaplan to render a sentence anything like the defence request.","Make no mistake; customers, non-governmental creditors, governmental creditors, and non-insider stockholders have suffered and continue to suffer,"" he wrote to the court, arguing that the claims of minimal loss were a sign that Bankman-Fried continued to live ""a life of delusion"".",-0.2517248094081878,"Many of those customers now appear poised to recover significant sums, under a plan being developed in the separate bankruptcy case.","FTX's collapse in 2022 was a stunning fall for Bankman-Fried, who had become a billionaire and business celebrity promoting the firm, a platform people could use to deposit and trade crypto.",2024-03-28
Bankers jailed for interest rate rigging lose appeal,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68595204,2024-03-27T11:49:04.000Z,"Two former bankers found guilty of rigging key interest rates have had their appeal against their convictions dismissed by the Court of Appeal. Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo were among 37 City traders prosecuted for manipulating rate benchmarks, Libor and Euribor. Both men spent time in prison before being released in 2021. Their case went before the Appeal Court after a judge in the US overturned similar convictions there. The convictions hinged on whether the traders acted dishonestly by influencing the setting of key Libor and Euribor interest rates, or whether it was normal practice at the time. In the original trial, Mr Hayes, who worked as a trader for UBS and then Citigroup, was described as the ""ringmaster"" of a plot to ensure Libor, a key interest rate, was set at levels that would benefit his own trades. Mr Hayes, now 44, who has been diagnosed with autism, has spent the last nine years trying to overturn his conviction. He succeeded in reducing his original 15-year jail sentence to 11 years, of which he served half. In the US, rate rigging convictions, including for Mr Hayes, have been overturned after an appeal court said the US government had failed to provide evidence the traders had said anything false or broken any rules. The cases of Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo were referred back to the UK Court of Appeal last year by the Criminal Cases Review Commission on the basis that the courts might prefer the view of the US judges. But Lord Justice Bean, the lead judge on the appeal panel, said the US judgment ""is not, and could not be, relevant"" to the issues in English law. Lawyers for Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo had raised concerns that judges had decided whether their conduct was permitted, but this should have been for the jury to decide. This was also dismissed. The traders say they will now apply to take their cases to the Supreme Court.   Mr Palombo, who worked for Barclays, was convicted of seeking to influence where the Euribor interest rate was set to suit his trading positions. The scandal around the setting of Libor and Euribor broke in 2012 just after the financial crisis, as a light was shone on the workings of the City of London. The subsequent prosecutions in London and New York focused the blame on individual traders. Juries were shown messages in which the traders had jokily discussed how easy it was to influence where the rate was set, for example, a message from Mr Hayes suggesting you just needed to offer the colleague responsible a Mars Bar. Banks have paid $9bn in fines for manipulating Libor and Euribor but no senior executive has ever been prosecuted. The UK is currently the only jurisdiction in the world that treats what traders did as criminal. The BBC revealed evidence last year that indicated that central banks including the Bank of England and the central banks of France, Italy, Spain and the US intervened on a large scale in the setting of Libor and Euribor. ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['Two former bankers found guilty of rigging key interest rates have had their appeal against their convictions dismissed by the Court of Appeal.', 'Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo were among 37 City traders prosecuted for manipulating rate benchmarks, Libor and Euribor.', 'Both men spent time in prison before being released in 2021.', 'Their case went before the Appeal Court after a judge in the US overturned similar convictions there.', 'The convictions hinged on whether the traders acted dishonestly by influencing the setting of key Libor and Euribor interest rates, or whether it was normal practice at the time.', 'In the original trial, Mr Hayes, who worked as a trader for UBS and then Citigroup, was described as the ""ringmaster"" of a plot to ensure Libor, a key interest rate, was set at levels that would benefit his own trades.', 'Mr Hayes, now 44, who has been diagnosed with autism, has spent the last nine years trying to overturn his conviction.', 'He succeeded in reducing his original 15-year jail sentence to 11 years, of which he served half.', 'In the US, rate rigging convictions, including for Mr Hayes, have been overturned after an appeal court said the US government had failed to provide evidence the traders had said anything false or broken any rules.', 'The cases of Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo were referred back to the UK Court of Appeal last year by the Criminal Cases Review Commission on the basis that the courts might prefer the view of the US judges.', 'But Lord Justice Bean, the lead judge on the appeal panel, said the US judgment ""is not, and could not be, relevant"" to the issues in English law.', 'Lawyers for Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo had raised concerns that judges had decided whether their conduct was permitted, but this should have been for the jury to decide.', 'This was also dismissed.', 'The traders say they will now apply to take their cases to the Supreme Court.', 'Mr Palombo, who worked for Barclays, was convicted of seeking to influence where the Euribor interest rate was set to suit his trading positions.', 'The scandal around the setting of Libor and Euribor broke in 2012 just after the financial crisis, as a light was shone on the workings of the City of London.', 'The subsequent prosecutions in London and New York focused the blame on individual traders.', 'Juries were shown messages in which the traders had jokily discussed how easy it was to influence where the rate was set, for example, a message from Mr Hayes suggesting you just needed to offer the colleague responsible a Mars Bar.', 'Banks have paid $9bn in fines for manipulating Libor and Euribor but no senior executive has ever been prosecuted.', 'The UK is currently the only jurisdiction in the world that treats what traders did as criminal.', 'The BBC revealed evidence last year that indicated that central banks including the Bank of England and the central banks of France, Italy, Spain and the US intervened on a large scale in the setting of Libor and Euribor.']",-0.0080207692713227,"In the original trial, Mr Hayes, who worked as a trader for UBS and then Citigroup, was described as the ""ringmaster"" of a plot to ensure Libor, a key interest rate, was set at levels that would benefit his own trades.","The scandal around the setting of Libor and Euribor broke in 2012 just after the financial crisis, as a light was shone on the workings of the City of London.",0.9327704310417176,"He succeeded in reducing his original 15-year jail sentence to 11 years, of which he served half.",,2024-03-28
New post-Brexit tariff to apply to UK cars going to Canada,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68688486,2024-03-28T18:01:21.000Z,"From Monday, any cars the UK exports to Canada will face an additional 6% tariff, or tax. The change comes after a post-Brexit agreement to continue EU trading terms expired without a new deal. The new tariffs are determined by whether the UK products exported to Canada use EU parts and materials. Limits, which had been waived, will now apply, meaning that certain exports, including cars, will not qualify for zero-tariff trade.  In 2023, 1.3% of British-built cars were exported to Canada, making it the UK's eighth largest market, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which represents the UK car industry. The car industry has expressed its concern, especially as there appears no timetable for a resumption of discussions.  The tariff was ""disappointing"", said Mike Hawes from SMMT, adding that manufacturers ""can only do so much"" to mitigate the higher costs for consumers which will result from the tariff. ""Given Canada's importance as a market for UK automotive exports, and the detriment this tariff will have on Canadian consumers, we urge all parties to be pragmatic, to resume negotiations on an upgraded trade deal,"" Mr Hawes added. These so-called ""rules of origin"" considerations also matter in the chemicals industry.  There is a wider disagreement between the UK and Canada over punitive tariffs on UK exports of cheese and the refusal of the UK to allow imports of Canadian hormone-treated beef. As a result of the disagreement, the trade secretary pulled the plug on wider free trade deal talks with Canada. Trade secretary Kemi Badenoch met her Canadian counterpart at a trade summit in February, and officials continued discussions recently without a breakthrough. A UK government source said it was a shame that Canada could not see that ""now, more than ever"" it was vital for allies to work together. ""Sadly, Canada has shown no willingness to agree an extension,"" they said. ""There's only so long you can bang your head against a brick wall when the other side isn't willing to find solutions."" Canadian farmers have lobbied the government in Ottawa to veto the ratification of the UK's membership of the trans-Pacific trade deal, the CPTPP. But Canada does appear to be pushing ahead with UK accession. However, with both the UK and Canada in the run-up to elections, it could be some time before the spat is settled. A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: ""Canada's decision not to roll over these rules of origin will increase the cost of trade and hurt businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.  ""The UK Government remains ready to work with Canada to find a solution that works for both countries, but we won't accept rowing back on the current terms"". ",BBC,28/03/2024,"['From Monday, any cars the UK exports to Canada will face an additional 6% tariff, or tax.', 'The change comes after a post-Brexit agreement to continue EU trading terms expired without a new deal.', 'The new tariffs are determined by whether the UK products exported to Canada use EU parts and materials.', 'Limits, which had been waived, will now apply, meaning that certain exports, including cars, will not qualify for zero-tariff trade.', ""In 2023, 1.3% of British-built cars were exported to Canada, making it the UK's eighth largest market, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which represents the UK car industry."", 'The car industry has expressed its concern, especially as there appears no timetable for a resumption of discussions.', 'The tariff was ""disappointing"", said Mike Hawes from SMMT, adding that manufacturers ""can only do so much"" to mitigate the higher costs for consumers which will result from the tariff. ""', 'Given Canada\'s importance as a market for UK automotive exports, and the detriment this tariff will have on Canadian consumers, we urge all parties to be pragmatic, to resume negotiations on an upgraded trade deal,"" Mr Hawes added.', 'These so-called ""rules of origin"" considerations also matter in the chemicals industry.', 'There is a wider disagreement between the UK and Canada over punitive tariffs on UK exports of cheese and the refusal of the UK to allow imports of Canadian hormone-treated beef.', 'As a result of the disagreement, the trade secretary pulled the plug on wider free trade deal talks with Canada.', 'Trade secretary Kemi Badenoch met her Canadian counterpart at a trade summit in February, and officials continued discussions recently without a breakthrough.', 'A UK government source said it was a shame that Canada could not see that ""now, more than ever"" it was vital for allies to work together. ""', 'Sadly, Canada has shown no willingness to agree an extension,"" they said. ""', 'There\'s only so long you can bang your head against a brick wall when the other side isn\'t willing to find solutions.""', ""Canadian farmers have lobbied the government in Ottawa to veto the ratification of the UK's membership of the trans-Pacific trade deal, the CPTPP."", 'But Canada does appear to be pushing ahead with UK accession.', 'However, with both the UK and Canada in the run-up to elections, it could be some time before the spat is settled.', 'A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: ""Canada\'s decision not to roll over these rules of origin will increase the cost of trade and hurt businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. ""', 'The UK Government remains ready to work with Canada to find a solution that works for both countries, but we won\'t accept rowing back on the current terms"".']",0.0429397220316586,"The UK Government remains ready to work with Canada to find a solution that works for both countries, but we won't accept rowing back on the current terms"".",There is a wider disagreement between the UK and Canada over punitive tariffs on UK exports of cheese and the refusal of the UK to allow imports of Canadian hormone-treated beef.,-0.1235244529587882,"The tariff was ""disappointing"", said Mike Hawes from SMMT, adding that manufacturers ""can only do so much"" to mitigate the higher costs for consumers which will result from the tariff. ""","A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: ""Canada's decision not to roll over these rules of origin will increase the cost of trade and hurt businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. """,2024-03-28
Donald Trump media firm soars in stock market debut,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68667664,2024-03-26T14:16:15.000Z,"Shares in Donald Trump's media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market.  Shares surged past $70 in early trade, giving the firm a market value of more than $9bn. They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.  The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $4bn. Analysts say that is far more than the firm's performance warrants.  Trump Media's Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m.  It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active.  By comparison, the recently-listed Reddit currently has a market value of about $11bn. It boasts more than 70 million users and brought in $800m in revenue last year.  Kristi Marvin, chief executive of SPACInsider, compared Trump Media - which trades under the ticker DJT for Mr Trump's initials - to a meme stock, in which prices are untethered from the business prospects. Interest in Trump Media has also been fuelled by individual investors, as opposed to Wall Street firms, many of them apparently Trump supporters.  ""Everybody expected to trade a little bit crazy today, which it has,"" she said. ""The real question is how does it trade a week from now, two weeks from now and nobody really knows."" The deal to list Trump Media was first announced in 2021. The move was accomplished via what is known as a SPAC, a merger with a publicly listed shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, which was expressly created to buy a company and take it public. The deal was delayed by government investigations and other hurdles, but regulators cleared it earlier this year and Digital World shareholders voted in favour last week. Ahead of the listing on the Nasdaq exchange, Trump Media officials called it a ""pivotal moment"" for the firm - and the wider media landscape.  ""As a public company, we will passionately pursue our vision to build a movement to reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors,"" said Trump Media chief executive Devin Nunes, a former congressman.  ""We will continue to fulfil our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbour for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors."" The debut comes at a critical moment for Mr Trump, who has been scrambling for cash to pay legal penalties and owns more than half of the firm's shares. He is currently barred from selling his holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately. The company's board, which is stocked with allies including one of his sons, could potentially change that rule, but analysts have said they think that would be unlikely to happen immediately. If Mr Trump were to sell a significant chunk of his shares, it could hurt the share price.  Investors face other risks as well, tied to Mr Trump's political fortunes and his 2024 presidential campaign. A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University. However, Prof Ohlrogge said the current share price is ""far, far elevated above what anyone would consider its fundamental value"". ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""Shares in Donald Trump's media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market."", 'Shares surged past $70 in early trade, giving the firm a market value of more than $9bn.', 'They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.', 'The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $4bn.', ""Analysts say that is far more than the firm's performance warrants."", ""Trump Media's Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m. It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active."", 'By comparison, the recently-listed Reddit currently has a market value of about $11bn.', 'It boasts more than 70 million users and brought in $800m in revenue last year.', ""Kristi Marvin, chief executive of SPACInsider, compared Trump Media - which trades under the ticker DJT for Mr Trump's initials - to a meme stock, in which prices are untethered from the business prospects."", 'Interest in Trump Media has also been fuelled by individual investors, as opposed to Wall Street firms, many of them apparently Trump supporters. ""', 'Everybody expected to trade a little bit crazy today, which it has,"" she said. ""', 'The real question is how does it trade a week from now, two weeks from now and nobody really knows.""', 'The deal to list Trump Media was first announced in 2021.', 'The move was accomplished via what is known as a SPAC, a merger with a publicly listed shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, which was expressly created to buy a company and take it public.', 'The deal was delayed by government investigations and other hurdles, but regulators cleared it earlier this year and Digital World shareholders voted in favour last week.', 'Ahead of the listing on the Nasdaq exchange, Trump Media officials called it a ""pivotal moment"" for the firm - and the wider media landscape. ""', 'As a public company, we will passionately pursue our vision to build a movement to reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors,"" said Trump Media chief executive Devin Nunes, a former congressman. ""', 'We will continue to fulfil our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbour for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors.""', ""The debut comes at a critical moment for Mr Trump, who has been scrambling for cash to pay legal penalties and owns more than half of the firm's shares."", 'He is currently barred from selling his holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately.', ""The company's board, which is stocked with allies including one of his sons, could potentially change that rule, but analysts have said they think that would be unlikely to happen immediately."", 'If Mr Trump were to sell a significant chunk of his shares, it could hurt the share price.', ""Investors face other risks as well, tied to Mr Trump's political fortunes and his 2024 presidential campaign."", 'A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University.', 'However, Prof Ohlrogge said the current share price is ""far, far elevated above what anyone would consider its fundamental value"".']",0.2659210338425756,"A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University.","He is currently barred from selling his holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately.",0.4114337888630954,"They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.","Trump Media's Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m. It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active.",2024-03-28
Disney and DeSantis allies end legal dispute over control of theme park,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68675795,2024-03-27T18:00:55.000Z,"Allies of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney have reached a settlement agreement over how Walt Disney World is governed in the future. It comes after a judge ruled in January that it was legal for the state to make changes to the amusement theme park's district government. A row between the two sides has been trundling on for almost two years. It was sparked by Disney's criticism of a state law that restricted the teaching of sexuality in schools. In a meeting on Wednesday, members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board approved the settlement agreement. Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement that the company was pleased that a settlement had been reached. ""This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,"" the Associated Press news agency quoted Mr Vahle as saying. The two sides started feuding after Disney, under pressure from its staff, criticised the Parental Rights in Education Act - dubbed the ""Don't Say Gay"" bill by critics - which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students in Florida. In response to Disney's criticism, Mr DeSantis - who is a proponent of the law - passed legislation that stripped Disney of its self-governing authority - a power the company had for more than 50 years. The move gave more power to Mr DeSantis, who now appoints members of a board that governs the park's 25,000 acres. But before the board changed hands, Disney supporters on the board signed agreements with the company shifting control of some aspects at Disney World to the company - a move the district then sued Disney over. The company also countersued. Under Wednesday's agreement, litigation counsel Paul Huck said at the board meeting that the company recognised that the signing over of control to Disney before the board changed hands was ""null and void"".  The city-sized theme park had been operated by Disney since 1971. ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['Allies of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney have reached a settlement agreement over how Walt Disney World is governed in the future.', ""It comes after a judge ruled in January that it was legal for the state to make changes to the amusement theme park's district government."", 'A row between the two sides has been trundling on for almost two years.', ""It was sparked by Disney's criticism of a state law that restricted the teaching of sexuality in schools."", 'In a meeting on Wednesday, members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board approved the settlement agreement.', 'Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement that the company was pleased that a settlement had been reached. ""', 'This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,"" the Associated Press news agency quoted Mr Vahle as saying.', 'The two sides started feuding after Disney, under pressure from its staff, criticised the Parental Rights in Education Act - dubbed the ""Don\'t Say Gay"" bill by critics - which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students in Florida.', ""In response to Disney's criticism, Mr DeSantis - who is a proponent of the law - passed legislation that stripped Disney of its self-governing authority - a power the company had for more than 50 years."", ""The move gave more power to Mr DeSantis, who now appoints members of a board that governs the park's 25,000 acres."", 'But before the board changed hands, Disney supporters on the board signed agreements with the company shifting control of some aspects at Disney World to the company - a move the district then sued Disney over.', 'The company also countersued.', 'Under Wednesday\'s agreement, litigation counsel Paul Huck said at the board meeting that the company recognised that the signing over of control to Disney before the board changed hands was ""null and void"".', 'The city-sized theme park had been operated by Disney since 1971.']",0.1713182077687389,"This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,"" the Associated Press news agency quoted Mr Vahle as saying.","The two sides started feuding after Disney, under pressure from its staff, criticised the Parental Rights in Education Act - dubbed the ""Don't Say Gay"" bill by critics - which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students in Florida.",0.6832387844721476,"This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,"" the Associated Press news agency quoted Mr Vahle as saying.","The two sides started feuding after Disney, under pressure from its staff, criticised the Parental Rights in Education Act - dubbed the ""Don't Say Gay"" bill by critics - which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students in Florida.",2024-03-28
How to make high interest rates work for your hard-earned savings,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/20/success/interest-rates-savings-cash/index.html,"
  Published
        3:00 PM EDT, Wed March 20, 2024
    ","The Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate remains at a 23-year high. That’s thanks to the central bank’s decision Wednesday to once again hold it steady, as it has done at the policy-making committee’s past five meetings.
    
            That decision may be disappointing to some investors, homebuyers and those with a lot of credit card debt, since movement in the Fed’s overnight lending rate influences rates — directly or indirectly — on consumer financial products (e.g., credit cards, bank loans and mortgages).
    
            But with the Fed signaling that no rate cuts are likely until summer, it also means anyone with savings still has at least a few more months to make hay of their stash.
    
            That’s because you can still get inflation-beating interest rates that will grow any money you have set aside for emergencies, vacations, down payments or any other goal in your sights over the next several years.
    
            However, that won’t happen if you just let it sit in a traditional checking or savings account that yields next to nothing. There are more lucrative, low-risk options out there, with rates that are still at or near their peaks. “But perhaps not for much longer,” said Ted Rossman, senior analyst at Bankrate. “If one of those fits into your financial plans, it’s best to act soon.”
    
            So, consider the following options when deciding where to park your hard-earned savings.
    
            The average annual percentage yield on bank savings accounts was just 0.52% as of March 13, according to Bankrate. That average is kept low by the biggest brick-and-mortar banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, which still are offering a paltry 0.01%.
    
            By contrast, there are still FDIC-insured online banks offering inflation-beating rates of between 4.35% and 5.35% on their high-yield savings accounts. Generally speaking, these are the best vehicles in which to keep your emergency funds for quick, easy access.
    
            Choosing between an account that pays 0.52% and one that pays 5.35% can mean forfeiting hundreds of dollars in interest. “If you put $10,000 in a savings account, that’s a difference of $496 in interest earnings over the course of the year, assuming monthly compounding,” Rossman said.
    
            While the rates on high-yield savings accounts have gone down a bit in recent months, “widespread cuts in online savings account rates are unlikely until the first Fed rate cut is near,” said Ken Tumin, founder of DepositAccounts.com.
    
            As with any bank savings rate, high-yield savings account rates can change overnight, and the bank may not alert you when it lowers it. So make sure to check your monthly statement.
    
            Another high-return, low-risk investment that is great for money you likely won’t need to tap for a few months or even a couple of years is a certificate of deposit.
    
            You can get the best returns on CDs through a brokerage such as Schwab, E*Trade or Fidelity. That’s because you can comparison shop for CDs from any number of FDIC-insured banks and will not have to set up individual accounts with each institution.
    
            As of March 13, the average rate on a one-year CD was 1.95%, but some banks are offering as much are 5.4%.
    
            If you can get a one-year CD at, say, 5.4%, you will make $540 on a $10,000 investment.
    
            To get the greatest benefit from a CD, you have to leave the money invested for a fixed period. You can always access your principal sooner if you need to, but there may be early withdrawal penalties.
    
            As of March 20, CDs listed on Schwab.com with durations from three months up to three years were all yielding between 5.2% and 5.51%. CD rates on durations between four and 10 years ranged from 4.40% to 5.15%.
    
            Say you invest $10,000 in a one-year CD with a 5.36% APY. At the end of that period, you’d get your principal back plus $536 in interest when the CD matures, according to Bankrate’s CD calculator. If you chose a two-year CD at 5.25%, you’d bank an extra $1,078, assuming compounding interest. The same investment in a five-year CD at 5.15% would earn $2,854.
    
            “It makes sense to go long with CDs. To hedge your bets, include terms from one to five years. Starting a CD ladder will provide this mix,” Tumin said.
    
            If you don’t go through a brokerage you may get a reasonable deal from your primary bank, Tumin said.
    
            For example, he noted, Wells Fargo is still offering up to 5.01% on both 4-month and 7-month CDs. Or, at Bank of America, you can get up to 4.75% on a 7-month CD.
    
            But Tumin cautions that with any big bank CD you should take your money out at the end of the term, otherwise your bank may automatically renew it and lock you in to a much lower-yielding CD.
    
            If you don’t want to set up an online savings account at another bank, your own bank may offer you a money market deposit account that pays a higher yield than your regular checking or savings accounts.
    
            Money market accounts may have higher minimum deposit requirements than a regular savings account, but they are more liquid than a fixed-term certificate of deposit or Treasury bill, meaning they give you access to your money more quickly while still potentially giving you some of the highest yields available, said Doug Ornstein, senior manager for integrated solutions at TIAA Wealth Management.
    
            But don’t confuse money market accounts with money market mutual funds, which invest in short-term, low-risk debt instruments. As of March 19, they had an average 7-day yield of 5.14%, according to the Crane Money Fund Index, which tracks the top 100 taxable money market funds.
    
            Unlike money market deposit accounts, money market mutual funds are not insured by the FDIC. But if you invest in a money market fund through a brokerage, your overall account is likely to be insured through the Securities Investor Protection Corp, which offers protection in the event your brokerage ever goes under.
    
            Another option for money you can leave untouched anywhere from several months to a few years is to buy short-term Treasury bills and medium-term notes, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.
    
            Three- and six-month bills had yields of 5.39% and 5.33% respectively on March 20 before the Fed’s meeting ended, while nine-month and one-year bills were offering 5.19% and 5.08% respectively, according to rates posted on Schwab.com for a $25,000 investment. Rates on Treasury notes with durations from two years to 10 years ranged between 4.29% and 4.72%.
    
            If you’re someone who manages your portfolio like a hawk, you may feel comfortable buying T-bills on your own from TreasuryDirect.gov. But if you don’t, it might be easier just to buy new issues through your brokerage account or invest in a short-term bond index fund or ETF, said Andy Smith, executive director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines.
    
            And if you’re looking at money that will be needed in three to five years, you might consider a diversified fund of highly rated government and corporate bonds, Ornstein said. An 18-month AAA-rated corporate bond, for instance, was yielding 4.82% this week, while the three-year was at 4.49%. Meanwhile, three-year AAA-rated municipal bonds (which are issued by local governments) had a rate of 3.98%, according to Schwab.com.
    
            When deciding on the best accounts and investments for your specific goals and peace of mind, it may pay to consult a fee-only fiduciary adviser — meaning, someone who doesn’t get paid a commission to sell you a particular investment.
    
            What you’ll always want to do is build in flexibility for yourself so you can easily access cash, regardless of your timeline for key goals. “What happens if something changes and you need that down payment a lot sooner — or your parents need medical care fast?” Smith said.
    
            That means balancing your desire for great yield with a need and desire for ease of access without penalty. Translation: Don’t chase yield for yield’s sake.
    
            Think of it this way, Ornstein said: Unless you have huge sums to invest or are an institutional investor, the difference between getting a 5.1% yield versus 5% is negligible, and in fact it could even cost you more if there are penalties for taking your money out early. “Most of the time convenience is really important. Give up the 0.1%,” he advised.",CNN,20/03/2024,"['The Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate remains at a 23-year high.', 'That’s thanks to the central bank’s decision Wednesday to once again hold it steady, as it has done at the policy-making committee’s past five meetings.', 'That decision may be disappointing to some investors, homebuyers and those with a lot of credit card debt, since movement in the Fed’s overnight lending rate influences rates — directly or indirectly — on consumer financial products (e.g., credit cards, bank loans and mortgages).', 'Butwith the Fed signaling that no rate cuts are likely until summer, it also means anyone with savings still has at least a few more months to make hay of their stash.', 'That’s because you can still get inflation-beating interest rates that will grow any money you have set aside for emergencies, vacations, down payments or any other goal in your sights over the next several years.', 'However, that won’t happen if you just let it sit in a traditional checking or savings account that yields next to nothing.', 'There are more lucrative, low-risk options out there, with rates that are still at or near their peaks. “', 'But perhaps not for much longer,” said Ted Rossman, senior analyst at Bankrate. “', 'If one of those fits into your financial plans, it’s best to act soon.”', 'So, consider the following options when deciding where to park your hard-earned savings.', 'The average annual percentage yield on bank savings accounts was just 0.52% as of March 13, according to Bankrate.', 'That average is kept low by the biggest brick-and-mortar banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, which still are offering a paltry 0.01%.', 'By contrast, there are still FDIC-insured online banks offering inflation-beating rates of between 4.35% and 5.35% on their high-yield savings accounts.', 'Generally speaking, these are the best vehicles in which to keep your emergency funds for quick, easy access.', 'Choosing between an account that pays 0.52% and one that pays 5.35% can mean forfeiting hundreds of dollars in interest. “', 'If you put $10,000 in a savings account, that’s a difference of $496 in interest earnings over the course of the year, assuming monthly compounding,” Rossman said.', 'While the rates on high-yield savings accounts have gone down a bit in recent months, “widespread cuts in online savings account rates are unlikely until the first Fed rate cut is near,” said Ken Tumin, founder of DepositAccounts.com.', 'As with any bank savings rate, high-yield savings accountratescan change overnight, and the bank may not alert you when it lowers it.', 'So make sure to check your monthly statement.', 'Another high-return, low-risk investment that is great for money you likely won’t need to tap for a few months or even a couple of years is a certificate of deposit.', 'You can get the best returns on CDs through a brokerage such as Schwab, E*Trade or Fidelity.', 'That’s because you can comparison shop for CDs from any number of FDIC-insured banks and will not have to set up individual accounts with each institution.', 'As of March 13, the average rate on a one-year CD was 1.95%, but some banks are offering as much are 5.4%.', 'If you can get a one-year CD at, say, 5.4%, you will make $540 on a $10,000 investment.', 'To get the greatest benefit from a CD, you have to leave the money invested for a fixed period.', 'You can always access your principal sooner if you need to, but there may be early withdrawal penalties.', 'As of March 20, CDs listed on Schwab.com with durations from three months up to three years were all yielding between 5.2% and 5.51%.', 'CD rates on durations between four and 10 years ranged from 4.40% to 5.15%.', 'Say you invest $10,000 in a one-year CD with a 5.36%APY.', 'At the end of that period, you’d get your principal back plus $536 in interest when the CD matures, according to Bankrate’s CD calculator.', 'If you chose a two-year CD at 5.25%, you’d bank an extra $1,078, assuming compounding interest.', 'The same investment in a five-year CD at 5.15% would earn $2,854.', '“It makes sense to go long with CDs.', 'To hedge your bets, include terms from one to five years.', 'Starting a CD ladder will provide this mix,” Tumin said.', 'If you don’t go through a brokerage you may get a reasonable deal from your primary bank, Tumin said.', 'For example, he noted, Wells Fargo is still offering up to 5.01% on both 4-month and 7-month CDs.', 'Or, at Bank of America, you can get up to 4.75% on a 7-month CD.', 'But Tumin cautions that with any big bank CD you should take your money out at the end of the term, otherwise your bank may automatically renew it and lock you in to a much lower-yielding CD.', 'If you don’t want to set up an online savings account at another bank, your own bank may offer you a money market deposit account that pays a higher yield than your regular checking or savings accounts.', 'Money market accounts may have higher minimum deposit requirements than a regular savings account, but they are more liquid than a fixed-term certificate of deposit or Treasury bill, meaning they give you access to your money more quickly while still potentially giving you some of the highest yields available, said Doug Ornstein, senior manager for integrated solutions at TIAA Wealth Management.', 'But don’t confuse money market accounts with money market mutual funds, which invest in short-term, low-risk debt instruments.', 'As of March 19, they had an average 7-day yield of 5.14%, according to the Crane Money Fund Index, which tracks the top 100 taxable money market funds.', 'Unlike money market deposit accounts, money market mutual funds are not insured by the FDIC.', 'But if you invest in a money market fund through a brokerage, your overall account is likely to be insured through the Securities Investor Protection Corp, which offers protection in the event your brokerage ever goes under.', 'Another option for money you can leave untouched anywhere from several months to a few years is to buy short-term Treasury bills and medium-term notes, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.', 'Three- and six-month bills had yields of 5.39% and 5.33%respectively on March 20 before the Fed’s meeting ended, while nine-month and one-year bills were offering 5.19% and 5.08%respectively, according to rates posted on Schwab.com for a $25,000 investment.', 'Rates on Treasury notes with durations from two years to 10 years ranged between 4.29% and 4.72%.', 'If you’re someone who manages your portfolio like a hawk, you may feel comfortable buying T-bills on your own from TreasuryDirect.gov.', 'But if you don’t, it might be easier just to buy new issues through your brokerage account or invest in a short-term bond index fund or ETF, said Andy Smith, executive director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines.', 'And if you’re looking at money that will be needed in three to five years, you might consider a diversified fund of highly rated government and corporate bonds, Ornstein said.', 'An 18-month AAA-rated corporate bond, for instance, was yielding 4.82% this week, while the three-year was at 4.49%.', 'Meanwhile, three-year AAA-rated municipal bonds (which are issued by local governments) had a rate of 3.98%, according to Schwab.com.', 'When deciding on the best accounts and investments for your specific goals and peace of mind, it may pay to consult a fee-only fiduciary adviser — meaning, someone who doesn’t get paid a commission to sell you a particular investment.', 'What you’ll always want to do is build in flexibility for yourself so you can easily access cash, regardless of your timeline for key goals. “', 'What happens if something changes and you need that down payment a lot sooner — or your parents need medical care fast?”', 'Smith said.', 'That means balancing your desire for great yield with a need and desire for ease of access without penalty.', 'Translation: Don’t chase yield for yield’s sake.', 'Think of it this way, Ornstein said: Unless you have huge sums to invest or are an institutional investor, the difference between getting a 5.1% yield versus 5% is negligible, and in fact it could even cost you more if there are penalties for taking your money out early. “', 'Most of the time convenience is really important.', 'Give up the 0.1%,” he advised.']",0.1607169988950149,That means balancing your desire for great yield with a need and desire for ease of access without penalty.,"But don’t confuse money market accounts with money market mutual funds, which invest in short-term, low-risk debt instruments.",0.3840321362018585,"For example, he noted, Wells Fargo is still offering up to 5.01% on both 4-month and 7-month CDs.","That decision may be disappointing to some investors, homebuyers and those with a lot of credit card debt, since movement in the Fed’s overnight lending rate influences rates — directly or indirectly — on consumer financial products (e.g., credit cards, bank loans and mortgages).",2024-03-28
"As cocoa prices soar this Easter, chocolatiers consider alternatives",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/business/chocolate-price-increase-easter-holidays/index.html,"
  Published
        7:00 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","Cocoa prices are surging so high, the Easter Bunny might want to hoard its chocolate.
    
            Consumers hunting for Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies this year can expect sticker shock similar to Valentine’s Day. Retail chocolate prices rose 11.6% across all of 2023, according to Circana data shared with CNN, outpacing the 3.4% annual rise in the overall Consumer Price Index, a common measure of inflation.
    
            That’s in large part because the price of cocoa – a key ingredient for chocolate – has spiked. Poor climate and crop diseases in West Africa – home to 70% of global cocoa production – have tightened supply and caused prices to skyrocket.
    
            Cocoa futures have more than doubled since January, hitting a record high of $10,000 ahead of the chocolate-heavy Easter holiday. That’s a 250% increase from last March, outpacing recent surges in Bitcoin and gold.
    
            And while chocolate sales the two weeks around Easter hit $925 million last year, according to data from NielsenIQ, experts wonder how long the growth can last as the cost of cocoa continues to soar.
    
            As prices rise, some chocolatiers are exploring cost-cutting alternatives, like diversifying their products to depend less on cocoa. The companies are fighting to hold on to consumers tempted to defect from chocolate in favor of jelly beans, salty snacks or other rival treats.
    
            Hershey’s, for example, has announced Easter products including Cadbury Caramello miniature chocolates which feature a caramel fill, a lemon crisp KitKat and an Easter candy assortment with Haribo gummy bears.
    
            In February, Hershey’s announced a new marketing partnership with Shaquille O’Neal to promote its gummy products, and CEO Michele Buck said the company plans to scale its gummy capacity up by 50% in 2024.
    
            Some food companies might venture into gummy products at Easter to compensate for the high cost of cocoa, Billy Roberts, senior economist at CoBank, told CNN.
    
            Dollar sales for non-chocolate and gummy products saw a 12.1% increase across 2023, outpacing chocolate, which saw a 5.8% increase in dollar sales, according to the NCA.
    
            US retail unit sales for chocolate decreased 5.3% across the same period, according to Circana, reflecting less buying from consumers while elevated prices boost sales.
    
            Roberts said consumers can continue to expect rising prices, as the current surge in cocoa will directly impact retail prices closer to Halloween.
    
            “Brands are looking at diversifying, to make sure to almost kind of hedge their bets a little bit about what happens if chocolate consumption really starts to deteriorate,” Roberts said.
    
            Issifu Issaka, who leads a cocoa farmers association in the Western North Region of Ghana, said investment in cocoa production is desperately needed as farmers face erratic weather and a struggling industry.
    
            Ghana and Ivory Coast are responsible for over 60 percent of global cocoa production, yet both nations are anticipating a reduction in their cocoa production due to adverse weather conditions, according to Will Kletter, VP of operations and strategy at Silicon Valley start up ClimateAi.
    
            In Ghana, heavy rainfall has spurred black pod disease and swollen shoot virus, damaging cocoa crops. In Ivory Coast, cocoa production from April to September is projected to decline by 25% to 30% compared to last year, due to unseasonal rain, dry spells and strong winds, Kletter said.
    
            Alongside climate risks, Issaka said farmers are facing increased costs of production, while earnings have remained flat. Industries like illegal mining have piqued the interest of farmers looking to make quick money. Yet mining often destroys farms and the possibility of a livelihood in cocoa production, Issaka said.
    
            In Ghana, the price paid to farmers – the farm gate price – is set by the government. As farmers advocate for a higher farm gate price, concerns about supply remain.
    
            According to a February 2024 report from the International Cocoa Organization, cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast and Ghana declined 28% and 35%, respectively, compared to the previous season.
    
            The high futures prices reflect uncertainty about the viability of the cocoa industry, Paul Joules, commodity analyst at Rabobank, told CNN.
    
            “The market is clearly in a state of panic as it comes to terms with the structural supply issues the cocoa industry is facing,” Joules said.
    
            Meanwhile, consumers continue to demand chocolate sweets. Confectionery sales in the US reached $48.8 billion across 2023, and chocolate sales contributed $25.9 billion to that, according to the NCA. Confectionery sales are expected to hit $61 billion by 2028.
    
            Joules said the factors underpinning long-term cocoa supply issues – crop disease, low farm gate prices, farmers exiting cocoa and aging trees – “are by no means a quick fix.”
    
            Lindt & Sprüngli, a purveyor of high-end chocolates, told CNN in an email that “the price hike in cocoa will require further price increases in 2024 and 2025, assuming that cocoa prices remain at current levels.”
    
            Prices for Nestlé chocolate products increased 7.2% across 2023, according to a Nestlé spokesperson. “Given the persistently high cocoa prices, it may be necessary for us to make responsible adjustments to pricing in the future,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. NielsenIQ data shows the average retail price for chocolate goods rose every Easter for the past five years, hitting $3.06 in 2023, up 38% from 2019.
    
            And Hershey’s CEO Michele Buck said on the company’s quarterly earnings call in February that the company would use “every tool in our toolbox, including pricing, as a way to manage the business.”
    
            Major manufacturers aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch. Peng Xu, co-owner of The Chocolate House, an artisanal chocolatier in Washington, DC, told CNN that price increases for craft chocolate are often due to inflationary pressures like labor costs, though unprecedented cocoa prices are posing a potential concern.
    
            Christopher Taylor, co-owner of Li-Lac Chocolates, which has served Manhattan for over 100 years, told CNN that high-quality chocolatiers are facing unprecedented cost-cutting initiatives.
    
            To break even, Taylor said Li-Lac would have to consider a price increase of 30%. Yet a spike like that isn’t feasible for customers, he said, meaning the business will have to incur costs.
    
            “We’re in full cost cutting mode,” he said. “We’re doing some price increases, but the customers just don’t want more price increases, so you know, we’re very careful in that regard. So, we just have to take it and cut costs where we can.”
    
            For Easter, consumers have other options, if chocolate prices put them off: Sales of Peeps in the US are expected to cross 100 million units this holiday, according to Euromonitor International.
    
            But for the chocolate industry, the outlook is dire.
    
            “It’s going to be brutal,” Taylor said. “There’s no sugarcoating it.”",CNN,28/03/2024,"['Cocoa prices are surging so high, the Easter Bunny might want to hoard its chocolate.', 'Consumers hunting for Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies this year can expect sticker shock similar to Valentine’s Day.', 'Retail chocolate prices rose 11.6% across all of 2023, according to Circana data shared with CNN, outpacing the 3.4% annual rise in the overall Consumer Price Index, a common measure of inflation.', 'That’s in large part because the price of cocoa – a key ingredient for chocolate – has spiked.', 'Poor climate and crop diseases in West Africa – home to 70% of global cocoa production – have tightened supply and caused prices to skyrocket.', 'Cocoa futures have more than doubled since January, hitting a record high of $10,000 ahead of the chocolate-heavy Easter holiday.', 'That’s a 250% increase from last March, outpacing recent surges in Bitcoin and gold.', 'And while chocolate sales the two weeks around Easter hit $925 million last year, according to data from NielsenIQ, experts wonder how long the growth can last as the cost of cocoa continues to soar.', 'As prices rise, some chocolatiers are exploring cost-cutting alternatives, like diversifying their products to depend less on cocoa.', 'The companies are fighting to hold on to consumers tempted to defect from chocolate in favor of jelly beans, salty snacks or other rival treats.', 'Hershey’s, for example, has announced Easter products including Cadbury Caramello miniature chocolates which feature a caramel fill, a lemon crisp KitKat and an Easter candy assortment with Haribo gummy bears.', 'In February, Hershey’s announced a new marketing partnership with Shaquille O’Neal to promote its gummy products, and CEO Michele Buck said the company plans to scale its gummy capacity up by 50% in 2024.', 'Some food companies might venture into gummy products at Easter to compensate for the high cost of cocoa, Billy Roberts, senior economist at CoBank, told CNN.', 'Dollar sales for non-chocolate and gummy products saw a 12.1% increase across 2023, outpacing chocolate, which saw a 5.8% increase in dollar sales, according to the NCA.', 'US retail unit sales for chocolate decreased 5.3% across the same period, according to Circana, reflecting less buying from consumers while elevated prices boost sales.', 'Roberts said consumers can continue to expect rising prices, as the current surge in cocoa will directly impact retail prices closer to Halloween.', '“Brands are looking at diversifying, to make sure to almost kind of hedge their bets a little bit about what happens if chocolate consumption really starts to deteriorate,” Roberts said.', 'Issifu Issaka, who leads a cocoa farmers association in the Western North Region of Ghana, said investment in cocoa production is desperately needed as farmers face erratic weather and a struggling industry.', 'Ghana and Ivory Coast are responsible for over 60 percent of global cocoa production, yet both nations are anticipating a reduction in their cocoa production due to adverse weather conditions, according to Will Kletter, VP of operations and strategy at Silicon Valley start up ClimateAi.', 'In Ghana, heavy rainfall has spurred black pod disease and swollen shoot virus, damaging cocoa crops.', 'In Ivory Coast, cocoa production from April to September is projected to decline by 25% to 30% compared to last year, due to unseasonal rain, dry spells and strong winds, Kletter said.', 'Alongside climate risks, Issaka said farmers are facing increased costs of production, while earnings have remained flat.', 'Industries like illegal mining have piqued the interest of farmers looking to make quick money.', 'Yet mining often destroys farms and the possibility of a livelihood in cocoa production, Issaka said.', 'In Ghana, the price paid to farmers – the farm gate price – is set by the government.', 'As farmers advocate for a higher farm gate price, concerns about supply remain.', 'According to a February 2024 report from the International Cocoa Organization, cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast and Ghana declined 28% and 35%, respectively, compared to the previous season.', 'The high futures prices reflect uncertainty about the viability of the cocoa industry, Paul Joules, commodity analyst at Rabobank, told CNN.', '“The market is clearly in a state of panic as it comes to terms with the structural supply issues the cocoa industry is facing,” Joules said.', 'Meanwhile, consumers continue to demand chocolate sweets.', 'Confectionery sales in the US reached $48.8 billion across 2023, and chocolate sales contributed $25.9 billion to that, according to the NCA.', 'Confectionery sales are expected to hit $61 billion by 2028.', 'Joules said the factors underpinning long-term cocoa supply issues – crop disease, low farm gate prices, farmers exiting cocoa and aging trees – “are by no means a quick fix.”', 'Lindt & Sprüngli, a purveyor of high-end chocolates, told CNN in an email that “the price hike in cocoa will require further price increases in 2024 and 2025, assuming that cocoa prices remain at current levels.”', 'Prices for Nestlé chocolate products increased 7.2% across 2023, according to a Nestlé spokesperson. “', 'Given the persistently high cocoa prices, it may be necessary for us to make responsible adjustments to pricing in the future,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.', 'NielsenIQ data shows the average retail price for chocolate goods rose every Easter for the past five years, hitting $3.06 in 2023, up 38% from 2019.', 'And Hershey’s CEO Michele Buck said on the company’s quarterly earnings call in February that the company would use “every tool in our toolbox, including pricing, as a way to manage the business.”', 'Major manufacturers aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch.', 'Peng Xu, co-owner of The Chocolate House, an artisanal chocolatier in Washington, DC, told CNN that price increases for craft chocolate are often due to inflationary pressures like labor costs, though unprecedented cocoa prices are posing a potential concern.', 'Christopher Taylor, co-owner of Li-Lac Chocolates, which has served Manhattan for over 100 years, told CNN that high-quality chocolatiers are facing unprecedented cost-cutting initiatives.', 'To break even, Taylor said Li-Lac would have to consider a price increase of 30%.', 'Yet a spike like that isn’t feasible for customers, he said, meaning the business will have to incur costs.', '“We’re in full cost cutting mode,” he said. “', 'We’re doing some price increases, but the customers just don’t want more price increases, so you know, we’re very careful in that regard.', 'So, we just have to take it and cut costs where we can.”', 'For Easter, consumers have other options, if chocolate prices put them off: Sales of Peeps in the US are expected to cross 100 million units this holiday, according to Euromonitor International.', 'But for the chocolate industry, the outlook is dire.', '“It’s going to be brutal,” Taylor said. “', 'There’s no sugarcoating it.”']",0.0320716709436472,"“Brands are looking at diversifying, to make sure to almost kind of hedge their bets a little bit about what happens if chocolate consumption really starts to deteriorate,” Roberts said.","In Ghana, heavy rainfall has spurred black pod disease and swollen shoot virus, damaging cocoa crops.",-0.2351876918007345,"NielsenIQ data shows the average retail price for chocolate goods rose every Easter for the past five years, hitting $3.06 in 2023, up 38% from 2019.","According to a February 2024 report from the International Cocoa Organization, cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast and Ghana declined 28% and 35%, respectively, compared to the previous season.",2024-03-28
Should you sell your home now or wait for the Realtor settlement this summer?,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/24/investing/when-to-list-your-home-nar-settlement/index.html,"
  Published
        9:30 AM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","Listing your home in the spring used to be a no-brainer. But a major real estate shakeup is complicating the equation.
    
            That shakeup is coming from a $418 million settlement the National Association of Realtors announced last week with groups of homesellers that could go into effect as early as July. The settlement will eliminate the long-standing standard 6% commission paid by the seller, which could ultimately make it cheaper to sell your home post-settlement.
    
            But is it worth waiting to list your home and potentially risking a sale?
    
            Would you rather be unloading boxes from a moving truck in a potential snowstorm or heatwave as opposed to when it’s a pleasant 60-degree day?
    
            That’s one of the main reasons spring has been the most popular season to buy a home.
    
            For families with children, it’s also an ideal time to close on home because it would allow them to stay in the same school.
    
            By springtime, people are also more likely to have paid off any debt they took on over the holidays, said Phil Crescenzo Jr., the southeast division vice president at Nation One Mortgage Corporation.
    
            The settlement could present a major downside to homebuyers.
    
            Under the current system, the buyer’s agent’s commission is baked into the total they pay for a home. That meant buyers could pay that added cost over the entire length of their mortgage.
    
            But after the settlement is finalized, many may have to pay flat fees upfront to agents. That would add to the financial burden for homebuyers – especially first-timers. And that’s on top of coming up with all the money they need for a home downpayment, closing costs, a lawyer and all the other fees associated with buying a home.
    
            Buyers, therefore, may have more of an incentive to close on a home sooner rather than later.
    
            There’s also no guarantee a federal court will sign off on the settlement as is. The unknowns associated with that are enough of a reason not to wait to list your home, said Crescenzo. From conversations he’s had with real estate agents, he said he’s not seeing any signs that the NAR settlement is delaying listing activity.
    
            “There is no reason to wait,” Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida. “The seller does not currently need to provide any compensation to the buyer’s agent.”
    
            The biggest advantage of waiting to list your home until the settlement is finalized is being able to negotiate an agent’s commission down more than they otherwise would’ve been able to. On top of that, they may be able to avoid having to pay the buyer’s agent’s commission.
    
            That could allow them to pocket thousands of dollars more on the sale of their home.
    
            If selling your home boiled down to a business decision, Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida, said he’d try to list it as soon as possible.
    
            “If I am trying to test the market, there would be no need to list it [now],” he added.
    
            But in his view, the NAR settlement shouldn’t be a major consideration when it comes to timing.
    
            “An agent who provides value will always be worth more than an agent who does not provide value,” because they can help you net more money for the sale of your home, he said.",CNN,24/03/2024,"['Listing your home in the spring used to be a no-brainer.', 'But a major real estate shakeup is complicating the equation.', 'That shakeup is coming from a$418 million settlementthe National Association of Realtors announced last week with groups of homesellers that could go into effect as early as July.', 'The settlement will eliminate the long-standing standard 6% commission paid by the seller, which could ultimately make it cheaper to sell your home post-settlement.', 'But is it worth waiting to list your home and potentially risking a sale?', 'Would you rather be unloading boxes from a moving truck in a potential snowstorm or heatwave as opposed to when it’s a pleasant 60-degree day?', 'That’s one of the main reasons spring has been the most popular season to buy a home.', 'For families with children, it’s also an ideal time to close on home because it would allow them to stay in the same school.', 'By springtime, people are also more likely to have paid off any debt they took on over the holidays, said Phil Crescenzo Jr., the southeast division vice president at Nation One Mortgage Corporation.', 'The settlement could present a major downside to homebuyers.', 'Under the current system, the buyer’s agent’s commission is baked into the total they pay for a home.', 'That meant buyers could pay that added cost over the entire length of their mortgage.', 'But after the settlement is finalized, many may have to pay flat fees upfront to agents.', 'That would add to the financial burden for homebuyers – especially first-timers.', 'And that’s on top of coming up with all the money they need for a home downpayment, closing costs, a lawyer and all the other fees associated with buying a home.', 'Buyers, therefore, may have more of an incentive to close on a home sooner rather than later.', 'There’s also no guarantee a federal court will sign off on the settlement as is.', 'The unknowns associated with that are enough of a reason not to wait to list your home, said Crescenzo.', 'From conversations he’s had with real estate agents, he said he’s not seeing any signs that the NAR settlement is delaying listing activity.', '“There is no reason to wait,” Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida. “', 'The seller does not currently need to provide any compensation to the buyer’s agent.”', 'The biggest advantage of waiting to list your home until the settlement is finalized is being able to negotiate an agent’s commission down more than they otherwise would’ve been able to.', 'On top of that, they may be able to avoid having to pay the buyer’s agent’s commission.', 'That could allow them to pocket thousands of dollars more on the sale of their home.', 'If selling your home boiled down to a business decision, Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida, said he’d try to list it as soon as possible.', '“If I am trying to test the market, there would be no need to list it [now],” he added.', 'But in his view, the NAR settlement shouldn’t be a major consideration when it comes to timing.', '“An agent who provides value will always be worth more than an agent who does not provide value,” because they can help you net more money for the sale of your home, he said.']",0.0146650118884628,"For families with children, it’s also an ideal time to close on home because it would allow them to stay in the same school.",That would add to the financial burden for homebuyers – especially first-timers.,0.5009672244389852,That could allow them to pocket thousands of dollars more on the sale of their home.,The settlement could present a major downside to homebuyers.,2024-03-28
The Chevrolet Corvette is officially going electric,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/25/business/electric-hybrid-corvette/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:22 PM EDT, Mon April 25, 2022
    ","General Motors will produce a fully electric Chevrolet Corvette, GM President Mark Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post Monday morning. 
    
            Reuss didn’t say when the electric Corvette would come, but he hinted that a hybrid model could come relatively soon. “We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year,” he wrote. An accompanying video the company posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be a hybrid Corvette, and in another first, showed the front wheels spinning and throwing snow as if being powered. All Corvettes produced by the company previously have been rear-wheel-drive only.
    
            While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.
    
            “Electrified” is an auto industry term encompassing everything from hybrid to fully electric vehicles, and anything with an electric motor can count as “electrified.” It has long been rumored that the current generation of the Corvette, the first with its gasoline engine mounted behind the seats instead of in the front, could be built with a hybrid system. Reuss has also previously hinted there would be electrified variants of the car.
    
            Various companies are working on electric sports cars. Most all-electric vehicles in production so far have been four-door sedans and SUVs, as the need for batteries lends itself to larger and heavier vehicles. Tesla’s first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, was an electric sports car, but the second-generation of Tesla Roadster, originally unveiled as a prototype in 2017, has yet to go into production.
    
            Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle. Lamborghini has been working on plug-in hybrid sports cars, though.
    
            To date, the Corvette is only available in the base Stingray version with 6.2-liter V8 engine producing up to 495 horsepower. A 670 horsepower Corvette Z06 with a 5.5-liter V8 was unveiled last fall. The previous generation of the Corvette included included a 755-horsepower ZR1 version. Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.
    
            Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines. Ferrari’s most powerful sports cars are hybrids, for instance.  
    
            GM has said it plans to produce only zero-emission vehicles, meaning fully electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells, by 2035.",CNN,25/04/2022,"['General Motors will produce a fully electric Chevrolet Corvette, GM President Mark Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post Monday morning.', 'Reuss didn’t say when the electric Corvette would come, but he hinted that a hybrid model could come relatively soon. “', 'We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year,” he wrote.', 'An accompanying video the company posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be a hybrid Corvette, and in another first, showed the front wheels spinning and throwing snow as if being powered.', 'All Corvettes produced by the company previously have been rear-wheel-drive only.', 'While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.', '“Electrified” is an auto industry term encompassing everything from hybrid to fully electric vehicles, and anything with an electric motor can count as “electrified.”', 'It has long been rumored that the current generation of the Corvette, the first with its gasoline engine mounted behind the seats instead of in the front, could be built with a hybrid system.', 'Reuss has also previously hinted there would be electrified variants of the car.', 'Various companies are working on electric sports cars.', 'Most all-electric vehicles in production so far have been four-door sedans and SUVs, as the need for batteries lends itself to larger and heavier vehicles.', 'Tesla’s first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, was an electric sports car, but the second-generation of Tesla Roadster, originally unveiled as a prototype in 2017, has yet to go into production.', 'Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle.', 'Lamborghini has been working on plug-in hybrid sports cars, though.', 'To date, the Corvette is only available in the base Stingray version with 6.2-liter V8 engine producing up to 495 horsepower.', 'A 670 horsepower Corvette Z06 with a 5.5-liter V8 was unveiled last fall.', 'The previous generation of the Corvette included included a 755-horsepower ZR1 version.', 'Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.', 'Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines.', 'Ferrari’s most powerful sports cars are hybrids, for instance.', 'GM has said it plans to produce only zero-emission vehicles, meaning fully electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells, by 2035.']",0.0521320736918344,Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.,"While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.",0.3646015524864197,"Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines.","Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle.",2024-03-28
"Asos, Boohoo and George promise 'clear and accurate' eco-claims",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68672700,2024-03-27T08:32:10.000Z,"Three of the UK's biggest budget fashion brands will change the way they present the environmental impact of their clothes, following action by the competition regulator. Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda have signed pledges to use only ""accurate and clear"" claims, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said. The firms said they remained committed to improving sustainability. The move is part of a wider move by the CMA against ""greenwashing"". Presenting products as more eco-friendly than they are, without providing further information, is not fair on customers and distorts competition, the regulator said. The CMA also has household products, such as washing up liquid and soaps in its sights. At the end of last year it said it was investigating consumer goods giant Unilever over whether some of its environmental branding was misleading. ""What we're asking firms to do is put themselves in the shoes of their shoppers, and see whether that claim is understandable in its own right - is it accompanied by information that makes clear what that means?"" said George Lusty interim executive director for consumer protection and markets at the CMA. Many fashion brands market specific ranges as eco-friendly. Asos used to have a ""Responsible edit"" range, Boohoo sells clothes under ""Ready for the Future"", and Asda has ""George for Good"". In future, the criteria for inclusion in these ranges must be ""clearly set out and detail any minimum requirements"", the CMA said. ""We really want firms that are investing in their products and their supply chains, who make them greener, to take the credit for that and they deserve to get a competitive edge and win sales,""  Mr Lusty said. Often words like ""eco"" and ""responsible"" and ""sustainable"" were not accompanied by adequate information, he said. Dr Magdalena Marchowska-Raza, a lecturer in digital marketing at Salford Business School said consumers were rightly sceptical about such eco-marketing claims and would need to see ""proof of progress"" to be convinced. ""Addressing this challenge requires more than just surface-level transparency. It calls for a fundamental shift in how companies approach their sustainability goals - not just setting them but actively demonstrating their commitment to achieving them through tangible, measurable actions,"" she said. The CMA's investigation launched in July 2022 did not result in any legal action against the fashion firms. Instead the companies have made a range of voluntary commitments and will have to report back to the CMA on how they are complying with them. Commitments include explaining what precise percentage of fibres used are recycled or organic and avoiding using imagery like green leaf logos to suggest a product is more environmentally friendly than it actually is. Asos said the voluntary undertakings made by the three brands would ""set a benchmark"" for the industry. ""Sharing clear and accurate information on the sustainability credentials of fashion products is crucial to empowering consumers to make fully informed choices,"" Asos said. Boohoo said it was pleased that the CMA's investigation had not resulted in any legal action against the firm, adding that the group had ""not intentionally misled customers"". The firm's chief executive John Lyttle, said: ""We remain committed to working with others to find collective solutions to the shared challenges of sustainability within the fashion industry."" An Asda spokesperson said the company was pleased to have mutually agreed the voluntary undertakings.  ""We support any measures aimed at improving consumers' understanding of environmental claims,"" they said. The CMA also published an open letter to the fashion industry urging other firms to review their own environmental claims and ensure they comply with consumer protection laws. Geraint Lloyd-Taylor at law firm Lewis Silkin said the voluntary agreement would be a relief to the firms involved, whilst establishing clearer guidelines for the future. ""There are some broad lessons here for all companies in all sectors, such as the fact the CMA has singled out the use of leafy green images as being problematic, because they are likely to exaggerate the environmental benefits of the product or ranges being promoted,"" he said. However the CMA was likely to be less accommodating in future if greenwashing rules were being breached, he added, highlighting new powers the CMA is about to get, allowing it to impose financial penalties of up to 10% of a firm's annual global turnover. ",BBC,27/03/2024,"[""Three of the UK's biggest budget fashion brands will change the way they present the environmental impact of their clothes, following action by the competition regulator."", 'Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda have signed pledges to use only ""accurate and clear"" claims, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.', 'The firms said they remained committed to improving sustainability.', 'The move is part of a wider move by the CMA against ""greenwashing"".', 'Presenting products as more eco-friendly than they are, without providing further information, is not fair on customers and distorts competition, the regulator said.', 'The CMA also has household products, such as washing up liquid and soaps in its sights.', 'At the end of last year it said it was investigating consumer goods giant Unilever over whether some of its environmental branding was misleading. ""', 'What we\'re asking firms to do is put themselves in the shoes of their shoppers, and see whether that claim is understandable in its own right - is it accompanied by information that makes clear what that means?""', 'said George Lusty interim executive director for consumer protection and markets at the CMA.', 'Many fashion brands market specific ranges as eco-friendly.', 'Asos used to have a ""Responsible edit"" range, Boohoo sells clothes under ""Ready for the Future"", and Asda has ""George for Good"".', 'In future, the criteria for inclusion in these ranges must be ""clearly set out and detail any minimum requirements"", the CMA said. ""', 'We really want firms that are investing in their products and their supply chains, who make them greener, to take the credit for that and they deserve to get a competitive edge and win sales,"" Mr Lusty said.', 'Often words like ""eco"" and ""responsible"" and ""sustainable"" were not accompanied by adequate information, he said.', 'Dr Magdalena Marchowska-Raza, a lecturer in digital marketing at Salford Business School said consumers were rightly sceptical about such eco-marketing claims and would need to see ""proof of progress"" to be convinced. ""', 'Addressing this challenge requires more than just surface-level transparency.', 'It calls for a fundamental shift in how companies approach their sustainability goals - not just setting them but actively demonstrating their commitment to achieving them through tangible, measurable actions,"" she said.', ""The CMA's investigation launched in July 2022 did not result in any legal action against the fashion firms."", 'Instead the companies have made a range of voluntary commitments and will have to report back to the CMA on how they are complying with them.', 'Commitments include explaining what precise percentage of fibres used are recycled or organic and avoiding using imagery like green leaf logos to suggest a product is more environmentally friendly than it actually is.', 'Asos said the voluntary undertakings made by the three brands would ""set a benchmark"" for the industry. ""', 'Sharing clear and accurate information on the sustainability credentials of fashion products is crucial to empowering consumers to make fully informed choices,"" Asos said.', 'Boohoo said it was pleased that the CMA\'s investigation had not resulted in any legal action against the firm, adding that the group had ""not intentionally misled customers"".', 'The firm\'s chief executive John Lyttle, said: ""We remain committed to working with others to find collective solutions to the shared challenges of sustainability within the fashion industry.""', 'An Asda spokesperson said the company was pleased to have mutually agreed the voluntary undertakings. ""', 'We support any measures aimed at improving consumers\' understanding of environmental claims,"" they said.', 'The CMA also published an open letter to the fashion industry urging other firms to review their own environmental claims and ensure they comply with consumer protection laws.', 'Geraint Lloyd-Taylor at law firm Lewis Silkin said the voluntary agreement would be a relief to the firms involved, whilst establishing clearer guidelines for the future. ""', 'There are some broad lessons here for all companies in all sectors, such as the fact the CMA has singled out the use of leafy green images as being problematic, because they are likely to exaggerate the environmental benefits of the product or ranges being promoted,"" he said.', ""However the CMA was likely to be less accommodating in future if greenwashing rules were being breached, he added, highlighting new powers the CMA is about to get, allowing it to impose financial penalties of up to 10% of a firm's annual global turnover.""]",0.3454780475263747,"We really want firms that are investing in their products and their supply chains, who make them greener, to take the credit for that and they deserve to get a competitive edge and win sales,"" Mr Lusty said.","At the end of last year it said it was investigating consumer goods giant Unilever over whether some of its environmental branding was misleading. """,0.267702960051023,"We really want firms that are investing in their products and their supply chains, who make them greener, to take the credit for that and they deserve to get a competitive edge and win sales,"" Mr Lusty said.","However the CMA was likely to be less accommodating in future if greenwashing rules were being breached, he added, highlighting new powers the CMA is about to get, allowing it to impose financial penalties of up to 10% of a firm's annual global turnover.",2024-03-28
Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun to leave as firm faces safety crisis,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68656925,2024-03-25T12:25:37.000Z,"Boeing boss Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year amid a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record. Boeing also said that the head of its commercial airlines division will retire immediately while its chairman will not stand for re-election.  The firm is under pressure after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max in January shortly after take-off. No-one was injured but the firm's safety and quality control standards came under renewed scrutiny. Mr Calhoun took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in the aftermath of one of the biggest scandals in Boeing's history. Within the space of five months, two brand new 737 Max planes had been lost in almost identical accidents that claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew. A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing's ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"". However, in January this year a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport. An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted. Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane. Many analysts said a change in Boeing's leadership was overdue.  ""A shake-up at the top is necessary,"" said Stewart Glickman, equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that he believed the current crisis stemmed from problems in the firm's corporate culture that only fresh insight would be able to fix. ""I don't think you can change the culture with internal voices because I think this has been modus operandi for this company for too long."" In a letter to staff on Monday, Mr Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines incident as a ""watershed moment"" for Boeing and said it had to respond with ""humility and complete transparency"". ""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company,"" he said. Air safety campaigner Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Washington, said Mr Calhoun had had years to try to boost safety at the company. ""It's been one failure after the other,"" said Mr Pierson, who is now executive director at The Foundation for Aviation Safety.  ""The company deserves much better leadership and the people who get on these airplanes deserve much better leadership."" The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety. The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found ""multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements"". Another report into Boeing's safety culture by an expert panel found a ""disconnect"" between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation. After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was discovered that flawed flight control software caused the incidents - details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators. The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty. It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers' lives. Mark Pegram, whose 25-year-old son Sam died when Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in 2019, said Mr Calhoun had appeared to have been brought in to say what investors wanted to hear and ""not fix the cause of the problems that were making planes fall out of the sky"".  He said he was pleased by the change but disappointed it had taken so long. ""It's something we've been calling for for quite some time now,"" he said. The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems. Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries. On Monday, Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary said that the company ""welcomed"" Boeing's management changes, specifically the departure of Stan Deal will is leaving his role as head of the commercial airlines division immediately.  Mr O'Leary said: ""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years but he is not the person to turnaround the operation in Seattle and that's where most of the problems have been in recent years."" Scott Hamilton, managing director of Seattle-based aircraft and economics research firm Leeham Company, told the BBC's Today programme: ""I've never quite understood O'Leary's defence of Calhoun. ""I certainly understand his criticism of Stan Deal, now the former chief executive of Boeing commercial airplanes. but I've never understood his defence of Calhoun quite frankly."" Mr Hamilton added: ""I think the rank and file [at Boeing] are happy to see the changes. The unknown, of course, is who is going to come in to replace Calhoun."" Speculation has already started on who that might be but the pool of people with qualifications for such a job is small.  Air transport consultant John Strickland of JLS Consulting warned that the hard work for the company was still ahead. ""It's all very well to get rid of people but what are you going to do to keep steering the business,"" Mr Strickland said. ""This is much easier said than done."" Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced. Mr Deal will will be replaced as head of Boeing's commercial airlines division by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as Boeing's chief operating officer. Larry Kellner, the firm's chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm, the chip-maker, who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020. He will lead the search for a new chief executive. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""Boeing boss Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year amid a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record."", 'Boeing also said that the head of its commercial airlines division will retire immediately while its chairman will not stand for re-election.', 'The firm is under pressure after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max in January shortly after take-off.', ""No-one was injured but the firm's safety and quality control standards came under renewed scrutiny."", ""Mr Calhoun took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in the aftermath of one of the biggest scandals in Boeing's history."", 'Within the space of five months, two brand new 737 Max planes had been lost in almost identical accidents that claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew.', 'A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing\'s ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"".', 'However, in January this year a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport.', 'An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted.', 'Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane.', 'Many analysts said a change in Boeing\'s leadership was overdue. ""', 'A shake-up at the top is necessary,"" said Stewart Glickman, equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that he believed the current crisis stemmed from problems in the firm\'s corporate culture that only fresh insight would be able to fix. ""', 'I don\'t think you can change the culture with internal voices because I think this has been modus operandi for this company for too long.""', 'In a letter to staff on Monday, Mr Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines incident as a ""watershed moment"" for Boeing and said it had to respond with ""humility and complete transparency"". ""', 'The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company,"" he said.', 'Air safety campaigner Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing\'s 737 factory in Renton, Washington, said Mr Calhoun had had years to try to boost safety at the company. ""', 'It\'s been one failure after the other,"" said Mr Pierson, who is now executive director at The Foundation for Aviation Safety. ""', 'The company deserves much better leadership and the people who get on these airplanes deserve much better leadership.""', ""The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety."", 'The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found ""multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements"".', 'Another report into Boeing\'s safety culture by an expert panel found a ""disconnect"" between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation.', 'After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was discovered that flawed flight control software caused the incidents - details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators.', 'The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty.', ""It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers' lives."", 'Mark Pegram, whose 25-year-old son Sam died when Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in 2019, said Mr Calhoun had appeared to have been brought in to say what investors wanted to hear and ""not fix the cause of the problems that were making planes fall out of the sky"".', 'He said he was pleased by the change but disappointed it had taken so long. ""', 'It\'s something we\'ve been calling for for quite some time now,"" he said.', ""The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems."", 'Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries.', 'On Monday, Ryanair\'s chief executive Michael O\'Leary said that the company ""welcomed"" Boeing\'s management changes, specifically the departure of Stan Deal will is leaving his role as head of the commercial airlines division immediately.', 'Mr O\'Leary said: ""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years but he is not the person to turnaround the operation in Seattle and that\'s where most of the problems have been in recent years.""', 'Scott Hamilton, managing director of Seattle-based aircraft and economics research firm Leeham Company, told the BBC\'s Today programme: ""I\'ve never quite understood O\'Leary\'s defence of Calhoun. ""', 'I certainly understand his criticism of Stan Deal, now the former chief executive of Boeing commercial airplanes.', 'but I\'ve never understood his defence of Calhoun quite frankly.""', 'Mr Hamilton added: ""I think the rank and file [at Boeing] are happy to see the changes.', 'The unknown, of course, is who is going to come in to replace Calhoun.""', 'Speculation has already started on who that might be but the pool of people with qualifications for such a job is small.', 'Air transport consultant John Strickland of JLS Consulting warned that the hard work for the company was still ahead. ""', 'It\'s all very well to get rid of people but what are you going to do to keep steering the business,"" Mr Strickland said. ""', 'This is much easier said than done.""', 'Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced.', ""Mr Deal will will be replaced as head of Boeing's commercial airlines division by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as Boeing's chief operating officer."", ""Larry Kellner, the firm's chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm, the chip-maker, who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020."", 'He will lead the search for a new chief executive.']",-0.0543304938948831,"A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing's ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"".","The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems.",-0.0480022403326901,Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced.,"The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety.",2024-03-28
Here’s why the Fed doesn’t see a US recession in coming years,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/24/economy/stocks-week-ahead-fed-recession-coming-years/index.html,"
  Published
        7:30 AM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","America’s central bank doesn’t see any signs of a recession on the horizon. Not this year nor the year after.
    
            The Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee of 19 officials released a new set of economic projections last week, showing that they now expect economic growth in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to be even stronger than they previously thought.
    
            That optimism seems to be the consensus among analysts, including Goldman Sachs’ chief economist: The ruthless economic pains of a recession, such as mass layoffs and tepid consumer spending, probably won’t happen anytime soon.
    
            “The economy is strong, the labor market is strong and inflation has come way down,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.
    
            Corporate earnings have been robust, the stock market continues to break record after record and America might be in the thick of a productivity boom that could boost growth without stoking inflation.
    
            And even though interest rates are at their highest levels in two decades, the economy continues to display remarkable resilience. Economists say that strength could persist through the coming years.
    
            Fed officials continue to expect three rate cuts this year but the days of ultra-low interest rates are long gone. Interest rates will eventually settle down at levels well above the near-zero rates seen before the Fed began to hike in 2022.
    
            But economists say that won’t present any problem for the sturdy US economy.
    
            “A lot of my peers are calling it higher-for-longer, but it’s really stronger-for-longer,” Mike Skordeles, head of US economics at Truist Advisory Services, told CNN.
    
            US gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, registered at a strong 3.2% annualized rate in the fourth quarter. That was after a gangbusters 4.9% rate in the prior three-month period. The Atlanta Fed is currently projecting that the economy expanded at a 2.1% rate in the first three months of 2024.
    
            Fed officials estimate that growth in 2024 overall will hit 2.1%, then 2% in each of the following two years.
    
            The job market, a key driver of growth, also remains on strong footing. It’s seen a gradual, orderly slowdown from the red-hot pace in 2021, when the labor market ascended from pandemic depths, but unemployment remains low and payroll growth is still humming along.
    
            Employers added 275,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate edged higher to 3.9% from 3.7%, but it has remained below 4% for more than two years. Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs and often seen as the earliest indicator of any changes in the job market, remain at historically low levels.
    
            Skordeles said the economy is expected to remain solid because of “better productivity than we had prior to the pandemic” and “structural changes in the workforce.”
    
            But as rosy as the outlook may be, any unforeseen economic shock could derail growth and lead to a downturn. One risk is the possibility that inflation’s descent does indeed stall.
    
            “We do believe that the recession risk has come down,” Stephanie Lang, chief investment officer at Homrich Berg, told CNN. “But the big wild card, of course, is if we get some surprise on the inflation data that the Fed and the market were not expecting.”
    
            “If that happens then the Fed will be more tilted toward fighting inflation, so they may be in a situation in which they keep rates restrictive for too long, causing economic growth to come down too far, leading to a recession,” she said.
    
            Reddit, one of the original social media companies, finally made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday — more than a decade after many of its peers, reports my colleague Clare Duffy.
    
            Trading under the ticker “RDDT,” shares started trading at $47 and reached a high of $57.80 early Thursday afternoon, up as much as 70% from its initial price offering of $34. At its peak, shares of the stock had a market cap of about $10.9 billion.
    
            It’s a major milestone for the nearly 20-year-old company, something Reddit has been preparing for since at least 2021, when it hired its first chief financial officer. It also marks the first social media company to go public in years, and its performance could be a signpost for other companies considering IPOs.
    
            Reddit entered its second official day of trading on Friday with a downward adjustment — shares were down about 8.5% after springing 48% higher following its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
    
            Read more here.
    
            Monday: The Chicago Fed releases its National Activity Index for February. The US Commerce Department releases February data on sales of new single-family homes. Fed Governor Lisa Cook delivers remarks.
    
            Tuesday: Earnings from McCormick and GameStop. The US Commerce Department releases February figures on new orders for durable goods. S&P Global releases its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for January. The Conference Board releases its consumer survey for March.
    
            Wednesday: Fed Governor Christopher Waller delivers remarks.
    
            Thursday: Earnings from Walgreens Boots Alliance. The US Commerce Department releases its final estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product. The US Labor Department reports the number of new applications for unemployment benefits in the week ended March 23. The University of Michigan releases its final reading of consumer sentiment in March. The National Association of Realtors reports February home sales based on contract signings.
    
            Friday: US markets are closed in observance of Good Friday. The US Commerce Department releases February data on household spending, income and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivers remarks.",CNN,24/03/2024,"['America’s central bank doesn’t see any signs of a recession on the horizon.', 'Not this year nor the year after.', 'The Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee of 19 officials released a new set of economic projections last week, showing that they now expect economic growth in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to be even stronger than they previously thought.', 'That optimism seems to be the consensus among analysts, including Goldman Sachs’ chief economist: The ruthless economic pains of a recession, such as mass layoffs and tepid consumer spending, probably won’t happen anytime soon.', '“The economy is strong, the labor market is strong and inflation has come way down,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.', 'Corporate earnings have been robust, the stock market continues to break record after record and America might be in the thick of a productivity boom that could boost growth without stoking inflation.', 'And even though interest rates are at their highest levels in two decades, the economy continues to display remarkable resilience.', 'Economists say that strength could persist through the coming years.', 'Fed officials continue to expect three rate cuts this year but the days of ultra-low interest rates are long gone.', 'Interest rates will eventually settle down at levels well above the near-zero rates seen before the Fed began to hike in 2022.', 'But economists say that won’t present any problem for the sturdy US economy.', '“A lot of my peers are calling it higher-for-longer, but it’s really stronger-for-longer,” Mike Skordeles, head of US economics at Truist Advisory Services, told CNN.', 'US gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, registered at a strong 3.2% annualized rate in the fourth quarter.', 'That was after a gangbusters 4.9% rate in the prior three-month period.', 'The Atlanta Fed is currently projecting that the economy expanded at a 2.1% rate in the first three months of 2024.', 'Fed officials estimate that growth in 2024 overall will hit 2.1%, then 2% in each of the following two years.', 'The job market, a key driver of growth, also remains on strong footing.', 'It’s seen a gradual, orderly slowdown from the red-hot pace in 2021, when the labor market ascended from pandemic depths, but unemployment remains low and payroll growth is still humming along.', 'Employers added 275,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate edged higher to 3.9% from 3.7%, but it has remained below 4% for more than two years.', 'Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs and often seen as the earliest indicator of any changes in the job market, remain at historically low levels.', 'Skordeles said the economy is expected to remain solid because of “better productivity than we had prior to the pandemic” and “structural changes in the workforce.”', 'But as rosy as the outlook may be, any unforeseen economic shock could derail growth and lead to a downturn.', 'One risk is the possibility that inflation’s descent does indeed stall.', '“We do believe that the recession risk has come down,” Stephanie Lang, chief investment officer at Homrich Berg, told CNN.“But the big wild card, of course, is if we get some surprise on the inflation data that the Fed and the market were not expecting.”', '“If that happens then the Fed will be more tilted toward fighting inflation, so they may be in a situation in which they keep rates restrictive for too long, causing economic growth to come down too far, leading to a recession,” she said.', 'Reddit, one of the original social media companies,finally made its debuton the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday — more than a decade after many of its peers, reports my colleague Clare Duffy.', 'Trading under the ticker “RDDT,” shares started trading at $47 and reached a high of $57.80 early Thursday afternoon, up as much as 70% from its initial price offering of $34.', 'At its peak, shares of the stock had a market cap of about $10.9 billion.', 'It’s a major milestone for the nearly 20-year-old company, something Reddit has been preparing for since at least 2021, when it hired its first chief financial officer.', 'It also marks the first social media company to go public in years, and its performance could be a signpost for other companies considering IPOs.', 'Reddit entered itssecond official day of tradingon Friday with a downward adjustment — shares were down about 8.5% after springing 48% higher following its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.', 'Read more here.', 'Monday: The Chicago Fed releases its National Activity Index for February.', 'The US Commerce Department releases February data on sales of new single-family homes.', 'Fed Governor Lisa Cook delivers remarks.', 'Tuesday: Earnings from McCormick and GameStop.', 'The US Commerce Department releases February figures on new orders for durable goods.', 'S&P Global releases its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for January.', 'The Conference Board releases its consumer survey for March.', 'Wednesday: Fed Governor Christopher Waller delivers remarks.', 'Thursday: Earnings from Walgreens Boots Alliance.', 'The US Commerce Department releases its final estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product.', 'The US Labor Department reports the number of new applications for unemployment benefits in the week ended March 23.', 'The University of Michigan releases its final reading of consumer sentiment in March.', 'The National Association of Realtors reports February home sales based on contract signings.', 'Friday: US markets are closed in observance of Good Friday.', 'The US Commerce Department releases February data on household spending, income and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.', 'Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivers remarks.']",0.0794072922599032,"Corporate earnings have been robust, the stock market continues to break record after record and America might be in the thick of a productivity boom that could boost growth without stoking inflation.",But economists say that won’t present any problem for the sturdy US economy.,0.5242843580245972,Skordeles said the economy is expected to remain solid because of “better productivity than we had prior to the pandemic” and “structural changes in the workforce.”,Reddit entered itssecond official day of tradingon Friday with a downward adjustment — shares were down about 8.5% after springing 48% higher following its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.,2024-03-28
"NBC cut ties with Ronna McDaniel after extraordinary pressure, but its problems aren’t over",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/media/nbc-ronna-mcdaniel-problems-are-not-over/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:16 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","Only 80 hours elapsed between NBC News announcing Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor and the network ousting her from that very role. But for the leadership at NBC Universal News Group, those were 80 painful hours.
    
            On Tuesday evening, following another full day in which the media rumor mill churned at warp speed, NBCU News Group boss Cesar Conde sent staff a memo, notifying his troops that he had reversed his decision to welcome the former Republican National Committee chair to “the team.”
    
            “After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor,” Conde said, adding that he wanted to “personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down.”
    
            Conde had no real choice. The embattled NBCU boss, who I’m told dealt with the crisis from an unknown location outside of 30 Rock, was facing an unprecedented rebellion from his most high-profile stars, who one by one went on the air and excoriated leadership’s decision to hire McDaniel. The only aspect of Conde’s note that was surprising was the fact that it came 48 hours late, allowing what started off as a crisis to fester and balloon into one of the worst corporate public relations calamities in recent memory.
    
            “What a sh*t show!” a media executive exclaimed to me Tuesday shortly after Conde relieved McDaniel of her NBC News credentials.
    
            In his note, Conde said he took “full responsibility” for McDaniel’s hire. But, he also did point the finger, telling staffers that hiring her was “a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team.” Indeed, multiple people familiar with the matter have told me that the infighting among NBC executives over who was at fault for the disaster has reached a fever pitch, with various factions of the NBCU News Group assigning blame to others.
    
            Regardless of who is to blame, the entire affair made clear who is actually in control of the company — and it’s not Conde & Co. Despite the NBCU C-suite digging their heels in the sand as they resisted dumping McDaniel for days, they were ultimately forced to succumb to pressure from their talent. As a second media executive commented to me, it is now “very clear who is in charge” after the “weak leadership was put on full display.”
    
            “Has Cesar lost the room?” wondered a third media executive.
    
            While the Peacock family argues over who was really at fault, the company is facing a fresh public relations mess. Led by Donald Trump, right-wing personalities are already assailing the network as being overrun with intolerant woke leftists.
    
            “These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK,” Trump raged on his Truth Social platform.
    
            Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary under President George W. Bush, wrote on X: “What NBC is saying is if you’re for Trump, you don’t belong. Good. Let NBC be for Democrats only.”
    
            Of course, that narrative is intellectually dishonest. The objection to McDaniel from both within and outside of NBCU was not that she is a Republican. It wasn’t even that she was a Trump-supporting Republican. No, the objection stemmed from the fact that McDaniel was an active participant in the plot to subvert the 2020 vote. And, in addition to that disgraceful history, she had a lengthy track record smearing NBC News and MSNBC.
    
            Nevertheless, NBCU will now have to contend with such dishonest attacks being leveled by the right, which will follow them in the days, months, and even years to come. As unfair as it may be, they will certainly damage the network’s brand in Republican circles — a place it had gone through great pains to appeal to.
    
            NBCU will also have to grapple with McDaniel, who spent the last 24 hours or so interviewing lawyers as she gears up for a possible legal fight with the network, according to a person familiar with the matter. The rift between McDaniel and NBCU had grown to such an extent by Tuesday that she was not informed by network brass that she had been dismissed, I’m told. Instead, McDaniel learned of her ouster in press reports.
    
            While NBCU is being beaten up on the right, the company’s leadership was quickly praised by its journalists and top stars. Shortly after Conde sent out his memo, Rachel Maddow appeared on Joy Reid’s show, where the two lauded Conde for reversing course.
    
            “I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”",CNN,27/03/2024,"['Only 80 hours elapsed between NBC News announcing Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor and the network ousting her from that very role.', 'But for the leadership at NBC Universal News Group, those were 80painful hours.', 'On Tuesday evening, following another full day in which the media rumor mill churned at warp speed, NBCU News Group boss Cesar Conde sent staff a memo, notifying his troops that he had reversed his decision to welcome the former Republican National Committee chair to “the team.”', '“After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor,” Conde said, adding that he wanted to “personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down.”', 'Conde had no real choice.', 'The embattled NBCU boss, who I’m told dealt with the crisis from an unknown location outside of 30 Rock, was facing an unprecedented rebellion from his most high-profile stars, who one by one went on the air and excoriated leadership’s decision to hire McDaniel.', 'The only aspect of Conde’s note that was surprising was the fact that it came 48 hours late, allowing what started off as a crisis to fester and balloon into one of the worst corporate public relations calamities in recent memory.', '“What a sh*t show!”', 'a media executive exclaimed to me Tuesday shortly after Conde relieved McDaniel of her NBC News credentials.', 'In his note, Conde said he took “full responsibility” for McDaniel’s hire.', 'But, he also did point the finger, telling staffers that hiring her was “a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team.”', 'Indeed, multiple people familiar with the matter have told me that the infighting among NBC executives over who was at fault for the disaster has reached a fever pitch, with various factions of the NBCU News Group assigning blame to others.', 'Regardless of who is to blame, the entire affair made clear who is actually in control of the company — and it’s not Conde & Co. Despite the NBCU C-suite digging their heels in the sand as they resisted dumping McDaniel for days, they were ultimately forced to succumb to pressure from their talent.', 'As a second media executive commented to me, it is now “very clear who is in charge” after the “weak leadership was put on full display.”', '“Has Cesar lost the room?”', 'wondered a third media executive.', 'While the Peacock family argues over who was really at fault, the company is facing a fresh public relations mess.', 'Led by Donald Trump, right-wing personalities are already assailing the network as being overrun with intolerant woke leftists.', '“These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK,” Trump raged on his Truth Social platform.', 'Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary under President George W. Bush, wrote on X: “What NBC is saying is if you’re for Trump, you don’t belong.', 'Good.', 'Let NBC be for Democrats only.”', 'Of course, that narrative is intellectually dishonest.', 'The objection to McDaniel from both within and outside of NBCU was not that she is a Republican.', 'It wasn’t even that she was a Trump-supporting Republican.', 'No, the objection stemmed from the fact that McDaniel was an active participant in the plot to subvert the 2020 vote.', 'And, in addition to that disgraceful history, she had a lengthy track record smearing NBC News and MSNBC.', 'Nevertheless, NBCU will now have to contend with such dishonest attacks being leveled by the right, which will follow them in the days, months, and even years to come.', 'As unfair as it may be, they will certainly damage the network’s brand in Republican circles — a place it had gone through great pains to appeal to.', 'NBCU will also have to grapple with McDaniel, who spent the last 24 hours or so interviewing lawyers as she gears up for a possible legal fight with the network, according to a person familiar with the matter.', 'The rift between McDaniel and NBCU had grown to such an extent by Tuesday that she was not informed by network brass that she had been dismissed, I’m told.', 'Instead, McDaniel learned of her ouster in press reports.', 'While NBCU is being beaten up on the right, the company’s leadership was quickly praised by its journalists and top stars.', 'Shortly after Conde sent out his memo, Rachel Maddow appeared on Joy Reid’s show, where the two lauded Conde for reversing course.', '“I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “', 'That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”']",-0.0743400881523301,"“I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “","“These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK,” Trump raged on his Truth Social platform.",-0.3914039839397777,"While NBCU is being beaten up on the right, the company’s leadership was quickly praised by its journalists and top stars.","As unfair as it may be, they will certainly damage the network’s brand in Republican circles — a place it had gone through great pains to appeal to.",2024-03-28
"She makes $20,000 a month to make 1-minute YouTube videos. Inside Google’s strategy to beat TikTok",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/tech/youtube-shorts-one-year-paying-creators/index.html,"
  Published
        9:01 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","YouTube says hundreds of thousands of creators are now earning a paycheck from posting short-form videos on the platform, as it ramps up its race to compete with rivals like TikTok and Instagram. It hasn’t been cheap: the Google-owned platform is shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to some of its top Shorts creators — like beauty influencer Sydney Morgan — every month.
    
            YouTube began offering creators a share of ad revenue for Shorts last year as its TikTok copycat feature struggled to stand out in the fiercely competitive landscape of online short-form video. Now, more than a quarter of the more than 3 million creators in its YouTube Partner Program are earning money on Shorts, often in addition to traditional long-form videos, the company announced in a blog post Thursday.
    
            YouTube says the fresh data to its ability to incentivize existing creators to try out a new format — and to attract new users. The Google-owned platform is banking on its deep pockets and long history of partnering with creators in its effort to continue growing Shorts.
    
            “We look at it as giving creators the tools they need to reach viewers where they are, and viewers are definitely into short-format, snackable content, in addition to all the other formats that we offer,” Amjad Hanif, YouTube’s vice president of product, told CNN in an exclusive interview alongside Vice President of Americas Tara Walpert Levy ahead of Thursday’s announcement.
    
            For YouTube, long the dominant force in online video, growing Shorts is crucial to staying relevant and maintaining its business in the face of TikTok’s popularity, as well as growing competition from Instagram, Snapchat, X and others. It still has room to grow: YouTube said Thursday that Shorts now has 70 billion average daily views, whereas Meta said last year that its short-form videos, Reels, had reached 200 billion average daily plays across Facebook and Instagram.
    
            Short-form video has the potential to be a cash cow: Meta said in July that Reels was set to bring in $10 billion in annual advertising revenue. (YouTube, which notched more than $31 billion in total ad revenue from across the platform last year, declined to share specific sales numbers for Shorts.)
    
            To bring in those advertising dollars, platforms need creators to make the content to sell ads on. YouTube says its 16-year-old Partner Program, through which it pays creators, is unique because it offers creators a portion of the ad revenue it earns, rather than paying them from a set “creator fund,” a model used by competitor platforms.
    
            “If you’re choosing to build a business, invest in the studio, or invest in a camera to shoot your next set of videos, you can’t do that if you don’t have a program you can rely on,” Hanif said, adding that reliability and transparency is what sets YouTube’s program apart for creators. “You’re able to understand how you earn,” he added. “It’s not a different set of rules that changes.”
    
            TikTok, by contrast, took heat from some creators last year for changing its rules around how it pays creators for their content.
    
            The possibility of a TikTok ban in the United States — after the House passed a bill that would require TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent company or be banned from US app stores — has also raised questions about the potential for competitor platforms to gain a bigger foothold in the short-form video space. But YouTube’s executives say they’re not counting on that.
    
            “We’ve always operated in a competitive landscape, we will always operate in a competitive landscape,” Walpert Levy said. “There’s obviously a ton of changes going on in the ecosystem around us. But our strategy remains the same.”
    
            YouTube’s investment is paying off in a big way for some creators.
    
            Morgan, the beauty creator, started posting content on Instagram and then on YouTube during the pandemic, having grown up learning makeup tricks from YouTubers who came before her.
    
            Although she started posting in 2020, Morgan said her YouTube audience really took off after the platform rolled out Shorts the following year. On the day of the feature’s launch, she posted a Short showing emoji-inspired makeup looks that racked up a “crazy” 30 million views.
    
            “The nature of short-form content is that it can be consumed so quickly, and it’s the best format to cast a wide net and pull in new viewers,” Morgan told CNN. “I use Shorts as a supplement to reach new audiences and funnel them into my long-form now.”
    
            Shorts is now Morgan’s primary income source, too, amounting to around $20,000 each month, two-thirds of her total earnings from YouTube, she said.
    
            “I make more from just YouTube Shorts (revenue) sharing in a month than I can make on other comparable platforms in a year,” she said.
    
            YouTube declined to share data around the total amounts it’s paid to creators for Shorts in the year since it added the feature to the YouTube Partner Program.
    
            Not all YouTubers are sold on Shorts. Some creators have taken to Reddit — or even posted YouTube videos — expressing frustration that Shorts are now taking up space on YouTube’s homepage and receiving promotion that could make it harder for longtime, long-form YouTubers to gain an audience.
    
            And some creators aren’t keen on making content that fits into a 60-second clip. Destin Sandlin, the creator behind the 17-year-old science education channel SmarterEveryDay, told CNN he’s avoided Shorts because he wants to delve deeply into the topics he teaches viewers about, such as how Kodak makes film or how NASA steers rockets.
    
            “If I was the CEO of YouTube, I would recognize that I posses the most democratized, amazing platform for giving people a voice that’s ever existed, and I would use that for deep, meaningful conversations,” Sandlin said, something that he said he believes is harder with the “TikTok-ification” of the platform.
    
            Sandlin said he now relies heavily on Patreon, a third-party site where viewers can make regular payments to support their favorite creators, in order to continue creating long-form, educational content without having to worry about its performance in the YouTube algorithm.
    
            Still, Hanif said that while he’s heard similar concerns from other YouTubers, he views Shorts as just another format option — and moneymaking opportunity — for creators.
    
            “As an entertainer, you’ve got to meet your viewers where they are,” Hanif said. “In some verticals, it is important to be able to reach your audience in (short-form videos) … The beauty of YouTube is, is that we give you all of those formats to reach all of those segments of your audience in a really efficient way.”",CNN,28/03/2024,"['YouTube says hundreds of thousands of creators are now earning a paycheck from posting short-form videos on the platform, as it ramps up its race to compete with rivals like TikTok and Instagram.', 'It hasn’t been cheap: the Google-owned platform is shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to some of its top Shorts creators — like beauty influencer Sydney Morgan — everymonth.', 'YouTube began offering creators a share of ad revenue for Shorts last year as its TikTok copycat feature struggled to stand out in the fiercely competitive landscape of online short-form video.', 'Now, more than a quarter of the more than 3 million creators in its YouTube Partner Program are earning money on Shorts, often in addition to traditional long-form videos, the company announced in a blog post Thursday.', 'YouTube says the fresh data to its ability to incentivize existing creators to try out a new format — and to attract new users.', 'The Google-owned platform is banking on its deep pockets and long history of partnering with creators in its effort to continue growing Shorts.', '“We look at it as giving creators the tools they need to reach viewers where they are, and viewers are definitely into short-format, snackable content, in addition to all the other formats that we offer,” Amjad Hanif, YouTube’s vice president of product, told CNN in an exclusive interview alongside Vice President of Americas Tara Walpert Levy ahead of Thursday’s announcement.', 'For YouTube, long the dominant force in online video, growing Shorts is crucial to staying relevant and maintaining its business in the face of TikTok’s popularity, as well as growing competition from Instagram, Snapchat, X and others.', 'It still has room to grow: YouTube said Thursday that Shorts now has 70 billion average daily views, whereas Meta said last year that its short-form videos, Reels, had reached 200 billion average daily plays across Facebook and Instagram.', 'Short-form video has the potential to be a cash cow: Meta said in July that Reels was set to bring in $10 billion in annual advertising revenue. (', 'YouTube, which notched more than$31 billion in total ad revenue from across the platform last year, declined to share specific sales numbers for Shorts.)', 'To bring in those advertising dollars, platforms need creators to make the content to sell ads on.', 'YouTube says its 16-year-old Partner Program, through which it pays creators, is unique because it offers creators a portion of the ad revenue it earns, rather than paying them from a set “creator fund,” a model used by competitor platforms.', '“If you’re choosing to build a business, invest in the studio, or invest in a camera to shoot your next set of videos, you can’t do that if you don’t have a program you can rely on,” Hanif said, adding that reliability and transparency is what sets YouTube’s program apart for creators. “', 'You’re able to understand how you earn,” he added. “', 'It’s not a different set of rules that changes.”', 'TikTok, by contrast, took heat from some creators last year for changing its rules around how it pays creators for their content.', 'The possibility of a TikTok ban in the United States — after the House passed a bill that would require TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent company or be banned from US app stores — has also raised questions about the potential for competitor platforms to gain a bigger foothold in the short-form video space.', 'But YouTube’s executives say they’re not counting on that.', '“We’ve always operated in a competitive landscape, we will always operate in a competitive landscape,” Walpert Levy said. “', 'There’s obviously a ton of changes going on in the ecosystem around us.', 'But our strategy remains the same.”', 'YouTube’s investment is paying off in a big way for some creators.', 'Morgan, the beauty creator, started posting content on Instagram and then on YouTube during the pandemic, having grown up learning makeup tricks from YouTubers who came before her.', 'Although she started posting in 2020, Morgan said her YouTube audience really took off after the platform rolled out Shorts the following year.', 'On the day of the feature’s launch, she posted a Short showing emoji-inspired makeup looks that racked up a “crazy” 30 million views.', '“The nature of short-form content is that it can be consumed so quickly, and it’s the best format to cast a wide net and pull in new viewers,” Morgan told CNN. “', 'I use Shorts as a supplement to reach new audiences and funnel them into my long-form now.”', 'Shorts is now Morgan’s primary income source, too, amounting to around $20,000 each month, two-thirds of her total earnings from YouTube, she said.', '“I make more from just YouTube Shorts (revenue) sharing in a month than I can make on other comparable platforms in a year,” she said.', 'YouTube declined to share data around the total amounts it’s paid to creators for Shorts in the year since it added the feature to the YouTube Partner Program.', 'Not all YouTubers are sold on Shorts.', 'Some creators have taken to Reddit —or even posted YouTube videos — expressing frustration that Shorts are now taking up space on YouTube’s homepage and receiving promotion that could make it harder for longtime, long-form YouTubers to gain an audience.', 'And some creators aren’t keen on making content that fits into a 60-second clip.', 'Destin Sandlin, the creator behind the 17-year-old science education channel SmarterEveryDay, told CNN he’s avoided Shorts because he wants to delve deeply into the topics he teaches viewers about, such as how Kodak makes film or how NASA steers rockets.', '“If I was the CEO of YouTube, I would recognize that I posses the most democratized, amazing platform for giving people a voice that’s ever existed, and I would use that for deep, meaningful conversations,” Sandlin said, something that he said he believes is harder with the “TikTok-ification” of the platform.', 'Sandlin said he now relies heavily on Patreon, a third-party site where viewers can make regular payments to support their favorite creators, in order to continue creating long-form, educational content without having to worry about its performance in the YouTube algorithm.', 'Still, Hanif said that while he’s heard similar concerns from other YouTubers, he views Shorts as just another format option — and moneymaking opportunity — for creators.', '“As an entertainer, you’ve got to meet your viewers where they are,” Hanif said. “', 'In some verticals, it is important to be able to reach your audience in (short-form videos) … The beauty of YouTube is, is that we give you all of those formats to reach all of those segments of your audience in a really efficient way.”']",0.2441438534763088,"Sandlin said he now relies heavily on Patreon, a third-party site where viewers can make regular payments to support their favorite creators, in order to continue creating long-form, educational content without having to worry about its performance in the YouTube algorithm.","“If you’re choosing to build a business, invest in the studio, or invest in a camera to shoot your next set of videos, you can’t do that if you don’t have a program you can rely on,” Hanif said, adding that reliability and transparency is what sets YouTube’s program apart for creators. “",0.3934459574520588,YouTube’s investment is paying off in a big way for some creators.,YouTube began offering creators a share of ad revenue for Shorts last year as its TikTok copycat feature struggled to stand out in the fiercely competitive landscape of online short-form video.,2024-03-28
Thames Water boss says bills need to rise by 40%,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68682198,2024-03-28T07:23:24.000Z,"The boss of Thames Water has told the BBC customer bills need to rise by 40% by 2030 to pay for improvements. ""That is the price customers have to pay for the investment in our infrastructure that's needed,"" he said. The firm is in a race to find extra cash after its investors said they would not give the struggling water giant more money unless bills rise.  The regulator, whose approval is needed for any price rises, has so far pushed back on substantial bill increases. Sources close to Ofwat say it plans to ""stick to its guns"" and won't raise bills to address shareholder problems. Fears emerged last year that the UK's largest water company Thames could collapse due to its huge debts. Regardless of what happens, water supplies will continue as normal. Chris Weston said he wanted to ""reassure our customers that it is very much business as usual for Thames Water"". The firm was ""quite a long way off"" from nationalisation and ""a lot that has to happen"" beforehand.  However, he said it was ""eventually possible"". ""Even if that were to happen, the services will continue to be provided,"" he said. ""There will still be clean drinking water, and we will still deal with all the waste that has to be dealt with."" Thames Water drew up a turnaround plan last summer which asked for bills to rise over the next five years. Investors were due to pump in almost £4bn into the business over the next two years, but have withheld the first payment - due at the end of March - saying its turnaround plan is ""uninvestible"". The government has previously said it is ready to take over Thames Water in the event that it collapses. It serves 15 million households, mostly across London and parts of southern England. The regulator insists that even without the additional capital, the Thames Water operating company will not need to be nationalised immediately as it is still generating enough money to keep it going day-to-day for up to 18 months. However, at some point Thames will need to raise new money to finance the huge programme of investment that is needed and if the current shareholders - which include domestic and foreign pension funds as well as wealth funds from China and Abu Dhabi - won't inject cash, then Thames will need to find new ones. Sources close to the current owners say that unless Thames can pay a return - few people will find it an attractive investment. It is not unusual for investors to try to put pressure on the regulator, which is in the process of deciding how much water companies will be able to charge customers from 2025 to 2030. However, the BBC understands that some investors, who stand to lose significant amounts if the firm is nationalised, don't think regulators will let the firm raise prices enough to make Thames Water a prospect for further investment. Mr Weston said that Thames Water was planning to come up with a plan that is acceptable to investors - who want higher returns - and Ofwat - which said it had to be ""fair to bill payers"". ""It is a balancing act,"" Mr Weston said. Ofwat wants the company to clean up its act when it comes to the environment, and improve customer service. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said ""the answer is not to hit consumers"" and that ""leadership of Thames Water has been a disgrace"". He said successive management teams at Thames Water had ""taken advantage"" of customers by ""taking out profits and not investing"". But Labour said it was the government which had ""weakened regulation allowing water companies to get massively in debt while the sewerage system crumbled and illegal sewage dumping hit record levels"". The GMB union said investors were trying to ""blackmail"" customers and Ofwat so bills can ""rocket"". Thames Water is heavily indebted, with a large proportion of its £14.7bn debt pile having been run up when it was owned by Macquarie, an Australian infrastructure bank. Interest payments on its debt have also sharply increased. Macquarie has said that it invested billions of pounds in upgrading Thames's water and sewerage infrastructure while it owned the company. But critics argue that it took billions of pounds out of the company in loans and dividends - which is a share of a business's profits that is paid to shareholders. Along with many UK water firms, Thames Water has been in the spotlight for pumping sewage into rivers. Between 2020 and the end of last year, it discharged at least 72 billion litres of sewage into the Thames. Ofwat said safeguards were in place to ensure that services to customers were protected ""regardless of issues faced by shareholders of Thames Water"". ""The company must now pursue all options to seek further equity for the business to turn around the performance of the company for customers.  ""We also need to see companies deliver the performance that customers expect and that they are run in a way that meets customers' expectations,"" it added. ",BBC,28/03/2024,"['The boss of Thames Water has told the BBC customer bills need to rise by 40% by 2030 to pay for improvements. ""', 'That is the price customers have to pay for the investment in our infrastructure that\'s needed,"" he said.', 'The firm is in a race to find extra cash after its investors said they would not give the struggling water giant more money unless bills rise.', 'The regulator, whose approval is needed for any price rises, has so far pushed back on substantial bill increases.', 'Sources close to Ofwat say it plans to ""stick to its guns"" and won\'t raise bills to address shareholder problems.', ""Fears emerged last year that the UK's largest water company Thames could collapse due to its huge debts."", 'Regardless of what happens, water supplies will continue as normal.', 'Chris Weston said he wanted to ""reassure our customers that it is very much business as usual for Thames Water"".', 'The firm was ""quite a long way off"" from nationalisation and ""a lot that has to happen"" beforehand.', 'However, he said it was ""eventually possible"". ""', 'Even if that were to happen, the services will continue to be provided,"" he said. ""', 'There will still be clean drinking water, and we will still deal with all the waste that has to be dealt with.""', 'Thames Water drew up a turnaround plan last summer which asked for bills to rise over the next five years.', 'Investors were due to pump in almost £4bn into the business over the next two years, but have withheld the first payment - due at the end of March - saying its turnaround plan is ""uninvestible"".', 'The government has previously said it is ready to take over Thames Water in the event that it collapses.', 'It serves 15 million households, mostly across London and parts of southern England.', 'The regulator insists that even without the additional capital, the Thames Water operating company will not need to be nationalised immediately as it is still generating enough money to keep it going day-to-day for up to 18 months.', ""However, at some point Thames will need to raise new money to finance the huge programme of investment that is needed and if the current shareholders - which include domestic and foreign pension funds as well as wealth funds from China and Abu Dhabi - won't inject cash, then Thames will need to find new ones."", 'Sources close to the current owners say that unless Thames can pay a return - few people will find it an attractive investment.', 'It is not unusual for investors to try to put pressure on the regulator, which is in the process of deciding how much water companies will be able to charge customers from 2025 to 2030.', ""However, the BBC understands that some investors, who stand to lose significant amounts if the firm is nationalised, don't think regulators will let the firm raise prices enough to make Thames Water a prospect for further investment."", 'Mr Weston said that Thames Water was planning to come up with a plan that is acceptable to investors - who want higher returns - and Ofwat - which said it had to be ""fair to bill payers"". ""', 'It is a balancing act,"" Mr Weston said.', 'Ofwat wants the company to clean up its act when it comes to the environment, and improve customer service.', 'Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said ""the answer is not to hit consumers"" and that ""leadership of Thames Water has been a disgrace"".', 'He said successive management teams at Thames Water had ""taken advantage"" of customers by ""taking out profits and not investing"".', 'But Labour said it was the government which had ""weakened regulation allowing water companies to get massively in debt while the sewerage system crumbled and illegal sewage dumping hit record levels"".', 'The GMB union said investors were trying to ""blackmail"" customers and Ofwat so bills can ""rocket"".', 'Thames Water is heavily indebted, with a large proportion of its £14.7bn debt pile having been run up when it was owned by Macquarie, an Australian infrastructure bank.', 'Interest payments on its debt have also sharply increased.', ""Macquarie has said that it invested billions of pounds in upgrading Thames's water and sewerage infrastructure while it owned the company."", ""But critics argue that it took billions of pounds out of the company in loans and dividends - which is a share of a business's profits that is paid to shareholders."", 'Along with many UK water firms, Thames Water has been in the spotlight for pumping sewage into rivers.', 'Between 2020 and the end of last year, it discharged at least 72 billion litres of sewage into the Thames.', 'Ofwat said safeguards were in place to ensure that services to customers were protected ""regardless of issues faced by shareholders of Thames Water"". ""', 'The company must now pursue all options to seek further equity for the business to turn around the performance of the company for customers. ""', 'We also need to see companies deliver the performance that customers expect and that they are run in a way that meets customers\' expectations,"" it added.']",0.0794612556129573,"Ofwat said safeguards were in place to ensure that services to customers were protected ""regardless of issues faced by shareholders of Thames Water"". ""","But Labour said it was the government which had ""weakened regulation allowing water companies to get massively in debt while the sewerage system crumbled and illegal sewage dumping hit record levels"".",-0.0862574542269987,"He said successive management teams at Thames Water had ""taken advantage"" of customers by ""taking out profits and not investing"".","But Labour said it was the government which had ""weakened regulation allowing water companies to get massively in debt while the sewerage system crumbled and illegal sewage dumping hit record levels"".",2024-03-28
China former football chief sentenced to life for bribery,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68662441,2024-03-26T03:59:39.000Z,"A former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, according to the country's state media. In January, he pleaded guilty to taking bribes worth a total of 81 million yuan ($11.2m; £8.9m). An anti-corruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping has cut through sport, banking and the military. In football, more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated. The trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Huangshi in central China revealed Chen's illicit activities from 2010 to 2023, which included his earlier role as the president and chairman of Shanghai International Port Group. Prosecutors said Chen accepted money and valuables in exchange for his help with obtaining project contracts and arranging sporting events. The court ruling said he had brought ""tremendous damage"" to China's football cause, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency. State media also said that three other senior football officials were sentenced on Tuesday to between eight and 14 years in prison for corruption. Earlier this year, an ex-Everton midfielder and former head coach of China's national men's soccer team, Li Tie, confessed to fixing matches and offering bribes to people, including Chen, to get China's top coaching job. China's foreign ministry also confirmed that South Korea's Son Jun-ho, who played for Shandong Taishan, was held in police custody in relation to a bribery case. South Korea's foreign ministry said this week that he had been released from detention. In the past President Xi has voiced his ambition to turn China into a major footballing nation. In 2011, he spoke of his 'three wishes' for Chinese football: to qualify for the World Cup again, to host the tournament and to one day win the trophy.   Over the past decade, clubs in China's Super League have spent huge sums of money to attract some of the world's top players, including Brazilian midfielder Oscar, former Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and Belgian international Axel Witsel. However, that resulted in clubs piling up debts and the CFA announced a salary cap in 2020. At the time, it said the move was aimed to focus investment on developing homegrown talent instead of importing international stars. Now, only a small number of foreign players remain in the league. Recent detentions of major football figures have dealt another setback to the country's football ambitions. Despite these problems, domestic football is still popular in China and Mr Chen's corruption scandal shocked fans. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""A former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, according to the country's state media."", 'In January, he pleaded guilty to taking bribes worth a total of 81 million yuan ($11.2m; £8.9m).', 'An anti-corruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping has cut through sport, banking and the military.', 'In football, more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated.', ""The trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Huangshi in central China revealed Chen's illicit activities from 2010 to 2023, which included his earlier role as the president and chairman of Shanghai International Port Group."", 'Prosecutors said Chen accepted money and valuables in exchange for his help with obtaining project contracts and arranging sporting events.', 'The court ruling said he had brought ""tremendous damage"" to China\'s football cause, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency.', 'State media also said that three other senior football officials were sentenced on Tuesday to between eight and 14 years in prison for corruption.', ""Earlier this year, an ex-Everton midfielder and former head coach of China's national men's soccer team, Li Tie, confessed to fixing matches and offering bribes to people, including Chen, to get China's top coaching job."", ""China's foreign ministry also confirmed that South Korea's Son Jun-ho, who played for Shandong Taishan, was held in police custody in relation to a bribery case."", ""South Korea's foreign ministry said this week that he had been released from detention."", 'In the past President Xi has voiced his ambition to turn China into a major footballing nation.', ""In 2011, he spoke of his 'three wishes' for Chinese football: to qualify for the World Cup again, to host the tournament and to one day win the trophy."", ""Over the past decade, clubs in China's Super League have spent huge sums of money to attract some of the world's top players, including Brazilian midfielder Oscar, former Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and Belgian international Axel Witsel."", 'However, that resulted in clubs piling up debts and the CFA announced a salary cap in 2020.', 'At the time, it said the move was aimed to focus investment on developing homegrown talent instead of importing international stars.', 'Now, only a small number of foreign players remain in the league.', ""Recent detentions of major football figures have dealt another setback to the country's football ambitions."", ""Despite these problems, domestic football is still popular in China and Mr Chen's corruption scandal shocked fans.""]",0.0315067115162816,"Over the past decade, clubs in China's Super League have spent huge sums of money to attract some of the world's top players, including Brazilian midfielder Oscar, former Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and Belgian international Axel Witsel.","The court ruling said he had brought ""tremendous damage"" to China's football cause, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency.",-0.4104255608149937,"Despite these problems, domestic football is still popular in China and Mr Chen's corruption scandal shocked fans.",Recent detentions of major football figures have dealt another setback to the country's football ambitions.,2024-03-28
Bilt’s March Rent Day promotion: Vote for your favorite benefit with the Bilt Bracket,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/bilt-rent-day-promotion,"
  Updated
        10:57 AM EST, Mon February 26, 2024
    ","The relatively new Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees) has been incredibly popular since its inception. With a top-notch loyalty program and the opportunity to earn points on rent with absolutely no transaction fees (up to 100,000 points per calendar year), it’s no surprise to see the card flourish over the past few years.
    
            And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards — the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard — also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.
    
            With Bilt’s Rent Day promotion — which runs the first of every month — all card members have the opportunity to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent) as well as take advantage of their unique offer for the month. Bilt typically announces their promotions just a few days prior to Rent Day, and it’s something you’ll want to pay attention to.
    
            Bilt Rewards just released the March 1st edition of its monthly Rent Day promotion, and it is a unique one. Instead of Bilt announcing a single offer, all members will have the opportunity to have a say in the winning pick.
    
            A play off the March Madness bracket, the Bilt Bracket will run between now and Feb. 29, during which you can vote daily to help decide the Rent Day benefit. Various offers will go head-to-head, and like all brackets, the winner will proceed to the next round. The last standing offer will then be the Rent Day benefit on March 1.
    
            And similar to most other Rent Day promotions, the winning offer is only valid on the first day of the month (March 1, 2024, in this case).
    
            Let’s take a closer look at how this bracket will work and the Rent Day offer options.
    
            For four days straight — between Feb. 26 and Feb. 29 — Bilt members can vote for their favorite Rent Day benefit within the Bilt app or BiltRewards.com. There are 16 total offers to start with and the winners from each day will then proceed to the next round of the bracket.
    
            The last standing offer after the Feb. 29th vote will end up being the Rent Day benefit for all members to take advantage of on March 1.
    
            However, those with Gold or Platinum status with Bilt, will also receive the runner-up offer, giving select members two bonus opportunities on Rent Day.
    
            With 16 different offers, some are significantly better than others. Although, the best offer for you might truly depend on how you engage in the Bilt program. Check the Bilt app or website to see the full list of promotions you can vote on.
    
            For me, the offers that allow me to earn bonus points on specific purchases — such as bonus points at Bilt Dining restaurants — will be my top pick, but others might prefer the opportunity get bonus points by redeeming their Bilt points on rent, for example.
    
            Voting is incredible quick and can easily be completed alongside your morning coffee. Once you vote, you’ll also be given some insight on the winners with the percentage of members that picked each option thus far.
    
            On March 1st, Bilt members will also have the opportunity to redeem Bilt points for an exclusive game ticket and experience to the NCAA Men’s Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games. Tickets start at 15,000 Bilt points each for games taking place in Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles and Phoenix.
    
            You’ll be able to snag a ticket starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 1, but those with higher Bilt status will receive priority. This is because those with Platinum status will have first access at 12 p.m. EST, Gold status members at 12:30 p.m. EST, Silver status members at 1 p.m. and everyone else at 1:30 p.m.
    
            Every month on Rent Day, Bilt also gives members with the Bilt Mastercard a chance to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent).
    
            So, if you have a new restaurant you want to check out, flights to book or any other purchases to make, it could be worth waiting until March 1 to earn more points on your purchase. And if you’re dining at a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining, you can increase your earnings up to a whopping 11 points per dollar. But remember, to earn Bilt points, you must use the card five times each statement period (see Rewards & Benefits).
    
            Bilt’s monthly Rent Day promotions are a great opportunity to maximize your points as well as jump on unique promotions. Let’s see which bonus offer wins this month.
    
            Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.
    
            Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best credit cards currently available.",CNN,26/02/2024,"['The relatively new Bilt Mastercard® (seerates and fees) has been incredibly popular since its inception.', 'With a top-notch loyalty program and the opportunity to earn points on rent with absolutely no transaction fees (up to 100,000 points per calendar year), it’s no surprise to see the card flourish over the past few years.', 'And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.', 'With Bilt’s Rent Day promotion —which runs the first of every month — all card members have the opportunity to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent) as well as take advantage of their unique offer for the month.', 'Bilt typically announces their promotions just a few days prior to Rent Day, and it’s something you’ll want to pay attention to.', 'Bilt Rewards just released the March 1st edition of its monthly Rent Day promotion, and it is a unique one.', 'Instead of Bilt announcing a single offer, all members will have the opportunity to have a say in the winning pick.', 'A play off the March Madness bracket, the Bilt Bracket will run between now and Feb. 29, during which you can vote daily to help decide the Rent Day benefit.', 'Various offers will go head-to-head, and like all brackets, the winner will proceed to the next round.', 'The last standing offer will then be the Rent Day benefit on March 1.', 'And similar to most other Rent Day promotions, the winning offer is only valid on the first day of the month (March 1, 2024, in this case).', 'Let’s take a closer look at how this bracket will work and the Rent Day offer options.', 'For four days straight —between Feb. 26 and Feb. 29 —Bilt members can vote for their favorite Rent Day benefit within the Bilt app or BiltRewards.com.', 'There are 16 total offers to start with and the winners from each day will then proceed to the next round of the bracket.', 'The last standing offer after the Feb. 29th vote will end up being the Rent Day benefit for all members to take advantage of on March 1.', 'However, those with Gold or Platinum status with Bilt, will also receive the runner-up offer,giving select members two bonus opportunities on Rent Day.', 'With 16 different offers, some are significantly better than others.', 'Although, the best offer for you might truly depend on how you engage in the Bilt program.', 'Check the Bilt app or website to see the full list of promotions you can vote on.', 'For me, the offers that allow me to earn bonus points on specific purchases —such as bonus points at Bilt Dining restaurants —will be my top pick, but others might prefer the opportunity get bonus points by redeeming their Bilt points on rent, for example.', 'Voting is incredible quick and can easily be completed alongside your morning coffee.', 'Once you vote, you’ll also be given some insight on the winners with the percentage of members that picked each option thus far.', 'On March 1st, Bilt members will also have the opportunity to redeem Bilt points for an exclusive game ticket and experience to the NCAA Men’s Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games.', 'Tickets start at 15,000 Bilt points each for games taking place in Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles and Phoenix.', 'You’ll be able to snag a ticket starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 1, but those with higher Bilt status will receive priority.', 'This is because those with Platinum status will have first access at 12 p.m. EST, Gold status members at 12:30 p.m. EST, Silver status members at 1 p.m. and everyone else at 1:30 p.m.  Every month on Rent Day, Bilt also gives members with the Bilt Mastercard a chance to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent).', 'So, if you have a new restaurant you want to check out, flights to book or any other purchases to make, it could be worth waiting until March 1 to earn more points on your purchase.', 'And if you’re dining at a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining, you can increase your earnings up to a whopping 11 points per dollar.', 'But remember, to earn Bilt points, you must use the card five times each statement period (see Rewards & Benefits).', 'Bilt’s monthly Rent Day promotions are a great opportunity to maximize your points as well as jump on unique promotions.', 'Let’s see which bonus offer wins this month.', 'Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.', 'Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best credit cardscurrently available.']",0.5132379666371525,"And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.",,0.9566513225436212,"And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.",,2024-03-28
Why lab-grown diamond sales are surging,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/27/business/diamonds-manmade-demand/index.html,"
  Published
        7:49 AM EDT, Wed April 27, 2022
    ","It’s proposal season, and engagements are on the rise. So are factory-made diamond sales.
    
            Not that you’d know the difference. Man-made diamonds look the same as naturally occurring ones. The only noticeable difference is the price tag.
    
            “The result is really stunning,” said Edahn Golan, an independent diamond industry analyst.
    
            He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.
    
            Going back by another month, to February, the data showed the number of rings sold with lab diamonds that month surged even more, to 80% compared to a year earlier while the number fell by 13% for natural diamond engagement rings. 
    
            “The big fear in the natural diamonds industry is that consumers will start accepting lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings,” he said. Too late. “It’s actually happening.” 
    
            Why are consumers flocking to man-made diamonds? Cost is the most obvious reason. The average retail price of the most popular one carat round man-made diamond for an engagement ring in March was $2,318, Golan said.
    
            “This is substantially less – as much as 73% cheaper – than a natural diamond of the same size, cut and clarity as the man-made diamond, which would cost $8,740,” he said. Plus, the lower cost allows couples to buy a bigger stone.
    
            “A lab diamond is a real diamond, but maybe it took a few weeks to make it,” said Golan. “Natural diamonds were formed over 800 million to three billion years and there isn’t an infinite supply of them.” 
    
            This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.
    
            The sanctions directly target Alrosa, partly owned by the Russian government, which the US government identified as the world’s largest diamond mining company, accounting for 28% of global diamond output.
    
            Man-made diamonds are also becoming popular as consumers are more aware and educated about them, said Dan Moran, a third-generation diamond expert and owner of LA-based fine jeweler Concierge Diamonds. Moran said the typical buyer of man-made diamonds is typically younger than 40 and very budget conscious.
    
            Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.
    
            Among Millennials and Gen Z, their eco-conscious mindset and ethical concerns about natural diamond sourcing is another factor influencing their preference for non-traditional engagement rings, according to a report from wedding planning website The Knot.
    
            Although its slice is growing, the market share for man-made diamonds remains relatively small.
    
            Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan. 
    
            Some major jewelry retailers are driving the effort to take man-made diamonds mainstream. In 2021, the world’s largest jewelry company, Pandora
            
                (PANDY), made a major shift by announcing it would stop using mined diamonds and would swap to lab-created diamonds in its jewelry. 
    
            Pandora said it’s instituting the change as part of an effort to sell sustainable jewelry, and also because consumers increasingly are asking for it.
    
            Signet,
            
                (SIG) the largest jewelry company in the United States (which owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared chains) called out the popularity of lab diamond jewelry in its March earnings call with analysts.
    
            Calling it a “fast-growing category” in its jewelry portfolio, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos told analysts that lab-created diamonds are among the big jewelry trends she expects this year. 
    
            The company said it has expanded its man-made bridal jewelry selection in both its Zales and Kay Jewelers stores in response to the increased demand. 
    
            Fine jewelry brand Charles and Colvard, which makes lab-created diamonds, said consumers don’t just want to look good with the jewelry they are wearing, they also want to feel good about it.
    
            “As the momentum for conscious consumerism grows, the surge towards lab grown diamonds isn’t surprising,” said Don O’Connell, president and CEO of Charles & Colvard. “[Consumers] want to know the origins of their stones and be reassured they’re conflict-free. They’re embracing the choice to purchase a piece of fine jewelry that aligns with their values.”
    
            Lab-grown diamond brand VRAI said the pandemic, too, has sparked attention and action toward social and environmental issues. It said consumers are being more thoughtful and reassessing their purchasing habits, as well as the companies and industries they are supporting.
    
            There is, however, one important consideration for anyone buying lab-created diamonds: Man-made diamonds have little resale value. 
    
            So while you may not be able to tell a natural diamond from a factory made variety, someone with a trained eye can, said Golan. Once a stone is identified as a factory diamond, even though you paid a lot less for it, you also won’t get much for it. 
    
            But the value of a ring isn’t just monetary.
    
            “As a professional in the industry, I am asked all the time by people about what I think about a ring they have,” said Moran, of Concierge Jewelers. “I always say, if you love it, be happy with it. An engagement ring is a symbol of commitment and enduring love.”",CNN,27/04/2022,"['It’s proposal season, and engagements are on the rise.', 'So are factory-made diamond sales.', 'Not that you’d know the difference.', 'Man-made diamonds look the same as naturally occurring ones.', 'The only noticeable difference is the price tag.', '“The result is really stunning,” said Edahn Golan, an independent diamond industry analyst.', 'He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.', 'Going back by another month, to February, the data showed the number of rings sold with lab diamonds that month surged even more, to 80% compared to a year earlier while the number fell by 13% for natural diamond engagement rings.', '“The big fear in the natural diamonds industry is that consumers will start accepting lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings,” he said.', 'Too late. “', 'It’s actually happening.”', 'Why are consumers flocking to man-made diamonds?', 'Cost is the most obvious reason.', 'The average retail price of the most popular one carat round man-made diamond for an engagement ring in March was $2,318, Golan said.', '“This is substantially less – as much as 73% cheaper – than a natural diamond of the same size, cut and clarity as the man-made diamond, which would cost $8,740,” he said.', 'Plus, the lower cost allows couples to buy a bigger stone.', '“A lab diamond is a real diamond, but maybe it took a few weeks to make it,” said Golan. “', 'Natural diamonds were formed over 800 million to three billion years and there isn’t an infinite supply of them.”', 'This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.', 'The sanctions directly target Alrosa, partly owned by the Russian government, which the US government identified as the world’s largest diamond mining company, accounting for 28% of global diamond output.', 'Man-made diamonds are also becoming popular as consumers are more aware and educated about them, said Dan Moran, a third-generation diamond expert and owner of LA-based fine jeweler Concierge Diamonds.', 'Moran said the typical buyer of man-made diamonds is typically younger than 40 and very budget conscious.', 'Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.', 'Among Millennials and Gen Z, their eco-conscious mindset and ethical concerns about natural diamond sourcing is another factor influencing their preference for non-traditional engagement rings, according to a report from wedding planning website The Knot.', 'Although its slice is growing, the market share for man-made diamonds remains relatively small.', 'Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan.', 'Some major jewelry retailers are driving the effort to take man-made diamonds mainstream.', 'In 2021, the world’s largest jewelry company, Pandora  (PANDY), made a major shift by announcing it would stop using mined diamonds and would swap to lab-created diamonds in its jewelry.', 'Pandora said it’s instituting the change as part of an effort to sell sustainable jewelry, and also because consumers increasingly are asking for it.', 'Signet,  (SIG) the largest jewelry company in the United States (which owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared chains) called out the popularity of lab diamond jewelry in its March earnings call with analysts.', 'Calling it a “fast-growing category” in its jewelry portfolio, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos told analysts that lab-created diamonds are among the big jewelry trends she expects this year.', 'The company said it has expanded its man-made bridal jewelry selection in both its Zales and Kay Jewelers stores in response to the increased demand.', 'Fine jewelry brand Charles and Colvard, which makes lab-created diamonds, said consumers don’t just want to look good with the jewelry they are wearing, they also want to feel good about it.', '“As the momentum for conscious consumerism grows, the surge towards lab grown diamonds isn’t surprising,” said Don O’Connell, president and CEO of Charles & Colvard. “[', 'Consumers] want to know the origins of their stones and be reassured they’re conflict-free.', 'They’re embracing the choice to purchase a piece of fine jewelry that aligns with their values.”', 'Lab-grown diamond brand VRAI said the pandemic, too, has sparked attention and action toward social and environmental issues.', 'It said consumers are being more thoughtful and reassessing their purchasing habits, as well as the companies and industries they are supporting.', 'There is, however, one important consideration for anyone buying lab-created diamonds: Man-made diamonds have little resale value.', 'So while you may not be able to tell a natural diamond from a factory made variety, someone with a trained eye can, said Golan.', 'Once a stone is identified as a factory diamond, even though you paid a lot less for it, you also won’t get much for it.', 'But the value of a ring isn’t just monetary.', '“As a professional in the industry, I am asked all the time by people about what I think about a ring they have,” said Moran, of Concierge Jewelers. “', 'I always say, if you love it, be happy with it.', 'An engagement ring is a symbol of commitment and enduring love.”']",0.3714494325159568,"He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.",Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.,0.8542834222316742,"Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan.","This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.",2024-03-28
"NBC hires former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, who has demonized the press and refused to acknowledge Biden was fairly elected",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/media/ronna-mcdaniel-nbc/index.html,"
  Published
        1:53 PM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","NBC News on Friday announced that it had hired Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican National Committee chair who has repeatedly attacked the network and its journalists, assailed the news media as “fake news” and promoted false claims around the 2020 vote, as an on-air commentator ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
    
            “It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, senior vice president of politics at NBC News, said in a memo to staff.
    
            McDaniel exited the RNC earlier this month after leading the organization since 2016.
    
            During her time as chair, McDaniel repeatedly attacked the press, which has become increasingly popular in Republican circles over the last several years as Donald Trump demonizes journalists and news institutions.
    
            McDaniel echoed many such attacks, labeling the press as “fake news” and calling the media “corrupt.” At times, she even targeted NBC News and MSNBC with dishonest attacks.
    
            In 2019, for instance, McDaniel accused Richard Engel, NBC News’ chief foreign correspondent, of “actively cheering for an economic downturn.”
    
            “How can NBC let him keep his job when he’s made his bias so clear?” McDaniel asked.
    
            McDaniel has a lengthier history attacking the progressive cable news channel MSNBC, which she will appear on in her new role. In recent years, she has repeatedly attacked the channel for “spreading lies” and blasted those she described as the network’s “primetime propagandists.”
    
            An NBC spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment about her attacks on the news media and NBC.
    
            In her role as RNC chief, McDaniel also fanned the flames of election denialism after the 2020 presidential contest.
    
            McDaniel was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead. McDaniel told the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.”
    
            The Michigan Department of State’s office condemned her claims of supposed voter fraud in the wake of the election, stating they had “no merit.” The state’s “elections were conducted fairly, effectively and transparently and are an accurate reflection of the will of Michigan voters,” it said in a detailed fact check posted online.
    
            In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace last year, McDaniel defended her claims of voting “irregularity” in the election.
    
            “I think saying that there were problems with 2020 is very real. I don’t think that’s election denying,” McDaniel told Wallace. “I’m from Wayne County. We had a woman send a note saying I’m being told to backdate ballots. We had to look into that. That’s deeply concerning. When you have friends who are poll-watching and being kicked out, that’s deeply concerning. We have every right to look at that.”
    
            In the interview, Wallace pressed McDaniel if she believed Biden legitimately won the election.
    
            “I think there were lots of problems with 2020. Ultimately, he won the election but there were lots of problems with the 2020 election,” she said. “But I don’t think he won it fair. I don’t. I’m not going to say that.”
    
            NBC’s hiring of McDaniel, however, plays into a recent trend at the network’s outlets, which has seemingly softened its stance on Trump as he inches toward the Republican nomination for president.
    
            Earlier this month, CNBC hosted Trump for a lengthy phone interview in which the network’s anchors allowed him to peddle lies and conspiracy theories on air without scrutiny.
    
            MSNBC has even started carrying Trump’s remarks live on television, a practice that the network boasted for years it would not do. Star host Rachel Maddow, who has said carrying Trump’s lies on the air is dangerous, even objected to the network broadcasting a recent speech from the presumptive Republican nominee, calling it “irresponsible.”",CNN,22/03/2024,"['NBC News on Friday announced that it had hired Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican National Committee chair who has repeatedlyattacked the network and its journalists,assailed thenewsmedia as “fake news” and promoted false claims around the 2020vote,as an on-air commentatorahead of the 2024 presidential election.', '“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, senior vice president of politics at NBC News, said in a memoto staff.', 'McDaniel exited the RNC earlier this month after leading the organization since 2016.', 'During her time as chair, McDaniel repeatedly attacked the press, which has become increasingly popular in Republican circles over the last several years as Donald Trump demonizes journalists and news institutions.', 'McDaniel echoed many such attacks, labeling the press as “fake news” and calling the media “corrupt.”', 'At times, she even targeted NBC Newsand MSNBCwith dishonest attacks.', 'In 2019, for instance, McDaniel accused Richard Engel, NBC News’ chief foreign correspondent, of “actively cheering for an economic downturn.”', '“How can NBC let him keep his job when he’s made his bias so clear?”', 'McDaniel asked.', 'McDaniel has a lengthier history attacking the progressive cable news channel MSNBC, which she will appear on in her new role.', 'In recent years, she has repeatedly attacked the channel for “spreading lies” and blasted those she described as the network’s “primetime propagandists.”', 'An NBC spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment about her attacks on the news media and NBC.', 'In her role as RNC chief, McDaniel also fanned the flames of election denialism after the 2020 presidential contest.', 'McDaniel was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead.', 'McDanieltold the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. …', 'We will get you attorneys.”', 'The Michigan Department of State’s office condemned her claims of supposed voter fraud in the wake of the election, stating they had “no merit.', '”The state’s “elections were conducted fairly, effectively and transparently and are an accurate reflection of the will of Michigan voters,” it said in adetailed fact checkposted online.', 'In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace last year, McDaniel defended her claims of voting “irregularity” in the election.', '“I think saying that there were problems with 2020 is very real.', 'I don’t think that’s election denying,” McDaniel told Wallace. “', 'I’m from Wayne County.', 'We had a woman send a note saying I’m being told to backdate ballots.', 'We had to look into that.', 'That’s deeply concerning.', 'When you have friends who are poll-watching and being kicked out, that’s deeply concerning.', 'We have every right to look at that.”', 'In the interview,Wallace pressed McDaniel if she believed Biden legitimately won the election.', '“I think there were lots of problems with 2020.', 'Ultimately, he won the electionbut there were lots of problems with the 2020 election,” she said. “', 'But I don’t think he won it fair.', 'I don’t.', 'I’m not going to say that.”', 'NBC’s hiring of McDaniel, however, plays into a recent trend at thenetwork’s outlets, which has seemingly softened its stance on Trump as he inches toward the Republican nomination for president.', 'Earlier this month, CNBC hosted Trump for a lengthy phone interview in which the network’s anchors allowed him to peddle lies and conspiracy theories on airwithout scrutiny.', 'MSNBC has even started carrying Trump’s remarks live on television, a practice that the network boasted for years it would not do.', 'Star host Rachel Maddow, who has said carrying Trump’s lieson the airis dangerous, even objected to the network broadcasting a recent speech from the presumptive Republican nominee, calling it “irresponsible.”']",-0.069193576701305,But I don’t think he won it fair.,"At times, she even targeted NBC Newsand MSNBCwith dishonest attacks.",-0.2803102334340413,"NBC’s hiring of McDaniel, however, plays into a recent trend at thenetwork’s outlets, which has seemingly softened its stance on Trump as he inches toward the Republican nomination for president.",“I think there were lots of problems with 2020.,2024-03-28
"Some New England universities and colleges break $90,000 barrier for total cost in upcoming school year",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/college-tuition-new-england-ninety-thousand/index.html,"
  Published
        9:01 PM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","Several New England universities and colleges have reached a pinnacle of at least $90,000 for undergraduate tuition and costs starting this fall.
    
            Yale University, Tufts University, Boston University (BU), and Wellesley College are among a few private institutions that will top this year’s costs for tuition, housing and other expenses, according to the schools’ websites.
    
            The nearly six-figure sums reflect the rising cost of higher education, far outstripping the average inflation for other goods and services.
    
            For the 2024-2025 school year, Tufts’ estimates of expenses for undergraduate programs reaches nearly $96,000, trumping Wellesley — which comes in at about $92,000.
    
            Wellesley’s comprehensive undergraduate fee is an increase of 4.7% from the current year of $88,200, which “reflects the increasing costs of providing a Wellesley education,” university spokesperson Stacey Schmeidel told CNN Wednesday. The total fees including health insurance will boost the cost up to $92,060, Schmeidel added.
    
            In contrast, the Consumer Price Index — a widely used measure of inflation — rose 3.2% in the 12 months ended in February.
    
            Schmeidel said very few Wellesley students pay the total fee, adding nearly 60% of its students receive financial aid and the average financial aid award is $67,469.
    
            “We are committed to making a Wellesley education affordable, and we meet the full calculated financial need for every student who enrolls at the College,” Schmeidel said.
    
            Colleges both public and private have seen jumps in tuition and other costs in recent years.
    
            Between 1987 and 2017, the cost of attending a public four-year college rose more than 200%. While data on student debt varies, the average balance for a borrower between the ages of 25 and 34 stands at $32,000, according to Department of Education data.
    
            A Bureau of Labor Statistics calculator shows $100 in January 1987 being worth about an inflation-adjusted $222 at the end of 2017 — or an increase of about 122%.
    
            For the year strting this fall, Yale University comes in at almost $91,000, preceding Boston University with around $90,000 for the academic year.
    
            BU, with one of its primary campuses in Boston, says it is offering expanded financial aid packages that will make up the difference between the cost of attendance and affordability, according to its website.
    
            The university will also “meet 100% of the demonstrated financial need for admitted, first-year students who are US citizens or permanent residents.”
    
            BU also said it is awarding $425 million in financial aid to its undergraduate students this upcoming year, 92% of the aid the university gives is need-based, and each award is guaranteed for four years with BU Scholarship Assurance, according to Colin Riley, executive director of media relations for the university.
    
            The remaining 8% is merit-based, according to the school’s website.
    
            Riley added 56% of domestic students received some form of aid for this academic year, with the average financial aid package being $67,000, for an average cost of attendance of $16,000.
    
            “Because this is an average, some of the students with greatest demonstrated financial need paid $0, and others paid more,” Riley said.
    
            Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid for Yale, reported the undergraduate financial aid budget for the 2023-24 academic year was $241 million — a figure that has more than tripled since the 2007-08 academic year, according to a release on Yale’s website.
    
            “I am proud that Yale is one of only a small handful of institutions that meet 100% of all families’ demonstrated financial need without requiring students or parents to take out loans, with consistent policies for all students regardless of citizenship or immigration status,” said Quinlan.
    
            Patrick Collins, Tufts University’s executive director of media relations, said the current first year class received more than $33 million in need-based grants from Tufts as the university’s average grant this year was more than $53,500. Collins added the increase in total student charges for 2024-25 is “in line with increases that we are seeing at our peer institutions.”
    
            “We are proud to be one of a small number of universities committed to meeting the full demonstrated financial need of all admitted undergraduate students,” Collins said in a statement to CNN Wednesday. “Because of this commitment, a significant number of students pay substantially less in tuition than the published price.”
    
            Contributing: CNN’s Allison Morrow.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['Several New England universities and colleges have reached a pinnacle of at least $90,000 forundergraduate tuition and costs starting this fall.', 'Yale University,Tufts University, Boston University (BU), and Wellesley College are among a few private institutions that will top this year’s costs for tuition, housing and other expenses, according to the schools’ websites.', 'The nearly six-figure sums reflect the rising cost of higher education, far outstripping the average inflation for other goods and services.', 'For the 2024-2025 school year,Tufts’ estimates of expensesfor undergraduate programs reaches nearly $96,000, trumpingWellesley— which comes in at about $92,000.', 'Wellesley’s comprehensive undergraduate fee is an increase of 4.7% from the current year of $88,200, which “reflects the increasing costs of providing a Wellesley education,” university spokesperson StaceySchmeideltold CNN Wednesday.', 'The total fees including health insurance will boost the cost up to $92,060, Schmeideladded.', 'In contrast, the Consumer Price Index — a widely used measure of inflation — rose 3.2% in the 12 months ended in February.', 'Schmeidelsaid very few Wellesley students pay the total fee, adding nearly 60% of its students receive financial aid and the average financial aid award is $67,469.', '“We are committed to making a Wellesley education affordable, and we meet the full calculated financial need for every student who enrolls at the College,” Schmeidel said.', 'Colleges both public and private have seen jumps in tuition and other costs in recent years.', 'Between 1987 and 2017, the cost of attending a public four-year college rose more than 200%.', 'While data on student debt varies, the average balance for a borrower between the ages of 25 and 34 stands at $32,000, according toDepartment of Education data.', 'A Bureau of Labor Statistics calculator shows $100 in January 1987 being worth about an inflation-adjusted $222 at the end of 2017 — or an increase of about 122%.', 'For the year strting this fall, YaleUniversitycomesin at almost $91,000, precedingBoston University with around $90,000for the academic year.', 'BU, with one of its primary campuses in Boston, says it is offering expanded financial aid packages that will make up the difference between the cost of attendance and affordability, according to itswebsite.', 'The university will also “meet 100% of thedemonstratedfinancial needfor admitted, first-year students who are US citizens or permanent residents.”', 'BU also saidit is awarding$425 millionin financial aid to its undergraduate students this upcoming year, 92% of the aid the university gives is need-based, and each award is guaranteed for four years withBU Scholarship Assurance, according to Colin Riley, executive director of media relations for the university.', 'The remaining 8% is merit-based, according to theschool’s website.', 'Riley added 56% of domestic students received some form of aid for this academic year, with the average financial aid package being $67,000, for an average cost of attendance of $16,000.', '“Because this is an average, some of the students with greatest demonstrated financial need paid $0, and others paid more,” Riley said.', 'Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aidfor Yale,reportedthe undergraduate financial aid budget for the 2023-24 academic year was $241 million — a figure that has more than tripled since the 2007-08 academic year, according to arelease on Yale’s website.', '“I am proud that Yale is one of only a small handful of institutions that meet 100% of all families’ demonstrated financial need without requiring students or parents to take out loans, with consistent policies for all students regardless of citizenship or immigration status,” said Quinlan.', 'Patrick Collins, Tufts University’s executive director of media relations, said the current first year class received more than $33 million in need-based grants from Tufts as the university’s average grant this year was more than $53,500.', 'Collins added the increase intotal student charges for 2024-25is “in line with increases that we are seeing at our peer institutions.”', '“We are proud to be one of a small number of universities committed to meeting the full demonstrated financial need of all admitted undergraduate students,” Collins said in a statement to CNN Wednesday. “', 'Because of this commitment, a significant number of students pay substantially less in tuition than the published price.”', 'Contributing: CNN’s Allison Morrow.']",0.2332442800130738,"BU also saidit is awarding$425 millionin financial aid to its undergraduate students this upcoming year, 92% of the aid the university gives is need-based, and each award is guaranteed for four years withBU Scholarship Assurance, according to Colin Riley, executive director of media relations for the university.","While data on student debt varies, the average balance for a borrower between the ages of 25 and 34 stands at $32,000, according toDepartment of Education data.",0.6167108789086342,"In contrast, the Consumer Price Index — a widely used measure of inflation — rose 3.2% in the 12 months ended in February.","The nearly six-figure sums reflect the rising cost of higher education, far outstripping the average inflation for other goods and services.",2024-03-28
A glut of cheap Chinese goods is flooding the world and stoking trade tensions,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/business/china-goods-exports-trade/index.html,"
  Published
        7:42 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","China’s factories are churning out more steel, cars and solar panels than its slowing economy can use, forcing a flood of cheap exports into foreign markets.
    
            The oversupply of Chinese goods in key industries is stoking tensions between the world’s biggest manufacturer and its major trading partners, including the United States and the European Union. Its global trade surplus in goods has soared and is now approaching $1 trillion.
    
            The United States and the EU are fretting over potential “dumping” by China — that is, exporting goods at artificially low prices — with electric vehicles among the products caught in the crosshairs.
    
            “Europe cannot just accept that strategically viable industries constituting the European industrial base are being priced out of the market,” Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, told reporters earlier this month.
    
            But China needs to increase exports as a key measure to revive its economy, which is grappling with a protracted property slump, weak household spending and a shrinking population among other problems.
    
            Beijing is now focusing on higher-value exports, after investing billions into advanced manufacturing. But the move is badly timed, coming amid slower economic growth globally and a shift by Western consumers from pandemic-era spending on goods to travel and leisure.
    
            It is also coming up against a push by Europe and the United States to reduce their dependence on China and boost local manufacturing, creating jobs — including through the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Inflation Reduction Act respectively.
    
            “It is hard for me to imagine that Europe would just sit by and quietly witness (its own) accelerated de-industrialization… because of the externalization of low domestic demand in China,” Eskelund said.
    
            According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, prices of Chinese exports are at their lowest level since 2009, when the West was reeling from the global financial crisis.
    
            And China’s surplus in goods trade has more than doubled since the pandemic, according to Brad W. Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2019, the country exported an estimated $400 billion more in goods than it imported — a surplus that ballooned to $900 billion last year.
    
            China’s exports of low-priced goods got a boost after it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. Its economy and heft as a manufacturer have also grown substantially since then.
    
            Having conquered the production of clothing and consumer electronics, China has come to dominate electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines — industries viewed as strategically important in Europe and the United States as they seek to green their economies and reduce planet-heating pollution.
    
            Europe’s solar panel producers have been all but wiped out by Chinese competition, and the same fate threatens its wind industry.
    
            “European companies could fall behind (Chinese manufacturer) Goldwind, which already offers its turbines well below the price of the established (European) manufacturers,” Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the Aream Group, an asset manager specializing in renewable energy, said in a statement this month.
    
            In the last three months of 2023, China’s BYD overtook Tesla (TSLA) as the top seller of EVs worldwide, capping an extraordinary rise for the Warren Buffett-backed carmaker. Compared with Tesla, BYD’s cars are more affordable, which has helped it attract a wider range of buyers. Its entry-level model sells in China for the equivalent of just under $10,000. The cheapest Tesla car, a Model 3, costs almost $39,000.
    
            Alongside “surging EV exports,” China manufactures 80% of the world’s solar panels and makes more wind turbines than any other country, Setser wrote in a recent note. “Chinese policy continues to emphasize upgrading China’s capacity in advanced manufacturing as a major driver of future growth,” he added.
    
            Earlier this month, Premier Li Qiang, Xi’s number two, told China’s parliament that the government would focus on exporting more of the country’s “new trio” of products, namely EVs, lithium batteries and solar panels.
    
            Eskelund of the European Union Chamber of Commerce says the organization is seeing “overcapacity across the board” in China, whether in the production of chemicals, metals or EVs.
    
            “We haven’t seen all that capacity coming online just yet. This is something that’s going to hit markets over the next few years,” he added.
    
            Beijing is aware of China’s overcapacity problem, acknowledging it as an issue for the first time in almost a decade at an annual meeting of senior officials in December.
    
            But on the eve of this week’s China Development Forum, several Chinese state-owned media outlets published editorials challenging the notion that China’s supply glut poses a threat to other economies.
    
            “What China exports is advanced production capacity that meets the needs of foreign customers,” Xinhua News Agency wrote.
    
            Washington and Brussels have a different view, however. US President Joe Biden recently pledged to investigate whether imports of Chinese vehicles pose a national security threat.
    
            “A dynamic auto industry is vital to the US economy,” he said in a statement last month. “China is determined to dominate the future of the auto market, including by using unfair practices. China’s policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security.”
    
            The EU, meanwhile, is looking into China’s state support for EV makers, which it suspects may be enabling these firms to keep prices super-low, creating unfair competition with European rivals.
    
            European officials are also considering whether existing measures to safeguard the EU steel industry should be extended or adjusted, as well as investigating allegations of biodiesel dumping by China following a complaint by European producers. Biodiesel is a renewable alternative to fossil fuels used in the EU’s transport sector.
    
            The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in December that it might impose tariffs on Chinese biodiesel imports if dumping was confirmed.
    
            China, for its part, is fighting back. It said this week that it had filed a complaint with the WTO to contest “discriminatory subsidy policies” for EVs under Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Earlier this year, Beijing opened an anti-dumping investigation into brandy imported from the EU.
    
            If there is a silver lining to China’s influence in global trade, it’s that it should help keep goods prices and overall inflation in check in advanced economies this year, according to Jennifer McKeown, chief global economist at Capital Economics.
    
            “But perhaps more importantly, persistent oversupply and low prices of Chinese goods will add to geopolitical tensions and keep the threat of tariffs and counter-tariffs alive,” she wrote in a recent note. And these could ultimately raise inflation in the years ahead, she said.
    
            Shawn Deng contributed reporting.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['China’s factories are churning out more steel, cars and solar panels than its slowing economy can use, forcing a flood of cheap exports into foreign markets.', 'The oversupply of Chinese goods in key industries is stoking tensions between the world’s biggest manufacturer and its major trading partners, including the United States and the European Union.', 'Its global trade surplus in goods has soared and is now approaching $1 trillion.', 'The United States and the EU are fretting over potential “dumping” by China — that is, exporting goods at artificially low prices — with electric vehicles among the products caught in the crosshairs.', '“Europe cannot just accept that strategically viable industries constituting the European industrial base are being priced out of the market,” Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, told reporters earlier this month.', 'But China needs to increase exports as a key measure to revive its economy, which is grappling with a protracted property slump, weak household spending and a shrinking population among other problems.', 'Beijing is now focusing on higher-value exports, after investing billions into advanced manufacturing.', 'But the move is badly timed, coming amid slower economic growth globally and a shift by Western consumers from pandemic-era spending on goods to travel and leisure.', 'It is also coming up against a push by Europe and the United States to reduce their dependence on China and boost local manufacturing, creating jobs — including through the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Inflation Reduction Act respectively.', '“It is hard for me to imagine that Europe would just sit by and quietly witness (its own) accelerated de-industrialization… because of the externalization of low domestic demand in China,” Eskelund said.', 'According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, prices of Chinese exports are at their lowest level since 2009, when the West was reeling from the global financial crisis.', 'And China’s surplus in goods trade has more than doubled since the pandemic, according to Brad W. Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.', 'In 2019, the country exported an estimated $400 billion more in goods than it imported — a surplus that ballooned to $900 billion last year.', 'China’s exports of low-priced goods got a boost after it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.', 'Its economy and heft as a manufacturer have also grown substantially since then.', 'Having conquered the production of clothing and consumer electronics, China has come to dominate electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines — industries viewed as strategically important in Europe and the United States as they seek to green their economies and reduce planet-heating pollution.', 'Europe’s solar panel producers have been all but wiped out by Chinese competition, and the same fate threatens its wind industry.', '“European companies could fall behind (Chinese manufacturer) Goldwind, which already offers itsturbineswell below the price of the established (European) manufacturers,” Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the Aream Group, an asset manager specializing in renewable energy, said in a statement this month.', 'In the last three months of 2023, China’s BYDovertookTesla(TSLA) as the top seller of EVs worldwide, capping an extraordinary rise for the Warren Buffett-backed carmaker.', 'Compared with Tesla, BYD’s cars are more affordable, which has helped it attract a wider range of buyers.', 'Its entry-level model sells in China for the equivalent of just under $10,000.', 'The cheapest Tesla car, a Model 3,costsalmost $39,000.', 'Alongside “surging EV exports,” China manufactures 80% of the world’s solar panels and makes more wind turbines than any other country, Setser wrote in a recent note. “', 'Chinese policy continues to emphasize upgrading China’s capacity in advanced manufacturing as a major driver of future growth,” he added.', 'Earlier this month, Premier Li Qiang, Xi’s number two, told China’s parliament that the government would focus on exporting more of the country’s “new trio” of products, namely EVs, lithium batteries and solar panels.', 'Eskelund of the European Union Chamber of Commerce says the organization is seeing “overcapacity across the board” in China, whether in the production of chemicals, metals or EVs.', '“We haven’t seen all that capacity coming online just yet.', 'This is something that’s going to hit markets over the next few years,” he added.', 'Beijing is aware of China’s overcapacity problem, acknowledging it as an issue for the first time in almost a decade at an annual meeting of senior officials in December.', 'But on the eve of this week’s China Development Forum, several Chinese state-owned media outlets published editorials challenging the notion that China’s supply glut poses a threat to other economies.', '“What China exports is advanced production capacity that meets theneeds of foreign customers,” Xinhua News Agency wrote.', 'Washington and Brussels have a different view, however.', 'US President Joe Biden recently pledged to investigate whether imports of Chinese vehicles pose a national security threat.', '“A dynamic auto industry is vital to the US economy,” he said in a statement last month. “', 'China is determined to dominate the future of the auto market, including by using unfair practices.', 'China’s policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security.”', 'The EU, meanwhile, is looking into China’s state support for EV makers, which it suspects may be enabling these firms to keep prices super-low, creating unfair competition with European rivals.', 'European officials are also considering whether existing measures to safeguard the EU steel industry should be extended or adjusted, as well as investigating allegations of biodiesel dumping by China following a complaint by European producers.', 'Biodiesel is a renewable alternative to fossil fuels used in the EU’s transport sector.', 'The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in December that it might impose tariffs on Chinese biodiesel imports if dumping was confirmed.', 'China, for its part, is fighting back.', 'It said this week that it had filed a complaint with the WTO to contest “discriminatory subsidy policies” for EVs under Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.', 'Earlier this year, Beijing opened an anti-dumping investigation into brandy imported from the EU.', 'If there is a silver lining to China’s influence in global trade, it’s that it should help keep goods prices and overall inflation in check in advanced economies this year, according to Jennifer McKeown, chief global economist at Capital Economics.', '“But perhaps more importantly, persistent oversupply and low prices of Chinese goods will add to geopolitical tensions and keep the threat of tariffs and counter-tariffs alive,” she wrote in a recent note.', 'And these could ultimately raise inflation in the years ahead, she said.', 'Shawn Deng contributed reporting.']",-0.0207189198893541,"It is also coming up against a push by Europe and the United States to reduce their dependence on China and boost local manufacturing, creating jobs — including through the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Inflation Reduction Act respectively.","According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, prices of Chinese exports are at their lowest level since 2009, when the West was reeling from the global financial crisis.",0.033561720002082,Its economy and heft as a manufacturer have also grown substantially since then.,"According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, prices of Chinese exports are at their lowest level since 2009, when the West was reeling from the global financial crisis.",2024-03-28
"You can buy this electric luxury SUV for $25,000 right now. But there might be a catch",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/fisker-ocean-25000/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:53 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","For sale: A brand new luxury electric SUV for the holy-grail price of $25,000. There just might be a slight catch.
    
            The California-based electric SUV company Fisker faces a real possibility of bankruptcy, and its stock is hovering just over 2 cents a share, far below its 2021 peak of $28.50.
    
            And even though production has halted, the company still has SUVs to offer, so it’s having a sale. Prices for Fisker’s Ocean SUV have been cut by as much 39%. The catch, however, is that the car has received critical reviews rather than wide acclaim. And getting it serviced may not be easy.
    
            The base sticker price for the top-of-the-line Fisker Ocean Extreme has been cut from about $62,500 to $37,5000. Prices for the Sport trim level have been cut from $39,000 to $25,000.
    
            In announcing the price cuts, Fisker billed the move as a strategic shift rather than a fire sale.
    
            “Fisker is strategically positioning the all-electric Ocean SUV to be a more affordable and compelling EV choice, competitively available to EV buyers in the broadest possible market,” the company said in announcing the price cuts.
    
            The car itself has had some bad reviews. The Ocean was also the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube personality Marques Brownlee. His video was titled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”
    
            “Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description. Brownlee’s February 17 video has racked up more than 4.8 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.
    
            Consumer Reports also recently published its own review of the Ocean, panning its ride quality and software, although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.
    
            Fisker has said that problems with early versions of the vehicles’ software caused some of the negative responses. The company also said it plans to continue updating and improving the software through over the air updates that will be installed without the SUVs needing to be taken to a dealer or service center.
    
            Fisker declined to say how the SUVs would be serviced in the event the company does go out of business. Fisker, founded in 2016 by a Danish auto designer named Henrik Fisker, had originally planned to sell and service vehicles itself, as other EV startups such as Tesla and Rivian do. Recently, though, Fisker shifted to recruiting independent dealers to sell vehicles the way more established automakers do.
    
            By end of 2023, Fisker had signed up only 12 dealers in the United States and Europe, however.
    
            Fisker had reported in early March that it could run out of cash to continue operations. Its SUVs are produced by the contract manufacturing company Magna Steyr in Austria. Last year, Magna produced more than 10,193 Fisker SUVs, but fewer than half of those were delivered to customers within the calendar year, the company announced in March.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['For sale: A brand new luxury electric SUV for the holy-grail price of $25,000.', 'There just might be a slight catch.', 'The California-based electric SUV company Fisker faces a real possibility of bankruptcy, and its stock is hovering just over 2 cents a share, far below its 2021 peak of $28.50.', 'And even though production has halted, the company still has SUVs to offer, so it’s having a sale.', 'Prices for Fisker’s Ocean SUV have been cut by as much 39%.', 'The catch, however, is that the car has received critical reviews rather than wide acclaim.', 'And getting it serviced may not be easy.', 'The base sticker price for the top-of-the-line Fisker Ocean Extreme has been cut from about $62,500 to $37,5000.', 'Prices for the Sport trim level have been cut from $39,000 to $25,000.', 'In announcing the price cuts, Fisker billed the move as a strategic shift rather than a fire sale.', '“Fiskeris strategically positioning the all-electric Ocean SUV to be a more affordable and compelling EV choice, competitively available to EV buyers in the broadest possible market,” the company said in announcing the price cuts.', 'The car itself has had some bad reviews.', 'The Ocean was also the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube personality Marques Brownlee.', 'His video wastitled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”', '“Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description.', 'Brownlee’s February 17 video has racked up more than 4.8 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.', 'Consumer Reports also recently published its own reviewof the Ocean, panning its ride quality and software, although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.', 'Fisker has said that problems with early versions of the vehicles’ software caused some of the negative responses.', 'The company also said it plans to continue updating and improving the software through over the air updates that will be installed without the SUVs needing to be taken to a dealer or service center.', 'Fisker declined to say how the SUVs would be serviced in the event the company does go out of business.', 'Fisker, founded in 2016 by a Danish auto designer named Henrik Fisker, had originally planned to sell and service vehicles itself, as other EV startups such as Tesla and Rivian do.', 'Recently, though, Fisker shifted to recruiting independent dealers to sell vehicles the way more established automakers do.', 'By end of 2023, Fisker had signed up only 12 dealers in the United States and Europe, however.', 'Fisker had reported in early March that it could run out of cash to continue operations.', 'Its SUVs are produced by the contract manufacturing company Magna Steyr in Austria.', 'Last year, Magna produced more than 10,193 Fisker SUVs, but fewer than half of those were delivered to customers within the calendar year, the company announced in March.']",-0.089786654324258,The company also said it plans to continue updating and improving the software through over the air updates that will be installed without the SUVs needing to be taken to a dealer or service center.,Fisker has said that problems with early versions of the vehicles’ software caused some of the negative responses.,-0.7770876613530245,"“Fiskeris strategically positioning the all-electric Ocean SUV to be a more affordable and compelling EV choice, competitively available to EV buyers in the broadest possible market,” the company said in announcing the price cuts.","The California-based electric SUV company Fisker faces a real possibility of bankruptcy, and its stock is hovering just over 2 cents a share, far below its 2021 peak of $28.50.",2024-03-28
It’s back: Targeted Amex card holders can get up to 30% off at Amazon,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/deals/amazon-amex-discount-promotion,"
  
        11:21 AM EST, Wed February 14, 2024
    ","Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities. While that’s true, there’s another lesser-known use for them — redeeming them for purchases at Amazon. Right now, you may be eligible for an Amazon promotion where you can save big on Amazon purchases by redeeming as little as one Amex point.
    
            Targeted American Express card members can save as much as 30% on their next Amazon purchase, for up to $30 in savings when you use Amex points to pay for at least a portion of your purchase at checkout. However, your offer may be higher or lower.
    
            This offer is set to expire on June 30, 2024, so even if you aren’t in the market to shop at Amazon right now, you have some time to take advantage of the savings. That said, Amazon also states it will deactivate the offer after 24,167 customers have redeemed it.
    
            With many Amazon discounted offers, scoring the deal can be a little complicated. But we’re going to take you through it step by step to make sure you’re getting as much of a discount as possible when you’re shopping at Amazon.
    
            To start, you must have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points. Amex cards that earn other types of rewards, such as cash back or airline miles, won’t work. But there are plenty of Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points — a small sampling of them is at the end of this story.
    
            Next, you’ll need to link your Amazon and American Express accounts. Add your American Express card as a payment method in your Amazon account, if you haven’t already. Then look for the option to enroll in “Shop with Points” under the “Your Account” tab, and click the “Enroll” button for the Amex card you just added.
    
            Once your accounts are connected, you’ll need to activate the offer by clicking on this link. Remember, this is a targeted promotion, so not everyone will be eligible for it — you could be targeted for any one of the offers or none of them. When you click on the link, if you see a message that you’re not eligible, then you’re unfortunately not targeted for this particular promotion.
    
            But even if you’re not targeted, don’t give up hope. If you just enrolled in “Shop with Points,” you may need to wait 24 hours for Amazon’s records to refresh before knowing if you’re targeted, so check back in a day or so.
    
            If you’re eligible, activate the offer by clicking on the “Activate now” button — the enrollment page will indicate your particular discount. You can then shop at Amazon as you normally would, though only products sold and shipped by Amazon are eligible for these discounts. Additionally, Amazon gift cards are excluded, though other third-party retailer gift cards sold by Amazon might be eligible.
    
            But wait! There’s one more step. When you’re ready to check out, you’ll want to make sure to select your linked American Express card as your payment method. Then you’ll need to use at least 1 point to pay for your purchase for the discount to apply.
    
            When paying with Amex Membership Rewards points at Amazon, 1 point equals 0.7 cents. That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points. Frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Membership Rewards points as high as 2 cents each when redeemed for travel.
    
            However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to pay for your entire Amazon purchase with points to get these discounts. In fact, you can use just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Amex card, and you’ll still see the discount applied to your order. However, some accounts might see that you need to redeem slightly more points — 714 to be exact — to receive the savings, so make sure to check the terms of your exact offer.
    
            To pay with the minimum number of points required, enter $0.01 in the points section at checkout, which will apply just 1 point to your payment, You can use any number of points you want, but if you don’t make this change, Amazon may automatically apply the maximum number of points to cover the entire purchase, so you’ll want to make sure to update the amount before you place the order.
    
            Once you’ve applied at least 1 point to your payment, you’ll see the discount added to your order. The discount will apply on every order you place through June 30 until you hit the total maximum in savings — which will depend on your particular offer.
    
            Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can apply this discount to your upcoming Amazon purchases, even if you don’t need anything from Amazon right at the moment.
    
            With airlines having regular delays and cancellations over the last year, placing an Apple AirTag on your luggage can be a great way to track the location of your belongings. An Apple AirTag 4 Pack is currently priced at $78.99 before taxes and shipping, but if you’re targeted for the 30% off American Express offer, that’ll bring the pack down to $55.30, or around $13.83 per AirTag before tax.
    
            Or, if you’re hoping to pick up a set of new Apple AirPods Pro 2, right now Amazon is selling them for $189.99. But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.
    
            Even if you aren’t eligible for any of these particular Amex promotions, offers like this typically resurface many times throughout the year, so keep on checking back.
    
            Amazon often runs similar promotions for other credit cards, so check out our guides to discounts for Chase and Discover card holders to see what’s available. You might also find that even if you aren’t eligible now for one of these offers, you could magically become targeted in a few weeks, so keep on checking the link to see if you’ve been granted access.
    
            Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, so keep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.
    
            Also, make sure you read our guide to the best credit cards for Amazon to be sure you’re using the right card when you buy at Amazon.
    
            Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best travel credit cards currently available.",CNN,14/02/2024,"['Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities.', 'While that’s true, there’s another lesser-known use for them — redeeming them for purchases at Amazon.', 'Right now, you may be eligible for anAmazonpromotion where you can save big on Amazon purchases by redeeming as little as one Amex point.', 'Targeted American Express card members cansave as much as 30% on their next Amazon purchase, for up to $30 in savings when you use Amex points to pay for at least a portion of your purchase at checkout.', 'However, your offer may be higher or lower.', 'This offer is set to expire on June 30, 2024, so even if you aren’t in the market to shop at Amazon right now, you have some time to take advantage of the savings.', 'That said, Amazon also states it will deactivate the offer after 24,167 customers have redeemed it.', 'With many Amazon discounted offers, scoring the deal can be a little complicated.', 'But we’re going to take you through it step by step to make sure you’re getting as much of a discount as possible when you’re shopping atAmazon.', 'To start, you must have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points.', 'Amex cards that earn other types of rewards, such as cash back or airline miles, won’t work.', 'But there are plenty of Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points — a small sampling of them is at the end of this story.', 'Next, you’ll need tolink your Amazon and American Express accounts.', 'Add your American Express card as a payment method in your Amazon account, if you haven’t already.', 'Then look for the option toenroll in “Shop with Points”under the “Your Account” tab, and click the “Enroll” button for the Amex card you just added.', 'Once your accounts are connected, you’ll need to activate the offer byclicking on this link.', 'Remember, this is a targeted promotion, so not everyone will be eligible for it — you could be targeted for any one of the offers or none of them.', 'When you click on the link, if you see a message that you’re not eligible, then you’re unfortunately not targeted for this particular promotion.', 'But even if you’re not targeted, don’t give up hope.', 'If you just enrolled in “Shop with Points,” you may need to wait 24 hours for Amazon’s records to refresh before knowing if you’re targeted, so check back in a day or so.', 'If you’re eligible, activate the offer byclicking on the “Activate now” button— the enrollment page will indicate your particular discount.', 'You can thenshop at Amazonas you normally would, though only products sold and shipped by Amazon are eligible for these discounts.', 'Additionally, Amazon gift cards are excluded, though otherthird-party retailer gift cardssold by Amazon might be eligible.', 'But wait!', 'There’s one more step.', 'When you’re ready to check out, you’ll want to make sure to select your linked American Express card as your payment method.', 'Then you’ll need to use at least 1 point to pay for your purchase for the discount to apply.', 'When paying with Amex Membership Rewards points at Amazon, 1 point equals 0.7 cents.', 'That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points.', 'Frequent flyer websiteThe Points Guyvalues Membership Rewards points as high as 2 cents each when redeemed for travel.', 'However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to pay for your entireAmazonpurchase with points to get these discounts.', 'In fact,you can use just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Amex card, and you’ll still see the discount applied to your order.', 'However, some accounts might see that you need to redeem slightly more points —714 to be exact —to receive the savings, so make sure to check the terms of your exact offer.', 'To pay with the minimum number of points required, enter $0.01 in the points section at checkout, which will apply just 1 point to your payment, You can use any number of points you want, but if you don’t make this change,Amazonmay automatically apply the maximum number of points to cover the entire purchase, so you’ll want to make sure to update the amount before you place the order.', 'Once you’ve applied at least 1 point to your payment, you’ll see the discount added to your order.', 'The discount will apply on every order you place through June 30 until you hit the total maximum in savings —which will depend on your particular offer.', 'Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can apply this discount to your upcomingAmazonpurchases, even if you don’t need anything from Amazon right at the moment.', 'With airlines having regular delays and cancellations over the last year, placing an Apple AirTag on your luggage can be a great way to track the location of your belongings.', 'An Apple AirTag 4 Pack is currently priced at $78.99 before taxes and shipping, but if you’re targeted for the 30% off American Express offer, that’ll bring the pack down to $55.30, or around $13.83 per AirTag before tax.', 'Or, if you’re hoping to pick up a set of new Apple AirPods Pro 2, right now Amazon is selling them for $189.99.', 'But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.', 'Even if you aren’t eligible for any of these particular Amex promotions, offers like this typically resurface many times throughout the year, so keep on checking back.', 'Amazon often runs similar promotions for other credit cards, so check out our guides to discounts for Chase and Discover card holders to see what’s available.', 'You might also find that even if you aren’t eligible now for one of these offers, you could magically become targeted in a few weeks, so keep on checking the link to see if you’ve been granted access.', 'Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, sokeep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.', 'Also, make sure you read our guide to thebest credit cards for Amazonto be sure you’re using the right card when you buy at Amazon.', 'Looking for a travel credit card?', 'Find out which cardsCNN Underscored Moneychose as thebest travel credit cardscurrently available.']",0.2766683229921542,Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities.,That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points.,-0.0578338623046875,"Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, sokeep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.",But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.,2024-03-28
"Trump Media is a risky bet, whether you love it or hate it",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/investing/shorting-trump-media-risk-nightcap/index.html,"
  Published
        5:00 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","Trump Media’s trading debut this week gave Donald Trump’s biggest fans a way to show their support with their wallets, albeit in a seriously risky way that few financial advisers would endorse.
    
            Naturally, Trump’s detractors may be keen to take the opposite side of that bet by setting up a short position, a.k.a. a wager that the stock’s value will fall.
    
            The short bet might look appealing on paper. After all, Trump Media, the parent company of the fledgling right-wing platform Truth Social, brings in little revenue, posts zero profit and has given no indication it has a path to profitability that would justify its current $9 billion market valuation. The stock is pretty much guaranteed to fall, right?
    
            Yes. But it may take a very long time. And it’s now the most expensive US stock to short, with borrowing rates more than 200 times the average, according to research from S3 Partners.
    
            Those who have already swallowed the high borrowing costs to short Trump Media are getting hosed. On Tuesday alone, shorts notched paper losses of $61 million, according to S3.
    
            It’s worth noting that a short bet is almost always riskier than a long one. If you buy $100 worth of shares that eventually become worthless, your loss is limited to $100.
    
            When you short a stock, you’re essentially borrowing it for a small fee and selling it high, with the promise to return to its owner later by buying it back at (you hope) a much lower price. You make money by pocketing the difference. But if the stock price keeps going up, there’s no limit to the amount you’d have to pay to replace the borrowed shares.
    
            “There is huuuuge conviction (Trump pun intended) on the short-side that there will be a significant decline in its stock price in the short term,” wrote Ihor Dusaniwsky, S3’s managing director of predictive analytics. “But…long shareholders have a much different and much more positive view” on Trump Media.
    
            Bottom line: Trump Media, trading under the ticker DJT, is a classic meme stock (if “classic” can apply to a three-year-old concept). Investors are not piling in because of the fundamentals — you don’t need an MBA to understand that $49 million in losses against $3.4 million in revenue doesn’t look like a solid business.
    
            But like GameStop, AMC and Bed Bath & Beyond before it, DJT is riding high on vibes. Trump fans are moved by a higher calling, much like the diamond-handed rocket-emoji crowd of Mass Momentum Trades Past.
    
            Whether you’re going short or long, “think of that as you’re making a political statement,” said Laurence White, an economics professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “On average, it’s not going to turn out well.”
    
            He added: “Even if you’re a big believer — ‘this is a bubble, it will eventually burst’ — the issue is, eventually could be a long time. And in the interim, especially if you’re on the short side, that can be very expensive.”",CNN,28/03/2024,"['Trump Media’s trading debut this week gave Donald Trump’s biggest fans a way to show their support with their wallets, albeit in a seriously risky way that few financial advisers would endorse.', 'Naturally, Trump’s detractors may be keen to take the opposite side of that bet by setting up a short position, a.k.a.', 'a wager that the stock’s value will fall.', 'The short bet might look appealing on paper.', 'After all, Trump Media, the parent company of the fledgling right-wing platform Truth Social, brings in little revenue, posts zero profit and has given no indication it has a path to profitability that would justify its current $9 billion market valuation.', 'The stock is pretty much guaranteed to fall, right?', 'Yes.', 'But it may take a very long time.', 'And it’s now the most expensive US stock to short, with borrowing rates more than 200 times the average, according to research from S3 Partners.', 'Those who have already swallowed the high borrowing costs to short Trump Media are getting hosed.', 'On Tuesday alone, shorts notched paper losses of $61 million, according to S3.', 'It’s worth noting that a short bet is almost always riskier than a long one.', 'If you buy $100 worth of shares that eventually become worthless, your loss is limited to $100.', 'When you short a stock, you’re essentially borrowing it for a small fee and selling it high, with the promise to return to its owner later by buying it back at (you hope) a much lower price.', 'You make money by pocketing the difference.', 'But if the stock price keeps going up, there’s no limit to the amount you’d have to pay to replace the borrowed shares.', '“There is huuuuge conviction (Trump pun intended) on the short-side that there will be a significant decline in its stock price in the short term,” wrote Ihor Dusaniwsky, S3’s managing director of predictive analytics. “', 'But…long shareholders have a much different and much more positive view” on Trump Media.', 'Bottom line: Trump Media, trading under the ticker DJT, is a classic meme stock (if “classic” can apply to a three-year-old concept).', 'Investors are not piling in because of the fundamentals — you don’t need an MBA to understand that $49 million in losses against $3.4 million in revenue doesn’t look like a solid business.', 'But like GameStop, AMC and Bed Bath & Beyondbefore it, DJT is riding high on vibes.', 'Trump fans are moved by a higher calling, much like the diamond-handed rocket-emoji crowd of Mass Momentum Trades Past.', 'Whether you’re going short or long, “think of that as you’re making a political statement,” said Laurence White, an economics professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “', 'On average, it’s not going to turn out well.”', 'He added: “Even if you’re a big believer — ‘this is a bubble, it will eventually burst’ — the issue is, eventually could be a long time.', 'And in the interim, especially if you’re on the short side, that can be very expensive.”']",0.162572811121731,But…long shareholders have a much different and much more positive view” on Trump Media.,"On Tuesday alone, shorts notched paper losses of $61 million, according to S3.",-0.5280365518161229,"But like GameStop, AMC and Bed Bath & Beyondbefore it, DJT is riding high on vibes.","On Tuesday alone, shorts notched paper losses of $61 million, according to S3.",2024-03-28
NBC News ousts Ronna McDaniel after network’s anchors launch unprecedented on-air rebellion,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/media/nbc-news-ousts-ronna-mcdaniel/index.html,"
  Updated
        7:44 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","NBC News on Tuesday ousted former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, just days after her hiring as a paid political analyst sparked intense backlash from the network’s top television anchors over McDaniel’s role in subverting the 2020 election and attacks on the press.
    
            “There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for the News Group,” NBCUniversal News Group President Cesar Conde said in a memo to staff. “After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor.”
    
            “I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” Conde continued. “While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.”
    
            Ahead of the network’s decision, McDaniel spent the day Tuesday interviewing attorneys in preparation for a potential legal battle with NBC, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that brokered McDaniel’s deal with NBC, also parted ways with her, the person said.
    
            The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network.
    
            McDaniel, who recently stepped down from the RNC under pressure from former President Donald Trump, was involved in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
    
            As head of the RNC, she was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead. McDaniel told the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.”
    
            In the years since, McDaniel continued to claim that the election had “problems” and that Biden did not legitimately win the election, fanning the flames of election denialism.
    
            NBC’s announcement Friday that it had hired McDaniel was quickly met with alarm by the network’s journalists. The revolt spilled into public view on Sunday when McDaniel appeared on “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker in her first interview since she was hired by the network. Welker disclosed that the interview had been scheduled to take place prior to NBC announcing McDaniel would become a paid contributor for the network, stating that she had no involvement in her hiring.
    
            Following the interview, Chuck Todd, NBC News’ chief political analyst, delivered a stinging on-air criticism of NBC executives for their decision to hire McDaniel, telling Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.”
    
            “There’s a reason a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” Todd said, explaining that under McDaniel, the RNC engaged in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” when dealing with the news media.
    
            The following day, MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough joined Todd in protesting the decision on their program “Morning Joe.”
    
            “To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier,” Brzezinski said. “We hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on ‘Morning Joe’ in her capacity as a paid contributor.”
    
            Nicolle Wallace, host of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” later joined in the rebuke, saying on her program that the network’s decision to hire McDaniel was nothing short of a potential threat to democracy.
    
            “NBC News is, either wittingly or unwittingly, teaching election deniers that what they can do stretches well beyond appearing on our air and interviews to peddle lies about the sanctity and integrity of our elections,” Wallace told viewers.
    
            Rachel Maddow — the network’s biggest star — later devoted the first half-hour of her prime-time program to the controversy, saying the decision to hire McDaniel was “inexplicable.” Maddow took issue with McDaniel’s long track record of demonizing the news media, labeling the press as “fake news,” and launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.
    
            “We do not take it personally when we get attacked, when they say they want to put us on trial and execute us for treason,” she said.
    
            “And so I want to associate myself with all my colleagues at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company for putting on the payroll someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government,” she said of McDaniel. “Someone who is still trying to convince Americans that this election stuff doesn’t really work. That this last election wasn’t a real result. That American elections are fraudulent.“
    
            The on-air revolt ensnared NBC’s top leaders, including NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde, NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown, who were responsible for McDaniel’s hiring. MSNBC president Rashida Jones also did not object to the decision, people familiar with the matter said.
    
            In the wake of Conde’s announcement to sever ties with McDaniel, MSNBC host Joy Reid and Maddow addressed the reversal on the network’s air, praising the move as “bold” and “strong.”
    
            “I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['NBC News on Tuesday ousted former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, just days after her hiring as a paid political analyst sparked intense backlash from the network’s top television anchors over McDaniel’s role in subverting the 2020 election and attacks on the press.', '“There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for the News Group,” NBCUniversal News Group President Cesar Conde said in a memo to staff. “', 'After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor.”', '“I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” Conde continued. “', 'While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.”', 'Ahead of the network’s decision, McDaniel spent the day Tuesday interviewing attorneys in preparation for a potential legal battle with NBC, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.', 'Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that brokered McDaniel’s deal with NBC, also parted ways with her, the person said.', 'The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network.', 'McDaniel, who recently stepped down from the RNC under pressure from former President Donald Trump, was involved in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.', 'As head of the RNC, she was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead.', 'McDanieltold the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. …', 'We will get you attorneys.”', 'In the years since, McDaniel continued to claim that the election had “problems” and that Biden did not legitimately win the election, fanning the flames of election denialism.', 'NBC’s announcement Friday that it had hired McDaniel was quickly met with alarm by the network’s journalists.', 'The revolt spilled into public view on Sunday when McDaniel appeared on “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker in her first interview since she was hired by the network.', 'Welker disclosed that the interview had been scheduled to take place prior to NBC announcing McDaniel would become a paid contributor for the network, stating that she had no involvement in her hiring.', 'Following the interview, Chuck Todd, NBC News’ chief political analyst, delivered a stinging on-air criticism of NBC executives for their decision to hire McDaniel, telling Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.”', '“There’s a reason a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” Todd said, explaining that under McDaniel, the RNC engaged in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” when dealing with the news media.', 'The following day, MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough joined Todd in protesting the decision on their program “Morning Joe.”', '“To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier,”Brzezinski said. “', 'We hope NBC will reconsider its decision.', 'It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on ‘Morning Joe’ in her capacity as a paid contributor.”', 'Nicolle Wallace, host of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” later joined in the rebuke, saying on her program that the network’s decision to hire McDaniel was nothing short of a potential threat to democracy.', '“NBC News is, either wittingly or unwittingly, teaching election deniers that what they can do stretches well beyond appearing on our air and interviews to peddle lies about the sanctity and integrity of our elections,” Wallace told viewers.', 'Rachel Maddow — the network’s biggest star — later devoted the first half-hour of her prime-time program to the controversy, saying the decision to hire McDaniel was “inexplicable.”', 'Maddow took issue with McDaniel’s long track record of demonizing the news media, labeling the press as “fake news,” and launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.', '“We do not take it personally when we get attacked, when they say they want to put us on trial and execute us for treason,” she said.', '“And so I want to associate myself with all my colleagues at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company for putting on the payroll someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government,” she said of McDaniel. “', 'Someone who is still trying to convince Americans that this election stuff doesn’t really work.', 'That this last election wasn’t a real result.', 'That American elections are fraudulent.“', 'The on-air revolt ensnared NBC’s top leaders, including NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde, NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown, who were responsible for McDaniel’s hiring.', 'MSNBC president Rashida Jones also did not object to the decision, people familiar with the matter said.', 'In the wake of Conde’s announcement to sever ties with McDaniel, MSNBC host Joy Reid and Maddow addressed the reversal on the network’s air, praising the move as “bold” and “strong.”', '“I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “', 'That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”']",-0.0710578434549836,"In the wake of Conde’s announcement to sever ties with McDaniel, MSNBC host Joy Reid and Maddow addressed the reversal on the network’s air, praising the move as “bold” and “strong.”","Maddow took issue with McDaniel’s long track record of demonizing the news media, labeling the press as “fake news,” and launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.",-0.4204912583033244,"In the wake of Conde’s announcement to sever ties with McDaniel, MSNBC host Joy Reid and Maddow addressed the reversal on the network’s air, praising the move as “bold” and “strong.”",The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network.,2024-03-28
Rate cut in June or July? What matters is the Fed wants to get started,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:45 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Last week was the kind that investors dream about.
    
            Markets vaulted higher after the Federal Reserve policy meeting concluded on Wednesday — the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with two back-to-back record highs and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched three consecutive highs before breaking for the weekend.
    
            The S&P 500 knocked past the key threshold level of 5,200 and the Dow had its best week of the year.
    
            A lot of people made a lot of money.
    
            So where do we go from here?
    
            Before the Bell spoke with David Mericle, Goldman Sachs’ chief US economist, to discuss what exactly investors were celebrating, whether it can continue and why he thinks the chance of a recession are just about as low as they can be.
    
            This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
    
            Before the Bell: It’s an understatement to say that Wall Street was happy with the results of last week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting. Markets have rallied to new highs, and a global rally is underway. But the meeting left things exactly where they were. Is it possible that investors are celebrating a bit too hard, and could this rally soon lose momentum?
    
            David Mericle: I do think we learned something this week: The next few inflation prints don’t need to be amazing for [the Fed] to follow through on cutting rates in June. They stuck to that three-cut median in the dot plot despite raising their inflation forecast by two-tenths of a percentage point for this year. So our basic assumption is that [inflation data from] January and February will prove to be outliers and that, going forward, we will see inflation step back down to something like the pace that we were running at in the back half of last year.
    
            The message from the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] is that even if [inflation rates aren’t] as low as what we’re forecasting, there’s still a little bit of wiggle room to nevertheless deliver that June cut. The leadership seems to feel pretty strongly about not waiting indefinitely to get started. So markets didn’t really know exactly what we needed to see on inflation prior to this week, and now we found out that we need to see a little bit less. That’s positive information for markets.
    
            Markets still seem somewhat uncertain about whether the first rate hike will be in June or July.
    
            We still have three rounds of inflation reports ahead of us before June. It’s still three months off. Markets probably shouldn’t be pricing in anything with too much certainty at that horizon. But the meeting did have some impact on market pricing. [About 70% of investors now think a rate cut will occur in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.]
    
            Goldman Sachs is currently predicting a 15% chance of recession over the next 12 months, down from 35% last year. What’s the significance of that change?
    
            That was a meaningful change from 35% down to 15%. And the reason that we made that change was we felt we had sufficient evidence that two things that we worried about in real time had worked out.
    
            One was that the hard part of the inflation fight was over. Inflation expectations were back to normal, and the labor market had largely rebalanced to its pre-pandemic state without the unemployment rate going up. Seeing that happen made us more confident that the Fed wouldn’t be forced to cause a recession in order to get inflation down.
    
            The other thing was that we learned enough about the regional banking stress of last spring to not worry as much anymore.
    
            Once those two risks had passed, it’s not that there was no probability of recession. There’s always some — in late 2019 we thought the probability of recession was very low. It’s a good reminder that unexpected things like the pandemic can always surprise us. So we always want to make some allowance for that. The reason we say 15% risk is because that is roughly the historical unconditional average. So if you were just in a typical year and there was nothing particularly distinctive to worry about, we would say the recession risk was 15% over the next 12 months. But the reasons that we saw the recession probability as higher than usual I feel today are behind us.
    
            So a 15% recession rate is baseline for you, it will never go below that number?
    
            By looking back at recent history, we can think of it as how often when we weren’t in recession have we gone into recession over the next 12 months.
    
            Are we thinking about recession in the wrong way? Some economists say we’ve been in a rolling recession over the last few years. 
    
            I think the way we define recession, through the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, is a holistic approach that looks at many different sources of data. The way that we do this, looking at a variety of data, is a sensible way of doing it.
    
            Are we in an unprecedented economic environment right now? 
    
            There have been a lot of unprecedented things that have occurred over the last few years, but at this point, I think we are moving back into more familiar territory. We’re not there yet, obviously. But broadly we are gliding back to that pre-pandemic dynamic where we had a very strong labor market by historical standards but did not have an inflation problem. The key thing that’s different is that interest rates are likely to wind up meaningfully higher than they were last cycle. But if your historical memory stretches beyond last cycle, then where interest rates are likely to settle this time around doesn’t look unprecedented. Broadly, we seem to be heading back to somewhere pretty familiar — basically, where we left off.
    
            The Federal Aviation Administration warned Saturday its increased oversight of United Airlines — after a string of nearly a dozen incidents on flights this month — may mean the troubled airline will have to put some of its future plans on hold.
    
            “Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”
    
            The FAA also said it would initiate an evaluation of the company’s safety management and compliance, reported my colleague Samantha Delouya.
    
            The civil aviation authority’s stepped up oversight comes after a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon, missing an external panel on March 15.
    
            In a Friday memo, United told employees they would start seeing “more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”
    
            United said the FAA’s review would mean an “even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.”
    
            By as soon as May, more than 23 million US households risk being kicked off their internet plans or facing skyrocketing bills that force them to pay hundreds more per year to get online, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
    
            The looming disaster could affect nearly 1 in 5 households nationwide, or nearly 60 million Americans, going by Census Bureau population estimates.
    
            Such broad disruptions to internet access would affect people’s ability to do schoolwork, to seek and do jobs, to visit their doctors virtually or refill prescriptions online, or to connect to public services, widening the digital divide between have and have-nots and potentially leading to economic instability on a massive scale.
    
            The crisis is linked to a critical government program expected to run out of funding at the end of April. Known as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the benefit provides discounts on internet service valued at up to $30 per month to qualifying low-income households, or up to $75 per month for eligible recipients on tribal lands.
    
            Lawmakers have known for months about the approaching deadline. Yet Congress is nowhere close to approving the $6 billion that President Joe Biden says would renew the ACP and avert calamity for tens of millions of Americans.
    
            This past week, congressional leaders missed what advocates say was the last, best legislative opportunity for funding the ACP: The 11th-hour budget deal designed to avert a government shutdown. The bill text released this week includes no money for the program, heightening the odds of an emergency that will plunge millions into financial distress just months before the pivotal 2024 election.
    
            Now, with time running out for the ACP, the FCC has been forced to begin shutting down the program — halting new signups and warning users their benefits are about to be suspended.
    
            Read more here.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Last week was the kind that investors dream about.', 'Markets vaulted higher after the Federal Reserve policy meeting concluded on Wednesday — the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with two back-to-back record highs and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched three consecutive highs before breaking for the weekend.', 'The S&P 500 knocked past the key threshold level of 5,200 and the Dow had its best week of the year.', 'A lot of people made a lot of money.', 'So where do we go from here?', 'Before the Bell spoke with David Mericle, Goldman Sachs’ chief US economist, to discuss what exactly investors were celebrating, whether it can continue and why he thinks the chance of a recession are just about as low as they can be.', 'This interview has been edited for length and clarity.', 'Before the Bell: It’s an understatement to say that Wall Street was happy with the results of last week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting.', 'Markets have rallied to new highs, and a global rally is underway.', 'But the meeting left things exactly where they were.', 'Is it possible that investors are celebrating a bit too hard, and could this rally soon lose momentum?', 'David Mericle: I do think we learned something this week:The next few inflation prints don’t need to be amazing for [the Fed] to follow through on cutting rates in June.', 'They stuck to that three-cut median in the dot plot despite raising their inflation forecast by two-tenths of a percentage point for this year.', 'So our basic assumption is that [inflation data from] January and Februarywill prove to be outliers and that, going forward, we will see inflation step back down to something like the pace that we were running at in the back half of last year.', 'The message from the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] is that even if [inflation rates aren’t] as low as what we’re forecasting, there’s still a little bit of wiggle room to nevertheless deliver that June cut.', 'The leadership seems to feel pretty strongly about not waiting indefinitely to get started.', 'So markets didn’t really know exactly what we needed to see on inflation prior to this week, and now we found out that we need to see a little bit less.', 'That’s positive information for markets.', 'Markets still seem somewhat uncertain about whether the first rate hike will be in June or July.', 'We still have three rounds of inflation reports ahead of us before June.', 'It’s still three months off.', 'Markets probably shouldn’t be pricing in anything with too much certainty at that horizon.', 'But the meeting did have some impact on market pricing. [', 'About 70% of investors now think a rate cut will occur in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.]', 'Goldman Sachs is currently predicting a 15% chance of recession over the next 12 months, down from 35% last year.', 'What’s the significance of that change?', 'That was a meaningful change from 35% down to 15%.', 'And the reason that we made that change was we felt we had sufficient evidence that two things that we worried about in real time had worked out.', 'One was that the hard part of the inflation fight was over.', 'Inflation expectations were back to normal, and the labor market had largely rebalanced to its pre-pandemic state without the unemployment rate going up.', 'Seeing that happen made us more confident that the Fed wouldn’t be forced to cause a recession in order to get inflation down.', 'The other thing was that we learned enough about the regional banking stress of last spring to not worry as much anymore.', 'Once those two risks had passed, it’s not that there was no probability of recession.', 'There’s always some — in late 2019 we thought the probability of recession was very low.', 'It’s a good reminder that unexpected things like the pandemic can always surprise us.', 'So we always want to make some allowance for that.', 'The reason we say 15% risk is because that is roughly the historical unconditional average.', 'So if you were just in a typical year and there was nothing particularly distinctive to worry about, we would say the recession risk was 15% over the next 12 months.', 'But the reasons that we saw the recession probability as higher than usual I feel today are behind us.', 'So a 15% recession rate is baseline for you, it will never go below that number?', 'By looking back at recent history, we can think of it as how often when we weren’t in recession have we gone into recession over the next 12 months.', 'Are we thinking about recession in the wrong way?', 'Some economists say we’ve been in a rolling recession over the last few years.', 'I think the way we define recession, through the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, is a holistic approach that looks at many different sources of data.', 'The way that we do this, looking at a variety of data, is a sensible way of doing it.', 'Are we in an unprecedented economic environment right now?', 'There have been a lot of unprecedented things that have occurred over the last few years, but at this point, I think we are moving back into more familiar territory.', 'We’re not there yet, obviously.', 'But broadly we are gliding back to that pre-pandemic dynamic where we had a very strong labor market by historical standards but did not have an inflation problem.', 'The key thing that’s different is that interest rates are likely to wind up meaningfully higher than they were last cycle.', 'But if your historical memory stretches beyond last cycle, then where interest rates are likely to settle this time around doesn’t look unprecedented.', 'Broadly, we seem to be heading back to somewhere pretty familiar — basically, where we left off.', 'The Federal Aviation Administration warned Saturday its increased oversight of United Airlines — after a string of nearly a dozen incidents on flights this month — may mean the troubled airline will have to put some of its future plans on hold.', '“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “', 'Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”', 'The FAA also said it would initiate an evaluation of the company’s safety management and compliance, reported my colleague Samantha Delouya.', 'The civil aviation authority’s stepped up oversight comes after a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon,missing an external panelon March 15.', 'In a Friday memo,United told employeesthey would start seeing “more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”', 'United said the FAA’s review would mean an “even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.”', 'By as soon as May, more than 23 million US households risk being kicked off their internet plans or facing skyrocketing bills that force them to pay hundreds more per year to get online, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).', 'The looming disaster could affect nearly 1 in 5 households nationwide, or nearly 60 million Americans, going by Census Bureaupopulation estimates.', 'Such broad disruptions to internet access would affect people’s ability to do schoolwork, to seek and do jobs, to visit their doctorsvirtually or refill prescriptions online, or to connect to public services, widening the digital divide between have and have-nots and potentially leading to economic instability on a massive scale.', 'The crisis is linked to a critical government program expected to run out of funding at the end of April.', 'Known as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the benefit provides discounts on internet service valued at up to $30 per month to qualifying low-income households, or up to $75 per month for eligible recipients on tribal lands.', 'Lawmakers have known for months about the approaching deadline.', 'Yet Congress is nowhere close to approving the $6 billion that President Joe Biden says would renew the ACP and avert calamity for tens of millions of Americans.', 'This past week, congressional leaders missed what advocates say was the last, best legislative opportunity for funding the ACP: The 11th-hour budgetdealdesigned to avert a government shutdown.', 'The bill text released this week includes no money for the program, heightening the odds of an emergency that will plunge millions into financial distress just months before the pivotal 2024 election.', 'Now, with time running out for the ACP, the FCC has been forced to begin shutting down the program — halting new signups and warning users their benefits are about to be suspended.', 'Read more here.']",0.0103164220403079,"“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “","The bill text released this week includes no money for the program, heightening the odds of an emergency that will plunge millions into financial distress just months before the pivotal 2024 election.",0.069201061502099,"The S&P 500 knocked past the key threshold level of 5,200 and the Dow had its best week of the year.","Goldman Sachs is currently predicting a 15% chance of recession over the next 12 months, down from 35% last year.",2024-03-28
China’s Xi meets American CEOs to boost confidence in world’s second largest economy,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/china-xi-jinping-us-ceos-meeting-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        11:45 PM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","Chinese leader Xi Jinping met more than a dozen US CEOs and academics on Wednesday as Beijing renewed efforts to woo back foreign investors and mend strained relations with the United States.
    
            Foreign direct investment in China has slumped in recent months as a combination of slower growth, regulatory crackdowns, onerous national security legislation and questions about the country’s long-term prospects have shaken confidence in the world’s second biggest economy.
    
            The group of CEOs included Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm (QCOM), Raj Subramaniam of FedEx (FDX) and Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group (BX).
    
            Xi invited US businesses to “continue to invest in China” and pledged further reforms to open the country’s markets to foreign firms, according to a readout of the meeting published by the foreign ministry.
    
            “China’s growth prospects are bright, and we have the confidence,” he said, adding that the country’s economy has not yet peaked.
    
            Xi also called for “a better future” between China and the US. “Whether it is traditional fields such as economy, trade and agriculture, or emerging fields such as climate change and artificial intelligence, China and the United States should help boost each other’s development,” he said.
    
            Bilateral relations have already shown improvement since he met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, Xi added.
    
            The optics of Xi’s meeting with the US visitors were carefully managed by Chinese state media.
    
            Footage aired on state broadcaster CCTV shows Xi’s American guests diligently taking notes and nodding in agreement as the Chinese leader speaks. Meanwhile, photos released by state-run news agency Xinhua show the US participants walking behind Xi in unison on a red carpet.
    
            A striking group photo taken before the meeting also raises questions about who wasn’t invited — with not a single woman among the line-up of American CEOs and academics.
    
            “These appear to be senior visitors attending the China Development Forum, but the lack of gender/ethnic/age diversity is pretty glaring – and unrepresentative of the true range of expertise or policy perspective on China in the US,” Sheena Chestnut Greitens, an associate professor of public affairs at the University of Texas-Austin, wrote on social platform X.
    
            The meeting at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People came after the close of a major government forum that has invited global business leaders to engage with Chinese officials over many years.
    
            About 100 global CEOs, as well as the heads of international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, were in the Chinese capital this week for the annual China Development Forum. More than 30 of them are US executives, according to Chinese state media.
    
            Beijing is trying to revive confidence and stabilize foreign trade and investment as the country faces its biggest economic challenges in decades. It has rolled out a series of measures since last year, including a 24-point action plan published by the cabinet earlier this month, to attract foreign investment and expand market access in high-tech sectors.
    
            But global investors remain wary of China’s rising scrutiny of Western companies as well as a structural slowdown.
    
            In the first two months of 2024, foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country shrank nearly 20% from a year ago, underscoring weak confidence among global executives.
    
            That fall came after a decline of 8% in 2023, according to the Commerce Ministry.
    
            Another gauge of FDI — direct investment liabilities — showed an 82% slump in 2023, according to figures released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. It was the lowest in 30 years.
    
            According to a survey released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China last month, 57% of US firms lacked confidence that China would further open its markets to foreign companies.
    
            China has set this year’s economic growth target at around 5%, the same as last year’s. But market watchers say the goal is “ambitious,” given a lack of major stimulus measures by the central government to directly address Chinese consumers’ weak confidence and their unwillingness to spend.
    
            The world’s second largest economy is plagued by a myriad of problems. They include a prolonged downturn in real estate, deflation, debt, a shrinking population and a shift in economic policy toward ideological objectives that has rattled the private sector and scared away foreign investors.
    
            CNN’s Nectar Gan contributed reporting.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['Chinese leader Xi Jinping met more than a dozen US CEOs and academics on Wednesday as Beijing renewed efforts to woo back foreign investors and mend strained relations with the United States.', 'Foreign direct investment in China has slumped in recent months as a combination of slower growth, regulatory crackdowns, onerous national security legislation and questions about the country’s long-term prospects have shaken confidence in the world’s second biggest economy.', 'The group of CEOs included Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm (QCOM), Raj Subramaniam of FedEx (FDX) and Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group (BX).', 'Xi invited US businesses to “continue to invest in China” and pledged further reforms to open the country’s markets to foreign firms, according to a readout of the meeting published by the foreign ministry.', '“China’s growth prospects are bright, and we have the confidence,” he said, adding that the country’s economy has not yet peaked.', 'Xi also called for “a better future” between China and the US. “', 'Whether it is traditional fields such as economy, trade and agriculture, or emerging fields such as climate change and artificial intelligence, China and the United States should help boost each other’s development,” he said.', 'Bilateral relations have already shown improvement since he met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, Xi added.', 'The optics of Xi’s meeting with the US visitors were carefully managed by Chinese state media.', 'Footage aired on state broadcaster CCTV shows Xi’s American guests diligently taking notes and nodding in agreement as the Chinese leader speaks.', 'Meanwhile, photos released by state-run news agency Xinhua show the US participants walking behind Xi in unison on a red carpet.', 'A striking group photo taken before the meeting also raises questions about who wasn’t invited — with not a single woman among the line-up of American CEOs and academics.', '“These appear to be senior visitors attending the China Development Forum, but the lack of gender/ethnic/age diversity is pretty glaring – and unrepresentative of the true range of expertise or policy perspective on China in the US,” Sheena Chestnut Greitens, an associate professor of public affairs at the University of Texas-Austin, wrote on social platform X.  The meeting at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People came after the close of a major government forum that has invited global business leaders to engage with Chinese officials over many years.', 'About 100 global CEOs, as well as the heads of international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, were in the Chinese capital this week for the annual China Development Forum.', 'More than 30 of them are US executives, according to Chinese state media.', 'Beijing is trying to revive confidence and stabilize foreign trade and investment as the country faces its biggest economic challenges in decades.', 'It has rolled out a series of measures since last year, including a 24-point action plan published by the cabinet earlier this month, to attract foreign investment and expand market access in high-tech sectors.', 'But global investors remain wary of China’s rising scrutiny of Western companies as well asa structural slowdown.', 'In the first two months of 2024, foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country shrank nearly 20% from a year ago, underscoring weak confidence among global executives.', 'That fall came after a decline of 8% in 2023, according to the Commerce Ministry.', 'Another gauge of FDI — direct investment liabilities — showed an 82% slump in 2023, according to figures released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.', 'It was the lowest in 30 years.', 'According to a survey released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China last month, 57% of US firms lacked confidence that China would further open its markets to foreign companies.', 'China has set this year’s economic growth target at around 5%, the same as last year’s.', 'But market watchers say the goal is “ambitious,” given a lack of major stimulus measures by the central government to directly address Chinese consumers’ weak confidence and their unwillingness to spend.', 'The world’s second largest economy is plagued by a myriad of problems.', 'They include a prolonged downturn in real estate, deflation, debt, a shrinking population and a shift in economic policy toward ideological objectives that has rattled the private sector and scared away foreign investors.', 'CNN’s Nectar Gan contributed reporting.']",0.2608304062871434,"“These appear to be senior visitors attending the China Development Forum, but the lack of gender/ethnic/age diversity is pretty glaring – and unrepresentative of the true range of expertise or policy perspective on China in the US,” Sheena Chestnut Greitens, an associate professor of public affairs at the University of Texas-Austin, wrote on social platform X.  The meeting at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People came after the close of a major government forum that has invited global business leaders to engage with Chinese officials over many years.","They include a prolonged downturn in real estate, deflation, debt, a shrinking population and a shift in economic policy toward ideological objectives that has rattled the private sector and scared away foreign investors.",0.0006415724754333,"Bilateral relations have already shown improvement since he met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, Xi added.","Another gauge of FDI — direct investment liabilities — showed an 82% slump in 2023, according to figures released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.",2024-03-28
"Apple, Google and Meta at risk of ‘heavy’ fines as Europe launches new probes",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/tech/digital-markets-act-apple-google-meta/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:54 AM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","The European Union has launched investigations into Apple, Google and Facebook parent Meta on suspicion that they are failing to comply with a new landmark European law designed to promote competition in digital services.
    
            The European Commission said it “suspects” that various practices by all three companies “fall short of effective compliance” with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which went into effect earlier this month. If the probes find a “lack of full compliance,” they could face “heavy fines,” said European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
    
            The DMA requires dominant online platforms to give users more choices and rivals more opportunities to compete. It currently applies to the three tech giants under investigation, as well as Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) and ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok.
    
            By mid-May, the list could also include Elon Musk’s X and Booking.com, the EU has said.
    
            Violations of the new law can lead to stiff penalties, including fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue and up to 20% for repeat offenses. For most of the regulated companies, that would translate to tens of billions of dollars.
    
            The practices the European Commission is investigating include what it calls Meta’s “pay or consent” approach. Last October, Meta (META) launched a subscription service, called “Subscription for no ads,” allowing European users of Facebook and Instagram to pay up to €12.99 ($14) a month for ad-free versions.
    
            “The Commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model may not provide a real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by (large companies),” the body said in a statement.
    
            A Meta spokesperson responded: “Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a well-established business model across many industries, and we designed ‘Subscription for no ads’ to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA. We will continue to engage constructively with the Commission.”
    
            The EU is also looking into app stores operated by Apple (AAPL) and Google. The DMA states that large digital platforms — so-called gatekeepers — must allow app developers to “steer” consumers to offers outside the two dominant stores, free of charge.
    
            Among other concerns, the EU suspects that Apple and Google’s parent Alphabet (GOOGL) constrain developers’ ability “to freely communicate (with end-users) and promote offers and directly conclude contracts, including by imposing various charges,” the Commission said.
    
            “We are concerned Alphabet, Apple & Meta & are not meeting their obligations, e.g.: Apple & Alphabet still charge recurring fees to app developers,” European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager wrote on X Monday.
    
            Apple’s “choice screen” for Safari is also under scrutiny, the European Commission said. Under the DMA, Apple must prompt users with “choice screens which must effectively and easily allow them to select an alternative default service, such as a browser or search engine on their iPhones,” it noted.
    
            Apple told CNN in a statement: “We’re confident our plan complies with the DMA, and we’ll continue to constructively engage with the European Commission as they conduct their investigations.”
    
            Another of the Commission’s concerns pertains to Google Search. Alphabet may not have done enough to ensure that third-party services appearing in search results are treated in “a fair and non-discriminatory manner” compared with Alphabet’s own services, such as Google Shopping and Google Flights.
    
            Oliver Bethell, a competition executive at Google, said in a statement: “To comply with the Digital Markets Act, we have made significant changes to the way our services operate in Europe.
    
            “We have engaged with the European Commission, stakeholders and third parties in dozens of events over the past year to receive and respond to feedback, and to balance conflicting needs within the ecosystem. We will continue to defend our approach in the coming months.”
    
            This story has been updated with additional information.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['The European Union has launched investigations into Apple, Google and Facebook parent Meta on suspicion that they are failing to comply with a new landmark European law designed to promote competition in digital services.', 'The European Commission said it “suspects” that various practices by all three companies “fall short of effective compliance” with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which went into effect earlier this month.', 'If the probes find a “lack of full compliance,” they could face “heavy fines,” said European Commissioner Thierry Breton.', 'The DMA requires dominant online platforms to give users more choices and rivals more opportunities to compete.', 'It currently applies to the three tech giants under investigation, as well as Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) and ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok.', 'By mid-May, the list could also include Elon Musk’s X and Booking.com, the EU has said.', 'Violations of the new law can lead to stiff penalties, including fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue and up to 20% for repeat offenses.', 'For most of the regulated companies, that would translate to tens of billions of dollars.', 'The practices the European Commission is investigating include what it calls Meta’s “pay or consent” approach.', 'Last October, Meta (META)launcheda subscription service, called “Subscription for no ads,” allowing European users of Facebook and Instagram to pay up to €12.99 ($14) a month for ad-free versions.', '“The Commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model may not provide a real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by (large companies),” the body said in a statement.', 'A Meta spokesperson responded: “Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a well-established business model across many industries, and we designed ‘Subscription for no ads’ to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA.', 'We will continue to engage constructively with the Commission.”', 'The EU is also looking into app stores operated by Apple (AAPL) and Google.', 'The DMA states that large digital platforms —so-called gatekeepers —must allow app developers to “steer” consumers to offers outside the two dominant stores, free of charge.', 'Among other concerns, the EU suspects that Apple and Google’s parent Alphabet (GOOGL) constrain developers’ ability “to freely communicate (with end-users) and promote offers and directly conclude contracts, including by imposing various charges,” the Commission said.', '“We are concerned Alphabet, Apple & Meta & are not meeting their obligations, e.g.: Apple & Alphabet still charge recurring fees to app developers,” European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager wrote on X Monday.', 'Apple’s “choice screen” for Safari is also under scrutiny, the European Commission said.', 'Under the DMA, Apple must prompt users with “choice screens which must effectively and easily allow them to select an alternative default service, such as a browser or search engine on their iPhones,” it noted.', 'Apple told CNN in a statement: “We’re confident our plan complies with the DMA, and we’ll continue to constructively engage with the European Commission as they conduct their investigations.”', 'Another of the Commission’s concerns pertains to Google Search.', 'Alphabet may not have done enough to ensure that third-party services appearing in search results are treated in “a fair and non-discriminatory manner” compared with Alphabet’s own services, such as Google Shopping and Google Flights.', 'Oliver Bethell, a competition executive at Google, said in a statement: “To comply with the Digital Markets Act, we have madesignificant changesto the way our services operate in Europe.', '“We have engaged with the European Commission, stakeholders and third parties in dozens of events over the past year to receive and respond to feedback, and to balance conflicting needs within the ecosystem.', 'We will continue to defend our approach in the coming months.”', 'This story has been updated with additional information.']",0.1455842646081827,"Alphabet may not have done enough to ensure that third-party services appearing in search results are treated in “a fair and non-discriminatory manner” compared with Alphabet’s own services, such as Google Shopping and Google Flights.","Violations of the new law can lead to stiff penalties, including fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue and up to 20% for repeat offenses.",-0.5500725971327888,"Apple told CNN in a statement: “We’re confident our plan complies with the DMA, and we’ll continue to constructively engage with the European Commission as they conduct their investigations.”","The European Commission said it “suspects” that various practices by all three companies “fall short of effective compliance” with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which went into effect earlier this month.",2024-03-28
"Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Prize winner who wrote Thinking, Fast and Slow, dies aged 90",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/world/daniel-kahneman-nobel-winner-death-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:16 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize for his pioneering theories on behavioral economics, has died. He was 90.
    
            The Israeli-American psychologist died peacefully on Wednesday, according to a release from Princeton University, whose faculty he had joined in 1993. His cause of death was not provided.
    
            Kahneman, who also wrote the best-selling book Thinking, Fast and Slow, helped debunk the notion that people’s behavior is driven by rational decision-making, and instead is often based on instinct.
    
            “Danny was a giant in the field,” Eldar Shafir, a former colleague at Princeton University said in the release. “Many areas in the social sciences simply have not been the same since he arrived on the scene. He will be greatly missed.”
    
            Kahneman was born in Tel Aviv in 1934, but his French parents returned home to Paris when he was three months old.
    
            Six years later, as Kahneman was finishing first grade, the Nazis invaded France, and his family was forced to wear the yellow star that marked Jews for mass deportations to concentration camps.
    
            His father, a research chemist, was taken away but then released and the family escaped to unoccupied France and spent the rest of the war in hiding. His father died in 1944, and 12-year-old Kahneman moved to British-ruled Palestine with his mother two years later, just before the creation of the state of Israel.
    
            Kahneman studied math and psychology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and went on to earn a Ph.D. at Berkeley, studying statistics, the psychology of visual perception — why things look the way they do — and how people interact in groups.
    
            Then, at 27, he returned to Hebrew University to teach statistics and psychology and began his famous partnership with Amos Tversky, also a Hebrew University psychology professor.
    
            In 2002, six years after Tversky’s death, Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their models of how intuitive reasoning is flawed in predictable ways.
    
            Kahneman integrated insights from psychology into economics, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its citation at the time.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize for his pioneering theories on behavioral economics, has died.', 'He was 90.', 'The Israeli-American psychologist died peacefully on Wednesday, according to a release from Princeton University, whose faculty he had joined in 1993.', 'His cause of death was not provided.', 'Kahneman, who also wrote the best-selling bookThinking, Fast and Slow, helped debunk the notion that people’s behavior is driven by rational decision-making, and instead is often based on instinct.', '“Danny was a giant in the field,” Eldar Shafir, a former colleague at Princeton University said in the release. “', 'Many areas in the social sciences simply have not been the same since he arrived on the scene.', 'He will be greatly missed.”', 'Kahneman was born in Tel Aviv in 1934, but his French parents returned home to Paris when he was three months old.', 'Six years later, as Kahneman was finishing first grade, the Nazis invaded France, and his family was forced to wear the yellow star that marked Jews for mass deportations to concentration camps.', 'His father, a research chemist, was taken away but then released and the family escaped to unoccupied France and spent the rest of the war in hiding.', 'His father died in 1944, and 12-year-old Kahneman moved to British-ruled Palestine with his mother two years later, just before the creation of the state of Israel.', 'Kahneman studied math and psychology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and went on to earn a Ph.D. at Berkeley, studying statistics, the psychology of visual perception — why things look the way they do — and how people interact in groups.', 'Then, at 27, he returned to Hebrew University to teach statistics and psychology and began his famous partnership with Amos Tversky, also a Hebrew University psychology professor.', 'In 2002, six years after Tversky’s death, Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their models of how intuitive reasoning is flawed in predictable ways.', 'Kahneman integrated insights from psychology into economics, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its citation at the time.']",-0.1158167558550059,"Kahneman, who also wrote the best-selling bookThinking, Fast and Slow, helped debunk the notion that people’s behavior is driven by rational decision-making, and instead is often based on instinct.","His father, a research chemist, was taken away but then released and the family escaped to unoccupied France and spent the rest of the war in hiding.",0.91901832818985,"In 2002, six years after Tversky’s death, Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their models of how intuitive reasoning is flawed in predictable ways.",,2024-03-28
VP Harris announces new requirements for how federal agencies use AI technology,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/tech/vp-kamala-harris-agencies-ai-technology/index.html,"
  Published
        5:00 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","By the end of the year, travelers should be able to refuse facial recognition scans at airport security screenings without fear it could delay or jeopardize their travel plans.
    
            That’s just one of the concrete safeguards governing artificial intelligence that the Biden administration says it’s rolling out across the US government, in a key first step toward preventing government abuse of AI. The move could also indirectly regulate the AI industry using the government’s own substantial purchasing power.
    
            On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a set of new, binding requirements for US agencies intended to prevent AI from being used in discriminatory ways. The mandates aim to cover situations ranging from screenings by the Transportation Security Administration to decisions by other agencies affecting Americans’ health care, employment and housing.
    
            Under the requirements taking effect on Dec. 1, agencies using AI tools will have to verify they do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people. In addition, each agency will have to publish online a complete list of the AI systems it uses and their reasons for using them, along with a risk assessment of those systems.
    
            The new policy from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also directs federal agencies to designate a chief AI officer to oversee how each agency uses the technology.
    
            “Leaders from governments, civil society and the private sector have a moral, ethical and societal duty to make sure that artificial intelligence is adopted and advanced in a way that protects the public from potential harm, while ensuring everyone is able to enjoy its full benefit,” Harris told reporters on a press call Wednesday. She said the Biden administration intends for the policies to serve as a global model.
    
            Thursday’s announcements come amid the rapid adoption of AI tools by the federal government. US agencies are already using machine learning to monitor global volcano activity, track wildfires and count wildlife pictured in drone photography. Hundreds of other use cases are in the works. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced it’s expanding its use of AI to train immigration officers, protect critical infrastructure and pursue drug and child exploitation investigations.
    
            Guardrails on how the US government uses AI can help make public services more effective, said OMB Director Shalanda Young, adding that the government is beginning a national talent surge to hire “at least” 100 AI professionals by this summer.
    
            “These new requirements will be supported by greater transparency,” Young said, highlighting the agency reporting requirements. “AI presents not only risks, but also tremendous opportunity to improve public services and make progress on societal challenges like addressing climate change, improving public health and advancing equitable economic opportunity.”
    
            The Biden administration has moved swiftly to grapple with a technology experts say could help unlock new cures for disease or improve railroad safety yet could just as easily be abused to target minorities or develop biological weapons.
    
            Last fall, Biden signed a major executive order on AI. Among other things, the order directed the Commerce Department to help fight computer-generated deepfakes by drawing up guidance on how to watermark AI-created content. Earlier, the White House announced voluntary commitments by leading AI companies to subject their models to outside safety testing.
    
            Thursday’s new policies for the federal government have been years in the making. Congress first passed legislation in 2020 directing OMB to publish its guidelines for agencies by the following year. According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, however, OMB missed the 2021 deadline. It only issued a draft of its policies two years later, in November 2023, in response to the Biden executive order.
    
            Still, the new OMB policy marks the latest step by the Biden administration to shape the AI industry. And because the government is such a large purchaser of commercial technology, its policies around procurement and use of AI are expected to have a powerful influence on the private sector. US officials pledged Thursday that OMB will be taking additional action to regulate federal contracts involving AI, and is soliciting public feedback on how it should do so.
    
            There are limits to what the US government can accomplish by executive action, however. Policy experts have urged Congress to pass new legislation that could set basic ground rules for the AI industry, but leaders in both chambers have taken a slower, more deliberate approach, and few expect results this year.
    
            Meanwhile, the European Union this month gave final approval to a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence law, once again leapfrogging the United States on regulating a critical and disruptive technology.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['By the end of the year, travelers should be able to refuse facial recognition scans at airport security screenings without fear it could delay or jeopardize their travel plans.', 'That’s just one of the concrete safeguards governing artificial intelligence that the Biden administration says it’s rolling out across the US government, in a key first step toward preventing government abuse of AI.', 'The move could also indirectly regulate the AI industry using the government’s own substantial purchasing power.', 'On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a set of new, binding requirements for US agencies intended to prevent AI from being used in discriminatory ways.', 'The mandates aim to cover situations ranging from screenings by the Transportation Security Administration to decisions by other agencies affecting Americans’ health care, employment and housing.', 'Under the requirements taking effect on Dec. 1, agencies using AI tools will have to verify they do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people.', 'In addition, each agency will have to publish online a complete list of the AI systems it uses and their reasons for using them, along with a risk assessment of those systems.', 'The new policy from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also directs federal agencies to designate a chief AI officer to oversee how each agency uses the technology.', '“Leaders from governments, civil society and the private sector have a moral, ethical and societal duty to make sure that artificial intelligence is adopted and advanced in a way that protects the public from potential harm, while ensuring everyone is able to enjoy its full benefit,” Harris told reporters on a press call Wednesday.', 'She said the Biden administration intends for the policies to serve as a global model.', 'Thursday’s announcements come amid the rapid adoption of AI tools by the federal government.', 'US agencies are already using machine learning to monitor global volcano activity, track wildfires and count wildlife pictured in drone photography.', 'Hundreds of other use cases are in the works.', 'Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced it’sexpanding its use of AIto train immigration officers, protect critical infrastructure and pursue drug and child exploitation investigations.', 'Guardrails on how the US government uses AI can help make public services more effective, said OMB Director Shalanda Young, adding that thegovernment is beginning a national talent surge to hire “at least” 100 AI professionals by this summer.', '“These new requirements will be supported by greater transparency,” Young said, highlighting the agency reporting requirements. “', 'AI presents not only risks, but also tremendous opportunity to improve public services and make progress on societal challenges like addressing climate change, improving public health and advancing equitable economic opportunity.”', 'The Biden administration has moved swiftly to grapple with a technology experts say could help unlock new cures for disease or improve railroad safety yet could just as easily be abused to target minorities or develop biological weapons.', 'Last fall, Bidensigned a major executive orderon AI.', 'Among other things, the order directed the Commerce Department to help fight computer-generated deepfakes by drawing up guidance on how to watermark AI-created content.', 'Earlier, the White House announcedvoluntary commitments by leading AI companies to subject their models to outside safety testing.', 'Thursday’s new policies for the federal government have been years in the making.', 'Congress first passed legislation in 2020 directing OMB to publish its guidelines for agencies by the following year.', 'According to arecent reportby the Government Accountability Office, however, OMB missed the 2021 deadline.', 'It only issued a draft of its policies two years later, in November 2023, in response to the Biden executive order.', 'Still, the new OMB policy marks the latest step by the Biden administration to shape the AI industry.', 'And because the government is such a large purchaser of commercial technology, its policies around procurement and use of AI are expected to have a powerful influence on the private sector.', 'US officials pledged Thursday that OMB will be taking additional action to regulate federal contracts involving AI, and is soliciting public feedback on how it should do so.', 'There are limits to what the US government can accomplish by executive action, however.', 'Policy experts have urged Congress to pass new legislation that could set basic ground rules for the AI industry, but leaders in both chambers have taken a slower, more deliberate approach, andfew expect results this year.', 'Meanwhile, the European Union this month gave final approval toa first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence law, once again leapfrogging the United States on regulating a critical and disruptive technology.']",0.2531610642961951,"AI presents not only risks, but also tremendous opportunity to improve public services and make progress on societal challenges like addressing climate change, improving public health and advancing equitable economic opportunity.”","According to arecent reportby the Government Accountability Office, however, OMB missed the 2021 deadline.",0.4458631362233843,"AI presents not only risks, but also tremendous opportunity to improve public services and make progress on societal challenges like addressing climate change, improving public health and advancing equitable economic opportunity.”","According to arecent reportby the Government Accountability Office, however, OMB missed the 2021 deadline.",2024-03-28
What Home Depot’s $18 billion deal says about its strategy,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/28/business/home-depot-pro-customers/index.html,"
  Published
        2:52 PM EDT, Thu March 28, 2024
    ","In its largest acquisition ever, Home Depot is expanding its business targeting professional contractors and builders as the home fixer-upper market stalls.
    
            Home Depot announced Thursday that it is spending $18.3 billion to buy SRS Distribution, a huge building-projects supplier that counts professional roofers, landscapers and pool contractors as its primary customers. SRS, which will operate independently, Home Depot noted, has 760 warehouses and more than 4,000 trucks to deliver its goods.
    
            Home Depot, the nation’s fifth-largest retailer, currently gets around half of its sales from housing professionals, who spend more at stores than do-it-yourself homeowners purchasing lawn mowers and power tools. Both Home Depot and Lowe’s have been trying to win more pro customers.
    
            Home Depot believes the acquisition will help it grow with its housing professional customer base because they do more complex renovation and remodeling projects that require purchases from specialty stores such as SRS. Home Depot in recent years has purchased other businesses targeting professionals who undertake both complex and simple housing projects.
    
            Home Depot’s push for pro customers comes as its DIY customers have slowed their spending.
    
            Home Depot’s sales boomed during the pandemic as millions of people spending more time at home turned to renovations and other home improvement projects. But many consumers have since shifted from purchasing physical goods to experiences, such as travel and concerts; others have just cut back spending in general. This shift has hurt Home Depot.
    
            “After a couple of years of unprecedented demand, we continue to see softness in big-ticket discretionary categories,” Home Depot executive Billy Bastek said late last year.
    
            Home Depot said that sales dropped over the winter and it’s a expecting a sluggish 2024.
    
            Demand for home improvement projects has also fallen due to high mortgage rates and a tough real estate market climate. In October, mortgage rates hit a 23-year high of 7.79%.
    
            Home Depot expects the SRS acquisition, accomplished through a mix of cash and debt, to be completed by the end of the year, but it could face regulatory hurdles.
    
            Under Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, the agency has taken Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Kroger and other corporate giants to court for alleged anti-competitive practices.",CNN,28/03/2024,"['In its largest acquisition ever, Home Depot is expanding its business targeting professional contractors and builders as the home fixer-upper market stalls.', 'Home Depot announced Thursday that it is spending $18.3 billion to buy SRS Distribution, a huge building-projects supplier that counts professional roofers, landscapers and pool contractors as its primary customers.', 'SRS, which will operate independently, Home Depot noted, has 760 warehouses and more than 4,000 trucks to deliver its goods.', 'Home Depot, the nation’s fifth-largest retailer, currently gets around half of its sales from housing professionals, who spend more at stores than do-it-yourself homeowners purchasing lawn mowers and power tools.', 'Both Home Depot and Lowe’s have been trying to win more pro customers.', 'Home Depot believes the acquisition will help it grow with its housing professional customer base because they do more complex renovation and remodeling projects that require purchases from specialty stores such as SRS.', 'Home Depot in recent years has purchased other businesses targeting professionals who undertake both complex and simple housing projects.', 'Home Depot’s push for pro customers comes as its DIY customers have slowed their spending.', 'Home Depot’s sales boomed during the pandemic as millions of people spending more time at home turned to renovations and other home improvement projects.', 'But many consumers have since shifted from purchasing physical goods to experiences, such as travel and concerts; others have just cut back spending in general.', 'This shift has hurt Home Depot.', '“After a couple of years of unprecedented demand, we continue to see softness in big-ticket discretionary categories,” Home Depot executive Billy Bastek said late last year.', 'Home Depot said that sales dropped over the winter and it’s a expecting a sluggish 2024.', 'Demand for home improvement projects has also fallen due to high mortgage rates and a tough real estate market climate.', 'In October, mortgage rateshita 23-year high of 7.79%.', 'Home Depot expects the SRS acquisition, accomplished through a mix of cash and debt, to be completed by the end of the year, but it could face regulatory hurdles.', 'Under Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, the agency has taken Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Kroger and other corporate giants to court for alleged anti-competitive practices.']",0.0193073224255037,Both Home Depot and Lowe’s have been trying to win more pro customers.,This shift has hurt Home Depot.,0.1671626766522725,Home Depot’s sales boomed during the pandemic as millions of people spending more time at home turned to renovations and other home improvement projects.,Demand for home improvement projects has also fallen due to high mortgage rates and a tough real estate market climate.,2024-03-28
OpenAI’s wild week. How the Sam Altman story unfolded,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/22/tech/openai-sam-altman-chaos-explained-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        3:32 PM EST, Wed November 22, 2023
    ","In a year of wild tech stories that has seen Elon Musk transform Twitter, cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapse and Silicon Valley Bank implode, this week’s whiplash-inducing turmoil at OpenAI is among the most captivating.
    
            Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps the most visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move. Less than five days later, he’s back as the company’s CEO, now with a board that is, in theory, more supportive of his vision.
    
            The series of extraordinary events unfolded just days after OpenAI held its first-ever developer conference, where it laid out new, commercialized versions of its technology, including the option to customize its ChatGPT AI chatbot.
    
            If you’re just catching up, here’s what you missed from a week so incredible you’d be forgiven for thinking the script could have been written by an early version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
    
            Around 3 p.m. ET, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board that had been convened by fellow co-founder and OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, during which Altman was fired and told that the news would soon be made public.
    
            Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI president, that he would be removed from the board.
    
            Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board. The board said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would become interim CEO.
    
            OpenAI’s strategic partners, including its biggest financial backer Microsoft, were also reportedly informed of Altman’s ouster just minutes before the board’s announcement.
    
            Hours after being fired, Altman posted on X that he “loved working with such talented people” and that he would have “more to say about what’s next later.”
    
            Brockman promptly quit. “Please don’t spend any time being concerned. We will be fine,” Brockman said in a Friday post on X. “Greater things coming soon.”
    
            A key factor in the CEO’s firing was tension between Altman, who favored developing AI more aggressively, and members of the OpenAI board, who wanted to move more cautiously, according to CNN contributor Kara Swisher, who spoke to sources knowledgeable about the unfolding events.
    
            Within 24 hours of Altman being fired, reports emerged that he and other ex-OpenAI loyalists were mulling plans for their own venture.
    
            OpenAI’s board was also reportedly having second thoughts and considering asking the ousted CEO to return.
    
            By Sunday afternoon, Altman was back at OpenAI’s headquarters — this time with a guest badge — to negotiate his potential return. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly mediated the discussion. A 5 p.m. PT deadline was reportedly set for the board to agree to Altman’s demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft, and reinstating him as CEO.
    
            But those talks broke down.
    
            As Sunday turned into Monday, Nadella tweeted that Altman, along with Brockman, would join Microsoft to run a new AI research group. At OpenAI, the group found a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service, Twitch. Murati would return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.
    
            In a post on X early Monday, Shear, who left his role at Twitch in March, described the chance to join OpenAI as “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened in the lead-up to Altman’s firing.
    
            But OpenAI employees were not convinced. More than 500 staffers signed an open letter calling on the company’s board to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman. They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met.
    
            Altman posted on X, saying, “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before. we are all going to work together some way or other, and i’m so excited. one team, one mission.”
    
            The drama was far from over. The Verge reported Monday afternoon that Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members who fired him resign.
    
            And Nadella, speaking to CNBC, said he was “open to both options” when asked whether Altman would actually join Microsoft.
    
            “Look, that is for the OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose,” Nadella said. “We chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously, that depends on the people of OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft.”
    
            Altman was reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s CEO, the company said on X.
    
            “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will also join the board, alongside existing director, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.
    
            “We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said.
    
            In his own post on X, formerly Twitter, Altman wrote that he is “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI and building on the firm’s “strong partnership” with Microsoft.
    
            It’s unclear how Shear will be affected by Altman’s return. Posting on X, Shear wrote: “I am deeply pleased by this result, after (some) 72 very intense hours of work … I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”
    
            Brockman is also returning to OpenAI, according to his post on X.
    
            Ultimately, Microsoft and Altman appear to be the big winners from the dust-up: Altman will continue leading the firm he helped to found. And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.
    
            “We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadella said on X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”",CNN,22/11/2023,"['In a year of wild tech stories that has seen Elon Musk transform Twitter, cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapse and Silicon Valley Bank implode, this week’s whiplash-inducing turmoil at OpenAI is among the most captivating.', 'Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps themost visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move.', 'Less than five days later, he’s back as the company’s CEO, now with a board that is, in theory, more supportive of his vision.', 'The series of extraordinary events unfolded just days after OpenAI held itsfirst-ever developer conference, where it laid out new, commercialized versions of its technology, including the option to customize its ChatGPT AI chatbot.', 'If you’re just catching up, here’s what you missed from a week so incredible you’d be forgiven for thinking the script could have been written by an early version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.', 'Around 3 p.m. ET, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board that had been convened by fellow co-founder and OpenAI chief scientistIlya Sutskever, during which Altman was fired and told that the news would soon be made public.', 'Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI president, that he would be removed from the board.', 'Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board.', 'The board said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would become interim CEO.', 'OpenAI’s strategic partners, including its biggest financial backer Microsoft, were also reportedly informed of Altman’s ouster just minutes before the board’s announcement.', 'Hours after being fired, Altman posted on X that he “loved working with such talented people” and that he would have “more to say about what’s next later.”', 'Brockman promptly quit. “', 'Please don’t spend any time being concerned.', 'We will be fine,” Brockmansaid in a Friday poston X. “Greater things coming soon.”', 'A key factor in the CEO’s firing wastension between Altman, who favored developing AImore aggressively, and members of the OpenAI board, who wanted to move more cautiously,according to CNN contributor Kara Swisher,who spoke to sources knowledgeable about the unfolding events.', 'Within 24 hours of Altman being fired, reports emerged that he and other ex-OpenAI loyalists were mulling plans for their own venture.', 'OpenAI’s board was also reportedly having second thoughts and considering asking the ousted CEO to return.', 'By Sunday afternoon, Altman wasback at OpenAI’s headquarters— this time with a guest badge — to negotiate his potential return.', 'Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly mediated the discussion.', 'A 5 p.m. PT deadline was reportedly set for the board to agree to Altman’s demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft, and reinstating him as CEO.', 'But those talks broke down.', 'As Sunday turned into Monday, Nadella tweeted that Altman, along with Brockman, would join Microsoft to run a new AI research group.', 'At OpenAI, the group found a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service, Twitch.', 'Murati would return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.', 'In a post on X early Monday, Shear, who left his role at Twitch in March, described the chance to join OpenAI as “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.', 'He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened in the lead-up to Altman’s firing.', 'But OpenAI employees were not convinced.', 'More than 500 staffers signed an open letter calling on the company’s board to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman.', 'They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met.', 'Altman posted on X, saying, “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before.', 'we are all going to work together some way or other, and i’m so excited.', 'one team, one mission.”', 'The drama was far from over.', 'The Verge reported Monday afternoonthat Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members who fired him resign.', 'And Nadella, speaking to CNBC, said he was “open to both options” when asked whether Altman would actually join Microsoft.', '“Look, that is for the OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose,” Nadella said. “', 'We chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously, that depends on the people of OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft.”', 'Altmanwas reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s CEO, the company said on X.  “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce.', 'Former Treasury SecretaryLarry Summers will also join the board, alongside existing director, Quora CEOAdam D’Angelo.', '“We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said.', 'In his own post on X, formerly Twitter, Altmanwrotethat he is “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI and building on the firm’s “strong partnership” with Microsoft.', 'It’s unclear how Shear will be affected by Altman’s return.', 'Posting on X, Shear wrote:“I am deeply pleased by this result, after (some) 72 very intense hours of work … I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”', 'Brockman is also returning to OpenAI, according to hispost on X.  Ultimately, Microsoft and Altman appear to be the big winners from the dust-up: Altman will continue leading the firm he helped to found.', 'And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.', '“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadellasaidon X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”']",0.062777217389235,"“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadellasaidon X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”","Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board.",0.5494540418897357,And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.,"Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps themost visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move.",2024-03-28
Judge’s stern rebuke of Elon Musk’s X gives researchers fresh hope,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/judges-stern-rebuke-of-elon-musks-x-gives-researchers-fresh-hope/index.html,"
  Published
        1:17 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","A federal judge’s decision this week reprimanding Elon Musk’s X will have reverberating effects on efforts to hold influential online platforms accountable, legal experts and advocacy groups say.
    
            On Monday, District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed and excoriated a lawsuit by X against online watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate as an attempt to silence the non-profit group for sounding alarms about hate speech on the platform.
    
            Breyer wrote in Monday’s order that the lawsuit was “unabashedly” about “punishing” reports written by CCDH, which X had accused of campaigning to drive away its advertisers. Breyer held that the reports were “unquestionably” protected by the group’s free speech rights.
    
            Now, that decision could embolden other research groups and Musk critics who have faced legal threats from the billionaire.
    
            The CCDH case — in the US District Court for the Northern District of California — has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X, where Musk has restored the accounts of previously banned White supremacists and spreaders of misinformation and where Musk himself has amplified various conspiracy theories.
    
            And CCDH is not the only organization that has faced attacks by self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Musk after criticizing or raising concerns about his platform.
    
            “This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism.
    
            “Society needs reliable and ethical research into social media platforms, and often that research relies on being able to study publicly available posts,” Abdo said.
    
            X said it plans to appeal Breyer’s decision.
    
            In his first year as owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk threatened legal action against the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, as well as against Microsoft and Meta for allegedly improper data and trade secret access, respectively. None of those threats ever amounted to real lawsuits.
    
            He did, however, sue the progressive media watchdog Media Matters over its analysis highlighting antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X, alleging that the group’s testing methodology was not representative of how real users experience the site and that the report was designed to drive away advertisers. Legal experts have described that case as “weak” on the merits and as a “bogus” attempt to chill criticism of X.
    
            This week’s court decision may be only a temporary setback in Musk’s wider plan to stifle criticism, said Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone. Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings.
    
            The states of Texas and Missouri each announced probes into Media Matters following X’s lawsuit against the group, to which Musk responded, “Great!”
    
            As recently as Monday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a petition in state court seeking to compel Media Matters’ cooperation with his investigation. The filing came a week after he appeared with Musk in a live event on X — which Carusone said shows how Musk hopes to deputize the power of government to silence his critics.
    
            “They have every reason to do it,” Carusone said of the AGs’ investigations. “They get the political benefits, they get the attention. There doesn’t seem to be any cost to them yet. And if they are successful at developing this new playbook, this new terrain, legally, then it’s going to pave the way for them to just use this tool and tactic over and over and over again.”
    
            A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Carusone’s claims.
    
            Researchers from non-profits and academic institutions have had a harder time studying X since Musk’s takeover in 2022. Academics need large samples of posts, shares, likes and other data to study social media trends in mis- and disinformation, public health, elections and other key topics. But one of Musk’s first changes at X was to put access to platform data behind a steep paywall.
    
            Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year — were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform.
    
            The change may have forced some researchers to rely more heavily on first-person observational data to draw conclusions about user behavior on X. Groups like CCDH have also used automated “scraping” of publicly viewable content from X rather than paying the company for data directly, a tactic that helped give rise to X’s initial lawsuit.
    
            Efforts by X and other social media companies to limit research transparency makes them less accountable to the public at best and, at worst, could mask malicious behavior, said David Karpf, an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.
    
            “We need independent research to have any real measure of what’s going on at X/Twitter. Musk is only ever going to release data that makes his company look good,” Karpf said. “These platforms are too big and too vital to the spread of information to be left unmonitored.”
    
            “This is an election year,” Karpf added, “and the platforms are taking steps to make it harder to monitor how their services are used for malignant ends.”
    
            Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face.
    
            “The guardrails for democracy are hanging by a thread and we have dwindling insights into platform practices as researchers face lawsuits, congressional subpoenas and other scare tactics,” said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel and director of digital rights at Free Press.
    
            Ultimately, Benavidez called the ruling “a reminder that platform accountability is essential and will inevitably prevail when up against bullies like Musk who try to silence us.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['A federal judge’s decision this week reprimanding Elon Musk’s X will have reverberating effects on efforts to hold influential online platforms accountable, legal experts and advocacy groups say.', 'On Monday, District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed and excoriated a lawsuit by X against online watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate as an attempt to silence the non-profit group for sounding alarms about hate speech on the platform.', 'Breyer wrote in Monday’s order that the lawsuit was “unabashedly” about “punishing” reports written by CCDH, which X had accused of campaigning to drive away its advertisers.', 'Breyer held that the reports were “unquestionably” protected by the group’s free speech rights.', 'Now, that decision could embolden other research groups and Musk critics who have faced legal threats from the billionaire.', 'The CCDH case — in the US District Court for the Northern District of California —has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X, where Musk has restored the accounts of previously banned White supremacists and spreaders of misinformation and where Musk himself has amplified various conspiracy theories.', 'And CCDH is not the only organization that has faced attacks by self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Musk after criticizing or raising concerns about his platform.', '“This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism.', '“Society needs reliable and ethical research into social media platforms, and often that research relies on being able to study publicly available posts,” Abdo said.', 'X said it plans to appeal Breyer’s decision.', 'In his first year as owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk threatened legal action against the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, as well as against Microsoft and Meta for allegedly improper data and trade secret access, respectively.', 'None of those threats ever amounted to real lawsuits.', 'He did, however, sue the progressive media watchdog Media Matters over itsanalysishighlighting antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X, alleging that the group’s testing methodology was not representative of how real users experience the site and that the report was designed to drive away advertisers.', 'Legal experts have described that case as “weak” on the merits and as a “bogus” attempt to chill criticism of X.  This week’s court decision may be only a temporary setback in Musk’s wider plan to stifle criticism, said Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone.', 'Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings.', 'The states of Texas and Missouri each announced probes into Media Matters following X’s lawsuit against the group, to which Musk responded, “Great!”', 'As recently as Monday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a petition in state court seeking to compel Media Matters’ cooperation with his investigation.', 'The filing came a week after he appeared with Musk in a live event on X — which Carusone said shows how Musk hopes to deputize the power of government to silence his critics.', '“They have every reason to do it,” Carusone said of the AGs’ investigations. “', 'They get the political benefits, they get the attention.', 'There doesn’t seem to be any cost to them yet.', 'And if they are successful at developing this new playbook, this new terrain, legally, then it’s going to pave the way for them to just use this tool and tactic over and over and over again.”', 'A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Carusone’s claims.', 'Researchers from non-profits and academic institutions have had a harder time studying X since Musk’s takeover in 2022.', 'Academics need large samples of posts, shares, likes and other data to study social media trends in mis- and disinformation, public health, elections and other key topics.', 'But one of Musk’s first changes at X was to put access to platform data behind a steep paywall.', 'Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year —were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform.', 'The change may have forced some researchers to rely more heavily on first-person observational data to draw conclusions about user behavior on X. Groups like CCDH have also used automated “scraping” of publicly viewable content from X rather than paying the company for data directly, a tactic that helped give rise to X’s initial lawsuit.', 'Efforts by X and other social media companies to limit research transparency makes them less accountable to the public at best and, at worst, could mask malicious behavior, said David Karpf, an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.', '“We need independent research to have any real measure of what’s going on at X/Twitter.', 'Musk is only ever going to release data that makes his company look good,” Karpf said. “', 'These platforms are too big and too vital to the spread of information to be left unmonitored.”', '“This is an election year,” Karpf added, “and the platforms are taking steps to make it harder to monitor how their services are used for malignant ends.”', 'Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face.', '“The guardrails for democracy are hanging by a thread and we have dwindling insights into platform practices as researchers face lawsuits, congressional subpoenas and other scare tactics,” said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel and director of digital rights at Free Press.', 'Ultimately, Benavidez called the ruling “a reminder that platform accountability is essential and will inevitably prevail when up against bullies like Musk who try to silence us.”']",0.0427064270235155,"Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings.","“This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism.",-0.3806278450148446,"Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face.","Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year —were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform.",2024-03-28
3 ways Apple’s monopoly lawsuit could change the iPhone experience for fans,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/apples-iphone-changes-lawsuit/index.html,"
  Published
        6:30 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","When Apple launched its first Mac computer in 1984, with its iconic Mac smiley-face “hello” greeting, it wanted to differentiate itself in the fledgling PC market. The Mac was approachable with its friendly, innovative design – Apple’s way of setting the Mac apart in the confusing PC landscape.
    
            That consumer-friendly mantra still exists today, with Apple carefully curating an easy-breezy yet controlled user experience across its products, including the billions of iPhones used around the world.
    
            But the Biden administration believes Apple took that too far. On Thursday, the Department of Justice sued Apple for illegally monopolizing the smartphone market. In a press conference, the government provided a long list of how Apple has allegedly squashed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach, restricting how third-party companies interact with its brands and services.
    
            The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them. Apple added that the lawsuit could empower the government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”
    
            But if successful, the lawsuit could ripple across Apple’s products and services. Although the suit could take years to play out, here’s a closer look what it may eventually mean for iPhone users:
    
            If found liable, the company could be forced to change a number of things.
    
            One such change is how iPhone users could get greater access to “super apps” that have been largely restricted before. The term refers to one-stop-shop apps that allow for messaging, ordering food, payment processing and other capabilities all within one platform.
    
             According to Dipanjan Chatterjee, a principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, super apps most threaten Apple’s preeminence in the lives of its customers.
    
            “An offering like WeChat, dubbed China’s everything app, can provide an alternative to the Apple ecosystem for people to communicate, bank, share memories, talk to businesses and more,” he said. “What Apple fears most is becoming irrelevant to its customers.”
    
            At the same time, super apps like WeChat are created by larger companies and could, therefore, put some smaller companies at a disadvantage. And the concept hasn’t been welcomed much in the US anyway.
    
            The US government, however, could argue that lack of interest may be due to Apple’s high share of the smartphone market and its resistance to offer super apps in its store, Chatterjee said.
    
            Apple may also be required to offer more support for cross-platform messaging, an issue the company previously said it’s already working on.
    
            The company lets iPhone users send high-quality photos and videos to one another, but similar texts to Android phones are slower and grainy. It also maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue.
    
            In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap. Apple’s move to add support for the standard called RCS (rich communication services) is intended to roll out later this year. RCS is considered the replacement to alternatives such as SMS, or short messaging service, and can work over both Wi-Fi and mobile data.
    
            The change followed pressure from both regulators and competitors to more seamlessly work across operating systems. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, for example, requires companies to make their key services interoperable between platforms. The US government could require the same.
    
            Another likely change is how hardware from other companies, such as smartwatches, will interact with the Apple range of devices and software, including the iPhone and Apple’s services like Fitness+. The company has also required Apple Watch users to own iOS devices as a way to keep them locked into its existing ecosystem.
    
            Chatterjee said making this change would have both positives and negatives.
    
            “The net result would reside somewhere along the spectrum of access to more and cheaper options but also the devaluation of the customer experience that is so highly prized by Apple’s customers,” he said.
    
            The Biden administration has also taken issue with Apple’s lack of support for mobile cloud services. Loosening this could allow users to access games and other cloud-based apps without having to pay for pricey hardware.
    
            The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating. Although the Biden administration will have to prove these harms, some critics say any potential changes Apple could make will negatively impact the user experience.
    
            David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research, said he recognizes that the content and applications market should be open, and Apple needs to avoid monopolistic advantages that can restrict competition, push up prices or block innovation. But Apple’s success stems in part to its tight grip on its products and services, keeping things intuitive and seamless.
    
            “If Apple is forced to comply, it could potentially spell the end to the provision of this consistent and unified user experience, although by the same token, consumers will be open to a greater choice of apps and services, helping more developers and providers,” McQueen said.
    
            Chatterjee noted some people are drawn to the Apple family of products precisely because of the carefully managed ecosystem’s ease of use. Apple may have to work that much harder to preserve the integrity of its experience, but any changes probably won’t be enough to make customers to leave and go elsewhere.
    
            “The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said.
    
            But he added those currently outside of the Apple ecosystem will likely benefit by “plugging in opportunistically without having to go all in with Apple.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['When Apple launched its first Mac computer in 1984, with its iconic Mac smiley-face “hello” greeting, it wanted to differentiate itself in the fledgling PC market.', 'The Mac was approachable with its friendly, innovative design – Apple’s way of setting the Mac apart in the confusing PC landscape.', 'That consumer-friendly mantra still exists today, with Apple carefully curating an easy-breezy yet controlled user experience across its products, including the billions of iPhones used around the world.', 'But the Biden administration believes Apple took that too far.', 'On Thursday, the Department of Justice sued Apple for illegally monopolizing the smartphone market.', 'In a press conference, the government provided a long list of how Apple has allegedly squashed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach, restricting how third-party companies interact with its brands and services.', 'The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them.', 'Apple added that the lawsuit could empower the government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”', 'But if successful, the lawsuit could ripple across Apple’s products and services.', 'Although the suit could take years to play out, here’s a closer look what it may eventually mean for iPhone users:  If found liable, the company could be forced to change a number of things.', 'One such change is how iPhone users could get greater access to “super apps” that have been largely restricted before.', 'The term refers to one-stop-shop apps that allow for messaging, ordering food, payment processing and other capabilities all within one platform.', 'According to Dipanjan Chatterjee, a principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, super apps most threaten Apple’s preeminence in the lives of its customers.', '“An offering like WeChat, dubbed China’s everything app, can provide an alternative to the Apple ecosystem for people to communicate, bank, share memories, talk to businesses and more,” he said.', '“What Apple fears most is becoming irrelevant to its customers.”', 'At the same time, super apps like WeChat are created by larger companies and could, therefore, put some smaller companies at a disadvantage.', 'And the concept hasn’t been welcomed much in the US anyway.', 'The US government, however, could argue that lack of interest may be due to Apple’s high share of the smartphone market and its resistance to offer super apps in its store, Chatterjee said.', 'Apple may also be required to offer more support for cross-platform messaging, an issue the company previously said it’s already working on.', 'The company lets iPhone users send high-quality photos and videos to one another, but similar texts to Android phones are slower and grainy.', 'It also maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue.', 'In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap.', 'Apple’s move to add support for the standard called RCS (rich communication services) is intended to roll out later this year.', 'RCS is considered the replacement to alternatives such as SMS, or short messaging service, and can work over both Wi-Fi and mobile data.', 'The change followed pressure from both regulators and competitors to more seamlessly work across operating systems.', 'The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, for example, requires companies to make their key services interoperable between platforms.', 'The US government could require the same.', 'Another likely change is how hardware from other companies, such as smartwatches, will interact with the Apple range of devices and software, including the iPhone and Apple’s services like Fitness+.', 'The company has also required Apple Watch users to own iOS devices as a way to keep them locked into its existing ecosystem.', 'Chatterjee said making this change would have both positives and negatives.', '“The net result would reside somewhere along the spectrum of access to more and cheaper options but also the devaluation of the customer experience that is so highly prized by Apple’s customers,” he said.', 'The Biden administration has also taken issue with Apple’s lack of support for mobile cloud services.', 'Loosening this could allow users to access games and other cloud-based apps without having to pay for pricey hardware.', 'The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating.', 'Although the Biden administration will have to prove these harms, some critics say any potential changes Apple could make will negatively impact the user experience.', 'David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research, said he recognizes that the content and applications market should be open, and Apple needs to avoid monopolistic advantages that can restrict competition, push up prices or block innovation.', 'But Apple’s success stems in part to its tight grip on its products and services, keeping things intuitive and seamless.', '“If Apple is forced to comply, it could potentially spell the end to the provision of this consistent and unified user experience, although by the same token, consumers will be open to a greater choice of apps and services, helping more developers and providers,” McQueen said.', 'Chatterjee noted some people are drawn to the Apple family of products precisely because of the carefully managed ecosystem’s ease of use.', 'Apple may have to work that much harder to preserve the integrity of its experience, but any changes probably won’t be enough to make customers to leave and go elsewhere.', '“The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said.', 'But he added those currently outside of the Apple ecosystem will likely benefit by “plugging in opportunistically without having to go all in with Apple.”']",0.2470050112228104,"In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap.",The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them.,-0.151834836602211,"“The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said.","The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating.",2024-03-28
NBC News boss Cesar Conde faces backlash from his network’s anchors over ‘inexplicable’ decision to hire ex-RNC chair Ronna McDaniel,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/media/nbc-news-cesar-conde-ronna-mcdaniel-backlash/index.html,"
  Published
        8:05 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Cesar Conde has a decision to make — and it’s not an especially difficult one.
    
            The NBCUniversal News Group chair is facing a torrent of backlash from his own staff after greenlighting the hire of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid network contributor.
    
            Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.” And they’re not doing it via anonymous comments to the press. They’re doing it on the record on NBCU’s own air. Chuck Todd broke the dam on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” with a set of candid comments about the hiring, and Rachel Maddow capped the flood of backlash Monday night with a blistering 30-minute monologue eviscerating the network’s leadership for the “inexplicable” move.
    
            Suffice to say, NBCU News Group is in unprecedented territory. Never has a network’s C-suite ever been so thoroughly flogged by its most high-profile stars in such no holds barred fashion. Saying that Conde simply has a crisis on his hands would be a contender for understatement of the year. It’s a five-alarm fire at NBCU News Group, and one of Conde’s own making.
    
            While NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown were most directly responsible for McDaniel’s hiring, a decision that MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to it at the time, the buck ultimately stops with Conde, who hold the real power at the Peacock Network. McDaniel’s hiring could not have happened without Conde’s blessing.
    
            It does not take a brilliant political mind with prescient foresight to understand that hiring McDaniel would ignite a firestorm of outrage — from both within 30 Rock and outside it. Conde, someone who ostensibly supports American democracy, should have rejected McDaniel’s hiring on the grounds that NBCU News Group could not put someone on its payroll who tried to subvert the 2020 vote.
    
            As so many of NBCU’s staffers have underscored, the objection to McDaniel is not that she is a Republican. It’s not even that she is a Donald Trump-supporting Republican. It’s that she was an active participant in the plot to overthrow the last presidential election. That is not to even mention McDaniel’s years of demonizing the press, smearing the journalists who work at NBC News and MSNBC as she sought to destroy the credibility of the organization that she ran to after being chased out of the RNC.
    
            The notion put forward by NBC that it needed to hire McDaniel to bring its viewers “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party” is absurd. If that’s the case, the network should move to hire free agents like Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens. They too have their hands on the pulse of the Republican Party. In fact, they represent much more of where the GOP stands today than McDaniel. So, using NBC’s logic, why not hire them? (Spoiler: News organizations rightfully have established basic standards for paid contributors. Asking that your employees have a commitment to democracy, to the truth, and to basic decency is not a big ask.)
    
            But even if Conde has no allegiance to basic democratic principles, which this hire calls into question, given that he is known to be a political player who cares deeply about his own image in the press, he should have been wise enough to foresee that hiring McDaniel would be an ill-conceived move. How this did not occur to Conde is unfathomable and shows a tremendous lack of judgment.
    
            Even more bizarre is Conde’s management, or lack thereof, since the controversy erupted. It was clear early on that his employees at NBC News and MSNBC did not support McDaniel’s hiring. If that was not evident on Friday, it was clear as day on Sunday after “Meet the Press.” The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it.
    
            At that point, the writing should have been on the wall for Conde — as it was for every other media executive that I have spoken with over the last 24 hours. It is evident that McDaniel has no real future as an NBC analyst and the decision to bring her on as a contributor will have to be reversed. After all, which NBC or MSNBC program is going to invite her on after all of this?
    
            The only real question for Conde after the Sunday morning scolding should have been how he chose to back out of the deal in the least painful way possible. To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning.
    
            But no such announcement came.
    
            Instead, Conde has allowed the mess to spiral absolutely out of control. MSNBC’s top stars hammered the network’s leadership throughout the day Monday over the hire. NBC News’ Guild blasted Conde, saying in a statement that under him the company had quietly laid off employees over the last month and instead chosen to “prioritize an election denier over its reporters.” The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory.
    
            All the while, Conde has remained silent. I asked his spokesperson, Stephen Labaton, on Monday whether the NBCU News Group boss had any comment on the situation. Does he have any regret? I didn’t get an on-the-record response. Suffice to say, however, that what Conde does moving forward will say a lot about his character and commitment to democratic values. It will also say a lot about the NBCU News Group and what type of organization it is.
    
            In her biting monologue on Monday night, however, Maddow did offer Conde a way out of this mess.
    
            “Mistakes will be made,” Maddow said.”But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions. Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it, and correcting course. Not digging in. Not blaming others. Take a minute. Acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call.”
    
            “It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong,” Maddow added. “It is a sign of strength. And our country needs us to be strong now.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Cesar Conde has a decision to make — and it’s not an especially difficult one.', 'The NBCUniversal News Group chair is facing a torrent of backlash from his own staff after greenlighting the hire of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid network contributor.', 'Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.”', 'And they’re not doing it via anonymous comments to the press.', 'They’re doing it on the record on NBCU’s own air.', 'Chuck Todd broke the dam on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” with a set of candid comments about the hiring, and Rachel Maddow capped the flood of backlash Monday night with a blistering 30-minute monologue eviscerating the network’s leadership for the “inexplicable” move.', 'Suffice to say, NBCU News Group is in unprecedented territory.', 'Never has a network’s C-suite ever been so thoroughly flogged by its most high-profile stars in such no holds barred fashion.', 'Saying that Conde simply has a crisis on his hands would be a contender for understatement of the year.', 'It’s a five-alarm fire at NBCU News Group, and one of Conde’s own making.', 'While NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown were most directly responsible for McDaniel’s hiring, a decision that MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to it at the time, the buck ultimately stops with Conde, who hold the real power at the Peacock Network.', 'McDaniel’s hiring could not have happened without Conde’s blessing.', 'It does not take a brilliant political mind with prescient foresight to understand that hiring McDaniel would ignite a firestorm of outrage — from both within 30 Rock and outside it.', 'Conde, someone who ostensibly supports American democracy, should have rejected McDaniel’s hiring on the grounds that NBCU News Group could not put someone on its payroll who tried to subvert the 2020 vote.', 'As so many of NBCU’s staffers have underscored, the objection to McDaniel is not that she is a Republican.', 'It’s not even that she is a Donald Trump-supporting Republican.', 'It’s that she was an active participant in the plot to overthrow the last presidential election.', 'That is not to even mention McDaniel’s years of demonizing the press, smearing the journalists who work at NBC News and MSNBC as she sought to destroy the credibility of the organization that she ran to after being chased out of the RNC.', 'The notion put forward by NBC that it needed to hire McDaniel to bring its viewers “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party” is absurd.', 'If that’s the case, the network should move to hire free agents like Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens.', 'They too have their hands on the pulse of the Republican Party.', 'In fact, they represent much more of where the GOP stands today than McDaniel.', 'So, using NBC’s logic, why not hire them? (', 'Spoiler: News organizations rightfully have established basic standards for paid contributors.', 'Asking that your employees have a commitment to democracy, to the truth, and to basic decency is not a big ask.)', 'But even if Conde has no allegiance to basic democratic principles, which this hire calls into question, given that he is known to be a political player who cares deeply about his own image in the press, he should have been wise enough to foresee that hiring McDaniel would be an ill-conceived move.', 'How this did not occur to Conde is unfathomable and shows a tremendous lack of judgment.', 'Even more bizarre is Conde’s management, or lack thereof, since the controversy erupted.', 'It was clear early on that his employees at NBC News and MSNBC did not support McDaniel’s hiring.', 'If that was not evident on Friday, it was clear as day on Sunday after “Meet the Press.”', 'The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it.', 'At that point, the writing should have been on the wall for Conde — as it was for every other media executive that I have spoken with over the last 24 hours.', 'It is evident that McDaniel has no real future as an NBC analyst and the decision to bring her on as a contributor will have to be reversed.', 'After all, which NBC or MSNBC program is going to invite her on after all of this?', 'The only real question for Conde after the Sunday morning scolding should have been how he chose to back out of the deal in the least painful way possible.', 'To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning.', 'But no such announcement came.', 'Instead, Conde has allowed the mess to spiral absolutely out of control.', 'MSNBC’s top stars hammered the network’s leadership throughout the day Monday over the hire.', 'NBC News’ Guild blasted Conde, saying in a statement that under him the company had quietly laid off employees over the last month and instead chosen to “prioritize an election denier over its reporters.”', 'The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory.', 'All the while, Conde has remained silent.', 'I asked his spokesperson, Stephen Labaton, on Monday whether the NBCU News Group boss had any comment on the situation.', 'Does he have any regret?', 'I didn’t get an on-the-record response.', 'Suffice to say, however, that what Conde does moving forward will say a lot about his character and commitment to democratic values.', 'It will also say a lot about the NBCU News Group and what type of organization it is.', 'In her biting monologue on Monday night, however, Maddow did offer Conde a way out of this mess.', '“Mistakes will be made,” Maddow said.', '”But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions.', 'Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it, and correcting course.', 'Not digging in.', 'Not blaming others.', 'Take a minute.', 'Acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call.”', '“It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong,” Maddow added. “', 'It is a sign of strength.', 'And our country needs us to be strong now.”']",-0.032955005531589,"Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.”",The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory.,-0.501803499001723,"To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning.","The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it.",2024-03-28
Digital humans: the relatable face of artificial intelligence?,https://edition.cnn.com/business/digital-humans-ai-dj-dex-spc/index.html,"
  Published
        5:33 AM EDT, Tue March 19, 2024
    ","Scrolling through the Instagram account of DJ and aspiring model Dex you’ll see her wearing new outfits, performing at shows around the world and chatting to her thousands of followers about her hobbies.
    
            However, it’s clear that there is something different about Dex; she’s an entirely virtual “digital human,” designed by a startup in the UK.
    
            For her performances, Dex is displayed on a video screen or as a holographic projection, with her mixes created by humans. She is animated using Unreal Engine — a 3D modeling software widely used in video games — combined with motion-capture. Generative artificial intelligence allows her to remember information and respond to questions, using a voice also generated by AI.
    
            “She’s probably one of the only digital humans in the performance space that you can have a conversation and interact with,” says Denise Harris, CCO of startup Sum Vivas. “You can ask her anything. She is a genius about music.”
    
            Last month, Dex performed at Digital Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris and Milan, and she has modeled outfits by Prada and Louis Vuitton at digital fashion events.
    
            For Liverpool-based Sum Vivas she’s a “showpiece” for more practical applications. The company is now developing digital humans that can “listen” to people’s questions and converse in real time. “Shellie” can provide product information as an avatar on company websites, while “Arif” is set to direct passengers and answer questions as a multilingual concierge on screens at airports.
    
            According to CEO and founder Rob Sims, digital humans can help bridge the gap between AI technology and people. “What we’ve found is when people start working with and conversing with a digital human, they very quickly suspend disbelief,” Sims tells CNN. “It becomes natural.”
    
            Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, considerable hype has surrounded the potential of generative AI — artificial intelligence powered by huge datasets of information, capable of generating text outputs in a conversational way.
    
            Record levels of investment into generative AI have followed, with over $21 billion poured into the industry during the first nine months of last year, according to data insights company Pitchbook. In March 2023, Google launched Bard (recently renamed Gemini) and around the same time Anthropic released its AI assistant Claude. As generative AI chatbots become increasingly ubiquitous, Sum Vivas is one of several companies looking to make them more human.
    
            US and New Zealand-based UneeQ has developed animated conversational “digital humans” that can be used as virtual sales reps and customer service agents on company websites, and this month it debuted Sama 2.0, an animated cabin crew member that answers questions on Qatar Airways’ website and app.
    
            Microsoft recently announced that users of its Azure software would be able to create lifelike avatars capable of turning text prompts into animated speech. However, there are widespread concerns about the impact AI could have on the job market. 
    
            “When we rely on automated tools, what skills are we losing in the process?” asks Jennifer Ding, senior researcher at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. “In some ways, we think of AI as something that’s helping us or augmenting our work,” she says. “However, alongside, this fear of replacement is bubbling up more and more.”
    
            Harris, however, points to new opportunities within digital human design and development. “Every scenario that we found, we’re creating jobs and working in harmony with people rather than taking away jobs,” she says.
    
            “Digital humans, first and foremost, should work with other human colleagues,” adds Sims. “We’ll move into a stage where digital humans will start to become just another member of the team, with added benefits for that team, and obviously the customers they serve.”",CNN,19/03/2024,"['Scrolling through the Instagram account of DJ and aspiring model Dex you’ll see her wearing new outfits, performing at shows around the world and chatting to her thousands of followers about her hobbies.', 'However, it’s clear that there is something different about Dex; she’s an entirely virtual “digital human,” designed by a startup in the UK.', 'For her performances, Dex is displayed on a video screen or as a holographic projection, with her mixes created by humans.', 'She is animated using Unreal Engine — a 3D modeling software widely used in video games — combined with motion-capture.', 'Generative artificial intelligence allows her to remember information and respond to questions, using a voice also generated by AI.', '“She’s probably one of the only digital humans in the performance space that you can have a conversation and interact with,” says Denise Harris, CCO of startup Sum Vivas. “', 'You can ask her anything.', 'She is a genius about music.”', 'Last month, Dex performed at Digital Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris and Milan, and she has modeled outfits by Prada and Louis Vuitton at digital fashion events.', 'For Liverpool-based Sum Vivas she’s a “showpiece” for more practical applications.', 'The company is now developing digital humans that can “listen” to people’s questions and converse in real time. “', 'Shellie” can provide product information as an avatar on company websites, while “Arif” is set to direct passengers and answer questions as a multilingual concierge on screens at airports.', 'According to CEO and founder Rob Sims, digital humans can help bridge the gap between AI technology and people. “', 'What we’ve found is when people start working with and conversing with a digital human, they very quickly suspend disbelief,” Sims tells CNN. “', 'It becomes natural.”', 'Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, considerable hype has surrounded the potential of generative AI — artificial intelligence powered by huge datasets of information, capable of generating text outputs in a conversational way.', 'Record levels of investment into generative AI have followed, with over $21 billion poured into the industry during the first nine months of last year, according to data insights company Pitchbook.', 'In March 2023, Google launched Bard (recently renamed Gemini) and around the same time Anthropic released its AI assistant Claude.', 'As generative AI chatbots become increasingly ubiquitous, Sum Vivas is one of several companies looking to make them more human.', 'US and New Zealand-based UneeQ has developed animated conversational “digital humans” that can be used as virtual sales reps and customer service agents on company websites, and this month it debuted Sama 2.0, an animated cabin crew member that answers questions on Qatar Airways’ website and app.', 'Microsoft recently announced that users of its Azure software would be able to create lifelike avatars capable of turning text prompts into animated speech.', 'However, there are widespread concerns about the impact AI could have on the job market.', '“When we rely on automated tools, what skills are we losing in the process?”', 'asks Jennifer Ding, senior researcher at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. “', 'In some ways, we think of AI as something that’s helping us or augmenting our work,” she says. “', 'However, alongside, this fear of replacement is bubbling up more and more.”', 'Harris, however, points to new opportunities within digital human design and development. “', 'Every scenario that we found, we’re creating jobs and working in harmony with people rather than taking away jobs,” she says.', '“Digital humans, first and foremost, should work with other human colleagues,” adds Sims. “', 'We’ll move into a stage where digital humans will start to become just another member of the team, with added benefits for that team, and obviously the customers they serve.”']",0.1214444180579973,"Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, considerable hype has surrounded the potential of generative AI — artificial intelligence powered by huge datasets of information, capable of generating text outputs in a conversational way.","However, alongside, this fear of replacement is bubbling up more and more.”",0.2107266932725906,"Harris, however, points to new opportunities within digital human design and development. “","However, there are widespread concerns about the impact AI could have on the job market.",2024-03-28
MTA Board passes final vote on congestion pricing plan,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/mta-board-final-vote-congestion-pricing-plan/index.html,"
  Published
        6:54 PM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","Congestion pricing is coming to New York soon with transit officials officially approving the toll structure at a hearing on Wednesday.
    
            The controversial plan, which advocates and lawmakers say will mitigate traffic and help fund repairs to key infrastructure, is the first of its kind for a major US city. New York City will soon join other cities such as London, Stockholm and Singapore, with the new congestion pricing plan.
    
            The toll for drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street is expected to start around June 15. An official date will be unveiled once a federal review on the tolling structure is completed and when critical infrastructure for the tolling, such as more license plate readers, are installed, according to a transit official.
    
            “New York has more traffic than anywhere in the United States and now we’re doing something about it,” MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said at a news conference after the vote.
    
            Passenger and commercial vehicles will now pay $15 once they enter the “congestion relief zone,” which is below 60th Street in Manhattan. During the overnight hours when there is less traffic, the toll drops to $3.75. The charge will only happen once a day.
    
            Trucks and some buses will be charged either $24 or $36 during the day below 60th Street depending on both their size and function. At night, that toll drops to either $6 or $9. Yellow taxi, green cab and black car passenger cars will pay a $1.25 toll for every trip through a zone. Uber, Lyft and other ride share vehicles will pay $2.50.
    
            Emergency vehicles and others carrying people with disabilities will be exempt from the toll. School buses contracted with the New York City Department of Education, buses providing scheduled commuter services open to the public, commuter vans licensed with the Taxi and Limousine Commission and specialized government vehicles will also be exempt.
    
            Low-income drivers will get a 50% discount and a tax credit is available for low-income residents south of 60th Street.
    
            “One of the biggest goals of this is to finally attack congestion but the other side of the equation is to invest more in transit,” Lieber said.
    
            The money generated from the tolls is expected to help some subway stations add elevators to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, repair signals and help train lines have more capacity and be more reliable. The money will also go to other projects, such as Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway.
    
            “We can do a lot of things and we can keep this very old system in decent shape so that it doesn’t fall apart like it did in 2017,” Lieber said, referencing a period when New York’s subways experienced service interruption and overcrowding. “We have better service because of the investments we made. We want to make more like that.”
    
            Leading up to day one of the congestion pricing plan, the MTA says it will increase service on 12 subway lines, implement a redesign of the bus network, and make the largest service increase in Long Island Rail Road history, according to a news release.
    
            Despite the approval and expected implementation of the tolling plan, multiple lawsuits, such as one spearheaded by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, designed to block the plan, are still pending.
    
            “We’re confident we’re going to have the right outcome,” Lieber said in reference to the lawsuits.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['Congestion pricing is coming to New York soon with transit officials officially approving the toll structure at a hearing on Wednesday.', 'The controversial plan, which advocates and lawmakers say will mitigate traffic and help fund repairs to key infrastructure, is the first of its kind for a major US city.', 'New York City will soon join other cities such as London, Stockholm and Singapore, with the new congestion pricing plan.', 'The toll for drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street is expected to start around June 15.', 'An official date will be unveiled once a federal review on the tolling structure is completed and when critical infrastructure for the tolling, such as morelicense plate readers, are installed, according to a transit official.', '“New York has more traffic than anywhere in the United States and now we’re doing something about it,” MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Liebersaidat a news conference after the vote.', 'Passenger and commercial vehicleswill now pay$15 once they enter the “congestion relief zone,” which is below 60th Street in Manhattan.', 'During the overnight hours when there is less traffic, the toll drops to $3.75.', 'The charge will only happen once a day.', 'Trucks and some buses will bechargedeither $24 or $36 during the day below 60th Street depending on both their size and function.', 'At night,that toll drops to either $6 or $9.', 'Yellow taxi, greencaband black car passenger cars will pay a $1.25 toll for every trip through a zone.', 'Uber, Lyftand other ride sharevehicles will pay $2.50.', 'Emergency vehicles and others carrying people with disabilities will be exempt from the toll.', 'School buses contracted with the New York City Department of Education, buses providing scheduled commuter services open to the public, commuter vans licensed with the Taxi and Limousine Commission and specialized government vehicles will also be exempt.', 'Low-income drivers will get a 50% discount and a tax credit is available for low-income residents south of 60thStreet.', '“One of the biggest goals of this is to finally attack congestion but the other side of the equation is to invest more in transit,” Liebersaid.', 'The money generated from the tolls is expected to help some subway stations add elevators to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, repair signals and help train lines have more capacity and be more reliable.', 'The money will also go to other projects, such as Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway.', '“We can do a lot of things and we can keep this very old system in decent shape so that it doesn’t fall apart like it did in 2017,” Liebersaid, referencing a period when New York’s subways experienced service interruption and overcrowding. “', 'We have better service because of the investments we made.', 'We want to make more like that.”', 'Leading up to day one of the congestion pricing plan, the MTA says it will increase service on 12 subway lines, implement a redesign of the bus network, and make the largest service increase in Long Island Rail Road history, according to a news release.', 'Despite the approval and expected implementation of the tolling plan,multiplelawsuits, such as one spearheaded by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy,designedto block the plan, are still pending.', '“We’re confident we’re going to have the right outcome,” Lieber said in reference to the lawsuits.']",0.1024068945255857,"The money generated from the tolls is expected to help some subway stations add elevators to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, repair signals and help train lines have more capacity and be more reliable.","Despite the approval and expected implementation of the tolling plan,multiplelawsuits, such as one spearheaded by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy,designedto block the plan, are still pending.",0.4041884541511535,We have better service because of the investments we made.,"“We can do a lot of things and we can keep this very old system in decent shape so that it doesn’t fall apart like it did in 2017,” Liebersaid, referencing a period when New York’s subways experienced service interruption and overcrowding. “",2024-03-28
Japan nappy maker shifts from babies to adults,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68672186,2024-03-27T04:19:13.000Z,"A Japanese nappy maker has announced that it will stop producing diapers for babies in the country and, instead, focus on the market for adults. Oji Holdings is the latest firm to make such a shift in a rapidly ageing Japan, where birth rates are at a record low.  Sales of adult nappies outpaced those for infants in the country for more than a decade.  The number of babies born in Japan in 2023 - 758,631 - was down by 5.1% from the previous year. It was also the lowest number of births on record in Japan since the 19th Century. In the 1970s, that figure stood at more than two million.  In a statement, Oji Holdings said its subsidiary, Oji Nepia, currently manufactures 400 million infant nappies annually. Production has been falling since 2001, when the company hit its peak - 700 million nappies.  Back in 2011, Japan's biggest diaper maker, Unicharm, said its sales of adult diapers had surpassed those for babies. Meanwhile, the adult diaper market has been growing and is estimated to be worth more than $2bn (£1.6bn). Japan now has one of the world's oldest populations, with almost 30% of them aged 65 or older. Last year, the proportion of those aged above 80 surpassed 10% for the first time. Oji Holdings also said it would continue to make baby diapers in Malaysia and Indonesia where it expects demand to grow.  A shrinking population, the result of both ageing and plummeting birth rates, has become a crisis for Japan, one of the world's largest economies. But the Japanese government's efforts to address these challenges have met with little success so far.  Increased spending on child-related programmes and subsidies targeting young couples or parents don't appear to be boosting birth rates. Expert say the reasons are complex, ranging from lower marriage rates and more women joining the workforce, to the increased costs of raising children.  ""Japan is standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society,"" Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last year, adding that it was a case of ""now or never"".   But Japan is not alone. Fertility rates have also been dropping in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, the last of which has the lowest birth rate in the world.  China too saw its population fall for the second year in a row in 2023 and, like Japan, has introduced various incentives to boost birth rates. But an ageing population and the impact of a decades-long one child-policy, which ended in 2015, are creating demographic challenges in China too.  ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['A Japanese nappy maker has announced that it will stop producing diapers for babies in the country and, instead, focus on the market for adults.', 'Oji Holdings is the latest firm to make such a shift in a rapidly ageing Japan, where birth rates are at a record low.', 'Sales of adult nappies outpaced those for infants in the country for more than a decade.', 'The number of babies born in Japan in 2023 - 758,631 - was down by 5.1% from the previous year.', 'It was also the lowest number of births on record in Japan since the 19th Century.', 'In the 1970s, that figure stood at more than two million.', 'In a statement, Oji Holdings said its subsidiary, Oji Nepia, currently manufactures 400 million infant nappies annually.', 'Production has been falling since 2001, when the company hit its peak - 700 million nappies.', ""Back in 2011, Japan's biggest diaper maker, Unicharm, said its sales of adult diapers had surpassed those for babies."", 'Meanwhile, the adult diaper market has been growing and is estimated to be worth more than $2bn (£1.6bn).', ""Japan now has one of the world's oldest populations, with almost 30% of them aged 65 or older."", 'Last year, the proportion of those aged above 80 surpassed 10% for the first time.', 'Oji Holdings also said it would continue to make baby diapers in Malaysia and Indonesia where it expects demand to grow.', ""A shrinking population, the result of both ageing and plummeting birth rates, has become a crisis for Japan, one of the world's largest economies."", ""But the Japanese government's efforts to address these challenges have met with little success so far."", ""Increased spending on child-related programmes and subsidies targeting young couples or parents don't appear to be boosting birth rates."", 'Expert say the reasons are complex, ranging from lower marriage rates and more women joining the workforce, to the increased costs of raising children. ""', 'Japan is standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society,"" Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last year, adding that it was a case of ""now or never"".', 'But Japan is not alone.', 'Fertility rates have also been dropping in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, the last of which has the lowest birth rate in the world.', 'China too saw its population fall for the second year in a row in 2023 and, like Japan, has introduced various incentives to boost birth rates.', 'But an ageing population and the impact of a decades-long one child-policy, which ended in 2015, are creating demographic challenges in China too.']",0.048169653759512,"China too saw its population fall for the second year in a row in 2023 and, like Japan, has introduced various incentives to boost birth rates.","A shrinking population, the result of both ageing and plummeting birth rates, has become a crisis for Japan, one of the world's largest economies.",-0.1406213268637657,"Back in 2011, Japan's biggest diaper maker, Unicharm, said its sales of adult diapers had surpassed those for babies.","The number of babies born in Japan in 2023 - 758,631 - was down by 5.1% from the previous year.",2024-03-27
'We need someone to fix Boeing.' Here's who could replace Calhoun as the troubled plane maker's CEO,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/boeing-ceo-who-could-replace-calhoun.html,2024-03-26T14:28:20+0000,"In this articleHelp wanted at Boeing.CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday announced he is stepping down from the aerospace giant's top post at year's end as the company struggles with a safety and production quality crisis tied to its bestselling airplane, the 737 Max. Boeing said it will begin a search for Calhoun's replacement.Boeing also announced Monday it's replacing board Chair Larry Kellner and the chief executive of its all-important commercial airplanes unit, Stan Deal.Calhoun told CNBC on Monday that the decision to retire was ""100%"" his own and that he would be involved in finding his successor. His departure isn't much of a surprise given the struggles of the last few months.Boeing's customers had grown frustrated under Calhoun's watch as they faced the fallout from recurring quality issues that span programs like the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the two 747s that will serve as Air Force One aircraft.""We need someone to fix Boeing,"" one major airline executive, who wasn't authorized to speak to the media, told CNBC after Boeing announced the management shake-up Monday. ""They unequivocally needed a change.""With supply chain issues, quality lapses and more regulator scrutiny in the wake of a panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, airplane deliveries are arriving late, and airline executives say the problems have forced them to change their growth and fleet plans.Executives at Boeing's customers told CNBC they want the company's new leader to have manufacturing acumen, expertise in the highly regulated and technical world of aviation, and, perhaps most difficult of all, the ability to rally Boeing's employees and ensure a culture of safety, consistency and innovation.""This is going to be a challenging role to fill. You're going to need someone with a huge amount of energy and commitment,"" said John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease, a major buyer of Boeing planes that leases them to airlines. ""You don't want somebody for two years. You want someone at the head of the ship for as long as possible.""The next boss at Boeing will have to contend not just with the company's internal struggles but lost market share to rival Airbus. Meanwhile, China has been pushing ahead with building its own commercial aircraft.""I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long-cycled business like ours,"" Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday while announcing his departure. ""It's not just the production of the airplane. It's the development of the next airplane. Our next lead is going to develop ... the next airplane for the Boeing company.""Financial analysts applauded the amount of time Boeing is giving itself to find Calhoun's replacement. Four-year Boeing board member Steve Mollenkopf, an ex-Qualcomm CEO who will take over as independent chairman of the board, will lead the search.""It provides leadership continuity, which a knee-jerk change would not, and CEO Dave Calhoun clearly is on board with the need to bolster safety,"" said TD Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr, in a note Monday.While Boeing didn't comment on its top candidates, here's who some aviation experts say could potentially lead Boeing:General Electric CEO Larry Culp is ""probably at the top of the list for a Boeing CEO,"" said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, an aviation consulting firm.Culp is set to head the aviation unit of GE that is about to spin off, a company that makes and overhauls engines that power both Boeing and rival Airbus planes. Culp has led a turnaround for the conglomerate and oversaw the split of the company.""The relationship with Boeing has never been stronger,"" Culp told reporters earlier this month at an investor event. ""Clearly, 2024 hasn't played out the way they would have liked let alone the way we would have liked. We're trying to support them in every possible way.""But Culp is focusing on GE's aerospace unit as a stand-alone company, a GE spokesperson said in response to questions about a potential future for him at Boeing.Pat Shanahan, the interim CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, is another possibility, Aboulafia said.A three-decade Boeing veteran, Shanahan was appointed last October to head the Boeing supplier, which makes fuselages for the company's 737 Max and other parts, as Spirit dealt with its own quality problems that have spilled over to Boeing.Boeing is in talks to buy Spirit, bringing the fuselage manufacturer back in-house after spinning it off almost two decades ago. A reunion could naturally slot Shanahan in as chief executive of the merged company.""Mr. Shanahan remains solely focused on driving a zero-defects culture across all aspects of Spirit AeroSystems,"" Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino told CNBC on Monday.Aboulafia also mentioned Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin, who serves on Boeing's board.Gitlin has experience in aviation, previously working as president and chief operating officer at Collins Aerospace. Aviation experts have said said someone with a strong background in manufacturing and operations would be needed.Carrier did not respond to a request for comment.Stephanie Pope, who was recently promoted to chief operating officer after serving as head of Boeing's global services unit, is the most obvious internal option to succeed Calhoun. (Former Boeing CFO Greg Smith retired from the company in 2021. He was also seen as a possible successor.)But Pope will take over from Deal, who is retiring from his post as head of Boeing's commercial airplane division. And one aviation executive questioned why Boeing wouldn't have announced her appointment on Monday if she were the choice.The ""management changes are geared to institutionalize a priority on safety throughout the company by bringing in new blood,"" TD Cowen's von Rumohr wrote.— CNBC's Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleHelp wanted at Boeing.', ""CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday announced he is stepping down from the aerospace giant's top post at year's end as the company struggles with a safety and production quality crisis tied to its bestselling airplane, the 737 Max."", ""Boeing said it will begin a search for Calhoun's replacement."", ""Boeing also announced Monday it's replacing board Chair Larry Kellner and the chief executive of its all-important commercial airplanes unit, Stan Deal."", 'Calhoun told CNBC on Monday that the decision to retire was ""100%"" his own and that he would be involved in finding his successor.', ""His departure isn't much of a surprise given the struggles of the last few months."", ""Boeing's customers had grown frustrated under Calhoun's watch as they faced the fallout from recurring quality issues that span programs like the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the two 747s that will serve as Air Force One aircraft."", '""We need someone to fix Boeing,"" one major airline executive, whowasn\'tauthorized to speak to the media, told CNBC after Boeing announced the management shake-up Monday. ""', 'They unequivocally needed a change.', '""With supply chain issues, quality lapses and more regulator scrutiny in the wake of a panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, airplane deliveries are arriving late, and airline executives say the problems have forced them to change their growth and fleet plans.', ""Executives at Boeing's customers told CNBC they want the company's new leader to have manufacturing acumen, expertise in the highly regulated and technical world of aviation, and, perhaps most difficult of all, the ability to rally Boeing's employees and ensure a culture of safety, consistency and innovation."", '""This is going to be a challenging role to fill.', 'You\'re going to need someone with a huge amount of energy and commitment,"" said John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease, a major buyer of Boeing planes that leases them to airlines. ""', ""You don't want somebody for two years."", 'You want someone at the head of the ship for as long as possible.', '""The next boss at Boeing will have to contend not just with the company\'s internal struggles but lost market share to rival Airbus.', 'Meanwhile, China has been pushing ahead with building its own commercial aircraft.', '""I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long-cycled business like ours,"" Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday while announcing his departure. ""', ""It's not just the production of the airplane."", ""It's the development of the next airplane."", 'Our next lead is going to develop ... the next airplane for the Boeing company.', '""Financial analysts applauded the amount of time Boeing is giving itself to find Calhoun\'s replacement.', 'Four-year Boeing board member Steve Mollenkopf, an ex-QualcommCEO who will take over as independent chairman of the board, will lead the search.', '""It provides leadership continuity, which a knee-jerk change would not, and CEO Dave Calhoun clearly is on board with the need to bolster safety,"" said TD Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr, in a note Monday.', 'While Boeing didn\'t comment on its top candidates,here\'s who some aviation experts say could potentially lead Boeing:General Electric CEO Larry Culp is ""probably at the top of the list for a Boeing CEO,"" said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, an aviation consulting firm.', 'Culp is set to head the aviation unit of GE that is about to spin off, a company that makes and overhauls engines that power both Boeing and rival Airbus planes.', 'Culp has led a turnaround for the conglomerate and oversaw the split of the company.', '""The relationship with Boeing has never been stronger,"" Culp told reporters earlier this month at an investor event. ""', ""Clearly, 2024 hasn't played out the way they would have liked let alone the way we would have liked."", ""We're trying to support them in every possible way."", '""But Culp is focusing on GE\'s aerospace unit as a stand-alone company, a GE spokesperson said in response to questions about a potential future for him at Boeing.', 'Pat Shanahan, the interim CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, is another possibility, Aboulafia said.', ""A three-decade Boeing veteran, Shanahan was appointed last October to head the Boeing supplier, which makes fuselages for the company's 737 Max and other parts, as Spirit dealt with its own quality problems that have spilled over to Boeing."", 'Boeing is in talks to buy Spirit, bringing the fuselage manufacturer back in-house after spinning it off almost two decades ago.', 'A reunion could naturally slot Shanahan in as chief executive of the merged company.', '""Mr.', 'Shanahan remains solely focused on driving a zero-defects culture across all aspects of Spirit AeroSystems,"" Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino told CNBC on Monday.', ""Aboulafia also mentioned Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin, who serves on Boeing's board."", 'Gitlin has experience in aviation, previously working as president and chief operating officer at Collins Aerospace.', 'Aviation experts have said said someone with a strong background in manufacturing and operations would be needed.', 'Carrier did not respond to a request for comment.', ""Stephanie Pope, who was recently promoted to chief operating officer after serving as head of Boeing's global services unit, is the most obvious internal option to succeed Calhoun. ("", 'Former Boeing CFO Greg Smith retired from the company in 2021.', ""He was also seen as a possible successor.)But Pope will take over from Deal, who is retiring from his post as head of Boeing's commercial airplane division."", ""And one aviation executive questioned why Boeing wouldn't have announced her appointment on Monday if she were the choice."", 'The ""management changes are geared to institutionalize a priority on safety throughout the company by bringing in new blood,"" TD Cowen\'s von Rumohr wrote.—', ""CNBC's Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.""]",0.1067049956915602,"Clearly, 2024 hasn't played out the way they would have liked let alone the way we would have liked.","""With supply chain issues, quality lapses and more regulator scrutiny in the wake of a panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, airplane deliveries are arriving late, and airline executives say the problems have forced them to change their growth and fleet plans.",0.0447759303179654,"""The relationship with Boeing has never been stronger,"" Culp told reporters earlier this month at an investor event. ""","Boeing's customers had grown frustrated under Calhoun's watch as they faced the fallout from recurring quality issues that span programs like the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the two 747s that will serve as Air Force One aircraft.",2024-03-27
Boeing CEO to step down in broad management shake-up as 737 Max crisis weighs on aerospace giant,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/boeing-ceo-board-chair-commercial-head-out-737-max-crisis.html,2024-03-26T11:44:51+0000,"In this articleBoeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant.Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for reelection at Boeing's annual meeting in May, Boeing said Monday. He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and is a former CEO of Qualcomm. Mollenkopf will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said.And Stan Deal, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, is leaving the company effective immediately. Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services.The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes. Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.""As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing,"" Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. ""We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years,"" he wrote.Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday that the decision to resign was ""100%"" his own.""We have another mountain to climb,"" Calhoun said. ""Let's not avoid the call for action. Let's not avoid the changes that we have to make in our factory. Let's not avoid the need to slow down a bit and let the supply chain catch up.""Calhoun, a more than decade-long board member at Boeing, took the top job in January 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes. In 2021, Boeing's board extended the CEO's mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70, a vote of confidence in Calhoun, who turns 67 next month.For months Calhoun has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad quality struggles under control. The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing, and agency Administrator Mike Whitaker after the Alaska Airlines accident said Boeing will be barred from increasing 737 production until the FAA is satisfied with the company's quality control.Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans. CEOs of some of the company's largest customers, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have publicly complained about the delays.Ryanair, Boeing's largest airline customer in Europe, said in a statement Monday it welcomes the management changes.""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years, but he's not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that's where most of the problems have been in recent years,"" Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said in a video posted to social media platform X.United's CEO, Scott Kirby, earlier this month said he urged Boeing to stop making yet-to-be-certified Max 10 planes for the company because it wasn't clear when the FAA would clear those aircraft to fly.Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes. The meetings were to include Kellner and one or more other board members. Those meetings will go ahead with Mollenkopf, according to people familiar with the matter.Also last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at an industry conference that Boeing would burn more cash than expected because of limited 737 Max production.Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements. Its shares are down more than 26% so far this year.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleBoeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant.', ""Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for reelection at Boeing's annual meeting in May, Boeing said Monday."", 'He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and is a former CEO of Qualcomm.', 'Mollenkopf will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said.', ""And Stan Deal, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, is leaving the company effective immediately."", ""Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services."", 'The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes.', 'Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.', '""As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing,"" Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. ""', 'We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency.', 'We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.', '""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years,"" he wrote.', 'Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday that the decision to resign was ""100%"" his own.', '""We have another mountain to climb,"" Calhoun said. ""', ""Let's not avoid the call for action."", ""Let's not avoid the changes that we have to make in our factory."", ""Let's not avoid the need to slow down a bit and let the supply chain catch up."", '""Calhoun, a more than decade-long board member at Boeing, took the top job in January 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes.', ""In 2021, Boeing's board extended the CEO's mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70, a vote of confidence in Calhoun, who turns 67 next month."", 'For months Calhoun has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad quality struggles under control.', ""The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing, and agency Administrator Mike Whitaker after the Alaska Airlines accident said Boeing will be barred from increasing 737 production until the FAA is satisfied with the company's quality control."", ""Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans."", ""CEOs of some of the company's largest customers, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have publicly complained about the delays."", ""Ryanair, Boeing's largest airline customer in Europe, said in a statement Monday it welcomes the management changes."", '""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years, but he\'s not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that\'s where most of the problems have been in recent years,"" Ryanair CEO Michael O\'Leary said in a video posted to social media platform X.United\'s CEO, Scott Kirby, earlier this month said he urged Boeing to stop making yet-to-be-certified Max 10 planes for the company because it wasn\'t clear when the FAA would clear those aircraft to fly.', 'Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes.', 'The meetings were to include Kellner and one or more other board members.', 'Those meetings will go ahead with Mollenkopf, according to people familiar with the matter.', 'Also last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at an industry conference that Boeing would burn more cash than expected because of limited 737 Max production.', ""Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements."", 'Its shares are down more than 26% so far this year.']",0.0524294792326706,We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.,"Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes.",-0.1909587581952413,Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements.,Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans.,2024-03-27
McDonald's to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts nationwide by the end of 2026,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/mcdonalds-to-sell-krispy-kreme-doughnuts-nationwide-by-end-of-2026.html,2024-03-26T20:22:10+0000,"In this articleMcDonald's is planning to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts at its restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026, the chains announced Tuesday.The rollout will start in the second half of this year, but it will take roughly two and a half years as Krispy Kreme more than doubles its distribution to satisfy the partnership. For the duration of the agreement, McDonald's will be the exclusive fast-food partner for Krispy Kreme in the U.S.Shares of Krispy Kreme soared 39% on Tuesday. The stock was earlier on track for its best day ever.The doughnut chain uses a ""hub and spoke"" model that lets it make and distribute its treats efficiently. Production hubs, which are either stores or doughnut factories, send off freshly made doughnuts every day to retail locations such as grocery stores and gas stations.The partnership with McDonald's is a major opportunity for Krispy Kreme to expand its reach. It delivers its doughnuts to 6,800 third-party stores, as of Dec. 31. McDonald's has roughly 13,500 restaurants in the U.S. and plans to open 900 new locations nationwide by 2027.""We think we can service about 6,000 restaurants with our existing infrastructure, mostly doughnut shops, which have excess capacity,"" Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth told CNBC.Krispy Kreme has also been expanding its capacity so it can deliver fresh doughnuts to the roughly 7,500 McDonald's restaurants that it can't currently reach.While McDonald's is the primary reason the company is expanding its distribution so quickly, Charlesworth said Krispy Kreme will also be using the opportunity to land in grocery and convenience stores that prefer national suppliers.""That means that the overall efficiency and productivity of our distribution network will significantly improve over time, not just because of all those local deliveries,"" he said.Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell. The extra demand from McDonald's and other new customers means its production lines can churn out higher volume with few additional costs.""Overall, therefore, it makes our system more profitable to grow the deliver fresh daily channel, and McDonald's is an accelerator of that,"" Charlesworth said.The two chains' relationship started about a year and a half ago, when McDonald's began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at nine restaurants as a test. Months later, the pilot had expanded to roughly 160 restaurants across Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky. Those initial restaurants will keep selling the doughnuts during the national rollout.Demand from McDonald's customers during the tests exceeded both chains' expectations, according to Charlesworth.For McDonald's, the addition of Krispy Kreme doughnuts helps bolster its bakery and breakfast offerings. The burger chain has been leaning into coffee, a common drink pairing for doughnuts, but trimming other bakery items such as cinnamon rolls from its menu.McDonald's customers will be able to order the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts, either individually or in packs of six. The restaurants will sell the doughnuts all day.In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations. The chain's doughnuts can currently be found in more than 14,100 stores across 39 countries.Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion. As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales.Similar concerns have weighed on McDonald's, although its stock has risen 2% in the past year as consumers trade down to its cheap food and drinks. The company has a market value of $201 billion.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"[""In this articleMcDonald's is planning to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts at its restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026, the chains announced Tuesday."", 'The rollout will start in the second half of this year, but it will take roughly two and a half years as Krispy Kreme more than doubles its distribution to satisfy the partnership.', ""For the duration of the agreement, McDonald's will be the exclusive fast-food partner for Krispy Kreme in the U.S.Shares of Krispy Kreme soared 39% on Tuesday."", 'The stock was earlier on track for its best day ever.', 'The doughnut chain uses a ""hub and spoke"" model that lets it make and distribute its treats efficiently.', 'Production hubs, which are either stores or doughnut factories, send off freshly made doughnuts every day to retail locations such as grocery stores and gas stations.', ""The partnership with McDonald's is a major opportunity for Krispy Kreme to expand its reach."", 'It delivers its doughnuts to 6,800 third-party stores, as of Dec. 31.', 'McDonald\'s has roughly 13,500 restaurants in the U.S. and plans to open 900 new locations nationwide by 2027.""We think we can service about 6,000 restaurants with our existing infrastructure, mostly doughnut shops, which have excess capacity,"" Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth told CNBC.Krispy Kreme has also been expanding its capacity so it can deliver fresh doughnuts to the roughly 7,500 McDonald\'s restaurants that it can\'t currently reach.', ""While McDonald's is the primary reason the company is expanding its distribution so quickly, Charlesworth said Krispy Kreme will also be using the opportunity to land in grocery and convenience stores that prefer national suppliers."", '""That means that the overall efficiency and productivity of our distribution network will significantly improve over time, not just because of all those local deliveries,"" he said.', ""Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell."", ""The extra demand from McDonald's and other new customers means its production lines can churn out higher volume with few additional costs."", '""Overall, therefore, it makes our system more profitable to grow the deliver fresh daily channel, and McDonald\'s is an accelerator of that,"" Charlesworth said.', ""The two chains' relationship started about a year and a half ago, when McDonald's began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at nine restaurants as a test."", 'Months later, the pilot hadexpandedto roughly 160 restaurants across Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky.', 'Those initial restaurants will keep selling the doughnuts during the national rollout.', ""Demand from McDonald's customers during the tests exceeded both chains' expectations, according to Charlesworth."", ""For McDonald's, the addition of Krispy Kreme doughnuts helps bolster its bakery and breakfast offerings."", 'The burger chain has been leaning into coffee, a common drink pairing for doughnuts, but trimming other bakery items such as cinnamon rolls from its menu.', ""McDonald's customers will be able to order the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts, either individually or in packs of six."", 'The restaurants will sell the doughnuts all day.', 'In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations.', ""The chain's doughnuts can currently be found in more than 14,100 stores across 39 countries."", 'Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion.', ""As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales."", ""Similar concerns have weighed on McDonald's, although its stock has risen 2% in the past year as consumers trade down to its cheap food and drinks."", 'The company has a market value of $201 billion.']",0.2322509842203297,"Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell.","As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales.",0.7299659132957459,"In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations.","Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion.",2024-03-27
Holidaymakers going to EU caught out by 10-year-passport rule,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68658209,2024-03-27T00:05:19.000Z,"Holidaymakers travelling to the EU are being warned not to get caught out by the ""passport 10-year rule"". UK travellers used to be able to carry up to nine months from an old passport over on to a new one. But post-Brexit, EU countries will not accept passports issued more than 10 years ago. Up to 32 million people applied for passports before the new rules, but it is unknown how many have been affected. One of them is Nathan Barnes who was refused boarding on a flight to France. Mr Barnes, a 31-year-old paramedic from Norwich, was on his way to Limoges with his fiancée to visit family.  Despite checking in for the flight online, and going through security and passport control, he was stopped at the departure gate. ""My passport had been issued more than 10 years previously,"" he said. ""They were very matter of fact about it, they just said 'sorry you can't board, off you pop'."" ""I was gutted, surprised really. We had checked in online and thought it was fine,"" he added. Since the UK left the EU, travellers heading to all countries within the bloc - and including Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Switzerland, but not Ireland - must have a passport which was issued less than 10 years before their departure date.  It must also be valid for three months after their planned return date. Passports issued after 2018 are valid for exactly 10 years.  However, if a UK passport was issued before September 2018, it could be valid for up to 10 years and nine months. This is because before 2018 the passport office used to add up to nine months from an old passport on to a new one. As a result, some people have passports that have not officially expired, and are valid for travel in the rest of the world, but not in parts of Europe because they were issued more than ten years ago. ""The '10-year-rule' is a problem that continues to catch people out"", said Rory Boland, the Travel Editor at Which? ""What's really important is that you check your passport validity and expiry date when booking your holiday.  ""Not when you go to check-in, and certainly not when you travel to the airport, because that's when people are continually finding that their passport is out of date and it's often then too expensive, and too complicated to save their holiday."" BBC News asked the major airlines and holiday operators for data on the number of passengers who are refused boarding, but those that responded said they did not keep detailed records. Jane Opher thinks the airlines could be doing more to warn people about the problem when they first book or when they check in. The 61-year-old architect from London was due fly to Barcelona with her partner at the end of February.  They had both checked in online, gone through security and had lunch at the airport only to be refused boarding at the gate because her passport was issued on 10 February 2014, more than ten years ago, even though it does not officially expire until 10 August 2024.  ""It was very stressful - I was traumatised - being told I couldn't board,"" she told the BBC. ""It was also humiliating to have to be escorted back through the airport like a criminal."" She was left hundreds of pounds out-of-pocket. Simon Calder, travel correspondent at the Independent, says based on his own research ""easily a couple of hundred people a day"" are being turned away from their flights. ""Across the year you could easily find that there's over 100,000 people who lose their holidays as a result of these rules,"" he said. He has written to the airlines, urging them to do more to make people aware, particularly if someone is checking in and inputting their advanced passenger information, often weeks before their travel date. Airlines UK told us there was no guarantee that potentially invalid passport details would be picked up in advance, and said airlines do provide reminders and links.  It said it was the responsibility of the person travelling to ensure they have a valid travel document. For those people who are due to travel this weekend and spot a problem with their passport Mr Calder told BBC Breakfast: ""I'm afraid all you can do at this stage is try and get an emergency appointment and see if you can get a passport turned around.    ""But if you're travelling later, maybe in the May bank holidays or the summer holidays then you've got time on your side and just to stress... it's only the EU that cares about the issue date, if you're going to America, Australia, Tunisia they say your passport's valid up to and including the expiry date.""  If someone is turned back at the airport Mr Calder said they were ""absolutely not"" covered and would not get their money back. ""It's always the passengers' responsibility to make sure they are compliant.""  The Home Office also said it provided up-to-date information on passport requirements on its website, which it keeps under constant review. Fees for new passports and renewals are set to go up in April under government plans. A standard online application for an adult is expected to rise from £82.50 to £88.50 from 11 April. A passport for under 16s is currently £53.30 and is set to increase to £57.50. What questions do you have about the 10 year passport rule? In some cases your question will be published, displaying your name, age and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. Please ensure you have read our terms & conditions and privacy policy. Use this form to ask your question:  If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or send them via email to YourQuestions@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any question you send in.  ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['Holidaymakers travelling to the EU are being warned not to get caught out by the ""passport 10-year rule"".', 'UK travellers used to be able to carry up to nine months from an old passport over on to a new one.', 'But post-Brexit, EU countries will not accept passports issued more than 10 years ago.', 'Up to 32 million people applied for passports before the new rules, but it is unknown how many have been affected.', 'One of them is Nathan Barnes who was refused boarding on a flight to France.', 'Mr Barnes, a 31-year-old paramedic from Norwich, was on his way to Limoges with his fiancée to visit family.', 'Despite checking in for the flight online, and going through security and passport control, he was stopped at the departure gate. ""', 'My passport had been issued more than 10 years previously,"" he said. ""', 'They were very matter of fact about it, they just said \'sorry you can\'t board, off you pop\'."" ""', 'I was gutted, surprised really.', 'We had checked in online and thought it was fine,"" he added.', 'Since the UK left the EU, travellers heading to all countries within the bloc - and including Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Switzerland, but not Ireland - must have a passport which was issued less than 10 years before their departure date.', 'It must also be valid for three months after their planned return date.', 'Passports issued after 2018 are valid for exactly 10 years.', 'However, if a UK passport was issued before September 2018, it could be valid for up to 10 years and nine months.', 'This is because before 2018 the passport office used to add up to nine months from an old passport on to a new one.', 'As a result, some people have passports that have not officially expired, and are valid for travel in the rest of the world, but not in parts of Europe because they were issued more than ten years ago. ""', 'The \'10-year-rule\' is a problem that continues to catch people out"", said Rory Boland, the Travel Editor at Which? ""', 'What\'s really important is that you check your passport validity and expiry date when booking your holiday. ""', 'Not when you go to check-in, and certainly not when you travel to the airport, because that\'s when people are continually finding that their passport is out of date and it\'s often then too expensive, and too complicated to save their holiday.""', 'BBC News asked the major airlines and holiday operators for data on the number of passengers who are refused boarding, but those that responded said they did not keep detailed records.', 'Jane Opher thinks the airlines could be doing more to warn people about the problem when they first book or when they check in.', 'The 61-year-old architect from London was due fly to Barcelona with her partner at the end of February.', 'They had both checked in online, gone through security and had lunch at the airport only to be refused boarding at the gate because her passport was issued on 10 February 2014, more than ten years ago, even though it does not officially expire until 10 August 2024. ""', 'It was very stressful - I was traumatised - being told I couldn\'t board,"" she told the BBC. ""', 'It was also humiliating to have to be escorted back through the airport like a criminal.""', 'She was left hundreds of pounds out-of-pocket.', 'Simon Calder, travel correspondent at the Independent, says based on his own research ""easily a couple of hundred people a day"" are being turned away from their flights. ""', 'Across the year you could easily find that there\'s over 100,000 people who lose their holidays as a result of these rules,"" he said.', 'He has written to the airlines, urging them to do more to make people aware, particularly if someone is checking in and inputting their advanced passenger information, often weeks before their travel date.', 'Airlines UK told us there was no guarantee that potentially invalid passport details would be picked up in advance, and said airlines do provide reminders and links.', 'It said it was the responsibility of the person travelling to ensure they have a valid travel document.', 'For those people who are due to travel this weekend and spot a problem with their passport Mr Calder told BBC Breakfast: ""I\'m afraid all you can do at this stage is try and get an emergency appointment and see if you can get a passport turned around. ""', 'But if you\'re travelling later, maybe in the May bank holidays or the summer holidays then you\'ve got time on your side and just to stress... it\'s only the EU that cares about the issue date, if you\'re going to America, Australia, Tunisia they say your passport\'s valid up to and including the expiry date.""', 'If someone is turned back at the airport Mr Calder said they were ""absolutely not"" covered and would not get their money back. ""', 'It\'s always the passengers\' responsibility to make sure they are compliant.""', 'The Home Office also said it provided up-to-date information on passport requirements on its website, which it keeps under constant review.', 'Fees for new passports and renewals are set to go up in April under government plans.', 'A standard online application for an adult is expected to rise from £82.50 to £88.50 from 11 April.', 'A passport for under 16s is currently £53.30 and is set to increase to £57.50.', 'What questions do you have about the 10 year passport rule?', 'In some cases your question will be published, displaying your name, age and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise.', 'Your contact details will never be published.', 'Please ensure you have read our terms & conditions and privacy policy.', ""Use this form to ask your question: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or send them via email to YourQuestions@bbc.co.uk."", 'Please include your name, age and location with any question you send in.']",0.036880112963416,"Not when you go to check-in, and certainly not when you travel to the airport, because that's when people are continually finding that their passport is out of date and it's often then too expensive, and too complicated to save their holiday.""","It was very stressful - I was traumatised - being told I couldn't board,"" she told the BBC. """,-0.3535940647125244,A standard online application for an adult is expected to rise from £82.50 to £88.50 from 11 April.,"The '10-year-rule' is a problem that continues to catch people out"", said Rory Boland, the Travel Editor at Which? """,2024-03-27
"Asos, Boohoo and George promise 'clear and accurate' eco-claims",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68672700,2024-03-27T08:32:10.000Z,"Three of the UK's biggest budget fashion brands will change the way they present the environmental impact of their clothes, following action by the competition regulator. Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda have signed pledges to use only ""accurate and clear"" claims, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said. The firms said they remained committed to improving sustainability. The move is part of a wider move by the CMA against ""greenwashing"". Presenting products as more eco-friendly than they are, without providing further information, is not fair on customers and distorts competition, the regulator said. The CMA also has household products, such as washing up liquid and soaps in its sights. At the end of last year it said it was investigating consumer goods giant Unilever over whether some of its environmental branding was misleading. ""What we're asking firms to do is put themselves in the shoes of their shoppers, and see whether that claim is understandable in its own right - is it accompanied by information that makes clear what that means?"" said George Lusty interim executive director for consumer protection and markets at the CMA. Many fashion brands market specific ranges as eco-friendly. Asos used to have a ""Responsible edit"" range, Boohoo sells clothes under ""Ready for the Future"", and Asda has ""George for Good"". In future, the criteria for inclusion in these ranges must be ""clearly set out and detail any minimum requirements"", the CMA said. ""We really want firms that are investing in their products and their supply chains, who make them greener, to take the credit for that and they deserve to get a competitive edge and win sales,""  Mr Lusty said. Often words like ""eco"" and ""responsible"" and ""sustainable"" were not accompanied by adequate information, he said. Dr Magdalena Marchowska-Raza, a lecturer in digital marketing at Salford Business School said consumers were rightly sceptical about such eco-marketing claims and would need to see ""proof of progress"" to be convinced. ""Addressing this challenge requires more than just surface-level transparency. It calls for a fundamental shift in how companies approach their sustainability goals - not just setting them but actively demonstrating their commitment to achieving them through tangible, measurable actions,"" she said. The CMA's investigation launched in July 2022 did not result in any legal action against the fashion firms. Instead the companies have made a range of voluntary commitments and will have to report back to the CMA on how they are complying with them. Commitments include explaining what precise percentage of fibres used are recycled or organic and avoiding using imagery like green leaf logos to suggest a product is more environmentally friendly than it actually is. Asos said the voluntary undertakings made by the three brands would ""set a benchmark"" for the industry. ""Sharing clear and accurate information on the sustainability credentials of fashion products is crucial to empowering consumers to make fully informed choices,"" Asos said. Boohoo said it was pleased that the CMA's investigation had not resulted in any legal action against the firm, adding that the group had ""not intentionally misled customers"". The firm's chief executive John Lyttle, said: ""We remain committed to working with others to find collective solutions to the shared challenges of sustainability within the fashion industry."" An Asda spokesperson said the company was pleased to have mutually agreed the voluntary undertakings.  ""We support any measures aimed at improving consumers' understanding of environmental claims,"" they said. The CMA also published an open letter to the fashion industry urging other firms to review their own environmental claims and ensure they comply with consumer protection laws. Geraint Lloyd-Taylor at law firm Lewis Silkin said the voluntary agreement would be a relief to the firms involved, whilst establishing clearer guidelines for the future. ""There are some broad lessons here for all companies in all sectors, such as the fact the CMA has singled out the use of leafy green images as being problematic, because they are likely to exaggerate the environmental benefits of the product or ranges being promoted,"" he said. However the CMA was likely to be less accommodating in future if greenwashing rules were being breached, he added, highlighting new powers the CMA is about to get, allowing it to impose financial penalties of up to 10% of a firm's annual global turnover. ",BBC,27/03/2024,"[""Three of the UK's biggest budget fashion brands will change the way they present the environmental impact of their clothes, following action by the competition regulator."", 'Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda have signed pledges to use only ""accurate and clear"" claims, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.', 'The firms said they remained committed to improving sustainability.', 'The move is part of a wider move by the CMA against ""greenwashing"".', 'Presenting products as more eco-friendly than they are, without providing further information, is not fair on customers and distorts competition, the regulator said.', 'The CMA also has household products, such as washing up liquid and soaps in its sights.', 'At the end of last year it said it was investigating consumer goods giant Unilever over whether some of its environmental branding was misleading. ""', 'What we\'re asking firms to do is put themselves in the shoes of their shoppers, and see whether that claim is understandable in its own right - is it accompanied by information that makes clear what that means?""', 'said George Lusty interim executive director for consumer protection and markets at the CMA.', 'Many fashion brands market specific ranges as eco-friendly.', 'Asos used to have a ""Responsible edit"" range, Boohoo sells clothes under ""Ready for the Future"", and Asda has ""George for Good"".', 'In future, the criteria for inclusion in these ranges must be ""clearly set out and detail any minimum requirements"", the CMA said. ""', 'We really want firms that are investing in their products and their supply chains, who make them greener, to take the credit for that and they deserve to get a competitive edge and win sales,"" Mr Lusty said.', 'Often words like ""eco"" and ""responsible"" and ""sustainable"" were not accompanied by adequate information, he said.', 'Dr Magdalena Marchowska-Raza, a lecturer in digital marketing at Salford Business School said consumers were rightly sceptical about such eco-marketing claims and would need to see ""proof of progress"" to be convinced. ""', 'Addressing this challenge requires more than just surface-level transparency.', 'It calls for a fundamental shift in how companies approach their sustainability goals - not just setting them but actively demonstrating their commitment to achieving them through tangible, measurable actions,"" she said.', ""The CMA's investigation launched in July 2022 did not result in any legal action against the fashion firms."", 'Instead the companies have made a range of voluntary commitments and will have to report back to the CMA on how they are complying with them.', 'Commitments include explaining what precise percentage of fibres used are recycled or organic and avoiding using imagery like green leaf logos to suggest a product is more environmentally friendly than it actually is.', 'Asos said the voluntary undertakings made by the three brands would ""set a benchmark"" for the industry. ""', 'Sharing clear and accurate information on the sustainability credentials of fashion products is crucial to empowering consumers to make fully informed choices,"" Asos said.', 'Boohoo said it was pleased that the CMA\'s investigation had not resulted in any legal action against the firm, adding that the group had ""not intentionally misled customers"".', 'The firm\'s chief executive John Lyttle, said: ""We remain committed to working with others to find collective solutions to the shared challenges of sustainability within the fashion industry.""', 'An Asda spokesperson said the company was pleased to have mutually agreed the voluntary undertakings. ""', 'We support any measures aimed at improving consumers\' understanding of environmental claims,"" they said.', 'The CMA also published an open letter to the fashion industry urging other firms to review their own environmental claims and ensure they comply with consumer protection laws.', 'Geraint Lloyd-Taylor at law firm Lewis Silkin said the voluntary agreement would be a relief to the firms involved, whilst establishing clearer guidelines for the future. ""', 'There are some broad lessons here for all companies in all sectors, such as the fact the CMA has singled out the use of leafy green images as being problematic, because they are likely to exaggerate the environmental benefits of the product or ranges being promoted,"" he said.', ""However the CMA was likely to be less accommodating in future if greenwashing rules were being breached, he added, highlighting new powers the CMA is about to get, allowing it to impose financial penalties of up to 10% of a firm's annual global turnover.""]",0.3454780475263747,"We really want firms that are investing in their products and their supply chains, who make them greener, to take the credit for that and they deserve to get a competitive edge and win sales,"" Mr Lusty said.","At the end of last year it said it was investigating consumer goods giant Unilever over whether some of its environmental branding was misleading. """,0.267702960051023,"We really want firms that are investing in their products and their supply chains, who make them greener, to take the credit for that and they deserve to get a competitive edge and win sales,"" Mr Lusty said.","However the CMA was likely to be less accommodating in future if greenwashing rules were being breached, he added, highlighting new powers the CMA is about to get, allowing it to impose financial penalties of up to 10% of a firm's annual global turnover.",2024-03-27
Medicare can now cover certain weight loss drugs in a big step for patients,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/medicare-can-cover-weight-loss-drugs-if-used-for-added-health-benefit.html,2024-03-21T19:51:11+0000,"In this articleMedicare can start covering certain weight loss drugs for the first time — as long as they are approved for an added health benefit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday.That opens the door for broader coverage of some highly popular weight loss medications such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which is now approved in the U.S. for heart health. Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit. Medicare prescription drug plans administered by private insurers, known as Part D, currently cannot cover those drugs for weight loss alone.The agency's guidance means Medicare patients could soon get coverage for Wegovy, as long as they have obesity and a history of heart disease and are prescribed the treatment to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose.The guidance also will open the door to future coverage of other weight loss medications, many of which are being tested for additional health conditions.Drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk, which also makes the diabetes drug Ozempic, and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more. To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s which mimic a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and help regulate blood sugar. Coverage for those treatments when used for weight loss is a mixed bag. Roughly 110 million American adults are living with obesity and approximately 50 million of them have insurance coverage for weight loss drugs, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement last week.Some of the nation's largest insurers, such as CVS Health's Aetna, also cover the treatments.But many employers don't. An October survey of more than 200 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP, found only 27% provided coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss, compared with the 76% that covered those drugs for diabetes. Notably, 13% of employers indicated they were considering coverage for weight loss.A provision of a 2003 law established that Medicare Part D plans can't cover drugs used for weight loss, but the program does cover obesity screening, behavioral counseling and bariatric surgery. A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introduced legislation that would eliminate the provision, but its fate in Congress is far from certain.A CMS spokesperson told CNBC last week that Medicaid programs would be required to cover Wegovy specifically for its new cardiovascular use. By law, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage. Around 1 in 5 state Medicaid programs currently cover GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleMedicare can start covering certain weight loss drugs for the first time — as long as they are approved for an added health benefit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday.', ""That opens the door for broader coverage of some highly popular weight loss medications such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which is now approved in the U.S. for heart health."", 'Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.', 'Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit.', 'Medicare prescription drug plans administered by private insurers, known as Part D, currently cannot cover those drugs for weight loss alone.', ""The agency's guidance means Medicare patients could soon get coverage for Wegovy, as long as they have obesity and a history of heart disease and are prescribed the treatment to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes."", 'Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose.', 'The guidance also will open the door to future coverage of other weight loss medications, many of which are being tested for additional health conditions.', 'Drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk, which also makes the diabetes drug Ozempic, and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more.', 'To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.', ""Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s which mimic a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and help regulate blood sugar."", 'Coverage for those treatments when used for weight loss is a mixed bag.', 'Roughly 110 million American adults are living with obesity and approximately 50 million of them have insurance coverage for weight loss drugs, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement last week.', ""Some of the nation's largest insurers, such asCVS Health'sAetna, also cover the treatments."", ""But many employers don't."", 'An Octobersurveyof more than 200 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP, found only 27% provided coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss, compared with the 76% that covered those drugs for diabetes.', 'Notably, 13% of employers indicated they were considering coverage for weight loss.', ""A provision of a2003 lawestablished that Medicare Part D plans can't cover drugs used for weight loss, but the program does cover obesity screening, behavioral counseling and bariatric surgery."", 'A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introducedlegislationthat would eliminate the provision, but its fate in Congress is far from certain.', 'A CMS spokesperson told CNBC last week that Medicaid programs would be required to cover Wegovy specifically for its new cardiovascular use.', 'Bylaw, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage.', 'Around 1 in 5 state Medicaid programscurrently coverGLP-1 drugs for weight loss.']",-0.0074441399614407,"Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit.","Bylaw, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage.",0.9951892097791036,Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.,,2024-03-27
Visa and Mastercard agree to $30 billion settlement that will lower merchant fees,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/economy/visa-mastercard-swipe-fee-settlement/index.html,"
  Updated
        1:49 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Two of the world’s largest credit card networks, Visa and Mastercard, as well as the banks that issue cards with them, have agreed to settle a decadeslong antitrust case brought upon by merchants.
    
            The settlement is set to lower swipe fees merchants pay when customers make purchases using their Visa or Mastercard by $30 billion over five years, according to a press release announcing the settlement Tuesday morning.
    
            The settlement, which only applies to US merchants, is the result of a lawsuit filed in 2005. However, nothing is considered finalized until it receives approval from the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Even then, the case can also be appealed in what could be a lengthy battle.
    
            Typically, swipe fees cost merchants 2% of the total transaction a customer makes — but can be as much as 4% for some premium rewards cards, according to the National Retail Federation. The settlement would lower those fees by at least 0.04 percentage point for a minimum of three years.
    
            Additionally, the settlement would require Visa and Mastercard to maintain the swipe fee rates that existed as of December 31, 2023 for five years.
    
            NRF, a trade group representing retailers, told CNN it has “some very real concerns” with the settlement.
    
            The reduced swipe fees that could come from the settlement aren’t much of a game-changer for merchants, NRF’s chief administrative officer and general counsel, Stephanie Martz, said in a statement to CNN. The saving would amount “to pennies on the dollar,” Martz added.
    
            “The fact remains that these fees are an unfair business practice that harms merchants and consumers and benefits banks,” she added.
    
            Although merchants have long argued that swipe fees force them to charge higher prices, the settlement would not necessarily save consumers any money.
    
            That’s because the settlement gives merchants the ability to impose surcharges on customers, depending on what kind of Visa or Mastercard card they use. Those surcharges would likely hit cardholders who get rewards such as cash back and airline miles, since those can carry higher swipe fees.
    
            On the other hand, some cardholders could get discounts on goods and services, since merchants would be able to make deals with banks to get them to use what they consider to be a preferred card.
    
            Currently, merchants who accept Visa or Mastercard have to accept all forms of the companies’ cards. 
    
            The rewards that Visa cardholders currently receive won’t be impacted, Kim Lawrence, Visa’s North America president, said in a statement Tuesday morning. Additionally, Americans’ access to credit won’t be more restricted as a result of the settlement, she said.
    
            Seth Eisen, a spokesman for Mastercard, told CNN that rewards and credit access also would not be impacted by the settlement.
    
            However, Jaret Seiberg, a TD Cowen analyst, said in a Tuesday note that the settlement “will represent a threat to credit card rewards and small banks.” That’s because he believes merchants will “steer customers to preferred credit cards.”
    
            Small banks and credit unions are likely to fight the settlement since it could put them at a major disadvantage to larger banks that have an easier time making deals with some of the nation’s largest retailers, like Walmart, Seiberg added.
    
            Separate from the settlement, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate are pushing for a set of new laws aimed at curbing Visa’s and Mastercard’s dominance.
    
            If the proposal passes, the largest credit card issuers, which includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank, would have to work with two credit card processors instead of one. And the two processors they work with can’t be both Visa and Mastercard.
    
            NRF and other trade organizations representing merchants continue to support these laws even if the settlement is finalized.
    
            But Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, applauded the settlement, saying it’s “welcome news.”
    
            “Legislation isn’t always as practical as commercial or private sector solutions,” he said in a post on X Tuesday morning.
    
            Tuesday’s news comes just one month after Discover (DFS) and Capital One (COF) announced a merger that — if approved by financial regulators and shareholders — would create the nation’s largest credit card company. Seiberg said the settlement could hurt the chances of the merger getting approved. 
    
            Capital One, which currently issues cards with Visa and Mastercard, would likely try to grow its credit card customer base even more now by locking in more deals with merchants, he said.
    
            Shares of Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) moved slightly higher after the deal was announced.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Two of the world’s largest credit card networks, Visa and Mastercard, as well as the banks that issue cards with them, have agreed to settle a decadeslong antitrust case brought upon by merchants.', 'The settlement is set to lower swipe fees merchants pay when customers make purchases using their Visa or Mastercard by $30 billion over five years, according to a press release announcing the settlement Tuesday morning.', 'The settlement, which only applies to US merchants, is the result of a lawsuit filed in 2005.', 'However, nothing is considered finalized until it receives approval from the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.', 'Even then, the case can also be appealed in what could be a lengthy battle.', 'Typically, swipe fees cost merchants 2% of the total transaction a customer makes — but can be as much as 4% for some premium rewards cards, according to the National Retail Federation.', 'The settlement would lower those fees by at least 0.04 percentage point for a minimum of three years.', 'Additionally, the settlement would require Visa and Mastercard to maintain the swipe fee rates that existed as of December 31, 2023 for five years.', 'NRF, a trade group representing retailers, told CNN it has “some very real concerns” with the settlement.', 'The reduced swipe fees that could come from the settlement aren’t much of a game-changer for merchants, NRF’s chief administrative officer and general counsel, Stephanie Martz, said in a statement to CNN.', 'The saving would amount “to pennies on the dollar,” Martz added.', '“The fact remains that these fees are an unfair business practice that harms merchants and consumers and benefits banks,” she added.', 'Although merchants have long argued that swipe fees force them to charge higher prices, the settlement would not necessarily save consumers any money.', 'That’s because the settlement gives merchants the ability to impose surcharges on customers, depending on what kind of Visa or Mastercard card they use.', 'Those surcharges would likely hit cardholders who get rewards such as cash back and airline miles, since those can carry higher swipe fees.', 'On the other hand, some cardholders could get discounts on goods and services, since merchants would be able to make deals with banks to get them to use what they consider to be a preferred card.', 'Currently, merchants who accept Visa or Mastercard have to accept all forms of the companies’ cards.', 'The rewards that Visa cardholders currently receive won’t be impacted, Kim Lawrence, Visa’s North America president, said in a statement Tuesday morning.', 'Additionally, Americans’ access to credit won’t be more restricted as a result of the settlement, she said.', 'Seth Eisen, a spokesman for Mastercard, told CNN that rewards and credit access also would not be impacted by the settlement.', 'However, Jaret Seiberg, a TD Cowen analyst, said in a Tuesday note that the settlement “will represent a threat to credit card rewards and small banks.”', 'That’s because he believes merchants will “steer customers to preferred credit cards.”', 'Small banks and credit unions are likely to fight the settlement since it could put them at a major disadvantage to larger banks that have an easier time making deals with some of the nation’s largest retailers, like Walmart, Seiberg added.', 'Separate from the settlement, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate are pushing for a set of new laws aimed at curbing Visa’s and Mastercard’s dominance.', 'If the proposal passes, the largest credit card issuers, which includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank, would have to work with two credit card processors instead of one.', 'And the two processors they work with can’t be both Visa and Mastercard.', 'NRF and other trade organizations representing merchants continue to support these laws even if the settlement is finalized.', 'But Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, applauded the settlement, saying it’s “welcome news.”', '“Legislation isn’t always as practical as commercial or private sector solutions,” he said in a post on X Tuesday morning.', 'Tuesday’s news comes just one month after Discover (DFS) and Capital One (COF) announced a merger that — if approved by financial regulators and shareholders — would create the nation’s largest credit card company.', 'Seiberg said the settlement could hurt the chances of the merger getting approved.', 'Capital One, which currently issues cards with Visa and Mastercard, would likely try to grow its credit card customer base even more now by locking in more deals with merchants, he said.', 'Shares of Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) moved slightly higher after the deal was announced.']",0.2203719382766506,"But Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, applauded the settlement, saying it’s “welcome news.”","Although merchants have long argued that swipe fees force them to charge higher prices, the settlement would not necessarily save consumers any money.",0.2982347958228167,"Capital One, which currently issues cards with Visa and Mastercard, would likely try to grow its credit card customer base even more now by locking in more deals with merchants, he said.","Small banks and credit unions are likely to fight the settlement since it could put them at a major disadvantage to larger banks that have an easier time making deals with some of the nation’s largest retailers, like Walmart, Seiberg added.",2024-03-27
Moderna moves three vaccines into final stage trials as it works to rebound from Covid slump,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/27/moderna-moves-three-vaccines-into-final-stage-trials.html,2024-03-27T20:42:49+0000,"In this articleModerna has more to offer beyond its Covid vaccine.The biotech company Wednesday announced positive clinical trial data on three experimental vaccines against other viruses. The company is moving those shots to final stage studies, it said.The update brings Moderna a step closer to having multiple products on the market, which it badly needs amid plunging demand for Covid shots worldwide. The company's Covid jab is its only commercially available product.Moderna's stock has long been tied to that vaccine, with shares falling nearly 45% last year. But shares of the company rose more than 3% in premarket trading Wednesday after the announcements.Moderna will chart its post-Covid future Wednesday during its fifth annual ""Vaccines Day,"" an investor event in Boston focused on the company's vaccine portfolio.That business has an estimated total addressable market of $52 billion for infectious disease shots, which includes $27 billion for respiratory vaccines and more than $25 billion for latent shots and other jabs.A category of viruses called latent viruses linger inside patients for prolonged periods without causing any symptoms but can ""reactivate"" and cause serious health complications later in their lives. They represent a huge unmet need that Moderna can address, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.""Once those viruses are in your body, it's in your body forever,"" he said, adding that there are no approved shots for several of the latent viruses, including several that Moderna is targeting.The company will present new clinical trial data on the three vaccines, including some against latent viruses, at the event Wednesday.Those vaccines include a shot against norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea; a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus, a common herpes virus that can cause contagious infections and is associated with some cancers; and a shot designed to target a virus that causes shingles and chickenpox.Moderna will also discuss other updates across its vaccine business. The company has five other shots in late-stage clinical trials and said it expects to release data on two of those jabs this year. That includes its combination vaccine against Covid and the flu and a shot against another common herpes virus called cytomegalovirus, or CMV. Among the other vaccines in late-stage development is a jab against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which is expected to win regulatory approval in the U.S. in May. It also includes a new and improved version of Moderna's Covid shot. The company on Tuesday said its ""next-generation"" Covid shot triggered a stronger immune response against the virus than its current vaccine on the market in a late-stage clinical trial.Another shot in phase three trials is the company's flu vaccine.Also on Wednesday, Moderna said it recently entered into a development and commercialization funding agreement with Blackstone Life Sciences, a private equity segment of The Blackstone Group. Blackstone will fund up to $750 million to advance Moderna's flu shot program, with ""a return based on commercial milestones"" and low single-digit royalties. Bancel told CNBC the company's messenger RNA platform, used in its Covid vaccine, ""is working so well"" against other diseases. That mRNA technology works by teaching the body to produce a harmless piece of a virus, which triggers an immune response against certain diseases.""Think about the [total addressable market] Moderna is going after – we're going to be one of the most important vaccine companies in the world,"" he said.Still, it will take time before Moderna's pipeline will pay off.The company in its third-quarter earnings release in November said it expects revenue to fall to $4 billion in 2024 before it grows again in 2025. It expects to break even in 2026, executives said during a November earnings call.Moderna's latest shots to move into late-stage trials represent significant opportunities for the company.There is currently no approved shot to prevent norovirus, the most common cause of the stomach flu. The virus results in approximately 200,000 deaths per year and substantial health-care costs, according to Moderna. The company examined two different norovirus shot candidates in a phase one trial on more than 600 patients ages 18 to 49 and 60 to 80 in the U.S.An interim analysis showed that a single dose of a trivalent vaccine called mRNA-1403 targeting three norovirus strains triggered a strong immune response across all dose sizes. The shot also had a ""clinically acceptable"" safety profile. Moderna said it is moving that shot to a phase three trial. The market for norovirus vaccines represents a $3 billion to $6 billion annual market, according to the company. There are also no shots currently approved to prevent Epstein-Barr virus. It accounts for more than 90% of cases of infectious mononucleosis, a contagious infection known as mono, which can cause fever, sore throat and chronic fatigue.Both the virus and mono are associated with a higher risk of certain cancers. The virus also increases a patient's risk of developing multiple sclerosis by 32-fold, according to Moderna. That disease is characterized by the the immune system eating away at the protective covering of nerves.""It's a big issue for teenagers. There are sometimes kids who have to redo a year of high school or college, which is a big waste of your life,"" Bancel said. ""But it has also been associated with multiple sclerosis, which is a terrible disease affecting mostly women ... so we think we could prevent that.""Moderna has been developing two shots designed to tackle multiple conditions associated with Epstein-Barr virus. That includes a shot designed to prevent mono called mRNA-1189, which will move to a phase three study after positive early stage trial data.A phase one trial examined that vaccine in patients 12 to 30 years old in the U.S. The study found that the shot produced an immune response against mono and was overall well tolerated across all dose sizes.Moderna is developing another shot called mRNA-1195, which is designed to target multiple sclerosis and a subcategory of lymphoma in solid organ transplant patients. A phase one trial on that vaccine is fully enrolled, according to the company.Bancel said the company believes the Epstein-Barr virus will be ""a several billion dollar market.""Varicella-Zoster virus causes both chickenpox and shingles. Older adults have declining immunity against that virus, making them more vulnerable to developing painful, itchy and blister-like rashes. About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. will develop shingles at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moderna studied its vaccine against the virus, mRNA-1468, in an early to mid-stage trial on healthy adults ages 50 and older in the U.S.The shot caused a strong immune response at one month after the second dose and was generally well tolerated by patients, according to the company. Additional data from that ongoing trial will be available later this year.Moderna estimates that the market for Varicella-Zoster virus could be $5 billion to $6 billion annually.",CNBC,27/03/2024,"['In this articleModerna has more to offer beyond its Covid vaccine.', 'The biotech company Wednesday announced positive clinical trial data on three experimental vaccines against other viruses.', 'The company is moving those shots to final stage studies, it said.', 'The update brings Moderna a step closer to having multiple products on the market, which it badly needs amid plunging demand for Covid shots worldwide.', ""The company's Covid jab is its only commercially available product."", ""Moderna's stock has long been tied to that vaccine, with shares falling nearly 45% last year."", 'But shares of the company rose more than 3% in premarket trading Wednesday after the announcements.', 'Moderna will chart its post-Covid future Wednesday during its fifth annual ""Vaccines Day,"" an investor event in Boston focused on the company\'s vaccine portfolio.', 'That business has an estimated total addressable market of $52 billion for infectious disease shots, which includes $27 billion for respiratory vaccines and more than $25 billion for latent shots and other jabs.', 'A category of viruses called latent viruses linger inside patients for prolonged periods without causing any symptoms but can ""reactivate"" and cause serious health complications later in their lives.', 'They represent a huge unmet need that Moderna can address, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.', '""Once those viruses are in your body, it\'s in your body forever,"" he said, adding that there are no approved shots for several of the latent viruses, including several that Moderna is targeting.', 'The company will present new clinical trial data on the three vaccines, including some against latent viruses, at the event Wednesday.', 'Those vaccines include a shot against norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea; a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus, a common herpes virus that can cause contagious infections and is associated with some cancers; and a shot designed to target a virus that causes shingles and chickenpox.', 'Moderna will also discuss other updates across its vaccine business.', 'The company has five other shots in late-stage clinical trials and said it expects to release data on two of those jabs this year.', 'That includes its combination vaccine against Covid and the flu and a shot against another common herpes virus called cytomegalovirus, or CMV.Among the other vaccines in late-stage development is a jab against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which is expected to win regulatory approval in the U.S. in May.', ""It also includes a new and improved version of Moderna's Covid shot."", 'The company on Tuesday said its ""next-generation"" Covid shot triggered a stronger immune response against the virus than its current vaccine on the market in a late-stage clinical trial.', ""Another shot in phase three trials is the company's flu vaccine."", 'Also on Wednesday, Moderna said it recently entered into a development and commercialization funding agreement with Blackstone Life Sciences, a private equity segment of The Blackstone Group.', 'Blackstone will fund up to $750 million to advance Moderna\'s flu shot program, with ""a return based on commercial milestones"" and low single-digit royalties.', 'Bancel told CNBC the company\'s messenger RNA platform, used in its Covid vaccine, ""is working so well"" against other diseases.', 'That mRNA technology works by teaching the body to produce a harmless piece of a virus, which triggers an immune response against certain diseases.', '""Think about the [total addressable market] Moderna is going after – we\'re going to be one of the most important vaccine companies in the world,"" he said.', ""Still, it will take time before Moderna's pipeline will pay off."", 'The company in its third-quarter earnings release in November said it expects revenue to fall to $4 billion in 2024 before it grows again in 2025.', 'It expects to break even in 2026, executives said during a November earnings call.', ""Moderna's latest shots to move into late-stage trials represent significant opportunities for the company."", 'There is currently no approved shot to prevent norovirus, the most common cause of the stomach flu.', 'The virus results in approximately 200,000 deaths per year and substantial health-care costs, according to Moderna.', 'The company examined two different norovirus shot candidates in a phase one trial on more than 600 patients ages 18 to 49 and 60 to 80 in the U.S.An interim analysis showed that a single dose of a trivalent vaccine called mRNA-1403 targeting three norovirus strains triggered a strong immune response across all dose sizes.', 'The shot also had a ""clinically acceptable"" safety profile.', 'Moderna said it is moving that shot to a phase three trial.', 'The market for norovirus vaccines represents a $3 billion to $6 billion annual market, according to the company.', 'There are also no shots currently approved to prevent Epstein-Barr virus.', 'It accounts for more than 90% of cases of infectious mononucleosis, a contagious infection known as mono, which can cause fever, sore throat and chronic fatigue.', 'Both the virus and mono are associated with a higher risk of certain cancers.', ""The virus also increases a patient's risk of developing multiple sclerosis by 32-fold, according to Moderna."", 'That disease is characterized by the the immune system eating away at the protective covering of nerves.', '""It\'s a big issue for teenagers.', 'There are sometimes kids who have to redo a year of high school or college, which is a big waste of your life,"" Bancel said. ""', 'But it has also been associated with multiple sclerosis, which is a terrible disease affecting mostly women ... so we think we could prevent that.', '""Moderna has been developing two shots designed to tackle multiple conditions associated with Epstein-Barr virus.', 'That includes a shot designed to prevent mono called mRNA-1189, which will move to a phase three study after positive early stage trial data.', 'A phase one trial examined that vaccine in patients 12 to 30 years old in the U.S. The study found that the shot produced an immune response against mono and was overall well tolerated across all dose sizes.', 'Moderna is developing another shot called mRNA-1195, which is designed to target multiple sclerosis and a subcategory of lymphoma in solid organ transplant patients.', 'A phase one trial on that vaccine is fully enrolled, according to the company.', 'Bancel said the company believes the Epstein-Barr virus will be ""a several billion dollar market.', '""Varicella-Zoster virus causes both chickenpox and shingles.', 'Older adults have declining immunity against that virus, making them more vulnerable to developing painful, itchy and blister-like rashes.', 'About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. will develop shingles at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.', 'Moderna studied its vaccine against the virus, mRNA-1468, in an early to mid-stage trial on healthy adults ages 50 and older in the U.S.The shot caused a strong immune response at one month after the second dose and was generally well tolerated by patients, according to the company.', 'Additional data from that ongoing trial will be available later this year.', 'Moderna estimates that the market for Varicella-Zoster virus could be $5 billion to $6 billion annually.']",0.091342032516668,"Moderna studied its vaccine against the virus, mRNA-1468, in an early to mid-stage trial on healthy adults ages 50 and older in the U.S.The shot caused a strong immune response at one month after the second dose and was generally well tolerated by patients, according to the company.","It accounts for more than 90% of cases of infectious mononucleosis, a contagious infection known as mono, which can cause fever, sore throat and chronic fatigue.",0.3071556389331817,But shares of the company rose more than 3% in premarket trading Wednesday after the announcements.,The company in its third-quarter earnings release in November said it expects revenue to fall to $4 billion in 2024 before it grows again in 2025.,2024-03-27
Nelson Peltz withholds votes from Disney CEO Bob Iger in proxy battle,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/nelson-peltz-withholds-votes-from-disney-ceo-bob-iger-in-proxy-battle.html,2024-03-25T14:22:59+0000,"In this articleNelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management withheld its votes from Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger when voting its shares in the bitter proxy battle the asset management firm is waging against the entertainment giant, according to sources who monitor the situation.The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board.In recent weeks, Disney has stepped up its attacks on Trian and Peltz. ""Correcting Trian's Fact With Fiction"" was the headline of a recent investor presentation from Disney, over a picture of Pinocchio with a growing nose.""Disney is stupid because I'm not trying to fire Bob Iger, I want to help him,"" Peltz recently told the Financial Times. ""We don't fire CEOs.""When asked for comment, a Trian spokesperson directed CNBC to a press release repeating its proxy recommendations and stating that Trian supports Iger as a candidate for the board and as CEO.Withholding its votes from Iger, however, is hardly a supportive move of his leadership, and it raises questions about how toxic of an environment the boardroom would be if Peltz is elected to the Disney board next month.Disney has nominated a slate of 12 directors, including Iger. Trian is officially recommending shareholders vote for Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and to withhold votes for Disney nominees Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman, who are current board members.Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle. The Disney board meeting will be held April 3, and Trian could change its vote between now and then.",CNBC,25/03/2024,"[""In this articleNelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management withheld its votes from Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger when voting its shares in the bitter proxy battle the asset management firm is waging against the entertainment giant, according to sources who monitor the situation."", 'The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.', ""However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board."", 'In recent weeks, Disney has stepped up its attacks on Trian and Peltz. ""', 'Correcting Trian\'s Fact With Fiction"" was the headline of a recent investor presentation from Disney, over a picture of Pinocchio with a growing nose.', '""Disney is stupid because I\'m not trying to fire Bob Iger, I want to help him,"" Peltz recently told the Financial Times. ""', ""We don't fire CEOs."", '""When asked for comment, a Trian spokesperson directed CNBC to a press release repeating its proxy recommendations and stating that Trian supports Iger as a candidate for the board and as CEO.Withholding its votes from Iger, however, is hardly a supportive move of his leadership, and it raises questions about how toxic of an environment the boardroom would be if Peltz is elected to the Disney board next month.', 'Disney has nominated a slate of 12 directors, including Iger.', 'Trian is officially recommending shareholders vote for Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and to withhold votes for Disney nominees Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman, who are current board members.', 'Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle.', 'The Disney board meeting will be held April 3, and Trian could change its vote between now and then.']",0.0365678119739758,"Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle.","The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.",-0.8371050159136454,,"However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board.",2024-03-27
What is the Ofgem energy price cap and how much are bills going down?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58090533,2021-08-06T06:15:54.000Z,"The new energy price cap will see gas and electricity bills drop by an average of 12% in England, Scotland and Wales. From 1 April, the typical annual energy bill will fall to £1,690 - the lowest price in two years. The energy price cap covers 29 million households in England, Wales and Scotland and is set every three months by the energy regulator Ofgem. It fixes the maximum price that can be charged for each unit of energy on a standard - or default - tariff for a typical dual-fuel household which pays by direct debit. From 1 April until 30 June, gas prices will be capped at 6p per kilowatt hour (kWh), and electricity at 24p per kWh.Previously, gas was 7.42p per kWh and electricity 28.62p per kWh. When prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the government introduced a temporary Energy Price Guarantee to limit bills. However, Ofgem is again responsible for deciding how much customers can be charged. The cap does not apply in Northern Ireland, which has its own energy market. Prices are also falling there. Ofgem says that, from 1 April, an average household paying by direct debit for dual fuel (gas and electricity) will pay £1,690 a year, a drop of £238 from the previous cap. Although the overall cap has fallen, standing charges - a fixed daily amount which covers the costs of connecting to a supply - have increased. Standing charges will be 60p a day for electricity and 31p a day for gas, although they vary by region. Ofgem said more than 20,000 customers responded to its recent consultation about how standing charges work.  The regulator is also adding £28 to everyone's bill over the year to cover the cost of dealing with £3.1bn of debt that customers owe to suppliers. Your energy bill depends on the overall amount of gas and electricity you use, and how you pay for it.  The type of property you live in, how energy efficient it is, and how many people live there, are also relevant. The Ofgem cap is based on a ""typical household"" using 11,500 kWh of gas and 2,700 kWh of electricity a year with a single contract for gas and electricity, which they pay by direct debit. The vast majority of people pay their bill this way, to help spread payments across the year. Those who pay every three months by cash and cheque are charged more. Their typical annual bill from April will be £1,796, which is £106 more a year than that of a direct debit customer. In March, Ofgem said it was considering a range of options for changing the current energy cap system.  This could see a more ""dynamic"" price cap which might charge customers more during periods of peak demand. Prices could also drop when, for example, more energy is available from renewable sources such as when the wind blows. From 1 April, households with prepayment meters will pay the same as those on direct debit. Previously they were charged more. About four million households had prepayment meters in July 2023, according to Ofgem.  Many have been in place for years, but some meters were installed more recently after customers struggled to pay their bills.  New rules mean suppliers must give customers more opportunity to clear their debts before switching them to a meter, and they cannot be installed at all in certain households. The fall in energy prices raised hopes that suppliers would offer cheaper, fixed-price deals. These offer certainty for a set period, but if prices drop further people, could find themselves stuck at the higher price. Energy market analysts at Cornwall Insight predict the price cap will see a small fall in July, but increase again slightly in October. When considering switching to a fixed-price deal, Ofgem says people should seek independent advice and ""consider what is most important for them, whether that's the lowest price or the security of a fixed deal"". Price comparison website Uswitch says it expects ""increased competition"" from suppliers, but warns that people to check any exit fees if they want to leave a fixed deal early. Certain groups - such as pensioners and those on some means-tested or disability benefits - received extra cost-of-living payments when bills soared.  But much of that extra support has now finished.  The £500m Household Support Fund, which the government introduced to help with costs in September 2021, had been due to end in March 2024.  However, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a six-month extension in the spring Budget.  The Warm Home Discount scheme continues to offer a discount to eligible pensioners and low income households.  The government's Fuel Direct Scheme can help people to repay a debt from their benefit payments.  In addition, energy suppliers must offer customers affordable payment plans or repayment holidays if they are struggling to pay bills. Most suppliers also offer hardship grants. The energy support scheme for businesses, which offered firms a discount on wholesale prices expires at the end of March 2024. The scheme offered a larger discount to heavy energy-using sectors, like glass, ceramics and steelmakers. ",BBC,06/08/2021,"['The new energy price cap will see gas and electricity bills drop by an average of 12% in England, Scotland and Wales.', 'From 1 April, the typical annual energy bill will fall to £1,690 - the lowest price in two years.', 'The energy price cap covers 29 million households in England, Wales and Scotland and is set every three months by the energy regulator Ofgem.', 'It fixes the maximum price that can be charged for each unit of energy on a standard - or default - tariff for a typical dual-fuel household which pays by direct debit.', 'From 1 April until 30 June, gas prices will be capped at 6p per kilowatt hour (kWh), and electricity at 24p per kWh.', 'Previously, gas was 7.42p per kWh and electricity 28.62p per kWh.', 'When prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the government introduced a temporary Energy Price Guarantee to limit bills.', 'However, Ofgem is again responsible for deciding how much customers can be charged.', 'The cap does not apply in Northern Ireland, which has its own energy market.', 'Prices are also falling there.', 'Ofgem says that, from 1 April, an average household paying by direct debit for dual fuel (gas and electricity) will pay £1,690 a year, a drop of £238 from the previous cap.', 'Although the overall cap has fallen, standing charges - a fixed daily amount which covers the costs of connecting to a supply - have increased.', 'Standing charges will be 60p a day for electricity and 31p a day for gas, although they vary by region.', 'Ofgem said more than 20,000 customers responded to its recent consultation about how standing charges work.', ""The regulator is also adding £28 to everyone's bill over the year to cover the cost of dealing with £3.1bn of debt that customers owe to suppliers."", 'Your energy bill depends on the overall amount of gas and electricity you use, and how you pay for it.', 'The type of property you live in, how energy efficient it is, and how many people live there, are also relevant.', 'The Ofgem cap is based on a ""typical household"" using 11,500 kWh of gas and 2,700 kWh of electricity a year with a single contract for gas and electricity, which they pay by direct debit.', 'The vast majority of people pay their bill this way, to help spread payments across the year.', 'Those who pay every three months by cash and cheque are charged more.', 'Their typical annual bill from April will be £1,796, which is £106 more a year than that of a direct debit customer.', 'In March, Ofgem said it was considering a range of options for changing the current energy cap system.', 'This could see a more ""dynamic"" price cap which might charge customers more during periods of peak demand.', 'Prices could also drop when, for example, more energy is available from renewable sources such as when the wind blows.', 'From 1 April, households with prepayment meters will pay the same as those on direct debit.', 'Previously they were charged more.', 'About four million households had prepayment meters in July 2023, according to Ofgem.', 'Many have been in place for years, but some meters were installed more recently after customers struggled to pay their bills.', 'New rules mean suppliers must give customers more opportunity to clear their debts before switching them to a meter, and they cannot be installed at all in certain households.', 'The fall in energy prices raised hopes that suppliers would offer cheaper, fixed-price deals.', 'These offer certainty for a set period, but if prices drop further people, could find themselves stuck at the higher price.', 'Energy market analysts at Cornwall Insight predict the price cap will see a small fall in July, but increase again slightly in October.', 'When considering switching to a fixed-price deal, Ofgem says people should seek independent advice and ""consider what is most important for them, whether that\'s the lowest price or the security of a fixed deal"".', 'Price comparison website Uswitch says it expects ""increased competition"" from suppliers, but warns that people to check any exit fees if they want to leave a fixed deal early.', 'Certain groups - such as pensioners and those on some means-tested or disability benefits - received extra cost-of-living payments when bills soared.', 'But much of that extra support has now finished.', 'The £500m Household Support Fund, which the government introduced to help with costs in September 2021, had been due to end in March 2024.', 'However, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a six-month extension in the spring Budget.', 'The Warm Home Discount scheme continues to offer a discount to eligible pensioners and low income households.', ""The government's Fuel Direct Scheme can help people to repay a debt from their benefit payments."", 'In addition, energy suppliers must offer customers affordable payment plans or repayment holidays if they are struggling to pay bills.', 'Most suppliers also offer hardship grants.', 'The energy support scheme for businesses, which offered firms a discount on wholesale prices expires at the end of March 2024.', 'The scheme offered a larger discount to heavy energy-using sectors, like glass, ceramics and steelmakers.']",0.1149004693465523,"New rules mean suppliers must give customers more opportunity to clear their debts before switching them to a meter, and they cannot be installed at all in certain households.","Many have been in place for years, but some meters were installed more recently after customers struggled to pay their bills.",0.0886143866707297,"The fall in energy prices raised hopes that suppliers would offer cheaper, fixed-price deals.","Ofgem says that, from 1 April, an average household paying by direct debit for dual fuel (gas and electricity) will pay £1,690 a year, a drop of £238 from the previous cap.",2024-03-27
How Temu is shaking up the world of online shopping,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68563339,2024-03-19T00:09:28.000Z,"A record 123 million Americans tuned into this year's Super Bowl.  But as well as getting the nation's biggest sporting event, a blockbuster halftime performance and several camera cutaways of Taylor Swift in the crowd, they also got six 30-second commercials for Temu - a Chinese-owned e-commerce company. The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour. Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants. The company, which sells everything from clothes to electronics and furniture, first launched in the US in 2022 and later in the UK and the rest of the world. Since then, it has consistently topped global app download charts, with just under 152 million Americans using it every month, according to data gathered by analyst SimilarWeb. It's ""Amazon on steroids,"" says retail analyst Neil Saunders, and with the tagline ""shop like a billionaire"" it has exploded in popularity, shipping to around 50 countries worldwide. A typical 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs around $7m (£5.5m), during this year's event Temu had six of them.  ""It's a lot of money for a very, short commercial,"" Mr Saunders says.  ""But it is seen by an enormous number of people and we know that after that commercial Temu's downloads spiked,"" he adds.  SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app. In the same period, Amazon and Ebay's visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively.  ""They've also spent a lot of money on micro-marketing, persuading influencers to push products and to suggest buying things on the platform via social channels like TikTok and YouTube,"" says Mr Saunders.  These influencers typically have fewer than 10,000 followers according to Ines Durand, an e-commerce expert at SimilarWeb. ""Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains. Temu is owned by Chinese giant PDD Holdings - ""a monster in Chinese e-commerce,"" according to Shaun Rein, founder of the China Market Research Group.  ""Throughout China, everyone buys products on Pinduoduo, from speakers to t-shirts or socks,"" he says.  More technology of business The company consistently trades places with rival Alibaba for the top spot of most valuable Chinese firm listed on a US stock exchange. Its current worth sits at just under $150bn (£117bn). With the Chinese consumer market under its spell, PDD Holdings expanded overseas with Temu, using the same model that had ensured its previous success. According to Mr Rein, who is based in Shanghai, the firm has become a great source of pride and patriotism. ""They're proud that Chinese companies can slay the e-commerce dragons from the United States like Amazon,"" he adds.  A quick scroll through the Temu app or website will bring up anything from steel-toecap trainers to a device designed to help the elderly and pregnant women put on socks. A menagerie of manufactured goods, almost entirely produced in factories in China, Mr Rein explains. ""Temu use an amazing, system that relies on, heavy data collection at scale,"" says Ines Durand. ""They collect data on consumer trends, the most searched and clicked products, which they give to individual manufacturers."" Ms Durand says that while Amazon sells this data to manufacturers at a premium, Temu gives it to producers free of charge - information they use to ""test the market"" with a relatively small number of products.  A third of parcels that came into the US last year under a shipping loophole known as the de minimis threshold were from Temu and competitor Shein, according to a report from US Congress. Many countries - including the UK and USA have a de minimis threshold, designed to help citizens to import goods. So as Temu's goods are shipped directly from the factory floors, cutting out the middlemen, they become essentially duty-free. More regulation may be on the horizon to close up shipping loopholes, however, according to Mickey Diaz, chief operating officer at global freight company Unique Logistics.  ""The UK has already started to look at Temu with some scrutiny, including the sale of weapons that are otherwise not allowed into the UK, which were being imported because of these loopholes,"" she explains. Temu has been criticised for its supply chains too, with UK and US politicians accusing the e-commerce giant of allowing goods produced with forced labour to be sold on its site.  Last year, Alicia Kearns MP, head of the foreign affairs select committee, told the BBC she wanted greater scrutiny of the online marketplace to make sure ""consumers are not inadvertently contributing to the Uyghur genocide"". Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.  It told the BBC anyone doing business with it must ""comply with all regulatory standards and compliance requirements"". ""Temu's merchants, suppliers, and other third parties must pay their employees and contractors on time and comply with all applicable local wage and hours laws. ""Our current standards and practices are no different from other major e-commerce platforms trusted by consumers, and allegations in this regard are completely ungrounded,"" a spokesperson added.  Despite the controversy, analysts expect further expansion for Temu. ""We'll probably see teams start to round out its offer more, perhaps pushing into some slightly higher priced products"" predicts retail analyst Neil Saunders. According to Shaun Reid, the focus will be on grabbing an even bigger slice of the market. ""For the next two to three years, their strategy is just to grow brand awareness and market share. They don't care about profits.  ""That's exactly what happened with Pinduoduo when it launched in China. They were giving incredibly cheap deals just to grab market share."" ",BBC,19/03/2024,"[""A record 123 million Americans tuned into this year's Super Bowl."", ""But as well as getting the nation's biggest sporting event, a blockbuster halftime performance and several camera cutaways of Taylor Swift in the crowd, they also got six 30-second commercials for Temu - a Chinese-owned e-commerce company."", 'The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour.', 'Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.', 'The company, which sells everything from clothes to electronics and furniture, first launched in the US in 2022 and later in the UK and the rest of the world.', 'Since then, it has consistently topped global app download charts, with just under 152 million Americans using it every month, according to data gathered by analyst SimilarWeb.', 'It\'s ""Amazon on steroids,"" says retail analyst Neil Saunders, and with the tagline ""shop like a billionaire"" it has exploded in popularity, shipping to around 50 countries worldwide.', 'A typical 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs around $7m (£5.5m), during this year\'s event Temu had six of them. ""', 'It\'s a lot of money for a very, short commercial,"" Mr Saunders says. ""', 'But it is seen by an enormous number of people and we know that after that commercial Temu\'s downloads spiked,"" he adds.', 'SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app.', 'In the same period, Amazon and Ebay\'s visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively. ""', 'They\'ve also spent a lot of money on micro-marketing, persuading influencers to push products and to suggest buying things on the platform via social channels like TikTok and YouTube,"" says Mr Saunders.', 'These influencers typically have fewer than 10,000 followers according to Ines Durand, an e-commerce expert at SimilarWeb. ""', 'Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains.', 'Temu is owned by Chinese giant PDD Holdings - ""a monster in Chinese e-commerce,"" according to Shaun Rein, founder of the China Market Research Group. ""', 'Throughout China, everyone buys products on Pinduoduo, from speakers to t-shirts or socks,"" he says.', 'More technology of business The company consistently trades places with rival Alibaba for the top spot of most valuable Chinese firm listed on a US stock exchange.', 'Its current worth sits at just under $150bn (£117bn).', 'With the Chinese consumer market under its spell, PDD Holdings expanded overseas with Temu, using the same model that had ensured its previous success.', 'According to Mr Rein, who is based in Shanghai, the firm has become a great source of pride and patriotism. ""', 'They\'re proud that Chinese companies can slay the e-commerce dragons from the United States like Amazon,"" he adds.', 'A quick scroll through the Temu app or website will bring up anything from steel-toecap trainers to a device designed to help the elderly and pregnant women put on socks.', 'A menagerie of manufactured goods, almost entirely produced in factories in China, Mr Rein explains. ""', 'Temu use an amazing, system that relies on, heavy data collection at scale,"" says Ines Durand. ""', 'They collect data on consumer trends, the most searched and clicked products, which they give to individual manufacturers.""', 'Ms Durand says that while Amazon sells this data to manufacturers at a premium, Temu gives it to producers free of charge - information they use to ""test the market"" with a relatively small number of products.', 'A third of parcels that came into the US last year under a shipping loophole known as the de minimis threshold were from Temu and competitor Shein, according to a report from US Congress.', 'Many countries - including the UK and USA have a de minimis threshold, designed to help citizens to import goods.', ""So as Temu's goods are shipped directly from the factory floors, cutting out the middlemen, they become essentially duty-free."", 'More regulation may be on the horizon to close up shipping loopholes, however, according to Mickey Diaz, chief operating officer at global freight company Unique Logistics. ""', 'The UK has already started to look at Temu with some scrutiny, including the sale of weapons that are otherwise not allowed into the UK, which were being imported because of these loopholes,"" she explains.', 'Temu has been criticised for its supply chains too, with UK and US politicians accusing the e-commerce giant of allowing goods produced with forced labour to be sold on its site.', 'Last year, Alicia Kearns MP, head of the foreign affairs select committee, told the BBC she wanted greater scrutiny of the online marketplace to make sure ""consumers are not inadvertently contributing to the Uyghur genocide"".', 'Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.', 'It told the BBC anyone doing business with it must ""comply with all regulatory standards and compliance requirements"". ""', 'Temu\'s merchants, suppliers, and other third parties must pay their employees and contractors on time and comply with all applicable local wage and hours laws. ""', 'Our current standards and practices are no different from other major e-commerce platforms trusted by consumers, and allegations in this regard are completely ungrounded,"" a spokesperson added.', 'Despite the controversy, analysts expect further expansion for Temu. ""', 'We\'ll probably see teams start to round out its offer more, perhaps pushing into some slightly higher priced products"" predicts retail analyst Neil Saunders.', 'According to Shaun Reid, the focus will be on grabbing an even bigger slice of the market. ""', 'For the next two to three years, their strategy is just to grow brand awareness and market share.', 'They don\'t care about profits. ""', ""That's exactly what happened with Pinduoduo when it launched in China."", 'They were giving incredibly cheap deals just to grab market share.""']",0.2590481124794851,"Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains.","The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour.",0.5463065419878278,"SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app.","In the same period, Amazon and Ebay's visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively. """,2024-03-27
‘I want to help people fly – and keep them safe’,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68489226,2024-03-22T00:15:02.000Z,"Student Pooja Umashankar clearly remembers when she first felt the roar of an aircraft taking off. She was 10 years old and travelling from Sri Lanka to the UK with her family. Through the window near her seat, she could see hundreds of tiny lights on the ground below.  ""It's just a piece of metal,"" she remembers marvelling, ""And it's flying now."" Today, a decade and a half later, Miss Umashankar has returned from Sri Lanka to study aircraft maintenance engineering at the University of South Wales. ""I knew that I wanted to do something that nobody had ever done in my town,"" she says. The aviation industry can't find enough people like Miss Umashankar. For years, airlines and engineering firms have struggled to hire maintenance engineers, and there is now a global shortage numbering in the tens of thousands.  This is a huge problem not least because aviation is expected to balloon in the coming decades. Industry estimates suggest that roughly 700,000 engineers will have to enter the profession between now and 2040 in order to satisfy demand.  Plus, after Boeing's recent 737 Max 9 door blowout - currently the subject of an investigation - engineers have been in especially high demand to perform increased checks on 737 Max aircraft of various models.  And trade association ADS says there are 10,000 vacancies in total across the UK's aerospace, defence, security and space industries. Miss Umashankar, who is now nearing the end of her three-year degree, says she wants to be a part of the solution. ""What motivates me is to… help people travel,"" she says. ""I want to help them fly - while being safe."" She says she has especially enjoyed working with electronics during her course but was not able to find an on-the-job training placement. However, Miss Umashankar has now started applying for full-time positions. She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.  Not many of her colleagues will be women, she knows. But that does not deter her: ""There's such a shortage of female engineers in this field, I just feel that maybe I should be one of them."" Redressing the severe gender imbalance in the industry could help tackle the shortage, some observers say. In the UK, fewer than 10% of aerospace and aviation engineers are women. The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University. Only 2.8% of US aircraft technicians are women. ""I don't think that there are enough women that are involved in the industry to act as mentors,"" she says. Multiple engineering firms contacted by the BBC declined to specify whether they were short of aviation technicians at present, or to what extent. AAR Corporation, however, says it has raised salaries and launched a programme to help US military veterans join the workforce. More than 60 such candidates have been hired since 2019, the firm notes. ST Engineering has started a mentorship programme in Singapore and is in talks to set up a training academy in the US. Meanwhile, Lufthansa Technik is working to attract more women into the industry. ""Large-scale recruitment of apprentices is still ongoing,"" a spokeswoman adds. The current focus on training is significant, says Daniel Olufisan, training director and principal consultant at Wing Engineering, which works in the aviation industry. It is partly down to the fact that fewer aircraft engineers these days are ex-military and, therefore, not as many people with hands-on experience are entering maintenance roles, he suggests. Another key reason for the shortage is that a high number of engineers in their 60s are now retiring from the profession. Aircraft maintenance is not as glamorous as it once was, suggests Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant at RW Mann & Company: ""Some of the benefits that then came with working for an airline, flying on staff passes for example, just aren't there anymore."" He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. ""This is not a test flying business, this is a consumer service,"" he says. Last year, manufacturer Airbus set a target of hiring 13,000 new employees, many of whom were engineers, though in Airbus's case most were destined to work on new aircraft designs rather than maintenance. A spokeswoman confirms that the company exceeded its target and also succeeded in hiring a large proportion of engineers (25% of the total). ""It does become harder and harder to source talented professional engineers,"" acknowledges Mark Crompton, global head of employment marketing. He adds that outreach to children of school age could help encourage them to consider the career. More technology of business Airbus, like many firms, is increasing apprenticeship and internship positions to help, too. The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023. But the industry as a whole is having to face up to the impact aviation is having on climate change and even more engineers are needed to develop cleaner aircraft, explains Mr Crompton. Nadeem Bandali is an aircraft maintenance engineer at Gatwick Airport. He says that when young people ask him about his job, he shows them videos of the kind of work he does to illustrate how practical it is. ""It's purely mechanical, fixing aircraft, troubleshooting aircraft systems,"" he explains.  As an example, just a few weeks ago, he and his colleagues were tasked with locating a fault in a long sensor wire that runs through the fuselage and wings of an A320. It took a few hours, but they found it and fixed it.  He is aware of the engineer shortage but says, ""I don't think safety is an issue at the moment."" Keeping planes in the air, without incident, is a worthwhile endeavour for Miss Umashankar. ""Aircraft,"" she says, ""connect the whole world into one."" ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Student Pooja Umashankar clearly remembers when she first felt the roar of an aircraft taking off.', 'She was 10 years old and travelling from Sri Lanka to the UK with her family.', 'Through the window near her seat, she could see hundreds of tiny lights on the ground below. ""', 'It\'s just a piece of metal,"" she remembers marvelling, ""And it\'s flying now.""', 'Today, a decade and a half later, Miss Umashankar has returned from Sri Lanka to study aircraft maintenance engineering at the University of South Wales. ""', 'I knew that I wanted to do something that nobody had ever done in my town,"" she says.', ""The aviation industry can't find enough people like Miss Umashankar."", 'For years, airlines and engineering firms have struggled to hire maintenance engineers, and there is now a global shortage numbering in the tens of thousands.', 'This is a huge problem not least because aviation is expected to balloon in the coming decades.', 'Industry estimates suggest that roughly 700,000 engineers will have to enter the profession between now and 2040 in order to satisfy demand.', ""Plus, after Boeing's recent 737 Max 9 door blowout - currently the subject of an investigation - engineers have been in especially high demand to perform increased checks on 737 Max aircraft of various models."", ""And trade association ADS says there are 10,000 vacancies in total across the UK's aerospace, defence, security and space industries."", 'Miss Umashankar, who is now nearing the end of her three-year degree, says she wants to be a part of the solution. ""', 'What motivates me is to… help people travel,"" she says. ""', 'I want to help them fly - while being safe.""', 'She says she has especially enjoyed working with electronics during her course but was not able to find an on-the-job training placement.', 'However, Miss Umashankar has now started applying for full-time positions.', 'She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.', 'Not many of her colleagues will be women, she knows.', 'But that does not deter her: ""There\'s such a shortage of female engineers in this field, I just feel that maybe I should be one of them.""', 'Redressing the severe gender imbalance in the industry could help tackle the shortage, some observers say.', 'In the UK, fewer than 10% of aerospace and aviation engineers are women.', 'The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University.', 'Only 2.8% of US aircraft technicians are women. ""', 'I don\'t think that there are enough women that are involved in the industry to act as mentors,"" she says.', 'Multiple engineering firms contacted by the BBC declined to specify whether they were short of aviation technicians at present, or to what extent.', 'AAR Corporation, however, says it has raised salaries and launched a programme to help US military veterans join the workforce.', 'More than 60 such candidates have been hired since 2019, the firm notes.', 'ST Engineering has started a mentorship programme in Singapore and is in talks to set up a training academy in the US.', 'Meanwhile, Lufthansa Technik is working to attract more women into the industry. ""', 'Large-scale recruitment of apprentices is still ongoing,"" a spokeswoman adds.', 'The current focus on training is significant, says Daniel Olufisan, training director and principal consultant at Wing Engineering, which works in the aviation industry.', 'It is partly down to the fact that fewer aircraft engineers these days are ex-military and, therefore, not as many people with hands-on experience are entering maintenance roles, he suggests.', 'Another key reason for the shortage is that a high number of engineers in their 60s are now retiring from the profession.', 'Aircraft maintenance is not as glamorous as it once was, suggests Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant at RW Mann & Company: ""Some of the benefits that then came with working for an airline, flying on staff passes for example, just aren\'t there anymore.""', 'He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. ""', 'This is not a test flying business, this is a consumer service,"" he says.', ""Last year, manufacturer Airbus set a target of hiring 13,000 new employees, many of whom were engineers, though in Airbus's case most were destined to work on new aircraft designs rather than maintenance."", 'A spokeswoman confirms that the company exceeded its target and also succeeded in hiring a large proportion of engineers (25% of the total). ""', 'It does become harder and harder to source talented professional engineers,"" acknowledges Mark Crompton, global head of employment marketing.', 'He adds that outreach to children of school age could help encourage them to consider the career.', 'More technology of business Airbus, like many firms, is increasing apprenticeship and internship positions to help, too.', 'The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023.', 'But the industry as a whole is having to face up to the impact aviation is having on climate change and even more engineers are needed to develop cleaner aircraft, explains Mr Crompton.', 'Nadeem Bandali is an aircraft maintenance engineer at Gatwick Airport.', 'He says that when young people ask him about his job, he shows them videos of the kind of work he does to illustrate how practical it is. ""', 'It\'s purely mechanical, fixing aircraft, troubleshooting aircraft systems,"" he explains.', 'As an example, just a few weeks ago, he and his colleagues were tasked with locating a fault in a long sensor wire that runs through the fuselage and wings of an A320.', 'It took a few hours, but they found it and fixed it.', 'He is aware of the engineer shortage but says, ""I don\'t think safety is an issue at the moment.""', 'Keeping planes in the air, without incident, is a worthwhile endeavour for Miss Umashankar. ""', 'Aircraft,"" she says, ""connect the whole world into one.""']",0.1132175272645693,She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.,"He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. """,0.1862073948508814,The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023.,"The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University.",2024-03-27
Your complete guide to earning and redeeming points in the Citi ThankYou Rewards program,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/citi-thankyou-points-rewards,"
  Updated
        12:10 PM EST, Wed January 10, 2024
    ","The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has evolved over the past decade and is now a formidable competitor with established programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Citi’s got a relatively small portfolio of quality credit cards and a rewarding program to boot. In fact, its credit cards offer some of the most generous category bonuses in exchange for reasonable annual fees.
    
            When it comes to redeeming your hard-earned points, Citi has an impressive transfer partner list that makes it possible to maximize your rewards for travel bookings. And if you don’t want to learn the ins and outs of various loyalty programs, Citi also gives you the option to use points for statement credits and direct travel bookings.
    
            If you’re curious about how the Citi ThankYou program works, here’s everything you need to know about how to get the most out of the program for travel.
    
            You can earn Citi ThankYou points in numerous ways. The easiest is through credit card sign-up bonuses, which range depending on the card. But that’s not the only way to earn points in this program. Between checking account bonuses and authorized user incentives, there are many ways to earn ThankYou points beyond credit cards.
    
            Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards. The issuer’s credit cards are generally split into two categories: traditional ThankYou points-earning cards and cash back cards. However, recently, Citi made a change to its program that now sees its cash back credit cards earning ThankYou Rewards points, which can also be redeemed for traditional cash back.
    
            Citi has two cards that earn ThankYou points directly. These cards are ideal for maximizing rewards on everyday purchases, with the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Rewards+® Card specifically offering significant bonuses in those everyday categories.
    
            As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditional cash back credit cards in the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings. They can be incredibly valuable, considering the Citi® Double Cash Card earns 2% on everything. By adding this card to your wallet, you’ll earn a minimum of 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent on all purchases that aren’t eligible for the bonus categories on the Citi Premier or Rewards+ cards.
    
            Considering Citi’s cash back cards have no annual fees, adding one to your wallet could make a lot of sense. You’ll enhance your point earning across the board without additional annual fees.
    
            By combining the Citi cards you have in your wallet, you can maximize your earnings and ensure you continue to work your way toward your next redemption.
    
            Adding an authorized user can help you earn more Citi points in two ways: bonus points for adding someone and for all of their purchases. First, you’ll sometimes get bonus points just for adding someone to your account. Citi frequently sends out authorized user bonuses to targeted card holders. These bonuses are typically around 2,500 bonus points but can vary.
    
            Secondly, you’ll earn Citi ThankYou points based on all the spending your authorized user puts on their card. Of course, you’ll only want to consider adding a member of your household or someone you trust to pay you back as an authorized user on your account. Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.
    
            If you’d like to earn even more ThankYou points, you can do so with a checking account. That’s because Citi offers several checking accounts that earn ThankYou points as a benefit: The Citigold, Citi Priority, Citi Private Bank and Citibank Account. With these accounts, you can earn up to 1,600 points per month on everyday banking activities. The exact number of ThankYou points you’ll earn depends on your account type and qualifying activities. Generally, Citigold, Citi Priority and Citi Private Bank accounts earn the most points.
    
            Sharing points is a great way to consolidate existing points with a significant other or family member. Citi ThankYou is one of the few programs that allows members to share points free of charge. The only stipulation is that you can only share points with someone who has a Citi ThankYou card, and Citi Custom Cash card holders are not eligible.
    
            It’s worth noting that shared points expire 90 days after receipt. So you shouldn’t transfer points unless you or the person you’re sending them to has an immediate use for them. Also, note that you can’t send or receive more than 100,000 points per calendar year.
    
            Once you’ve earned a slew of Citi ThankYou points comes the fun part of redeeming them. And thankfully, Citi offers many different ways for you to redeem your ThankYou points. You’ll get the most bang for your buck by redeeming points for travel, though that’s certainly not the only option.
    
            Here’s a look at your Citi ThankYou travel redemption options and how they work.
    
            Transferring points will get you the most value from your Citi ThankYou points. Citi has 18 airline and hotel partners, most of which you can transfer points to at a 1-to-1 ratio — however, that ratio can vary. You can redeem them for stays at all-inclusive resorts, international business-class tickets, domestic award flights and more. But keep in mind that not all airline and hotel loyalty programs are equal.
    
            Ultimately, you’ll want to research which program will offer you the most in return, depending on what your travel plans are. Like with the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, Capital One miles and American Express Membership Rewards program, you’ll need to link your accounts with each of the transfer partners, and you’ll also need to search for award availability with the airline of your choice before transferring any points.
    
            If you’re interested in transferring your Citi ThankYou points to a travel partner, these are your 18 options as well as the transfer rate.
    
            By transferring Citi ThankYou points to partner airlines, you unlock the ability to travel for next to nothing — in most cases when redeeming travel rewards, you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees on a ticket. As a result, points and miles open up the door for flying experiences that would otherwise be out of reach.
    
            Keep in mind that the most obvious airline choice may not always be your best option. Airlines typically have extensive alliance networks, allowing you to redeem points for partner airlines through their respective programs. For example, Delta Air Lines and Air France/KLM are both members of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue and redeem for flights operated by Delta Air Lines.
    
            Citi’s airline partners will get you the most value for your points, especially if you redeem them for business- and first-class travel. That being said, Citi’s airline partners offer several sweet spot awards. These heavily discounted awards will save you points on travel and make earning ThankYou points worthwhile. Some of these sweet spots awards that will get you maximum value for your ThankYou points include the following:
    
            Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points by transferring them to airline or hotel partners. But that may not always make sense for all card holders — and it’s not your only option.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each when you use them to book travel through the Citi ThankYou portal. That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions. While transferring points is the best way to maximize your ThankYou points, doing so isn’t always possible. If that’s the case — or if you’re not interested in researching award availability — redeeming at a fixed value for travel via the ThankYou portal is a decent option.
    
            Citi offers several fixed redemption options where you’ll redeem your points at 1 cent per point. This is ideal for folks who would rather leverage points for daily expenses than travel bookings. While redeeming points this way isn’t advisable, as you won’t get as much value out of each point, you should use them however they suit you best.
    
            For example, if you have no travel plans in the foreseeable future but mounting expenses at home, then redeeming your ThankYou points for mortgage or student loan payments might make sense. Here are some additional ways you can redeem your ThankYou points:
    
            Generally speaking, if you’re looking to get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points, your worst option is when redeeming for a fixed value. However, if you’re willing to sacrifice the value of your points and instead want to save some cash, it could be a solid option. Ultimately, every card holder’s goals for their points will be different, but it’s good that you have options with ThankYou points.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are worth about 1.7 cents each when you redeem them for travel through transfer partners, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy. The exact amount varies depending on the cabin and destination you’re flying to. Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value by redeeming points for international business- and first-class flights. While 1.7 cents per point isn’t guaranteed for all redemptions, it’s a number you should aim for if you want to redeem ThankYou points for maximum value.
    
            Aside from travel redemptions, you can use ThankYou points for mortgage payments, student loans, statement credits or charitable contributions, and they’re worth 1 cent apiece.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are an incredibly valuable currency and can help you meet your most aspirational travel goals. Whether you’re using points for domestic or international travel, Citi’s wide selection of transfer partners offers terrific redemption value. Between a good credit card selection, top-notch travel partners and flexibility in use, Citi ThankYou points are definitely worth adding to your points portfolio.
    
            Looking for a new travel credit card? Check out CNN Underscored’s list of the best credit cards currently available.
    
            Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
    
            Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.",CNN,10/01/2024,"['The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has evolved over the past decade and is now a formidable competitor with established programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards.', 'Citi’s got a relatively small portfolio of quality credit cards and a rewarding program to boot.', 'In fact, its credit cards offer some of the most generous category bonuses in exchange for reasonable annual fees.', 'When it comes to redeeming your hard-earned points, Citi has an impressive transfer partner list that makes it possible to maximize your rewards for travel bookings.', 'And if you don’t want to learn the ins and outs of various loyalty programs, Citi also gives you the option to use points for statement credits and direct travel bookings.', 'If you’re curious about how the Citi ThankYou program works, here’s everything you need to know about how to get the most out of the program for travel.', 'You can earn Citi ThankYou points in numerous ways.', 'The easiest is through credit card sign-up bonuses, which range depending on the card.', 'But that’s not the only way to earn points in this program.', 'Between checking account bonuses and authorized user incentives, there are many ways to earn ThankYou points beyond credit cards.', 'Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards.', 'The issuer’s credit cards are generally split into two categories: traditional ThankYou points-earning cards andcash back cards.', 'However, recently, Citi made a change to its program that now sees its cash back credit cards earning ThankYou Rewards points, which can also be redeemed for traditional cash back.', 'Citi has two cards that earn ThankYou points directly.', 'These cards are ideal for maximizing rewards on everyday purchases, with the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Rewards+® Card specifically offering significant bonuses in those everyday categories.', 'As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditionalcash back credit cardsin the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings.', 'They can be incredibly valuable, considering the Citi® Double Cash Card earns 2% on everything.', 'By adding this card to your wallet, you’ll earn a minimum of 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent on all purchases that aren’t eligible for the bonus categories on the Citi Premier or Rewards+ cards.', 'Considering Citi’s cash back cards have no annual fees, adding one to your wallet could make a lot of sense.', 'You’ll enhance your point earning across the board without additional annual fees.', 'By combining the Citi cards you have in your wallet, you can maximize your earnings and ensure you continue to work your way toward your next redemption.', 'Adding an authorized user can help you earn more Citi points in two ways: bonus points for adding someone and for all of their purchases.', 'First, you’ll sometimes get bonus points just for adding someone to your account.', 'Citi frequently sends out authorized user bonuses to targeted card holders.', 'These bonuses are typically around 2,500 bonus points but can vary.', 'Secondly, you’ll earn Citi ThankYou points based on all the spending your authorized user puts on their card.', 'Of course, you’ll only want to consider adding a member of your household or someone you trust to pay you back as anauthorized useron your account.', 'Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.', 'If you’d like to earn even more ThankYou points, you can do so with a checking account.', 'That’s because Citi offers several checking accounts that earn ThankYou points as a benefit: The Citigold, Citi Priority, Citi Private Bank and Citibank Account.', 'With these accounts, you can earn up to 1,600 points per month on everyday banking activities.', 'The exact number of ThankYou points you’ll earn depends on your account type and qualifying activities.', 'Generally, Citigold, Citi Priority and Citi Private Bank accounts earn the most points.', 'Sharing points is a great way to consolidate existing points with a significant other or family member.', 'Citi ThankYou is one of the few programs that allows members to share points free of charge.', 'The only stipulation is that you can only share points with someone who has a Citi ThankYou card, and Citi Custom Cash card holders are not eligible.', 'It’s worth noting that shared points expire 90 days after receipt.', 'So you shouldn’t transfer points unless you or the person you’re sending them to has an immediate use for them.', 'Also, note that you can’t send or receive more than 100,000 points per calendar year.', 'Once you’ve earned a slew of Citi ThankYou points comes the fun part of redeeming them.', 'And thankfully, Citi offers many different ways for you to redeem your ThankYou points.', 'You’ll get the most bang for your buck by redeeming points for travel, though that’s certainly not the only option.', 'Here’s a look at your Citi ThankYou travel redemption options and how they work.', 'Transferring points will get you the most value from your Citi ThankYou points.', 'Citi has 18 airline and hotel partners, most of which you can transfer points to at a 1-to-1 ratio — however, that ratio can vary.', 'You can redeem them for stays atall-inclusive resorts,international business-class tickets, domestic award flights and more.', 'But keep in mind that not all airline and hotel loyalty programs are equal.', 'Ultimately, you’ll want to research which program will offer you the most in return, depending on what your travel plans are.', 'Like with the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, Capital One miles andAmerican Express Membership Rewards program, you’ll need to link your accounts with each of the transfer partners, and you’ll also need to search for award availability with the airline of your choice before transferring any points.', 'If you’re interested in transferring your Citi ThankYou points to a travel partner, these are your 18 options as well as the transfer rate.', 'By transferring Citi ThankYou points to partner airlines, you unlock the ability to travel for next to nothing — in most cases when redeeming travel rewards, you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees on a ticket.', 'As a result, points and miles open up the door for flying experiences that would otherwise be out of reach.', 'Keep in mind that the most obvious airline choice may not always be your best option.', 'Airlines typically have extensive alliance networks, allowing you to redeem points for partner airlines through their respective programs.', 'For example, Delta Air Lines and Air France/KLM are both members of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue and redeem for flights operated by Delta Air Lines.', 'Citi’s airline partners will get you the most value for your points, especially if you redeem them for business- and first-class travel.', 'That being said, Citi’s airline partners offer several sweet spot awards.', 'These heavily discounted awards will save you points on travel and make earning ThankYou points worthwhile.', 'Some of these sweet spots awards that will get you maximum value for your ThankYou points include the following:  Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points by transferring them to airline or hotel partners.', 'But that may not always make sense for all card holders — and it’s not your only option.', 'Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each when you use them to book travel through the Citi ThankYou portal.', 'That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions.', 'While transferring points is the best way to maximize your ThankYou points, doing so isn’t always possible.', 'If that’s the case — or if you’re not interested in researching award availability — redeeming at a fixed value for travel via the ThankYou portal is a decent option.', 'Citi offers several fixed redemption options where you’ll redeem your points at 1 cent per point.', 'This is ideal for folks who would rather leverage points for daily expenses than travel bookings.', 'While redeeming points this way isn’t advisable, as you won’t get as much value out of each point, you should use them however they suit you best.', 'For example, if you have no travel plans in the foreseeable future but mounting expenses at home, then redeeming your ThankYou points for mortgage or student loan payments might make sense.', 'Here are some additional ways you can redeem your ThankYou points:  Generally speaking, if you’re looking to get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points, your worst option is when redeeming for a fixed value.', 'However, if you’re willing to sacrifice the value of your points and instead want to save some cash, it could be a solid option.', 'Ultimately, every card holder’s goals for their points will be different, but it’s good that you have options with ThankYou points.', 'Citi ThankYou points are worth about 1.7 cents each when you redeem them for travel through transfer partners, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy.', 'The exact amount varies depending on the cabin and destination you’re flying to.', 'Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value by redeeming points for international business- and first-class flights.', 'While 1.7 cents per point isn’t guaranteed for all redemptions, it’s a number you should aim for if you want to redeem ThankYou points for maximum value.', 'Aside from travel redemptions, you can use ThankYou points for mortgage payments, student loans, statement credits or charitable contributions, and they’re worth 1 cent apiece.', 'Citi ThankYou points are an incredibly valuable currency and can help you meet your most aspirational travel goals.', 'Whether you’re using points for domestic or international travel, Citi’s wide selection of transfer partners offers terrific redemption value.', 'Between a good credit card selection, top-notch travel partners and flexibility in use, Citi ThankYou points are definitely worth adding to your points portfolio.', 'Looking for a new travel credit card?', 'Check out CNN Underscored’s list of thebest credit cardscurrently available.', 'Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.', 'Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.']",0.419572580688158,"Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards.","Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.",0.8711563621958097,"As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditionalcash back credit cardsin the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings.",That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions.,2024-03-27
The top 10 richest cities in America,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/the-top-10-richest-cities-in-america.html,2024-03-21T18:56:30+0000,"A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.New York still leads the U.S. and the world when it comes to wealthy cities.With nearly 350,000 millionaires and 60 billionaires, the Big Apple is the richest city in America, according to the USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth. Despite all the headlines about the rich leaving the city, its millionaire population has grown 48% over the past decade.The San Francisco Bay Area ranks as the second richest city in America, despite topping New York for billionaires, with more than 305,000 millionaires and 68 billionaires. The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%. The surge in investment and growth in artificial intelligence is expected to add another boost to the area.The fastest-growing U.S. city for the ultra wealthy among the top 10 is Austin, Texas, which has more than doubled its millionaire population over the past decade to nearly 33,000. Miami is up there too, with 87% growth in millionaires over the past decade — but with one-tenth the New York City total.The numbers show that the twin wealth hubs in the U.S. endure, despite wealth migration to the Sun Belt — which is roughly defined as the southern third of the U.S. known for its sunny weather and lower tax states.""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America's wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.Here are the top 10:Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer."", 'Sign upto receive future editions, straight to your inbox.', 'New York still leads the U.S. and the world when it comes to wealthy cities.', 'With nearly 350,000 millionaires and 60 billionaires, the Big Apple is the richest city in America, according to the USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.', 'Despite all the headlines about the rich leaving the city, its millionaire population has grown 48% over the past decade.', 'The San Francisco Bay Area ranks as the second richest city in America, despite topping New York for billionaires, with more than 305,000 millionaires and 68 billionaires.', ""The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%."", 'The surge in investment and growth in artificial intelligence is expected to add another boost to the area.', 'The fastest-growing U.S. city for the ultra wealthy among the top 10 is Austin, Texas, which has more than doubled its millionaire population over the past decade to nearly 33,000.', 'Miami is up there too, with 87% growth in millionaires over the past decade — but with one-tenth the New York City total.', 'The numbers show that the twin wealth hubs in the U.S. endure, despite wealth migration to the Sun Belt — which is roughly defined as the southern third of the U.S. known for its sunny weather and lower tax states.', '""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America\'s wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.', ""Here are the top 10:Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.""]",0.561624820229274,"""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America's wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.",,0.9989487926165262,"The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%.",,2024-03-27
"You can buy this electric luxury SUV for $25,000 right now. But there might be a catch",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/fisker-ocean-25000/index.html,"
  Published
        2:16 PM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","For sale: A brand new luxury electric SUV for the holy-grail price of $25,000. There just might be a slight catch.
    
            The California-based electric SUV company Fisker faces a real possibility of bankruptcy, and its stock is hovering just over 2 cents a share, far below its 2021 peak of $28.50.
    
            And even though production has halted, the company still has SUVs to offer, so it’s having a sale. Prices for Fisker’s Ocean SUV have been cut by as much 39%. The catch, however, is that the car has received critical reviews rather than wide acclaim. And getting it serviced may not be easy.
    
            The base sticker price for the top-of-the-line Fisker Ocean Extreme has been cut from about $62,500 to $37,5000. Prices for the Sport trim level have been cut from $39,000 to $25,000.
    
            In announcing the price cuts, Fisker billed the move as a strategic shift rather than a fire sale.
    
            “Fisker is strategically positioning the all-electric Ocean SUV to be a more affordable and compelling EV choice, competitively available to EV buyers in the broadest possible market,” the company said in announcing the price cuts.
    
            The car itself hasn’t had some bad reviews. The Ocean was also the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube personality Marques Brownlee. His video was titled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”
    
            “Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description. Brownlee’s February 17 video has racked up more than 4.8 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.
    
            Consumer Reports also recently published its own review of the Ocean, panning its ride quality and software, although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.
    
            Fisker has said that problems with early versions of the vehicles’ software caused some of the negative responses. The company also said it plans to continue updating and improving the software through over the air updates that will be installed without the SUVs needing to be taken to a dealer or service center.
    
            Fisker did not immediately respond to questions about how the SUVs would be serviced in the event the company does go out of business. Fisker, founded in 2016 by a Danish auto designer named Henrik Fisker, had originally planned to sell and service vehicles itself, as other EV startups such as Tesla and Rivian do. Recently, though, Fisker shifted to recruiting independent dealers to sell vehicles the way more established automakers do.
    
            By end of 2023, Fisker had signed up only 12 dealers in the United States and Europe, however.
    
            Fisker had reported in early March that it could run out of cash to continue operations. Its SUVs are produced by the contract manufacturing company Magna Steyr in Austria. Last year, Magna produced more than 10,193 Fisker SUVs, but fewer than half of those were delivered to customers within the calendar year, the company announced in March.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['For sale: A brand new luxury electric SUV for the holy-grail price of $25,000.', 'There just might be a slight catch.', 'The California-based electric SUV company Fisker faces a real possibility of bankruptcy, and its stock is hovering just over 2 cents a share, far below its 2021 peak of $28.50.', 'And even though production has halted, the company still has SUVs to offer, so it’s having a sale.', 'Prices for Fisker’s Ocean SUV have been cut by as much 39%.', 'The catch, however, is that the car has received critical reviews rather than wide acclaim.', 'And getting it serviced may not be easy.', 'The base sticker price for the top-of-the-line Fisker Ocean Extreme has been cut from about $62,500 to $37,5000.', 'Prices for the Sport trim level have been cut from $39,000 to $25,000.', 'In announcing the price cuts, Fisker billed the move as a strategic shift rather than a fire sale.', '“Fiskeris strategically positioning the all-electric Ocean SUV to be a more affordable and compelling EV choice, competitively available to EV buyers in the broadest possible market,” the company said in announcing the price cuts.', 'The car itself hasn’t had some bad reviews.', 'The Ocean was also the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube personality Marques Brownlee.', 'His video wastitled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”', '“Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description.', 'Brownlee’s February 17 video has racked up more than 4.8 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.', 'Consumer Reports also recently published its own reviewof the Ocean, panning its ride quality and software, although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.', 'Fisker has said that problems with early versions of the vehicles’ software caused some of the negative responses.', 'The company also said it plans to continue updating and improving the software through over the air updates that will be installed without the SUVs needing to be taken to a dealer or service center.', 'Fisker did not immediately respond to questions about how the SUVs would be serviced in the event the company does go out of business.', 'Fisker, founded in 2016 by a Danish auto designer named Henrik Fisker, had originally planned to sell and service vehicles itself, as other EV startups such as Tesla and Rivian do.', 'Recently, though, Fisker shifted to recruiting independent dealers to sell vehicles the way more established automakers do.', 'By end of 2023, Fisker had signed up only 12 dealers in the United States and Europe, however.', 'Fisker had reported in early March that it could run out of cash to continue operations.', 'Its SUVs are produced by the contract manufacturing company Magna Steyr in Austria.', 'Last year, Magna produced more than 10,193 Fisker SUVs, but fewer than half of those were delivered to customers within the calendar year, the company announced in March.']",-0.089786654324258,The company also said it plans to continue updating and improving the software through over the air updates that will be installed without the SUVs needing to be taken to a dealer or service center.,Fisker has said that problems with early versions of the vehicles’ software caused some of the negative responses.,-0.5984063202684576,"“Fiskeris strategically positioning the all-electric Ocean SUV to be a more affordable and compelling EV choice, competitively available to EV buyers in the broadest possible market,” the company said in announcing the price cuts.","The California-based electric SUV company Fisker faces a real possibility of bankruptcy, and its stock is hovering just over 2 cents a share, far below its 2021 peak of $28.50.",2024-03-27
Fed holds interest rates steady but signals cuts ahead,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68619144,2024-03-20T18:12:55.000Z,"The US central bank has left its key interest rate unchanged again, while it looks for more evidence that inflation is coming under control.  The decision kept the target range for the Federal Reserve's influential rate in the range of 5.25%-5.5%, the highest in more than two decades. The Fed is debating whether higher borrowing costs have done enough to ease the pressures pushing up prices. Officials said they still expected to cut rates by the end of the year. But after raising borrowing costs aggressively in response to soaring prices in 2022, the bank is proceeding cautiously.  ""We want to be careful and fortunately with the economy growing, the labour market strong and inflation coming down, we can"" be, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference after the Fed's meeting.  The Fed's move comes a day before the Bank of England will announce its own interest rate decision. It is also expected to hold UK interest rates where they are, at 5.25%, a 15-year high.  Higher interest rates in theory work to cool inflation by make borrowing more expensive, slowing the economy and easing the pressures pushing up prices. But if left in place for too long, they risk triggering a harsh economic slowdown. The moves in the US are being closely watched, as countries around the world face similar trade-offs. For now, the world's largest economy has held up surprisingly well, despite the higher interest rates. Forecasts released after the meeting showed that officials expect the economy to grow 2.1% this year, a significantly more rosy outlook than the 1.4% they projected in December. The forecasts also showed officials expect inflation to fall to 2.4% by the end of the year, approaching the 2% rate the bank wants to see.   Mr Powell said officials were not overly concerned by some recent data, which has suggested that progress might be stalling.  The inflation rate was 3.2% in the US last month and 3.1% in January. ""We're not going to overreact to these two months of data, nor are we going to ignore them,"" he said.  The forecasts showed higher rates next year than officials had previously forecast. But overall the outlook suggested that the bank's confidence that it can rein in inflation without knocking the economy off course is growing.  Charles Mangin, head of foreign exchange at UK-based Crown Agents Bank, which specialises in emerging markets, said the growth in the US was ""quite impressive"". But he warned that if strong growth leads the US to keep interest rates higher for longer than expected, it could lead to economic pain in other countries. Emerging markets have seen foreign investment slow sharply, as investors shift money to more established economies like the US in response to higher rates. Central banks in countries such as Egypt and Nigeria have already raised their own interest rates aggressively to try to compete, a path others may have to follow if they hope to bring investors back, he said.  But those moves - which sent rates to more than 20% in Egypt and Nigeria- will not come without local costs, he warned. ""The premium [to which] these guys will have to push their rates ... will put stress on the economies,"" he said. ""If now we're in the scenario where the US are going to keep rates higher for longer, it's going to be a challenge for quite a few of the emerging markets countries."" ",BBC,20/03/2024,"['The US central bank has left its key interest rate unchanged again, while it looks for more evidence that inflation is coming under control.', ""The decision kept the target range for the Federal Reserve's influential rate in the range of 5.25%-5.5%, the highest in more than two decades."", 'The Fed is debating whether higher borrowing costs have done enough to ease the pressures pushing up prices.', 'Officials said they still expected to cut rates by the end of the year.', 'But after raising borrowing costs aggressively in response to soaring prices in 2022, the bank is proceeding cautiously. ""', 'We want to be careful and fortunately with the economy growing, the labour market strong and inflation coming down, we can"" be, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference after the Fed\'s meeting.', ""The Fed's move comes a day before the Bank of England will announce its own interest rate decision."", 'It is also expected to hold UK interest rates where they are, at 5.25%, a 15-year high.', 'Higher interest rates in theory work to cool inflation by make borrowing more expensive, slowing the economy and easing the pressures pushing up prices.', 'But if left in place for too long, they risk triggering a harsh economic slowdown.', 'The moves in the US are being closely watched, as countries around the world face similar trade-offs.', ""For now, the world's largest economy has held up surprisingly well, despite the higher interest rates."", 'Forecasts released after the meeting showed that officials expect the economy to grow 2.1% this year, a significantly more rosy outlook than the 1.4% they projected in December.', 'The forecasts also showed officials expect inflation to fall to 2.4% by the end of the year, approaching the 2% rate the bank wants to see.', 'Mr Powell said officials were not overly concerned by some recent data, which has suggested that progress might be stalling.', 'The inflation rate was 3.2% in the US last month and 3.1% in January. ""', 'We\'re not going to overreact to these two months of data, nor are we going to ignore them,"" he said.', 'The forecasts showed higher rates next year than officials had previously forecast.', ""But overall the outlook suggested that the bank's confidence that it can rein in inflation without knocking the economy off course is growing."", 'Charles Mangin, head of foreign exchange at UK-based Crown Agents Bank, which specialises in emerging markets, said the growth in the US was ""quite impressive"".', 'But he warned that if strong growth leads the US to keep interest rates higher for longer than expected, it could lead to economic pain in other countries.', 'Emerging markets have seen foreign investment slow sharply, as investors shift money to more established economies like the US in response to higher rates.', 'Central banks in countries such as Egypt and Nigeria have already raised their own interest rates aggressively to try to compete, a path others may have to follow if they hope to bring investors back, he said.', 'But those moves - which sent rates to more than 20% in Egypt and Nigeria- will not come without local costs, he warned. ""', 'The premium [to which] these guys will have to push their rates ... will put stress on the economies,"" he said. ""', 'If now we\'re in the scenario where the US are going to keep rates higher for longer, it\'s going to be a challenge for quite a few of the emerging markets countries.""']",0.1691503367949176,But overall the outlook suggested that the bank's confidence that it can rein in inflation without knocking the economy off course is growing.,"But if left in place for too long, they risk triggering a harsh economic slowdown.",0.1746221874889574,"Forecasts released after the meeting showed that officials expect the economy to grow 2.1% this year, a significantly more rosy outlook than the 1.4% they projected in December.","The forecasts also showed officials expect inflation to fall to 2.4% by the end of the year, approaching the 2% rate the bank wants to see.",2024-03-27
Chrysler parent Stellantis laying off 400 salaried U.S. workers due to 'unprecedented uncertainties',https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/chrysler-parent-stellantis-laying-off-400-salaried-us-workers.html,2024-03-22T17:41:18+0000,"In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews."" Stellantis employed 11,800 U.S. salaried employees as of the end of last year.The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.A spokeswoman for the automaker declined to discuss the exact number of employees who are being laid off. A source familiar with the actions confirmed it at about 400 workers, a number first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.The layoffs occurred during a ""mandatory remote work day"" for U.S. salaried, nonunion employees in Stellantis' engineering and technology organization, according to an internal announcement confirmed by two sources who were not authorized to speak about the actions.The action is the latest by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to cut costs through layoffs, buyouts and other methods since the company was established through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in 2021.The cuts are part of a push to achieve Stellantis' ""Dare Forward 2030"" strategic plan that aims to increase profits and double the automaker's revenue to 300 billion euros, or $335 billion, by then, among other targets.""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"['In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.', 'Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews.""', 'Stellantis employed 11,800 U.S. salaried employees as of the end of last year.', 'The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.', 'A spokeswoman for the automaker declined to discuss the exact number of employees who are being laid off.', 'A source familiar with the actions confirmed it at about 400 workers, a number first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.', 'The layoffs occurred during a ""mandatory remote work day"" for U.S. salaried, nonunion employees in Stellantis\' engineering and technology organization, according to an internal announcement confirmed by two sources who were not authorized to speak about the actions.', 'The action is the latest by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to cut costs through layoffs, buyouts and other methods since the company was established through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in 2021.The cuts are part of a push to achieve Stellantis\' ""Dare Forward 2030"" strategic plan that aims to increase profits and double the automaker\'s revenue to 300 billion euros, or $335 billion, by then, among other targets.', '""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.']",0.1415057079365687,"The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.","Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews.""",0.5079136937856674,"""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.","In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.",2024-03-27
Largest U.S. sportsbooks join forces to tackle problem gambling,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/27/largest-us-sportsbooks-join-forces-to-tackle-problem-gambling.html,2024-03-27T16:54:22+0000,"In this articleSeven of the nation's largest gaming companies are joining forces to create a trade group to promote responsible gaming, and for the first time ever, will share information about problem gamblers.The seven operators — FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Penn Entertainment, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Hard Rock Digital and bet365 — will form the Responsible Online Gaming Association, or ROGA, the group announced Wednesday.The members account for more than 85% of the legal online betting market in the United States. Collectively they have pledged more than $20 million to fund ROGA.""I'm incredibly excited to move this forward and to really do some impactful things and to really expand the knowledge through the research and to create these evidence-based best practices and to really empower players with information,"" said Jennifer Shatley, executive director of ROGA.ROGA members commit to work together on issues ranging from education, responsible gaming best practices, conscientious advertising and marketing across the industry.The new group will also create an independent clearinghouse, or database, that will allow them to share key information related to protection of consumers, though the details on how it would work aren't yet clear.ROGA says it will create a certification program to assess members' responsible gaming efforts and provide an incentive for operators to participate.The new consortium comes as sports betting, both online and in retail outlets, has seen dramatic growth across the nation since 2018. Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., now offer legal sports wagering.This year, a record number of Americans bet on the Super Bowl. Online transactions totaled nearly 15,000 per second, doubling last year's peak, according to geolocating platform GeoComply.But as gambling has become more mainstream — and as advertising for sportsbooks spans television, streaming and social feeds — so, too, have headlines involving betting scandals and sports.In recent days, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has found himself at the center of a $4 million betting scandal involving his interpreter and an illegal bookie. Ohtani insists he's never bet on sports. The NBA is investigating Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for irregularities around wagering. And U.S. Integrity, a tech firm working to combat illicit betting in college sports, flagged anomalies around the betting lines for Temple University men's basketball games.A result of those claims: The potential to provoke outrage and public criticism that could become an inflection point for the U.S. gambling industry. There's also the potential for gambling's explosive growth to undermine integrity in sports and entice bettors into addiction.An estimated 2 million U.S. adults meet the criteria for a severe gambling problem, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling. Another 5 million to 8 million U.S. adults are considered to have a mild or moderate gambling problem.Problem gambling prompted regulatory crackdowns in Europe and especially in the United Kingdom over the last couple years, impacting sportsbooks' profitability and changing the way they conduct business.There has been a concerted effort in the United States for the gambling industry to police itself and ward off harsher regulatory frameworks.U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko of New York is introducing national legislation that would crack down on what he calls ""a public health crisis."" Tonko's ""Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act,"" which he introduced last week, would regulate gambling advertising, limit the number and size of deposits, and restrict how artificial intelligence is deployed to acquire customers.""Your going to have a lot more people saturated with this opportunity, with all these clever concepts of bonus bets, free bets and celebrity spokespersons,"" Tonko told CNBC.An influx of gamblers will result in a dramatic increase in the number of people struggling with addiction, he said.Some states have slapped operators with fines over gaming violations. In August, Maryland fined DraftKings $94,000 for marketing to underage players. PrizePicks reached a $15 million settlement in New York for operating illegally. In Indiana, the gaming commission fined FanDuel after eight people used illegally obtained debit cards to fund their betting accounts, causing ""great harm"" to partners on shared bank accounts, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission Chairman Milton Thompson.Some gambling insiders are skeptical of ROGA, suspicious of what they consider a marketing stunt to address a public relations problem.Caesars, which is noticeably absent from the group founding ROGA, told CNBC it's learned best practices from 35 years grappling with responsible gaming.""While we applaud all efforts to ensure online gaming is both operated and marketed in a responsible manner, we are confident in our [own] Responsible Gaming approach,"" the company said in a statement.Caesars said it's solely focused on the 21-and-older crowd and does not permit anyone younger than that to sign up for a Caesars rewards account, even in states like Rhode Island or Kentucky where 18-year-olds are permitted to wager.Many fantasy sports and social betting platforms that operate on a sweepstakes model permit players 18 and older, and many of Caesars' competitors allow 18-and-up customers to play fantasy sports. Some, too, allow sports betting in that age group in the few states that permit it.But the industry is working to better insulate its youngest and most vulnerable customers.The American Gaming Association launched last March an agreement aimed at providing college-aged students protections against the marketing and advertising of sports betting.Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, said responsible gaming comes down to good business. Yet, he warns that as legal operators come together to improve responsible gambling, the illegal marketplace will always be willing to take wagers from problem gamblers.""I urge the state regulators to help us by clamping down on some of those black market operators,"" Jackson told CNBC.",CNBC,27/03/2024,"[""In this articleSeven of the nation's largest gaming companies are joining forces to create a trade group to promote responsible gaming, and for the first time ever, will share information about problem gamblers."", 'The seven operators — FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Penn Entertainment, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Hard Rock Digital and bet365 — will form the Responsible Online Gaming Association, or ROGA, the group announced Wednesday.', 'The members account for more than 85% of the legal online betting market in the United States.', 'Collectively they have pledged more than $20 million to fund ROGA.""I\'m incredibly excited to move this forward and to really do some impactful things and to really expand the knowledge through the research and to create these evidence-based best practices and to really empower players with information,"" said Jennifer Shatley, executive director of ROGA.ROGA members commit to work together on issues ranging from education, responsible gaming best practices, conscientious advertising and marketing across the industry.', ""The new group will also create an independent clearinghouse, or database, that will allow them to share key information related to protection of consumers, though the details on how it would work aren't yet clear."", ""ROGA says it will create a certification program to assess members' responsible gaming efforts and provide an incentive for operators to participate."", 'The new consortium comes as sports betting, both online and in retail outlets, has seen dramatic growth across the nation since 2018.', 'Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., now offer legal sports wagering.', 'This year, a record number of Americans bet on the Super Bowl.', ""Online transactions totaled nearly 15,000 per second, doubling last year's peak, according to geolocating platform GeoComply."", 'But as gambling has become more mainstream — and as advertising for sportsbooks spans television, streaming and social feeds — so, too, have headlines involving betting scandals and sports.', 'In recent days, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has found himself at the center of a $4 million betting scandal involving his interpreter and an illegal bookie.', ""Ohtani insists he's never bet on sports."", 'The NBA is investigating Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for irregularities around wagering.', ""And U.S. Integrity, a tech firm working to combat illicit betting in college sports, flagged anomalies around the betting lines for Temple University men's basketball games."", 'A result of those claims: The potential to provoke outrage and public criticism that could become an inflection point for the U.S. gambling industry.', ""There's also the potential for gambling's explosive growth to undermine integrity in sports and entice bettors into addiction."", 'An estimated 2 million U.S. adults meet the criteria for a severe gambling problem, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling.', 'Another 5 million to 8 million U.S. adults are considered to have a mild or moderate gambling problem.', ""Problem gambling prompted regulatory crackdowns in Europe and especially in the United Kingdom over the last couple years, impacting sportsbooks' profitability and changing the way they conduct business."", 'There has been a concerted effort in the United States for the gambling industry to police itself and ward off harsher regulatory frameworks.', 'U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko of New York is introducing national legislation that would crack down on what he calls ""a public health crisis.""', 'Tonko\'s ""Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act,"" which he introduced last week, would regulate gambling advertising, limit the number and size of deposits, and restrict how artificial intelligence is deployed to acquire customers.', '""Your going to have a lot more people saturated with this opportunity, with all these clever concepts of bonus bets, free bets and celebrity spokespersons,"" Tonko told CNBC.An influx of gamblers will result in a dramatic increase in the number of people struggling with addiction, he said.', 'Some states have slapped operators with fines over gaming violations.', 'In August, Maryland fined DraftKings $94,000 for marketing to underage players.', 'PrizePicks reached a $15 million settlement in New York for operating illegally.', 'In Indiana, the gaming commission fined FanDuel after eight people used illegally obtained debit cards to fund their betting accounts, causing ""great harm"" to partners on shared bank accounts, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission Chairman Milton Thompson.', 'Some gambling insiders are skeptical of ROGA, suspicious of what they consider a marketing stunt to address a public relations problem.', ""Caesars, which is noticeably absent from the group founding ROGA, told CNBC it's learned best practices from 35 years grappling with responsible gaming."", '""While we applaud all efforts to ensure online gaming is both operated and marketed in a responsible manner, we are confident in our [own] Responsible Gaming approach,"" the company said in a statement.', ""Caesars said it's solely focused on the 21-and-older crowd and does not permit anyone younger than that to sign up for a Caesars rewards account, even in states like Rhode Island or Kentucky where 18-year-olds are permitted to wager."", ""Many fantasy sports and social betting platforms that operate on a sweepstakes model permit players 18 and older, and many of Caesars' competitors allow 18-and-up customers to play fantasy sports."", 'Some, too, allow sports betting in that age group in the few states that permit it.', 'But the industry is working to better insulate its youngest and most vulnerable customers.', 'The American Gaming Association launched last March an agreement aimed at providing college-aged students protections against the marketing and advertising of sports betting.', 'Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, said responsible gaming comes down to good business.', 'Yet, he warns that as legal operators come together to improve responsible gambling, the illegal marketplace will always be willing to take wagers from problem gamblers.', '""I urge the state regulators to help us by clamping down on some of those black market operators,"" Jackson told CNBC.']",0.1957878066649391,"Collectively they have pledged more than $20 million to fund ROGA.""I'm incredibly excited to move this forward and to really do some impactful things and to really expand the knowledge through the research and to create these evidence-based best practices and to really empower players with information,"" said Jennifer Shatley, executive director of ROGA.ROGA members commit to work together on issues ranging from education, responsible gaming best practices, conscientious advertising and marketing across the industry.",A result of those claims: The potential to provoke outrage and public criticism that could become an inflection point for the U.S. gambling industry.,0.0347215784223456,"The new consortium comes as sports betting, both online and in retail outlets, has seen dramatic growth across the nation since 2018.",There's also the potential for gambling's explosive growth to undermine integrity in sports and entice bettors into addiction.,2024-03-27
Could AI take the grind out of accountancy?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68553123,2024-03-26T00:24:13.000Z,"Owen Hewitt, is a trainee chartered accountant at accountancy firm haysmacintyre. He's two years into his training with more exams coming up this year.  What's unusual about him and his peers, is that they will be the first generation of accountants to use artificial intelligence (AI) right from the beginning of their careers. Mr Hewitt is hoping that AI will take over some of the more tedious parts of the job. ""These (AI) can remove the burden of the more time-consuming tasks, like analysis of financial data,"" says Mr Hewitt. That leaves the humans to focus on more subjective - and more interesting - decisions, like whether a business is viable, or whether debts are likely to be paid. ""Whilst AI can learn from data and make predictions, it can't yet replace the human judgement required to weigh up different variables and make an informed decision,"" he says. So, AI is increasingly being used for routine and time-consuming tasks such as summarising documents, creating content, drafting documentation, advanced searching, analytics and insight and knowledge management - often work done by more junior accountancy staff. ""When you look at some of the tasks that auditors were doing - some of the boring, mundane tasks around churning data and manipulating it into a format where you can then actually do something valuable with it - that's where artificial intelligence can play a really big part,"" says Matthew Campbell, audit chief technology officer for KPMG UK. Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs. According to a KPMG survey, four in 10 senior audit professionals expect that the increased efficiency that AI can bring will lead to a reduction in the size of auditing teams. Already, many manual audit and reporting tasks have been outsourced to other countries, with most major banks in the UK now having taken on large numbers of qualified accountants in India, who perform a significant proportion of month-end financial reporting tasks. This, says Alex King, founder and chartered accountant at finance platform Generation Money, means that junior accountants working in audit will need to focus more on client-facing skills. ""Generally, the nature of a junior accountant's role is likely to change more towards systems management - overseeing AI powered software and databases - and relationship management, and away from the traditional reconciliations and ledgers work,"" he says. As a result, training programmes are changing. ""We're still recruiting a number of people, graduates, and we're also recruiting a number of apprentices. I think what will change over time is the skillsets of some of those individuals,"" says Mr Campbell. ""We're already starting to see that, so we've invested in putting a number of our auditors through a master's degree in applied data science, so they can take that auditing and accounting knowledge with their data science skills knowledge, to really bring the best of those skills together."" The accountancy industry has seen some high-profile failures in recent years. In March, KPMG was fined £1.5m for failings in its 2019 audit of advertising agency M&C Saatchi. And it's not alone in making errors. Last summer, a report from the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) found that four in 10 audits conducted by global accounting firms had significant flaws, and that the proportion was rising rapidly. Meanwhile, the UK's accountancy regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), carried out 19 investigations in the 2022-2023 financial year, slapping fines of £40.5 million on auditing firms and their clients for audit failings. As a result, auditing firms are now under great scrutiny; and to tighten up their procedures, many are turning to AI. ""As generative AI plays a more prominent role in contributing to first drafts of content, the human auditor role can be elevated to focus on areas of judgment and challenge,"" says Marc Bena, digital audit leader at PwC UK. ""The ability to analyse data at a much larger scale also means we can perform better risk assessments and analysis."" AI is particularly good at spotting anomalies in vast amounts of data, making it useful when examining what may amount to billions of transactions by a client. KPMG itself uses AI for high-risk transactions to look for such anomalies, such as the posting of unusual amounts, postings made by somebody unusual or postings made at a weekend. ""We get to a point where it's a truly data-driven audit, where we identify the risks from within a population of data and use that to help focus our audit efforts on the most complex, the high-risk, the most judgmental areas,"" says Mr Campbell. More technology of business As for more high-level jobs, AI may help here too. Auditing firms have been finding it hard to retain talent, with 90% of auditors telling Caseware last year that it is either somewhat or extremely difficult. Overall, auditing job vacancies rose during the last year by a quarter, according to a survey from automation platform DataSnipper. However, 86% of auditing staff agreed that AI helps cut down time on repetitive task - and 83% said they'd be more inclined to stay at a company with AI initiatives in place. ""They can get through some of the laborious, time-intensive tasks to actually get into the value of doing the analysis, the output and the interpretation,"" says Mr Campbell. ""The bits of their role that it's taking away is stuff that they weren't enjoying."" ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Owen Hewitt, is a trainee chartered accountant at accountancy firm haysmacintyre.', ""He's two years into his training with more exams coming up this year."", ""What's unusual about him and his peers, is that they will be the first generation of accountants to use artificial intelligence (AI) right from the beginning of their careers."", 'Mr Hewitt is hoping that AI will take over some of the more tedious parts of the job. ""', 'These (AI) can remove the burden of the more time-consuming tasks, like analysis of financial data,"" says Mr Hewitt.', 'That leaves the humans to focus on more subjective - and more interesting - decisions, like whether a business is viable, or whether debts are likely to be paid. ""', 'Whilst AI can learn from data and make predictions, it can\'t yet replace the human judgement required to weigh up different variables and make an informed decision,"" he says.', 'So, AI is increasingly being used for routine and time-consuming tasks such as summarising documents, creating content, drafting documentation, advanced searching, analytics and insight and knowledge management - often work done by more junior accountancy staff. ""', 'When you look at some of the tasks that auditors were doing - some of the boring, mundane tasks around churning data and manipulating it into a format where you can then actually do something valuable with it - that\'s where artificial intelligence can play a really big part,"" says Matthew Campbell, audit chief technology officer for KPMG UK.', ""Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs."", 'According to a KPMG survey, four in 10 senior audit professionals expect that the increased efficiency that AI can bring will lead to a reduction in the size of auditing teams.', 'Already, many manual audit and reporting tasks have been outsourced to other countries, with most major banks in the UK now having taken on large numbers of qualified accountants in India, who perform a significant proportion of month-end financial reporting tasks.', 'This, says Alex King, founder and chartered accountant at finance platform Generation Money, means that junior accountants working in audit will need to focus more on client-facing skills. ""', 'Generally, the nature of a junior accountant\'s role is likely to change more towards systems management - overseeing AI powered software and databases - and relationship management, and away from the traditional reconciliations and ledgers work,"" he says.', 'As a result, training programmes are changing. ""', ""We're still recruiting a number of people, graduates, and we're also recruiting a number of apprentices."", 'I think what will change over time is the skillsets of some of those individuals,"" says Mr Campbell. ""', 'We\'re already starting to see that, so we\'ve invested in putting a number of our auditors through a master\'s degree in applied data science, so they can take that auditing and accounting knowledge with their data science skills knowledge, to really bring the best of those skills together.""', 'The accountancy industry has seen some high-profile failures in recent years.', 'In March, KPMG was fined £1.5m for failings in its 2019 audit of advertising agency M&C Saatchi.', ""And it's not alone in making errors."", 'Last summer, a report from the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) found that four in 10 audits conducted by global accounting firms had significant flaws, and that the proportion was rising rapidly.', ""Meanwhile, the UK's accountancy regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), carried out 19 investigations in the 2022-2023 financial year, slapping fines of £40.5 million on auditing firms and their clients for audit failings."", 'As a result, auditing firms are now under great scrutiny; and to tighten up their procedures, many are turning to AI. ""', 'As generative AI plays a more prominent role in contributing to first drafts of content, the human auditor role can be elevated to focus on areas of judgment and challenge,"" says Marc Bena, digital audit leader at PwC UK. ""', 'The ability to analyse data at a much larger scale also means we can perform better risk assessments and analysis.""', 'AI is particularly good at spotting anomalies in vast amounts of data, making it useful when examining what may amount to billions of transactions by a client.', 'KPMG itself uses AI for high-risk transactions to look for such anomalies, such as the posting of unusual amounts, postings made by somebody unusual or postings made at a weekend. ""', 'We get to a point where it\'s a truly data-driven audit, where we identify the risks from within a population of data and use that to help focus our audit efforts on the most complex, the high-risk, the most judgmental areas,"" says Mr Campbell.', 'More technology of business As for more high-level jobs, AI may help here too.', 'Auditing firms have been finding it hard to retain talent, with 90% of auditors telling Caseware last year that it is either somewhat or extremely difficult.', 'Overall, auditing job vacancies rose during the last year by a quarter, according to a survey from automation platform DataSnipper.', 'However, 86% of auditing staff agreed that AI helps cut down time on repetitive task - and 83% said they\'d be more inclined to stay at a company with AI initiatives in place. ""', 'They can get through some of the laborious, time-intensive tasks to actually get into the value of doing the analysis, the output and the interpretation,"" says Mr Campbell. ""', 'The bits of their role that it\'s taking away is stuff that they weren\'t enjoying.""']",0.1626808889918358,"AI is particularly good at spotting anomalies in vast amounts of data, making it useful when examining what may amount to billions of transactions by a client.","Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs.",0.3071962833404541,"Overall, auditing job vacancies rose during the last year by a quarter, according to a survey from automation platform DataSnipper.","Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs.",2024-03-27
"Hyundai’s Genesis reveals all-electric SUV concept, the Neolun",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/hyundais-genesis-previews-all-electric-suv-concept-the-neolun.html,2024-03-26T17:29:29+0000,"NEW YORK – Hyundai's Genesis is previewing the future of the growingly prominent luxury brand with a new large all-electric concept vehicle called the Neolun.The full-size SUV features a sleek exterior design illuminated by long horizontal headlights and taillights reminiscent of the brand's current EVs, though more modern.The interior of the Neolun – derived from the Greek ""neo,"" or new, and the Latin ""luna,"" which means moon – is minimalistic compared with many recent concepts that include door-to-door screens. The SUV features a large central screen with physical buttons below it and a control panel and knob to the right of the driver.The vehicle's front seats can swivel to face the rear passengers for lounge seating.""The Neolun Concept is a concept model that showcases the future vision of Genesis, as well as the overall direction in which the brand is headed in terms of product, design and technological advancement,"" Genesis said in an emailed statement.Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand. The vehicles are not meant to be sold to consumers.The company declined to disclose whether the vehicle is a preview of an upcoming large all-electric SUV for Genesis, which has been growing its lineup in the U.S.Genesis' U.S. sales increased 23% last year to a record of 69,175 units compared with 2022. Genesis, which became its own brand in 2015, outsold more established luxury rival Infiniti and expects sales to continue to grow this year.""Our standalone retail footprint is rapidly expanding, and the brand continues to achieve record-breaking sales results in the United States,"" Tedros Mengiste, vice president of sales operations for Genesis Motor America, said in a release last week.Genesis also revealed another concept called the GV60 Magma Concept, a high-performance variant of its compact EV crossover.The brand said it aims to develop a high-performance Magma model for each production vehicle in the existing lineup.The concept vehicles were revealed Monday night ahead of their public debuts this week at the New York International Auto Show.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"[""NEW YORK – Hyundai's Genesis is previewing the future of the growingly prominent luxury brand with a new large all-electric concept vehicle called the Neolun."", ""The full-size SUV features a sleek exterior design illuminated by long horizontal headlights and taillights reminiscent of the brand's current EVs, though more modern."", 'The interior of the Neolun – derived from the Greek ""neo,"" or new, and the Latin ""luna,"" which means moon – is minimalistic compared with many recent concepts that include door-to-door screens.', 'The SUV features a large central screen with physical buttons below it and a control panel and knob to the right of the driver.', ""The vehicle's front seats can swivel to face the rear passengers for lounge seating."", '""The Neolun Concept is a concept model that showcases the future vision of Genesis, as well as the overall direction in which the brand is headed in terms of product, design and technological advancement,"" Genesis said in an emailed statement.', 'Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand.', 'The vehicles are not meant to be sold to consumers.', ""The company declined to disclose whether the vehicle is a preview of an upcoming large all-electric SUV for Genesis, which has been growing its lineup in the U.S.Genesis' U.S. sales increased 23% last year to a record of 69,175 units compared with 2022."", 'Genesis, which became its own brand in 2015, outsold more established luxury rival Infiniti and expects sales to continue to grow this year.', '""Our standalone retail footprint is rapidly expanding, and the brand continues to achieve record-breaking sales results in the United States,"" Tedros Mengiste, vice president of sales operations for Genesis Motor America, said in a release last week.', 'Genesis also revealed another concept called the GV60 Magma Concept, a high-performance variant of its compact EV crossover.', 'The brand said itaims to develop a high-performance Magma model for each production vehicle in the existing lineup.', 'The concept vehicles were revealed Monday night ahead of their public debuts this week at the New York International Auto Show.']",0.1497590928936046,"""The Neolun Concept is a concept model that showcases the future vision of Genesis, as well as the overall direction in which the brand is headed in terms of product, design and technological advancement,"" Genesis said in an emailed statement.",,0.9996995329856871,"The company declined to disclose whether the vehicle is a preview of an upcoming large all-electric SUV for Genesis, which has been growing its lineup in the U.S.Genesis' U.S. sales increased 23% last year to a record of 69,175 units compared with 2022.",,2024-03-27
China former football chief sentenced to life for bribery,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68662441,2024-03-26T03:59:39.000Z,"A former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, according to the country's state media. In January, he pleaded guilty to taking bribes worth a total of 81 million yuan ($11.2m; £8.9m). An anti-corruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping has cut through sport, banking and the military. In football, more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated. The trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Huangshi in central China revealed Chen's illicit activities from 2010 to 2023, which included his earlier role as the president and chairman of Shanghai International Port Group. Prosecutors said Chen accepted money and valuables in exchange for his help with obtaining project contracts and arranging sporting events. The court ruling said he had brought ""tremendous damage"" to China's football cause, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency. State media also said that three other senior football officials were sentenced on Tuesday to between eight and 14 years in prison for corruption. Earlier this year, an ex-Everton midfielder and former head coach of China's national men's soccer team, Li Tie, confessed to fixing matches and offering bribes to people, including Chen, to get China's top coaching job. China's foreign ministry also confirmed that South Korea's Son Jun-ho, who played for Shandong Taishan, was held in police custody in relation to a bribery case. South Korea's foreign ministry said this week that he had been released from detention. In the past President Xi has voiced his ambition to turn China into a major footballing nation. In 2011, he spoke of his 'three wishes' for Chinese football: to qualify for the World Cup again, to host the tournament and to one day win the trophy.   Over the past decade, clubs in China's Super League have spent huge sums of money to attract some of the world's top players, including Brazilian midfielder Oscar, former Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and Belgian international Axel Witsel. However, that resulted in clubs piling up debts and the CFA announced a salary cap in 2020. At the time, it said the move was aimed to focus investment on developing homegrown talent instead of importing international stars. Now, only a small number of foreign players remain in the league. Recent detentions of major football figures have dealt another setback to the country's football ambitions. Despite these problems, domestic football is still popular in China and Mr Chen's corruption scandal shocked fans. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""A former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, according to the country's state media."", 'In January, he pleaded guilty to taking bribes worth a total of 81 million yuan ($11.2m; £8.9m).', 'An anti-corruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping has cut through sport, banking and the military.', 'In football, more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated.', ""The trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Huangshi in central China revealed Chen's illicit activities from 2010 to 2023, which included his earlier role as the president and chairman of Shanghai International Port Group."", 'Prosecutors said Chen accepted money and valuables in exchange for his help with obtaining project contracts and arranging sporting events.', 'The court ruling said he had brought ""tremendous damage"" to China\'s football cause, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency.', 'State media also said that three other senior football officials were sentenced on Tuesday to between eight and 14 years in prison for corruption.', ""Earlier this year, an ex-Everton midfielder and former head coach of China's national men's soccer team, Li Tie, confessed to fixing matches and offering bribes to people, including Chen, to get China's top coaching job."", ""China's foreign ministry also confirmed that South Korea's Son Jun-ho, who played for Shandong Taishan, was held in police custody in relation to a bribery case."", ""South Korea's foreign ministry said this week that he had been released from detention."", 'In the past President Xi has voiced his ambition to turn China into a major footballing nation.', ""In 2011, he spoke of his 'three wishes' for Chinese football: to qualify for the World Cup again, to host the tournament and to one day win the trophy."", ""Over the past decade, clubs in China's Super League have spent huge sums of money to attract some of the world's top players, including Brazilian midfielder Oscar, former Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and Belgian international Axel Witsel."", 'However, that resulted in clubs piling up debts and the CFA announced a salary cap in 2020.', 'At the time, it said the move was aimed to focus investment on developing homegrown talent instead of importing international stars.', 'Now, only a small number of foreign players remain in the league.', ""Recent detentions of major football figures have dealt another setback to the country's football ambitions."", ""Despite these problems, domestic football is still popular in China and Mr Chen's corruption scandal shocked fans.""]",0.0315067115162816,"Over the past decade, clubs in China's Super League have spent huge sums of money to attract some of the world's top players, including Brazilian midfielder Oscar, former Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and Belgian international Axel Witsel.","The court ruling said he had brought ""tremendous damage"" to China's football cause, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency.",-0.4104255608149937,"Despite these problems, domestic football is still popular in China and Mr Chen's corruption scandal shocked fans.",Recent detentions of major football figures have dealt another setback to the country's football ambitions.,2024-03-27
Warren Buffett’s favorite market indicator is flashing red,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html,"
  Published
        7:47 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.
    
            The “Buffett Indicator” is flashing red.
    
            In 2001, Warren Buffett came up with what he called in Fortune Magazine “probably the best single measure of where [stock] valuations stand at any given moment.”
    
            Today that barometer has soared to a two-year high, signaling that a market retreat could be coming.
    
            What’s happening: Widely known as the “Buffett Indicator,” it measures the size of the US stock market against the size of the economy by taking the total value of all publicly traded companies (measured using the Wilshire 5000 index) and dividing that by the last quarterly estimate for gross domestic product.
    
            The resulting ratio is supposed to tell us how fairly priced stocks are by providing a simple gauge of whether the market is overvalued or undervalued relative to economic output. If the stock market is growing a lot faster than the economy, that could be a sign of a bubble.
    
            Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway says that a reading of 100% is fair, if it’s closer to 70% stocks are at a bargain price, and if it’s anywhere near the 200% mark, investors are “playing with fire.”
    
            The indicator is currently sitting near a two-year high, at nearly 190%.
    
            The last time the indicator was this high was in 2022, when it hit 211% and the S&P 500 dropped by 19% over the next year.
    
            Bubble territory: Markets have surged higher this year as investor enthusiasm over artificial intelligence stocks have sent chipmakers like Nvidia to all-time highs.
    
            Wall Street is also betting that there will be three interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, and investors have been preemptively celebrating.
    
            But some analysts are ringing the alarm. They’re worried that AI fervor is misguided. Plus, two Fed officials have forecast no interest rate cuts at all this year.
    
            “My impression is that investors are presently enjoying the double-top of the most extreme speculative bubble in US financial history,” legendary investor John Hussman wrote in a recent note. Hussman predicted the 2000 and 2008 market crashes.
    
            Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers also fretted over markets last week. “I certainly think we’re at least at the foothills of bubbles,” he said on Bloomberg.
    
            Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates thinks US markets are in a melt-up that’s being widely ignored by investors. “The market continues to march relentlessly higher and no one is willing to call a top,” he said in a note.
    
            The S&P 500 has surged more than 10% since January, and last week it surpassed Goldman Sachs’ year-end target of 5,200. Analysts at the bank now say there’s a scenario where it could rise an additional 15% to 6,000 by the end of the year.
    
            “As always, there are a lot fewer questions about why the market is up than there are when it trades down,” said Navellier.
    
            Yes, but: The so-called Buffett Indicator is not without flaw. It ignores how much money companies make abroad and doesn’t consider how interest rates might change a company’s valuation. Buffett himself has conceded that the very simple metric has its limitations.
    
            And while markets are frothy, they’re not exactly bubbling.
    
            “This is not hype,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC last month about a potential AI bubble. “When we had the internet bubble the first time around… that was hype. This is not hype. It’s real,” he said. “People are deploying [AI] at different speeds, but it will handle a tremendous amount of stuff.”
    
            The froth appears to be settling — about 23% of S&P 500 companies made a new 52-week high last week, and the equal-weighted S&P 500 is up by nearly 25% since its October 2023 low. That makes this market more “believa-bull,” quipped Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
    
            But, he told CNN, “we continue to think the market is vulnerable to a looming negative catalyst — particularly on the earnings front — given both attitudinal and behavioral sentiment metrics are in extreme optimism territory.”
    
            The last trading day of the quarter falls on Thursday, and earnings reports begin in early April.
    
            Two of the world’s largest credit card networks, Visa and Mastercard, as well as the banks that issue cards with them, have agreed to settle a decades-long antitrust case brought upon by merchants, reports my colleague Elisabeth Buchwald.
    
            The settlement is set to lower swipe fees merchants pay when customers make purchases using their Visa or Mastercard by $30 billion over five years, according to a press release announcing the settlement Tuesday morning.
    
            The settlement, which only applies to US merchants, is the result of a lawsuit filed in 2005. However, nothing is considered finalized until it receives approval from the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Even then, the case can also be appealed in what could be a lengthy battle.
    
            Typically, swipe fees cost merchants 2% of the total transaction a customer makes — but can be as much as 4% for some premium rewards cards, according to the National Retail Federation. The settlement would lower those fees by at least 0.04 percentage point for a minimum of three years.
    
            For the first time in almost 30 years, part of Donald Trump’s business empire has gone public. Trading started with a bang, but the frenzy eased considerably by the closing bell, with shares ending well off their highs of the day, reports CNN’s Matt Egan.
    
            Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of struggling social media platform Truth Social, began its long-delayed journey as a public company at Tuesday’s opening bell under the ticker symbol “DJT.”
    
            The stock surged about 56% at the open, to $78, and trading was briefly halted for volatility. Trump Media shares stabilized around $70 before fizzling. By the closing bell, Trump Media ended at $57.99, up by a more modest 16% on the day.
    
            The skyrocketing share price comes despite the fact that Trump Media is burning through cash; piling up losses; and its main product, Truth Social, is losing users.
    
            “This is a very unusual situation. The stock is pretty much divorced from fundamentals,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, who has been studying initial public offerings (IPOs) for over 40 years.
    
            Ritter said the closest parallel would be GameStop, AMC and other so-called meme stocks that skyrocketed during Covid-19 as an army of retail traders piled in. He said Trump Media is likely worth somewhere around $2 a share — nowhere near its closing stock price of $58.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter.', 'Not a subscriber?', 'You can sign upright here.', 'You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.', 'The “Buffett Indicator” is flashing red.', 'In 2001, Warren Buffett came up with what he called in Fortune Magazine “probably the best single measure of where [stock] valuations stand at any given moment.”', 'Today that barometer has soared to a two-year high, signaling that a market retreat could be coming.', 'What’s happening: Widely known as the “Buffett Indicator,” it measures the size of the US stock market against the size of the economy by taking the total value of all publicly traded companies (measured using the Wilshire 5000 index) and dividing that by the last quarterly estimate for gross domestic product.', 'The resulting ratio is supposed to tell us how fairly priced stocks are by providing a simple gauge of whether the market is overvalued or undervalued relative to economic output.', 'If the stock market is growing a lot faster than the economy, that could be a sign of a bubble.', 'Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway says that a reading of 100% is fair, if it’s closer to 70% stocks are at a bargain price, and if it’s anywhere near the 200% mark, investors are “playing with fire.”', 'The indicator is currently sitting near a two-year high, at nearly 190%.', 'The last time the indicator was this high was in 2022, when it hit 211% and the S&P 500 dropped by 19% over the next year.', 'Bubble territory: Markets have surged higher this year as investor enthusiasm over artificial intelligence stocks have sent chipmakers like Nvidia to all-time highs.', 'Wall Street is also betting that there will be three interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, and investors have been preemptively celebrating.', 'But some analysts are ringing the alarm.', 'They’re worried that AI fervor is misguided.', 'Plus, two Fed officials have forecast no interest rate cuts at all this year.', '“My impression is that investors are presently enjoying the double-top of the most extreme speculative bubble in US financial history,” legendary investor John Hussman wrote in a recent note.', 'Hussman predicted the 2000 and 2008 market crashes.', 'Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers also fretted over markets last week. “', 'I certainly think we’re at least at the foothills of bubbles,” he said on Bloomberg.', 'Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates thinks US markets are in a melt-up that’s being widely ignored by investors. “', 'The market continues to march relentlessly higher and no one is willing to call a top,” he said in a note.', 'The S&P 500 has surged more than 10% since January, and last week it surpassed Goldman Sachs’ year-end target of 5,200.', 'Analysts at the bank now say there’s a scenario where it could rise an additional 15% to 6,000 by the end of the year.', '“As always, there are a lot fewer questions about why the market is up than there are when it trades down,” said Navellier.', 'Yes, but: The so-called Buffett Indicator is not without flaw.', 'It ignores how much money companies make abroad and doesn’t consider how interest rates might change a company’s valuation.', 'Buffett himself has conceded that the very simple metric has its limitations.', 'And while markets are frothy, they’re not exactly bubbling.', '“This is not hype,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC last month about a potential AI bubble. “', 'When we had the internet bubble the first time around… that was hype.', 'This is not hype.', 'It’s real,” he said. “', 'People are deploying [AI] at different speeds, but it will handle a tremendous amount of stuff.”', 'The froth appears to be settling — about 23% of S&P 500 companies made a new 52-week high last week, and the equal-weighted S&P 500 is up by nearly 25% since its October 2023 low.', 'That makes this market more “believa-bull,” quipped Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab.', 'But, he told CNN, “we continue to think the market is vulnerable to a looming negative catalyst — particularly on the earnings front — given both attitudinal and behavioral sentiment metrics are in extreme optimism territory.”', 'The last trading day of the quarter falls on Thursday, and earnings reports begin in early April.', 'Two of the world’s largest credit card networks, Visa and Mastercard, as well as the banks that issue cards with them, have agreed to settle a decades-long antitrust case brought upon by merchants, reports my colleague Elisabeth Buchwald.', 'The settlement is set to lower swipe fees merchants pay when customers make purchases using their Visa or Mastercard by $30 billion over five years, according to a press release announcing the settlement Tuesday morning.', 'The settlement, which only applies to US merchants, is the result of a lawsuit filed in 2005.', 'However, nothing is considered finalized until it receives approval from the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.', 'Even then, the case can also be appealed in what could be a lengthy battle.', 'Typically, swipe fees cost merchants 2% of the total transaction a customer makes —but can be as much as 4% for some premium rewards cards, according to the National Retail Federation.', 'The settlement would lower those fees by at least 0.04 percentage point for a minimum of three years.', 'For the first time in almost 30 years, part of Donald Trump’s business empire has gone public.', 'Trading started with a bang, but the frenzy eased considerably by the closing bell, with shares ending well off their highs of the day, reports CNN’s Matt Egan.', 'Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of struggling social media platform Truth Social, began itslong-delayed journey as a public companyat Tuesday’s opening bell under the ticker symbol “DJT.”', 'The stock surged about 56% at the open, to $78, and trading was briefly halted for volatility.', 'Trump Media shares stabilized around $70 before fizzling.', 'By the closing bell, Trump Media ended at $57.99, up by a more modest 16% on the day.', 'The skyrocketing share price comes despite the fact that Trump Media is burning through cash; piling up losses; and its main product, Truth Social, is losing users.', '“This is a very unusual situation.', 'The stock is pretty much divorced from fundamentals,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, who has been studying initial public offerings (IPOs) for over 40 years.', 'Ritter said the closest parallel would be GameStop, AMC andother so-called meme stocks that skyrocketed during Covid-19as an army of retail traders piled in.', 'He said Trump Media is likely worth somewhere around $2 a share — nowhere near its closing stock price of $58.']",0.0760912568876967,Bubble territory: Markets have surged higher this year as investor enthusiasm over artificial intelligence stocks have sent chipmakers like Nvidia to all-time highs.,But some analysts are ringing the alarm.,0.536154180765152,"The S&P 500 has surged more than 10% since January, and last week it surpassed Goldman Sachs’ year-end target of 5,200.","The last time the indicator was this high was in 2022, when it hit 211% and the S&P 500 dropped by 19% over the next year.",2024-03-27
"NBC hires former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, who has demonized the press and refused to acknowledge Biden was fairly elected",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/media/ronna-mcdaniel-nbc/index.html,"
  Published
        1:53 PM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","NBC News on Friday announced that it had hired Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican National Committee chair who has repeatedly attacked the network and its journalists, assailed the news media as “fake news” and promoted false claims around the 2020 vote, as an on-air commentator ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
    
            “It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, senior vice president of politics at NBC News, said in a memo to staff.
    
            McDaniel exited the RNC earlier this month after leading the organization since 2016.
    
            During her time as chair, McDaniel repeatedly attacked the press, which has become increasingly popular in Republican circles over the last several years as Donald Trump demonizes journalists and news institutions.
    
            McDaniel echoed many such attacks, labeling the press as “fake news” and calling the media “corrupt.” At times, she even targeted NBC News and MSNBC with dishonest attacks.
    
            In 2019, for instance, McDaniel accused Richard Engel, NBC News’ chief foreign correspondent, of “actively cheering for an economic downturn.”
    
            “How can NBC let him keep his job when he’s made his bias so clear?” McDaniel asked.
    
            McDaniel has a lengthier history attacking the progressive cable news channel MSNBC, which she will appear on in her new role. In recent years, she has repeatedly attacked the channel for “spreading lies” and blasted those she described as the network’s “primetime propagandists.”
    
            An NBC spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment about her attacks on the news media and NBC.
    
            In her role as RNC chief, McDaniel also fanned the flames of election denialism after the 2020 presidential contest.
    
            McDaniel was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead. McDaniel told the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.”
    
            The Michigan Department of State’s office condemned her claims of supposed voter fraud in the wake of the election, stating they had “no merit.” The state’s “elections were conducted fairly, effectively and transparently and are an accurate reflection of the will of Michigan voters,” it said in a detailed fact check posted online.
    
            In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace last year, McDaniel defended her claims of voting “irregularity” in the election.
    
            “I think saying that there were problems with 2020 is very real. I don’t think that’s election denying,” McDaniel told Wallace. “I’m from Wayne County. We had a woman send a note saying I’m being told to backdate ballots. We had to look into that. That’s deeply concerning. When you have friends who are poll-watching and being kicked out, that’s deeply concerning. We have every right to look at that.”
    
            In the interview, Wallace pressed McDaniel if she believed Biden legitimately won the election.
    
            “I think there were lots of problems with 2020. Ultimately, he won the election but there were lots of problems with the 2020 election,” she said. “But I don’t think he won it fair. I don’t. I’m not going to say that.”
    
            NBC’s hiring of McDaniel, however, plays into a recent trend at the network’s outlets, which has seemingly softened its stance on Trump as he inches toward the Republican nomination for president.
    
            Earlier this month, CNBC hosted Trump for a lengthy phone interview in which the network’s anchors allowed him to peddle lies and conspiracy theories on air without scrutiny.
    
            MSNBC has even started carrying Trump’s remarks live on television, a practice that the network boasted for years it would not do. Star host Rachel Maddow, who has said carrying Trump’s lies on the air is dangerous, even objected to the network broadcasting a recent speech from the presumptive Republican nominee, calling it “irresponsible.”",CNN,22/03/2024,"['NBC News on Friday announced that it had hired Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican National Committee chair who has repeatedlyattacked the network and its journalists,assailed thenewsmedia as “fake news” and promoted false claims around the 2020vote,as an on-air commentatorahead of the 2024 presidential election.', '“It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, senior vice president of politics at NBC News, said in a memoto staff.', 'McDaniel exited the RNC earlier this month after leading the organization since 2016.', 'During her time as chair, McDaniel repeatedly attacked the press, which has become increasingly popular in Republican circles over the last several years as Donald Trump demonizes journalists and news institutions.', 'McDaniel echoed many such attacks, labeling the press as “fake news” and calling the media “corrupt.”', 'At times, she even targeted NBC Newsand MSNBCwith dishonest attacks.', 'In 2019, for instance, McDaniel accused Richard Engel, NBC News’ chief foreign correspondent, of “actively cheering for an economic downturn.”', '“How can NBC let him keep his job when he’s made his bias so clear?”', 'McDaniel asked.', 'McDaniel has a lengthier history attacking the progressive cable news channel MSNBC, which she will appear on in her new role.', 'In recent years, she has repeatedly attacked the channel for “spreading lies” and blasted those she described as the network’s “primetime propagandists.”', 'An NBC spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment about her attacks on the news media and NBC.', 'In her role as RNC chief, McDaniel also fanned the flames of election denialism after the 2020 presidential contest.', 'McDaniel was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead.', 'McDanieltold the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. …', 'We will get you attorneys.”', 'The Michigan Department of State’s office condemned her claims of supposed voter fraud in the wake of the election, stating they had “no merit.', '”The state’s “elections were conducted fairly, effectively and transparently and are an accurate reflection of the will of Michigan voters,” it said in adetailed fact checkposted online.', 'In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace last year, McDaniel defended her claims of voting “irregularity” in the election.', '“I think saying that there were problems with 2020 is very real.', 'I don’t think that’s election denying,” McDaniel told Wallace. “', 'I’m from Wayne County.', 'We had a woman send a note saying I’m being told to backdate ballots.', 'We had to look into that.', 'That’s deeply concerning.', 'When you have friends who are poll-watching and being kicked out, that’s deeply concerning.', 'We have every right to look at that.”', 'In the interview,Wallace pressed McDaniel if she believed Biden legitimately won the election.', '“I think there were lots of problems with 2020.', 'Ultimately, he won the electionbut there were lots of problems with the 2020 election,” she said. “', 'But I don’t think he won it fair.', 'I don’t.', 'I’m not going to say that.”', 'NBC’s hiring of McDaniel, however, plays into a recent trend at thenetwork’s outlets, which has seemingly softened its stance on Trump as he inches toward the Republican nomination for president.', 'Earlier this month, CNBC hosted Trump for a lengthy phone interview in which the network’s anchors allowed him to peddle lies and conspiracy theories on airwithout scrutiny.', 'MSNBC has even started carrying Trump’s remarks live on television, a practice that the network boasted for years it would not do.', 'Star host Rachel Maddow, who has said carrying Trump’s lieson the airis dangerous, even objected to the network broadcasting a recent speech from the presumptive Republican nominee, calling it “irresponsible.”']",-0.069193576701305,But I don’t think he won it fair.,"At times, she even targeted NBC Newsand MSNBCwith dishonest attacks.",-0.2803102334340413,"NBC’s hiring of McDaniel, however, plays into a recent trend at thenetwork’s outlets, which has seemingly softened its stance on Trump as he inches toward the Republican nomination for president.",“I think there were lots of problems with 2020.,2024-03-27
Vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso expands to lower-priced listings,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/vacation-home-co-ownership-site-pacaso-adds-lower-priced-listings.html,2024-03-26T12:32:23+0000,"Luxury vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso is attempting to appeal to the masses, as it grows its business during a pricey and competitive phase of the housing market.The company, which launched in 2020 with multimillion-dollar homes listed for co-ownership, is now introducing thousands more listings with share prices starting as low as $200,000. Previously, shares had been closer to half a million dollars, or higher.Pacaso lists shares of vacation homes, generally an eighth but sometimes larger shares, and then facilitates the purchase, including financing if necessary. It also furnishes and manages the home, divvying up the owners' time in the home through an app. It takes fees for both the purchase and the management.""You can afford a lot more home when you buy one eighth or one quarter of it when compared to purchasing the whole thing, and we're living in an environment right now where housing affordability is a problem,"" said Austin Allison, co-founder and CEO of Pacaso. ""Home prices are high, interest rates are high, so it's really difficult for people to afford the home of their dreams.""Unlike timeshares in resorts, where consumers buy the time, not the property, Pacaso owners can benefit from the home's value, which usually goes up over time.""Our owners who have resold have benefited from about 10% appreciation above and beyond what they paid for the underlying home previously. So the Pacaso shares generally track with the underlying real estate,"" said Allison.Wealthier buyers have been scooping up ski homes in Colorado and beach homes in Hawaii, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for their shares. Pacaso takes a hefty fee — between 10% and 15% of the value of the home on the front end — associated with aggregating the group of owners, facilitating the transaction, and setting up the co-ownership structure.Pacaso reached more than $1 billion in revenue last year, the company said.The company has, however, seen some backlash from communities that liken it to an Airbnb on steroids. There is even a website dedicated to fighting the company, called ""Stop Pacaso Now.""Residents of Sonoma, California, passed an ordinance prohibiting Pacaso from operating in that city. In St. Helena, California, which prohibits timeshares, Pacaso reached a settlement that protects its four homes already there, but the company is not allowed to expand to other properties.""We operate in more than 40 markets nationwide and in only a handful are we misunderstood,"" argued Allison. ""Our approach is to work with policymakers and educate them on the facts and benefits. Our belief is that over time this will prevail. It hasn't worked in Sonoma yet and a small handful of communities who have passed ordinances to resist the model.""Pacaso is also adding a new suite of services to help primary homebuyers access the home-sharing model. Roughly one-fifth of primary homebuyers last year purchased with either a friend or relative, according to real estate site Zillow.""People are now using co-ownership as a way to be able to afford houses that they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. So, it's not just happening in the vacation home space,"" said Allison.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['Luxury vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso is attempting to appeal to the masses, as it grows its business during a pricey and competitive phase of the housing market.', 'The company, which launched in 2020 with multimillion-dollar homes listed for co-ownership, is now introducing thousands more listings with share prices starting as low as $200,000.', 'Previously, shares had been closer to half a million dollars, or higher.', 'Pacaso lists shares of vacation homes, generally an eighth but sometimes larger shares, and then facilitates the purchase, including financing if necessary.', ""It also furnishes and manages the home, divvying up the owners' time in the home through an app."", 'It takes fees for both the purchase and the management.', '""You can afford a lot more home when you buy one eighth or one quarter of it when compared to purchasing the whole thing, and we\'re living in an environment right now where housing affordability is a problem,"" said Austin Allison, co-founder and CEO of Pacaso. ""', ""Home prices are high, interest rates are high, so it's really difficult for people to afford the home of their dreams."", '""Unlike timeshares in resorts, where consumers buy the time, not the property, Pacaso owners can benefit from the home\'s value, which usually goes up over time.', '""Our owners who have resold have benefited from about 10% appreciation above and beyond what they paid for the underlying home previously.', 'So the Pacaso shares generally track with the underlying real estate,"" said Allison.', 'Wealthier buyers have been scooping up ski homes in Colorado and beach homes in Hawaii, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for their shares.', 'Pacaso takes a hefty fee — between 10% and 15% of the value of the home on the front end — associated with aggregating the group of owners, facilitating the transaction, and setting up the co-ownership structure.', 'Pacaso reached more than $1 billion in revenue last year, the company said.', 'The company has, however, seen some backlash from communities that liken it to an Airbnb on steroids.', 'There is even a website dedicated to fighting the company, called ""Stop Pacaso Now.', '""Residents of Sonoma, California, passed an ordinance prohibiting Pacaso from operating in that city.', 'In St. Helena, California, which prohibits timeshares, Pacaso reached a settlement that protects its four homes already there, but the company is not allowed to expand to other properties.', '""We operate in more than 40 markets nationwide and in only a handful are we misunderstood,"" argued Allison. ""', 'Our approach is to work with policymakers and educate them on the facts and benefits.', 'Our belief is that over time this will prevail.', ""It hasn't worked in Sonoma yet and a small handful of communities who have passed ordinances to resist the model."", '""Pacaso is also adding a new suite of services to help primary homebuyers access the home-sharing model.', 'Roughly one-fifth of primary homebuyers last year purchased with either a friend or relative, according to real estate site Zillow.', '""People are now using co-ownership as a way to be able to afford houses that they otherwise wouldn\'t be able to afford.', 'So, it\'s not just happening in the vacation home space,"" said Allison.']",0.1709373374093423,"""Pacaso is also adding a new suite of services to help primary homebuyers access the home-sharing model.","""We operate in more than 40 markets nationwide and in only a handful are we misunderstood,"" argued Allison. """,0.5203466150495741,"""Our owners who have resold have benefited from about 10% appreciation above and beyond what they paid for the underlying home previously.","Home prices are high, interest rates are high, so it's really difficult for people to afford the home of their dreams.",2024-03-27
"February home sales spike 9.5%, the largest monthly gain in a year, as supply improves",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/february-2024-home-sales-spike.html,2024-03-21T16:40:35+0000,"Sales of existing homes surged 9.5% in February from January to 4.38 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Housing analysts had been expecting a slight drop.Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023. Sales surged the most in the West, up 19.4%, and the South, up 16.4%. Sales in the Northeast were unchanged.""Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,"" said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. ""Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.""Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February. That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.Higher demand continued to push the median price higher, up 5.7% from the year before to $384,500 — the eighth straight month of annual gains. Competition was stiff, with 20% of homes selling above list price.The sales count is based on closings, so contracts likely signed in December and January, when the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to the mid 6% range. It is now over 7%, according to Mortgage News Daily.First-time buyers, however, did not surge with overall sales. They represented just 26% of buyers in February, down from 28% in January. Roughly 40% is the historical norm. All-cash sales were at 33%, up from 28% the year before.""The stock market, maybe that is helping, or the record-high home prices. People from expensive states like California are going to more affordable markets like Florida or Georgia and paying all cash,"" Yun said, adding that consumers may be accepting a ""new normal"" for mortgage rates.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['Sales of existing homes surged 9.5% in February from January to 4.38 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors.', 'Housing analysts had been expecting a slight drop.', 'Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023.', 'Sales surged the most in the West, up 19.4%, and the South, up 16.4%.', 'Sales in the Northeast were unchanged.', '""Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,"" said Lawrence Yun, NAR\'s chief economist. ""', 'Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.', '""Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February.', 'That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.', 'Higher demand continued to push the median price higher, up 5.7% from the year before to $384,500 — the eighth straight month of annual gains.', 'Competition was stiff, with 20% of homes selling above list price.', 'The sales count is based on closings, so contracts likely signed in December and January, when the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to the mid 6% range.', 'It is now over 7%, according to Mortgage News Daily.', 'First-time buyers, however, did not surge with overall sales.', 'They represented just 26% of buyers in February, down from 28% in January.', 'Roughly 40% is the historical norm.', 'All-cash sales were at 33%, up from 28% the year before.', '""The stock market, maybe that is helping, or the record-high home prices.', 'People from expensive states like California are going to more affordable markets like Florida or Georgia and paying all cash,"" Yun said, adding that consumers may be accepting a ""new normal"" for mortgage rates.']",0.1482912879976404,"People from expensive states like California are going to more affordable markets like Florida or Georgia and paying all cash,"" Yun said, adding that consumers may be accepting a ""new normal"" for mortgage rates.",That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.,0.2517372779548168,"""Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February.","Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023.",2024-03-27
"Hull funeral home inquiry: 'I spent £2,700 on a fake funeral policy'",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68636654,2024-03-22T15:26:00.000Z,"Buyers of funeral plans from a Hull funeral home already at the centre of a police inquiry said they have been told their policies are non-existent. Rita Goldspink and Kevin Newton paid about £2,500 each for plans bought from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in 2018 and 2012 respectively. Each has been told separately that there is no trace of their policy on the third-party insurer's database. Legacy funeral home has been contacted for comment. Two people have been bailed in a police investigation of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors that began on 6 March, following a report of ""concern for care of the deceased"". Rachel Marshall, from Hull, said the pre-paid funeral plan for her mother, Rita Goldspink, 76, had cost £2,700 in April 2018, six months after Legacy had organised her father's funeral. After news emerged of the Humberside Police investigation, Ms Marshall said she contacted the insurer and discovered they could not find ""my mum's name on their database"". She said she was later told by the insurer that she should have received a welcome pack containing details of the plan shortly after purchase. ""My mum was absolutely devastated and I was in total shock,"" said Ms Marshall.  ""All that money is gone. ""I'm gutted and have started to realise through conversations [with others that] there are more of us with these fake policies."" Kevin Newton, 69, also from Hull, said he was ""mortified"" to learn that his pre-paid funeral plan, which had cost him £2,239, was similarly untraceable. He said when he bought the third-party policy in 2012, he had received written confirmation and a receipt from Legacy.  Shortly afterwards a pack had arrived in the post, which he had believed contained official documents about his policy. However, after his family raised concerns with him last week, Mr Newton said he had phoned the third-party insurer and was told there was no trace of the policy. His daughter Kerry, 35, said: ""It's absolutely shocking because it's a lot of money for my dad to fork out and it's not like he can [afford it] again. ""I know my dad's done it so me and my brother don't have to worry about him when the time comes. It's just devastating. ""It's unforgiveable."" Another woman from Hull, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she ""can't get [her] head round"" being told there was no record of her £2,500 pre-paid funeral plan, bought from Legacy in 2016. She said she had bought the plan after using the company to arrange the funerals of both her parents, who had died three weeks apart. She too had believed a pack she received was evidence of the third-party policy. But she discovered last week the policy did not exist, the woman said. ""Initially... all I was concerned about was my mum and dad. They're supposed to be buried together in the same grave. I hope they are but I just don't know now. I'm thinking: are they there?  ""But now - finding this policy is worthless - it's just a cherry on the icing, really. I'm completely shocked. ""I mean, I'm still more troubled about mum and dad at the moment. But I know I'll never get any answers on that."" The BBC has seen documents given to all three families who bought the plans from Legacy. It is unclear whether Legacy submitted the filled-in application forms to the insurer. In a statement, the third-party insurer, Ecclesiastical Planning Services, said: ""This is a deeply distressing incident for the families affected.  ""We are unable to comment on individual cases but we are working with families who contact us to establish if they have a plan with us."" All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations. The woman said: ""I think anyone setting up a funeral business should have some sort of qualification or have been trained. And there has to be regular inspections."" Ms Marshall urged anyone who had bought a pre-paid funeral plan to ""check your policy"". ""More or less everything goes on trust,"" she said. Few details about the police investigation have been revealed but a quantity of ashes and 35 bodies were recovered from Legacy's Hessle Road premises and taken to another mortuary. The families involved have been contacted, Humberside Police have said. A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position. They have since been released on bail while police inquiries continue. The force said its dedicated helpline numbers remain open. Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Are you affected by the issues raised in this story? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk Please include your name, age and location with any submission.  ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Buyers of funeral plans from a Hull funeral home already at the centre of a police inquiry said they have been told their policies are non-existent.', 'Rita Goldspink and Kevin Newton paid about £2,500 each for plans bought from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in 2018 and 2012 respectively.', ""Each has been told separately that there is no trace of their policy on the third-party insurer's database."", 'Legacy funeral home has been contacted for comment.', 'Two people have been bailed in a police investigation of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors that began on 6 March, following a report of ""concern for care of the deceased"".', ""Rachel Marshall, from Hull, said the pre-paid funeral plan for her mother, Rita Goldspink, 76, had cost £2,700 in April 2018, six months after Legacy had organised her father's funeral."", 'After news emerged of the Humberside Police investigation, Ms Marshall said she contacted the insurer and discovered they could not find ""my mum\'s name on their database"".', 'She said she was later told by the insurer that she should have received a welcome pack containing details of the plan shortly after purchase. ""', 'My mum was absolutely devastated and I was in total shock,"" said Ms Marshall. ""', 'All that money is gone. ""', 'I\'m gutted and have started to realise through conversations [with others that] there are more of us with these fake policies.""', 'Kevin Newton, 69, also from Hull, said he was ""mortified"" to learn that his pre-paid funeral plan, which had cost him £2,239, was similarly untraceable.', 'He said when he bought the third-party policy in 2012, he had received written confirmation and a receipt from Legacy.', 'Shortly afterwards a pack had arrived in the post, which he had believed contained official documents about his policy.', 'However, after his family raised concerns with him last week, Mr Newton said he had phoned the third-party insurer and was told there was no trace of the policy.', 'His daughter Kerry, 35, said: ""It\'s absolutely shocking because it\'s a lot of money for my dad to fork out and it\'s not like he can [afford it] again. ""', ""I know my dad's done it so me and my brother don't have to worry about him when the time comes."", 'It\'s just devastating. ""', 'It\'s unforgiveable.""', 'Another woman from Hull, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she ""can\'t get [her] head round"" being told there was no record of her £2,500 pre-paid funeral plan, bought from Legacy in 2016.', 'She said she had bought the plan after using the company to arrange the funerals of both her parents, who had died three weeks apart.', 'She too had believed a pack she received was evidence of the third-party policy.', 'But she discovered last week the policy did not exist, the woman said. ""', 'Initially... all I was concerned about was my mum and dad.', ""They're supposed to be buried together in the same grave."", ""I hope they are but I just don't know now."", 'I\'m thinking: are they there? ""', ""But now - finding this policy is worthless - it's just a cherry on the icing, really."", 'I\'m completely shocked. ""', ""I mean, I'm still more troubled about mum and dad at the moment."", 'But I know I\'ll never get any answers on that.""', 'The BBC has seen documents given to all three families who bought the plans from Legacy.', 'It is unclear whether Legacy submitted the filled-in application forms to the insurer.', 'In a statement, the third-party insurer, Ecclesiastical Planning Services, said: ""This is a deeply distressing incident for the families affected. ""', 'We are unable to comment on individual cases but we are working with families who contact us to establish if they have a plan with us.""', 'All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations.', 'The woman said: ""I think anyone setting up a funeral business should have some sort of qualification or have been trained.', 'And there has to be regular inspections.""', 'Ms Marshall urged anyone who had bought a pre-paid funeral plan to ""check your policy"". ""', 'More or less everything goes on trust,"" she said.', ""Few details about the police investigation have been revealed but a quantity of ashes and 35 bodies were recovered from Legacy's Hessle Road premises and taken to another mortuary."", 'The families involved have been contacted, Humberside Police have said.', 'A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.', 'They have since been released on bail while police inquiries continue.', 'The force said its dedicated helpline numbers remain open.', 'Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.', 'Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Are you affected by the issues raised in this story?', 'Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.', ""You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk Please include your name, age and location with any submission.""]",-0.1373784424526084,Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.,"A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.",-0.8656735040924766,,"All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations.",2024-03-27
"Nike shares slide on lackluster outlook, slowing China sales",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/nike-nke-earnings-q3-2024.html,2024-03-21T22:40:25+0000,"In this articleNike's China sales continued to slow during its holiday quarter, but the retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom line, helped by better than expected growth in North America and price changes.Here's how the company performed in its fiscal 2024 third quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 29 was $1.17 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.24 billion, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding 21 cents per share related to restructuring charges, earnings per share would have been 98 cents, the company said.Sales rose to $12.43 billion, up slightly from $12.39 billion a year earlier.In North America, where demand has been unsteady, sales rose about 3% to $5.07 billion, compared with estimates of $4.75 billion, according to StreetAccount.Meanwhile, sales in the rest of Nike's regions came in below estimates. In China, sales reached $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected. Revenues in the region climbed 5%, but growth there has decelerated as demand normalizes after Covid-19 lockdowns.In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. In China, sales grew 5% to $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected. Sales in Asia Pacific and Latin America rose 3% to $1.65 billion, below the $1.69 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.Nike shares rose about 5% after its report came out, but later dropped by as much as 7% after it released its guidance for the current quarter and fiscal 2025.Excluding restructuring charges, the company reiterated its sales outlook for fiscal 2024, and said it expects revenue to grow by 1%, in line with expectations of up 1.1%, according to LSEG. For the current quarter, it expects revenue to be up slightly, compared to estimates of up 2%, according to LSEG.Nike anticipates gross margins will grow 1.6 to 1.8 percentage points, helped by ""strategic price increases, lower ocean freight rates, lower product input costs and improved supply chain efficiency,"" finance chief Matthew Friend told analysts.The improvements are offset by higher markdowns and reduced benefits from Nike's channel mix, along with foreign exchange headwinds, Friend said. Those shifts in mix are related to changes in how often consumers are shopping online versus in stores or with Nike's wholesale partners.  For the full year, it expects gross margins to grow about 1.2 percentage points, below the 1.4 to 1.6 percentage point uptick that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. For fiscal 2025, Nike expects revenue and earnings to grow versus the prior year, but it didn't say by how much. Analysts had expected revenue guidance of up 5.6%, according to LSEG. Friend said Nike is ""prudently planning"" for revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 to be down low single digits, reflecting ""a subdued macro outlook around the world."" As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins. In December, it announced a broad restructuring plan to reduce costs by about $2 billion over the next three years. It also cut its sales guidance as it warned of softer demand in the quarters ahead. Two months later, it said it was shedding 2% of its workforce, or more than 1,500 jobs, so it could invest in its growth areas, such as running, the women's category and the Jordan brand.The early innings of Nike's cost cuts, which involve simplifying its assortment, reducing management layers and increasing automation, likely helped the retailer beat earnings expectations in the three months ended Nov. 30, even as it missed sales estimates for the second quarter in a row. The cuts, along with ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight rates,"" also contributed to a 1.7 percentage point gain in gross margin — the first time the company saw its gross margin increase compared to the prior year in at least six quarters. Nike's gross margin recovery continued during the quarter. The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs."" The gains were partially offset by higher product input costs and restructuring charges, company said.Nike is still considered a market leader in the sneaker and apparel space, but the category has become more crowded and the retailer has had to work harder to compete. Some analysts say its assortment has lost focus and say the company has fallen behind on innovation, giving up market share to newer entrants like Hoka and On Running, as well as legacy brands like Brooks Running and New Balance. Last month, Nike launched the Book 1, its latest basketball shoes with NBA star Devin Booker. But the release wasn't well received because it ""looked more like a casual sneaker instead of [a] basketball shoe,"" according to a research note from Jane Hali & Associates. The firm is now neutral on Nike long term, compared to its previous rating of positive, because it's unclear where the brand is headed, said senior analyst Jessica Ramirez.She's noticed that Nike has removed a lot of products from its offering, which indicates it's preparing to bring in new styles. But it's still unclear exactly what those changes will look like.""They've already said [those changes are] going to take some time,"" Ramirez told CNBC prior to Nike's earnings release. ""Its a little concerning to know they don't have a solid plan that we know of yet.""Read the full earnings release here.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleNike's China sales continued to slow during its holiday quarter, but the retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom line, helped by better than expected growth in North America and price changes."", ""Here's how the company performed in its fiscal 2024 third quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 29 was $1.17 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.24 billion, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier."", 'Excluding 21 cents per share related to restructuring charges, earnings per share would have been 98 cents, the company said.', 'Sales rose to $12.43 billion, up slightly from $12.39 billion a year earlier.', 'In North America, where demand has been unsteady, sales rose about 3% to $5.07 billion, compared with estimates of $4.75 billion, according to StreetAccount.', ""Meanwhile, sales in the rest of Nike's regions came in below estimates."", 'In China, sales reached $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected.', 'Revenues in the region climbed 5%, but growth there has decelerated as demand normalizes after Covid-19 lockdowns.', 'In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'In China, sales grew 5% to $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected.', 'Sales in Asia Pacific and Latin America rose 3% to $1.65 billion, below the $1.69 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'Nike shares rose about 5% after its report came out, but later dropped by as much as 7% after it released its guidance for the current quarter and fiscal 2025.Excluding restructuring charges, the company reiterated its sales outlook for fiscal 2024, and said it expects revenue to grow by 1%, in line with expectations of up 1.1%, according to LSEG.', 'For the current quarter, it expects revenue to be up slightly, compared to estimates of up 2%, according to LSEG.Nike anticipates gross margins will grow 1.6 to 1.8 percentage points, helped by ""strategic price increases, lower ocean freight rates, lower product input costs and improved supply chain efficiency,"" finance chief Matthew Friend told analysts.', ""The improvements are offset by higher markdowns and reduced benefits from Nike's channel mix, along with foreign exchange headwinds, Friend said."", ""Those shifts in mix are related to changes in how often consumers are shopping online versus in stores or with Nike's wholesale partners."", 'For the full year, it expects gross margins to grow about 1.2 percentage points, below the 1.4 to 1.6 percentage point uptick that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', ""For fiscal 2025, Nike expects revenue and earnings to grow versus the prior year, but it didn't say by how much."", 'Analysts had expected revenue guidance of up 5.6%, according to LSEG.Friend said Nike is ""prudently planning"" for revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 to be down low single digits, reflecting ""a subdued macro outlook around the world.', '""As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins.', 'In December, it announced a broad restructuring plan to reduce costs by about $2 billion over the next three years.', 'It also cut its sales guidance as it warned of softer demand in the quarters ahead.', ""Two months later, it said it was shedding 2% of its workforce, or more than 1,500 jobs, so it could invest in its growth areas, such as running, the women's category and the Jordan brand."", ""The early innings of Nike's cost cuts, which involve simplifying its assortment, reducing management layers and increasing automation, likely helped the retailer beat earnings expectations in the three months ended Nov. 30, even as it missed sales estimates for the second quarter in a row."", 'The cuts, along with ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight rates,"" also contributed to a 1.7 percentage point gain in gross margin — the first time the company saw its gross margin increase compared to the prior year in at least six quarters.', ""Nike's gross margin recovery continued during the quarter."", 'The retailer\'s gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""', 'The gains were partially offset by higher product input costs and restructuring charges, company said.', 'Nike is still considered a market leader in the sneaker and apparel space, but the category has become more crowded and the retailer has had to work harder to compete.', 'Some analysts say its assortment has lost focus and say the company has fallen behind on innovation, giving up market share to newer entrants like Hoka and On Running, as well as legacy brands like Brooks Running and New Balance.', 'Last month, Nike launched the Book 1, its latest basketball shoes with NBA star Devin Booker.', 'But the release wasn\'t well received because it ""looked more like a casual sneaker instead of [a] basketball shoe,"" according to a research note from Jane Hali & Associates.', ""The firm is now neutral on Nike long term, compared to its previous rating of positive, because it's unclear where the brand is headed, said senior analyst Jessica Ramirez."", ""She's noticed that Nike has removed a lot of products from its offering, which indicates it's preparing to bring in new styles."", ""But it's still unclear exactly what those changes will look like."", '""They\'ve already said [those changes are] going to take some time,"" Ramirez told CNBC prior to Nike\'s earnings release. ""', ""Its a little concerning to know they don't have a solid plan that we know of yet."", '""Read the full earnings release here.']",0.074849555456564,"""As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins.","The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""",0.3143576301377395,"The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""","In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.",2024-03-27
Why a small China-made EV has global auto execs and politicians on edge,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/byd-seagull-ev-puts-global-auto-execs-politicians-on-edge.html,2024-03-26T18:44:16+0000,"In this articleLIVONIA, Mich. – A small electric vehicle is having a big impact on the global automotive industry.It's not the EV itself that's making waves but its price — and its potential to disrupt domestic auto industries around the world.The China-built BYD Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000), and reportedly banks a profit for the increasingly influential Chinese automaker.That latter point — EV profits where U.S. automakers have mostly failed to turn any — combined with the expansion of Chinese automakers into Europe, Latin America and elsewhere has automotive executives and politicians, from Detroit and Texas to Germany and Japan, on edge.The Seagull could be a ""clarion call for the rest of the auto industry,"" said Terry Woychowski, a former General Motors executive who now serves as president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global. ""It's a significant event.""Though the Seagull isn't yet sold on U.S. soil, BYD is expanding its vehicles globally, and some believe it's only a matter of time before more China-made vehicles arrive in the U.S.There's fear among global automakers that Chinese rivals like the Warren Buffett-backed BYD could flood their markets, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices to the detriment of their own auto industries.""The introduction of cheap Chinese autos — which are so inexpensive because they are backed with the power and funding of the Chinese government — to the American market could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector,"" the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a U.S. manufacturing advocacy group, said in a report last month.BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020. That sales growth was enough to surpass Tesla to become the world's largest producer of electric vehicles in late 2023.The rise of BYD and other Chinese automakers led Tesla CEO Elon Musk in January to warn that Chinese automakers will ""demolish"" global rivals without trade barriers.Bernstein reports BYD's growth, including sales of non-EVs, has come by shipping more vehicles outside China: Overseas markets accounted for about 10% of BYD's more than 3 million sales last year, doubling that share from the beginning of the year.BYD did not respond for a request for comment.Driving the Seagull is no different than driving the Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf or BMW i3. It accelerates quickly. It's quiet. It has nice-looking screens and a mix of plastic and soft touch points, including sporty and comfortable seats.The Seagull, also known as the BYD Dolphin Mini in Latin America, is slightly smaller than GM's now-discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV.Its reported range of up to roughly 190 miles on a single charge (or 250 miles for certain models), is below that of many EVs on sale today in the U.S. but in line with many first-generation all-electric vehicles. The vehicle's top speed of about 80 mph and just 74 horsepower dwindle in comparison with most EVs currently on sale in the U.S.But its primary differences come in the construction, batteries and sourcing of parts, according to Caresoft.The consulting firm tore apart the BYD Seagull piece by piece to benchmark the small EV against vehicles from other startups and traditional automakers. The Livonia, Michigan-based company, with several offices across the globe, has torn down and benchmarked more than 30 China-built EVs from the likes of BYD, Nio, XPENG and others.Caresoft digitally and physically analyzes every part of a vehicle, from bolts and latches to seats, motors and battery casings. It then determines how its clients – mainly automakers and suppliers – can improve efficiencies and cut costs in their products.Its initial study of the BYD Seagull found it to be efficiently and simplistically designed, engineered and executed, but with unexpected quality and anticipated reliability.""What they did do is done very well,"" Woychowski said. ""It's efficiently done.""For the price it's a well-equipped vehicle. (BYD even lowered the starting price of the vehicle by 5% earlier this month, down from a roughly $11,000 price earlier this year.)Despite the cheap price, the company still makes ""some money"" on the Seagull or at a minimum breaks even, Caresoft CEO Mathew Vachaparampil said during an automotive conference hosted by the Chicago Federal Reserve in January.For BYD to sell the Seagull in the U.S., it would have to meet U.S. federal vehicle requirements that would add additional costs to the car. But the EV could likely still arrive on U.S. shores for tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than the current average price of an EV in the U.S., which Cox Automotive reports is more than $52,000.BYD last month announced it would begin selling the Seagull/Dolphin Mini EV in Mexico for 358,800 pesos (or about $20,990).BYD has found success in its battery technology; internal sourcing, also known as vertical integration; and production of parts, according to Caresoft. Most notable is BYD's development of lower-cost battery technologies that are far cheaper to manufacture than lithium-ion batteries commonly used in U.S. EVs.BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, first pioneered its ""Blade"" battery technologies in smartphones and has since grown into one of China's most well-known automakers.Its focus on vehicle efficiencies is reminiscent of U.S. EV leader Tesla, which has likewise been able to drive down the cost of its vehicles over the years.Traditional automakers are only now attempting to emulate some of Tesla's processes such as its gigacasting manufacturing process and vertical integration of crucial parts such as motors, batteries and other components. Tesla is also quick to adapt.The Tesla Model 3, for example, no longer has a floor. Instead, the car's highly protected battery case takes the place of a traditional vehicle body at the base. That type of change, enacted at Tesla over the last several years, wouldn't typically take place at a traditional automaker until a full redesign of a vehicle.BYD is similarly quick to adapt. The company has quickly rolled out new and updated products. It's also rapidly established manufacturing, as it has its eyes set on factories in Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan and, potentially, Mexico.Add in other advantages such as government support, lower labor costs and rising production capacity, and the company poses a growing threat to global counterparts.BYD's rise comes at a precarious time for global auto industry dynamics.While China's automakers expand, America's traditional automakers have shrunk in both their domestic market and China.Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.Politicians in the U.S., concerned about their local auto industries, have taken aim at Chinese imports and lawmakers in Europe have launched a probe into the rise of China-made EVs.""We are very concerned about China bigfooting our industry in the United States even as we are building up now this incredible backbone of manufacturing,"" Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said March 6 during a discussion panel at an Axios event.Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has proposed sharply boosting tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports by $20,000 per vehicle to stop the country ""from flooding U.S. auto markets.""Currently, Chinese-built EVs are subject to a 27.5% tariff when imported into the U.S. That includes a 2.5% tariff that generally applies to imported cars plus an additional 25% tariff introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 on China-made vehicles.Chinese automakers could still build in Mexico, though, and import vehicles to the U.S. from there through the USMCA, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.However, former President Donald Trump – the front-runner among Republicans in the 2024 presidential race – on Saturday suggested instituting a 100% tariff on cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies, should he be elected to a second term.""What we've seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,"" said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford's EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.Gjaja said while Ford can't control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can ""get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want"" and get more efficient to win customers.To compete with Chinese brands such as BYD, Woychowski contends traditional automakers must learn, unlearn and change quickly.He said companies such as the Detroit automakers each have a century of procedures, standards and other workflows that they must rethink to better compete against Chinese automakers before vehicles such as the BYD Seagull land on U.S. shores.""You have to learn. You have to unlearn and you have to do it quickly,"" he said. ""Because you've been doing something for 100 years, doesn't mean you should keep doing it. It's no longer appropriate.""– CNBC's Evelyn Cheng and Dylan Butts contributed to this report.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleLIVONIA, Mich. – A small electric vehicle is having a big impact on the global automotive industry.', ""It's not the EV itself that's making waves but its price — and its potential to disrupt domestic auto industries around the world."", 'The China-built BYD Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000), and reportedly banks a profit for the increasingly influential Chinese automaker.', 'That latter point — EV profits where U.S. automakers have mostly failed to turn any — combined with the expansion of Chinese automakers into Europe, Latin America and elsewhere has automotive executives and politicians, from Detroit and Texas to Germany and Japan, on edge.', 'The Seagull could be a ""clarion call for the rest of the auto industry,"" said Terry Woychowski, a former General Motors executive who now serves as president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global. ""', ""It's a significant event."", '""Though the Seagull isn\'t yet sold on U.S. soil, BYD is expanding its vehicles globally, and some believe it\'s only a matter of time before more China-made vehicles arrive in the U.S.There\'s fear among global automakers that Chinese rivals like the Warren Buffett-backed BYD could flood their markets, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices to the detriment of their own auto industries.', '""The introduction of cheap Chinese autos — which are so inexpensive because they are backed with the power and funding of the Chinese government — to the American market could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector,"" the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a U.S. manufacturing advocacy group, said in a report last month.', 'BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020.', 'That sales growth was enough to surpass Tesla to become the world\'s largest producer of electric vehicles in late 2023.The rise of BYD and other Chinese automakers led Tesla CEO Elon Musk in January to warn that Chinese automakers will ""demolish"" global rivals without trade barriers.', ""Bernstein reports BYD's growth, including sales of non-EVs, has come by shipping more vehicles outside China: Overseas markets accounted for about 10% of BYD's more than 3 million sales last year, doubling that share from the beginning of the year."", 'BYD did not respond for a request for comment.', 'Driving the Seagull is no different than driving the Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf or BMW i3.', 'It accelerates quickly.', ""It's quiet."", 'It has nice-looking screens and a mix of plastic and soft touch points, including sporty and comfortable seats.', ""The Seagull, also known as the BYD Dolphin Mini in Latin America, is slightly smaller than GM's now-discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV.Its reported range of up to roughly 190 miles on a single charge (or 250 miles for certain models), is below that of many EVs on sale today in the U.S. but in line with many first-generation all-electric vehicles."", ""The vehicle's top speed of about 80 mph and just 74 horsepower dwindle in comparison with most EVs currently on sale in the U.S.But its primary differences come in the construction, batteries and sourcing of parts, according to Caresoft."", 'The consulting firm tore apart the BYD Seagull piece by piece to benchmark the small EV against vehicles from other startups and traditional automakers.', 'The Livonia, Michigan-based company, with several offices across the globe, has torn down and benchmarked more than 30 China-built EVs from the likes of BYD, Nio, XPENG and others.', 'Caresoft digitally and physically analyzes every part of a vehicle, from bolts and latches to seats, motors and battery casings.', 'It then determines how its clients – mainly automakers and suppliers – can improve efficiencies and cut costs in their products.', 'Its initial study of the BYD Seagull found it to be efficiently and simplistically designed, engineered and executed, but with unexpected quality and anticipated reliability.', '""What they did do is done very well,"" Woychowski said. ""', ""It's efficiently done."", '""For the price it\'s a well-equipped vehicle. (', 'BYD even lowered the starting price of the vehicle by 5% earlier this month, down from a roughly $11,000 price earlier this year.)Despite the cheap price, the company still makes ""some money"" on the Seagull or at a minimum breaks even, Caresoft CEO Mathew Vachaparampil said during an automotive conference hosted by the Chicago Federal Reserve in January.', 'For BYD to sell the Seagull in the U.S., it would have to meet U.S. federal vehicle requirements that would add additional costs to the car.', 'But the EV could likely still arrive on U.S. shores for tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than the current average price of an EV in the U.S., which Cox Automotive reports is more than $52,000.BYD last month announced it would begin selling the Seagull/Dolphin Mini EV in Mexico for 358,800 pesos (or about $20,990).BYD has found success in its battery technology; internal sourcing, also known as vertical integration; and production of parts, according to Caresoft.', ""Most notable is BYD's development of lower-cost battery technologies that are far cheaper to manufacture than lithium-ion batteries commonly used in U.S. EVs."", 'BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, first pioneered its ""Blade"" battery technologies in smartphones and has since grown into one of China\'s most well-known automakers.', 'Its focus on vehicle efficiencies is reminiscent of U.S. EV leader Tesla, which has likewise been able to drive down the cost of its vehicles over the years.', ""Traditional automakers are only now attempting to emulate some of Tesla's processes such as its gigacasting manufacturing process and vertical integration of crucial parts such as motors, batteries and other components."", 'Tesla is also quick to adapt.', 'The Tesla Model 3, for example, no longer has a floor.', ""Instead, the car's highly protected battery case takes the place of a traditional vehicle body at the base."", ""That type of change, enacted at Tesla over the last several years, wouldn't typically take place at a traditional automaker until a full redesign of a vehicle."", 'BYD is similarly quick to adapt.', 'The company has quickly rolled out new and updated products.', ""It's also rapidly established manufacturing, as it has its eyes set on factories in Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan and, potentially, Mexico."", 'Add in other advantages such as government support, lower labor costs and rising production capacity, and the company poses a growing threat to global counterparts.', ""BYD's rise comes at a precarious time for global auto industry dynamics."", ""While China's automakers expand, America's traditional automakers have shrunk in both their domestic market and China."", 'Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.', 'The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.', 'Politicians in the U.S., concerned about their local auto industries, have taken aim at Chinese imports and lawmakers in Europe have launched a probe into the rise of China-made EVs.', '""We are very concerned about China bigfooting our industry in the United States even as we are building up now this incredible backbone of manufacturing,"" Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said March 6 during a discussion panel at an Axios event.', 'Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has proposed sharply boosting tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports by $20,000 per vehicle to stop the country ""from flooding U.S. auto markets.', '""Currently, Chinese-built EVs are subject to a 27.5% tariff when imported into the U.S. That includes a 2.5% tariff that generally applies to imported cars plus an additional 25% tariff introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 on China-made vehicles.', 'Chinese automakers could still build in Mexico, though, and import vehicles to the U.S. from there through the USMCA, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.However, former President Donald Trump – the front-runner among Republicans in the 2024 presidential race – on Saturday suggested instituting a 100% tariff on cars made in Mexicoby Chinese companies,should he be elected to a second term.', '""What we\'ve seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,"" said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford\'s EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.Gjaja said while Ford can\'t control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can ""get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want"" and get more efficient to win customers.', 'To compete with Chinese brands such as BYD, Woychowski contends traditional automakers must learn, unlearn and change quickly.', 'He said companies such as the Detroit automakers each have a century of procedures, standards and other workflows that they must rethink to better compete against Chinese automakers before vehicles such as the BYD Seagull land on U.S. shores.', '""You have to learn.', 'You have to unlearn and you have to do it quickly,"" he said. ""', ""Because you've been doing something for 100 years, doesn't mean you should keep doing it."", 'It\'s no longer appropriate.""–', ""CNBC's Evelyn Cheng and Dylan Butts contributed to this report.""]",0.1525936062031991,"""What we've seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,"" said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford's EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.Gjaja said while Ford can't control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can ""get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want"" and get more efficient to win customers.","Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.",0.2553900833483095,"BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020.","The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.",2024-03-27
"Novo Nordisk's $1,000 diabetes drug Ozempic can be made for less than $5 a month, study suggests",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/27/novo-nordisk-ozempic-can-be-made-for-less-than-5-a-month-study.html,2024-03-27T20:41:02+0000,"The blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic could be manufactured for less than $5 a month, even as Novo Nordisk charges close to $1,000 per month for the injection in the U.S. before insurance, a study released Wednesday suggests.The study, from researchers at Yale University, King's College Hospital in London and the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders, raises more questions about the hefty price tag of the top-selling diabetes treatment and similar drugs for weight loss, which are all part of a new class of treatments called GLP-1s.Demand for those medicines has soared over the last year, even as more insurers drop them from their plans due to cost, leaving some patients unable to afford the drugs. The study also comes after years of political pressure on Novo Nordisk and other drugmakers to slash high costs of diabetes care, especially insulin. Ozempic can generally be produced for less than various forms of insulin, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers found that a month's supply of the treatment could be manufactured for an estimated 89 cents to $4.73. They evaluated manufacturing costs for the weekly injection along with a profit margin with an allowance for tax to produce those estimates, which they call ""cost-based prices."" Novo Nordisk's list price for a monthly package of Ozempic is $935.77 before insurance and other rebates. The findings suggest that GLP-1s ""can likely be manufactured for prices far below current prices, enabling wider access,"" the researchers concluded. In a statement on Wednesday, Novo Nordisk declined to provide production costs for Ozempic and its weight loss drug counterpart Wegovy. But the Danish drugmaker noted that it spent almost $5 billion on research and development last year, and will spend more than $6 billion on a recent deal to boost manufacturing to meet demand for GLP-1s.It also said 75% of its gross earnings go to rebates and discounts to ensure patients have access to its products. The company also said out-of-pocket costs for Ozempic depend on a patient's insurance coverage. Patients with private or commercial coverage for Ozempic can access a savings card and pay as little as $25 for a one-month, two-month or three-month supply of the treatment for up to 24 months. Separate research from the University of Liverpool and other researchers has found that Wegovy could be produced for $40 a month.A survey released this month from Evercore ISI found that more than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket. Nearly 75% of respondents who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount.",CNBC,27/03/2024,"['The blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic could be manufactured for less than $5 a month, even as Novo Nordisk charges close to $1,000 per month for the injection in the U.S. before insurance, a study released Wednesday suggests.', ""The study, from researchers at Yale University, King's College Hospital in London and the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders, raises more questions about the hefty price tag of the top-selling diabetes treatment and similar drugs for weight loss, which are all part of a new class of treatments called GLP-1s."", 'Demand for those medicines has soared over the last year, even as more insurers drop them from their plans due to cost, leaving some patients unable to afford the drugs.', 'The study also comes after years of political pressure on Novo Nordisk and other drugmakers to slash high costs of diabetes care, especially insulin.', 'Ozempic can generally be produced for less than various forms of insulin, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open.', ""Researchers found that a month's supply of the treatment could be manufactured for an estimated 89 cents to $4.73."", 'They evaluated manufacturing costs for the weekly injection along with a profit margin with an allowance for tax to produce those estimates, which they call ""cost-based prices.', '""Novo Nordisk\'s list price for a monthly package of Ozempic is $935.77 before insurance and other rebates.', 'The findings suggest that GLP-1s ""can likely be manufactured for prices far below current prices, enabling wider access,"" the researchers concluded.', 'In a statement on Wednesday, Novo Nordisk declined to provide production costs for Ozempic and its weight loss drug counterpart Wegovy.', 'But the Danish drugmaker noted that it spent almost $5 billion on research and development last year, and will spend more than $6 billion on a recent deal to boost manufacturing to meet demand for GLP-1s.', 'It also said 75% of its gross earnings go to rebates and discounts to ensure patients have access to its products.', ""The company also said out-of-pocket costs for Ozempic depend on a patient's insurance coverage."", 'Patients with private or commercial coverage for Ozempic can access a savings card and pay as little as $25 for a one-month, two-month or three-month supply of the treatment for up to 24 months.', 'Separate research from the University of Liverpool and other researchers has found that Wegovy could be produced for $40 a month.', 'A survey released this month from Evercore ISI found that more than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket.', 'Nearly 75% of respondents who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount.']",0.0084798000529251,"They evaluated manufacturing costs for the weekly injection along with a profit margin with an allowance for tax to produce those estimates, which they call ""cost-based prices.","Demand for those medicines has soared over the last year, even as more insurers drop them from their plans due to cost, leaving some patients unable to afford the drugs.",0.9920660704374312,"But the Danish drugmaker noted that it spent almost $5 billion on research and development last year, and will spend more than $6 billion on a recent deal to boost manufacturing to meet demand for GLP-1s.",,2024-03-27
Disney and DeSantis have settled their yearslong dispute,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/desantis-disney-fight-reaches-settlement/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:55 PM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","A yearslong fight between Disney and Florida is set to end after the two parties agreed to a settlement.
    
            In a meeting Wednesday morning, members of the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, a body that governs the special tax district Disney is located in, approved a settlement to end a legal dispute.
    
            Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis set up the Central Florida Tourism District to oversee the area in which Disney operates nearly two years ago, amid a growing conflict between the Florida governor and the entertainment giant.
    
            The war of words between Disney and DeSantis began in March 2022, after Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against the controversial bill that restricts certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. Opponents have labeled the controversial law “Don’t Say Gay.” Chapek called the bill a “challenge to basic human rights.”
    
            Shortly after, DeSantis asked Florida’s legislature to terminate the longstanding special privileges granted to Disney in Central Florida, appointing a new board of hand-picked supervisors to oversee the district.
    
            The board has threatened to hike taxes, raise utility rates and develop the land around the entertainment giant’s Central Florida theme parks. Disney sued DeSantis and his allies last year, claiming the company’s free speech was violated.
    
            “Everything we’ve done has been in the best interests of the state of Florida,” DeSantis said Wednesday at a press conference in Orlando. “I’m glad that they were able to do that settlement,” he said.
    
            Per the terms of the settlement, Disney will drop its public records request lawsuit it filed last year against the special tax district that alleged the oversight board was withholding files in violation of Florida law. Disney was seeking to build a case against the current tax district to fight its claims that agreements with the prior one governing the same area, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, were null and void.
    
            A trial was set to begin in June. But now, Disney holds that prior agreements are null and void and intends to negotiate a new deal that likely would be beneficial to Disney’s development plans in the area.
    
            Separately, in January a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Disney filed accusing DeSantis of weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its right to free speech. Disney quickly filed an appeal, but it will now put that on hold “pending negotiations” on a new development deal, among other matters, with the district.
    
            Additionally, both parties agreed to drop the various state-wide lawsuits they’ve filed against one another. Instead, both agreed to resolve their differences outside of the courtroom in way that would not require either to admit any fault or liability, according to text of the settlement.
    
            “A year ago people were trying to act like all these legal maneuverings were all going to succeed against the state of Florida and the reality is here we are a year later and not one of them has succeeded,” DeSantis said Wednesday. DeSantis’s office did not directly respond to CNN’s request for a comment on the settlement.
    
            However, the governor, who recently ended his presidential bid, said Wednesday he views the settlement as a mutual victory for Florida and Disney. DeSantis suggested the settlement could give Disney more of an edge to compete with neighboring Universal Orlando’s theme park, which recently announced an expansion slated to be complete next year.
    
            “We are pleased to put an end to all litigation pending in state court in Florida between Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District,” Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World, said in a statement.
    
            The head of the oversight district for Central Florida also applauded the settlement.
    
            “With this agreement, we’re eager to work with Disney and other businesses within Central Florida to make our destination known for world-class attractions and accountable governance,” Charbel Barakat, vice chairman of Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, said in a statement to CNN.
    
            The spat became a source of distraction for Disney and a criticism for DeSantis, even from Republicans. Yet DeSantis and current Disney CEO Bob Iger did not shy away from trading barbs during their legal battle.
    
            Last year, Iger called DeSantis’ actions toward Disney “anti-business” and “anti-Florida,” and in May, Iger said the Florida governor’s attacks on Disney could threaten the company’s future investment in the state.
    
            On a call with investors, Iger asked: “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes or not?”
    
            DeSantis stepped up his own attacks on Disney, as well. At one point DeSantis accused Disney of adding a lot of “sexuality into the programming for young kids,” something the company denies.
    
            Disney has effectively closed the chapter on its protracted fight against DeSantis just one week before the company faces another existential battle.
    
            Billionaire activist Nelson Peltz, whose Trian Partners has built up a stake in Disney, has been critical of the company’s management decisions and Iger’s leadership, saying Disney has “lost its way.” That battle will come to a head on April 3 at Disney’s shareholder meeting, where Peltz is seeking to win two board seats at the company.
    
            This story has been updated with additional context and developments.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['A yearslong fight between Disney and Florida is set to end after the two parties agreed to a settlement.', 'In a meeting Wednesday morning, members of the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, a body that governs the special tax district Disney is located in, approved a settlement to end a legal dispute.', 'Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis set up the Central Florida Tourism District to oversee the area in which Disney operates nearly two years ago, amid a growing conflict between the Florida governor and the entertainment giant.', 'The war of words between Disney and DeSantis began in March 2022, after Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against the controversial bill that restricts certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom.', 'Opponents have labeled the controversial law “Don’t Say Gay.”', 'Chapek called the bill a “challenge to basic human rights.”', 'Shortly after, DeSantis asked Florida’s legislature to terminate the longstanding special privileges granted to Disney in Central Florida, appointing a new board of hand-picked supervisors to oversee the district.', 'Theboard has threatenedto hike taxes, raise utility rates and develop the land around the entertainment giant’s Central Florida theme parks.', 'Disney sued DeSantis and his allies last year, claiming the company’s free speech was violated.', '“Everything we’ve done has been in the best interests of the state of Florida,” DeSantis said Wednesday at a press conference in Orlando. “', 'I’m glad that they were able to do that settlement,” he said.', 'Per the terms of the settlement, Disney will drop its public records request lawsuit it filed last year against the special tax district that alleged the oversight board was withholding files in violation of Florida law.', 'Disney was seeking to build a case against the current tax district to fight its claims that agreements with the prior one governing the same area, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, were null and void.', 'A trial was set to begin in June.', 'But now, Disney holds that prior agreements are null and void and intends to negotiate a new deal that likely would be beneficial to Disney’s development plans in the area.', 'Separately, in January a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Disney filed accusing DeSantis of weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its right to free speech.', 'Disney quicklyfiled an appeal, but it will now put that on hold “pending negotiations” on a new development deal, among other matters, with the district.', 'Additionally, both parties agreed to drop the various state-wide lawsuits they’ve filed against one another.', 'Instead, both agreed to resolve their differences outside of the courtroom in way that would not require either to admit any fault or liability, according to text of the settlement.', '“A year ago people were trying to act like all these legal maneuverings were all going to succeed against the state of Florida and the reality is here we are a year later and not one of them has succeeded,” DeSantis said Wednesday.', 'DeSantis’s office did not directly respond to CNN’s request for a comment on the settlement.', 'However, the governor, who recently ended his presidential bid, said Wednesday he views the settlement as a mutual victory for Florida and Disney.', 'DeSantis suggested the settlement could give Disney more of an edge to compete with neighboring Universal Orlando’s theme park, which recently announced an expansion slated to be complete next year.', '“We are pleased to put an end to all litigation pending in state court in Florida between Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District,” Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World, said in a statement.', 'The head of the oversight district for Central Florida also applauded the settlement.', '“With this agreement, we’re eager to work with Disney and other businesses within Central Florida to make our destination known for world-class attractions and accountable governance,” Charbel Barakat, vice chairman of Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, said in a statement to CNN.', 'The spat became a source of distraction for Disney and a criticism for DeSantis, even from Republicans.', 'Yet DeSantis and current Disney CEO Bob Iger did not shy away from trading barbs during their legal battle.', 'Last year, Iger called DeSantis’ actions toward Disney “anti-business” and “anti-Florida,” and in May, Iger said the Florida governor’s attacks on Disney could threaten the company’s future investment in the state.', 'On a call with investors, Iger asked: “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes or not?”', 'DeSantis stepped up his own attacks on Disney, as well.', 'At one point DeSantis accused Disney of adding a lot of “sexuality into the programming for young kids,” something the company denies.', 'Disney has effectively closed the chapter on its protracted fight against DeSantis just one week before the company faces another existential battle.', 'Billionaire activist Nelson Peltz, whose Trian Partners has built up a stake in Disney, has been critical of the company’s management decisions and Iger’s leadership, saying Disney has “lost its way.”', 'That battle will come to a head on April 3 at Disney’s shareholder meeting, where Peltz is seeking to win two board seats at the company.', 'This story has been updated with additional context and developments.']",0.073624780780044,"Shortly after, DeSantis asked Florida’s legislature to terminate the longstanding special privileges granted to Disney in Central Florida, appointing a new board of hand-picked supervisors to oversee the district.","Last year, Iger called DeSantis’ actions toward Disney “anti-business” and “anti-Florida,” and in May, Iger said the Florida governor’s attacks on Disney could threaten the company’s future investment in the state.",0.2116393804550171,"I’m glad that they were able to do that settlement,” he said.","Billionaire activist Nelson Peltz, whose Trian Partners has built up a stake in Disney, has been critical of the company’s management decisions and Iger’s leadership, saying Disney has “lost its way.”",2024-03-27
When wind turbine blades get old what's next?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68225891,2024-03-12T00:01:23.000Z,"The cranes moved in last year at Hagshaw Hill, Scotland's oldest commercial wind farm. They were there to continue the dismantling of wind turbines that had been generating electricity for the last 28 years. A similar scene can be witnessed across the world as the first wave of wind turbines built in the late 1990s and early 2000s are decommissioned. In the case of Hagshaw Hill, the existing turbines will be replaced with taller and more efficient ones that can generate up to 10 times more electricity. But working out what to do with the old turbines is challenging. Between 85 and 95% of a turbine's materials, such as steel, aluminium, and copper, can be easily recycled, but the blades are a different matter. Made of fibreglass they are covered with a tough epoxy resin, designed to withstand years of hammering by the elements. These durable qualities make breaking down the blades for recycling a tricky process. Traditional solutions include using pieces of decommissioned blades in cement kilns to manufacture cement, though this can be an energy intensive process. Blades are also commonly disposed of in landfill sites, but this option is becoming increasingly less feasible with a number of countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, banning the practice. Innovative solutions such as repurposing blades into playgrounds or bike sheds have been shown to be effective at a local level but, with some experts predicting up to 43 million tonnes of wind turbine blade waste by 2050, there is a pressing need for a system that will work on a bigger scale. Scientists and start-ups are working on the problem, with many focusing on tackling the challenge of breaking down the materials used in the blades.  ""At the end of life, if we're going to get any value out of the materials, we need to be able to separate the fibres from the resin in some way or another,"" Dr Claire Barlow, a sustainability and materials engineer, from the University of Cambridge tells me. More technology of business One approach showing promise uses a technique developed by the University of Strathclyde. It involves breaking the blades down into small pieces and feeding them into a very hot air stream. The process separates the glass fibre from the resin. The glass fibre can then be collected, treated and reused, explains Malcolm Forsyth who leads Project PRoGrESS, which aims to commercialise the technology. The project, which kicked off in 2022, is working on a pilot plant that's due to be operational in the first half of this year - though it's hit some difficulties.  ""The major challenge for the project team has been the rapid escalation of material costs partly due to the Russia and Ukraine war, as well as global inflation,"" according to Mr Forsyth.  Similar solutions are being tested elsewhere that use different methodologies but have the same overarching goal of breaking down the materials used in wind turbine blades. Danish company Vestas, the largest wind turbine producer in Europe, announced last year an approach that uses a liquid chemical solution to break down the blades into materials which can then potentially be used to make new blades. A major advantage of this approach, according to Vestas, is that it uses widely available chemicals, though details haven't been disclosed. The process has the added benefit of not requiring energy-intensive high temperatures.  Both of these traits hint at potential scalability, with the company claiming to have recycled 475 end-of-life blades in 2022. If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow. Historic blade waste currently in landfill could be recycled, as could waste which has been placed in storage awaiting a solution. At Hagshaw Hill a number of wind turbines have been kept in storage while ScottishPower Renewables decides what to do with them. Perhaps the future will be to make turbine blades that are easier to break down.  A number of companies are working on building blades made out of materials less reliant on the difficult to recycle fibreglass and epoxy resin. However at this stage, the vast majority of blades continue to be made of these traditional materials. The next few years will determine whether the recycling technology under development can be scaled-up to a useful size, without harming the environment. As Dr Barlow puts it ""that really is the silver bullet."" ",BBC,12/03/2024,"[""The cranes moved in last year at Hagshaw Hill, Scotland's oldest commercial wind farm."", 'They were there to continue the dismantling of wind turbines that had been generating electricity for the last 28 years.', 'A similar scene can be witnessed across the world as the first wave of wind turbines built in the late 1990s and early 2000s are decommissioned.', 'In the case of Hagshaw Hill, the existing turbines will be replaced with taller and more efficient ones that can generate up to 10 times more electricity.', 'But working out what to do with the old turbines is challenging.', ""Between 85 and 95% of a turbine's materials, such as steel, aluminium, and copper, can be easily recycled, but the blades are a different matter."", 'Made of fibreglass they are covered with a tough epoxy resin, designed to withstand years of hammering by the elements.', 'These durable qualities make breaking down the blades for recycling a tricky process.', 'Traditional solutions include using pieces of decommissioned blades in cement kilns to manufacture cement, though this can be an energy intensive process.', 'Blades are also commonly disposed of in landfill sites, but this option is becoming increasingly less feasible with a number of countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, banning the practice.', 'Innovative solutions such as repurposing blades into playgrounds or bike sheds have been shown to be effective at a local level but, with some experts predicting up to 43 million tonnes of wind turbine blade waste by 2050, there is a pressing need for a system that will work on a bigger scale.', 'Scientists and start-ups are working on the problem, with many focusing on tackling the challenge of breaking down the materials used in the blades. ""', 'At the end of life, if we\'re going to get any value out of the materials, we need to be able to separate the fibres from the resin in some way or another,"" Dr Claire Barlow, a sustainability and materials engineer, from the University of Cambridge tells me.', 'More technology of business One approach showing promise uses a technique developed by the University of Strathclyde.', 'It involves breaking the blades down into small pieces and feeding them into a very hot air stream.', 'The process separates the glass fibre from the resin.', 'The glass fibre can then be collected, treated and reused, explains Malcolm Forsyth who leads Project PRoGrESS, which aims to commercialise the technology.', 'The project, which kicked off in 2022, is working on a pilot plant that\'s due to be operational in the first half of this year - though it\'s hit some difficulties. ""', 'The major challenge for the project team has been the rapid escalation of material costs partly due to the Russia and Ukraine war, as well as global inflation,"" according to Mr Forsyth.', 'Similar solutions are being tested elsewhere that use different methodologies but have the same overarching goal of breaking down the materials used in wind turbine blades.', 'Danish company Vestas, the largest wind turbine producer in Europe, announced last year an approach that uses a liquid chemical solution to break down the blades into materials which can then potentially be used to make new blades.', ""A major advantage of this approach, according to Vestas, is that it uses widely available chemicals, though details haven't been disclosed."", 'The process has the added benefit of not requiring energy-intensive high temperatures.', 'Both of these traits hint at potential scalability, with the company claiming to have recycled 475 end-of-life blades in 2022.', 'If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow.', 'Historic blade waste currently in landfill could be recycled, as could waste which has been placed in storage awaiting a solution.', 'At Hagshaw Hill a number of wind turbines have been kept in storage while ScottishPower Renewables decides what to do with them.', 'Perhaps the future will be to make turbine blades that are easier to break down.', 'A number of companies are working on building blades made out of materials less reliant on the difficult to recycle fibreglass and epoxy resin.', 'However at this stage, the vast majority of blades continue to be made of these traditional materials.', 'The next few years will determine whether the recycling technology under development can be scaled-up to a useful size, without harming the environment.', 'As Dr Barlow puts it ""that really is the silver bullet.""']",0.0650669930373075,"The next few years will determine whether the recycling technology under development can be scaled-up to a useful size, without harming the environment.","If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow.",0.1610930476869855,"If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow.","The major challenge for the project team has been the rapid escalation of material costs partly due to the Russia and Ukraine war, as well as global inflation,"" according to Mr Forsyth.",2024-03-27
"Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek breaks silence, says there's no strategic need for ESPN partners",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/ex-disney-ceo-bob-chapek-says-espn-doesnt-need-strategic-partners.html,2024-03-21T17:11:47+0000,"In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.""Strategically, I don't really see a benefit in bringing on yet another minority partner into ESPN,"" Chapek said as part of the CNBC documentary ""ESPN's Fight for Dominance,"" which chronicles the network's digital strategy, published Thursday.Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's David Faber in July that he'd consider selling a minority stake in ESPN to strengthen the sports network's content or technology as it plans a new direct-to-consumer offering, which he later said would launch by fall 2025.The company hasn't yet announced a deal to sell a stake in ESPN. CNBC reported in August that the network had held talks with the major American professional sports leagues, including the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, about potential partnerships or investments.Disney owns 80% of ESPN and Hearst owns the other 20%, a structure that's been in place since 1996. By searching for a partner, Disney wants to enhance the content, distribution and marketing of the direct-to-consumer ESPN, which hasn't yet been priced, Iger said during Disney's August quarterly earnings call.Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games. Bringing on a technology or telecommunications company such as Verizon or Apple could give ESPN broader distribution options by reaching larger customer bases.Still, it's unclear selling equity in ESPN is needed to strike an arrangement. ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, who also spoke with CNBC as part of the documentary, downplayed the need for the sports network to sell a stake in its business to build a partnership with a league or another company.""It's not about equity,"" Pitaro said. ""It's not about these partners taking an ownership interest in ESPN. That is something, as Bob [Iger] has said, that we are very much open to, but this is about partnership and accelerating the launch or the adoption of ESPN flagship.""Chapek's remarks are his first public statements since Disney's board fired him and brought back Iger as CEO about 16 months ago. He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September. Chapek declined to comment on anything other than ESPN's future for the CNBC documentary.While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion.""There's already one minority strategic partner in Hearst. So this would be bringing on a second minority strategic partner,"" Chapek said. ""Obviously, the benefit of doing that is that you make available some cash. And given some of the conversation that's been happening between Comcast and Disney in terms of needing to buy the final share of Hulu to make it wholly owned by the Disney company, it's possible that maybe that cash itself is what they're after.""Chapek also discussed the vision he had as CEO of turning ESPN into a centralized hub to direct consumers to where a game is streaming, no matter which company owns the rights to air it — a concept CNBC first reported in March 2023.""If I'm on my Apple TV and I want to watch a movie, I have no idea whether it's on Prime or Netflix or Disney+ or Hulu or wherever it's at,"" Chapek said. ""The way I find out is I go to Apple TV, I plug in the movie that I'm looking to watch, and they direct me exactly to where that movie is. And then they connect me seamlessly without me then having to exit and go to another app to go find the show on that app. I think ESPN should be that source for a central clearinghouse.""Adding one-stop navigation can help ESPN become the first place sports fans go to when they want to watch a game, even if Disney doesn't own the rights to certain sports, Chapek said.""How do you make yourself indispensable to the sports viewer so that they stay on with you as you evolve over to a streaming world? I think solving that problem would be one big way to do it,"" Chapek said.WATCH: Bob Chapek discusses ESPN's future",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.', '""Strategically, I don\'t really see a benefit in bringing on yet another minority partner into ESPN,"" Chapek said as part of the CNBC documentary ""ESPN\'s Fight for Dominance,"" which chronicles the network\'s digital strategy, published Thursday.', ""Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's David Faber in July that he'd consider selling a minority stake in ESPN to strengthen the sports network's content or technology as it plans a new direct-to-consumer offering, which he later said would launch by fall 2025.The company hasn't yet announced a deal to sell a stake in ESPN."", 'CNBC reported in August that the network had held talks with the major American professional sports leagues, including the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, about potential partnerships or investments.', ""Disney owns 80% of ESPN and Hearst owns the other 20%, a structure that's been in place since 1996."", ""By searching for a partner, Disney wants to enhance the content, distribution and marketing of the direct-to-consumer ESPN, which hasn't yet been priced, Iger said during Disney's August quarterly earnings call."", 'Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games.', 'Bringing on a technology or telecommunications company such as Verizon or Apple could give ESPN broader distribution options by reaching larger customer bases.', ""Still, it's unclear selling equity in ESPN is needed to strike an arrangement."", 'ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, who also spoke with CNBC as part of the documentary, downplayed the need for the sports network to sell a stake in its business to build a partnership with a league or another company.', '""It\'s not about equity,"" Pitaro said. ""', ""It's not about these partners taking an ownership interest in ESPN."", 'That is something, as Bob [Iger] has said, that we are very much open to, but this is about partnership and accelerating the launch or the adoption of ESPN flagship.', '""Chapek\'s remarks are his first public statements since Disney\'s board fired him and brought back Iger as CEO about 16 months ago.', ""He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September."", ""Chapek declined to comment on anything other than ESPN's future for the CNBC documentary."", ""While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion."", '""There\'s already one minority strategic partner in Hearst.', 'So this would be bringing on a second minority strategic partner,"" Chapek said. ""', 'Obviously, the benefit of doing that is that you make available some cash.', ""And given some of the conversation that's been happening between Comcast and Disney in terms of needing to buy the final share of Hulu to make it wholly owned by the Disney company, it's possible that maybe that cash itself is what they're after."", '""Chapek also discussed the vision he had as CEO of turning ESPN into a centralized hub to direct consumers to where a game is streaming, no matter which company owns the rights to air it — a concept CNBC first reported in March 2023.""If I\'m on my Apple TV and I want to watch a movie, I have no idea whether it\'s on Prime or Netflix or Disney+ or Hulu or wherever it\'s at,"" Chapek said. ""', ""The way I find out is I go to Apple TV, I plug in the movie that I'm looking to watch, and they direct me exactly to where that movie is."", 'And then they connect me seamlessly without me then having to exit and go to another app to go find the show on that app.', 'I think ESPN should be that source for a central clearinghouse.', '""Adding one-stop navigation can help ESPN become the first place sports fans go to when they want to watch a game, even if Disney doesn\'t own the rights to certain sports, Chapek said.', '""How do you make yourself indispensable to the sports viewer so that they stay on with you as you evolve over to a streaming world?', 'I think solving that problem would be one big way to do it,"" Chapek said.', ""WATCH: Bob Chapek discusses ESPN's future""]",0.0292013742260279,"While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion.","In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.",0.6626346806685129,"Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games.","He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September.",2024-03-27
"Lululemon shares plunge 16% on weak guidance, slowing North America growth",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/lululemon-lulu-earnings-q4-2023.html,2024-03-22T20:06:12+0000,"In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.Here's how the company did in its fourth fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Jan. 28 was $669.5 million, or $5.29 per share, compared with $119.8 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $3.21 billion, up about 16% from $2.77 billion a year earlier.Shares of Lululemon closed about 16% lower Friday. As of Friday's close, shares are down about 21% this year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500, which is up about 10% in that time.Like its peers, Lululemon has been grappling with uncertain demand and a slowdown in discretionary spending that's hit the apparel space particularly hard. Investors have watched how Lululemon performs in North America, its largest region by sales, as it laps tougher prior year comparisons and contends with consumers who are choosing experiences over goods like clothes and shoes. During the quarter, sales rose 9% in the Americas, compared to 29% growth in the year-ago period. While Lululemon is still growing in the region, the rate has slowed down significantly as Lululemon focuses on expanding internationally.""As you've heard from others in our industry, there has been a shift in the U.S. consumer behavior of late and we're navigating what has been a slower start to the year in this market,"" CEO Calvin McDonald said on a call with analysts Thursday. ""We view this as an opportunity to keep playing offense as we lean into investments that will continue our growth trajectory. Outside the U.S., our business remains strong.""McDonald added that both traffic and conversions are down in the U.S. He attributed that to a lack of products in sizes zero to four, key sizes for the U.S. customer base, and not enough colorful items.Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets.Comparable sales rose 12% during the quarter, just shy of the 12.3% uptick analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.For the current quarter, Lululemon expects net revenue to be between $2.18 billion and $2.20 billion, representing growth of 9% to 10%. Analysts were expecting a forecast of $2.25 billion, or growth of 12.5%, according to LSEG.It expects diluted earnings per share to be between $2.35 and $2.40, below the $2.55 analysts had expected, according to LSEG.For the full year, it expects sales to be between $10.7 billion and $10.8 billion, compared with estimates of $10.9 billion, according to LSEG.It anticipates diluted earnings per share will be between $14 and $14.20 for the year, compared to estimates of $14.13, according to LSEG.Lululemon has long been one of the market leaders for women's athletic apparel, but the Vancouver-based company is facing more competition than ever. Newer entrants like Alo Yoga and Vuori have been nipping at Lululemon's market share, and it's had to work harder to set itself apart in the more crowded category. The retailer has been working to build out its footwear offering and grow its men's business. During the quarter, it opened its first men's store in Beijing — a key growth market for the company. In February, it debuted its first men's sneaker, CityVerse, and plans to launch new running styles for both men and women as performance sneakers continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise stagnant shoewear market. Headed into the holidays, McDonald said Black Friday was the ""single biggest day"" in the company's history and he was ""encouraged"" by the trends he was seeing at the start of the season. But the retailer's holiday-quarter outlook came in a bit short of analysts' expectations. In January, it raised that guidance after it saw sales ""balanced across channels, categories, and geographies,"" finance chief Meghan Frank said in a news release. Read the full earnings release here.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market."", 'The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.', ""Here's how the company did in its fourth fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Jan. 28 was $669.5 million, or $5.29 per share, compared with $119.8 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier."", 'Sales rose to $3.21 billion, up about 16% from $2.77 billion a year earlier.', 'Shares of Lululemon closed about 16% lower Friday.', ""As of Friday's close, shares are down about 21% this year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500, which is up about 10% in that time."", ""Like its peers, Lululemon has been grappling with uncertain demand and a slowdown in discretionary spending that's hit the apparel space particularly hard."", 'Investors have watched how Lululemon performs in North America, its largest region by sales, as it laps tougher prior year comparisons and contends with consumers who are choosing experiences over goods like clothes and shoes.', 'During the quarter, sales rose 9% in the Americas, compared to 29% growth in the year-ago period.', 'While Lululemon is still growing in the region, the rate has slowed down significantly as Lululemon focuses on expanding internationally.', '""As you\'ve heard from others in our industry, there has been a shift in the U.S. consumer behavior of late and we\'re navigating what has been a slower start to the year in this market,"" CEO Calvin McDonald said on a call with analysts Thursday. ""', 'We view this as an opportunity to keep playing offense as we lean into investments that will continue our growth trajectory.', 'Outside the U.S., our business remains strong.', '""McDonald added that both traffic and conversions are down in the U.S. He attributed that to a lack of products in sizes zero to four, key sizes for the U.S. customer base, and not enough colorful items.', ""Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets."", 'Comparable sales rose 12% during the quarter, just shy of the 12.3% uptick analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'For the current quarter, Lululemon expects net revenue to be between $2.18 billion and $2.20 billion, representing growth of 9% to 10%.', ""Analysts were expecting a forecast of $2.25 billion, or growth of 12.5%, according to LSEG.It expects diluted earnings per share to be between $2.35 and $2.40, below the $2.55 analysts had expected, according to LSEG.For the full year, it expects sales to be between $10.7 billion and $10.8 billion, compared with estimates of $10.9 billion, according to LSEG.It anticipates diluted earnings per share will be between $14 and $14.20 for the year, compared to estimates of $14.13, according to LSEG.Lululemon has long been one of the market leaders for women's athletic apparel, but the Vancouver-based company is facing more competition than ever."", ""Newer entrants like Alo Yoga and Vuori have been nipping at Lululemon's market share, and it's had to work harder to set itself apart in the more crowded category."", ""The retailer has been working to build out its footwear offering and grow its men's business."", ""During the quarter, it opened its first men's store in Beijing — a key growth market for the company."", ""In February, it debuted its first men's sneaker, CityVerse, and plans to launch new running styles for both men and women as performance sneakers continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise stagnant shoewear market."", 'Headed into the holidays, McDonald said Black Friday was the ""single biggest day"" in the company\'s history and he was ""encouraged"" by the trends he was seeing at the start of the season.', ""But the retailer's holiday-quarter outlook came in a bit short of analysts' expectations."", 'In January, it raised that guidance after it saw sales ""balanced across channels, categories, and geographies,"" finance chief Meghan Frank said in a news release.', 'Read the full earnings release here.']",0.229511879571783,"The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.","In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.",0.0951000303030014,"Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets.","In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.",2024-03-27
Fanatics fires back at DraftKings' claims of corporate espionage in bitter legal battle,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/fanatics-fires-back-at-draftkings-claims-of-corporate-espionage.html,2024-03-22T12:57:12+0000,"In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive.In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.In February, Hermalyn accepted a position as the president of Fanatics VIP and head of Fanatics' Los Angeles office. He reports directly to CEO Michael Rubin.DraftKings is suing Hermalyn in federal court, arguing he downloaded confidential company documents and tried to recruit other employees away from DraftKings.Fanatics alleges in its filing that DraftKings has a ""culture of retribution"" and is making an example of Hermalyn to instill fear in other ""DK employees looking to jump ship.""By its count, 186 DraftKings employees have applied to work at Fanatics since the company announced in 2021 it would launch a sportsbook, according to the filing.In the rapidly expanding sports gambling industry, Fanatics is the newcomer, late to the game but backed by billionaire Rubin and an enviable database of customers who buy team jerseys and ball caps online or sports memorabilia through its collectibles business.DraftKings ranks No. 2 in sports betting market share, behind FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter. But those two leaders dominate, with roughly 80% market share between them.And the competition is fierce — with even well-known gambling brands like Caesars and BetMGM fighting for customers' dollars. They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier. Much of that is proprietary.But sports gamblers are notoriously promiscuous. They chase promotions or the best odds and many have more than one betting app downloaded on their phones.The most valuable customers, the VIPs, work with casino or sportsbook hosts, who build relationships and try to engender loyalty.DraftKings alleges Hermalyn reached out to one of DraftKings' most valuable customers to alert him that Hermalyn would be leaving his employer.""The evidence against Mr. Hermalyn is open-and-shut. He stole valuable trade secrets, destroyed evidence to cover his tracks and then lied about it all,"" said Orin Snyder, an attorney with Gibson Dunn representing DraftKings, in a statement to CNBC on Thursday.In a brief filed March 14, DraftKings details what it describes as corporate espionage. Fanatics, it insists, is trying to steal its VIPs, its valuable employees and its strategy to clone DraftKings' business.Fanatics in its response vehemently denies those allegations, and says DraftKings is intentionally distorting reality and engaging in character assassination.""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.DraftKings had petitioned the court to keep Hermalyn from working for Fanatics. The judge declined that petition but issued a temporary restraining order to keep Hermalyn from soliciting clients or employees from his former employer.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive."", 'In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.', ""In February, Hermalyn accepted a position as the president of Fanatics VIP and head of Fanatics' Los Angeles office."", 'He reports directly to CEO Michael Rubin.', 'DraftKings is suing Hermalyn in federal court, arguing he downloaded confidential company documents and tried to recruit other employees away from DraftKings.', 'Fanatics alleges in its filing that DraftKings has a ""culture of retribution"" and is making an example of Hermalyn to instill fear in other ""DK employees looking to jump ship.', '""By its count, 186 DraftKings employees have applied to work at Fanatics since the company announced in 2021 it would launch a sportsbook, according to the filing.', 'In the rapidly expanding sports gambling industry, Fanatics is the newcomer, late to the game but backed by billionaire Rubin and an enviable database of customers who buy team jerseys and ball caps online or sports memorabilia through its collectibles business.', 'DraftKings ranks No.', '2 in sports betting market share, behind FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter.', 'But those two leaders dominate, with roughly 80% market share between them.', ""And the competition is fierce — with even well-known gambling brands like Caesars and BetMGM fighting for customers' dollars."", ""They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier."", 'Much of that is proprietary.', 'But sports gamblers are notoriously promiscuous.', 'They chase promotions or the best odds and many have more than one betting app downloaded on their phones.', 'The most valuable customers, the VIPs, work with casino or sportsbook hosts, who build relationships and try to engender loyalty.', ""DraftKings alleges Hermalyn reached out to one of DraftKings' most valuable customers to alert him that Hermalyn would be leaving his employer."", '""The evidence against Mr. Hermalyn is open-and-shut.', 'He stole valuable trade secrets, destroyed evidence to cover his tracks and then lied about it all,"" said Orin Snyder, an attorney with Gibson Dunn representing DraftKings, in a statement to CNBC on Thursday.', 'In a brief filed March 14, DraftKings details what it describes as corporate espionage.', ""Fanatics, it insists, is trying to steal its VIPs, its valuable employees and its strategy to clone DraftKings' business."", 'Fanatics in its response vehemently denies those allegations, and says DraftKings is intentionally distorting reality and engaging in character assassination.', '""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.', 'DraftKings had petitioned the court to keep Hermalyn from working for Fanatics.', 'The judge declined that petition but issued a temporary restraining order to keep Hermalyn from soliciting clients or employees from his former employer.']",0.052403567887878,"""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.","In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.",0.0735168606042862,"They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier.",In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive.,2024-03-27
"What are the National Minimum Wage, National Living Wage and Real Living Wage?",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48445674,2019-05-30T13:32:43.000Z,"Millions of workers across the UK will see their pay increase when the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage go up on 1 April.  The Real Living Wage - a higher amount voluntarily paid by some UK businesses - remains the same.  The National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage are both set by the Department for Business every year on the advice of independent advisory group, the Low Pay Commission. The amount you get depends on your age. Rates apply across the UK.  From 1 April, employees aged 21 and over are entitled to the National Living Wage.Previously, you had to be23 to qualify. The rate is increasing to £11.44 an hour, up from £10.42. The government says the 2024 increase means it has reached its long-term goal to make the National Living Wage equal to two-thirds of median hourly pay for those aged 21 and over.  If all salaries were arranged in order, the median wage would be the one at the middle point - with half above and half below. From 1 April, the National Minimum Wage applies to younger employees between school leaving age (16)and 20: The government says this is the largest ever cash increase to the minimum wage.  The separate apprentice rate, which applies to eligible people under 19 - or those over 19 in the first year of an apprenticeship will be £6.40 an hour, up from £5.28. Those who don't qualify include: People with disabilities or in long-term unemployment who take part in government work programmes are paid fixed amounts at different stages of the scheme.  There are less than the equivalent National Minimum or Living rate.  Yes, it is a criminal offence if employers fail to pay the correct National Minimum and Living Wages to their workers.  The rates apply to staff even if they are not paid by the hour. If you think you are being paid incorrectly, you can complain via the HMRC website.  You can also get advice from workplace experts Acas. Any employer not paying the correct amount can be fined by HMRC. In June 2023, the government said that more than 200 firms had been fined nearly £7m and told to reimburse 63,000 workers for failures over several years. The companies included Marks and Spencer, Argos and Lloyds Pharmacy.  WH Smith was the worst offender, having failed to pay over £1m to more than 17,600 workers. The Real Living Wage is an unofficial hourly rate which is overseen by the Living Wage Foundation charity. It is based on the amount the charity believes people need to earn.  It is aimed at UK workers aged 18 and over, but is not a legal requirement, and businesses choose whether or not to pay it.  The charity says more than 460,000 employees working for 14,000 firms currently receive the Real Living Wage.   The rate for workers in the capital - sometimes called the London Living Wage - is £13.15 an hour.  In the rest of the UK, it is £12.  A qualifying full-time worker in London would earn £5,323 more than someone on the National Living Wage.  Someone on the Real Living Wage outside the capital would earn £3,081 more than someone on the National Living Wage.  The charity points out that - unlike the National Minimum Wage - the Real Living Wage has kept up with the rising cost of living. The CPI measure of inflation rose by 17.4% between September 2021 and September 2023. Over the same period the Real Living Wage for the UK went up by 21.2% (19% in London).  By comparison, the National Minimum Wage increased by less than CPI between April 2021 and April 2023.  In February 2024, the charity said its research found that 1 in 8 UK jobs pay less than its suggested hourly rate, with the highest concentration of low-paid jobs in the north-east of England (15.9%), the East Midlands (15.7%) and Northern Ireland (15.6%).  The National Minimum Wage came into force under the Labour government in 1999.  It started at £3.60 for those 22 and older, and £3 for 18-21 year olds. The Conservative government introduced the National Living Wage for workers aged over 25 in 2016. It was initially set at £7.20 - 50p more than the National Minimum Wage. The qualifying age fell to 23 in 2021.  ",BBC,30/05/2019,"['Millions of workers across the UK will see their pay increase when the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage go up on 1 April.', 'The Real Living Wage - a higher amount voluntarily paid by some UK businesses - remains the same.', 'The National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage are both set by the Department for Business every year on the advice of independent advisory group, the Low Pay Commission.', 'The amount you get depends on your age.', 'Rates apply across the UK.', 'From 1 April, employees aged 21 and over are entitled to the National Living Wage.', 'Previously, you had to be23 to qualify.', 'The rate is increasing to £11.44 an hour, up from £10.42.', 'The government says the 2024 increase means it has reached its long-term goal to make the National Living Wage equal to two-thirds of median hourly pay for those aged 21 and over.', 'If all salaries were arranged in order, the median wage would be the one at the middle point - with half above and half below.', 'From 1 April, the National Minimum Wage applies to younger employees between school leaving age (16)and 20: The government says this is the largest ever cash increase to the minimum wage.', 'The separate apprentice rate, which applies to eligible people under 19 - or those over 19 in the first year of an apprenticeship will be £6.40 an hour, up from £5.28.', ""Those who don't qualify include: People with disabilities or in long-term unemployment who take part in government work programmes are paid fixed amounts at different stages of the scheme."", 'There are less than the equivalent National Minimum or Living rate.', 'Yes, it is a criminal offence if employers fail to pay the correct National Minimum and Living Wages to their workers.', 'The rates apply to staff even if they are not paid by the hour.', 'If you think you are being paid incorrectly, you can complain via the HMRC website.', 'You can also get advice from workplace experts Acas.', 'Any employer not paying the correct amount can be fined by HMRC.', 'In June 2023, the government said that more than 200 firms had been fined nearly £7m and told to reimburse 63,000 workers for failures over several years.', 'The companies included Marks and Spencer, Argos and Lloyds Pharmacy.', 'WH Smith was the worst offender, having failed to pay over £1m to more than 17,600 workers.', 'The Real Living Wage is an unofficial hourly rate which is overseen by the Living Wage Foundation charity.', 'It is based on the amount the charity believes people need to earn.', 'It is aimed at UK workers aged 18 and over, but is not a legal requirement, and businesses choose whether or not to pay it.', 'The charity says more than 460,000 employees working for 14,000 firms currently receive the Real Living Wage.', 'The rate for workers in the capital - sometimes called the London Living Wage - is £13.15 an hour.', 'In the rest of the UK, it is £12.', 'A qualifying full-time worker in London would earn £5,323 more than someone on the National Living Wage.', 'Someone on the Real Living Wage outside the capital would earn £3,081 more than someone on the National Living Wage.', 'The charity points out that - unlike the National Minimum Wage - the Real Living Wage has kept up with the rising cost of living.', 'The CPI measure of inflation rose by 17.4% between September 2021 and September 2023.', 'Over the same period the Real Living Wage for the UK went up by 21.2% (19% in London).', 'By comparison, the National Minimum Wage increased by less than CPI between April 2021 and April 2023.', 'In February 2024, the charity said its research found that 1 in 8 UK jobs pay less than its suggested hourly rate, with the highest concentration of low-paid jobs in the north-east of England (15.9%), the East Midlands (15.7%) and Northern Ireland (15.6%).', 'The National Minimum Wage came into force under the Labour government in 1999.', 'It started at £3.60 for those 22 and older, and £3 for 18-21 year olds.', 'The Conservative government introduced the National Living Wage for workers aged over 25 in 2016.', 'It was initially set at £7.20 - 50p more than the National Minimum Wage.', 'The qualifying age fell to 23 in 2021.']",-0.0034894164006273,The Real Living Wage is an unofficial hourly rate which is overseen by the Living Wage Foundation charity.,"WH Smith was the worst offender, having failed to pay over £1m to more than 17,600 workers.",0.6026546827384404,The CPI measure of inflation rose by 17.4% between September 2021 and September 2023.,"In February 2024, the charity said its research found that 1 in 8 UK jobs pay less than its suggested hourly rate, with the highest concentration of low-paid jobs in the north-east of England (15.9%), the East Midlands (15.7%) and Northern Ireland (15.6%).",2024-03-27
Papa Johns pizza to shut nearly a tenth of UK sites,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68663844,2024-03-26T08:51:18.000Z,"Pizza chain Papa Johns has said it will close nearly a tenth of its UK restaurants - all of which it says are ""underperforming"". The closures follow a review of the business which identified sites that were ""no longer financially viable"". The chain, which has 450 restaurants plus others in service stations and holiday parks, will close 43 sites but has not said how many jobs will be hit. Separately, Revolution Bars has said it could sell ""all or part of the group"".   Its announcement followed reports that said Revolution could shut about 20 bars, or a roughly a quarter of its outlets.  Announcing the Papa Johns site closures, UK managing director Chris Phylactou said: ""Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process. ""Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available."" The closures are all in England and extend from Harrogate, North Yorkshire to St Helens, Merseyside, Billericay, Essex and Eastbourne, East Sussex.    All of them were ""underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable"", the company said. While other sectors of the hospitality industry have faced serious problems in recent years, takeaway outlets in general are booming, according to consultancy PwC. It said last year, a net 151 chain takeaway shops opened. ""It's a good sector to be in, albeit that there's a lot more competition as others open,"" said PwC senior retail adviser Kien Tan.  ""There's increasing consumer demand for takeaway and for takeaway outlets. If you're trading down from eating out or going out it's more affordable than going out for the evening."" Papa Johns had previously said it planned ""strategic closures"" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites. It plans to expand further into non-traditional sites like holiday parks and the chain said it would ""announce other large retail partners in the coming months"". US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was ""committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term"".  Revolution Bars, which also owns Revolucion de Cuba, said that following a period of ""external challenges"" which had hit trading it was ""actively exploring all the strategic options available to it to improve the future prospects of the group"".  This could include restructuring parts of the group or a sale of ""all or part of"" the group, it said. Revolution also said it was talking to ""key shareholders"" and other investors about raising extra funds. When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder. Earlier this month, figures showed there was a rise in new retail outlets opened last year, dominated by coffee drive-throughs, bubble tea shops and fast food restaurants, mostly located outside city centres. But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK. So far this year, the Body Shop and night club chain Pryzm have already run into difficulties, announcing the closure of sites. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Pizza chain Papa Johns has said it will close nearly a tenth of its UK restaurants - all of which it says are ""underperforming"".', 'The closures follow a review of the business which identified sites that were ""no longer financially viable"".', 'The chain, which has 450 restaurants plus others in service stations and holiday parks, will close 43 sites but has not said how many jobs will be hit.', 'Separately, Revolution Bars has said it could sell ""all or part of the group"".', 'Its announcement followed reports that said Revolution could shut about 20 bars, or a roughly a quarter of its outlets.', 'Announcing the Papa Johns site closures, UK managing director Chris Phylactou said: ""Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process. ""', 'Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available.""', 'The closures are all in England and extend from Harrogate, North Yorkshire to St Helens, Merseyside, Billericay, Essex and Eastbourne, East Sussex.', 'All of them were ""underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable"", the company said.', 'While other sectors of the hospitality industry have faced serious problems in recent years, takeaway outlets in general are booming, according to consultancy PwC. It said last year, a net 151 chain takeaway shops opened. ""', 'It\'s a good sector to be in, albeit that there\'s a lot more competition as others open,"" said PwC senior retail adviser Kien Tan. ""', ""There's increasing consumer demand for takeaway and for takeaway outlets."", 'If you\'re trading down from eating out or going out it\'s more affordable than going out for the evening.""', 'Papa Johns had previously said it planned ""strategic closures"" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.', 'It plans to expand further into non-traditional sites like holiday parks and the chain said it would ""announce other large retail partners in the coming months"".', 'US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was ""committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term"".', 'Revolution Bars, which also owns Revolucion de Cuba, said that following a period of ""external challenges"" which had hit trading it was ""actively exploring all the strategic options available to it to improve the future prospects of the group"".', 'This could include restructuring parts of the group or a sale of ""all or part of"" the group, it said.', 'Revolution also said it was talking to ""key shareholders"" and other investors about raising extra funds.', 'When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder.', 'Earlier this month, figures showed there was a rise in new retail outlets opened last year, dominated by coffee drive-throughs, bubble tea shops and fast food restaurants, mostly located outside city centres.', 'But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK.', 'So far this year, the Body Shop and night club chain Pryzm have already run into difficulties, announcing the closure of sites.']",0.1123842760171208,"Papa Johns had previously said it planned ""strategic closures"" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.","When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder.",0.0878363966941833,"US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was ""committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term"".","But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK.",2024-03-27
Target doubles bonuses for salaried employees as profits recover,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/target-doubles-bonuses-for-salaried-employees-as-profits-recover-.html,2024-03-21T17:31:03+0000,"In this articleTarget will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as the big-box retailer's profits recover from a bumpy nearly two-year stretch.Salaried employees at the Minneapolis-based retailer receive an annual bonus, based on Target's performance and the eligible amount set as part of their compensation. The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, a company spokesperson said Thursday. That is an increase from 50% in the prior year.In a statement, Target said the annual bonus payout is based on how the retailer performs against sales and profit goals set at the beginning of the fiscal year.""Based on Target's performance in 2023, including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year, we're rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.Target will pay out the annual cash bonuses in late March. The amount paid out won't be as high as it could be, however. It tops out at 175% of each employee's eligible bonus amount.The vast majority of Target's approximately 415,000 employees, such as those at its stores and warehouses, are paid hourly and do not qualify for the bonuses. Yet it does offer bonuses to store and supply-chain leaders, along with many corporate employees. Top executives at Target have a different bonus structure. The increased bonus payout was first reported by Bloomberg.Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft. In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period.The discounter said it expects the sales challenges will continue. For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen. For the fiscal year, Target said, it expects adjusted earnings per share will range from $8.60 to $9.60. The higher end of that range would top the adjusted earnings per share of $8.94 that it reported for the previous fiscal year.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleTarget will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as the big-box retailer's profits recover from a bumpy nearly two-year stretch."", ""Salaried employees at the Minneapolis-based retailer receive an annual bonus, based on Target's performance and the eligible amount set as part of their compensation."", ""The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, a company spokesperson said Thursday."", 'That is an increase from 50% in the prior year.', 'In a statement, Target said the annual bonus payout is based on how the retailer performs against sales and profit goals set at the beginning of the fiscal year.', '""Based on Target\'s performance in 2023,including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year,we\'re rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.', 'Target will pay out the annual cash bonuses in late March.', ""The amount paid out won't be as high as it could be, however."", ""It tops out at 175% of each employee's eligible bonus amount."", ""The vast majority of Target's approximately 415,000 employees, such as those at its stores and warehouses, are paid hourly and do not qualify for the bonuses."", 'Yet it does offer bonuses to store and supply-chain leaders, along with many corporate employees.', 'Top executives at Target have a different bonus structure.', 'The increased bonus payout was first reported by Bloomberg.', 'Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft.', ""In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period."", 'The discounter said it expects the sales challenges will continue.', 'For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen.', 'For the fiscal year, Target said, it expects adjusted earnings per share will range from $8.60 to $9.60.', 'The higher end of that range would top the adjusted earnings per share of$8.94 that it reported for the previous fiscal year.']",0.4483384428773163,"""Based on Target's performance in 2023,including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year,we're rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.","Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft.",0.3977267444133758,"For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen.","In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period.",2024-03-27
Why Costco’s hot dog is still $1.50 when everything has gotten so expensive,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/economy/costco-hot-dog-inflation/index.html,"
  Updated
        10:32 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","Inflation has touched nearly everything these last few years — even Trader Joe’s 19-cent bananas. But Costco is holding the line on its hot dog-soda combo price.
    
            Costco’s hot dog deal, sold at its food courts, is still priced at $1.50 — exactly what it cost in 1985, before the Great Recession, the housing crisis, the pandemic and the latest bout of decades-high inflation.
    
            Since the pandemic started, prices for consumers have gone up 20% overall, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In many key areas, like housing and groceries, prices have increased even more.
    
            If Costco’s hot dog deal kept pace with inflation, it would be three times as expensive today — nearly $4.50. But Costco’s $1.50 combo is a strategic decision, known as a loss-leader: The company is willing to lose money selling the hot dogs at that price — inflation be darned — so long as it helps Costco draw in and retain customers.
    
            “It’s branding,” said Scott Mushkin, a retail analyst at R5 Capital. The $1.50 deal helps create customer loyalty, he said. “It reminds customers of who Costco is.”
    
            Costco loses money selling more than 100 million hot dogs every year, but the company offsets these losses by raising prices on other goods it sells. Costco has increased prices of pizzas and other items at its food courts.
    
            But Costco has a unique business model that allows it to keep prices low: It makes almost all of its money on memberships, selling items on its warehouse floor very nearly at cost – and sometimes less.
    
            Costco’s longtime finance chief Richard Galanti, who retired this month, said in a recent interview that the $1.50 price was “probably safe for a while.”
    
            Most companies don’t have the luxury of a membership model like Costco. They can’t get by selling most of their items for very little profit — or taking a loss on products they sell 100 million of each year.
    
            Inflation has slowed considerably since it peaked at 9.1% in June of 2022. In its battle to bring down that inflation, the Federal Reserve introduced 11 aggressive rate hikes meant to crush demand and discourage spending.
    
            It’s working — overall consumer prices rose by 3.2% in February, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    
            And while we may wish for lower prices, falling prices would actually serve as a red flag indicating that the economy is in bad shape. We’re not there yet, don’t worry.
    
            Companies have been reporting surprisingly strong earnings in recent months on the back of strong consumer spending. Even though companies – including Costco – have to raise prices (even on hot dogs in some cases), Americans continue to shell out.
    
            Consumer spending is the biggest engine powering the US economy and when people spend a lot less money employers tend to lay off workers, which can lead to even lower spending and even more layoffs. This cycle can throw the economy into a recession. Again, that’s not happening yet.
    
            “The reason prices fall is because people aren’t buying. That means we’d be in a recession,” said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services.
    
            Costco’s hot dog defied inflation from the very start.
    
            Costco’s hot dog offering was born in the company’s early days. Costco added a Hebrew National stand at its second warehouse store in Portland, Oregon, shortly after it opened in 1983.
    
            To keep the price of the hot dog steady, Costco found ways to slash other costs at the food court, such as switching from 12-ounce soda cans to cheaper, 20-ounce fountain drinks.
    
            Costco sold kosher hot dogs at its food courts until 2009, but suppliers started to run low on meat. Realizing the importance of the low-priced hot dog, the chain brought production in-house and switched to its own Kirkland Signature brand. Costco now produces around 388 million non-kosher hot dogs a year at its plants for both food courts and to sell in packs.
    
            Jim Sinegal, Costco’s co-founder, once told the company’s former CEO Craig Jelinek, “If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.”
    
            “I know it sounds crazy making a big deal about a hot dog, but we spend a lot of time on it,” Sinegal told the Seattle Times in 2009. “We’re known for that hot dog. That’s something you don’t mess with.”
    
            Last year, Costco sold more than 130 million — around $195 million worth — of hot dog-soda combos globally.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['Inflation has touched nearly everything these last few years — even Trader Joe’s 19-cent bananas.', 'But Costco is holding the line on its hot dog-soda combo price.', 'Costco’s hot dog deal, sold at its food courts, is still priced at $1.50 — exactly what it cost in 1985, before the Great Recession, the housing crisis, the pandemic and the latest bout of decades-high inflation.', 'Since the pandemic started, prices for consumers have gone up 20% overall, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.', 'In many key areas, like housing and groceries, prices have increased even more.', 'If Costco’s hot dog deal kept pace with inflation, it would be three times as expensive today — nearly $4.50.', 'But Costco’s $1.50 combo is a strategic decision, known as a loss-leader: The company is willing to lose money selling the hot dogs at that price — inflation be darned — so long as it helps Costco draw in and retain customers.', '“It’s branding,” said Scott Mushkin, a retail analyst at R5 Capital.', 'The $1.50 deal helps create customer loyalty, he said. “', 'It reminds customers of who Costco is.”', 'Costco loses money selling more than 100 million hot dogs every year, but the company offsets these losses by raising prices on other goods it sells.', 'Costco has increased prices of pizzas and other items at its food courts.', 'But Costco has a unique business model that allows it to keep prices low: It makes almost all of its money on memberships, selling items on its warehouse floor very nearly at cost – and sometimes less.', 'Costco’s longtime finance chief Richard Galanti, who retired this month, said in a recent interview that the $1.50 price was “probably safe for a while.”', 'Most companies don’t have the luxury of a membership model like Costco.', 'They can’t get by selling most of their items for very little profit — or taking a loss on products they sell 100 million of each year.', 'Inflation has slowed considerably since it peaked at 9.1% in June of 2022.', 'In its battle to bring down that inflation, the Federal Reserve introduced 11 aggressive rate hikes meant to crush demand and discourage spending.', 'It’s working — overall consumer prices rose by 3.2% in February, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.', 'And while we may wish for lower prices, falling prices would actually serve as a red flag indicating that the economy is in bad shape.', 'We’re not there yet, don’t worry.', 'Companies have been reporting surprisingly strong earnings in recent months on the back of strong consumer spending.', 'Even though companies – including Costco – have to raise prices (even on hot dogs in some cases), Americans continue to shell out.', 'Consumer spending is the biggest engine powering the US economy and when people spend a lot less money employers tend to lay off workers, which can lead to even lower spending and even more layoffs.', 'This cycle can throw the economy into a recession.', 'Again, that’s not happening yet.', '“The reason prices fall is because people aren’t buying.', 'That means we’d be in a recession,” said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services.', 'Costco’s hot dog defied inflation from the very start.', 'Costco’s hot dog offering was born in the company’s early days.', 'Costco added a Hebrew National stand at its second warehouse store in Portland, Oregon, shortly after it opened in 1983.', 'To keep the price of the hot dog steady, Costco found ways to slash other costs at the food court, such as switching from 12-ounce soda cans to cheaper, 20-ounce fountain drinks.', 'Costcosold kosher hot dogs at its food courts until 2009, but suppliers started to run low on meat.', 'Realizing the importance of the low-priced hot dog, the chain brought production in-house and switched to its own Kirkland Signature brand.', 'Costconow produces around 388 million non-kosherhot dogs a year at its plants for both food courts and to sell in packs.', 'Jim Sinegal, Costco’s co-founder, oncetold the company’s former CEO Craig Jelinek, “If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you.', 'Figure it out.”', '“I know it sounds crazy making a big deal about a hot dog, but we spend a lot of time on it,” Sinegal told theSeattle Timesin 2009. “', 'We’re known for that hot dog.', 'That’s something you don’t mess with.”', 'Last year, Costco sold more than 130 million — around $195 million worth — of hot dog-soda combos globally.']",-0.0734320249817243,Companies have been reporting surprisingly strong earnings in recent months on the back of strong consumer spending.,"In its battle to bring down that inflation, the Federal Reserve introduced 11 aggressive rate hikes meant to crush demand and discourage spending.",-0.2271203236146406,"It’s working — overall consumer prices rose by 3.2% in February, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.",Inflation has slowed considerably since it peaked at 9.1% in June of 2022.,2024-03-27
OpenAI’s wild week. How the Sam Altman story unfolded,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/22/tech/openai-sam-altman-chaos-explained-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        3:32 PM EST, Wed November 22, 2023
    ","In a year of wild tech stories that has seen Elon Musk transform Twitter, cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapse and Silicon Valley Bank implode, this week’s whiplash-inducing turmoil at OpenAI is among the most captivating.
    
            Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps the most visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move. Less than five days later, he’s back as the company’s CEO, now with a board that is, in theory, more supportive of his vision.
    
            The series of extraordinary events unfolded just days after OpenAI held its first-ever developer conference, where it laid out new, commercialized versions of its technology, including the option to customize its ChatGPT AI chatbot.
    
            If you’re just catching up, here’s what you missed from a week so incredible you’d be forgiven for thinking the script could have been written by an early version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
    
            Around 3 p.m. ET, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board that had been convened by fellow co-founder and OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, during which Altman was fired and told that the news would soon be made public.
    
            Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI president, that he would be removed from the board.
    
            Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board. The board said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would become interim CEO.
    
            OpenAI’s strategic partners, including its biggest financial backer Microsoft, were also reportedly informed of Altman’s ouster just minutes before the board’s announcement.
    
            Hours after being fired, Altman posted on X that he “loved working with such talented people” and that he would have “more to say about what’s next later.”
    
            Brockman promptly quit. “Please don’t spend any time being concerned. We will be fine,” Brockman said in a Friday post on X. “Greater things coming soon.”
    
            A key factor in the CEO’s firing was tension between Altman, who favored developing AI more aggressively, and members of the OpenAI board, who wanted to move more cautiously, according to CNN contributor Kara Swisher, who spoke to sources knowledgeable about the unfolding events.
    
            Within 24 hours of Altman being fired, reports emerged that he and other ex-OpenAI loyalists were mulling plans for their own venture.
    
            OpenAI’s board was also reportedly having second thoughts and considering asking the ousted CEO to return.
    
            By Sunday afternoon, Altman was back at OpenAI’s headquarters — this time with a guest badge — to negotiate his potential return. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly mediated the discussion. A 5 p.m. PT deadline was reportedly set for the board to agree to Altman’s demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft, and reinstating him as CEO.
    
            But those talks broke down.
    
            As Sunday turned into Monday, Nadella tweeted that Altman, along with Brockman, would join Microsoft to run a new AI research group. At OpenAI, the group found a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service, Twitch. Murati would return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.
    
            In a post on X early Monday, Shear, who left his role at Twitch in March, described the chance to join OpenAI as “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened in the lead-up to Altman’s firing.
    
            But OpenAI employees were not convinced. More than 500 staffers signed an open letter calling on the company’s board to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman. They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met.
    
            Altman posted on X, saying, “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before. we are all going to work together some way or other, and i’m so excited. one team, one mission.”
    
            The drama was far from over. The Verge reported Monday afternoon that Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members who fired him resign.
    
            And Nadella, speaking to CNBC, said he was “open to both options” when asked whether Altman would actually join Microsoft.
    
            “Look, that is for the OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose,” Nadella said. “We chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously, that depends on the people of OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft.”
    
            Altman was reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s CEO, the company said on X.
    
            “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will also join the board, alongside existing director, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.
    
            “We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said.
    
            In his own post on X, formerly Twitter, Altman wrote that he is “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI and building on the firm’s “strong partnership” with Microsoft.
    
            It’s unclear how Shear will be affected by Altman’s return. Posting on X, Shear wrote: “I am deeply pleased by this result, after (some) 72 very intense hours of work … I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”
    
            Brockman is also returning to OpenAI, according to his post on X.
    
            Ultimately, Microsoft and Altman appear to be the big winners from the dust-up: Altman will continue leading the firm he helped to found. And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.
    
            “We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadella said on X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”",CNN,22/11/2023,"['In a year of wild tech stories that has seen Elon Musk transform Twitter, cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapse and Silicon Valley Bank implode, this week’s whiplash-inducing turmoil at OpenAI is among the most captivating.', 'Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps themost visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move.', 'Less than five days later, he’s back as the company’s CEO, now with a board that is, in theory, more supportive of his vision.', 'The series of extraordinary events unfolded just days after OpenAI held itsfirst-ever developer conference, where it laid out new, commercialized versions of its technology, including the option to customize its ChatGPT AI chatbot.', 'If you’re just catching up, here’s what you missed from a week so incredible you’d be forgiven for thinking the script could have been written by an early version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.', 'Around 3 p.m. ET, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board that had been convened by fellow co-founder and OpenAI chief scientistIlya Sutskever, during which Altman was fired and told that the news would soon be made public.', 'Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI president, that he would be removed from the board.', 'Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board.', 'The board said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would become interim CEO.', 'OpenAI’s strategic partners, including its biggest financial backer Microsoft, were also reportedly informed of Altman’s ouster just minutes before the board’s announcement.', 'Hours after being fired, Altman posted on X that he “loved working with such talented people” and that he would have “more to say about what’s next later.”', 'Brockman promptly quit. “', 'Please don’t spend any time being concerned.', 'We will be fine,” Brockmansaid in a Friday poston X. “Greater things coming soon.”', 'A key factor in the CEO’s firing wastension between Altman, who favored developing AImore aggressively, and members of the OpenAI board, who wanted to move more cautiously,according to CNN contributor Kara Swisher,who spoke to sources knowledgeable about the unfolding events.', 'Within 24 hours of Altman being fired, reports emerged that he and other ex-OpenAI loyalists were mulling plans for their own venture.', 'OpenAI’s board was also reportedly having second thoughts and considering asking the ousted CEO to return.', 'By Sunday afternoon, Altman wasback at OpenAI’s headquarters— this time with a guest badge — to negotiate his potential return.', 'Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly mediated the discussion.', 'A 5 p.m. PT deadline was reportedly set for the board to agree to Altman’s demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft, and reinstating him as CEO.', 'But those talks broke down.', 'As Sunday turned into Monday, Nadella tweeted that Altman, along with Brockman, would join Microsoft to run a new AI research group.', 'At OpenAI, the group found a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service, Twitch.', 'Murati would return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.', 'In a post on X early Monday, Shear, who left his role at Twitch in March, described the chance to join OpenAI as “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.', 'He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened in the lead-up to Altman’s firing.', 'But OpenAI employees were not convinced.', 'More than 500 staffers signed an open letter calling on the company’s board to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman.', 'They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met.', 'Altman posted on X, saying, “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before.', 'we are all going to work together some way or other, and i’m so excited.', 'one team, one mission.”', 'The drama was far from over.', 'The Verge reported Monday afternoonthat Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members who fired him resign.', 'And Nadella, speaking to CNBC, said he was “open to both options” when asked whether Altman would actually join Microsoft.', '“Look, that is for the OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose,” Nadella said. “', 'We chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously, that depends on the people of OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft.”', 'Altmanwas reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s CEO, the company said on X.  “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce.', 'Former Treasury SecretaryLarry Summers will also join the board, alongside existing director, Quora CEOAdam D’Angelo.', '“We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said.', 'In his own post on X, formerly Twitter, Altmanwrotethat he is “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI and building on the firm’s “strong partnership” with Microsoft.', 'It’s unclear how Shear will be affected by Altman’s return.', 'Posting on X, Shear wrote:“I am deeply pleased by this result, after (some) 72 very intense hours of work … I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”', 'Brockman is also returning to OpenAI, according to hispost on X.  Ultimately, Microsoft and Altman appear to be the big winners from the dust-up: Altman will continue leading the firm he helped to found.', 'And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.', '“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadellasaidon X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”']",0.062777217389235,"“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadellasaidon X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”","Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board.",0.5494540418897357,And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.,"Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps themost visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move.",2024-03-27
Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun to leave as firm faces safety crisis,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68656925,2024-03-25T12:25:37.000Z,"Boeing boss Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year amid a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record. Boeing also said that the head of its commercial airlines division will retire immediately while its chairman will not stand for re-election.  The firm is under pressure after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max in January shortly after take-off. No-one was injured but the firm's safety and quality control standards came under renewed scrutiny. Mr Calhoun took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in the aftermath of one of the biggest scandals in Boeing's history. Within the space of five months, two brand new 737 Max planes had been lost in almost identical accidents that claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew. A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing's ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"". However, in January this year a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport. An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted. Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane. Many analysts said a change in Boeing's leadership was overdue.  ""A shake-up at the top is necessary,"" said Stewart Glickman, equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that he believed the current crisis stemmed from problems in the firm's corporate culture that only fresh insight would be able to fix. ""I don't think you can change the culture with internal voices because I think this has been modus operandi for this company for too long."" In a letter to staff on Monday, Mr Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines incident as a ""watershed moment"" for Boeing and said it had to respond with ""humility and complete transparency"". ""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company,"" he said. Air safety campaigner Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Washington, said Mr Calhoun had had years to try to boost safety at the company. ""It's been one failure after the other,"" said Mr Pierson, who is now executive director at The Foundation for Aviation Safety.  ""The company deserves much better leadership and the people who get on these airplanes deserve much better leadership."" The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety. The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found ""multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements"". Another report into Boeing's safety culture by an expert panel found a ""disconnect"" between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation. After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was discovered that flawed flight control software caused the incidents - details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators. The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty. It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers' lives. Mark Pegram, whose 25-year-old son Sam died when Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in 2019, said Mr Calhoun had appeared to have been brought in to say what investors wanted to hear and ""not fix the cause of the problems that were making planes fall out of the sky"".  He said he was pleased by the change but disappointed it had taken so long. ""It's something we've been calling for for quite some time now,"" he said. The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems. Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries. On Monday, Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary said that the company ""welcomed"" Boeing's management changes, specifically the departure of Stan Deal will is leaving his role as head of the commercial airlines division immediately.  Mr O'Leary said: ""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years but he is not the person to turnaround the operation in Seattle and that's where most of the problems have been in recent years."" Scott Hamilton, managing director of Seattle-based aircraft and economics research firm Leeham Company, told the BBC's Today programme: ""I've never quite understood O'Leary's defence of Calhoun. ""I certainly understand his criticism of Stan Deal, now the former chief executive of Boeing commercial airplanes. but I've never understood his defence of Calhoun quite frankly."" Mr Hamilton added: ""I think the rank and file [at Boeing] are happy to see the changes. The unknown, of course, is who is going to come in to replace Calhoun."" Speculation has already started on who that might be but the pool of people with qualifications for such a job is small.  Air transport consultant John Strickland of JLS Consulting warned that the hard work for the company was still ahead. ""It's all very well to get rid of people but what are you going to do to keep steering the business,"" Mr Strickland said. ""This is much easier said than done."" Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced. Mr Deal will will be replaced as head of Boeing's commercial airlines division by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as Boeing's chief operating officer. Larry Kellner, the firm's chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm, the chip-maker, who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020. He will lead the search for a new chief executive. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""Boeing boss Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year amid a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record."", 'Boeing also said that the head of its commercial airlines division will retire immediately while its chairman will not stand for re-election.', 'The firm is under pressure after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max in January shortly after take-off.', ""No-one was injured but the firm's safety and quality control standards came under renewed scrutiny."", ""Mr Calhoun took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in the aftermath of one of the biggest scandals in Boeing's history."", 'Within the space of five months, two brand new 737 Max planes had been lost in almost identical accidents that claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew.', 'A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing\'s ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"".', 'However, in January this year a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport.', 'An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted.', 'Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane.', 'Many analysts said a change in Boeing\'s leadership was overdue. ""', 'A shake-up at the top is necessary,"" said Stewart Glickman, equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that he believed the current crisis stemmed from problems in the firm\'s corporate culture that only fresh insight would be able to fix. ""', 'I don\'t think you can change the culture with internal voices because I think this has been modus operandi for this company for too long.""', 'In a letter to staff on Monday, Mr Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines incident as a ""watershed moment"" for Boeing and said it had to respond with ""humility and complete transparency"". ""', 'The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company,"" he said.', 'Air safety campaigner Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing\'s 737 factory in Renton, Washington, said Mr Calhoun had had years to try to boost safety at the company. ""', 'It\'s been one failure after the other,"" said Mr Pierson, who is now executive director at The Foundation for Aviation Safety. ""', 'The company deserves much better leadership and the people who get on these airplanes deserve much better leadership.""', ""The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety."", 'The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found ""multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements"".', 'Another report into Boeing\'s safety culture by an expert panel found a ""disconnect"" between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation.', 'After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was discovered that flawed flight control software caused the incidents - details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators.', 'The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty.', ""It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers' lives."", 'Mark Pegram, whose 25-year-old son Sam died when Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in 2019, said Mr Calhoun had appeared to have been brought in to say what investors wanted to hear and ""not fix the cause of the problems that were making planes fall out of the sky"".', 'He said he was pleased by the change but disappointed it had taken so long. ""', 'It\'s something we\'ve been calling for for quite some time now,"" he said.', ""The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems."", 'Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries.', 'On Monday, Ryanair\'s chief executive Michael O\'Leary said that the company ""welcomed"" Boeing\'s management changes, specifically the departure of Stan Deal will is leaving his role as head of the commercial airlines division immediately.', 'Mr O\'Leary said: ""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years but he is not the person to turnaround the operation in Seattle and that\'s where most of the problems have been in recent years.""', 'Scott Hamilton, managing director of Seattle-based aircraft and economics research firm Leeham Company, told the BBC\'s Today programme: ""I\'ve never quite understood O\'Leary\'s defence of Calhoun. ""', 'I certainly understand his criticism of Stan Deal, now the former chief executive of Boeing commercial airplanes.', 'but I\'ve never understood his defence of Calhoun quite frankly.""', 'Mr Hamilton added: ""I think the rank and file [at Boeing] are happy to see the changes.', 'The unknown, of course, is who is going to come in to replace Calhoun.""', 'Speculation has already started on who that might be but the pool of people with qualifications for such a job is small.', 'Air transport consultant John Strickland of JLS Consulting warned that the hard work for the company was still ahead. ""', 'It\'s all very well to get rid of people but what are you going to do to keep steering the business,"" Mr Strickland said. ""', 'This is much easier said than done.""', 'Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced.', ""Mr Deal will will be replaced as head of Boeing's commercial airlines division by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as Boeing's chief operating officer."", ""Larry Kellner, the firm's chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm, the chip-maker, who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020."", 'He will lead the search for a new chief executive.']",-0.0543304938948831,"A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing's ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"".","The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems.",-0.0480022403326901,Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced.,"The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety.",2024-03-27
Amgen wants in on the booming weight loss drug market — and it's taking a different approach,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/24/amgen-aims-to-enter-weight-loss-drug-market-with-a-new-approach.html,2024-03-25T17:03:02+0000,"In this articleAmgen is taking a new approach as it tries to stand out in a crowded field of drugmakers racing to develop the next blockbuster weight loss drug.The biotech company is testing an injectable treatment that helps people lose weight differently from the existing injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, and other obesity medicines in development. Amgen's treatment, called MariTide, also appears to help patients keep weight off after they stop taking it.  The drugmaker is also testing its drug to be taken once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than the weekly medicines on the market. It's too early to say how competitive Amgen will be in the budding weight loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have so far dominated.Some analysts expect the market could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade, potentially leaving room for new competitors to enter. Goldman Sachs also projects that between 10 million and 70 million Americans will be taking weight loss drugs by 2028.The available data on Amgen's injectable drug is promising, but it's from a small, early-stage clinical trial. The Thousand Oaks, California-based company also is developing an oral medicine and other treatments for obesity, but has disclosed few details about them. Investors and health experts will likely get a better idea of Amgen's prospects later this year: The drugmaker expects to release initial data from an ongoing mid-stage trial on MariTide, along with phase one data on its obesity pill. It's also unclear whether Amgen's treatments will be cheaper than the existing weight loss drugs, which cost around $1,000 per month.Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Zepbound from Eli Lilly lead a new class of obesity treatments that has drawn unrelenting patient demand — and investor interest — despite their hefty price tags and limited insurance coverage. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.  Amgen's drug offers a new twist on weight loss. Much like Wegovy and Zepbound, one part of Amgen's treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help regulate a person's appetite. But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen's drug blocks it. Wegovy does not target GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.Amgen's decision to tamp down rather than boost GIP activity is based on genetics research suggesting that blocking the receptor is linked to lower fat mass and body weight, company executives have said. That appears to contradict how Zepbound works. Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial.But Amgen's MartiTide also was effective in a small, early-stage study. Patients given the highest dose of Amgen's drug — 420 milligrams — every month lost 14.5% of their body weight on average in just 12 weeks, according to data from the phase one trial published last month in the journal Nature Metabolism. There's a broader debate among researchers about why both approaches – blocking and activating GIP – are effective at promoting weight loss. One theory is that repeatedly activating the GIP receptor, as Zepbound does, ultimately causes the body to ""self-regulate"" itself and make sure there isn't too much GIP activity, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women's Hospital.That decreases GIP activity overall, which is thought to essentially mimic what Amgen's drug achieves when it blocks the GIP receptor. But Apovian cautioned that ""none of this is proven"" and more data is needed.Amgen's treatment may be better at helping people maintain weight loss than competitors, even though patients take it less frequently, early-stage trial data suggests.Amgen's study enrolled 110 patients with obesity but not diabetes. Patients in one group were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of the drug and were followed for 150 days, while a second group was given a dose every four weeks for three months. Patients who received a single shot of the highest dose of MariTide lost up to 8.2% of their body weight after 92 days. That suggests a single injection of the drug has a prolonged weight loss effect, according to the study authors. In the group that received multiple doses of the drug, patients appeared to maintain their maximum weight loss until around two months after their last dose. Their body weight started to slowly return after that. Still, their weight was as much as 11.2% lower five months after they received the last dose. ""We think meaningful weight loss is already 5%. If you take Amgen's drug, lose 14.5%, stop the drug and still have 11.2% weight loss after a few months, that's significant,"" said Dr. Holly Lofton, director of the Weight Management Program at NYU Langone Health and an obesity medicine physician. But she pointed out the need to study the treatment in a larger group of people. The sustained weight loss in Amgen's study appears to contrast with results seen in clinical trials on Zepbound and Wegovy. Patients in those studies saw their weight rebound sooner after stopping the injections. The frequency of Amgen's drug also sets it apart. Those on Wegovy or Zepbound have to take doses weekly, compared with the once-monthly MariTide. Amgen's trial used monthly dosing in part because patients saw sustained weight loss whether they had a single injection or multiple shots of the company's drug, according to the study authors. Amgen's treatment also can stay in the body for much longer than current therapies like Wegovy and Zepbound because it includes a monoclonal antibody, the authors added. Amgen's MariTide ""has that advantage where it's just going to last a lot longer. Even if you give a high dose, you're still going to have drug exposure in the body for a month or two months, so that clearly shows you don't need to take it every week,"" William Blair & Company analyst Matt Phipps told CNBC.Phipps said people typically don't want to get injections often, so some patients could prefer a monthly shot like Amgen's MariTide for a disease that will likely require chronic treatment. But he noted that a patient's choice may also depend on whether the level of weight loss and side effects of Amgen's drug end up being on par with those of the existing weekly injections. Amgen's ongoing phase two trial is exploring whether patients can take its drug even less frequently than once a month. Amgen's longer-term phase two study on nearly 600 patients will provide more clarity on how competitive MariTide will be against Wegovy and Zepbound. The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients. It expects to release initial trial results later this year. Some analysts have said the phase two trial could help address several questions, including how well patients tolerate the treatment at different dose regimens.The 52-week study is testing 11 different patient groups at a variety of dosing levels and regimens. That includes starting some patients at a lower dose of a drug and gradually increasing it until they reach a higher target dose. That dose escalation could help reduce side effects that some patients experienced after taking their first dose of MariTide in the phase one trial, according to Phipps.In that trial, the safety and side effects of Amgen's drug were similar to other GLP-1 medications. Nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported side effects, and typically lasted for about 72 hours. Four out of eight patients in a group receiving the highest dose of the treatment withdrew before getting a second shot after reporting mild gastrointestinal issues, according to the study. But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month. ""It's a little early to jump to the conclusion that the drug won't be tolerated by patients based on this phase one data,"" William Blair & Company's Phipps said.Another part of Amgen's phase two trial will also examine weight loss beyond 52 weeks, which will provide a clearer picture of how long the drug is effective.",CNBC,25/03/2024,"['In this articleAmgen is taking a new approach as it tries to stand out in a crowded field of drugmakers racing to develop the next blockbuster weight loss drug.', 'The biotech company is testing an injectable treatment that helps people lose weight differently from the existing injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, and other obesity medicines in development.', ""Amgen's treatment, called MariTide, also appears to help patients keep weight off after they stop taking it."", 'The drugmaker is also testing its drug to be taken once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than the weekly medicines on the market.', ""It's too early to say how competitive Amgen will be in the budding weight loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have so far dominated."", 'Some analysts expect the market could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade, potentially leaving room for new competitors to enter.', ""Goldman Sachs also projects that between 10 million and 70 million Americans will be taking weight loss drugs by 2028.The available data on Amgen's injectable drug is promising, but it's from a small, early-stage clinical trial."", 'The Thousand Oaks, California-based company also is developing an oral medicine and other treatments for obesity, but has disclosed few details about them.', ""Investors and health experts will likely get a better idea of Amgen's prospects later this year: The drugmaker expects to release initial data from an ongoing mid-stage trial on MariTide, along with phase one data on its obesity pill."", ""It's also unclear whether Amgen's treatments will be cheaper than the existing weight loss drugs, which cost around $1,000 per month."", 'Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Zepbound from Eli Lilly lead a new class of obesity treatments that has drawn unrelenting patient demand — and investor interest — despite their hefty price tags and limited insurance coverage.', 'Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.', ""Amgen's drug offers a new twist on weight loss."", ""Much like Wegovy and Zepbound, one part of Amgen's treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help regulate a person's appetite."", ""But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen's drug blocks it."", 'Wegovy does not target GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.', ""Amgen's decision to tamp down rather than boost GIP activity is based on genetics research suggesting that blocking the receptor is linked to lower fat mass and body weight, company executives have said."", 'That appears to contradict how Zepbound works.', ""Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial."", ""But Amgen's MartiTide also was effective in a small, early-stage study."", ""Patients given the highest dose of Amgen's drug — 420 milligrams — every month lost 14.5% of their body weight on average in just 12 weeks, according to data from the phase one trial published last month in the journal Nature Metabolism."", ""There's a broader debate among researchers about why both approaches – blocking and activating GIP – are effective at promoting weight loss."", 'One theory is that repeatedly activating the GIP receptor, as Zepbound does, ultimately causes the body to ""self-regulate"" itself and make sure there isn\'t too much GIP activity, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women\'s Hospital.', ""That decreases GIP activity overall, which is thought to essentially mimic what Amgen's drug achieves when it blocks the GIP receptor."", 'But Apovian cautioned that ""none of this is proven"" and more data is needed.', ""Amgen's treatment may be better at helping people maintain weight loss than competitors, even though patients take it less frequently, early-stage trial data suggests."", ""Amgen's study enrolled 110 patients with obesity but not diabetes."", 'Patients in one group were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of the drug and were followed for 150 days, while a second group was given a dose every four weeks for three months.', 'Patients who received a single shot of the highest dose of MariTide lost up to 8.2% of their body weight after 92 days.', 'That suggests a single injection of the drug has a prolonged weight loss effect, according to the study authors.', 'In the group that received multiple doses of the drug, patients appeared to maintain their maximum weight loss until around two months after their last dose.', 'Their body weight started to slowly return after that.', 'Still, their weight was as much as 11.2% lower five months after they received the last dose.', '""We think meaningful weight loss is already 5%.', 'If you take Amgen\'s drug, lose 14.5%, stop the drug and still have 11.2% weight loss after a few months, that\'s significant,"" said Dr. Holly Lofton, director of the Weight Management Program at NYU Langone Health and an obesity medicine physician.', 'But she pointed out the need to study the treatment in a larger group of people.', ""The sustained weight loss in Amgen's study appears to contrast with results seen in clinical trials on Zepbound and Wegovy."", 'Patients in those studies saw their weight rebound sooner after stopping the injections.', ""The frequency of Amgen's drug also sets it apart."", 'Those on Wegovy or Zepbound have to take doses weekly, compared with the once-monthly MariTide.', ""Amgen's trial used monthly dosing in part because patients saw sustained weight loss whether they had a single injection or multiple shots of the company's drug, according to the study authors."", ""Amgen's treatment also can stay in the body for much longer than current therapies like Wegovy and Zepbound because it includes a monoclonal antibody, the authors added."", 'Amgen\'s MariTide ""has that advantage where it\'s just going to last a lot longer.', 'Even if you give a high dose, you\'re still going to have drug exposure in the body for a month or two months, so that clearly shows you don\'t need to take it every week,"" William Blair & Company analyst Matt Phipps told CNBC.Phipps said people typically don\'t want to get injections often, so some patients could prefer a monthly shot like Amgen\'s MariTide for a disease that will likely require chronic treatment.', ""But he noted that a patient's choice may also depend on whether the level of weight loss and side effects of Amgen's drug end up being on par with those of the existing weekly injections."", ""Amgen's ongoing phase two trial is exploring whether patients can take its drug even less frequently than once a month."", ""Amgen's longer-term phase two study on nearly 600 patients will provide more clarity on how competitive MariTide will be against Wegovy and Zepbound."", 'The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients.', 'It expects to release initial trial results later this year.', 'Some analysts have said the phase two trial could help address several questions, including how well patients tolerate the treatment at different dose regimens.', 'The 52-week study is testing 11 different patient groups at a variety of dosing levels and regimens.', 'That includes starting some patients at a lower dose of a drug and gradually increasing it until they reach a higher target dose.', 'That dose escalation could help reduce side effects that some patients experienced after taking their first dose of MariTide in the phase one trial, according to Phipps.', ""In that trial, the safety and side effects of Amgen's drug were similar to other GLP-1 medications."", 'Nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported side effects, and typically lasted for about 72 hours.', 'Four out of eight patients in a group receiving the highest dose of the treatment withdrew before getting a second shot after reporting mild gastrointestinal issues, according to the study.', 'But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month.', '""It\'s a little early to jump to the conclusion that the drug won\'t be tolerated by patients based on this phase one data,"" William Blair & Company\'s Phipps said.', ""Another part of Amgen's phase two trial will also examine weight loss beyond 52 weeks, which will provide a clearer picture of how long the drug is effective.""]",0.0559512895439434,The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients.,"But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month.",0.7454101455708345,Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial.,"Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.",2024-03-27
Nigeria Binance dispute: British-Kenyan executive Nadeem Anjarwalla escapes from custody,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68656119,2024-03-25T14:52:21.000Z,"An executive of the cryptocurrency firm Binance has escaped from custody in Nigeria, the authorities there say. Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national, was arrested in February with his US colleague Tigran Gambaryan. Their detention came as the Nigerian authorities investigated alleged wrongdoing by Binance. Nigeria said that Mr Anjarwalla fled the country with a ""smuggled passport"", but a family source has said he had left by ""by lawful means"". The country is now ""working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect"", the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said in a statement. Binance has not commented on the accusations it has been facing. ""We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody. Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.  Mr Anjarwalla, the company's Africa regional manager, and Mr Gambaryan, in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested on 26 February after attending meetings in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to which they had been invited by the government. The authorities reportedly demanded that they name Nigerians trading on their platform.  A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's request to detain the two executives for 14 days, but their continued detention was not authorised by the court and they were being held ""unlawfully"", a source close to the families told the BBC. They were due to appear again in court early next month.  ""The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention,"" the ONSA said. Nigerian media are reporting that Mr Anjarwalla asked the guards at a guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to the mosque last Friday but never returned. The authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport were unknown. Mr Gambaryan remains in custody. Meanwhile, the Nigerian authorities have formally filed tax evasion charges against Binance at the High Court in Abuja, and named Mr Anjarwalla among the respondents. The Federal Inland Revenue Service is accusing the cryptocurrency platform of non-payment of value added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.  Binance has not made a statement on these charges. Last month, the Nigerian authorities clamped down on cryptocurrency firms in general over allegations they were being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.  The country's central bank alleged that over $26bn (£20.6bn) worth of transactions had passed through Binance with untraceable sources.  It accused the platforms of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the naira, the local currency, and ordered the firm to pay a fine of $10bn.  Binance is understood to be one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms in Nigeria. Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['An executive of the cryptocurrency firm Binance has escaped from custody in Nigeria, the authorities there say.', 'Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national, was arrested in February with his US colleague Tigran Gambaryan.', 'Their detention came as the Nigerian authorities investigated alleged wrongdoing by Binance.', 'Nigeria said that Mr Anjarwalla fled the country with a ""smuggled passport"", but a family source has said he had left by ""by lawful means"".', 'The country is now ""working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect"", the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said in a statement.', 'Binance has not commented on the accusations it has been facing. ""', 'We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody.', 'Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.', ""Mr Anjarwalla, the company's Africa regional manager, and Mr Gambaryan, in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested on 26 February after attending meetings in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to which they had been invited by the government."", 'The authorities reportedly demanded that they name Nigerians trading on their platform.', 'A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission\'s request to detain the two executives for 14 days, but their continued detention was not authorised by the court and they were being held ""unlawfully"", a source close to the families told the BBC.', 'They were due to appear again in court early next month. ""', 'The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention,"" the ONSA said.', 'Nigerian media are reporting that Mr Anjarwalla asked the guards at a guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to the mosque last Friday but never returned.', 'The authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport were unknown.', 'Mr Gambaryan remains in custody.', 'Meanwhile, the Nigerian authorities have formally filed tax evasion charges against Binance at the High Court in Abuja, and named Mr Anjarwalla among the respondents.', 'The Federal Inland Revenue Service is accusing the cryptocurrency platform of non-payment of value added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.', 'Binance has not made a statement on these charges.', 'Last month, the Nigerian authorities clamped down on cryptocurrency firms in general over allegations they were being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.', ""The country's central bank alleged that over $26bn (£20.6bn) worth of transactions had passed through Binance with untraceable sources."", 'It accused the platforms of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the naira, the local currency, and ordered the firm to pay a fine of $10bn.', 'Binance is understood to be one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms in Nigeria.', ""Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.""]",-0.1973722181344786,"Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.","Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.",-0.9894911050796508,,"Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.",2024-03-27
Leo Varadkar: Five key moments for the Brexit Taoiseach,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6pj0j3le6no,2024-03-21T07:27:53.936Z,"Leo Varadkar was taoiseach during the most intense phase of Brexit, when the Irish border was central to negotiations. In January 2017, the then UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Brexit would mean the UK leaving the single market and the customs union. That had immediate implications for Ireland, raising the prospect that it would have to harden its border with Northern Ireland. The Irish government quickly decided that would be a bad idea for economic, political and security reasons. Its Brexit bottom line was that there could be no hard border and Ireland’s place in the EU should be undisturbed. It fell to Leo Varadkar to pursue that policy.  There is a perception among some Brexit supporters that Ireland’s approach hardened when Mr Varadkar became taoiseach and that his predecessor Enda Kenny would have been a friendlier, more accommodating partner for the UK. However Ireland’s key Brexit policy had been set months before Mr Varadkar took the top job. The EU’s negotiating guidelines of April 2017 had the avoidance of a hard border in Ireland as one of its three priorities. There was certainly a stylistic contrast between Mr Kenny and Mr Varadkar. The new taoiseach could be brusque, even blunt. A month after becoming taoiseach he made clear his exasperation with some of the ideas for the border coming from Brexit supporters. ""What we’re not going to do is to design a border for the Brexiteers because they’re the ones who want a border,"" he said. ""It’s up to them to say what it is, say how it would work and first of all convince their own people, their own voters that this is actually a good idea. ""As far as this government is concerned there shouldn’t be an economic border. We don’t want one."" This robust defence of Ireland’s interest set the tone for his approach over the next few years. Throughout the second half of 2017 EU and UK negotiators laboured to find a way to square Theresa May’s hard Brexit with a soft Irish border. An interim agreement called the Joint Report saw the UK implicitly concede that an Irish Sea border, between NI and GB, could be a solution. The Joint Report laid out three possibilities: • The border issue could be solved in the context of an overall trade deal • There could be technological and administrative solutions • Northern Ireland could continue to follow some rules of the EU internal market and the customs union - this was known as the backstop For Mr Varadkar this was effectively mission accomplished with the UK signing up to a text which ruled out a hard border. ‘We have achieved all we set out to achieve in phase one of these negotiations,’ he said. ‘We have the assurances and guarantees we need from the United Kingdom and support for them from the European Union.’ He went on to paraphrase Winston Churchill describing the agreement as ‘not the end, but it is the end of the beginning.’ Mr Varadkar was right to suggest that the Brexit negotiations would not be concluded quickly. Throughout 2018 it became clear that Theresa May had signed up to a deal that would not win majority support in the House of Commons. Most importantly the DUP, which was keeping her party in power, was opposed to the backstop. There was an interminable series of summits and negotiations in an attempt to finesse the deal. At a meeting of EU leaders in October 2018 Mr Varadkar sought to impress on his peers just how important it was to stand firm on the border issue. He showed them a story from that day’s Irish Times about the IRA bombing of a customs post in 1972 in which nine people were killed. This provoked outrage among unionists who suggested he was using the threat of violence to advance his political agenda. Mr Varadkar said this was never his intention later explaining: ‘I have never used a threat of violence in politics. ‘What I did was express concerns at the time that were held by the Chief Constable and the Garda Commissioner, that the reestablishment of border posts between north and south could lead to violence. ""But there’s a very big difference I think, between warning or expressing concern about violence, and threatening it, and I certainly didn’t do that.” But this episode became emblematic of the low opinion many unionists had of his approach to Brexit. Mr Varadkar had a new UK counterpart in July 2019 when Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May. He promised to ditch the backstop but by October, he was proposing an ""all-island regulatory zone"" which would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for agriculture, food and all manufactured goods. However, the Irish government and the EU were not convinced as the plan would have potentially meant a new customs border in Ireland. They were also concerned an up-front veto for the DUP could prevent the ""all-island regulatory zone"" from ever materialising. But then came a decisive meeting with Mr Varadkar at Thornton Manor on Merseyside. This would prove to be the engagement which unlocked a deal that would finally be approved by the UK Parliament. Mr Johnson accepted that there would be a border in the Irish Sea while Mr Varadkar conceded that Stormont would need to have some democratic oversight. A joint statement said: ""Both continue to believe that a deal is in everybody’s interest. They agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal."" Just a week later, the UK and EU had agreed the Northern Ireland protocol.  An amended version of the protocol, the Windsor Framework, now governs NI’s post-Brexit trading arrangements. As Mr Varadkar announced his resignation on Wednesday he counted his approach to Brexit among his key achievements. He referenced Ireland’s original objectives saying: ""We prevented a hard border between North and South and protected our place in Europe."" He also suggested that with the DUP’s return to government a period of difficult relations, east-west as well as north-south, was now beginning to heal. ""The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded. ",BBC,21/03/2024,"['Leo Varadkar was taoiseach during the most intense phase of Brexit, when the Irish border was central to negotiations.', 'In January 2017, the then UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Brexit would mean the UK leaving the single market and the customs union.', 'That had immediate implications for Ireland, raising the prospect that it would have to harden its border with Northern Ireland.', 'The Irish government quickly decided that would be a bad idea for economic, political and security reasons.', 'Its Brexit bottom line was that there could be no hard border and Ireland’s place in the EU should be undisturbed.', 'It fell to Leo Varadkar to pursue that policy.', 'There is a perception among some Brexit supporters that Ireland’s approach hardened when Mr Varadkar became taoiseach and that his predecessor Enda Kenny would have been a friendlier, more accommodating partner for the UK.', 'However Ireland’s key Brexit policy had been set months before Mr Varadkar took the top job.', 'The EU’s negotiating guidelines of April 2017 had the avoidance of a hard border in Ireland as one of its three priorities.', 'There was certainly a stylistic contrast between Mr Kenny and Mr Varadkar.', 'The new taoiseach could be brusque, even blunt.', 'A month after becoming taoiseach he made clear his exasperation with some of the ideas for the border coming from Brexit supporters. ""', 'What we’re not going to do is to design a border for the Brexiteers because they’re the ones who want a border,"" he said. ""', 'It’s up to them to say what it is, say how it would work and first of all convince their own people, their own voters that this is actually a good idea. ""', 'As far as this government is concerned there shouldn’t be an economic border.', 'We don’t want one.""', 'This robust defence of Ireland’s interest set the tone for his approach over the next few years.', 'Throughout the second half of 2017 EU and UK negotiators laboured to find a way to square Theresa May’s hard Brexit with a soft Irish border.', 'An interim agreement called the Joint Report saw the UK implicitly concede that an Irish Sea border, between NI and GB, could be a solution.', 'The Joint Report laid out three possibilities: • The border issue could be solved in the context of an overall trade deal • There could be technological and administrative solutions • Northern Ireland could continue to follow some rules of the EU internal market and the customs union - this was known as the backstop For Mr Varadkar this was effectively mission accomplished with the UK signing up to a text which ruled out a hard border. ‘', 'We have achieved all we set out to achieve in phase one of these negotiations,’ he said. ‘', 'We have the assurances and guarantees we need from the United Kingdom and support for them from the European Union.’', 'He went on to paraphrase Winston Churchill describing the agreement as ‘not the end, but it is the end of the beginning.’', 'Mr Varadkar was right to suggest that the Brexit negotiations would not be concluded quickly.', 'Throughout 2018 it became clear that Theresa May had signed up to a deal that would not win majority support in the House of Commons.', 'Most importantly the DUP, which was keeping her party in power, was opposed to the backstop.', 'There was an interminable series of summits and negotiations in an attempt to finesse the deal.', 'At a meeting of EU leaders in October 2018 Mr Varadkar sought to impress on his peers just how important it was to stand firm on the border issue.', 'He showed them a story from that day’s Irish Times about the IRA bombing of a customs post in 1972 in which nine people were killed.', 'This provoked outrage among unionists who suggested he was using the threat of violence to advance his political agenda.', 'Mr Varadkar said this was never his intention later explaining: ‘I have never used a threat of violence in politics. ‘', 'What I did was express concerns at the time that were held by the Chief Constable and the Garda Commissioner, that the reestablishment of border posts between north and south could lead to violence. ""', 'But there’s a very big difference I think, between warning or expressing concern about violence, and threatening it, and I certainly didn’t do that.”', 'But this episode became emblematic of the low opinion many unionists had of his approach to Brexit.', 'Mr Varadkar had a new UK counterpart in July 2019 when Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May.', 'He promised to ditch the backstop but by October, he was proposing an ""all-island regulatory zone"" which would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the EU\'s single market for agriculture, food and all manufactured goods.', 'However, the Irish government and the EU were not convinced as the plan would have potentially meant a new customs border in Ireland.', 'They were also concerned an up-front veto for the DUP could prevent the ""all-island regulatory zone"" from ever materialising.', 'But then came a decisive meeting with Mr Varadkar at Thornton Manor on Merseyside.', 'This would prove to be the engagement which unlocked a deal that would finally be approved by the UK Parliament.', 'Mr Johnson accepted that there would be a border in the Irish Sea while Mr Varadkar conceded that Stormont would need to have some democratic oversight.', 'A joint statement said: ""Both continue to believe that a deal is in everybody’s interest.', 'They agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal.""', 'Just a week later, the UK and EU had agreed the Northern Ireland protocol.', 'An amended version of the protocol, the Windsor Framework, now governs NI’s post-Brexit trading arrangements.', 'As Mr Varadkar announced his resignation on Wednesday he counted his approach to Brexit among his key achievements.', 'He referenced Ireland’s original objectives saying: ""We prevented a hard border between North and South and protected our place in Europe.""', 'He also suggested that with the DUP’s return to government a period of difficult relations, east-west as well as north-south, was now beginning to heal. ""', 'The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded.']",0.1193318062671613,"The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded.",This provoked outrage among unionists who suggested he was using the threat of violence to advance his political agenda.,0.1706676334142685,"The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded.",But this episode became emblematic of the low opinion many unionists had of his approach to Brexit.,2024-03-27
Viking Therapeutics stock jumps more than 15% on promising weight loss pill data,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/viking-therapeutics-weight-loss-pill-shows-positive-study-results.html,2024-03-26T20:27:20+0000,"In this articleViking Therapeutics shares closed more than 15% higher on Tuesday after the company said its experimental weight loss pill showed positive results in a small study and will enter the next stage of development later this year.The study results add to the excitement around the drugmaker's prospects in the budding weight loss drug market.Viking is one of several small biotech companies hoping to compete with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the space, which analysts say could grow into a $100 billion market by the end of the decade. Some analysts view Viking as a particularly strong potential player, or takeover target for a larger company. Based on Tuesday's results, Viking plans to start a phase two trial of its weight loss pill later this year. The once-a-day tablet is an oral version of the company's experimental weight loss injection, which showed encouraging results in a mid-stage trial last month. Optimism about Viking's potential in the market has sent its shares flying 345% higher this year.The phase one trial for the pill followed more than 40 patients with obesity for around a month. Those people took different dose sizes of the drug or received a placebo.Viking said patients who received the pill once a day lost up to 5.3% of their weight on average, or up to 3.3% more than those who took a placebo, at 28 days. Up to 57% of patients who received Viking's pill lost at least 5% of their body weight. Meanwhile, no people who took the placebo shed that much weight, the company said. Notably, those who received higher doses of the experimental pill appeared to maintain or add to their weight loss at 34 days in the study, six days after their last dose of the drug. Weight loss for those patients ranged up to 3.6% higher than those who received a placebo. Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it's unclear ""how durable"" the weight loss is. Still, he noted that the sustained weight loss seen in the trial may be encouraging to patients who might miss a dose because they are traveling or don't have access to their medication. ""I think that's an encouraging sign that you don't necessarily have to take it every day,"" he said.In a release, Viking said it believes that treating patients beyond 28 days may provide ""further reductions in body weight."" The company also said the trial suggested the pill is safe and tolerable to take. The majority of side effects that patients experienced after starting the oral drug were mild in severity. The majority of gastrointestinal events that patients experienced were mild. Gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, are commonly seen across all weight loss and diabetes treatments.But people who received Viking's pill did not report vomiting. Patients who took the placebo also reported diarrhea more frequently than those treated with the oral drug, the company said.Analysts have compared Viking's weight loss injection to Eli Lilly's injectable drug Zepbound because both drugs imitate two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP.GLP-1 helps reduce food intake and appetite. GIP, which also suppresses appetite, may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's weight loss injection Wegovy only targets GLP-1.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleViking Therapeutics shares closed more than 15% higher on Tuesday after the company said its experimental weight loss pill showed positive results in a small study and will enter the next stage of development later this year.', ""The study results add to the excitement around the drugmaker's prospects in the budding weight loss drug market."", 'Viking is one of several small biotech companies hoping to compete with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the space, which analysts say could grow into a $100 billion market by the end of the decade.', 'Some analysts view Viking as a particularly strong potential player, or takeover target for a larger company.', ""Based on Tuesday's results, Viking plans to start a phase two trial of its weight loss pill later this year."", ""The once-a-day tablet is an oral version of the company's experimental weight loss injection, which showed encouraging results in a mid-stage trial last month."", ""Optimism about Viking's potential in the market has sent its shares flying 345% higher this year."", 'The phase one trial for the pill followed more than 40 patients with obesity for around a month.', 'Those people took different dose sizes of the drug or received a placebo.', 'Viking said patients who received the pill once a day lost up to 5.3% of their weight on average, or up to 3.3% more than those who took a placebo, at 28 days.', ""Up to 57% of patients who received Viking's pill lost at least 5% of their body weight."", 'Meanwhile, no people who took the placebo shed that much weight, the company said.', 'Notably, those who received higher doses of the experimental pill appeared to maintain or add to their weight loss at 34 days in the study, six days after their last dose of the drug.', 'Weight loss for those patients ranged up to 3.6% higher than those who received a placebo.', 'Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it\'s unclear ""how durable"" the weight loss is.', ""Still, he noted that the sustained weight loss seen in the trial may be encouraging to patients who might miss a dose because they are traveling or don't have access to their medication."", '""I think that\'s an encouraging sign that you don\'t necessarily have to take it every day,"" he said.', 'In a release, Viking said it believes that treating patients beyond 28 days may provide ""further reductions in body weight.', '""The company also said the trial suggested the pill is safe and tolerable to take.', 'The majority of side effects that patients experienced after starting the oral drug were mild in severity.', 'The majority of gastrointestinal events that patients experienced were mild.', 'Gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, are commonly seen across all weight loss and diabetes treatments.', ""But people who received Viking's pill did not report vomiting."", 'Patients who took the placebo also reported diarrhea more frequently than those treated with the oral drug, the company said.', ""Analysts have compared Viking's weight loss injection to Eli Lilly's injectable drug Zepbound because both drugs imitate two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP.GLP-1 helps reduce food intake and appetite."", 'GIP, which also suppresses appetite, may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.', ""Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's weight loss injection Wegovy only targets GLP-1.""]",0.0570222720908987,Optimism about Viking's potential in the market has sent its shares flying 345% higher this year.,"Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it's unclear ""how durable"" the weight loss is.",0.6855462690194448,In this articleViking Therapeutics shares closed more than 15% higher on Tuesday after the company said its experimental weight loss pill showed positive results in a small study and will enter the next stage of development later this year.,Weight loss for those patients ranged up to 3.6% higher than those who received a placebo.,2024-03-27
Advisory firm ISS tells Disney shareholders to side with Nelson Peltz in proxy fight,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/proxy-advisory-firm-iss-backs-nelson-peltz-in-disney-proxy-fight.html,2024-03-21T16:28:18+0000,"In this articleProxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services on Thursday recommended that Walt Disney shareholders elect activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board in his bitter fight against CEO Bob Iger.Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, have asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3. Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he claims have been a shrinking business and a drain on shareholder value.""Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around,"" the ISS report said.While siding with Peltz, ISS told shareholders not to back Rasulo in the fight, citing his previous positioning as a potential successor to Iger.""Though we do not have any concerns about his ability to serve as an objective director, we recognize that Rasulo's potential presence might create added friction on the board,"" ISS said.ISS slammed Disney's board for repeatedly failing to find a new CEO to take over for Iger, who left his role as CEO in 2020 only to return to the position years later.Trian heralded ISS' backing as a significant victory, pointing to the advisors' support for Peltz as an experienced director at other companies. The investment firm also highlighted that ISS recommended shareholders withhold their support for former JPMorgan Chase executive Maria Elena Lagomasino, a current Disney director whom Trian has targeted for replacement.In response, Disney said that the recommendation from ISS ""fails to acknowledge the diverse set of skills and experience on Disney's Board,"" and stressed that the proxy firm is endorsing 11 of its 12 nominees.ISS also said shareholders should withhold their votes from a separate slate of nominees, from activist Blackwells. The recommendation comes as Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and top Disney shareholder and filmmaker George Lucas.Another proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, earlier this week endorsed Disney's slate of board nominees. ISS was largely expected to follow suit.Securing the support of ISS and Glass Lewis is crucial in activist fights. Large institutional shareholders will often — but not always — vote based on the recommendation of either of the two proxy advisory firms. Activists and management each make their case to the advisory firms, which in turn issue their opinions based on meetings with either side and their own analysis.— CNBC's Rohan Goswami contributed to this report.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleProxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services on Thursday recommended that Walt Disney shareholders elect activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board in his bitter fight against CEO Bob Iger.', 'Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, have asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3.', ""Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he claims have been a shrinking business and a drain on shareholder value."", '""Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around,"" the ISS report said.', 'While siding with Peltz, ISS told shareholders not to back Rasulo in the fight, citing his previous positioning as a potential successor to Iger.', '""Though we do not have any concerns about his ability to serve as an objective director, we recognize that Rasulo\'s potential presence might create added friction on the board,"" ISS said.', ""ISS slammed Disney's board for repeatedly failing to find a new CEO to take over for Iger, who left his role as CEO in 2020 only to return to the position years later."", ""Trian heralded ISS' backing as a significant victory, pointing to the advisors' support for Peltz as an experienced director at other companies."", 'The investment firm also highlighted that ISS recommended shareholders withhold their support for former JPMorgan Chase executive Maria Elena Lagomasino, a current Disney director whom Trian has targeted for replacement.', 'In response, Disney said that the recommendation from ISS ""fails to acknowledge the diverse set of skills and experience on Disney\'s Board,"" and stressed that the proxy firm is endorsing 11 of its 12 nominees.', 'ISS also said shareholders should withhold their votes from a separate slate of nominees, from activist Blackwells.', 'The recommendation comes as Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney toJPMorgan ChaseCEOJamie Dimon and top Disney shareholder and filmmaker George Lucas.', ""Another proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, earlier this week endorsed Disney's slate of board nominees."", 'ISS was largely expected to follow suit.', 'Securing the support of ISS and Glass Lewis is crucial in activist fights.', 'Large institutional shareholders will often — but not always — vote based on the recommendation of either of the two proxy advisory firms.', 'Activists and management each make their case to the advisory firms, which in turn issue their opinions based on meetings with either side and their own analysis.—', ""CNBC's Rohan Goswami contributed to this report.""]",0.0942646815043078,"""Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around,"" the ISS report said.","In response, Disney said that the recommendation from ISS ""fails to acknowledge the diverse set of skills and experience on Disney's Board,"" and stressed that the proxy firm is endorsing 11 of its 12 nominees.",-0.435148434979575,"Trian heralded ISS' backing as a significant victory, pointing to the advisors' support for Peltz as an experienced director at other companies.","Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he claims have been a shrinking business and a drain on shareholder value.",2024-03-27
FTC investigating TikTok over privacy and security,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/ftc-tiktok-probe-privacy-and-security/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:11 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","The Federal Trade Commission is investigating TikTok for its data and security practices, two sources told CNN on the condition of anonymity.
    
            The probe is yet another complication for the social media platform, which is already facing the threat of a potential US ban or a forced divestment from its Chinese parent company.
    
            The sources said that the FTC is probing TikTok over an alleged violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection rule, which requires companies to notify parents and obtain consent before collecting data from children under 13.
    
            The agency is also investigating whether TikTok violated a portion of the FTC Act that prohibits “unfair or deceptive” business practices, the sources said, in denying that TikTok user data could be accessed by individuals in China.
    
            The FTC could bring a suit against TikTok or settle with the company in the coming weeks, according to one of the sources. Politico reported news of the probe earlier.
    
            When asked about the investigation, FTC Director of Public Affairs Douglas Farrar replied: “No comment.”
    
            TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
    
            The FTC probe comes as TikTok faces an existential threat in the US. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group in the US House of Representatives voted to pass a law forcing TikTok to be sold by ByteDance or face a ban from US app stores. The bill is now before the Senate, and President Joe Biden has said he would sign it if it gets to his desk. Senate leaders, however, have indicated they are taking a deliberate approach — which could lead to delays or even potentially doom the House bill.
    
            The short-form video company, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, has denied assertions that its app poses a national security threat to US citizens. TikTok, which does not operate in China, has said that the Chinese government has never accessed US user data.
    
            Cybersecurity experts say Chinese laws require ByteDance to cooperate with that country’s intelligence demands — a fact that, given ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok, could hypothetically put US user data at risk. To address that issue, TikTok has taken steps to store its US user data on cloud servers controlled by US tech giant Oracle and established internal protocols limiting access by non-US employees.
    
            TikTok acknowledged to Congress in 2022 that employees based in China could access US user data, following a report that year by BuzzFeed News that ByteDance employees had accessed that information on multiple occasions. TikTok CEO Shou Chew, in his first appearance before Congress last year, also acknowledged that several ByteDance employees were fired for spying on certain US journalists as part of a “misguided attempt” to hunt down leakers within the company.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['The Federal Trade Commission is investigating TikTok for its data and security practices, two sources told CNN on the condition of anonymity.', 'The probe is yet another complication for the social media platform, which is already facing the threat of a potential US ban or a forced divestment from its Chinese parent company.', 'The sources said that the FTC is probing TikTok over an alleged violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection rule, which requires companies to notify parents and obtain consent before collecting data from children under 13.', 'The agency is also investigating whether TikTok violated a portion of the FTC Act that prohibits “unfair or deceptive” business practices, the sources said, in denying that TikTok user data could be accessed by individuals in China.', 'The FTC could bring a suit against TikTok or settle with the company in the coming weeks, according to one of the sources.', 'Politico reported news of the probe earlier.', 'When asked about the investigation, FTC Director of Public Affairs Douglas Farrar replied: “No comment.”', 'TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.', 'The FTC probe comes as TikTok faces an existential threat in the US.', 'Earlier this month, a bipartisan group in the US House of Representatives voted to pass a law forcing TikTok to be sold by ByteDance or face a ban from US app stores.', 'The bill is now before the Senate, and President Joe Biden has said he would sign it if it gets to his desk.', 'Senate leaders, however, have indicated they are taking a deliberate approach —which could lead to delays or even potentially doom the House bill.', 'The short-form video company, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, has denied assertions that its app poses a national security threat to US citizens.', 'TikTok, which does not operate in China, has said that the Chinese government has never accessed US user data.', 'Cybersecurity experts say Chinese laws require ByteDance to cooperate with that country’s intelligence demands—a fact that, given ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok, could hypothetically put US user data at risk.', 'To address that issue, TikTok has taken steps to store its US user data on cloud servers controlled by US tech giant Oracle and established internal protocols limiting access by non-US employees.', 'TikTok acknowledged to Congress in 2022 that employees based in China could access US user data, following a report that year by BuzzFeed News that ByteDance employees had accessed that information on multiple occasions.', 'TikTok CEO Shou Chew, in his first appearance before Congress last year, also acknowledged that several ByteDance employees were fired for spying on certain US journalists as part of a “misguided attempt” to hunt down leakers within the company.']",-0.232320081688102,"The Federal Trade Commission is investigating TikTok for its data and security practices, two sources told CNN on the condition of anonymity.","The probe is yet another complication for the social media platform, which is already facing the threat of a potential US ban or a forced divestment from its Chinese parent company.",-0.8880719542503357,,"Senate leaders, however, have indicated they are taking a deliberate approach —which could lead to delays or even potentially doom the House bill.",2024-03-27
"Canada Goose to cut 17% of its corporate workforce, following string of retail layoffs",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/canada-goose-to-cut-17percent-of-its-corporate-workforce.html,2024-03-26T20:31:34+0000,"In this articleCanada Goose said Tuesday that it will cut about 17% of its corporate workforce, following a string of other retailers that have laid off employees this year as consumers continue to pull back on discretionary spending. It is not clear how many employees will be laid off. The cuts will affect staff at Canada Goose's corporate headquarters, which had about 915 employees as of April 2023, according to a securities filing. Between April 2021 and April 2023, Canada Goose nearly doubled the number of employees at its corporate head offices from 544 to 915 to support its ""continued growth,"" the filing says.In a statement Tuesday, CEO Dani Reiss said, ""Today, we are realigning our teams to ensure that corporate resources are fit for purpose to fuel our next phase of growth across geographies, categories, and channels.""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.The cuts, part of the company's ongoing ""Transformation Program,"" come after what it called a ""comprehensive review"" of its organizational structure and the roles it needs to reach its goals. It expects the cuts will bring ""immediate"" cost savings and simplify its workforce, allowing it to make decisions more quickly and become more efficient. Shares of Canada Goose closed about 7% lower. In the three months that ended Dec. 31, Canada Goose saw sales grow 6% compared to the year-ago period, but the results fell short of analysts' expectations, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. When releasing its holiday-quarter results, Canada Goose noted that its wholesale revenues were particularly weak, an ongoing dynamic for the company that many other retailers have felt.Several retailers, including Under Armour and Nike, have said recently that wholesale orders have been sluggish as department stores look to keep inventories in check and contend with a slowdown in demand. The layoffs at Canada Goose come after Nike, Macy's, Wayfair, Hasbro and Etsy all announced widespread layoffs over the past few months. In many cases, the companies were looking to focus on what they can control by becoming more efficient and focusing on profits, even as shoppers pull back on discretionary items such as clothes, shoes and toys.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleCanada Goose said Tuesday that it will cut about 17% of its corporate workforce, following a string of other retailers that have laid off employees this year as consumers continue to pull back on discretionary spending.', 'It is not clear how many employees will be laid off.', ""The cuts will affect staff at Canada Goose's corporate headquarters, which had about 915 employees as of April 2023, according to a securities filing."", 'Between April 2021 and April 2023, Canada Goose nearly doubled the number of employees at its corporate head offices from 544 to 915 to support its ""continued growth,"" the filing says.', 'In a statement Tuesday, CEO Dani Reiss said, ""Today, we are realigning our teams to ensure that corporate resources are fit for purpose to fuel our next phase of growth across geographies, categories, and channels.', '""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.', 'The cuts, part of the company\'s ongoing ""Transformation Program,"" come after what it called a ""comprehensive review"" of its organizational structure and the roles it needs to reach its goals.', 'It expects the cuts will bring ""immediate"" cost savings and simplify its workforce, allowing it to make decisions more quickly and become more efficient.', 'Shares of Canada Goose closed about 7% lower.', ""In the three months that ended Dec. 31, Canada Goose saw sales grow 6% compared to the year-ago period, but the results fell short of analysts' expectations, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv."", 'When releasing its holiday-quarter results, Canada Goose noted that its wholesale revenues were particularly weak, an ongoing dynamic for the company that many other retailers have felt.', 'Several retailers, including Under Armour and Nike, have said recently that wholesale orders have been sluggish as department stores look to keep inventories in check and contend with a slowdown in demand.', ""The layoffs at Canada Goose come after Nike, Macy's, Wayfair, Hasbro and Etsy all announced widespread layoffs over the past few months."", 'In many cases, the companies were looking to focus on what they can control by becoming more efficient and focusing on profits, even as shoppers pull back on discretionary items such as clothes, shoes and toys.']",0.1798259420435697,"""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.","Several retailers, including Under Armour and Nike, have said recently that wholesale orders have been sluggish as department stores look to keep inventories in check and contend with a slowdown in demand.",0.0681341886520385,"""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.","When releasing its holiday-quarter results, Canada Goose noted that its wholesale revenues were particularly weak, an ongoing dynamic for the company that many other retailers have felt.",2024-03-27
Sam Bankman-Fried faces sentencing this week. Here’s what to expect,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/sam-bankman-fried-sentencing-what-to-expect/index.html,"
  Published
        6:00 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","Almost five months after he was found guilty of committing one of the largest white-collar crimes in history, Sam Bankman-Fried is set to return to Manhattan federal court Thursday for sentencing that could land him in prison for the next half-century.
    
            It is clear that Bankman-Fried, who is appealing his conviction, will go to prison. But the length of that sentence is entirely in the hands of Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York.
    
            Prosecutors are angling for 40-50 years. Lawyers for Bankman-Fried, who turned 32 this month, have pushed back, calling that a “medieval…death-in-prison sentencing recommendation.” They say a sentence of no more than six and a half years is appropriate for a non-violent first-time offender.
    
            Kaplan will weigh those recommendations, as well as the Probation Department’s guidance — which, at 100 years, had even prosecutors deeming it unnecessarily harsh. He can also consider a range of other factors in his own assessment, including Bankman-Fried’s age and whether the judge believes the former crypto billionaire is likely to commit more crimes.
    
            “There’s this pretense that sentencing is done in this quasi-scientific fashion,” said Howard Fischer, a partner at law firm Moses Singer in New York. “The fact is, there is an enormous amount of latitude that the … sentencing guidelines allow a court to exercise.”
    
            In a trial setting, lawyers often have strict orders about what topics will be allowed to be discussed in front of the jury. Sentencing is a much more fluid process, with both sides allowed to make sweeping arguments to try to make their case to the judge.
    
            Prosecutors filed a 116-page sentencing memo earlier this month, arguing that Bankman-Fried’s punishment should be ”commensurate with the extraordinary dimensions of his crimes.” They also took aim at the defense’s position that Bankman-Fried cared deeply about giving to charity and helping others.
    
            “With all the advantages conferred by a comfortable upbringing, an MIT education, a prestigious start to his career in finance, and a worthy idea for a startup business, Bankman-Fried could have pursued the … altruistic life he has sketched out in his sentencing submission. But instead, his life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalization; and courting risk and gambling repeatedly with other people’s money,” prosecutors wrote in a memo.
    
            In a letter to the court, Marc Mukasey, the lawyer Bankman-Fried retained for sentencing, called the government’s memo “disturbing” and accused the government of trying to “break” Bankman-Fried.
    
            “We have yet to identify a federal defendant convicted of a non-violent offense who served a 40-50 year sentence and was released — perhaps because inmates suffer a two-year decline in life expectancy for each year of imprisonment,” Mukasey wrote. “Crushing Sam in this way is unnecessary.”
    
            Defense lawyers in white-collar cases often advise their clients from the start to shore up their image — go to church or temple, use your free time to volunteer at a soup kitchen, get involved with activities that can eventually be used to paint you in a more flattering light.
    
            Those options weren’t possible for Bankman-Fried, who was released on house arrest in December 2022 and confined to his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California. But in the run-up to his trial, Bankman-Fried repeatedly tested the limits of his bail, including by sounding off to the press and releasing private writings of his former colleague, Caroline Ellison, who was also his ex-girlfriend.
    
            In August 2023, Judge Kaplan sided with prosecutors and revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail. That landed Bankman-Fried in the notoriously troubled Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
    
            His behavior may come back to haunt Bankman-Fried in sentencing, Fischer said.
    
            “The thing that hurts Bankman-Fried is his pretrial conduct,” he said. “His disregard for the norms of the criminal justice system is quite shocking.”
    
            Ellison and several other former executives testified against Bankman-Fried in exchange for pleading guilty to similar federal charges and cooperating with prosecutors. They are expected to be sentenced after Bankman-Fried.
    
            One area in dispute is the calculation of losses incurred by customers of Bankman-Fried’s now-defunct crypto exchange FTX whose funds were frozen as the platform collapsed practically overnight in November 2022.
    
            Typically, in white-collar crimes, the bigger the financial loss, the longer the sentence.
    
            Bernie Madoff, the mastermind behind a yearslong $20 billion Ponzi scheme, was sentenced in 2009 to 150 years for what the judge called “one of the most egregious financial crimes of our time.”
    
            Prosecutors in Bankman-Fried’s case put the total loss “conservatively” at more than $10 billion — a figure that includes customer funds and losses incurred by investors in FTX and lenders to its sister trading house, Alameda Research, which also collapsed.
    
            But since FTX’s demise, the value of its cryptocurrency holdings has increased, raising the prospect that tens of thousands of customers could be made whole. The defense is leaning on that to push for a lighter sentence.
    
            “Each victim quoted in the government’s opposition will receive 100 cents on the dollar — plus interest,” Mukasey wrote in a court filing last month.
    
            The loss amount is fair game for Kaplan to consider in sentencing. But legal experts say that even if 100% of FTX customers get their money back, it’s not necessarily going to sway the judge to go easy on Bankman-Fried.
    
            “It’s almost as if you say, ‘Yeah, I stole all this money … but I also bought five lottery tickets, and guess what? One of them won, so no harm, no foul,’” said Fischer.
    
            John Ray, the bankruptcy expert who took over FTX after it collapsed, also fired back at the defense’s contention that the “harm to customers, lenders, and investors is zero” because the money was “not lost.”
    
            Ray stressed the return of value “is by no means assured,” and that such value would not exist without the work of his team “digging through the rubble of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s sprawling criminal enterprise.”
    
            The FTX Bankman-Fried left behind was “neither solvent nor safe,” Ray said in a letter to the court last week.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['Almost five months after he was found guilty of committing one of the largest white-collar crimes in history, Sam Bankman-Fried is set to return to Manhattan federal court Thursday for sentencing that could land him in prison for the next half-century.', 'It is clear that Bankman-Fried, who is appealing his conviction, will go to prison.', 'But the length of that sentence is entirely in the hands of Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York.', 'Prosecutors are angling for 40-50 years.', 'Lawyers for Bankman-Fried, who turned 32 this month, have pushed back, calling that a “medieval…death-in-prison sentencing recommendation.”', 'They say a sentence of no more than six and a half years is appropriate for a non-violent first-time offender.', 'Kaplan will weigh those recommendations, as well as the Probation Department’s guidance — which, at 100 years, had even prosecutors deeming it unnecessarily harsh.', 'He can also consider a range of other factors in his own assessment, including Bankman-Fried’s age and whether the judge believes the former crypto billionaire is likely to commit more crimes.', '“There’s this pretense that sentencing is done in this quasi-scientific fashion,” said Howard Fischer, apartner at law firm Moses Singer in New York. “', 'The fact is, there is an enormous amount of latitude that the … sentencing guidelines allow a court to exercise.”', 'In a trial setting, lawyers often have strict orders about what topics will be allowed to be discussed in front of the jury.', 'Sentencing is a much more fluid process, with both sides allowed to make sweeping arguments to try to make their case to the judge.', 'Prosecutors filed a 116-page sentencing memo earlier this month, arguing that Bankman-Fried’s punishment should be ”commensurate with the extraordinary dimensions of his crimes.”', 'They also took aim at the defense’s position that Bankman-Fried cared deeply about giving to charity and helping others.', '“With all the advantages conferred by a comfortable upbringing, an MIT education, a prestigious start to his career in finance, and a worthy idea for a startup business, Bankman-Fried could have pursued the … altruistic life he has sketched out in his sentencing submission.', 'But instead, his life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalization; and courting risk and gambling repeatedly with other people’s money,” prosecutors wrote in a memo.', 'In a letter to the court, Marc Mukasey, the lawyer Bankman-Fried retained for sentencing, called the government’s memo “disturbing” and accused the government of trying to “break” Bankman-Fried.', '“We have yet to identify a federal defendant convicted of a non-violent offense who served a 40-50 year sentence and was released — perhaps because inmates suffer a two-year decline in life expectancy for each year of imprisonment,” Mukasey wrote. “', 'Crushing Sam in this way is unnecessary.”', 'Defense lawyers in white-collar cases often advise their clients from the start to shore up their image — go to church or temple, use your free time to volunteer at a soup kitchen, get involved with activities that can eventually be used to paint you in a more flattering light.', 'Those options weren’t possible for Bankman-Fried, who was released on house arrest in December 2022 and confined to his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.', 'But in the run-up to his trial, Bankman-Fried repeatedly tested the limits of his bail, including by sounding off to the press and releasing private writings of his former colleague, Caroline Ellison, who was also his ex-girlfriend.', 'In August 2023, Judge Kaplan sided with prosecutors and revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail.', 'That landed Bankman-Fried in the notoriously troubled Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.', 'His behavior may come back to haunt Bankman-Fried in sentencing, Fischer said.', '“The thing that hurts Bankman-Fried is his pretrial conduct,” he said. “', 'His disregard for the norms of the criminal justice system is quite shocking.”', 'Ellison and several other former executives testified against Bankman-Fried in exchange for pleading guilty to similar federal charges and cooperating with prosecutors.', 'They are expected to be sentenced after Bankman-Fried.', 'One area in dispute is the calculation of losses incurred by customers of Bankman-Fried’s now-defunct crypto exchange FTX whose funds were frozen as the platform collapsed practically overnight in November 2022.', 'Typically, in white-collar crimes, the bigger the financial loss, the longer the sentence.', 'Bernie Madoff, the mastermind behind a yearslong $20 billion Ponzi scheme, was sentenced in 2009 to 150 years for what the judge called “one of the most egregious financial crimes of our time.”', 'Prosecutors in Bankman-Fried’s case put the total loss “conservatively” at more than $10 billion — a figure that includes customer funds and losses incurred by investors in FTX and lenders to its sister trading house, Alameda Research, which also collapsed.', 'But since FTX’s demise, the value of its cryptocurrency holdings has increased, raising the prospect that tens of thousands of customers could be made whole.', 'The defense is leaning on that to push for a lighter sentence.', '“Each victim quoted in the government’s opposition will receive 100 cents on the dollar — plus interest,” Mukasey wrote in a court filing last month.', 'The loss amount is fair game for Kaplan to consider in sentencing.', 'But legal experts say that even if 100% of FTX customers get their money back, it’s not necessarily going to sway the judge to go easy on Bankman-Fried.', '“It’s almost as if you say, ‘Yeah, I stole all this money … but I also bought five lottery tickets, and guess what?', 'One of them won, so no harm, no foul,’” said Fischer.', 'John Ray, the bankruptcy expert who took over FTX after it collapsed, also fired back at the defense’s contention that the “harm to customers, lenders, and investors is zero” because the money was “not lost.”', 'Ray stressed the return of value “is by no means assured,” and that such value would not exist without the work of his team “digging through the rubble of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s sprawling criminal enterprise.”', 'The FTX Bankman-Fried left behind was “neither solvent nor safe,” Ray said in a letter to the court last week.']",-0.2086274793216407,They also took aim at the defense’s position that Bankman-Fried cared deeply about giving to charity and helping others.,"“We have yet to identify a federal defendant convicted of a non-violent offense who served a 40-50 year sentence and was released — perhaps because inmates suffer a two-year decline in life expectancy for each year of imprisonment,” Mukasey wrote. “",-0.1748465427330562,"But since FTX’s demise, the value of its cryptocurrency holdings has increased, raising the prospect that tens of thousands of customers could be made whole.","“We have yet to identify a federal defendant convicted of a non-violent offense who served a 40-50 year sentence and was released — perhaps because inmates suffer a two-year decline in life expectancy for each year of imprisonment,” Mukasey wrote. “",2024-03-27
ESPN’s model is eroding. Past and present execs are split on how it can protect its dominance,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/espn-executives-talk-streaming-plans-in-cnbc-documentary.html,2024-03-21T19:22:22+0000,"In this articleDisney's ESPN is at a crossroads.For more than 40 years, the world's largest all-sports network has grown annual revenue by increasing cable subscription fees. ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s. In 2023, ESPN's monthly carriage fee was $9.42 per subscriber, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.That business model is eroding. Since 2013, tens of millions of Americans have canceled their cable TV subscriptions, raising questions about ESPN's future in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. CNBC spoke with multiple current and former Disney and ESPN executives about the network's path ahead as part of the digital documentary ""ESPN's Fight for Dominance.""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter. The network can no longer rely on price increases to make up the difference as the number of cable customers declines.The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth. First, this fall, Disney will make ESPN available outside the traditional cable TV bundle for the first time as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. The service, which does not yet have a price, will target noncable customers who want to watch sports but don't want to pay $80 or $100 a month for a full bundle of networks.Second, in fall 2025 ESPN will launch its flagship streaming service that will include everything ESPN has to offer, both live and on demand. It will include unprecedented personalization and will interact with ESPN Bet, the company's licensed online sportsbook, and fantasy sports to cater to younger fans. The product will go well beyond ESPN+, which exists as a $10.99 streaming service that doesn't include ESPN's most expensive programming, such as all of ""Monday Night Football.""""The industry is in a transition phase right now,"" ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in an interview as part of CNBC's documentary.""We're seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. ""There's a transition to digital. That is by far the biggest component of our future.""Pitaro and head of programming Roz Durant defended ESPN's growth plan to CNBC, while former Disney and ESPN executives Bob Chapek, John Skipper and Mark Shapiro noted the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports faces multiple potential obstacles while it charts its path forward.Watch the documentary for the full story.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleDisney's ESPN is at a crossroads."", ""For more than 40 years, the world's largest all-sports network has grown annual revenue by increasing cable subscription fees."", 'ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s.', ""In 2023, ESPN's monthly carriage fee was $9.42 per subscriber, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence."", 'That business model is eroding.', ""Since 2013, tens of millions of Americans have canceled their cable TV subscriptions, raising questions about ESPN's future in an increasingly fragmented media landscape."", 'CNBC spoke with multiple current and former Disney and ESPN executives about the network\'s path ahead as part of the digital documentary ""ESPN\'s Fight for Dominance.', '""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter.', 'The network can no longer rely on price increases to make up the difference as the number of cable customers declines.', 'The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth.', 'First, this fall, Disney will make ESPN available outside the traditional cable TV bundle for the first time as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox.', ""The service, which does not yet have a price, will target noncable customers who want to watch sports but don't want to pay $80 or $100 a month for a full bundle of networks."", 'Second, in fall 2025 ESPN will launch its flagship streaming service that will include everything ESPN has to offer, both live and on demand.', ""It will include unprecedented personalization and will interact with ESPN Bet, the company's licensed online sportsbook, and fantasy sports to cater to younger fans."", 'The product will go well beyond ESPN+, which exists as a $10.99 streaming service that doesn\'t include ESPN\'s most expensive programming, such as all of ""Monday Night Football.', '""""The industry is in a transition phase right now,"" ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in an interview as part of CNBC\'s documentary.', '""We\'re seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. ""', ""There's a transition to digital."", 'That is by far the biggest component of our future.', '""Pitaro and head of programming Roz Durant defended ESPN\'s growth plan to CNBC, while former Disney and ESPN executives Bob Chapek, John Skipper and Mark Shapiro noted the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports faces multiple potential obstacles while it charts its path forward.', 'Watch the documentary for the full story.']",0.0337630750174359,The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth.,ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s.,0.0013536512851715,"""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter.","""We're seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. """,2024-03-27
BYD’s profit soared 80% in the year the Chinese EV giant overtook Tesla,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/business/byd-profit-soar-after-beats-tesla/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:38 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","BYD reported a jump of more than 80% in profit in its first set of annual earnings since it stole Tesla’s crown as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles.
    
            Net profit almost doubled to 30 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) last year, from 16.6 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) in 2022, the Shenzhen-based company said Tuesday.
    
            That’s despite BYD operating in a “complex external environment,” it noted, citing high levels of inflation globally, and a slowdown in growth in most major economies.
    
            BYD overtook Tesla (TSLA) as the top seller of EVs worldwide in the last three months of last year, capping an extraordinary rise for the Warren Buffett-backed Chinese carmaker. BYD sold 525,409 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) during that period, compared with Tesla’s 484,507.
    
            In 2023 as a whole, BYD sold a record 3.02 million vehicles globally, up 62% from 2022. That figure includes 1.44 million plug-in hybrids, which Tesla does not sell. Elon Musk’s carmaker still sold more BEVs last year: 1.8 million to BYD’s 1.57 million.
    
            Compared with Tesla, BYD’s cars are more affordable, which has helped it attract a wider range of buyers. Its entry-level model sells in China for the equivalent of just over $10,000. The cheapest Tesla car, a Model 3, costs almost $39,000.
    
            But intensifying competition and a brutal price war last year have impacted the profit margins of many Chinese car makers, including BYD.
    
            The country’s car industry recorded an average profit margin of 5% for 2023, compared with 5.7% in 2022 and 6.1% in 2021, according to the most recent figures from the Chinese Passenger Car Association.
    
            Despite slim margins, the price war doesn’t appear to be abating. Earlier this month, BYD lowered the starting price of its most affordable EV, the Seagull hatchback, by 5% to 69,800 yuan ($9,670). Other Chinese carmakers have also announced price reductions in the past few weeks, including Geely, Chery, and XPeng Motors.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['BYD reported a jump of more than 80% in profit in its first set of annual earnings since it stole Tesla’s crown as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles.', 'Net profit almost doubled to 30 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) last year, from 16.6 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) in 2022, the Shenzhen-based company said Tuesday.', 'That’s despite BYD operating in a “complex external environment,” it noted, citing high levels of inflation globally, and a slowdown in growth in most major economies.', 'BYD overtookTesla(TSLA) as the top seller of EVs worldwide in the last three months of last year, capping an extraordinary rise for the Warren Buffett-backed Chinese carmaker.', 'BYD sold 525,409 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) during that period, compared with Tesla’s 484,507.', 'In 2023 as a whole, BYD sold a record 3.02 million vehicles globally, up 62% from 2022.', 'That figure includes 1.44 million plug-in hybrids, which Tesla does not sell.', 'Elon Musk’s carmaker still sold more BEVs last year: 1.8 million to BYD’s 1.57 million.', 'Compared with Tesla, BYD’s cars are more affordable, which has helped it attract a wider range of buyers.', 'Its entry-level model sells in China for the equivalent of just over $10,000.', 'The cheapest Tesla car, a Model 3, costs almost $39,000.', 'But intensifying competition and a brutal price war last year have impacted the profit margins of many Chinese car makers, including BYD.', 'The country’s car industry recorded an average profit margin of 5% for 2023,compared with 5.7% in 2022 and 6.1% in 2021, according to the most recent figures from the Chinese Passenger Car Association.', 'Despite slim margins, the price war doesn’t appear to be abating.', 'Earlier this month, BYD lowered the starting price of its most affordable EV, the Seagull hatchback, by 5% to 69,800 yuan ($9,670).', 'Other Chinese carmakers have also announced price reductions in the past few weeks, including Geely, Chery, and XPeng Motors.']",0.0530300748389835,BYD reported a jump of more than 80% in profit in its first set of annual earnings since it stole Tesla’s crown as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles.,"But intensifying competition and a brutal price war last year have impacted the profit margins of many Chinese car makers, including BYD.",0.5174113114674886,"In 2023 as a whole, BYD sold a record 3.02 million vehicles globally, up 62% from 2022.","That’s despite BYD operating in a “complex external environment,” it noted, citing high levels of inflation globally, and a slowdown in growth in most major economies.",2024-03-27
Ferguson Marine: Calls for government to explain David Tydeman sacking,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-68673780,2024-03-27T12:07:09.000Z,"The Scottish government is facing calls to explain the sacking of the head of the company building two hugely delayed and over-budget CalMac ferries. Ferguson Marine announced on Tuesday it had terminated the contract of chief executive David Tydeman. The reasons for his departure were not revealed but it is understood it was over concerns about his performance. The Scottish Conservatives have called on Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan to explain the decision at Holyrood. Graham Simpson, the party's shadow transport minister, said Mr Tydeman was ""widely respected"" and ""appeared to be delivering"". Mr Simpson has tabled an urgent question to the Scottish Parliament in an attempt to force the cabinet secretary to provide an explanation for the decision. The cost of two ferries being built at the state-owned shipyard, the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, is running at nearly four times the initial £97m cost. They will also be delivered six years late. Mr Tydeman joined the Port Glasgow shipyard in 2022, having previously run a yacht-building company. On Tuesday Ms McAllan said it was ""unacceptable"" that he had intimated a further delay to delivery of the Glen Sannox was ""likely"". The vessel was supposed to be delivered in May. The Glen Rosa is scheduled to be delivered ""no later than"" September 2025. Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year. ""What Mairi McAllan has to do today is come to Parliament and tell us exactly what these performance issues are,"" Mr Simpson told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme. ""It is not acceptable to sack someone who is widely respected in the industry and not say what the issue is."" Scottish Labour have also said the ""sudden overhaul"" in senior personnel ""raises serious questions and the public deserve transparency about what has happened"". Mr Tydeman's contract was terminated by Ferguson Marine amid a number of changes among the company's senior management. Board chairman Andrew Miller said the shipyard needed ""strong leadership to ensure its long-term future"".  John McMunagle, co-convenor of the GMB union which represents workers at the yard, said they were ""shocked and surprised"" at Mr Tydeman's departure. ""David inherited an almost impossible job,"" Mr McMunagle told the BBC. ""Arguably out of six or seven CEOs we have had, David has been the best of them. ""It is hard. David was probably optimistic in putting out dates that maybe weren't achievable and I think he has paid the price of that."" Mr McMunagle said the workforce nevertheless welcomed the appointment of non-executive director John Petticrew as interim CEO. ""John's obviously a shipyard man,"" he added. ""He served his time in the local Greenock shipyard before moving to Canada. We met with him yesterday and we are going to throw our weight behind John and fully support him. ""With Glen Rosa going into the water on 9 April and Glen Sannox leaving for dry dock, it is going to leave us acutely short of work. We need to source some short-term work to keep this workforce busy.""  Ferguson Marine's former owner, Jim McColl, told the BBC it was ""appalling"" that Mr Tydeman had been dismissed and that he ""had no chance at all"". Mr McColl rescued the last civilian shipyard on the River Clyde from administration in 2014 and agreed the initial contract in 2015 to build the two ferries for CMAL - the government agency which owns and procures ships for CalMac. He blamed ""fundamental shortcomings in the specification"" at the outset and constant design changes for the subsequent fiasco. ""David Tydeman is not the problem,"" Mr McColl said. ""The fantastic workforce are not the problem. CalMac are not the problem. It is the design of the ferries and the incompetence of CMAL in this whole process.""   Construction of the two vessels, the first ships ever built by a UK shipyard capable of running on liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been plagued by design challenges since the order was placed in 2015. Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019. In February, Mr Miller told MSPs it would be harder to return the business to the private sector without investment in a new automated plating line - with the company seeking further finance from the Scottish government. The company is due to submit a new business case to ministers by the end of March. In 2022, a number of Ferguson Marine workers who took part in an informal meeting with MSPs praised Mr Tydeman's leadership and compared him favourably to the shipyard's previous management,  saying he ""talked sense"". ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['The Scottish government is facing calls to explain the sacking of the head of the company building two hugely delayed and over-budget CalMac ferries.', 'Ferguson Marine announced on Tuesday it had terminated the contract of chief executive David Tydeman.', 'The reasons for his departure were not revealed but it is understood it was over concerns about his performance.', 'The Scottish Conservatives have called on Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan to explain the decision at Holyrood.', 'Graham Simpson, the party\'s shadow transport minister, said Mr Tydeman was ""widely respected"" and ""appeared to be delivering"".', 'Mr Simpson has tabled an urgent question to the Scottish Parliament in an attempt to force the cabinet secretary to provide an explanation for the decision.', 'The cost of two ferries being built at the state-owned shipyard, the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, is running at nearly four times the initial £97m cost.', 'They will also be delivered six years late.', 'Mr Tydeman joined the Port Glasgow shipyard in 2022, having previously run a yacht-building company.', 'On Tuesday Ms McAllan said it was ""unacceptable"" that he had intimated a further delay to delivery of the Glen Sannox was ""likely"".', 'The vessel was supposed to be delivered in May.', 'The Glen Rosa is scheduled to be delivered ""no later than"" September 2025.', 'Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year. ""', 'What Mairi McAllan has to do today is come to Parliament and tell us exactly what these performance issues are,"" Mr Simpson told the BBC\'s Good Morning Scotland programme. ""', 'It is not acceptable to sack someone who is widely respected in the industry and not say what the issue is.""', 'Scottish Labour have also said the ""sudden overhaul"" in senior personnel ""raises serious questions and the public deserve transparency about what has happened"".', ""Mr Tydeman's contract was terminated by Ferguson Marine amid a number of changes among the company's senior management."", 'Board chairman Andrew Miller said the shipyard needed ""strong leadership to ensure its long-term future"".', 'John McMunagle, co-convenor of the GMB union which represents workers at the yard, said they were ""shocked and surprised"" at Mr Tydeman\'s departure. ""', 'David inherited an almost impossible job,"" Mr McMunagle told the BBC. ""', 'Arguably out of six or seven CEOs we have had, David has been the best of them. ""', 'It is hard.', 'David was probably optimistic in putting out dates that maybe weren\'t achievable and I think he has paid the price of that.""', 'Mr McMunagle said the workforce nevertheless welcomed the appointment of non-executive director John Petticrew as interim CEO. ""', 'John\'s obviously a shipyard man,"" he added. ""', 'He served his time in the local Greenock shipyard before moving to Canada.', 'We met with him yesterday and we are going to throw our weight behind John and fully support him. ""', 'With Glen Rosa going into the water on 9 April and Glen Sannox leaving for dry dock, it is going to leave us acutely short of work.', 'We need to source some short-term work to keep this workforce busy.""', 'Ferguson Marine\'s former owner, Jim McColl, told the BBC it was ""appalling"" that Mr Tydeman had been dismissed and that he ""had no chance at all"".', 'Mr McColl rescued the last civilian shipyard on the River Clyde from administration in 2014 and agreed the initial contract in 2015 to build the two ferries for CMAL - the government agency which owns and procures ships for CalMac.', 'He blamed ""fundamental shortcomings in the specification"" at the outset and constant design changes for the subsequent fiasco. ""', 'David Tydeman is not the problem,"" Mr McColl said. ""', 'The fantastic workforce are not the problem.', 'CalMac are not the problem.', 'It is the design of the ferries and the incompetence of CMAL in this whole process.""', 'Construction of the two vessels, the first ships ever built by a UK shipyard capable of running on liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been plagued by design challenges since the order was placed in 2015.', 'Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019.', 'In February, Mr Miller told MSPs it would be harder to return the business to the private sector without investment in a new automated plating line - with the company seeking further finance from the Scottish government.', 'The company is due to submit a new business case to ministers by the end of March.', 'In 2022, a number of Ferguson Marine workers who took part in an informal meeting with MSPs praised Mr Tydeman\'s leadership and compared him favourably to the shipyard\'s previous management, saying he ""talked sense"".']",0.1130839338268245,"Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year. ""","He blamed ""fundamental shortcomings in the specification"" at the outset and constant design changes for the subsequent fiasco. """,-0.0634999841451644,"Graham Simpson, the party's shadow transport minister, said Mr Tydeman was ""widely respected"" and ""appeared to be delivering"".","Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019.",2024-03-27
"Here's how much people are willing to spend on weight loss drugs, according to a new survey",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/23/weight-loss-drug-cost-how-much-people-are-willing-to-spend.html,2024-03-23T14:11:27+0000,"In this articleDemand for weight loss drugs is booming in the U.S. despite their limited insurance coverage and roughly $1,000 monthly price tags before discounts. But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.That's according to a recent survey from Evercore ISI focused on GLP-1s, a new class of medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, the firm surveyed more than 600 participants who are currently taking a GLP-1, considering the therapy or have taken it in the past but no longer do. The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.GLP-1s include Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, along with Eli Lilly's popular weight loss treatment Zepbound and diabetes injection Mounjaro. A monthly package of a GLP-1 costs between $900 and $1,350 before insurance and other rebates. Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have savings programs that aim to reduce out-of-pocket costs for weight loss drugs, regardless of whether a patient has commercial insurance coverage. The majority — nearly 60% — of people surveyed with annual incomes of more than $250,000 said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is more than $300 per month. Only about 4% of people with annual incomes of less than $75,000 said the same thing. Of that group, 64% said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is $50 per month or less. The maximum people currently on a GLP-1 said they are willing to pay out of pocket per month was roughly in line with what they actually paid for treatment, according to the survey. The highest price respondents would accept paying skewed lower among those who used to take a GLP-1 or are thinking of taking the drug. More than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket. Nearly 75% of those who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount. A small share of both groups paid more than $750 out of pocket per month for a GLP-1.The survey also asked respondents how long they stayed on the drugs.Notably, more than 80% of those who used to take a treatment were only on a therapy for 12 months or less. Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.That premature stoppage by some patients is one concern of certain insurers hesitant to cover them.Still, nearly half of people who are currently taking GLP-1s said they intend to stay on the drugs permanently. Only 10% of those thinking of taking a treatment said the same thing. Of that group, more than 70% said they intend to stay on a GLP-1 until they reach their weight loss goal.The survey also asked participants whether they would restart taking a GLP-1 if they regain weight after stopping the drug. The majority of patients across all groups — those currently on a GLP-1, thinking of it, or who used to take one — said ""yes."" Among those who used to take a GLP-1, 42% said they gained ""some"" weight back after stopping treatment. Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back. Another 23% said they remained at a lower weight after stopping the drug.That weight regain is consistent with what has been observed in some clinical trials on drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.Another part of the survey asked participants about whether taking a GLP-1 affected their eating and drinking habits. More than 70% of respondents reporting eating less when taking a GLP-1, regardless of whether they have pre-existing conditions. That refers to other health problems, such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.The survey finding is no surprise: GLP-1s work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and regulate blood sugar. Some treatments, such as Zepbound, mimic more than one gut hormone.More than half of those without preexisting conditions said they drank less alcohol when taking a GLP-1. Around 27% said the treatment had no effect on their alcohol consumption, while 22% said they abstain from drinking. A greater share — 51% — of those with preexisting conditions said they abstain from alcohol. The remainder said they consumed less alcohol when taking a GLP-1. Several studies have demonstrated that certain GLP-1s curb alcohol intake in rodents and monkeys. But more research is needed in humans.-- CNBC's Gabriel Cortés contributed to this report",CNBC,23/03/2024,"['In this articleDemand for weight loss drugs is booming in the U.S. despite their limited insurance coverage and roughly $1,000 monthly price tags before discounts.', 'But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.', ""That's according to a recent survey from Evercore ISI focused on GLP-1s, a new class of medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity."", 'Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, the firm surveyed more than 600 participants who are currently taking a GLP-1, considering the therapy or have taken it in the past but no longer do.', 'The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.', ""GLP-1s include Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, along with Eli Lilly's popular weight loss treatment Zepbound and diabetes injection Mounjaro."", 'A monthly package of a GLP-1 costs between $900 and $1,350 before insurance and other rebates.', 'Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have savings programs that aim to reduce out-of-pocket costs for weight loss drugs, regardless of whether a patient has commercial insurance coverage.', 'The majority — nearly 60% — of people surveyed with annual incomes of more than $250,000 said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is more than $300 per month.', 'Only about 4% of people with annual incomes of less than $75,000 said the same thing.', 'Of that group, 64% said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is $50 per month or less.', 'The maximum people currently on a GLP-1 said they are willing to pay out of pocket per month was roughly in line with what they actually paid for treatment, according to the survey.', 'The highest price respondents would accept paying skewed lower among those who used to take a GLP-1 or are thinking of taking the drug.', 'More than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket.', 'Nearly 75% of those who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount.', 'A small share of both groups paid more than $750 out of pocket per month for a GLP-1.The survey also asked respondents how long they stayed on the drugs.', 'Notably, more than 80% of those who used to take a treatment were only on a therapy for 12 months or less.', 'Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.', 'That premature stoppage by some patients is one concern of certain insurers hesitant to cover them.', 'Still, nearly half of people who are currently taking GLP-1s said they intend to stay on the drugs permanently.', 'Only 10% of those thinking of taking a treatment said the same thing.', 'Of that group, more than 70% said they intend to stay on a GLP-1 until they reach their weight loss goal.', 'The survey also asked participants whether they would restart taking a GLP-1 if they regain weight after stopping the drug.', 'The majority of patients across all groups — those currently on a GLP-1, thinking of it, or who used to take one — said ""yes.', '""Among those who used to take a GLP-1, 42% said they gained ""some"" weight back after stopping treatment.', 'Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back.', 'Another 23% said they remained at a lower weight after stopping the drug.', 'That weight regain is consistent with what has been observed in some clinical trials on drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.', 'Another part of the survey asked participants about whether taking a GLP-1 affected their eating and drinking habits.', 'More than 70% of respondents reporting eating less when taking a GLP-1, regardless of whether they have pre-existing conditions.', 'That refers to other health problems, such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.', ""The survey finding is no surprise: GLP-1s work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and regulate blood sugar."", 'Some treatments, such as Zepbound, mimic more than one gut hormone.', 'More than half of those without preexisting conditions said they drank less alcohol when taking a GLP-1.', 'Around 27% said the treatment had no effect on their alcohol consumption, while 22% said they abstain from drinking.', 'A greater share — 51% — of those with preexisting conditions said they abstain from alcohol.', 'The remainder said they consumed less alcohol when taking a GLP-1.Several studies have demonstrated that certain GLP-1s curb alcohol intake in rodents and monkeys.', ""But more research is needed in humans.-- CNBC's Gabriel Cortés contributed to this report""]",0.0154064542037785,But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.,"Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.",0.2664940953254699,"Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back.",The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.,2024-03-27
"Altimmune says weight loss drug minimized muscle loss in trial results, which may set it apart",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/27/altimmune-weight-loss-drug-minimized-muscle-mass-loss-in-trial.html,2024-03-27T20:40:27+0000,"In this articleAltimmune on Wednesday said its experimental drug helped patients shed weight but also minimized the loss of muscle mass in a midstage trial, a finding that could set it apart in a potentially crowded market.Altimmune is one of several smaller biotech companies that are pushing to compete directly with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the growing weight loss drug space, or to get scooped up by larger drugmakers that can help bring their treatments to market.The results are an early sign that the biotech company can address a major concern around those treatments, which have drawn unrelenting demand and investor interest over the last year.Some health experts have said that obesity drugs could shrink critical muscle mass, which could raise the risk of injuries and decrease strength.But in Altimmune's late-stage trial, more than 74% of the weight that patients lost after taking the company's weekly injection came from fat tissue and only 25.5% came from lean mass, according to the company. Those results are similar to those often seen with diet and exercise programs for weight loss. Patients who took a 2.4-milligram dose of Altimmune's drug every week for 48 weeks lost 15.6% of their weight on average in the trial, with weight loss continuing at the end of treatment, the company said.The company first announced that weight loss data on the drug, called pemvidutide, in November. ""Preservation of lean mass during weight loss is critical, since excessive loss of lean mass has been associated with negative outcomes, such as [a gradual loss of muscle mass and strength] and bone fractures, especially in women and the elderly,"" Altimmune Chief Medical Officer Scott Harris said in a statement. ""There is a growing appreciation that the quality of weight loss is as important as the quantity of weight loss.""In a clinical trial on semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, researchers examined the loss of lean muscle mass in a subgroup of about 140 patients. On average, participants lost about 15 pounds of lean muscle and 23 pounds of fat during the 68-week trial. Those results suggest a higher rate of lean mass decline than in Altimmune's trial. Still, Altimmune needs to conduct late-stage trials on its drug, so it's too early to say how much of an edge it has over existing weight loss treatments.The two drugs also work differently. Semaglutide mimics a hormone produced in the gut called GLP-1 to suppress a person's appetite. Meanwhile, Altimmune's drug activates GLP-1 and another gut hormone called glucagon, which increases energy expenditure.Altimmune is also developing that drug to treat a common form of liver disease called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.Other makers of obesity drugs are also trying to help patients maintain muscle mass.For example, Eli Lilly is testing whether combining its weight loss drug with a monoclonal antibody from Versanis Bio might help patients lose weight while preserving muscle mass. The pharmaceutical giant recently acquired Versanis, which is part of a slate of companies targeting the muscle-loss aspect of weight loss.",CNBC,27/03/2024,"['In this articleAltimmune on Wednesday said its experimental drug helped patients shed weight but also minimized the loss of muscle mass in a midstage trial, a finding that could set it apart in a potentially crowded market.', 'Altimmune is one of several smaller biotech companies that are pushing to compete directly with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the growing weight loss drug space, or to get scooped up by larger drugmakers that can help bring their treatments to market.', 'The results are an early sign that the biotech company can address a major concern around those treatments, which have drawn unrelenting demand and investor interest over the last year.', 'Some health experts have said that obesity drugs could shrink critical muscle mass, which could raise the risk of injuries and decrease strength.', ""But in Altimmune's late-stage trial, more than 74% of the weight that patients lost after taking the company's weekly injection came from fat tissue and only 25.5% came from lean mass, according to the company."", 'Those results are similar to those often seen with diet and exercise programs for weight loss.', ""Patients who took a 2.4-milligram dose of Altimmune's drug every week for 48 weeks lost 15.6% of their weight on average in the trial, with weight loss continuing at the end of treatment, the company said."", 'The company first announced that weight loss data on the drug, called pemvidutide, in November.', '""Preservation of lean mass during weight loss is critical, since excessive loss of lean mass has been associated with negative outcomes, such as [a gradualloss of muscle massandstrength] and bone fractures, especially in women and the elderly,"" Altimmune Chief Medical Officer Scott Harris said in a statement. ""', 'There is a growing appreciation that the quality of weight loss is as important as the quantity of weight loss.', '""In a clinical trial on semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk\'s Ozempic and Wegovy, researchers examined the loss of lean muscle mass in a subgroup of about 140 patients.', 'On average, participants lost about 15 pounds of lean muscle and 23 pounds of fat during the 68-week trial.', ""Those results suggest a higher rate of lean mass decline than in Altimmune's trial."", ""Still, Altimmune needs to conduct late-stage trials on its drug, so it's too early to say how much of an edge it has over existing weight loss treatments."", 'The two drugs also work differently.', ""Semaglutide mimics a hormone produced in the gut called GLP-1 to suppress a person's appetite."", ""Meanwhile, Altimmune's drug activates GLP-1 and another gut hormone called glucagon, which increases energy expenditure."", 'Altimmune is also developing that drug to treat a common form of liver disease called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.Other makers of obesity drugs are also trying to help patients maintain muscle mass.', 'For example, Eli Lilly is testing whether combining its weight loss drug with a monoclonal antibody from Versanis Bio might help patients lose weight while preserving muscle mass.', 'The pharmaceutical giant recently acquired Versanis, which is part of a slate of companies targeting the muscle-loss aspect of weight loss.']",-0.1415575011619953,"Altimmune is also developing that drug to treat a common form of liver disease called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.Other makers of obesity drugs are also trying to help patients maintain muscle mass.","""Preservation of lean mass during weight loss is critical, since excessive loss of lean mass has been associated with negative outcomes, such as [a gradualloss of muscle massandstrength] and bone fractures, especially in women and the elderly,"" Altimmune Chief Medical Officer Scott Harris said in a statement. """,0.2145177900791168,"In this articleAltimmune on Wednesday said its experimental drug helped patients shed weight but also minimized the loss of muscle mass in a midstage trial, a finding that could set it apart in a potentially crowded market.",Those results suggest a higher rate of lean mass decline than in Altimmune's trial.,2024-03-27
Apple announces its annual developers conference is set for June 10,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/apple-annual-developers-conference-june-10/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:20 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Apple announced its annual Worldwide Developer Conference will kick off on June 10, when the company is expected to show off its latest AI advancements.
    
            The conference, which is widely anticipated each year as a major showcase for Apple software news, will run Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14.
    
            Although last year’s WWDC focused on the unveiling of the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which launched in stores in February, this year is expected to turn to Apple’s AI efforts. The company is reportedly interested in licensing and building Google’s Gemini AI engine, which includes chatbots and other AI tools, into upcoming iPhones and its iOS 18 features.
    
            As more tech companies pour billions of dollars into the development and rollout of artificial intelligence, Apple has largely been left out of the conversation, with many other tech companies making big strides in the space. A partnership with Google would catapult Apple into the growing AI arms race.
    
            Apple researchers also recently said they’ve developed a family of multimodal models — which refers to an AI system that can interpret and generate different types of data, such as text and images at the same time — called MM1. A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.
    
            In a press release on Tuesday, the company said WWDC 2024 will also share software updates coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro headset.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Apple announced its annual Worldwide Developer Conference will kick off on June 10, when the company is expected to show off its latest AI advancements.', 'The conference, which is widely anticipated each year as a major showcase for Apple software news, will run Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14.', 'Although last year’s WWDC focused on the unveiling of the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which launched in stores in February, this year is expected to turn to Apple’s AI efforts.', 'The company is reportedly interested in licensing and building Google’s Gemini AI engine, which includes chatbots and other AI tools, into upcoming iPhones and its iOS 18 features.', 'As more tech companies pour billions of dollars into the development and rollout of artificial intelligence, Apple has largely been left out of the conversation, with many other tech companies making big strides in the space.', 'A partnership with Google would catapult Apple into the growing AI arms race.', 'Apple researchers also recently said they’ve developed a family of multimodal models — which refers to an AI system that can interpret and generate different types of data, such as text and images at the same time — called MM1.', 'A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.', 'In a press release on Tuesday, the company said WWDC 2024 will also share software updates coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro headset.']",0.3259092919755588,A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.,,0.9975101351737976,A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.,,2024-03-27
How to make high interest rates work for your hard-earned savings,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/20/success/interest-rates-savings-cash/index.html,"
  Published
        3:00 PM EDT, Wed March 20, 2024
    ","The Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate remains at a 23-year high. That’s thanks to the central bank’s decision Wednesday to once again hold it steady, as it has done at the policy-making committee’s past five meetings.
    
            That decision may be disappointing to some investors, homebuyers and those with a lot of credit card debt, since movement in the Fed’s overnight lending rate influences rates — directly or indirectly — on consumer financial products (e.g., credit cards, bank loans and mortgages).
    
            But with the Fed signaling that no rate cuts are likely until summer, it also means anyone with savings still has at least a few more months to make hay of their stash.
    
            That’s because you can still get inflation-beating interest rates that will grow any money you have set aside for emergencies, vacations, down payments or any other goal in your sights over the next several years.
    
            However, that won’t happen if you just let it sit in a traditional checking or savings account that yields next to nothing. There are more lucrative, low-risk options out there, with rates that are still at or near their peaks. “But perhaps not for much longer,” said Ted Rossman, senior analyst at Bankrate. “If one of those fits into your financial plans, it’s best to act soon.”
    
            So, consider the following options when deciding where to park your hard-earned savings.
    
            The average annual percentage yield on bank savings accounts was just 0.52% as of March 13, according to Bankrate. That average is kept low by the biggest brick-and-mortar banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, which still are offering a paltry 0.01%.
    
            By contrast, there are still FDIC-insured online banks offering inflation-beating rates of between 4.35% and 5.35% on their high-yield savings accounts. Generally speaking, these are the best vehicles in which to keep your emergency funds for quick, easy access.
    
            Choosing between an account that pays 0.52% and one that pays 5.35% can mean forfeiting hundreds of dollars in interest. “If you put $10,000 in a savings account, that’s a difference of $496 in interest earnings over the course of the year, assuming monthly compounding,” Rossman said.
    
            While the rates on high-yield savings accounts have gone down a bit in recent months, “widespread cuts in online savings account rates are unlikely until the first Fed rate cut is near,” said Ken Tumin, founder of DepositAccounts.com.
    
            As with any bank savings rate, high-yield savings account rates can change overnight, and the bank may not alert you when it lowers it. So make sure to check your monthly statement.
    
            Another high-return, low-risk investment that is great for money you likely won’t need to tap for a few months or even a couple of years is a certificate of deposit.
    
            You can get the best returns on CDs through a brokerage such as Schwab, E*Trade or Fidelity. That’s because you can comparison shop for CDs from any number of FDIC-insured banks and will not have to set up individual accounts with each institution.
    
            As of March 13, the average rate on a one-year CD was 1.95%, but some banks are offering as much are 5.4%.
    
            If you can get a one-year CD at, say, 5.4%, you will make $540 on a $10,000 investment.
    
            To get the greatest benefit from a CD, you have to leave the money invested for a fixed period. You can always access your principal sooner if you need to, but there may be early withdrawal penalties.
    
            As of March 20, CDs listed on Schwab.com with durations from three months up to three years were all yielding between 5.2% and 5.51%. CD rates on durations between four and 10 years ranged from 4.40% to 5.15%.
    
            Say you invest $10,000 in a one-year CD with a 5.36% APY. At the end of that period, you’d get your principal back plus $536 in interest when the CD matures, according to Bankrate’s CD calculator. If you chose a two-year CD at 5.25%, you’d bank an extra $1,078, assuming compounding interest. The same investment in a five-year CD at 5.15% would earn $2,854.
    
            “It makes sense to go long with CDs. To hedge your bets, include terms from one to five years. Starting a CD ladder will provide this mix,” Tumin said.
    
            If you don’t go through a brokerage you may get a reasonable deal from your primary bank, Tumin said.
    
            For example, he noted, Wells Fargo is still offering up to 5.01% on both 4-month and 7-month CDs. Or, at Bank of America, you can get up to 4.75% on a 7-month CD.
    
            But Tumin cautions that with any big bank CD you should take your money out at the end of the term, otherwise your bank may automatically renew it and lock you in to a much lower-yielding CD.
    
            If you don’t want to set up an online savings account at another bank, your own bank may offer you a money market deposit account that pays a higher yield than your regular checking or savings accounts.
    
            Money market accounts may have higher minimum deposit requirements than a regular savings account, but they are more liquid than a fixed-term certificate of deposit or Treasury bill, meaning they give you access to your money more quickly while still potentially giving you some of the highest yields available, said Doug Ornstein, senior manager for integrated solutions at TIAA Wealth Management.
    
            But don’t confuse money market accounts with money market mutual funds, which invest in short-term, low-risk debt instruments. As of March 19, they had an average 7-day yield of 5.14%, according to the Crane Money Fund Index, which tracks the top 100 taxable money market funds.
    
            Unlike money market deposit accounts, money market mutual funds are not insured by the FDIC. But if you invest in a money market fund through a brokerage, your overall account is likely to be insured through the Securities Investor Protection Corp, which offers protection in the event your brokerage ever goes under.
    
            Another option for money you can leave untouched anywhere from several months to a few years is to buy short-term Treasury bills and medium-term notes, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.
    
            Three- and six-month bills had yields of 5.39% and 5.33% respectively on March 20 before the Fed’s meeting ended, while nine-month and one-year bills were offering 5.19% and 5.08% respectively, according to rates posted on Schwab.com for a $25,000 investment. Rates on Treasury notes with durations from two years to 10 years ranged between 4.29% and 4.72%.
    
            If you’re someone who manages your portfolio like a hawk, you may feel comfortable buying T-bills on your own from TreasuryDirect.gov. But if you don’t, it might be easier just to buy new issues through your brokerage account or invest in a short-term bond index fund or ETF, said Andy Smith, executive director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines.
    
            And if you’re looking at money that will be needed in three to five years, you might consider a diversified fund of highly rated government and corporate bonds, Ornstein said. An 18-month AAA-rated corporate bond, for instance, was yielding 4.82% this week, while the three-year was at 4.49%. Meanwhile, three-year AAA-rated municipal bonds (which are issued by local governments) had a rate of 3.98%, according to Schwab.com.
    
            When deciding on the best accounts and investments for your specific goals and peace of mind, it may pay to consult a fee-only fiduciary adviser — meaning, someone who doesn’t get paid a commission to sell you a particular investment.
    
            What you’ll always want to do is build in flexibility for yourself so you can easily access cash, regardless of your timeline for key goals. “What happens if something changes and you need that down payment a lot sooner — or your parents need medical care fast?” Smith said.
    
            That means balancing your desire for great yield with a need and desire for ease of access without penalty. Translation: Don’t chase yield for yield’s sake.
    
            Think of it this way, Ornstein said: Unless you have huge sums to invest or are an institutional investor, the difference between getting a 5.1% yield versus 5% is negligible, and in fact it could even cost you more if there are penalties for taking your money out early. “Most of the time convenience is really important. Give up the 0.1%,” he advised.",CNN,20/03/2024,"['The Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate remains at a 23-year high.', 'That’s thanks to the central bank’s decision Wednesday to once again hold it steady, as it has done at the policy-making committee’s past five meetings.', 'That decision may be disappointing to some investors, homebuyers and those with a lot of credit card debt, since movement in the Fed’s overnight lending rate influences rates — directly or indirectly — on consumer financial products (e.g., credit cards, bank loans and mortgages).', 'Butwith the Fed signaling that no rate cuts are likely until summer, it also means anyone with savings still has at least a few more months to make hay of their stash.', 'That’s because you can still get inflation-beating interest rates that will grow any money you have set aside for emergencies, vacations, down payments or any other goal in your sights over the next several years.', 'However, that won’t happen if you just let it sit in a traditional checking or savings account that yields next to nothing.', 'There are more lucrative, low-risk options out there, with rates that are still at or near their peaks. “', 'But perhaps not for much longer,” said Ted Rossman, senior analyst at Bankrate. “', 'If one of those fits into your financial plans, it’s best to act soon.”', 'So, consider the following options when deciding where to park your hard-earned savings.', 'The average annual percentage yield on bank savings accounts was just 0.52% as of March 13, according to Bankrate.', 'That average is kept low by the biggest brick-and-mortar banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, which still are offering a paltry 0.01%.', 'By contrast, there are still FDIC-insured online banks offering inflation-beating rates of between 4.35% and 5.35% on their high-yield savings accounts.', 'Generally speaking, these are the best vehicles in which to keep your emergency funds for quick, easy access.', 'Choosing between an account that pays 0.52% and one that pays 5.35% can mean forfeiting hundreds of dollars in interest. “', 'If you put $10,000 in a savings account, that’s a difference of $496 in interest earnings over the course of the year, assuming monthly compounding,” Rossman said.', 'While the rates on high-yield savings accounts have gone down a bit in recent months, “widespread cuts in online savings account rates are unlikely until the first Fed rate cut is near,” said Ken Tumin, founder of DepositAccounts.com.', 'As with any bank savings rate, high-yield savings accountratescan change overnight, and the bank may not alert you when it lowers it.', 'So make sure to check your monthly statement.', 'Another high-return, low-risk investment that is great for money you likely won’t need to tap for a few months or even a couple of years is a certificate of deposit.', 'You can get the best returns on CDs through a brokerage such as Schwab, E*Trade or Fidelity.', 'That’s because you can comparison shop for CDs from any number of FDIC-insured banks and will not have to set up individual accounts with each institution.', 'As of March 13, the average rate on a one-year CD was 1.95%, but some banks are offering as much are 5.4%.', 'If you can get a one-year CD at, say, 5.4%, you will make $540 on a $10,000 investment.', 'To get the greatest benefit from a CD, you have to leave the money invested for a fixed period.', 'You can always access your principal sooner if you need to, but there may be early withdrawal penalties.', 'As of March 20, CDs listed on Schwab.com with durations from three months up to three years were all yielding between 5.2% and 5.51%.', 'CD rates on durations between four and 10 years ranged from 4.40% to 5.15%.', 'Say you invest $10,000 in a one-year CD with a 5.36%APY.', 'At the end of that period, you’d get your principal back plus $536 in interest when the CD matures, according to Bankrate’s CD calculator.', 'If you chose a two-year CD at 5.25%, you’d bank an extra $1,078, assuming compounding interest.', 'The same investment in a five-year CD at 5.15% would earn $2,854.', '“It makes sense to go long with CDs.', 'To hedge your bets, include terms from one to five years.', 'Starting a CD ladder will provide this mix,” Tumin said.', 'If you don’t go through a brokerage you may get a reasonable deal from your primary bank, Tumin said.', 'For example, he noted, Wells Fargo is still offering up to 5.01% on both 4-month and 7-month CDs.', 'Or, at Bank of America, you can get up to 4.75% on a 7-month CD.', 'But Tumin cautions that with any big bank CD you should take your money out at the end of the term, otherwise your bank may automatically renew it and lock you in to a much lower-yielding CD.', 'If you don’t want to set up an online savings account at another bank, your own bank may offer you a money market deposit account that pays a higher yield than your regular checking or savings accounts.', 'Money market accounts may have higher minimum deposit requirements than a regular savings account, but they are more liquid than a fixed-term certificate of deposit or Treasury bill, meaning they give you access to your money more quickly while still potentially giving you some of the highest yields available, said Doug Ornstein, senior manager for integrated solutions at TIAA Wealth Management.', 'But don’t confuse money market accounts with money market mutual funds, which invest in short-term, low-risk debt instruments.', 'As of March 19, they had an average 7-day yield of 5.14%, according to the Crane Money Fund Index, which tracks the top 100 taxable money market funds.', 'Unlike money market deposit accounts, money market mutual funds are not insured by the FDIC.', 'But if you invest in a money market fund through a brokerage, your overall account is likely to be insured through the Securities Investor Protection Corp, which offers protection in the event your brokerage ever goes under.', 'Another option for money you can leave untouched anywhere from several months to a few years is to buy short-term Treasury bills and medium-term notes, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.', 'Three- and six-month bills had yields of 5.39% and 5.33%respectively on March 20 before the Fed’s meeting ended, while nine-month and one-year bills were offering 5.19% and 5.08%respectively, according to rates posted on Schwab.com for a $25,000 investment.', 'Rates on Treasury notes with durations from two years to 10 years ranged between 4.29% and 4.72%.', 'If you’re someone who manages your portfolio like a hawk, you may feel comfortable buying T-bills on your own from TreasuryDirect.gov.', 'But if you don’t, it might be easier just to buy new issues through your brokerage account or invest in a short-term bond index fund or ETF, said Andy Smith, executive director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines.', 'And if you’re looking at money that will be needed in three to five years, you might consider a diversified fund of highly rated government and corporate bonds, Ornstein said.', 'An 18-month AAA-rated corporate bond, for instance, was yielding 4.82% this week, while the three-year was at 4.49%.', 'Meanwhile, three-year AAA-rated municipal bonds (which are issued by local governments) had a rate of 3.98%, according to Schwab.com.', 'When deciding on the best accounts and investments for your specific goals and peace of mind, it may pay to consult a fee-only fiduciary adviser — meaning, someone who doesn’t get paid a commission to sell you a particular investment.', 'What you’ll always want to do is build in flexibility for yourself so you can easily access cash, regardless of your timeline for key goals. “', 'What happens if something changes and you need that down payment a lot sooner — or your parents need medical care fast?”', 'Smith said.', 'That means balancing your desire for great yield with a need and desire for ease of access without penalty.', 'Translation: Don’t chase yield for yield’s sake.', 'Think of it this way, Ornstein said: Unless you have huge sums to invest or are an institutional investor, the difference between getting a 5.1% yield versus 5% is negligible, and in fact it could even cost you more if there are penalties for taking your money out early. “', 'Most of the time convenience is really important.', 'Give up the 0.1%,” he advised.']",0.1607169988950149,That means balancing your desire for great yield with a need and desire for ease of access without penalty.,"But don’t confuse money market accounts with money market mutual funds, which invest in short-term, low-risk debt instruments.",0.3840321362018585,"For example, he noted, Wells Fargo is still offering up to 5.01% on both 4-month and 7-month CDs.","That decision may be disappointing to some investors, homebuyers and those with a lot of credit card debt, since movement in the Fed’s overnight lending rate influences rates — directly or indirectly — on consumer financial products (e.g., credit cards, bank loans and mortgages).",2024-03-27
British Gas chief's pay package jumps to £8.2m,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68669446,2024-03-26T17:17:57.000Z,"The boss of Centrica, the energy giant which owns British Gas, has seen his pay package rise by almost £4m. Chris O'Shea's remuneration was £8.2m in 2023, up from £4.5m in 2022, according to the firm's annual report. The package consists of a salary of £810,000, a £1.4m annual bonus and £5.9m in long-term bonus, pension and benefits. In January, Mr O'Shea told the BBC his pay was ""impossible to justify"". Most of the increase, compared to 2022, comes from Mr O'Shea's long-term bonus, which mainly rose due to Centrica's soaring share price over the past three years. Carol Arrowsmith, the chair of Centrica's remuneration committee, said the company needed to attract and retain ""high performing executives who can lead this large and complex business"". She added that his pay was ""based on the terms he was appointed on"", and that ""the structure of the package was approved by our shareholders, and it is consistent with similar companies"". In 2023 British Gas announced profits had increased tenfold to £750m after regulator Ofgem allowed it to take a bigger slice of profits to recoup £500m it lost in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Centrica said its profits fell to a still-large £2.8bn after oil and gas prices dropped back to 2022 levels.  In January, Mr O'Shea described his combination of salary, bonus and shares as ""a huge amount of money"" and said he was ""incredibly fortunate"". During that interview Mr O'Shea pointed out that he did not set his pay and admitted that while energy customers were struggling with their bills ""you can't justify a salary of that size"". From April, the typical annual energy bill will fall to £1,690 to the lowest for two years under a new price cap set by Ofgem. It means a drop of £238 a year, or around £20 a month, for a household using a typical amount of energy. Energy prices are at their lowest level since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, even after April's drop, bills will remain well above pre-pandemic levels. The regulator's price cap affects 29 million households in England, Wales and Scotland. Rules are different in Northern Ireland, where prices are also falling. Ofgem sets the maximum amount suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity but not the total bill - so if you use more, you will pay more. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""The boss of Centrica, the energy giant which owns British Gas, has seen his pay package rise by almost £4m. Chris O'Shea's remuneration was £8.2m in 2023, up from £4.5m in 2022, according to the firm's annual report."", 'The package consists of a salary of £810,000, a £1.4m annual bonus and £5.9m in long-term bonus, pension and benefits.', 'In January, Mr O\'Shea told the BBC his pay was ""impossible to justify"".', ""Most of the increase, compared to 2022, comes from Mr O'Shea's long-term bonus, which mainly rose due to Centrica's soaring share price over the past three years."", 'Carol Arrowsmith, the chair of Centrica\'s remuneration committee, said the company needed to attract and retain ""high performing executives who can lead this large and complex business"".', 'She added that his pay was ""based on the terms he was appointed on"", and that ""the structure of the package was approved by our shareholders, and it is consistent with similar companies"".', ""In 2023 British Gas announced profits had increased tenfold to £750m after regulator Ofgem allowed it to take a bigger slice of profits to recoup £500m it lost in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine."", 'Centrica said its profits fell to a still-large £2.8bn after oil and gas prices dropped back to 2022 levels.', 'In January, Mr O\'Shea described his combination of salary, bonus and shares as ""a huge amount of money"" and said he was ""incredibly fortunate"".', 'During that interview Mr O\'Shea pointed out that he did not set his pay and admitted that while energy customers were struggling with their bills ""you can\'t justify a salary of that size"".', 'From April, the typical annual energy bill will fall to £1,690 to the lowest for two years under a new price cap set by Ofgem.', 'It means a drop of £238 a year, or around £20 a month, for a household using a typical amount of energy.', ""Energy prices are at their lowest level since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022."", ""However, even after April's drop, bills will remain well above pre-pandemic levels."", ""The regulator's price cap affects 29 million households in England, Wales and Scotland."", 'Rules are different in Northern Ireland, where prices are also falling.', 'Ofgem sets the maximum amount suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity but not the total bill - so if you use more, you will pay more.']",0.2275125553121911,"In January, Mr O'Shea described his combination of salary, bonus and shares as ""a huge amount of money"" and said he was ""incredibly fortunate"".","Ofgem sets the maximum amount suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity but not the total bill - so if you use more, you will pay more.",0.0006516218185424,"Most of the increase, compared to 2022, comes from Mr O'Shea's long-term bonus, which mainly rose due to Centrica's soaring share price over the past three years.",Centrica said its profits fell to a still-large £2.8bn after oil and gas prices dropped back to 2022 levels.,2024-03-27
Boeing’s embattled CEO is poised to walk away with millions,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/investing/boeing-ceo-millions-nightcap/index.html,"
  Published
        6:00 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","The beauty of being a CEO in America is that when your company does well, you get extra money as a reward. And when your company does badly, you get extra money to encourage you to stick around and lead it through the storm. What a deal!
    
            And at some point, you get to bow out and float toward retirement on your golden parachute, which means — you guessed it — more money.
    
            That’s the dream awaiting Dave Calhoun, the CEO of Boeing, who is preparing to retire after four years at the helm, during which he failed to fix the company’s biggest problems around safety and quality control that burned its reputation with customers.
    
            By the time he steps down at the end of this year, he’ll be 67 years old and poised to collect millions of dollars on top of the many millions he’s already made as CEO.
    
            There’s a certain dark irony in Calhoun pulling the metaphorical ripcord now, while Boeing is flailing, though it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which he got to keep his job in the midst of cascading mishaps and near-disasters over the past three months.
    
            Exactly how much Calhoun will receive isn’t clear yet, as it depends on how Boeing’s stock performs. A Boeing spokesperson said that details of his compensation will be shared in company filings in the coming weeks.
    
            But we already know that Calhoun has made about $63 million over the past three years in total compensation, according to regulatory filings. That includes a $1.4 million base salary, plus millions in stock-based incentives.
    
            According to Boeing’s most recent proxy statement, Calhoun is set to walk away with about $15 million worth of stock, cash and options in retirement. But that doesn’t account for incentives along the way that could boost his potential future earnings. One estimate, according to Fortune, suggests Calhoun could walk away with $24 million, with the potential to collect $45.5 million more if Boeing’s stock goes up 37%. That gives Calhoun a pretty hefty incentive to choose his successor carefully.
    
            If history is any guide, Calhoun could have done a much worse job and still made out startlingly well.
    
            His predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, was fired over his mishandling of Boeing’s response to two crashes that killed 346 people. And while Muilenburg was denied severance pay, he still walked away with $80 million worth of stock and other assets.
    
            Post-Muilenburg, the board tapped one of their own to take over.
    
            Calhoun, an accountant by training and a longtime Boeing director, ascended as CEO in January of 2020 with a message that Boeing would be getting back to its roots and focusing on safety and quality.
    
            The honeymoon period didn’t last long.
    
            Even as the board heaped praise on Calhoun, Boeing’s own customers started sounding off about their frustrations with the leadership.
    
            In 2022, the CEO of Ryanair said “Boeing management is running around like headless chickens,” and that executives needed an immediate “reboot, or a boot up the a**.” Around the same time, the head of aircraft leasing company Avalon said Boeing had “lost its way” and might need “fresh leadership.”
    
            Under Calhoun, labor relations at Boeing have been badly frayed. The company laid off at least 16,000 employees in response to the pandemic, and moved production of the 787 Dreamliner from its unionized plant in Washington to a non-unionized plant in South Carolina. This summer, more than 30,000 Seattle-area mechanics are set to vote on a strike authorization that could result in a work stoppage when their contract expires in September.
    
            Still, Calhoun has held on, thanks to a loyal board and a business model that makes it virtually impossible for Boeing to lose customers or go bankrupt. And once again, Boeing finds itself in a crisis, looking for a new leader to steer it to a safe landing.
    
            —CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed reporting.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['The beauty of being a CEO in America is that when your company does well, you get extra money as a reward.', 'And when your company does badly, you get extra money to encourage you to stick around and lead it through the storm.', 'What a deal!', 'And at some point, you get to bow out and float toward retirement on your golden parachute, which means — you guessed it — more money.', 'That’s the dream awaiting Dave Calhoun, the CEO of Boeing, who is preparing to retire after four years at the helm, during which he failed to fix the company’s biggest problems around safety and quality control that burned its reputation with customers.', 'By the time he steps down at the end of this year, he’ll be 67 years old and poised to collect millions of dollars on top of the many millions he’s already made as CEO.', 'There’s a certain dark irony in Calhoun pulling the metaphorical ripcord now, while Boeing is flailing, though it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which he got to keep his job in the midst of cascading mishaps and near-disasters over the past three months.', 'Exactly how much Calhoun will receive isn’t clear yet, as it depends on how Boeing’s stock performs.', 'A Boeing spokesperson said that details of his compensation will be shared in company filings in the coming weeks.', 'But we already know that Calhoun has made about $63 million over the past three years in total compensation, according to regulatory filings.', 'That includes a $1.4 million base salary, plus millions in stock-based incentives.', 'According to Boeing’s most recent proxy statement, Calhoun is set to walk away with about $15 million worth of stock, cash and options in retirement.', 'But that doesn’t account for incentives along the way that could boost his potential future earnings.', 'One estimate, according to Fortune, suggests Calhoun could walk away with $24 million, with the potential to collect $45.5 million more if Boeing’s stock goes up 37%.', 'That gives Calhoun a pretty hefty incentive to choose his successor carefully.', 'If history is any guide, Calhoun could have done a much worse job and still made out startlingly well.', 'His predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, was fired over his mishandling of Boeing’s response to two crashes that killed 346 people.', 'And while Muilenburg was denied severance pay, he still walked away with $80 million worth of stock and other assets.', 'Post-Muilenburg, the board tapped one of their own to take over.', 'Calhoun, an accountant by training and a longtime Boeing director, ascended as CEO in January of 2020 with a message that Boeing would be getting back to its roots and focusing on safety and quality.', 'The honeymoon period didn’t last long.', 'Even as the board heaped praise on Calhoun, Boeing’s own customers started sounding off about their frustrations with the leadership.', 'In 2022, the CEO of Ryanair said “Boeing management is running around like headless chickens,” and that executives needed an immediate “reboot, or a boot up the a**.”', 'Around the same time, the head of aircraft leasing company Avalon said Boeing had “lost its way” and might need“fresh leadership.”', 'Under Calhoun, labor relations at Boeing have been badly frayed.', 'The company laid off at least 16,000 employees in response to the pandemic, and moved production of the 787 Dreamliner from its unionized plant in Washington to a non-unionized plant in South Carolina.', 'This summer, more than 30,000 Seattle-area mechanics are set to vote on a strike authorization that could result in a work stoppage when their contract expires in September.', 'Still, Calhoun has held on, thanks to a loyal board and a business model that makes it virtually impossible for Boeing to lose customers or go bankrupt.', 'And once again, Boeing finds itself in a crisis, looking for a new leader to steer it to a safe landing.', '—CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed reporting.']",0.0560960191372614,"The beauty of being a CEO in America is that when your company does well, you get extra money as a reward.","His predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, was fired over his mishandling of Boeing’s response to two crashes that killed 346 people.",0.2734341208751385,But that doesn’t account for incentives along the way that could boost his potential future earnings.,"Under Calhoun, labor relations at Boeing have been badly frayed.",2024-03-27
The U.S. is the top country for millionaires and billionaires,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/the-us-is-the-top-country-for-millionaires-and-billionaires.html,2024-03-22T16:57:55+0000,"A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.The U.S. has rapidly overwhelmed China as the world's top spot for millionaires and billionaires, according a new report.  There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.Over the past five years, the population of millionaires in the U.S. has grown 35%, nearly twice as fast as China's. The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder. The U.S. has 9,850 centi-millionaires — those worth $100 million or more — compared with China's 2,352. The U.S. has about 788 billionaires to China's 305.""The USA remains the world's undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation,"" according to the report.Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley, said the strict Covid lockdowns in China coupled with increases in its government intervention in the private sector have slowed the growth in wealth creation.""China has certainly slowed a lot due to these elements and the U.S. has benefited,"" he said.The shift from China to the U.S. is also reflected in wealth migration patterns. A net 13,500 Chinese millionaires left China in 2023, marking a new record. The U.S. had a net inflow of 2,200 millionaires in 2023 and a projected inflow of 3,500 in 2024, according to the Henley report.""The USA remains a top draw for wealthy tech entrepreneurs and engineers, especially from Asia, Europe, and the UK,"" the report said. America's leadership in wealth creation is spilling over into spending and investing. A report from UBS and Art Basel finds that the U.S. is the leader in global art sales, accounting for 42% of sales by value. The U.S. also leads the world in sales of the highest-priced works.Bain now predicts that China will account for only 35% to 40% of global luxury goods consumption by 2030, up only slightly from current levels. Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain. Luxury sales in the U.S. last year totaled $80 billion, to China’s $52 billion, Bain found.While analysts and economists say China will still be a major source of luxury and wealth growth in the coming years, the U.S. has become both the dominant market and source of growth for the high-net-worth economy.""The wealth creation opportunities in the U.S. are second to none globally,"" Volek said.Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer."", 'Sign upto receive future editions, straight to your inbox.', ""The U.S. has rapidly overwhelmed China as the world's top spot for millionaires and billionaires, according a new report."", 'There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.', ""Over the past five years, the population of millionaires in the U.S. has grown 35%, nearly twice as fast as China's."", ""The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder."", ""The U.S. has 9,850 centi-millionaires — those worth $100 million or more — compared with China's 2,352."", 'The U.S. has about 788 billionaires to China\'s 305.""The USA remains the world\'s undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation,"" according to the report.', 'Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley, said the strict Covid lockdowns in China coupled with increases in its government intervention in the private sector have slowed the growth in wealth creation.', '""China has certainly slowed a lot due to these elements and the U.S. has benefited,"" he said.', 'The shift from China to the U.S. is also reflected in wealth migration patterns.', 'A net 13,500 Chinese millionaires left China in 2023, marking a new record.', 'The U.S. had a net inflow of 2,200 millionaires in 2023 and a projected inflow of 3,500 in 2024, according to the Henley report.', '""The USA remains a top draw for wealthy tech entrepreneurs and engineers, especially from Asia, Europe, and the UK,"" the report said.', ""America's leadership in wealth creation is spilling over into spending and investing."", 'A report from UBS and Art Basel finds that the U.S. is the leader in global art sales, accounting for 42% of sales by value.', 'The U.S. also leads the world in sales of the highest-priced works.', 'Bain now predicts that China will account for only 35% to 40% of global luxury goods consumption by 2030, up only slightly from current levels.', 'Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain.', 'Luxury sales in the U.S. last year totaled $80 billion, to China’s $52 billion, Bain found.', 'While analysts and economists say China will still be a major source of luxury and wealth growth in the coming years, the U.S. has become both the dominant market and source of growth for the high-net-worth economy.', '""The wealth creation opportunities in the U.S. are second to none globally,"" Volek said.', ""Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.""]",0.3810456003682411,"There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.",,0.5784277379512787,"The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder.","Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain.",2024-03-27
NBC News boss Cesar Conde faces backlash from his network’s anchors over ‘inexplicable’ decision to hire ex-RNC chair Ronna McDaniel,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/media/nbc-news-cesar-conde-ronna-mcdaniel-backlash/index.html,"
  Published
        8:05 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Cesar Conde has a decision to make — and it’s not an especially difficult one.
    
            The NBCUniversal News Group chair is facing a torrent of backlash from his own staff after greenlighting the hire of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid network contributor.
    
            Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.” And they’re not doing it via anonymous comments to the press. They’re doing it on the record on NBCU’s own air. Chuck Todd broke the dam on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” with a set of candid comments about the hiring, and Rachel Maddow capped the flood of backlash Monday night with a blistering 30-minute monologue eviscerating the network’s leadership for the “inexplicable” move.
    
            Suffice to say, NBCU News Group is in unprecedented territory. Never has a network’s C-suite ever been so thoroughly flogged by its most high-profile stars in such no holds barred fashion. Saying that Conde simply has a crisis on his hands would be a contender for understatement of the year. It’s a five-alarm fire at NBCU News Group, and one of Conde’s own making.
    
            While NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown were most directly responsible for McDaniel’s hiring, a decision that MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to it at the time, the buck ultimately stops with Conde, who hold the real power at the Peacock Network. McDaniel’s hiring could not have happened without Conde’s blessing.
    
            It does not take a brilliant political mind with prescient foresight to understand that hiring McDaniel would ignite a firestorm of outrage — from both within 30 Rock and outside it. Conde, someone who ostensibly supports American democracy, should have rejected McDaniel’s hiring on the grounds that NBCU News Group could not put someone on its payroll who tried to subvert the 2020 vote.
    
            As so many of NBCU’s staffers have underscored, the objection to McDaniel is not that she is a Republican. It’s not even that she is a Donald Trump-supporting Republican. It’s that she was an active participant in the plot to overthrow the last presidential election. That is not to even mention McDaniel’s years of demonizing the press, smearing the journalists who work at NBC News and MSNBC as she sought to destroy the credibility of the organization that she ran to after being chased out of the RNC.
    
            The notion put forward by NBC that it needed to hire McDaniel to bring its viewers “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party” is absurd. If that’s the case, the network should move to hire free agents like Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens. They too have their hands on the pulse of the Republican Party. In fact, they represent much more of where the GOP stands today than McDaniel. So, using NBC’s logic, why not hire them? (Spoiler: News organizations rightfully have established basic standards for paid contributors. Asking that your employees have a commitment to democracy, to the truth, and to basic decency is not a big ask.)
    
            But even if Conde has no allegiance to basic democratic principles, which this hire calls into question, given that he is known to be a political player who cares deeply about his own image in the press, he should have been wise enough to foresee that hiring McDaniel would be an ill-conceived move. How this did not occur to Conde is unfathomable and shows a tremendous lack of judgment.
    
            Even more bizarre is Conde’s management, or lack thereof, since the controversy erupted. It was clear early on that his employees at NBC News and MSNBC did not support McDaniel’s hiring. If that was not evident on Friday, it was clear as day on Sunday after “Meet the Press.” The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it.
    
            At that point, the writing should have been on the wall for Conde — as it was for every other media executive that I have spoken with over the last 24 hours. It is evident that McDaniel has no real future as an NBC analyst and the decision to bring her on as a contributor will have to be reversed. After all, which NBC or MSNBC program is going to invite her on after all of this?
    
            The only real question for Conde after the Sunday morning scolding should have been how he chose to back out of the deal in the least painful way possible. To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning.
    
            But no such announcement came.
    
            Instead, Conde has allowed the mess to spiral absolutely out of control. MSNBC’s top stars hammered the network’s leadership throughout the day Monday over the hire. NBC News’ Guild blasted Conde, saying in a statement that under him the company had quietly laid off employees over the last month and instead chosen to “prioritize an election denier over its reporters.” The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory.
    
            All the while, Conde has remained silent. I asked his spokesperson, Stephen Labaton, on Monday whether the NBCU News Group boss had any comment on the situation. Does he have any regret? I didn’t get an on-the-record response. Suffice to say, however, that what Conde does moving forward will say a lot about his character and commitment to democratic values. It will also say a lot about the NBCU News Group and what type of organization it is.
    
            In her biting monologue on Monday night, however, Maddow did offer Conde a way out of this mess.
    
            “Mistakes will be made,” Maddow said.”But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions. Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it, and correcting course. Not digging in. Not blaming others. Take a minute. Acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call.”
    
            “It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong,” Maddow added. “It is a sign of strength. And our country needs us to be strong now.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Cesar Conde has a decision to make — and it’s not an especially difficult one.', 'The NBCUniversal News Group chair is facing a torrent of backlash from his own staff after greenlighting the hire of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid network contributor.', 'Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.”', 'And they’re not doing it via anonymous comments to the press.', 'They’re doing it on the record on NBCU’s own air.', 'Chuck Todd broke the dam on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” with a set of candid comments about the hiring, and Rachel Maddow capped the flood of backlash Monday night with a blistering 30-minute monologue eviscerating the network’s leadership for the “inexplicable” move.', 'Suffice to say, NBCU News Group is in unprecedented territory.', 'Never has a network’s C-suite ever been so thoroughly flogged by its most high-profile stars in such no holds barred fashion.', 'Saying that Conde simply has a crisis on his hands would be a contender for understatement of the year.', 'It’s a five-alarm fire at NBCU News Group, and one of Conde’s own making.', 'While NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown were most directly responsible for McDaniel’s hiring, a decision that MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to it at the time, the buck ultimately stops with Conde, who hold the real power at the Peacock Network.', 'McDaniel’s hiring could not have happened without Conde’s blessing.', 'It does not take a brilliant political mind with prescient foresight to understand that hiring McDaniel would ignite a firestorm of outrage — from both within 30 Rock and outside it.', 'Conde, someone who ostensibly supports American democracy, should have rejected McDaniel’s hiring on the grounds that NBCU News Group could not put someone on its payroll who tried to subvert the 2020 vote.', 'As so many of NBCU’s staffers have underscored, the objection to McDaniel is not that she is a Republican.', 'It’s not even that she is a Donald Trump-supporting Republican.', 'It’s that she was an active participant in the plot to overthrow the last presidential election.', 'That is not to even mention McDaniel’s years of demonizing the press, smearing the journalists who work at NBC News and MSNBC as she sought to destroy the credibility of the organization that she ran to after being chased out of the RNC.', 'The notion put forward by NBC that it needed to hire McDaniel to bring its viewers “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party” is absurd.', 'If that’s the case, the network should move to hire free agents like Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens.', 'They too have their hands on the pulse of the Republican Party.', 'In fact, they represent much more of where the GOP stands today than McDaniel.', 'So, using NBC’s logic, why not hire them? (', 'Spoiler: News organizations rightfully have established basic standards for paid contributors.', 'Asking that your employees have a commitment to democracy, to the truth, and to basic decency is not a big ask.)', 'But even if Conde has no allegiance to basic democratic principles, which this hire calls into question, given that he is known to be a political player who cares deeply about his own image in the press, he should have been wise enough to foresee that hiring McDaniel would be an ill-conceived move.', 'How this did not occur to Conde is unfathomable and shows a tremendous lack of judgment.', 'Even more bizarre is Conde’s management, or lack thereof, since the controversy erupted.', 'It was clear early on that his employees at NBC News and MSNBC did not support McDaniel’s hiring.', 'If that was not evident on Friday, it was clear as day on Sunday after “Meet the Press.”', 'The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it.', 'At that point, the writing should have been on the wall for Conde — as it was for every other media executive that I have spoken with over the last 24 hours.', 'It is evident that McDaniel has no real future as an NBC analyst and the decision to bring her on as a contributor will have to be reversed.', 'After all, which NBC or MSNBC program is going to invite her on after all of this?', 'The only real question for Conde after the Sunday morning scolding should have been how he chose to back out of the deal in the least painful way possible.', 'To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning.', 'But no such announcement came.', 'Instead, Conde has allowed the mess to spiral absolutely out of control.', 'MSNBC’s top stars hammered the network’s leadership throughout the day Monday over the hire.', 'NBC News’ Guild blasted Conde, saying in a statement that under him the company had quietly laid off employees over the last month and instead chosen to “prioritize an election denier over its reporters.”', 'The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory.', 'All the while, Conde has remained silent.', 'I asked his spokesperson, Stephen Labaton, on Monday whether the NBCU News Group boss had any comment on the situation.', 'Does he have any regret?', 'I didn’t get an on-the-record response.', 'Suffice to say, however, that what Conde does moving forward will say a lot about his character and commitment to democratic values.', 'It will also say a lot about the NBCU News Group and what type of organization it is.', 'In her biting monologue on Monday night, however, Maddow did offer Conde a way out of this mess.', '“Mistakes will be made,” Maddow said.', '”But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions.', 'Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it, and correcting course.', 'Not digging in.', 'Not blaming others.', 'Take a minute.', 'Acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call.”', '“It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong,” Maddow added. “', 'It is a sign of strength.', 'And our country needs us to be strong now.”']",-0.032955005531589,"Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.”",The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory.,-0.501803499001723,"To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning.","The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it.",2024-03-27
European flying car technology sold to China,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68669296,2024-03-27T00:01:30.000Z,"The tech behind a flying car, originally developed and successfully test-flown in Europe, has been bought by a Chinese firm. Powered by a BMW engine and normal fuel, the AirCar flew for 35 minutes between two Slovakian airports in 2021, using runways for take-off and landing.  It took just over two minutes to transform from a car into an aircraft.  Now vehicles made based on its design will be used within a ""specific geographical region"" of China. Hebei Jianxin Flying Car Technology Company, headquartered in Cangzhou, has purchased exclusive rights to manufacture and use AirCar aircraft inside an undisclosed area. The firm has built its own airport and flight school after a previous acquisition from another Slovak aircraft manufacturer, said Anton Zajac, cofounder of KleinVision, the company which created AirCar. Having led the way in the  development of the EV revolution, China is now actively developing flying transport solutions. Last month a firm called Autoflight carried out a test flight of a passenger-carrying drone between the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai. The journey, which takes three hours by car, was completed in 20 minutes, it said - although the aircraft contained no passengers. And in 2023 the Chinese firm eHang was awarded a safety certificate by Chinese officials for its electric flying taxi. Here, the UK government has said flying taxis could become a regular feature of the skies by 2028.  But unlike these drone-like passenger aircrafts, AirCar does not take off and land vertically, and requires a runway. KleinVision declined to say how much it had sold the technology for. AirCar was issued with a certificate of airworthiness by the Slovak Transport Authority in 2022 and featured in a video published by YouTuber Mr Beast earlier this year. There are still considerable hurdles for this form of transport in terms of infrastructure, regulation and public acceptance of the technology.  ""This brave new world of personal transport is acting as a great leveller,"" said aviation consultant Steve Wright.  Global attempts to regulate the sector left ""everyone scrambling to come up with a whole new set of questions that need to be asked"".    ""In this respect the West's history can sometimes slow things down, as there is a bit of a temptation to try and squeeze these new machines into the old categories,"" Mr Wright added. ""China could well see this as an opportunity to get ahead."" Similar concerns once applied to electric cars - in which China which has become a global market leader. The sale of the Slovakian AirCar could raise questions about whether China might be poised to do the same with flying cars. Mr Wright said while prototypes like the AirCar were ""great fun"", the reality was likely to end up being more mundane ""with queues and baggage checks and whatnot"". ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['The tech behind a flying car, originally developed and successfully test-flown in Europe, has been bought by a Chinese firm.', 'Powered by a BMW engine and normal fuel, the AirCar flew for 35 minutes between two Slovakian airports in 2021, using runways for take-off and landing.', 'It took just over two minutes to transform from a car into an aircraft.', 'Now vehicles made based on its design will be used within a ""specific geographical region"" of China.', 'Hebei Jianxin Flying Car Technology Company, headquartered in Cangzhou, has purchased exclusive rights to manufacture and use AirCar aircraft inside an undisclosed area.', 'The firm has built its own airport and flight school after a previous acquisition from another Slovak aircraft manufacturer, said Anton Zajac, cofounder of KleinVision, the company which created AirCar.', 'Having led the way in the development of the EV revolution, China is now actively developing flying transport solutions.', 'Last month a firm called Autoflight carried out a test flight of a passenger-carrying drone between the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai.', 'The journey, which takes three hours by car, was completed in 20 minutes, it said - although the aircraft contained no passengers.', 'And in 2023 the Chinese firm eHang was awarded a safety certificate by Chinese officials for its electric flying taxi.', 'Here, the UK government has said flying taxis could become a regular feature of the skies by 2028.', 'But unlike these drone-like passenger aircrafts, AirCar does not take off and land vertically, and requires a runway.', 'KleinVision declined to say how much it had sold the technology for.', 'AirCar was issued with a certificate of airworthiness by the Slovak Transport Authority in 2022 and featured in a video published by YouTuber Mr Beast earlier this year.', 'There are still considerable hurdles for this form of transport in terms of infrastructure, regulation and public acceptance of the technology. ""', 'This brave new world of personal transport is acting as a great leveller,"" said aviation consultant Steve Wright.', 'Global attempts to regulate the sector left ""everyone scrambling to come up with a whole new set of questions that need to be asked"". ""', 'In this respect the West\'s history can sometimes slow things down, as there is a bit of a temptation to try and squeeze these new machines into the old categories,"" Mr Wright added. ""', 'China could well see this as an opportunity to get ahead.""', 'Similar concerns once applied to electric cars - in which China which has become a global market leader.', 'The sale of the Slovakian AirCar could raise questions about whether China might be poised to do the same with flying cars.', 'Mr Wright said while prototypes like the AirCar were ""great fun"", the reality was likely to end up being more mundane ""with queues and baggage checks and whatnot"".']",0.2617895401596791,"Mr Wright said while prototypes like the AirCar were ""great fun"", the reality was likely to end up being more mundane ""with queues and baggage checks and whatnot"".","The journey, which takes three hours by car, was completed in 20 minutes, it said - although the aircraft contained no passengers.",0.3180156449476878,And in 2023 the Chinese firm eHang was awarded a safety certificate by Chinese officials for its electric flying taxi.,"In this respect the West's history can sometimes slow things down, as there is a bit of a temptation to try and squeeze these new machines into the old categories,"" Mr Wright added. """,2024-03-27
"Welcome to the market, RDDT! Reddit stock jumps on first day as a public company",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/investing/reddit-ipo/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:31 AM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","Reddit, one of the original social media companies, is finally making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday — more than a decade after many of its peers.
    
            Trading under the ticker “RDDT,” shares started trading at $47 and reached a high of $57.80 early Thursday afternoon, up as much as 70% from its initial price offering of $34. At its peak, shares of the stock had a market cap of about $10.9 billion.
    
            It’s a major milestone for the nearly 20-year-old company, something Reddit has been preparing for since at least 2021, when it hired its first chief financial officer. It also marks the first social media company to go public in years, and its performance could be a signpost for other companies considering IPOs.
    
            Funds raised from a successful IPO could help Reddit invest in key areas for growth, including building out new revenue streams as it seeks to stake a claim as a data provider for the burgeoning artificial intelligence language model industry. A successful public offering could also establish a sustainable ownership structure for a company with a history of ownership changes and leadership controversies.
    
            But its success is far from guaranteed. Reddit has never turned a profit, and by its own admission, “we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future.” The company is also giving loyal users a chance to buy IPO shares, a move that’s “great for PR but practically risky,” according to Kamran Ansari, Venture Partner at investment firm Headline, because those users could cause volatility in the share price right out of the gate if they quickly sell the stock.
    
            It’s been a rough few years for the IPO market — and successful IPOs typically beget other successful listings. While 2021 was a record-breaking year for companies looking to make their public debuts on the US stock market, dealmaking on Wall Street has largely dried up since, as executives have contended with recession fears, elevated interest rates and geopolitical tensions.
    
            While IPO activity is now trending higher — there have been 23 IPOs priced so far this year, a 15% change over last year — companies that have gone public have underperformed the S&P 500 by about two percentage points, according to data from the Renaissance IPO Index.
    
            Reddit priced its shares at $34 each, valuing the company at around $6 billion, less than the $10 billion valuation the company targeted on the private market in 2021 — which may be a reminder that in the age of continued high interest rates, money now comes at a higher cost.
    
            “Reddit’s IPO marks the return of the junk IPO,” David Trainer, CEO of New Constructs, said in an email. “We think the company may never monetize its platform without angering its users and the entire premise of Reddit is user-generated content.”
    
            Still, there may be no time like the present for Reddit to go public. The social media industry is bracing for a potential shakeup if a bill that could see TikTok banned in the United States — which has already passed the House — progresses further.
    
            Some on Wall Street also believe Reddit has more room to grow, after increasing its user base by some 40% between 2021 and 2023.
    
            “There’s really substantial growth potential when it comes to certain places outside the US, particularly ones where English is a primary language. India has been highlighted, for example, as a very substantial opportunity,” said Scott Kessler, global technology sector lead at research firm Third Bridge. He added that Reddit is available in fewer than 10 languages, meaning the company could also find new growth by making the platform accessible to more users around the world.
    
            “The big challenge, of course, is not just user growth, but the related monetization,” Kessler said.
    
            Among Reddit’s plans to better monetize those users is licensing their data to help train AI models. The company recently announced an AI licensing deal with Google that’s said to be worth $60 million per year.
    
            And while the so-called “front page of the internet” certainly seems to have potential as a data source, some users appear frustrated with the idea of their content being sold off to train AI tools. And regulators have questions, too.
    
            Reddit disclosed last week that the US Federal Trade Commission is looking into its plans to license data to AI firms, although the company said it does not believe it has violated US consumer protection law.",CNN,22/03/2024,"['Reddit, one of the original social media companies,is finally making its debuton the New York Stock Exchange Thursday — more than a decade after many of its peers.', 'Trading under the ticker “RDDT,” shares started trading at $47 and reached a high of $57.80 early Thursday afternoon, up as much as 70% from its initial price offering of $34.', 'At its peak, shares of the stock had a market cap of about $10.9 billion.', 'It’s a major milestone for the nearly 20-year-old company, something Reddit has been preparing for since at least 2021, when it hired its first chief financial officer.', 'It also marks the first social media company to go public in years, and its performance could be a signpost for other companies considering IPOs.', 'Funds raised from a successful IPO could help Reddit invest in key areas for growth, including building out new revenue streams as it seeks to stake a claim as a data provider for the burgeoning artificial intelligence language model industry.', 'A successful public offering could also establish a sustainable ownership structure for a company with ahistoryofownership changesandleadership controversies.', 'But its success is far from guaranteed.', 'Reddit has never turned a profit, and by its own admission, “we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future.”', 'The company is alsogiving loyal users a chanceto buy IPO shares, a move that’s “great for PR but practically risky,” according to Kamran Ansari, Venture Partner at investment firm Headline, because those userscould cause volatility in the share price right out of the gate if they quickly sell the stock.', 'It’s been a rough few years for the IPO market — and successful IPOs typically beget other successful listings.', 'While 2021 was a record-breaking year for companies looking to make their public debuts on the US stock market, dealmaking on Wall Street has largely dried up since, as executives have contended with recession fears, elevated interest rates and geopolitical tensions.', 'While IPO activity is now trending higher — there have been 23 IPOs priced so far this year, a 15% change over last year — companies that have gone public have underperformed the S&P 500 by about two percentage points, according to data from the Renaissance IPO Index.', 'Redditpriced its sharesat $34 each, valuing the company at around $6 billion, less than the $10 billion valuation the company targeted on the private market in 2021 — which may be a reminder that in the age ofcontinued high interest rates, money now comes at a higher cost.', '“Reddit’s IPO marks the return of the junk IPO,” David Trainer, CEO of New Constructs, said in an email.', '“We think the company may never monetize its platform without angering its users and the entire premise of Reddit is user-generated content.”', 'Still, there may be no time like the present for Reddit to go public.', 'The social media industry isbracing for a potential shakeup if a bill that could see TikTok banned in the United States — which has already passed the House — progresses further.', 'Some on Wall Street also believe Reddit has more room to grow, after increasing its user base by some 40% between 2021 and 2023.', '“There’s really substantial growth potential when it comes to certain places outside the US, particularly ones where English is a primary language.', 'India has been highlighted, for example, as a very substantial opportunity,” said Scott Kessler, global technology sector lead at research firm Third Bridge.', 'He added that Reddit is available in fewer than 10 languages, meaning the company could also find new growth by making the platform accessible to more users around the world.', '“The big challenge, of course, is not just user growth, but the related monetization,” Kessler said.', 'Among Reddit’s plans to better monetize those users is licensing their data to help train AI models.', 'The company recently announced an AI licensing deal with Google that’ssaid to be worth$60 million per year.', 'And while the so-called “front page of the internet” certainly seems to have potential as a data source, some users appear frustrated with the idea of their content being sold off to train AI tools.', 'And regulators have questions, too.', 'Reddit disclosed last week that the US Federal Trade Commission is looking into its plans to license data to AI firms, although the company said it does not believe it has violated US consumer protection law.']",0.2306095532428506,"Funds raised from a successful IPO could help Reddit invest in key areas for growth, including building out new revenue streams as it seeks to stake a claim as a data provider for the burgeoning artificial intelligence language model industry.","While 2021 was a record-breaking year for companies looking to make their public debuts on the US stock market, dealmaking on Wall Street has largely dried up since, as executives have contended with recession fears, elevated interest rates and geopolitical tensions.",0.2460439279675483,"Some on Wall Street also believe Reddit has more room to grow, after increasing its user base by some 40% between 2021 and 2023.","While 2021 was a record-breaking year for companies looking to make their public debuts on the US stock market, dealmaking on Wall Street has largely dried up since, as executives have contended with recession fears, elevated interest rates and geopolitical tensions.",2024-03-27
Canada's maple syrup reserve hits 16-year low,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68657703,2024-03-25T17:55:45.000Z,"Canada's maple syrup reserve - the world's only - has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change.  The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year. But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg). Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production. But they say that this will not affect the availability or price of maple syrup to consumers - at least for now. ""The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008,"" Simon Doré-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told the BBC. ""But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future."" Canada's billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world's entire maple syrup production.  According to national data, a majority of that - around 90% - is produced in the province of Quebec, where the world's sole strategic reserve of maple syrup was set up 24 years ago.  The amount of maple syrup in the national reserve - stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec - has dwindled significantly since 2020. That year, the reserve had more than 103 million pounds of the sticky product. Now, the amount in the reserve is only 7% of what it was four years ago.  Part of the reason why, Mr Doré-Ouellet said, is because of poor harvest seasons over the last few years. Maple syrup production, which is typically done between early March and late April, relies heavily on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer daytime temperatures above 0C (32F). The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.  In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.  This reduction, however, came on the heels of two consecutive record years of production, in 2020 and 2019. Mr Doré-Ouellet said that because of the harvest unpredictability, fluctuations in the reserve's supply are not unusual.  ""The strategic reserve was put in place to stabilise supply - which is highly weather dependent - for buyers,"" he said. ""In the last four years, that is exactly what it has done."" Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product. In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide -  an increase of more than 19% from the year before. Mr Doré-Ouellet said the growth in demand is tied to Quebec's efforts to promote Canadian maple syrup and its benefits to other countries, primarily the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan.  With the reserve supply dwindling in the face of growing demand, many are keen to see how the upcoming harvest season unfolds.  Canada is coming out of one of its warmest winters on record. Temperatures in December, January and February were the warmest since record-keeping began in 1948.  Despite this, Mr Doré-Ouellet said there is reason to be optimistic. ""The sugaring season has come early this year and is still underway,"" he said. ""So far, production has been plentiful and the weather forecasts are encouraging for the next few weeks all across Quebec."" Because the reserve stabilises the maple syrup market for producers and buyers, he said it is important that it be built back up.  Efforts to do so are already underway, including the release of 14 million new taps to producers over the last three years to bolster harvesting efforts, he said. Mr Doré-Ouellet did note that replenishing Canada's maple syrup supply is a ""multi-year process"", adding that he believes the outcome of the 2024 season will not ""make or break"" the future of Canada's most iconic export. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""Canada's maple syrup reserve - the world's only - has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change."", 'The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year.', 'But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg).', 'Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production.', 'But they say that this will not affect the availability or price of maple syrup to consumers - at least for now. ""', 'The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008,"" Simon Doré-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told the BBC. ""', 'But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future.""', ""Canada's billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world's entire maple syrup production."", ""According to national data, a majority of that - around 90% - is produced in the province of Quebec, where the world's sole strategic reserve of maple syrup was set up 24 years ago."", 'The amount of maple syrup in the national reserve - stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec - has dwindled significantly since 2020.', 'That year, the reserve had more than 103 million pounds of the sticky product.', 'Now, the amount in the reserve is only 7% of what it was four years ago.', 'Part of the reason why, Mr Doré-Ouellet said, is because of poor harvest seasons over the last few years.', 'Maple syrup production, which is typically done between early March and late April, relies heavily on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer daytime temperatures above 0C (32F).', 'The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.', 'In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.', 'This reduction, however, came on the heels of two consecutive record years of production, in 2020 and 2019.', 'Mr Doré-Ouellet said that because of the harvest unpredictability, fluctuations in the reserve\'s supply are not unusual. ""', 'The strategic reserve was put in place to stabilise supply - which is highly weather dependent - for buyers,"" he said. ""', 'In the last four years, that is exactly what it has done.""', 'Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product.', 'In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide - an increase of more than 19% from the year before.', ""Mr Doré-Ouellet said the growth in demand is tied to Quebec's efforts to promote Canadian maple syrup and its benefits to other countries, primarily the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan."", 'With the reserve supply dwindling in the face of growing demand, many are keen to see how the upcoming harvest season unfolds.', 'Canada is coming out of one of its warmest winters on record.', 'Temperatures in December, January and February were the warmest since record-keeping began in 1948.', 'Despite this, Mr Doré-Ouellet said there is reason to be optimistic. ""', 'The sugaring season has come early this year and is still underway,"" he said. ""', 'So far, production has been plentiful and the weather forecasts are encouraging for the next few weeks all across Quebec.""', 'Because the reserve stabilises the maple syrup market for producers and buyers, he said it is important that it be built back up.', 'Efforts to do so are already underway, including the release of 14 million new taps to producers over the last three years to bolster harvesting efforts, he said.', 'Mr Doré-Ouellet did note that replenishing Canada\'s maple syrup supply is a ""multi-year process"", adding that he believes the outcome of the 2024 season will not ""make or break"" the future of Canada\'s most iconic export.']",0.1208518685319641,"The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.",Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product.,0.1002638108200497,"In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide - an increase of more than 19% from the year before.","In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.",2024-03-27
Opinion: The drama around Sam Altman is an urgent warning,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/21/opinions/sam-altman-openai-ouster-danger-filipovic/index.html,"
  Published
        9:50 AM EST, Tue November 21, 2023
    ","The biggest tech news this week is the ouster of Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI, a move that has shaken the company and the industry. Hundreds of OpenAI employees have threatened to resign. Altman has already moved on to a role at Microsoft. And OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on its third CEO in as many days.
    
            It’s all very juicy. But this drama should also be raising larger questions, far beyond one company’s internal hirings and firings, including: Who are the people making the decisions that will determine so much of our technological future? What guiding principles are they using to make those decisions? And how should other institutions – governments, non-tech industries, global alliances, regulatory bodies – reign in the worst excesses of potentially dangerous AI innovators?
    
            OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, with an explicit mission to harness what may soon be superhuman intelligence “to benefit humanity as a whole.” But that sensibility hasn’t lasted. The company now has a multi-billion-dollar for-profit arm. They have been developing new technologies at lightning speed, and sometimes sending them out to the public before some employees believed they were ready. The company has already reportedly invented an AI technology so dangerous they will never release it – but they also won’t tell reporters or the public exactly what it is.
    
            This dynamic – a potentially dangerous technology developed at extreme speed, largely behind closed doors – is partly to blame for Altman’s firing. The OpenAI board, according to CNN’s David Goldman, worried that “the company was making the technological equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and its caretaker, Sam Altman, was moving so fast that he risked a global catastrophe.” At particular issue seemed to be Altman’s efforts to make the tools behind ChatGPT available to anyone who wanted to make their own version of the chatbot. This could be widely disastrous, some board members worried.
    
            But then they fired him without warning, and apparently without involving Microsoft, the company’s largest shareholder. Now, Altman is at the new AI group at Microsoft, and one has to wonder if the oversight and caution there will be on par with that at OpenAI, or if he’ll be handed carte blanche to push as fast and hard as he wants. And for all the justified reticence of the OpenAI board, the company has carried out much of its work in secrecy – without the public really understanding what a handful of unaccountable technologists are building, and how it is nearly guaranteed to indelibly change their lives.
    
            AI is broadly understood to have the potential to reshape vast swaths of human existence. At the very least, it seems nearly guaranteed to change how we process information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work (and if we work). And the ramifications could be much more extreme. AI technologies have already demonstrated the ability to lie and to cover their tracks. They have already been able to suggest the design to make a virus spread more quickly. Many researchers acutely understand just how quickly these machines could develop the capacity to annihilate us, including Altman: He has a prepper’s paradise prepared in Big Sur, complete with guns and “gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force” in case AI goes off the rails and the robots go to war against humans, according to reporting in the New Yorker.
    
            But don’t worry, he told an Atlantic reporter: If AI is determined to wipe us out, “no gas mask is helping anyone.” (If you want an excellent and terrifying rundown of AI’s risks – at least those we understand right now, which are almost certainly a mere sliver of the looming perils – the Atlantic profile of Altman and his technology is worth a read).
    
            AI is very exciting technology. But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”
    
            Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed. And yet the development is being left to a handful of people (who seem to be largely men) in Silicon Valley, and other tech pockets around the globe. And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit.
    
            Do the interests of the public align with the interests of the shareholders to whom profit-driven, potentially tremendously lucrative-for-a-few companies are beholden? Or with the interests of tech entrepreneurs who are primarily excited about being at the forefront of the AI revolution, regardless of the potential human costs?
    
            One thing is clear: AI is coming. And how it is built and unleashed on the public matters more than perhaps any technology of the past century. It is, indeed, up there with the atom bomb in its destructive potential – except likely more difficult to regulate and control.
    
            “Regulation” does not begin to scratch the surface of what’s needed to make sure that the AI future is not a catastrophic one, especially since the development of AI is now a massive international arms race, with particularly horrific implications if bad actors develop this technology first. But regulation is, at minimum, a necessary step.
    
            So is transparency: In the US, companies have wide leverage to work behind a veil of secrecy, and much of what AI companies do is kept secret to stymy competition. But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.
    
            The Altman story is fascinating because Altman is the most powerful figure in AI technology, which in effect makes him one of the most powerful men in the world. But that should give us pause: Who is he, what power does he hold, what is he doing with it, who does he answer to, and are we comfortable with this much life-altering potential being held by a few unaccountable people?",CNN,21/11/2023,"['The biggest tech news this week is theousterof Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI, a move that has shaken the company and the industry.', 'Hundreds of OpenAI employees have threatened toresign.', 'Altman has alreadymoved onto a role at Microsoft.', 'And OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on itsthird CEOin as many days.', 'It’s all very juicy.', 'But this drama should also be raising larger questions, far beyond one company’s internal hirings and firings, including: Who are the people making the decisionsthat will determine so much of our technological future?', 'What guiding principles are they using to make those decisions?', 'And how should other institutions – governments, non-tech industries, global alliances, regulatory bodies – reign in the worst excesses of potentially dangerous AI innovators?', 'OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, with an explicit mission to harness what may soon be superhuman intelligence “to benefit humanity as a whole.”', 'But that sensibility hasn’t lasted.', 'The company now has a multi-billion-dollar for-profit arm.', 'They have been developing new technologies at lightning speed, and sometimes sending them out to the publicbefore some employees believed they were ready.', 'The company has already reportedly invented an AI technology so dangerous they will never release it – but they alsowon’t tellreporters or the public exactly what it is.', 'This dynamic – a potentially dangerous technology developed at extreme speed, largely behind closed doors – is partly to blame for Altman’s firing.', 'The OpenAI board, according toCNN’s David Goldman, worried that “the company was making the technological equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and its caretaker, Sam Altman, was moving so fast that he risked a global catastrophe.”', 'At particular issue seemed to be Altman’s efforts to make the tools behind ChatGPT available to anyone who wanted to make their own version of the chatbot.', 'This could be widely disastrous, some board members worried.', 'But then they fired him without warning, and apparently without involving Microsoft, the company’s largest shareholder.', 'Now, Altman is at the new AI group at Microsoft, and one has to wonder if the oversight and caution there will be on par with that at OpenAI, or if he’ll be handed carte blanche to push as fast and hard as he wants.', 'And for all the justified reticence of the OpenAI board, the company has carried out much of its work in secrecy – without the public really understanding what a handful of unaccountable technologists are building, and how it is nearly guaranteed to indelibly change their lives.', 'AI is broadly understood to have the potential to reshape vast swaths of human existence.', 'At the very least, it seems nearly guaranteed to change how we process information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work (and if we work).', 'And the ramifications could be much more extreme.', 'AI technologies have already demonstrated the abilityto lie and to cover their tracks.', 'They have already been able tosuggest the designto make a virus spread more quickly.', 'Many researchersacutely understandjust how quickly these machines could develop the capacity to annihilate us, including Altman: He has a prepper’s paradise prepared in Big Sur, complete with guns and “gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force” in case AI goes off the rails and the robots go to war against humans,according to reporting in the New Yorker.', 'But don’t worry, he told an Atlantic reporter: If AI is determined to wipe us out, “no gas mask is helping anyone.” (', 'If you want an excellent and terrifying rundown of AI’s risks – at least those we understand right now, which are almost certainly a mere sliver of the looming perils –the Atlantic profile of Altman and his technologyis worth a read).', 'AI is very exciting technology.', 'But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”', 'Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed.', 'And yet the development is being left to a handful of people (who seem to belargelymen) in Silicon Valley, and other tech pockets around the globe.', 'And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit.', 'Do the interests of the public align with the interests of the shareholders to whom profit-driven, potentially tremendously lucrative-for-a-few companies are beholden?', 'Or with the interests of tech entrepreneurs who are primarily excited about being at the forefront of the AI revolution, regardless of the potential human costs?', 'One thing is clear: AI is coming.', 'And how it is built and unleashed on the public matters more than perhaps any technology of the past century.', 'It is, indeed, up there with the atom bomb in its destructive potential – except likely more difficult to regulate and control.', '“Regulation” does not begin to scratch the surface of what’s needed to make sure that the AI future is not a catastrophic one, especially since the development of AI is now a massive international arms race, with particularly horrific implications if bad actors develop this technology first.', 'But regulation is, at minimum, a necessary step.', 'So is transparency: In the US, companies have wide leverage to work behind a veil of secrecy, and much of what AI companies do is kept secret to stymy competition.', 'But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.', 'The Altman story is fascinating because Altman is the most powerful figure in AI technology, which in effect makes him one of the most powerful men in the world.', 'But that should give us pause: Who is he, what power does he hold, what is he doing with it, who does he answer to, and are we comfortable with this much life-altering potential being held by a few unaccountable people?']",0.0034737194649936,"But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.","But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”",-0.2999434590339661,AI technologies have already demonstrated the abilityto lie and to cover their tracks.,"But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”",2024-03-27
Disney and DeSantis allies end legal dispute over control of theme park,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68675795,2024-03-27T18:00:55.000Z,"Allies of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney have reached a settlement agreement over how Walt Disney World is governed in the future. It comes after a judge ruled in January that it was legal for the state to make changes to the amusement theme park's district government. A row between the two sides has been trundling on for almost two years. It was sparked by Disney's criticism of a state law that restricted the teaching of sexuality in schools. In a meeting on Wednesday, members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board approved the settlement agreement. Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement that the company was pleased that a settlement had been reached. ""This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,"" the Associated Press news agency quoted Mr Vahle as saying. The two sides started feuding after Disney, under pressure from its staff, criticised the Parental Rights in Education Act - dubbed the ""Don't Say Gay"" bill by critics - which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students in Florida. In response to Disney's criticism, Mr DeSantis - who is a proponent of the law - passed legislation that stripped Disney of its self-governing authority - a power the company had for more than 50 years. The move gave more power to Mr DeSantis, who now appoints members of a board that governs the park's 25,000 acres. But before the board changed hands, Disney supporters on the board signed agreements with the company shifting control of some aspects at Disney World to the company - a move the district then sued Disney over. The company also countersued. Under Wednesday's agreement, litigation counsel Paul Huck said at the board meeting that the company recognised that the signing over of control to Disney before the board changed hands was ""null and void"".  The city-sized theme park had been operated by Disney since 1971. ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['Allies of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney have reached a settlement agreement over how Walt Disney World is governed in the future.', ""It comes after a judge ruled in January that it was legal for the state to make changes to the amusement theme park's district government."", 'A row between the two sides has been trundling on for almost two years.', ""It was sparked by Disney's criticism of a state law that restricted the teaching of sexuality in schools."", 'In a meeting on Wednesday, members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board approved the settlement agreement.', 'Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement that the company was pleased that a settlement had been reached. ""', 'This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,"" the Associated Press news agency quoted Mr Vahle as saying.', 'The two sides started feuding after Disney, under pressure from its staff, criticised the Parental Rights in Education Act - dubbed the ""Don\'t Say Gay"" bill by critics - which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students in Florida.', ""In response to Disney's criticism, Mr DeSantis - who is a proponent of the law - passed legislation that stripped Disney of its self-governing authority - a power the company had for more than 50 years."", ""The move gave more power to Mr DeSantis, who now appoints members of a board that governs the park's 25,000 acres."", 'But before the board changed hands, Disney supporters on the board signed agreements with the company shifting control of some aspects at Disney World to the company - a move the district then sued Disney over.', 'The company also countersued.', 'Under Wednesday\'s agreement, litigation counsel Paul Huck said at the board meeting that the company recognised that the signing over of control to Disney before the board changed hands was ""null and void"".', 'The city-sized theme park had been operated by Disney since 1971.']",0.1713182077687389,"This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,"" the Associated Press news agency quoted Mr Vahle as saying.","The two sides started feuding after Disney, under pressure from its staff, criticised the Parental Rights in Education Act - dubbed the ""Don't Say Gay"" bill by critics - which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students in Florida.",0.6832387844721476,"This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,"" the Associated Press news agency quoted Mr Vahle as saying.","The two sides started feuding after Disney, under pressure from its staff, criticised the Parental Rights in Education Act - dubbed the ""Don't Say Gay"" bill by critics - which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students in Florida.",2024-03-27
EU leaders endorse plan to tap frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/business/frozen-russian-assets-ukraine-war/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:30 AM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","European Union leaders have endorsed a proposal to use windfall profits on frozen Russian financial assets to assist Ukraine, including spending as much as $3 billion a year on arms and ammunition for the country.
    
            The leaders agreed Thursday to further develop the plan presented by the European Commission. The EU will now need to come up with mechanisms to deliver the aid that take account of misgivings among some militarily neutral member states such as Austria, Ireland and Malta.
    
            “We are determined to act very quickly,” Charles Michel, who chairs the council of EU leaders, said at a press conference late Thursday.
    
            The proposal goes further than a previous EU plan — crafted in late 2023 and agreed in principle last month — to use the interest payments and other profits accumulating in accounts in Brussels to help rebuild Ukraine.
    
            A “growing majority” of European countries were “pleading” for these profits to be used for the European Peace Facility, a senior EU official told reporters Tuesday. The facility was launched in 2021 to finance the EU’s defense and military measures globally. Unlike the general EU budget, it can be used to buy arms.
    
            Pressure on EU states to do more to support Ukraine militarily has increased in recent months as the flow of aid from the United States has stalled and Russia has made advances on the battlefield.
    
            The US Senate approved a supplemental bill last month that would have unlocked $60 billion of military aid for Ukraine, but House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson refused to bring it to the floor for a vote.
    
            “I’m glad that (EU) leaders endorsed our proposal to use the extraordinary revenue from immobilized Russian assets,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Thursday, hailing “strong support” among the leaders for using the cash for weapons.
    
            She said money could start flowing by July 1.
    
            But the shift in focus to directly supporting Ukraine’s military rather than using the funds to help rebuild the country is hard to swallow for neutral EU member states such as Ireland and Austria.
    
            Before Thursday’s EU summit, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer told reporters: “There must be a guarantee that money, for which we give our approval, is not spent on weapons and ammunition.”
    
            Speaking to reporters later, he said it was now up to EU officials to come up with ways of using the cash while respecting the position of neutral states.
    
            After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries froze nearly half of Moscow’s foreign reserves — some €300 billion ($327 billion). Around €200 billion ($218 billion) sits in the EU — mostly at Euroclear, a financial institution that keeps assets safe for banks, exchanges and investors.
    
            Euroclear is accumulating vast amounts of cash because of payments associated with frozen Russian assets. These payments include, for example, interest paid on bonds, known as coupons, or the proceeds generated by securities that mature and are reinvested.
    
            Last month, the group said it had earned €5.2 billion ($5.6 billion) in interest on income generated by sanctioned Russian assets since they were frozen by EU and Group of Seven countries in 2022.
    
            The proposal by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, would involve using a special levy to collect the windfall interest income on frozen Russian assets. According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the revenue generated from these immobilized assets will be around €3 billion ($3.3 billion) a year.
    
            “I hope that we can reach an agreement soon, and change banknotes into weapons… soldiers don’t fight with banknotes,” Borrell told reporters in Brussels Wednesday. “They need physical arms, they need physical instruments in order to defend (their) people.”
    
            The EU and its allies are determined to make Russia foot part of the colossal bill for rebuilding Ukraine, which official figures published by the European Commission in February put at $486 billion over the next decade.
    
            Ukrainian authorities estimate the country will need around $15 billion this year alone to rebuild energy and transport infrastructure, as well as housing, among other priorities.
    
            Separately, the EU agreed a €5 billion ($5.5 billion) top-up of the European Peace Facility Monday, ringfenced in a dedicated Ukraine Assistance Fund, which will also support the country’s military needs.
    
            James Frater and Benjamin Brown contributed reporting.",CNN,22/03/2024,"['European Union leaders have endorsed a proposal to use windfall profits on frozenRussian financial assetsto assist Ukraine, including spending as much as $3 billion a year on arms and ammunition for the country.', 'The leaders agreed Thursday to further develop the plan presented by the European Commission.', 'The EU will now need to come up with mechanisms to deliver the aid that take account of misgivings among some militarily neutral member states such as Austria, Ireland and Malta.', '“We are determined to act very quickly,” Charles Michel, who chairs the council of EU leaders, said at a press conference late Thursday.', 'The proposal goes further than a previous EU plan — crafted in late 2023 and agreed in principle last month — to use the interest payments and other profits accumulating in accounts in Brussels to help rebuild Ukraine.', 'A “growing majority” of European countries were “pleading” for these profits to be used for the European Peace Facility, a senior EU official told reporters Tuesday.', 'The facility was launched in 2021 to finance the EU’s defense and military measures globally.', 'Unlike the general EU budget, it can be used to buy arms.', 'Pressure on EU states to do more to support Ukraine militarily has increased in recent months as the flow of aid from the United States has stalled and Russia has made advances on the battlefield.', 'The US Senate approved a supplemental bill last month that would have unlocked $60 billion of military aid for Ukraine, but House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson refused to bring it to the floor for a vote.', '“I’m glad that (EU) leaders endorsed our proposal to use the extraordinary revenue from immobilized Russian assets,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Thursday, hailing “strong support” among the leaders for using the cash for weapons.', 'She said money could start flowing by July 1.', 'But the shift in focus to directly supporting Ukraine’s military rather than using the funds to help rebuild the country is hard to swallow for neutral EU member states such as Ireland and Austria.', 'Before Thursday’s EU summit, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer told reporters: “There must be a guarantee that money, for which we give our approval, is not spent on weapons and ammunition.”', 'Speaking to reporters later, he said it was now up to EU officials to come up with ways of using the cash while respecting the position of neutral states.', 'After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries froze nearly half of Moscow’s foreign reserves — some €300 billion ($327 billion).', 'Around €200 billion ($218 billion) sits in the EU — mostly at Euroclear, a financial institution that keeps assets safe for banks, exchanges and investors.', 'Euroclear is accumulating vast amounts of cash because of payments associated with frozen Russian assets.', 'These payments include, for example, interest paid on bonds, known as coupons, or the proceeds generated by securities that mature and are reinvested.', 'Last month, the group said it had earned €5.2 billion ($5.6 billion) in interest on income generated by sanctioned Russian assets since they were frozen by EU and Group of Seven countries in 2022.', 'The proposal by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, would involve using a special levy to collect the windfall interest income on frozen Russian assets.', 'According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the revenue generated from these immobilized assets will be around €3 billion ($3.3 billion) a year.', '“I hope that we can reach an agreement soon, and change banknotes into weapons… soldiers don’t fight with banknotes,” Borrell told reporters in Brussels Wednesday. “', 'They need physical arms, they need physical instruments in order to defend (their) people.”', 'The EU and its allies are determined to make Russia foot part of the colossal bill for rebuilding Ukraine, which official figures published by the European Commission in February put at $486 billion over the next decade.', 'Ukrainian authorities estimate the country will need around $15 billion this year alone to rebuild energy and transport infrastructure, as well as housing, among other priorities.', 'Separately, the EU agreed a €5 billion ($5.5 billion) top-up of the European Peace Facility Monday, ringfenced in a dedicated Ukraine Assistance Fund, which will also support the country’s military needs.', 'James Frater and Benjamin Brown contributed reporting.']",0.3729818776437537,"Separately, the EU agreed a €5 billion ($5.5 billion) top-up of the European Peace Facility Monday, ringfenced in a dedicated Ukraine Assistance Fund, which will also support the country’s military needs.","The US Senate approved a supplemental bill last month that would have unlocked $60 billion of military aid for Ukraine, but House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson refused to bring it to the floor for a vote.",0.3401498397191365,"“I’m glad that (EU) leaders endorsed our proposal to use the extraordinary revenue from immobilized Russian assets,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Thursday, hailing “strong support” among the leaders for using the cash for weapons.",But the shift in focus to directly supporting Ukraine’s military rather than using the funds to help rebuild the country is hard to swallow for neutral EU member states such as Ireland and Austria.,2024-03-27
It’s been a very good week for your 401(k),https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/markets/dow-nears-40k/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:09 PM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","US stocks ended a huge week on a mediocre note, but investors on Wall Street are still likely popping champagne bottles as they close out one of the strongest weeks of the year for markets.
    
            The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 306 points, or 0.7%, on Friday.
    
            Investors were hoping that the index would surpass the 40,000 threshold level, a feat it has managed twice in premarket trading. But it has yet to pull it off during regular trading hours.
    
            Still, the blue-chip index notched its best week since December. All three major indexes finished two consecutive sessions at record highs on Wednesday and Thursday and the tech-heavy Nasdaq set a third record on Friday, at 16,428.82.
    
            The S&P 500 fell 0.1% on Friday and the Nasdaq was 0.2% higher.
    
            All three indexes had a winning week: The S&P 500 rose 2.3%, the Dow was up about 2% and the Nasdaq gained 2.9%.
    
            A surge in artificial intelligence stocks fueled two new record highs across the three major indexes this week, along with fresh projections from the Federal Reserve that the US economy will see three interest rate cuts before the year is out.
    
            In corporate news, it’s been a rough day for performance wear.
    
            Shares of Lululemon slid nearly 15.8% after the company issued weak forward guidance. The athletic-wear company registered its worst day since March 2020. Shares of Nike also dropped 6.9% after it reported that sales were slowing in China and also adjusted its forward guidance.
    
            Reddit entered its second official day of trading with a downward adjustment — shares were down about 8.5% after springing 48% higher following its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
    
            Apple investors appeared to be relatively unbothered by a Department of Justice antitrust suit brought against the iPhone maker on Thursday. Shares were about 0.5% higher.
    
            Investors also approved a deal on Friday to make Truth Social owner Trump Media a publicly traded company.
    
            The green light from shareholders clears a major hurdle for a long-delayed merger that will generate a multibillion-dollar windfall for former President Donald Trump at a time when he’s facing immense financial and legal pressure. However, it’s not likely to help his legal woes.
    
            According to a preliminary vote total announced during the meeting, a majority of shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. voted in favor of the deal to merge with Trump Media. The companies have indicated the merger could close as soon as early next week.
    
            But not all shareholders appeared to be in an approving mood. Digital World Acquisition Corp. sank 13.7% on Friday.",CNN,22/03/2024,"['US stocks ended a huge week on a mediocre note, but investors on Wall Street are still likely popping champagne bottles as they close out one of the strongest weeks of the year for markets.', 'The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 306 points, or 0.7%, on Friday.', 'Investors were hoping that the index would surpass the 40,000 threshold level, a feat it has managed twice in premarket trading.', 'But it has yet to pull it off during regular trading hours.', 'Still, the blue-chip index notched its best week since December.', 'All three major indexes finished two consecutive sessions at record highs on Wednesday and Thursday and the tech-heavy Nasdaq set a third record on Friday, at 16,428.82.', 'The S&P 500 fell 0.1% on Friday and the Nasdaq was 0.2% higher.', 'All three indexes had a winning week: The S&P 500 rose 2.3%, the Dow was up about 2% and the Nasdaq gained 2.9%.', 'A surge in artificial intelligence stocks fueled two new record highs across the three major indexes this week, along with fresh projections from the Federal Reserve that the US economy will see three interest rate cuts before the year is out.', 'In corporate news, it’s been a rough day for performance wear.', 'Shares of Lululemon slid nearly 15.8% after the company issued weak forward guidance.', 'The athletic-wear company registered its worst day since March 2020.', 'Shares of Nike also dropped 6.9% after it reported that sales were slowing in China and also adjusted its forward guidance.', 'Reddit entered its second official day of trading with a downward adjustment — shares were down about 8.5% after springing 48% higher following its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.', 'Apple investors appeared to be relatively unbothered by a Department of Justice antitrust suit brought against the iPhone maker on Thursday.', 'Shares were about 0.5% higher.', 'Investors also approved a deal on Friday to make Truth Social owner Trump Media apublicly traded company.', 'The green light from shareholders clears a major hurdle for a long-delayed merger that will generate a multibillion-dollar windfall for former President Donald Trump at a time when he’s facing immense financial and legal pressure.', 'However, it’s not likely to help his legal woes.', 'According to a preliminary vote total announced during the meeting, a majority of shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. voted in favor of the deal to merge with Trump Media.', 'The companies have indicated the merger could close as soon as early next week.', 'But not all shareholders appeared to be in an approving mood.', 'Digital World Acquisition Corp. sank 13.7% on Friday.']",0.1771303646740015,"US stocks ended a huge week on a mediocre note, but investors on Wall Street are still likely popping champagne bottles as they close out one of the strongest weeks of the year for markets.",The athletic-wear company registered its worst day since March 2020.,0.0184680610895156,"All three indexes had a winning week: The S&P 500 rose 2.3%, the Dow was up about 2% and the Nasdaq gained 2.9%.",Shares of Nike also dropped 6.9% after it reported that sales were slowing in China and also adjusted its forward guidance.,2024-03-27
The Chevrolet Corvette is officially going electric,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/25/business/electric-hybrid-corvette/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:22 PM EDT, Mon April 25, 2022
    ","General Motors will produce a fully electric Chevrolet Corvette, GM President Mark Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post Monday morning. 
    
            Reuss didn’t say when the electric Corvette would come, but he hinted that a hybrid model could come relatively soon. “We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year,” he wrote. An accompanying video the company posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be a hybrid Corvette, and in another first, showed the front wheels spinning and throwing snow as if being powered. All Corvettes produced by the company previously have been rear-wheel-drive only.
    
            While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.
    
            “Electrified” is an auto industry term encompassing everything from hybrid to fully electric vehicles, and anything with an electric motor can count as “electrified.” It has long been rumored that the current generation of the Corvette, the first with its gasoline engine mounted behind the seats instead of in the front, could be built with a hybrid system. Reuss has also previously hinted there would be electrified variants of the car.
    
            Various companies are working on electric sports cars. Most all-electric vehicles in production so far have been four-door sedans and SUVs, as the need for batteries lends itself to larger and heavier vehicles. Tesla’s first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, was an electric sports car, but the second-generation of Tesla Roadster, originally unveiled as a prototype in 2017, has yet to go into production.
    
            Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle. Lamborghini has been working on plug-in hybrid sports cars, though.
    
            To date, the Corvette is only available in the base Stingray version with 6.2-liter V8 engine producing up to 495 horsepower. A 670 horsepower Corvette Z06 with a 5.5-liter V8 was unveiled last fall. The previous generation of the Corvette included included a 755-horsepower ZR1 version. Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.
    
            Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines. Ferrari’s most powerful sports cars are hybrids, for instance.  
    
            GM has said it plans to produce only zero-emission vehicles, meaning fully electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells, by 2035.",CNN,25/04/2022,"['General Motors will produce a fully electric Chevrolet Corvette, GM President Mark Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post Monday morning.', 'Reuss didn’t say when the electric Corvette would come, but he hinted that a hybrid model could come relatively soon. “', 'We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year,” he wrote.', 'An accompanying video the company posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be a hybrid Corvette, and in another first, showed the front wheels spinning and throwing snow as if being powered.', 'All Corvettes produced by the company previously have been rear-wheel-drive only.', 'While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.', '“Electrified” is an auto industry term encompassing everything from hybrid to fully electric vehicles, and anything with an electric motor can count as “electrified.”', 'It has long been rumored that the current generation of the Corvette, the first with its gasoline engine mounted behind the seats instead of in the front, could be built with a hybrid system.', 'Reuss has also previously hinted there would be electrified variants of the car.', 'Various companies are working on electric sports cars.', 'Most all-electric vehicles in production so far have been four-door sedans and SUVs, as the need for batteries lends itself to larger and heavier vehicles.', 'Tesla’s first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, was an electric sports car, but the second-generation of Tesla Roadster, originally unveiled as a prototype in 2017, has yet to go into production.', 'Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle.', 'Lamborghini has been working on plug-in hybrid sports cars, though.', 'To date, the Corvette is only available in the base Stingray version with 6.2-liter V8 engine producing up to 495 horsepower.', 'A 670 horsepower Corvette Z06 with a 5.5-liter V8 was unveiled last fall.', 'The previous generation of the Corvette included included a 755-horsepower ZR1 version.', 'Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.', 'Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines.', 'Ferrari’s most powerful sports cars are hybrids, for instance.', 'GM has said it plans to produce only zero-emission vehicles, meaning fully electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells, by 2035.']",0.0521320736918344,Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.,"While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.",0.3646015524864197,"Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines.","Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle.",2024-03-27
An $865 million Powerball jackpot is up for grabs a day after a winning ticket nabbed $1.13 billion Mega Millions prize,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/powerball-jackpot-wednesday-mega-millions/index.html,"
  Updated
        3:27 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","What would be the fifth-largest jackpot in Powerball history – an estimated $865 million – is up for grabs Wednesday night, a day after a ticket in New Jersey won a Mega Millions grand prize worth more than $1 billion.
    
            The Powerball jackpot in play Wednesday jumped from $800 million after no tickets matched all six numbers in Monday night’s drawing. A jackpot winner in Wednesday’s drawing could choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take a lump sum estimated at $416.1 million.
    
            The drawing will come a day after Tuesday’s momentous Mega Millions prize. Tuesday’s estimated $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot was won by a ticket sold in the Garden State, lottery officials said without immediately saying where in New Jersey the ticket was sold.
    
            The winning Mega Millions numbers Tuesday were: 7, 11, 22, 29, 38 and Mega Ball 4.
    
            The $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot, if confirmed at that level, would be rank fifth in that game’s history. The holder could opt for the full jackpot in annual payments or take an estimated $537.5 million lump-sum payment, the lottery has said.
    
            This is the second Powerball jackpot to surpass $800 million this year. The Powerball grand prize was last won in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million. Since then, 36 consecutive drawings have taken place without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.
    
            The largest Powerball jackpot prize – and the largest US lottery prize – ever won was $2.04 billion by a ticket purchased in California in November 2022, according to the lottery.
    
            Wednesday’s estimated $865 million jackpot would rank fifth on Powerball’s all-time list. Ranking second through fourth are $1.765 billion (one ticket in California; 2023); $1.586 billion (three tickets; 2016); and $1.08 billion (one ticket in California, 2023).
    
            Winning the Powerball jackpot means a ticket matched all five white balls plus the red Powerball. The odds of winning any prize in a Powerball drawing are 1 in 24.9, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.
    
            Powerball tickets cost $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET in Tallahassee, Florida.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['What would be the fifth-largest jackpot in Powerball history – an estimated $865 million – is up for grabs Wednesday night, a day after a ticket in New Jersey won a Mega Millions grand prize worth more than $1 billion.', 'The Powerball jackpot in play Wednesday jumped from $800 million after no tickets matched all six numbers in Monday night’s drawing.', 'A jackpot winner in Wednesday’s drawing could choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take a lump sum estimated at $416.1 million.', 'The drawing will come a day after Tuesday’s momentous Mega Millions prize.', 'Tuesday’s estimated $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot was won by a ticket sold in the Garden State, lottery officials said without immediately saying where in New Jersey the ticket was sold.', 'The winning Mega Millions numbers Tuesday were: 7, 11, 22, 29, 38 and Mega Ball 4.', 'The $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot, if confirmed at that level, would be rank fifth in that game’s history.', 'The holder could opt for the full jackpot in annual payments or take an estimated $537.5 million lump-sum payment, the lottery has said.', 'This is the second Powerball jackpot to surpass $800 million this year.', 'The Powerball grand prize was last won in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million.', 'Since then, 36 consecutive drawings have taken place without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.', 'The largest Powerball jackpot prize – and the largest US lottery prize – ever won was $2.04 billion by a ticket purchased in California in November 2022, according to the lottery.', 'Wednesday’s estimated $865 million jackpot would rank fifth on Powerball’s all-time list.', 'Ranking second through fourth are $1.765 billion (one ticket in California; 2023); $1.586 billion (three tickets; 2016); and $1.08 billion (one ticket in California, 2023).', 'Winning the Powerball jackpot means a ticket matched all five white balls plus the red Powerball.', 'The odds of winning any prize in a Powerball drawing are 1 in 24.9, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.', 'Powerball tickets cost $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.', 'Drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET in Tallahassee, Florida.']",0.346427024263581,"The Powerball grand prize was last won in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million.","Since then, 36 consecutive drawings have taken place without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.",0.9633035361766816,The Powerball jackpot in play Wednesday jumped from $800 million after no tickets matched all six numbers in Monday night’s drawing.,,2024-03-27
Ferguson Marine boss sacked as more ferry delays 'likely',https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-68666020,2024-03-26T11:40:24.000Z,"The head of the company building two delayed and over-budget CalMac ferries has been sacked. Chief executive David Tydeman's contract was terminated by Ferguson Marine as the board attempt to ensure the company's ""long-term future"".  The exact reasons for his departure have not been revealed. It comes as the Scottish government said there would ""likely"" be further delays to the delivery of Glen Sannox, which was due in May. The cost of the two ferries is running at nearly four times the initial £97m cost and they will be delivered six years late. Mr Tydeman joined the Port Glasgow shipyard in 2022, having previously run a yacht-building company. Non-executive director John Petticrew is taking over as interim chief executive. Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the first vessel, Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year. But it emerged in February that the cost to complete the Glen Sannox will rise to between £145.5m and £149.1m, while the Glen Rosa will be delivered ""no later than"" September 2025. The total cost for both ferries is now close to £400m. Mr Tydeman's sacking comes amid a number of changes among the state-owned company's senior management.  Board chairman Andrew Miller said: ""Ferguson Marine needs strong leadership to ensure its long-term future. The board recognised that action needed to be taken to restructure the current leadership team and it has taken these steps to address this. ""Our focus is on the completion of Glen Sannox and hull 802 (Glen Rosa), and the implementation of a robust business plan to improve the commercial viability of Ferguson Marine. ""With this new senior management team in place and a full complement of board members, we have the breadth and depth of experience and capability to drive forward these plans."" Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan said Mr Tydeman's sacking was a matter for the Ferguson board and that she was focusing on getting the ferries finished, driving down costs and securing a ""sustainable future"" for the yard and workers. She said: ""While the yard had previously stated that the delivery date for Glen Sannox was planned for late May, we are aware that, in the last week, the outgoing CEO intimated further delay was likely. ""That is unacceptable. I know the board are intent on doing everything they can to ensure that delay does not happen. ""I will be stressing to the new interim CEO and the board the importance of the ferries entering service to our island communities as soon as possible."" Construction of the two vessels, the first ships ever built by a UK shipyard capable of running on liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been plagued by design challenges since the order was placed in 2015. Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019. In February, Mr Miller told MSPs it would be harder to return the business to the private sector without investment in a new automated plating line - with the company seeking further finance from the Scottish government. The company is due to submit a new business case to ministers by the end of March. In 2022, a number of Ferguson Marine workers who took part in an informal meeting with MSPs praised Mr Tydeman's leadership and compared him favourably to the shipyard's previous management,  saying he ""talked sense"". Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP described Mr Tydeman as a ""scapegoat"" and said ministers had to explain why he had been fired. ""The only people not held accountable are those who are most responsible: the SNP government,"" he said. ""It beggars belief that not a single ministerial resignation has been offered when the buck stops with them for years of grotesque mismanagement of Scotland's ferry network. ""While they try to pass the buck with another round of boardroom hiring and firing, our betrayed island communities continue to wait for the lifeline vessels they were promised years ago to finally be delivered."" Scottish Labour's transport spokesperson Alex Rowley said: ""This sudden overhaul raises serious questions and the public deserve transparency about what has happened.  ""The skilled and dedicated workers at this yard have been badly failed by successive leaderships and by this incompetent SNP government - the new board must do right by them and secure a thriving future for the yard.  ""Workers, islanders and taxpayers have all been failed throughout this fiasco - it is essential that this new leadership gets things back on track and delivers these lifeline ferries with no more delays and overruns,"" he added. David Tydeman took on what some would consider a near-impossible job. And he's been bundled out after just over two years.  His challenge was immense, and two-fold. Firstly, to deliver two Calmac ferries which are grossly over-budget and years late. And secondly, to knock the Ferguson shipyard into shape to allow it to win more shipbuilding contracts.  When he showed me round the MV Glen Sannox last year he was blunt about the mistakes made in its construction before he took on the job. And he was clear-eyed about the mountain of work required to get the vessel into service.  But he was upbeat. The vessel was almost ready to sail, he said. And the yard had made great strides, he claimed, in developing the systems needed to build other ships in future.  So his sacking - apparently for highlighting yet another problem with the timing and cost of these two troubled ferries -- seems odd.  Can his replacement hope to do any better?  ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['The head of the company building two delayed and over-budget CalMac ferries has been sacked.', 'Chief executive David Tydeman\'s contract was terminated by Ferguson Marine as the board attempt to ensure the company\'s ""long-term future"".', 'The exact reasons for his departure have not been revealed.', 'It comes as the Scottish government said there would ""likely"" be further delays to the delivery of Glen Sannox, which was due in May.', 'The cost of the two ferries is running at nearly four times the initial £97m cost and they will be delivered six years late.', 'Mr Tydeman joined the Port Glasgow shipyard in 2022, having previously run a yacht-building company.', 'Non-executive director John Petticrew is taking over as interim chief executive.', 'Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the first vessel, Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year.', 'But it emerged in February that the cost to complete the Glen Sannox will rise to between £145.5m and £149.1m, while the Glen Rosa will be delivered ""no later than"" September 2025.', ""The total cost for both ferries is now close to £400m. Mr Tydeman's sacking comes amid a number of changes among the state-owned company's senior management."", 'Board chairman Andrew Miller said: ""Ferguson Marine needs strong leadership to ensure its long-term future.', 'The board recognised that action needed to be taken to restructure the current leadership team and it has taken these steps to address this. ""', 'Our focus is on the completion of Glen Sannox and hull 802 (Glen Rosa), and the implementation of a robust business plan to improve the commercial viability of Ferguson Marine. ""', 'With this new senior management team in place and a full complement of board members, we have the breadth and depth of experience and capability to drive forward these plans.""', 'Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan said Mr Tydeman\'s sacking was a matter for the Ferguson board and that she was focusing on getting the ferries finished, driving down costs and securing a ""sustainable future"" for the yard and workers.', 'She said: ""While the yard had previously stated that the delivery date for Glen Sannox was planned for late May, we are aware that, in the last week, the outgoing CEO intimated further delay was likely. ""', 'That is unacceptable.', 'I know the board are intent on doing everything they can to ensure that delay does not happen. ""', 'I will be stressing to the new interim CEO and the board the importance of the ferries entering service to our island communities as soon as possible.""', 'Construction of the two vessels, the first ships ever built by a UK shipyard capable of running on liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been plagued by design challenges since the order was placed in 2015.', 'Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019.', 'In February, Mr Miller told MSPs it would be harder to return the business to the private sector without investment in a new automated plating line - with the company seeking further finance from the Scottish government.', 'The company is due to submit a new business case to ministers by the end of March.', 'In 2022, a number of Ferguson Marine workers who took part in an informal meeting with MSPs praised Mr Tydeman\'s leadership and compared him favourably to the shipyard\'s previous management, saying he ""talked sense"".', 'Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP described Mr Tydeman as a ""scapegoat"" and said ministers had to explain why he had been fired. ""', 'The only people not held accountable are those who are most responsible: the SNP government,"" he said. ""', 'It beggars belief that not a single ministerial resignation has been offered when the buck stops with them for years of grotesque mismanagement of Scotland\'s ferry network. ""', 'While they try to pass the buck with another round of boardroom hiring and firing, our betrayed island communities continue to wait for the lifeline vessels they were promised years ago to finally be delivered.""', 'Scottish Labour\'s transport spokesperson Alex Rowley said: ""This sudden overhaul raises serious questions and the public deserve transparency about what has happened. ""', 'The skilled and dedicated workers at this yard have been badly failed by successive leaderships and by this incompetent SNP government - the new board must do right by them and secure a thriving future for the yard. ""', 'Workers, islanders and taxpayers have all been failed throughout this fiasco - it is essential that this new leadership gets things back on track and delivers these lifeline ferries with no more delays and overruns,"" he added.', 'David Tydeman took on what some would consider a near-impossible job.', ""And he's been bundled out after just over two years."", 'His challenge was immense, and two-fold.', 'Firstly, to deliver two Calmac ferries which are grossly over-budget and years late.', 'And secondly, to knock the Ferguson shipyard into shape to allow it to win more shipbuilding contracts.', 'When he showed me round the MV Glen Sannox last year he was blunt about the mistakes made in its construction before he took on the job.', 'And he was clear-eyed about the mountain of work required to get the vessel into service.', 'But he was upbeat.', 'The vessel was almost ready to sail, he said.', 'And the yard had made great strides, he claimed, in developing the systems needed to build other ships in future.', 'So his sacking - apparently for highlighting yet another problem with the timing and cost of these two troubled ferries -- seems odd.', 'Can his replacement hope to do any better?']",0.0333597451071301,"Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the first vessel, Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year.","Workers, islanders and taxpayers have all been failed throughout this fiasco - it is essential that this new leadership gets things back on track and delivers these lifeline ferries with no more delays and overruns,"" he added.",0.048735431262425,"And the yard had made great strides, he claimed, in developing the systems needed to build other ships in future.","Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019.",2024-03-27
Offshore Energies UK report: Oil and gas fight for survival,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-68668648,2024-03-26T15:42:50.000Z,"If only everything could be reduced to a three-word slogan: ""Take Back Control"" or ""Yes We Can"".   The ""Just Stop Oil"" campaign group tells us it's a question of justice and it's simple - ""just"" like that. The fossil fuels industry is struggling to find a simple response. With equal and opposite simplification, it could be ""You'll Need Us"". But the argument set out in the annual business report of Offshore Energies UK is much more complex than that. And in the battle for the survival of the oil and gas industry in British waters, the stakes are high. That yearly report used to be an upsum of industry drilling activity and investment plans, with big, impressive numbers for employment and impact. This one admits that the previous £200bn investment forecast for this decade now look more like £160bn, and that's if politicians get off their case. A lot of that is yet to be committed, and industry is proving reluctant to make that commitment while Britain battles over the pace of transition to net zero carbon emissions. This year's report is more of an argument against execution - a plea of mitigation by an industry that has swiftly moved from blue chip to polluting pariah.  With four recent tax rises from Conservatives, and Labour wanting to go further with the windfall tax as well as putting the brakes on new licences for drilling, OEUK says Britain is looking increasingly ""uninvestable"". It is reminding the government today that it thought it secured a North Sea Transition Deal three years ago, but doesn't recognise it in the more hostile environment it now faces.  The trade body last month made its case to Labour's Treasury team, and says the discussions continue. But it also knows it has to win hearts and minds across the public too. The big carrot of a smooth and successful transition from fossil fuels to renewables could be £450bn of investment by 2040, and many jobs that could go with that. More than half of that big number would be offshore wind power, if governments and regulators can secure the best possible sequence of planning consents and grid connections. A big 'if'. Hydrogen could be worth £25bn - much of it using renewable power, much of it cracking gas. The prospect here is growth to equal the scale of the electricity industry by the middle of the century. Carbon capture and storage could bring £34bn in investment. The controversial bit is the £145bn that the industry reckons could still be invested in oil and gas under British waters. It is emphasised this is not the value of the industry for the big producers associated with outrageously large profits, but the contract value to the supply chain.  There is likely to be more public sympathy and a lot more jobs in the companies supplying services and making more modest profits, across drilling, engineering, logistics, shipping, cables and catering, as well as finance, accountancy, law and geology expertise. How many jobs? The OEUK says 200,000 are supported by oil and gas, and UK ministers use that figure to make the case for drilling with more vigour.  But the number is being contested by anti-oil campaigners, suggesting that the economic argument is getting some traction. The next bit of the industry's case is that oil and gas should be allowed to keep drilling while it makes the transition into renewable energies.  It has mapped skills from one to the other, reckoning oil and gas can provide between 60 and 80% of the expertise required. Ditch that expertise before the renewables investment ramps up, goes the argument, and Britain will have to import skills and equipment, as it already does in large-scale fabrication and shipbuilding.  Conversely, retain those skills, deploy them in renewables, and there will be an export market within 15 years worth more than £1,000bn. That's another suspiciously round number. The part of the argument that affects us all is that there is nothing simple about ""just"" stopping oil and gas, when our collective demand and the need for it remains so high.  The industry doesn't quite say it, but there's a subliminal message: you depend on our produce, so don't blame us for giving you what you want, and need to lubricate your economy, keep you warm through the winter and go on holiday. Of all the UK's energy needs - across transport, heating, industry and power - oil and gas accounted for around 74% last year. From 2022, demand for gas was down 11% and oil was up 2%, mainly because more planes were flying post-pandemic. Even on the 'balanced pathway' to net zero by 2050, which has been set out by the Committee on Climate Change, oil and gas will continue to provide a fifth of that energy by mid-century. If so, it will then have to be fully offset, much of it by carbon capture and storage (a technology which anti-oil campaigners see as merely an excuse to keep drilling). Production from UK waters met 47% of gas demand last year, and 57% of oil demand (a net figure, because much oil goes overseas for refining, and Britain buys back refined product sourced from lots of places).  At 1.2 million daily barrels of oil or its equivalent, that was the lowest output since 1977. It has fallen 28% since 2019, when output was flowing from big investments earlier last decade. OEUK expects annual decline averaging at least 8% per year from now.  If investment doesn't keep flowing to tap into further reserves, that declining trend could be as high as 15% per year. Gas output is forecast to fall faster than oil, and at a much faster pace than gas central heating is being replaced. No great loss, you might say. Climate scientists tell us that we cannot sanction more production without busting through 1.5 degrees of warming.  But if UK demand declines on current projections, much more imported energy will be required. The liquified gas comes with a much bigger carbon footprint, and as production declines globally, the remaining big exporters may have the rest of us over a barrel. It is not only that tax is weighing heavily on profitability, with Harbour Energy, now the biggest producer from UK waters, recently reporting an effective tax rate of 95%.  It is also claimed that the windfall tax is being applied to profits that no longer reflect a windfall. The trade body shows that gas prices are getting close to their levels before Russia started sabre-rattling on the Ukrainian border. Flows have stepped up from Norway and shiploads of Liquified Natural Gas. Oil prices are down from the Ukraine war highs, but are trending at relatively high levels. Since the start of this year, the benchmark Brent crude price has risen from $76 to $87 per barrel.  On the other side of the financial equation for oil companies, the cost of drilling the average barrel is up 50%, says OEUK. And without big new fields coming on stream, that unit cost will surely rise. It is claimed the rate of return on investment has dropped to 3% - lower than many other sectors. None of this is likely to win the sympathy of environment campaigners, who note the vast profits made by producers down the years and around the world.  But among others, and particularly those contesting the Westminster election due in the next ten months, the industry wants to push back on simple slogans. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['If only everything could be reduced to a three-word slogan: ""Take Back Control"" or ""Yes We Can"".', 'The ""Just Stop Oil"" campaign group tells us it\'s a question of justice and it\'s simple - ""just"" like that.', 'The fossil fuels industry is struggling to find a simple response.', 'With equal and opposite simplification, it could be ""You\'ll Need Us"".', 'But the argument set out in the annual business report of Offshore Energies UK is much more complex than that.', 'And in the battle for the survival of the oil and gas industry in British waters, the stakes are high.', 'That yearly report used to be an upsum of industry drilling activity and investment plans, with big, impressive numbers for employment and impact.', ""This one admits that the previous £200bn investment forecast for this decade now look more like £160bn, and that's if politicians get off their case."", 'A lot of that is yet to be committed, and industry is proving reluctant to make that commitment while Britain battles over the pace of transition to net zero carbon emissions.', ""This year's report is more of an argument against execution - a plea of mitigation by an industry that has swiftly moved from blue chip to polluting pariah."", 'With four recent tax rises from Conservatives, and Labour wanting to go further with the windfall tax as well as putting the brakes on new licences for drilling, OEUK says Britain is looking increasingly ""uninvestable"".', ""It is reminding the government today that it thought it secured a North Sea Transition Deal three years ago, but doesn't recognise it in the more hostile environment it now faces."", ""The trade body last month made its case to Labour's Treasury team, and says the discussions continue."", 'But it also knows it has to win hearts and minds across the public too.', 'The big carrot of a smooth and successful transition from fossil fuels to renewables could be £450bn of investment by 2040, and many jobs that could go with that.', 'More than half of that big number would be offshore wind power, if governments and regulators can secure the best possible sequence of planning consents and grid connections.', ""A big 'if'."", 'Hydrogen could be worth £25bn - much of it using renewable power, much of it cracking gas.', 'The prospect here is growth to equal the scale of the electricity industry by the middle of the century.', 'Carbon capture and storage could bring £34bn in investment.', 'The controversial bit is the £145bn that the industry reckons could still be invested in oil and gas under British waters.', 'It is emphasised this is not the value of the industry for the big producers associated with outrageously large profits, but the contract value to the supply chain.', 'There is likely to be more public sympathy and a lot more jobs in the companies supplying services and making more modest profits, across drilling, engineering, logistics, shipping, cables and catering, as well as finance, accountancy, law and geology expertise.', 'How many jobs?', 'The OEUK says 200,000 are supported by oil and gas, and UK ministers use that figure to make the case for drilling with more vigour.', 'But the number is being contested by anti-oil campaigners, suggesting that the economic argument is getting some traction.', ""The next bit of the industry's case is that oil and gas should be allowed to keep drilling while it makes the transition into renewable energies."", 'It has mapped skills from one to the other, reckoning oil and gas can provide between 60 and 80% of the expertise required.', 'Ditch that expertise before the renewables investment ramps up, goes the argument, and Britain will have to import skills and equipment, as it already does in large-scale fabrication and shipbuilding.', 'Conversely, retain those skills, deploy them in renewables, and there will be an export market within 15 years worth more than £1,000bn.', ""That's another suspiciously round number."", 'The part of the argument that affects us all is that there is nothing simple about ""just"" stopping oil and gas, when our collective demand and the need for it remains so high.', ""The industry doesn't quite say it, but there's a subliminal message: you depend on our produce, so don't blame us for giving you what you want, and need to lubricate your economy, keep you warm through the winter and go on holiday."", ""Of all the UK's energy needs - across transport, heating, industry and power - oil and gas accounted for around 74% last year."", 'From 2022, demand for gas was down 11% and oil was up 2%, mainly because more planes were flying post-pandemic.', ""Even on the 'balanced pathway' to net zero by 2050, which has been set out by the Committee on Climate Change, oil and gas will continue to provide a fifth of that energy by mid-century."", 'If so, it will then have to be fully offset, much of it by carbon capture and storage (a technology which anti-oil campaigners see as merely an excuse to keep drilling).', 'Production from UK waters met 47% of gas demand last year, and 57% of oil demand (a net figure, because much oil goes overseas for refining, and Britain buys back refined product sourced from lots of places).', 'At 1.2 million daily barrels of oil or its equivalent, that was the lowest output since 1977.', 'It has fallen 28% since 2019, when output was flowing from big investments earlier last decade.', 'OEUK expects annual decline averaging at least 8% per year from now.', ""If investment doesn't keep flowing to tap into further reserves, that declining trend could be as high as 15% per year."", 'Gas output is forecast to fall faster than oil, and at a much faster pace than gas central heating is being replaced.', 'No great loss, you might say.', 'Climate scientists tell us that we cannot sanction more production without busting through 1.5 degrees of warming.', 'But if UK demand declines on current projections, much more imported energy will be required.', 'The liquified gas comes with a much bigger carbon footprint, and as production declines globally, the remaining big exporters may have the rest of us over a barrel.', 'It is not only that tax is weighing heavily on profitability, with Harbour Energy, now the biggest producer from UK waters, recently reporting an effective tax rate of 95%.', 'It is also claimed that the windfall tax is being applied to profits that no longer reflect a windfall.', 'The trade body shows that gas prices are getting close to their levels before Russia started sabre-rattling on the Ukrainian border.', 'Flows have stepped up from Norway and shiploads of Liquified Natural Gas.', 'Oil prices are down from the Ukraine war highs, but are trending at relatively high levels.', 'Since the start of this year, the benchmark Brent crude price has risen from $76 to $87 per barrel.', 'On the other side of the financial equation for oil companies, the cost of drilling the average barrel is up 50%, says OEUK.', 'And without big new fields coming on stream, that unit cost will surely rise.', 'It is claimed the rate of return on investment has dropped to 3% - lower than many other sectors.', 'None of this is likely to win the sympathy of environment campaigners, who note the vast profits made by producers down the years and around the world.', 'But among others, and particularly those contesting the Westminster election due in the next ten months, the industry wants to push back on simple slogans.']",0.101447178926729,"None of this is likely to win the sympathy of environment campaigners, who note the vast profits made by producers down the years and around the world.","But the number is being contested by anti-oil campaigners, suggesting that the economic argument is getting some traction.",-0.0490332697999888,"Since the start of this year, the benchmark Brent crude price has risen from $76 to $87 per barrel.",It is claimed the rate of return on investment has dropped to 3% - lower than many other sectors.,2024-03-27
Who can fix Boeing? Here are some potential CEO candidates,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/boeing-ceo-successor-choices/index.html,"
  Published
        6:00 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","Since its founding by William Boeing more than a century ago, the Boeing Company has had 12 CEOs. The 13th might be the most important yet.
    
            As Boeing begins its search for a new CEO, the company is facing its worst-ever crisis. It has struggled through more than five years of safety incidents and bad news that  created unprecedented doubt about the quality of its aircraft.
    
            It faces multiple federal investigations into its commercial plane practices, as well as an outcry from the airline customers that buy its planes.
    
            In addition to two fatal crashes that cost 346 lives, the company has run up more than $31 billion in losses since 2019, with no end to the red ink in sight. It has grabbed unwanted attention with incidents like a blown-out door plug that left a gaping hole in an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
    
            Those incidents were followed by Monday’s decision by the current CEO, Dave Calhoun, to step down by the end of the year, leaving the company to search for a new chief executive.
    
            When picking a new CEO, the company likely has two pools of choices.
    
            It can go with someone who has an engineering background, as was the background of many of the past CEOs who led the company in its heyday. Four of the company’s first five CEOs were engineers by training, running the company for 46 of the first 70 years of Boeing’s existence.
    
            Or it can once again pick a leader like outgoing CEO Calhoun, who has a financial background and an undergraduate degree in accounting. Critics have said an increased focus on financial results over engineering excellence over the last 25 years has led to the company’s current problems.
    
            Some say it’s crucial that Boeing get back to its engineering roots in its next CEO.
    
            “To fix Boeing’s issues the company needs a strong engineering lead as its head coupled to a governance model which prioritizes safety and quality,” said Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airlines, which ordered 373 planes from Boeing since 2009, but only two of those since 2019. “Whether, yet again, this changing of the guard will resolve Boeing’s issues only time will tell, but time, unfortunately, is not on their side.”
    
            In an interview with CNBC on Monday morning, Calhoun was asked about what he wants to see in his successor.
    
            “I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long, long-cycle business like ours,” Calhoun said. “It’s not just the production of the airplane. It’s the development of the next airplane. It will be a $50 billion investment. I would like somebody who clearly has the experience inside our industry.”
    
            Calhoun did not give any potential names, or say whether Boeing is looking more at internal or outside candidates. But a number of potential choices are surfacing, according to Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory.
    
            Pat Shanahan is the “top of the list,” according to Aboulafia. A former Boeing executive for 31 years, he became known as “Mr. Fix It” at the company for dealing with various problems during his tenure.
    
            He was deputy secretary of the US Department of Defense under President Donald Trump and was nominated to be secretary, serving nearly six months in an acting capacity in 2019. His name was withdrawn before his confirmation due to media reports involving domestic incidents involving violent actions by his son and ex-wife.
    
            He has held a number of different posts in the years since, and in September became CEO of Boeing’s major supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselages for the Boeing 737 Max among other items.
    
            Spirit AeroSystems faces its own safety and quality issues, which have caused problems for Boeing, forcing temporary halts of production on some jets. But most of those problems occurred before Shanahan took the CEO job there.
    
            Boeing is in talks to reacquire Spirit, the companies confirmed, which would be something of a homecoming. Spirit was part of Boeing before the larger company spun it off in 2005.
    
            If Boeing acquires Spirit, it’s possible Shanahan would be tapped as Boeing’s next CEO as part of the merger.
    
            Most of the companies where candidates mentioned in this story now work declined to comment when questioned by CNN or did not respond to a request for comment. Spirit was the only one to comment, but it did not address the possibility of Shanahan becoming Boeing CEO.
    
            “Mr. Shanahan remains solely focused on driving a zero-defects culture across all aspects of Spirit AeroSystems,” said Joe Buccino, a Spirit spokesperson.
    
            Larry Culp has already turned around one major American industrial icon, becoming  CEO of General Electric in 2018 and spinning off many of the company’s parts. One of the parts that remains is GE Aerospace, which makes engines used on Boeing jets and other planes.
    
            Under its longtime CEO Jack Welch, GE grew to corporate success with a strong focus on cutting costs to improve financial performance. Three of the last four Boeing CEOs, including Calhoun, spent part of their careers at GE. Some Boeing critics say those CEOs’ emphasis on the GE playbook of cost cutting, profitability and shareholders rewards rather than quality was the source of much of Boeing’s current problems.
    
            But Culp has moved GE away from the Jack Welch era, a time when Calhoun and some of the other earlier Boeing CEOs cut their teeth, said Aboulafia.
    
            Culp joined GE as an outsider in 2018 after spending 24 years at Danaher Corp., moving up the ranks to CEO from 2000 to 2014. Many industrial analysts believe Danaher, during Culp’s tenure, outperformed GE and many other manufacturing and industrial companies during that time. Culp has an undergraduate degree in economics and an MBA from Harvard, a business background more than an engineering background.
    
            “I know he’s done incredibly well at Danaher and GE. This is a new GE. Culp is being very open to being transformative,” he said. “They needed to escape from that Jack Welch culture. What looks like a negative is actually a positive.”
    
            GE did not comment when asked about whether Culp would be interested in the Boeing job.
    
            Kathy Warden has had a lot of success as CEO of Northrop Grumman since she  began in the company’s top job at the start of 2019.
    
            The military contractor’s revenues have grown 30% during that period. Its stock price has nearly doubled under her tenure. And while Northrop doesn’t make commercial jets, Boeing is also a major defense contractor in addition to a commercial aircraft maker. Warden has an MBA and worked at GE for a decade and two other industrial companies before joining Northrop.
    
            “That’s a wonderful idea,” Aboulafia said. “I don’t now how you’d convince her to make that leap, but she’d be perfect.”
    
            One reason that the Boeing board might be interested in her, besides her success, is what’s known as the “glass cliff” phenomenon, in which companies, especially those in male dominated fields like tech or manufacturing, are more open to looking at women CEOs when they’re in trouble.
    
            Think of General Motors picking Mary Barra to be the first woman to run a major global automaker just before a major crisis — the ignition switch problem that killed more than 100 drivers and passengers and cost the company billions — became public. Sometimes the new woman CEO is not as successful as Barra in steering the company through the crisis, and thus a woman who has shattered the “glass ceiling” finds herself pushed off the “glass cliff.”
    
            Greg Smith left his post as CFO of Boeing soon after the company’s board granted a five-year waiver of the normal retirement age limit of 65 to Calhoun in 2021. Smith, who was 54 at the time, clearly saw his path to the CEO job had been blocked.
    
            Since he left, he joined a number of corporate boards, most notably American Airlines, where he serves as chairman.
    
            RIght now, one of Boeing’s biggest problems is relations with its airline customers, many of whom are frustrated with repeated missed deadlines to deliver new jets, groundings by regulators and for the quality of the jets it is delivering.
    
            One way for the Boeing board to signal it is listening to those customer concerns would be to name someone who now is on the airlines’ side of that crucial relationship but who also has experience with Boeing. That describes Smith. But picking him would also mean another CEO with a finance background rather than an engineering background.
    
            Aboulafia suggested there could be a number of executives who have left Boeing who might be good fits if they could come back, although their age could be an issue.
    
            At the top of that list is Alan Mulally. He was a long-time veteran of the Boeing Commercial Airplane unit, rising to be its CEO. He left Boeing in 2006 to become CEO of Ford. At the time, Ford was struggling more than the other Detroit automakers, GM and DaimlerChrysler, as Chrysler was then known.
    
            Mulally helped turn around the company, which allowed Ford to be the only Detroit automaker to avoid a federal bailout and bankruptcy, as GM and Chrysler experienced three years later. He retired from Ford in 2014 with a nest egg worth nearly $300 million thanks to the turnaround the stock experienced during his eight years on the job. Mulally has degrees in aeronautical engineering and in management.
    
            It’s not clear if Mulally, now 78, would want to come out of retirement for a challenge as big as turning around Boeing. He did not respond to an email from CNN about the job on Monday.
    
            It’s also not clear if the Boeing board would consider someone that old. But in a year in which the US presidential election appears likely to pit an 81-year old candidate versus a 77-year old candidate, it seems tough to argue a well respected 78-year-old is too old to run Boeing.
    
            Normally, internal candidates might be seen as the likely picks to replace Calhoun. Most of the 12 CEOs in Boeing’s history were internal candidates, with Calhoun being an exception.
    
            However, the problems at Boeing during the last five years could lead the board to give preference to outside candidates.
    
            “Boeing is in need of drastic cultural overall, which is cultivated from the top, but sprouts from the bottom,” said Bank of America aerospace analyst Ron Epstein in a note to clients Monday. “We see the changes [announced Monday] as the first right steps of removing the ‘old guard’ and making way for a new team which can work from a less sullied slate.”
    
            But among the internal candidates who might be considered are Stephanie Pope, who has been rising rapidly at Boeing and was promoted to chief operating officer just this past January. She was then promoted to CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes on Monday.
    
            Another internal candidate could be CFO Brian West, another GE veteran, having served as CFO of GE Aviation and CFO GE Engine Services before coming to Boeing. Both Pope and West come from a finance background, not an engineering background.
    
            It’s also possible that Boeing could tap Elizabeth Lund, who is senior vice president of quality at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, a new position that was created just a month ago. She does have an engineering background and experience dealing with Boeing suppliers, a major issue for the company’s efforts to get back on track.
    
            “I don’t know her, but she’s well regarded,” Aboulafia said.
    
            A Boeing spokesperson declined to provide any comments on behalf of any of the internal candidates.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['Since its founding by William Boeing more than a century ago, the Boeing Company has had 12 CEOs.', 'The 13th might be the most important yet.', 'As Boeing begins its search for a new CEO, the company is facing its worst-ever crisis.', 'It has struggled through more than five years of safety incidents and bad news that created unprecedented doubt about the quality of its aircraft.', 'It faces multiple federal investigations into its commercial plane practices, as well as an outcry from the airline customers that buy its planes.', 'In addition to two fatal crashes that cost 346 lives, the company has run up more than $31 billion in losses since 2019, with no end to the red ink in sight.', 'It has grabbed unwanted attention with incidents like a blown-out door plug that left a gaping hole in an Alaska Airlines flight in January.', 'Those incidents were followed by Monday’s decision by the current CEO, Dave Calhoun, to step down by the end of the year, leaving the company to search for a new chief executive.', 'When picking a new CEO, the company likely has two pools of choices.', 'It can go with someone who has an engineering background, as was the background of many of the past CEOs who led the company in its heyday.', 'Four of the company’s first five CEOs were engineers by training, running the company for 46 of the first 70 years of Boeing’s existence.', 'Or it can once again pick a leader like outgoing CEO Calhoun, who has a financial background and an undergraduate degree in accounting.', 'Critics have said an increased focus on financial results over engineering excellence over the last 25 years has led to the company’s current problems.', 'Some say it’s crucial that Boeing get back to its engineering roots in its next CEO.', '“To fix Boeing’s issues the company needs a strong engineering lead as its head coupled to a governance model which prioritizes safety and quality,” said Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airlines, which ordered 373 planes from Boeing since 2009, but only two of those since 2019. “', 'Whether, yet again, this changing of the guard will resolve Boeing’s issues only time will tell, but time, unfortunately, is not on their side.”', 'In an interview with CNBC on Monday morning, Calhoun was asked about what he wants to see in his successor.', '“I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long, long-cycle business like ours,” Calhoun said. “', 'It’s not just the production of the airplane.', 'It’s the development of the next airplane.', 'It will be a $50 billion investment.', 'I would like somebody who clearly has the experience inside our industry.”', 'Calhoun did not give any potential names, or say whether Boeing is looking more at internal or outside candidates.', 'But a number of potential choices are surfacing, according to Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory.', 'Pat Shanahan is the “top of the list,” according to Aboulafia.', 'A former Boeing executive for 31 years, he became known as “Mr. Fix It” at the company for dealing with various problems during his tenure.', 'He was deputy secretary of the US Department of Defense under President Donald Trump and was nominated to be secretary, serving nearly six months in an acting capacity in 2019.', 'His name was withdrawn before his confirmation due to media reports involving domestic incidents involving violent actions by his son and ex-wife.', 'He has held a number of different posts in the years since, and in September became CEO of Boeing’s major supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselages for the Boeing 737 Max among other items.', 'Spirit AeroSystems faces its own safety and quality issues, which have caused problems for Boeing, forcing temporary halts of production on some jets.', 'But most of those problems occurred before Shanahan took the CEO job there.', 'Boeing is in talks to reacquire Spirit, the companies confirmed, which would be something of a homecoming.', 'Spirit was part of Boeing before the larger company spun it off in 2005.', 'If Boeing acquires Spirit, it’s possible Shanahan would be tapped as Boeing’s next CEO as part of the merger.', 'Most of the companies where candidates mentioned in this story now work declined to comment when questioned by CNN or did not respond to a request for comment.', 'Spirit was the only one to comment, but it did not address the possibility of Shanahan becoming Boeing CEO.', '“Mr. Shanahan remains solely focused on driving a zero-defects culture across all aspects of Spirit AeroSystems,” said Joe Buccino, a Spirit spokesperson.', 'Larry Culp has already turned around one major American industrial icon, becoming CEO of General Electric in 2018 and spinning off many of the company’s parts.', 'One of the parts that remains is GE Aerospace, which makes engines used on Boeing jets and other planes.', 'Under its longtime CEO Jack Welch, GE grew to corporate success with a strong focus on cutting costs to improve financial performance.', 'Three of the last four Boeing CEOs, including Calhoun, spent part of their careers at GE.', 'Some Boeing critics say those CEOs’ emphasis on the GE playbook of cost cutting, profitability and shareholders rewards rather than quality was the source of much of Boeing’s current problems.', 'But Culp has moved GE away from the Jack Welch era, a time when Calhoun and some of the other earlier Boeing CEOs cut their teeth, said Aboulafia.', 'Culp joined GE as an outsider in 2018 after spending 24 years at Danaher Corp., moving up the ranks to CEO from 2000 to 2014.', 'Many industrial analysts believe Danaher, during Culp’s tenure, outperformed GE and many other manufacturing and industrial companies during that time.', 'Culp has an undergraduate degree in economics and an MBA from Harvard, a business background more than an engineering background.', '“I know he’s done incredibly well at Danaher and GE.', 'This is a new GE.', 'Culp is being very open to being transformative,” he said. “', 'They needed to escape from that Jack Welch culture.', 'What looks like a negative is actually a positive.”', 'GE did not comment when asked about whether Culp would be interested in the Boeing job.', 'Kathy Warden has had a lot of success as CEO of Northrop Grumman since she began in the company’s top job at the start of 2019.', 'The military contractor’s revenues have grown 30% during that period.', 'Its stock price has nearly doubled under her tenure.', 'And while Northrop doesn’t make commercial jets, Boeing is also a major defense contractor in addition to a commercial aircraft maker.', 'Warden has an MBA and worked at GE for a decade and two other industrial companies before joining Northrop.', '“That’s a wonderful idea,” Aboulafia said. “', 'I don’t now how you’d convince her to make that leap, but she’d be perfect.”', 'One reason that the Boeing board might be interested in her, besides her success, is what’s known as the “glass cliff” phenomenon, in which companies, especially those in male dominated fields like tech or manufacturing, are more open to looking at women CEOs when they’re in trouble.', 'Think of General Motors picking Mary Barra to be the first woman to run a major global automaker just before a major crisis — the ignition switch problem that killed more than 100 drivers and passengers and cost the company billions — became public.', 'Sometimes the new woman CEO is not as successful as Barra in steering the company through the crisis, and thus a woman who has shattered the “glass ceiling” finds herself pushed off the “glass cliff.”', 'Greg Smith left his post as CFO of Boeing soon after the company’s board granted a five-year waiver of the normal retirement age limit of 65 to Calhoun in 2021.', 'Smith, who was 54 at the time, clearly saw his path to the CEO job had been blocked.', 'Since he left, he joined a number of corporate boards, most notably American Airlines, where he serves as chairman.', 'RIght now, one of Boeing’s biggest problems is relations with its airline customers, many of whom are frustrated with repeated missed deadlines to deliver new jets, groundings by regulators and for the quality of the jets it is delivering.', 'One way for the Boeing board to signal it is listening to those customer concerns would be to name someone who now is on the airlines’ side of that crucial relationship but who also has experience with Boeing.', 'That describes Smith.', 'But picking him would also mean another CEO with a finance background rather than an engineering background.', 'Aboulafia suggested there could be a number of executives who have left Boeing who might be good fits if they could come back, although their age could be an issue.', 'At the top of that list is Alan Mulally.', 'He was a long-time veteran of the Boeing Commercial Airplane unit, rising to be its CEO.', 'He left Boeing in 2006 to become CEO of Ford.', 'At the time, Ford was struggling more than the other Detroit automakers, GM and DaimlerChrysler, as Chrysler was then known.', 'Mulally helped turn around the company, which allowed Ford to be the only Detroit automaker to avoid a federal bailout and bankruptcy, as GM and Chrysler experienced three years later.', 'He retired from Ford in 2014 with a nest egg worth nearly $300 million thanks to the turnaround the stock experienced during his eight years on the job.', 'Mulally has degrees in aeronautical engineering and in management.', 'It’s not clear if Mulally, now 78, would want to come out of retirement for a challenge as big as turning around Boeing.', 'He did not respond to an email from CNN about the job on Monday.', 'It’s also not clear if the Boeing board would consider someone that old.', 'But in a year in which the US presidential election appears likely to pit an 81-year old candidate versus a 77-year old candidate, it seems tough to argue a well respected 78-year-old is too old to run Boeing.', 'Normally, internal candidates might be seen as the likely picks to replace Calhoun.', 'Most of the 12 CEOs in Boeing’s history were internal candidates, with Calhoun being an exception.', 'However, the problems at Boeing during the last five years could lead the board to give preference to outside candidates.', '“Boeing is in need of drastic cultural overall, which iscultivated from the top, but sprouts from the bottom,” said Bank of America aerospace analyst Ron Epstein in a note to clients Monday. “', 'We see the changes [announced Monday] as the first right steps of removing the‘old guard’ and making way for a new team which can work from a less sullied slate.”', 'But among the internal candidates who might be considered are Stephanie Pope, who has been rising rapidly at Boeing and was promoted to chief operating officer just this past January.', 'She was then promoted to CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes on Monday.', 'Another internal candidate could be CFO Brian West, another GE veteran, having served as CFO of GE Aviation and CFO GE Engine Services before coming to Boeing.', 'Both Pope and West come from a finance background, not an engineering background.', 'It’s also possible that Boeing could tap Elizabeth Lund, who is senior vice president of quality at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, a new position that was created just a month ago.', 'She does have an engineering background and experience dealing with Boeing suppliers, a major issue for the company’s efforts to get back on track.', '“I don’t know her, but she’s well regarded,” Aboulafia said.', 'A Boeing spokesperson declined to provide any comments on behalf of any of the internal candidates.']",0.050396684978862,"Under its longtime CEO Jack Welch, GE grew to corporate success with a strong focus on cutting costs to improve financial performance.",Think of General Motors picking Mary Barra to be the first woman to run a major global automaker just before a major crisis — the ignition switch problem that killed more than 100 drivers and passengers and cost the company billions — became public.,0.1200891613960266,The military contractor’s revenues have grown 30% during that period.,It has struggled through more than five years of safety incidents and bad news that created unprecedented doubt about the quality of its aircraft.,2024-03-27
NBC News ousts Ronna McDaniel after network’s anchors launch unprecedented on-air rebellion,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/media/nbc-news-ousts-ronna-mcdaniel/index.html,"
  Updated
        7:44 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","NBC News on Tuesday ousted former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, just days after her hiring as a paid political analyst sparked intense backlash from the network’s top television anchors over McDaniel’s role in subverting the 2020 election and attacks on the press.
    
            “There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for the News Group,” NBCUniversal News Group President Cesar Conde said in a memo to staff. “After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor.”
    
            “I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” Conde continued. “While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.”
    
            Ahead of the network’s decision, McDaniel spent the day Tuesday interviewing attorneys in preparation for a potential legal battle with NBC, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that brokered McDaniel’s deal with NBC, also parted ways with her, the person said.
    
            The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network.
    
            McDaniel, who recently stepped down from the RNC under pressure from former President Donald Trump, was involved in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
    
            As head of the RNC, she was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead. McDaniel told the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.”
    
            In the years since, McDaniel continued to claim that the election had “problems” and that Biden did not legitimately win the election, fanning the flames of election denialism.
    
            NBC’s announcement Friday that it had hired McDaniel was quickly met with alarm by the network’s journalists. The revolt spilled into public view on Sunday when McDaniel appeared on “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker in her first interview since she was hired by the network. Welker disclosed that the interview had been scheduled to take place prior to NBC announcing McDaniel would become a paid contributor for the network, stating that she had no involvement in her hiring.
    
            Following the interview, Chuck Todd, NBC News’ chief political analyst, delivered a stinging on-air criticism of NBC executives for their decision to hire McDaniel, telling Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.”
    
            “There’s a reason a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” Todd said, explaining that under McDaniel, the RNC engaged in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” when dealing with the news media.
    
            The following day, MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough joined Todd in protesting the decision on their program “Morning Joe.”
    
            “To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier,” Brzezinski said. “We hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on ‘Morning Joe’ in her capacity as a paid contributor.”
    
            Nicolle Wallace, host of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” later joined in the rebuke, saying on her program that the network’s decision to hire McDaniel was nothing short of a potential threat to democracy.
    
            “NBC News is, either wittingly or unwittingly, teaching election deniers that what they can do stretches well beyond appearing on our air and interviews to peddle lies about the sanctity and integrity of our elections,” Wallace told viewers.
    
            Rachel Maddow — the network’s biggest star — later devoted the first half-hour of her prime-time program to the controversy, saying the decision to hire McDaniel was “inexplicable.” Maddow took issue with McDaniel’s long track record of demonizing the news media, labeling the press as “fake news,” and launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.
    
            “We do not take it personally when we get attacked, when they say they want to put us on trial and execute us for treason,” she said.
    
            “And so I want to associate myself with all my colleagues at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company for putting on the payroll someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government,” she said of McDaniel. “Someone who is still trying to convince Americans that this election stuff doesn’t really work. That this last election wasn’t a real result. That American elections are fraudulent.“
    
            The on-air revolt ensnared NBC’s top leaders, including NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde, NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown, who were responsible for McDaniel’s hiring. MSNBC president Rashida Jones also did not object to the decision, people familiar with the matter said.
    
            In the wake of Conde’s announcement to sever ties with McDaniel, MSNBC host Joy Reid and Maddow addressed the reversal on the network’s air, praising the move as “bold” and “strong.”
    
            “I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['NBC News on Tuesday ousted former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, just days after her hiring as a paid political analyst sparked intense backlash from the network’s top television anchors over McDaniel’s role in subverting the 2020 election and attacks on the press.', '“There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for the News Group,” NBCUniversal News Group President Cesar Conde said in a memo to staff. “', 'After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor.”', '“I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” Conde continued. “', 'While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.”', 'Ahead of the network’s decision, McDaniel spent the day Tuesday interviewing attorneys in preparation for a potential legal battle with NBC, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.', 'Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that brokered McDaniel’s deal with NBC, also parted ways with her, the person said.', 'The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network.', 'McDaniel, who recently stepped down from the RNC under pressure from former President Donald Trump, was involved in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.', 'As head of the RNC, she was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead.', 'McDanieltold the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. …', 'We will get you attorneys.”', 'In the years since, McDaniel continued to claim that the election had “problems” and that Biden did not legitimately win the election, fanning the flames of election denialism.', 'NBC’s announcement Friday that it had hired McDaniel was quickly met with alarm by the network’s journalists.', 'The revolt spilled into public view on Sunday when McDaniel appeared on “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker in her first interview since she was hired by the network.', 'Welker disclosed that the interview had been scheduled to take place prior to NBC announcing McDaniel would become a paid contributor for the network, stating that she had no involvement in her hiring.', 'Following the interview, Chuck Todd, NBC News’ chief political analyst, delivered a stinging on-air criticism of NBC executives for their decision to hire McDaniel, telling Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.”', '“There’s a reason a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” Todd said, explaining that under McDaniel, the RNC engaged in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” when dealing with the news media.', 'The following day, MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough joined Todd in protesting the decision on their program “Morning Joe.”', '“To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier,”Brzezinski said. “', 'We hope NBC will reconsider its decision.', 'It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on ‘Morning Joe’ in her capacity as a paid contributor.”', 'Nicolle Wallace, host of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” later joined in the rebuke, saying on her program that the network’s decision to hire McDaniel was nothing short of a potential threat to democracy.', '“NBC News is, either wittingly or unwittingly, teaching election deniers that what they can do stretches well beyond appearing on our air and interviews to peddle lies about the sanctity and integrity of our elections,” Wallace told viewers.', 'Rachel Maddow — the network’s biggest star — later devoted the first half-hour of her prime-time program to the controversy, saying the decision to hire McDaniel was “inexplicable.”', 'Maddow took issue with McDaniel’s long track record of demonizing the news media, labeling the press as “fake news,” and launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.', '“We do not take it personally when we get attacked, when they say they want to put us on trial and execute us for treason,” she said.', '“And so I want to associate myself with all my colleagues at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company for putting on the payroll someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government,” she said of McDaniel. “', 'Someone who is still trying to convince Americans that this election stuff doesn’t really work.', 'That this last election wasn’t a real result.', 'That American elections are fraudulent.“', 'The on-air revolt ensnared NBC’s top leaders, including NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde, NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown, who were responsible for McDaniel’s hiring.', 'MSNBC president Rashida Jones also did not object to the decision, people familiar with the matter said.', 'In the wake of Conde’s announcement to sever ties with McDaniel, MSNBC host Joy Reid and Maddow addressed the reversal on the network’s air, praising the move as “bold” and “strong.”', '“I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “', 'That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”']",-0.0710578434549836,"In the wake of Conde’s announcement to sever ties with McDaniel, MSNBC host Joy Reid and Maddow addressed the reversal on the network’s air, praising the move as “bold” and “strong.”","Maddow took issue with McDaniel’s long track record of demonizing the news media, labeling the press as “fake news,” and launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.",-0.4204912583033244,"In the wake of Conde’s announcement to sever ties with McDaniel, MSNBC host Joy Reid and Maddow addressed the reversal on the network’s air, praising the move as “bold” and “strong.”",The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network.,2024-03-27
Can Sweden keep its edge in the music industry?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68499740,2024-03-15T00:17:40.000Z,"From Abba to Spotify, Avicii to Soundcloud, Stockholm has spawned both some of the world's most successful musicians and music tech companies. Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven times, a gong it holds jointly with Ireland - and Malmö will host this year's competition. That legacy is evident moments after stepping off the underground at Stockholm's central station. Sergels torg, the capital's main square paved in black and white triangles, is home to the Avicii Experience, an interactive museum celebrating the late Tim Bergling. He grew up here and became one of the world's bestselling DJs under his artist name Avicii. On the fifteenth floor sits Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse Entertainment which runs the museum. The company is focussed on creating the ""next generation"" of high-tech entertainment experiences, with a portfolio that also includes the Abba Voyage stage show in London, performed by avatar versions of Sweden's biggest supergroup. It is developing plans for a new show in 2027 involving digital versions of the US rock band Kiss, after testing the technology at the band's final real-life gig last year. ""What's the similarity between Kiss and Abba?,"" asks Mr Sundin rhetorically from his private office with floor-to-ceiling windows. ""They really have super fans, both artists, and they have a wide catalogue, and they have global presence all over the world."" Despite selling more than two million tickets for Abba Voyage since May 2022, he says Pophouse Entertainment still hasn't broken even on its investments, which include the technology (created in collaboration with US filmmaker George Lucas's visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic), and the event's bespoke east London arena. But Mr Sundin - a former Universal Music executive - says he has faith in the concept, and hopes it can be adapted for a handful of other big-name legacy artists in future.  ""This is for those who can't tour anymore, can't really make themselves as good [as they were]... or [want to] do different kinds of things with their music legacy,"" says Mr Sundin.  Pophouse's innovations follow a string of other music tech success stories emerging from Stockholm, a capital with a population of just one million. Daniel Ek's Spotify launched here in 2008, while Soundcloud was founded a year earlier by two students from Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin. Other companies who've made a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand, which provides a subscription service enabling businesses to play commercial music without licensing issues, and Epidemic Sound, a platform for rights-free music for content creators, recently valued at 12.5bn kronor (£950m; $1.2bn), according to Swedish business news site Dagens Industri.  ""We all know there must be something in the water,"" laughs Sarah Herlin, co-founder of Stockholm Music City, an organisation that encourages collaboration between the capital's music and tech sectors, and provides support to start-ups. On a more serious note, she argues that there are several key ingredients in Stockholm's recipe for music tech success. These include Sweden's historically strong music scene, with artists like Roxette, The Cardigans and legendary pop producer/songwriter Max Martin cementing the reputation set by Abba, and giving credibility to Swedish tech companies with a music-related focus. Plus, the country has long had a tech-savvy population, with many of today's entrepreneurs growing up in the 1990s when there were tax cuts on home hardware in Sweden, followed by an early adoption of broadband. The business culture in Sweden, which tends to promote collaboration over competition has also created a supportive ecosystem, argues Herlin. ""If you realise someone else is doing the same thing, you contact each other and see how can we do this together,"" she says. ""That often means that they all succeed instead of nobody succeeding."" More technology of business One recent example is Elk, a company that provides a remote, collaborative recording platform for artists, which was founded after two local businesses figured out they were developing similar software tools. Ms Herlin has just finished a meeting at The Node, a physical recording studio hub which opened last year on the same square as the Avicii museum, and includes some of the late DJ's equipment. ""Where you have producers, you will have music tech start-ups, and you will have investors coming to check it out,"" she says. Late on a Monday afternoon the neon-pink lit cafe area is largely empty, save for several nonchalant staff. But Ms Herlin says the space is creating a global buzz. ""We've noticed already people pop up here from New York and from London to check it out."" Seedtable, a platform that tracks the fastest growing companies in Europe lists 69 music and and audio start-ups to watch and work for in 2024, with 13 of them based in Stockholm, more than any other city in relation to population size. A few blocks away from The Node, one of them, Snafu Records, is based at a shared office space with a parquet floor and a cocktail bar. Described by its co-founder and chief executive Ankit Desai as ""the first AI enabled music label in the world"", the start-up has developed an algorithm which trawls the internet to pinpoint new artists it believes can make an impact. ""We try to find those diamonds in the rough… those undervalued artists and give them a platform to shine,"" says Mr Desai.  Since launching in 2019, the company has signed more than 150 artists. Snafu Records takes a 50% cut of all its artists earnings, although Desai says most traditional labels take up to 80%. The start-up's investors include Agnetha Fältskog (Agnetha from Abba), Finnish gaming entrepreneur Mikko Kodisoja, and Pophouse Entertainment, and it raised $7m (£5.5m) in its second funding round in late 2023. But Mr Desai admits that raising capital was ""a lot harder"" than when the label first launched in 2019, and the company is yet to turn a profit.  Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm's music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. ""People tend to move towards more safe investments in more difficult times, and music tech companies in general aren't producing profits, not even Spotify."" Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs. But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up. Some music tech entrepreneurs argue the speed at which AI tools are growing globally is also putting pressure on Stockholm's well-oiled music tech ecosystem. ""One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""It's really a race, I would say, with a lot of companies doing a lot of cool things at the same time."" Corite has also struggled to turn a profit, and is pinning its hopes on a new tool for artists and other content creators which is launching later this year.  ""We are about to raise money again and we are definitely humble,"" says Ms Olsson. ""I think, companies have a bit more to prove a bit earlier than they had before."" ",BBC,15/03/2024,"[""From Abba to Spotify, Avicii to Soundcloud, Stockholm has spawned both some of the world's most successful musicians and music tech companies."", ""Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven times, a gong it holds jointly with Ireland - and Malmö will host this year's competition."", ""That legacy is evident moments after stepping off the underground at Stockholm's central station."", ""Sergels torg, the capital's main square paved in black and white triangles, is home to the Avicii Experience, an interactive museum celebrating the late Tim Bergling."", ""He grew up here and became one of the world's bestselling DJs under his artist name Avicii."", 'On the fifteenth floor sits Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse Entertainment which runs the museum.', 'The company is focussed on creating the ""next generation"" of high-tech entertainment experiences, with a portfolio that also includes the Abba Voyage stage show in London, performed by avatar versions of Sweden\'s biggest supergroup.', 'It is developing plans for a new show in 2027 involving digital versions of the US rock band Kiss, after testing the technology at the band\'s final real-life gig last year. ""', 'What\'s the similarity between Kiss and Abba?,""', 'asks Mr Sundin rhetorically from his private office with floor-to-ceiling windows. ""', 'They really have super fans, both artists, and they have a wide catalogue, and they have global presence all over the world.""', ""Despite selling more than two million tickets for Abba Voyage since May 2022, he says Pophouse Entertainment still hasn't broken even on its investments, which include the technology (created in collaboration with US filmmaker George Lucas's visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic), and the event's bespoke east London arena."", 'But Mr Sundin - a former Universal Music executive - says he has faith in the concept, and hopes it can be adapted for a handful of other big-name legacy artists in future. ""', 'This is for those who can\'t tour anymore, can\'t really make themselves as good [as they were]... or [want to] do different kinds of things with their music legacy,"" says Mr Sundin.', ""Pophouse's innovations follow a string of other music tech success stories emerging from Stockholm, a capital with a population of just one million."", ""Daniel Ek's Spotify launched here in 2008, while Soundcloud was founded a year earlier by two students from Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin."", 'Other companies who\'ve made a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand, which provides a subscription service enabling businesses to play commercial music without licensing issues, and Epidemic Sound, a platform for rights-free music for content creators, recently valued at 12.5bn kronor (£950m; $1.2bn), according to Swedish business news site Dagens Industri. ""', 'We all know there must be something in the water,"" laughs Sarah Herlin, co-founder of Stockholm Music City, an organisation that encourages collaboration between the capital\'s music and tech sectors, and provides support to start-ups.', ""On a more serious note, she argues that there are several key ingredients in Stockholm's recipe for music tech success."", ""These include Sweden's historically strong music scene, with artists like Roxette, The Cardigans and legendary pop producer/songwriter Max Martin cementing the reputation set by Abba, and giving credibility to Swedish tech companies with a music-related focus."", ""Plus, the country has long had a tech-savvy population, with many of today's entrepreneurs growing up in the 1990s when there were tax cuts on home hardware in Sweden, followed by an early adoption of broadband."", 'The business culture in Sweden, which tends to promote collaboration over competition has also created a supportive ecosystem, argues Herlin. ""', 'If you realise someone else is doing the same thing, you contact each other and see how can we do this together,"" she says. ""', 'That often means that they all succeed instead of nobody succeeding.""', 'More technology of business One recent example is Elk, a company that provides a remote, collaborative recording platform for artists, which was founded after two local businesses figured out they were developing similar software tools.', 'Ms Herlin has just finished a meeting at The Node, a physical recording studio hub which opened last year on the same square as the Avicii museum, and includes some of the late DJ\'s equipment. ""', 'Where you have producers, you will have music tech start-ups, and you will have investors coming to check it out,"" she says.', 'Late on a Monday afternoon the neon-pink lit cafe area is largely empty, save for several nonchalant staff.', 'But Ms Herlin says the space is creating a global buzz. ""', 'We\'ve noticed already people pop up here from New York and from London to check it out.""', 'Seedtable, a platform that tracks the fastest growing companies in Europe lists 69 music and and audio start-ups to watch and work for in 2024, with 13 of them based in Stockholm, more than any other city in relation to population size.', 'A few blocks away from The Node, one of them, Snafu Records, is based at a shared office space with a parquet floor and a cocktail bar.', 'Described by its co-founder and chief executive Ankit Desai as ""the first AI enabled music label in the world"", the start-up has developed an algorithm which trawls the internet to pinpoint new artists it believes can make an impact. ""', 'We try to find those diamonds in the rough… those undervalued artists and give them a platform to shine,"" says Mr Desai.', 'Since launching in 2019, the company has signed more than 150 artists.', 'Snafu Records takes a 50% cut of all its artists earnings, although Desai says most traditional labels take up to 80%.', ""The start-up's investors include Agnetha Fältskog (Agnetha from Abba), Finnish gaming entrepreneur Mikko Kodisoja, and Pophouse Entertainment, and it raised $7m (£5.5m) in its second funding round in late 2023."", 'But Mr Desai admits that raising capital was ""a lot harder"" than when the label first launched in 2019, and the company is yet to turn a profit.', 'Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm\'s music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. ""', 'People tend to move towards more safe investments in more difficult times, and music tech companies in general aren\'t producing profits, not even Spotify.""', ""Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs."", 'But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up.', 'Some music tech entrepreneurs argue the speed at which AI tools are growing globally is also putting pressure on Stockholm\'s well-oiled music tech ecosystem. ""', 'One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""', 'It\'s really a race, I would say, with a lot of companies doing a lot of cool things at the same time.""', 'Corite has also struggled to turn a profit, and is pinning its hopes on a new tool for artists and other content creators which is launching later this year. ""', 'We are about to raise money again and we are definitely humble,"" says Ms Olsson. ""', 'I think, companies have a bit more to prove a bit earlier than they had before.""']",0.2732650350345871,"One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""","Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm's music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. """,0.2579860185322009,But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up.,"Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs.",2024-03-27
Baltimore bridge crash causes supply chain concerns,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68672373,2024-03-27T05:25:40.000Z,"Concerns have been raised of a ""ripple effect"" on global supply chains after a container ship crashed into a bridge in the US city of Baltimore. The ship, named the Dali, hit a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday morning, causing it to collapse.  The bridge spanned the entrance to the Port of Baltimore, the busiest port in the US for car exports and the ninth-busiest for foreign cargo. Six people are missing presumed dead. Officials have said that maritime traffic through the port - which last year amounted to more than 47 million tonnes of foreign cargo - will be suspended ""until further notice"". The suspension could have a ""significant ripple effect on global supply chains"", Marco Forgione, director general at The Institute of Export and International Trade, told the BBC. More than 750,000 cars and vehicles passed through Baltimore in the last year, he told Radio 4's The World Tonight.   These include US, UK and EU brands such as General Motors, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan, Fiat, and Audi. Baltimore is the busiest US port for car shipments, and also the largest US port by volume for handling farm and construction machinery. It is also the second biggest port for US coal exports. US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said at a briefing there was ""no question that this will be a major and protracted impact to supply chains"".  ""It's too soon to offer estimates on what it will take to clear the channel and reopen the port,"" he said. However, Baltimore is also one of the smallest container ports in the north-east US, handling 265,000 containers in the fourth quarter of last year, according to container shipping expert Lars Jensen. By contrast, the Port of New York and New Jersey handled about 2 million containers in that same period, and Norfolk Port in Virginia handled 850,000. The flow of containers to Baltimore can probably be redistributed to bigger ports, Mr Jensen said. Initially there were concerns that liquified natural gas (LNG) exports could be affected, but Cove Point LNG terminal on Chesapeake Bay, which typically exports about 500,000 tonnes of LNG per month to markets including the UK and the EU, said its operations had not been hit by the bridge collapse. President Biden told reporters that the US government would ""move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible"", but added that the process was going to ""take some time."" As well as maritime traffic, the Port of Baltimore is directly responsible for some 15,000 jobs and supports an estimated 140,000 more.  Following the accident, Danish shipping giant Maersk, whose cargo the Dali was carrying, said it would be ""omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future"". A number of rail and coal companies have also warned their customers of disruption to coal exports.  The US Coast Guard has suspended its search and rescue operation and begun a recovery mission for the missing people. The focus is now turning to the investigation into what went wrong, with a team of transportation safety experts hoping to board the stricken ship and recover its data recorder. The exact cause of the crash is still being established, but officials have said the ship suffered a ""power issue"" and issued a distress call before hitting the bridge.  The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, where the Dali was flagged, said the ship's certificates covering its structural integrity and the functionality of its equipment were valid at the time of the incident.  It also said the ship had passed two separate foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023. Synergy Marine Group, which manages the Dali, said there were 22 people on the ship, including an all-Indian crew and two US harbour pilots, but no reports of any injuries. It added that it was ""fully co-operating"" with federal agencies. ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['Concerns have been raised of a ""ripple effect"" on global supply chains after a container ship crashed into a bridge in the US city of Baltimore.', 'The ship, named the Dali, hit a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday morning, causing it to collapse.', 'The bridge spanned the entrance to the Port of Baltimore, the busiest port in the US for car exports and the ninth-busiest for foreign cargo.', 'Six people are missing presumed dead.', 'Officials have said that maritime traffic through the port - which last year amounted to more than 47 million tonnes of foreign cargo - will be suspended ""until further notice"".', 'The suspension could have a ""significant ripple effect on global supply chains"", Marco Forgione, director general at The Institute of Export and International Trade, told the BBC.', ""More than 750,000 cars and vehicles passed through Baltimore in the last year, he told Radio 4's The World Tonight."", 'These include US, UK and EU brands such as General Motors, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan, Fiat, and Audi.', 'Baltimore is the busiest US port for car shipments, and also the largest US port by volume for handling farm and construction machinery.', 'It is also the second biggest port for US coal exports.', 'US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said at a briefing there was ""no question that this will be a major and protracted impact to supply chains"". ""', 'It\'s too soon to offer estimates on what it will take to clear the channel and reopen the port,"" he said.', 'However, Baltimore is also one of the smallest container ports in the north-east US, handling 265,000 containers in the fourth quarter of last year, according to container shipping expert Lars Jensen.', 'By contrast, the Port of New York and New Jersey handled about 2 million containers in that same period, and Norfolk Port in Virginia handled 850,000.', 'The flow of containers to Baltimore can probably be redistributed to bigger ports, Mr Jensen said.', 'Initially there were concerns that liquified natural gas (LNG) exports could be affected, but Cove Point LNG terminal on Chesapeake Bay, which typically exports about 500,000 tonnes of LNG per month to markets including the UK and the EU, said its operations had not been hit by the bridge collapse.', 'President Biden told reporters that the US government would ""move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible"", but added that the process was going to ""take some time.""', 'As well as maritime traffic, the Port of Baltimore is directly responsible for some 15,000 jobs and supports an estimated 140,000 more.', 'Following the accident, Danish shipping giant Maersk, whose cargo the Dali was carrying, said it would be ""omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future"".', 'A number of rail and coal companies have also warned their customers of disruption to coal exports.', 'The US Coast Guard has suspended its search and rescue operation and begun a recovery mission for the missing people.', 'The focus is now turning to the investigation into what went wrong, with a team of transportation safety experts hoping to board the stricken ship and recover its data recorder.', 'The exact cause of the crash is still being established, but officials have said the ship suffered a ""power issue"" and issued a distress call before hitting the bridge.', ""The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, where the Dali was flagged, said the ship's certificates covering its structural integrity and the functionality of its equipment were valid at the time of the incident."", 'It also said the ship had passed two separate foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023.', 'Synergy Marine Group, which manages the Dali, said there were 22 people on the ship, including an all-Indian crew and two US harbour pilots, but no reports of any injuries.', 'It added that it was ""fully co-operating"" with federal agencies.']",-0.1106692300115987,"As well as maritime traffic, the Port of Baltimore is directly responsible for some 15,000 jobs and supports an estimated 140,000 more.","The exact cause of the crash is still being established, but officials have said the ship suffered a ""power issue"" and issued a distress call before hitting the bridge.",-0.9566556736826896,,"Concerns have been raised of a ""ripple effect"" on global supply chains after a container ship crashed into a bridge in the US city of Baltimore.",2024-03-27
Why lab-grown diamond sales are surging,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/27/business/diamonds-manmade-demand/index.html,"
  Published
        7:49 AM EDT, Wed April 27, 2022
    ","It’s proposal season, and engagements are on the rise. So are factory-made diamond sales.
    
            Not that you’d know the difference. Man-made diamonds look the same as naturally occurring ones. The only noticeable difference is the price tag.
    
            “The result is really stunning,” said Edahn Golan, an independent diamond industry analyst.
    
            He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.
    
            Going back by another month, to February, the data showed the number of rings sold with lab diamonds that month surged even more, to 80% compared to a year earlier while the number fell by 13% for natural diamond engagement rings. 
    
            “The big fear in the natural diamonds industry is that consumers will start accepting lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings,” he said. Too late. “It’s actually happening.” 
    
            Why are consumers flocking to man-made diamonds? Cost is the most obvious reason. The average retail price of the most popular one carat round man-made diamond for an engagement ring in March was $2,318, Golan said.
    
            “This is substantially less – as much as 73% cheaper – than a natural diamond of the same size, cut and clarity as the man-made diamond, which would cost $8,740,” he said. Plus, the lower cost allows couples to buy a bigger stone.
    
            “A lab diamond is a real diamond, but maybe it took a few weeks to make it,” said Golan. “Natural diamonds were formed over 800 million to three billion years and there isn’t an infinite supply of them.” 
    
            This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.
    
            The sanctions directly target Alrosa, partly owned by the Russian government, which the US government identified as the world’s largest diamond mining company, accounting for 28% of global diamond output.
    
            Man-made diamonds are also becoming popular as consumers are more aware and educated about them, said Dan Moran, a third-generation diamond expert and owner of LA-based fine jeweler Concierge Diamonds. Moran said the typical buyer of man-made diamonds is typically younger than 40 and very budget conscious.
    
            Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.
    
            Among Millennials and Gen Z, their eco-conscious mindset and ethical concerns about natural diamond sourcing is another factor influencing their preference for non-traditional engagement rings, according to a report from wedding planning website The Knot.
    
            Although its slice is growing, the market share for man-made diamonds remains relatively small.
    
            Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan. 
    
            Some major jewelry retailers are driving the effort to take man-made diamonds mainstream. In 2021, the world’s largest jewelry company, Pandora
            
                (PANDY), made a major shift by announcing it would stop using mined diamonds and would swap to lab-created diamonds in its jewelry. 
    
            Pandora said it’s instituting the change as part of an effort to sell sustainable jewelry, and also because consumers increasingly are asking for it.
    
            Signet,
            
                (SIG) the largest jewelry company in the United States (which owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared chains) called out the popularity of lab diamond jewelry in its March earnings call with analysts.
    
            Calling it a “fast-growing category” in its jewelry portfolio, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos told analysts that lab-created diamonds are among the big jewelry trends she expects this year. 
    
            The company said it has expanded its man-made bridal jewelry selection in both its Zales and Kay Jewelers stores in response to the increased demand. 
    
            Fine jewelry brand Charles and Colvard, which makes lab-created diamonds, said consumers don’t just want to look good with the jewelry they are wearing, they also want to feel good about it.
    
            “As the momentum for conscious consumerism grows, the surge towards lab grown diamonds isn’t surprising,” said Don O’Connell, president and CEO of Charles & Colvard. “[Consumers] want to know the origins of their stones and be reassured they’re conflict-free. They’re embracing the choice to purchase a piece of fine jewelry that aligns with their values.”
    
            Lab-grown diamond brand VRAI said the pandemic, too, has sparked attention and action toward social and environmental issues. It said consumers are being more thoughtful and reassessing their purchasing habits, as well as the companies and industries they are supporting.
    
            There is, however, one important consideration for anyone buying lab-created diamonds: Man-made diamonds have little resale value. 
    
            So while you may not be able to tell a natural diamond from a factory made variety, someone with a trained eye can, said Golan. Once a stone is identified as a factory diamond, even though you paid a lot less for it, you also won’t get much for it. 
    
            But the value of a ring isn’t just monetary.
    
            “As a professional in the industry, I am asked all the time by people about what I think about a ring they have,” said Moran, of Concierge Jewelers. “I always say, if you love it, be happy with it. An engagement ring is a symbol of commitment and enduring love.”",CNN,27/04/2022,"['It’s proposal season, and engagements are on the rise.', 'So are factory-made diamond sales.', 'Not that you’d know the difference.', 'Man-made diamonds look the same as naturally occurring ones.', 'The only noticeable difference is the price tag.', '“The result is really stunning,” said Edahn Golan, an independent diamond industry analyst.', 'He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.', 'Going back by another month, to February, the data showed the number of rings sold with lab diamonds that month surged even more, to 80% compared to a year earlier while the number fell by 13% for natural diamond engagement rings.', '“The big fear in the natural diamonds industry is that consumers will start accepting lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings,” he said.', 'Too late. “', 'It’s actually happening.”', 'Why are consumers flocking to man-made diamonds?', 'Cost is the most obvious reason.', 'The average retail price of the most popular one carat round man-made diamond for an engagement ring in March was $2,318, Golan said.', '“This is substantially less – as much as 73% cheaper – than a natural diamond of the same size, cut and clarity as the man-made diamond, which would cost $8,740,” he said.', 'Plus, the lower cost allows couples to buy a bigger stone.', '“A lab diamond is a real diamond, but maybe it took a few weeks to make it,” said Golan. “', 'Natural diamonds were formed over 800 million to three billion years and there isn’t an infinite supply of them.”', 'This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.', 'The sanctions directly target Alrosa, partly owned by the Russian government, which the US government identified as the world’s largest diamond mining company, accounting for 28% of global diamond output.', 'Man-made diamonds are also becoming popular as consumers are more aware and educated about them, said Dan Moran, a third-generation diamond expert and owner of LA-based fine jeweler Concierge Diamonds.', 'Moran said the typical buyer of man-made diamonds is typically younger than 40 and very budget conscious.', 'Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.', 'Among Millennials and Gen Z, their eco-conscious mindset and ethical concerns about natural diamond sourcing is another factor influencing their preference for non-traditional engagement rings, according to a report from wedding planning website The Knot.', 'Although its slice is growing, the market share for man-made diamonds remains relatively small.', 'Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan.', 'Some major jewelry retailers are driving the effort to take man-made diamonds mainstream.', 'In 2021, the world’s largest jewelry company, Pandora  (PANDY), made a major shift by announcing it would stop using mined diamonds and would swap to lab-created diamonds in its jewelry.', 'Pandora said it’s instituting the change as part of an effort to sell sustainable jewelry, and also because consumers increasingly are asking for it.', 'Signet,  (SIG) the largest jewelry company in the United States (which owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared chains) called out the popularity of lab diamond jewelry in its March earnings call with analysts.', 'Calling it a “fast-growing category” in its jewelry portfolio, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos told analysts that lab-created diamonds are among the big jewelry trends she expects this year.', 'The company said it has expanded its man-made bridal jewelry selection in both its Zales and Kay Jewelers stores in response to the increased demand.', 'Fine jewelry brand Charles and Colvard, which makes lab-created diamonds, said consumers don’t just want to look good with the jewelry they are wearing, they also want to feel good about it.', '“As the momentum for conscious consumerism grows, the surge towards lab grown diamonds isn’t surprising,” said Don O’Connell, president and CEO of Charles & Colvard. “[', 'Consumers] want to know the origins of their stones and be reassured they’re conflict-free.', 'They’re embracing the choice to purchase a piece of fine jewelry that aligns with their values.”', 'Lab-grown diamond brand VRAI said the pandemic, too, has sparked attention and action toward social and environmental issues.', 'It said consumers are being more thoughtful and reassessing their purchasing habits, as well as the companies and industries they are supporting.', 'There is, however, one important consideration for anyone buying lab-created diamonds: Man-made diamonds have little resale value.', 'So while you may not be able to tell a natural diamond from a factory made variety, someone with a trained eye can, said Golan.', 'Once a stone is identified as a factory diamond, even though you paid a lot less for it, you also won’t get much for it.', 'But the value of a ring isn’t just monetary.', '“As a professional in the industry, I am asked all the time by people about what I think about a ring they have,” said Moran, of Concierge Jewelers. “', 'I always say, if you love it, be happy with it.', 'An engagement ring is a symbol of commitment and enduring love.”']",0.3714494325159568,"He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.",Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.,0.8542834222316742,"Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan.","This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.",2024-03-27
Judge’s stern rebuke of Elon Musk’s X gives researchers fresh hope,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/judges-stern-rebuke-of-elon-musks-x-gives-researchers-fresh-hope/index.html,"
  Published
        1:17 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","A federal judge’s decision this week reprimanding Elon Musk’s X will have reverberating effects on efforts to hold influential online platforms accountable, legal experts and advocacy groups say.
    
            On Monday, District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed and excoriated a lawsuit by X against online watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate as an attempt to silence the non-profit group for sounding alarms about hate speech on the platform.
    
            Breyer wrote in Monday’s order that the lawsuit was “unabashedly” about “punishing” reports written by CCDH, which X had accused of campaigning to drive away its advertisers. Breyer held that the reports were “unquestionably” protected by the group’s free speech rights.
    
            Now, that decision could embolden other research groups and Musk critics who have faced legal threats from the billionaire.
    
            The CCDH case — in the US District Court for the Northern District of California — has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X, where Musk has restored the accounts of previously banned White supremacists and spreaders of misinformation and where Musk himself has amplified various conspiracy theories.
    
            And CCDH is not the only organization that has faced attacks by self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Musk after criticizing or raising concerns about his platform.
    
            “This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism.
    
            “Society needs reliable and ethical research into social media platforms, and often that research relies on being able to study publicly available posts,” Abdo said.
    
            X said it plans to appeal Breyer’s decision.
    
            In his first year as owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk threatened legal action against the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, as well as against Microsoft and Meta for allegedly improper data and trade secret access, respectively. None of those threats ever amounted to real lawsuits.
    
            He did, however, sue the progressive media watchdog Media Matters over its analysis highlighting antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X, alleging that the group’s testing methodology was not representative of how real users experience the site and that the report was designed to drive away advertisers. Legal experts have described that case as “weak” on the merits and as a “bogus” attempt to chill criticism of X.
    
            This week’s court decision may be only a temporary setback in Musk’s wider plan to stifle criticism, said Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone. Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings.
    
            The states of Texas and Missouri each announced probes into Media Matters following X’s lawsuit against the group, to which Musk responded, “Great!”
    
            As recently as Monday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a petition in state court seeking to compel Media Matters’ cooperation with his investigation. The filing came a week after he appeared with Musk in a live event on X — which Carusone said shows how Musk hopes to deputize the power of government to silence his critics.
    
            “They have every reason to do it,” Carusone said of the AGs’ investigations. “They get the political benefits, they get the attention. There doesn’t seem to be any cost to them yet. And if they are successful at developing this new playbook, this new terrain, legally, then it’s going to pave the way for them to just use this tool and tactic over and over and over again.”
    
            A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Carusone’s claims.
    
            Researchers from non-profits and academic institutions have had a harder time studying X since Musk’s takeover in 2022. Academics need large samples of posts, shares, likes and other data to study social media trends in mis- and disinformation, public health, elections and other key topics. But one of Musk’s first changes at X was to put access to platform data behind a steep paywall.
    
            Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year — were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform.
    
            The change may have forced some researchers to rely more heavily on first-person observational data to draw conclusions about user behavior on X. Groups like CCDH have also used automated “scraping” of publicly viewable content from X rather than paying the company for data directly, a tactic that helped give rise to X’s initial lawsuit.
    
            Efforts by X and other social media companies to limit research transparency makes them less accountable to the public at best and, at worst, could mask malicious behavior, said David Karpf, an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.
    
            “We need independent research to have any real measure of what’s going on at X/Twitter. Musk is only ever going to release data that makes his company look good,” Karpf said. “These platforms are too big and too vital to the spread of information to be left unmonitored.”
    
            “This is an election year,” Karpf added, “and the platforms are taking steps to make it harder to monitor how their services are used for malignant ends.”
    
            Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face.
    
            “The guardrails for democracy are hanging by a thread and we have dwindling insights into platform practices as researchers face lawsuits, congressional subpoenas and other scare tactics,” said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel and director of digital rights at Free Press.
    
            Ultimately, Benavidez called the ruling “a reminder that platform accountability is essential and will inevitably prevail when up against bullies like Musk who try to silence us.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['A federal judge’s decision this week reprimanding Elon Musk’s X will have reverberating effects on efforts to hold influential online platforms accountable, legal experts and advocacy groups say.', 'On Monday, District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed and excoriated a lawsuit by X against online watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate as an attempt to silence the non-profit group for sounding alarms about hate speech on the platform.', 'Breyer wrote in Monday’s order that the lawsuit was “unabashedly” about “punishing” reports written by CCDH, which X had accused of campaigning to drive away its advertisers.', 'Breyer held that the reports were “unquestionably” protected by the group’s free speech rights.', 'Now, that decision could embolden other research groups and Musk critics who have faced legal threats from the billionaire.', 'The CCDH case — in the US District Court for the Northern District of California —has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X, where Musk has restored the accounts of previously banned White supremacists and spreaders of misinformation and where Musk himself has amplified various conspiracy theories.', 'And CCDH is not the only organization that has faced attacks by self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Musk after criticizing or raising concerns about his platform.', '“This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism.', '“Society needs reliable and ethical research into social media platforms, and often that research relies on being able to study publicly available posts,” Abdo said.', 'X said it plans to appeal Breyer’s decision.', 'In his first year as owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk threatened legal action against the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, as well as against Microsoft and Meta for allegedly improper data and trade secret access, respectively.', 'None of those threats ever amounted to real lawsuits.', 'He did, however, sue the progressive media watchdog Media Matters over itsanalysishighlighting antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X, alleging that the group’s testing methodology was not representative of how real users experience the site and that the report was designed to drive away advertisers.', 'Legal experts have described that case as “weak” on the merits and as a “bogus” attempt to chill criticism of X.  This week’s court decision may be only a temporary setback in Musk’s wider plan to stifle criticism, said Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone.', 'Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings.', 'The states of Texas and Missouri each announced probes into Media Matters following X’s lawsuit against the group, to which Musk responded, “Great!”', 'As recently as Monday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a petition in state court seeking to compel Media Matters’ cooperation with his investigation.', 'The filing came a week after he appeared with Musk in a live event on X — which Carusone said shows how Musk hopes to deputize the power of government to silence his critics.', '“They have every reason to do it,” Carusone said of the AGs’ investigations. “', 'They get the political benefits, they get the attention.', 'There doesn’t seem to be any cost to them yet.', 'And if they are successful at developing this new playbook, this new terrain, legally, then it’s going to pave the way for them to just use this tool and tactic over and over and over again.”', 'A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Carusone’s claims.', 'Researchers from non-profits and academic institutions have had a harder time studying X since Musk’s takeover in 2022.', 'Academics need large samples of posts, shares, likes and other data to study social media trends in mis- and disinformation, public health, elections and other key topics.', 'But one of Musk’s first changes at X was to put access to platform data behind a steep paywall.', 'Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year —were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform.', 'The change may have forced some researchers to rely more heavily on first-person observational data to draw conclusions about user behavior on X. Groups like CCDH have also used automated “scraping” of publicly viewable content from X rather than paying the company for data directly, a tactic that helped give rise to X’s initial lawsuit.', 'Efforts by X and other social media companies to limit research transparency makes them less accountable to the public at best and, at worst, could mask malicious behavior, said David Karpf, an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.', '“We need independent research to have any real measure of what’s going on at X/Twitter.', 'Musk is only ever going to release data that makes his company look good,” Karpf said. “', 'These platforms are too big and too vital to the spread of information to be left unmonitored.”', '“This is an election year,” Karpf added, “and the platforms are taking steps to make it harder to monitor how their services are used for malignant ends.”', 'Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face.', '“The guardrails for democracy are hanging by a thread and we have dwindling insights into platform practices as researchers face lawsuits, congressional subpoenas and other scare tactics,” said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel and director of digital rights at Free Press.', 'Ultimately, Benavidez called the ruling “a reminder that platform accountability is essential and will inevitably prevail when up against bullies like Musk who try to silence us.”']",0.0427064270235155,"Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings.","“This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism.",-0.3806278450148446,"Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face.","Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year —were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform.",2024-03-27
"Stellantis is recalling 285,000 sedans because side curtain airbag inflators could break open",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/business/stellantis-recalling-285000-sedans-side-airbags/index.html,"
  Published
        4:58 PM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","Stellantis is recalling almost 285,000 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans in the United States because they have side curtain airbag inflators that could burst, sending metal shrapnel flying through the cabin.
    
            Airbag inflators rely on a chemical reaction that produces gas that rapidly inflates the airbag. Moisture may have gotten inside inflators installed in some 2018 through 2021 Charger and 300 models in the manufacturing process. That water could lead to internal corrosion and, possibly, cracks in the inflator, according to documents Stellantis filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
    
            The Charger and 300 are large sedans that share most of their engineering. The airbag inflators involved in this recall were not installed in any other Stellantis models, according to the documents.
    
            While the situation is similar to that which led to the recall of millions of Takata airbag inflators used in many different vehicles, this problem is apparently unrelated.
    
            Beginning in early May, Stellantis will mail letters to Charger and 300 owners with cars that could have the problem. Owners will be instructed to bring their cars into a dealership to have the side airbags on both sides of the vehicles replaced. The work will be done at no charge to owners, and people who may already have had their side curtain airbags replaced will be reimbursed for the cost.
    
            Stellantis is not aware of any accidents or injuries resulting from these issues. There were five known instances in which the airbag inflators burst. In each case, they were in parked vehicles in which the interior temperature reached over 120 degrees, which it can, especially in hot weather.",CNN,22/03/2024,"['Stellantis is recalling almost 285,000 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans in the United States because they have side curtain airbag inflators that could burst, sending metal shrapnel flying through the cabin.', 'Airbag inflators rely on a chemical reaction that produces gas that rapidly inflates the airbag.', 'Moisture may have gotten inside inflators installed in some 2018 through 2021 Charger and 300 models in the manufacturing process.', 'That water could lead to internal corrosion and, possibly, cracks in the inflator, according to documents Stellantis filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.', 'The Charger and 300 are large sedans that share most of their engineering.', 'The airbag inflators involved in this recall were not installed in any other Stellantis models, according to the documents.', 'While the situation is similar to that which led to the recall of millions of Takata airbag inflators used in many different vehicles, this problem is apparently unrelated.', 'Beginning in early May, Stellantis will mail letters to Charger and 300 owners with cars that could have the problem.', 'Owners will be instructed to bring their cars into a dealership to have the side airbags on both sides of the vehicles replaced.', 'The work will be done at no charge to owners, and people who may already have had their side curtain airbags replaced will be reimbursed for the cost.', 'Stellantis is not aware of any accidents or injuries resulting from these issues.', 'There were five known instances in which the airbag inflators burst.', 'In each case, they were in parked vehicles in which the interior temperature reached over 120 degrees, which it can, especially in hot weather.']",-0.0135691013460752,"Stellantis is recalling almost 285,000 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans in the United States because they have side curtain airbag inflators that could burst, sending metal shrapnel flying through the cabin.","While the situation is similar to that which led to the recall of millions of Takata airbag inflators used in many different vehicles, this problem is apparently unrelated.",-0.8464599847793579,,"That water could lead to internal corrosion and, possibly, cracks in the inflator, according to documents Stellantis filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.",2024-03-27
3 ways Apple’s monopoly lawsuit could change the iPhone experience for fans,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/apples-iphone-changes-lawsuit/index.html,"
  Published
        6:30 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","When Apple launched its first Mac computer in 1984, with its iconic Mac smiley-face “hello” greeting, it wanted to differentiate itself in the fledgling PC market. The Mac was approachable with its friendly, innovative design – Apple’s way of setting the Mac apart in the confusing PC landscape.
    
            That consumer-friendly mantra still exists today, with Apple carefully curating an easy-breezy yet controlled user experience across its products, including the billions of iPhones used around the world.
    
            But the Biden administration believes Apple took that too far. On Thursday, the Department of Justice sued Apple for illegally monopolizing the smartphone market. In a press conference, the government provided a long list of how Apple has allegedly squashed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach, restricting how third-party companies interact with its brands and services.
    
            The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them. Apple added that the lawsuit could empower the government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”
    
            But if successful, the lawsuit could ripple across Apple’s products and services. Although the suit could take years to play out, here’s a closer look what it may eventually mean for iPhone users:
    
            If found liable, the company could be forced to change a number of things.
    
            One such change is how iPhone users could get greater access to “super apps” that have been largely restricted before. The term refers to one-stop-shop apps that allow for messaging, ordering food, payment processing and other capabilities all within one platform.
    
             According to Dipanjan Chatterjee, a principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, super apps most threaten Apple’s preeminence in the lives of its customers.
    
            “An offering like WeChat, dubbed China’s everything app, can provide an alternative to the Apple ecosystem for people to communicate, bank, share memories, talk to businesses and more,” he said. “What Apple fears most is becoming irrelevant to its customers.”
    
            At the same time, super apps like WeChat are created by larger companies and could, therefore, put some smaller companies at a disadvantage. And the concept hasn’t been welcomed much in the US anyway.
    
            The US government, however, could argue that lack of interest may be due to Apple’s high share of the smartphone market and its resistance to offer super apps in its store, Chatterjee said.
    
            Apple may also be required to offer more support for cross-platform messaging, an issue the company previously said it’s already working on.
    
            The company lets iPhone users send high-quality photos and videos to one another, but similar texts to Android phones are slower and grainy. It also maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue.
    
            In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap. Apple’s move to add support for the standard called RCS (rich communication services) is intended to roll out later this year. RCS is considered the replacement to alternatives such as SMS, or short messaging service, and can work over both Wi-Fi and mobile data.
    
            The change followed pressure from both regulators and competitors to more seamlessly work across operating systems. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, for example, requires companies to make their key services interoperable between platforms. The US government could require the same.
    
            Another likely change is how hardware from other companies, such as smartwatches, will interact with the Apple range of devices and software, including the iPhone and Apple’s services like Fitness+. The company has also required Apple Watch users to own iOS devices as a way to keep them locked into its existing ecosystem.
    
            Chatterjee said making this change would have both positives and negatives.
    
            “The net result would reside somewhere along the spectrum of access to more and cheaper options but also the devaluation of the customer experience that is so highly prized by Apple’s customers,” he said.
    
            The Biden administration has also taken issue with Apple’s lack of support for mobile cloud services. Loosening this could allow users to access games and other cloud-based apps without having to pay for pricey hardware.
    
            The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating. Although the Biden administration will have to prove these harms, some critics say any potential changes Apple could make will negatively impact the user experience.
    
            David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research, said he recognizes that the content and applications market should be open, and Apple needs to avoid monopolistic advantages that can restrict competition, push up prices or block innovation. But Apple’s success stems in part to its tight grip on its products and services, keeping things intuitive and seamless.
    
            “If Apple is forced to comply, it could potentially spell the end to the provision of this consistent and unified user experience, although by the same token, consumers will be open to a greater choice of apps and services, helping more developers and providers,” McQueen said.
    
            Chatterjee noted some people are drawn to the Apple family of products precisely because of the carefully managed ecosystem’s ease of use. Apple may have to work that much harder to preserve the integrity of its experience, but any changes probably won’t be enough to make customers to leave and go elsewhere.
    
            “The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said.
    
            But he added those currently outside of the Apple ecosystem will likely benefit by “plugging in opportunistically without having to go all in with Apple.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['When Apple launched its first Mac computer in 1984, with its iconic Mac smiley-face “hello” greeting, it wanted to differentiate itself in the fledgling PC market.', 'The Mac was approachable with its friendly, innovative design – Apple’s way of setting the Mac apart in the confusing PC landscape.', 'That consumer-friendly mantra still exists today, with Apple carefully curating an easy-breezy yet controlled user experience across its products, including the billions of iPhones used around the world.', 'But the Biden administration believes Apple took that too far.', 'On Thursday, the Department of Justice sued Apple for illegally monopolizing the smartphone market.', 'In a press conference, the government provided a long list of how Apple has allegedly squashed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach, restricting how third-party companies interact with its brands and services.', 'The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them.', 'Apple added that the lawsuit could empower the government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”', 'But if successful, the lawsuit could ripple across Apple’s products and services.', 'Although the suit could take years to play out, here’s a closer look what it may eventually mean for iPhone users:  If found liable, the company could be forced to change a number of things.', 'One such change is how iPhone users could get greater access to “super apps” that have been largely restricted before.', 'The term refers to one-stop-shop apps that allow for messaging, ordering food, payment processing and other capabilities all within one platform.', 'According to Dipanjan Chatterjee, a principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, super apps most threaten Apple’s preeminence in the lives of its customers.', '“An offering like WeChat, dubbed China’s everything app, can provide an alternative to the Apple ecosystem for people to communicate, bank, share memories, talk to businesses and more,” he said.', '“What Apple fears most is becoming irrelevant to its customers.”', 'At the same time, super apps like WeChat are created by larger companies and could, therefore, put some smaller companies at a disadvantage.', 'And the concept hasn’t been welcomed much in the US anyway.', 'The US government, however, could argue that lack of interest may be due to Apple’s high share of the smartphone market and its resistance to offer super apps in its store, Chatterjee said.', 'Apple may also be required to offer more support for cross-platform messaging, an issue the company previously said it’s already working on.', 'The company lets iPhone users send high-quality photos and videos to one another, but similar texts to Android phones are slower and grainy.', 'It also maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue.', 'In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap.', 'Apple’s move to add support for the standard called RCS (rich communication services) is intended to roll out later this year.', 'RCS is considered the replacement to alternatives such as SMS, or short messaging service, and can work over both Wi-Fi and mobile data.', 'The change followed pressure from both regulators and competitors to more seamlessly work across operating systems.', 'The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, for example, requires companies to make their key services interoperable between platforms.', 'The US government could require the same.', 'Another likely change is how hardware from other companies, such as smartwatches, will interact with the Apple range of devices and software, including the iPhone and Apple’s services like Fitness+.', 'The company has also required Apple Watch users to own iOS devices as a way to keep them locked into its existing ecosystem.', 'Chatterjee said making this change would have both positives and negatives.', '“The net result would reside somewhere along the spectrum of access to more and cheaper options but also the devaluation of the customer experience that is so highly prized by Apple’s customers,” he said.', 'The Biden administration has also taken issue with Apple’s lack of support for mobile cloud services.', 'Loosening this could allow users to access games and other cloud-based apps without having to pay for pricey hardware.', 'The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating.', 'Although the Biden administration will have to prove these harms, some critics say any potential changes Apple could make will negatively impact the user experience.', 'David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research, said he recognizes that the content and applications market should be open, and Apple needs to avoid monopolistic advantages that can restrict competition, push up prices or block innovation.', 'But Apple’s success stems in part to its tight grip on its products and services, keeping things intuitive and seamless.', '“If Apple is forced to comply, it could potentially spell the end to the provision of this consistent and unified user experience, although by the same token, consumers will be open to a greater choice of apps and services, helping more developers and providers,” McQueen said.', 'Chatterjee noted some people are drawn to the Apple family of products precisely because of the carefully managed ecosystem’s ease of use.', 'Apple may have to work that much harder to preserve the integrity of its experience, but any changes probably won’t be enough to make customers to leave and go elsewhere.', '“The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said.', 'But he added those currently outside of the Apple ecosystem will likely benefit by “plugging in opportunistically without having to go all in with Apple.”']",0.2470050112228104,"In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap.",The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them.,-0.151834836602211,"“The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said.","The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating.",2024-03-27
Bankers jailed for interest rate rigging lose appeal,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68595204,2024-03-27T11:49:04.000Z,"Two former bankers found guilty of rigging key interest rates have had their appeal against their convictions dismissed by the Court of Appeal. Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo were among 37 City traders prosecuted for manipulating rate benchmarks, Libor and Euribor. Both men spent time in prison before being released in 2021. Their case went before the Appeal Court after a judge in the US overturned similar convictions there. The convictions hinged on whether the traders acted dishonestly by influencing the setting of key Libor and Euribor interest rates, or whether it was normal practice at the time. In the original trial, Mr Hayes, who worked as a trader for UBS and then Citigroup, was described as the ""ringmaster"" of a plot to ensure Libor, a key interest rate, was set at levels that would benefit his own trades. Mr Hayes, now 44, who has been diagnosed with autism, has spent the last nine years trying to overturn his conviction. He succeeded in reducing his original 15-year jail sentence to 11 years, of which he served half. In the US, rate rigging convictions, including for Mr Hayes, have been overturned after an appeal court said the US government had failed to provide evidence the traders had said anything false or broken any rules. The cases of Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo were referred back to the UK Court of Appeal last year by the Criminal Cases Review Commission on the basis that the courts might prefer the view of the US judges. But Lord Justice Bean, the lead judge on the appeal panel, said the US judgment ""is not, and could not be, relevant"" to the issues in English law. Lawyers for Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo had raised concerns that judges had decided whether their conduct was permitted, but this should have been for the jury to decide. This was also dismissed. The traders say they will now apply to take their cases to the Supreme Court.   Mr Palombo, who worked for Barclays, was convicted of seeking to influence where the Euribor interest rate was set to suit his trading positions. The scandal around the setting of Libor and Euribor broke in 2012 just after the financial crisis, as a light was shone on the workings of the City of London. The subsequent prosecutions in London and New York focused the blame on individual traders. Juries were shown messages in which the traders had jokily discussed how easy it was to influence where the rate was set, for example, a message from Mr Hayes suggesting you just needed to offer the colleague responsible a Mars Bar. Banks have paid $9bn in fines for manipulating Libor and Euribor but no senior executive has ever been prosecuted. The UK is currently the only jurisdiction in the world that treats what traders did as criminal. The BBC revealed evidence last year that indicated that central banks including the Bank of England and the central banks of France, Italy, Spain and the US intervened on a large scale in the setting of Libor and Euribor. ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['Two former bankers found guilty of rigging key interest rates have had their appeal against their convictions dismissed by the Court of Appeal.', 'Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo were among 37 City traders prosecuted for manipulating rate benchmarks, Libor and Euribor.', 'Both men spent time in prison before being released in 2021.', 'Their case went before the Appeal Court after a judge in the US overturned similar convictions there.', 'The convictions hinged on whether the traders acted dishonestly by influencing the setting of key Libor and Euribor interest rates, or whether it was normal practice at the time.', 'In the original trial, Mr Hayes, who worked as a trader for UBS and then Citigroup, was described as the ""ringmaster"" of a plot to ensure Libor, a key interest rate, was set at levels that would benefit his own trades.', 'Mr Hayes, now 44, who has been diagnosed with autism, has spent the last nine years trying to overturn his conviction.', 'He succeeded in reducing his original 15-year jail sentence to 11 years, of which he served half.', 'In the US, rate rigging convictions, including for Mr Hayes, have been overturned after an appeal court said the US government had failed to provide evidence the traders had said anything false or broken any rules.', 'The cases of Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo were referred back to the UK Court of Appeal last year by the Criminal Cases Review Commission on the basis that the courts might prefer the view of the US judges.', 'But Lord Justice Bean, the lead judge on the appeal panel, said the US judgment ""is not, and could not be, relevant"" to the issues in English law.', 'Lawyers for Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo had raised concerns that judges had decided whether their conduct was permitted, but this should have been for the jury to decide.', 'This was also dismissed.', 'The traders say they will now apply to take their cases to the Supreme Court.', 'Mr Palombo, who worked for Barclays, was convicted of seeking to influence where the Euribor interest rate was set to suit his trading positions.', 'The scandal around the setting of Libor and Euribor broke in 2012 just after the financial crisis, as a light was shone on the workings of the City of London.', 'The subsequent prosecutions in London and New York focused the blame on individual traders.', 'Juries were shown messages in which the traders had jokily discussed how easy it was to influence where the rate was set, for example, a message from Mr Hayes suggesting you just needed to offer the colleague responsible a Mars Bar.', 'Banks have paid $9bn in fines for manipulating Libor and Euribor but no senior executive has ever been prosecuted.', 'The UK is currently the only jurisdiction in the world that treats what traders did as criminal.', 'The BBC revealed evidence last year that indicated that central banks including the Bank of England and the central banks of France, Italy, Spain and the US intervened on a large scale in the setting of Libor and Euribor.']",-0.0080207692713227,"In the original trial, Mr Hayes, who worked as a trader for UBS and then Citigroup, was described as the ""ringmaster"" of a plot to ensure Libor, a key interest rate, was set at levels that would benefit his own trades.","The scandal around the setting of Libor and Euribor broke in 2012 just after the financial crisis, as a light was shone on the workings of the City of London.",0.9327704310417176,"He succeeded in reducing his original 15-year jail sentence to 11 years, of which he served half.",,2024-03-27
"Britishvolt land will secure investment, say officials",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0v37nd2yvwo,2024-03-26T16:05:26.652Z,"Officials from a council's development company insist the site of a proposed gigafactory will attract investment in the future. Plans for a Britishvolt site, to produce electric car batteries at Cambois in Blyth, are currently stalled after the start-up company went into administration. A proposed £8.6m takeover by Australian firm Recharge Industries is yet to materialise, with the company missing several deadlines to pay an outstanding sum of cash. However, Advance Northumberland officials said they were confident the site would ""secure a significant investment at some point in time"". Advance Northumberland is a dedicated regeneration company wholly owned by Northumberland County Council. Speaking at Monday’s meeting of the council’s corporate services and economic growth scrutiny committee, officials gave an update on the current situation.  There was even praise for the work carried out by Britishvolt prior to its collapse. Advance Northumberland's director of economic growth, Michael Black, said Britishvolt had ""succeeded on a number of levels"". “They secured power and planning permission and carried out ground investigations,"" he said. ""We have a lot of knowledge about that site. “It will secure a significant investment at some point in time. It is about making sure it is the right thing at the right time.” Bedlington West councillor Malcolm Robinson, who is non-aligned, questioned whether any future project on the site would be the promised gigafactory.  Mr Robinson was concerned the site could be carved up with smaller “piecemeal” developments, replacing the previous proposals. Mr Black said: “It is a council-owned site. We’re working very closely with the council but it is a question mainly for the council. “We will support whatever the council wants to do. Fundamentally, it is one of the greatest opportunities that Northumberland has. “It is called the gigafatory site and everyone would like to see a gigafactory. The market will play a large role in that."" He added that Advance Northumberland had ""regular meetings"" with government because the site was ""deemed to be that important.” Follow BBC North East on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""Officials from a council's development company insist the site of a proposed gigafactory will attract investment in the future."", 'Plans for a Britishvolt site, to produce electric car batteries at Cambois in Blyth, are currently stalled after the start-up company went into administration.', 'A proposed £8.6m takeover by Australian firm Recharge Industries is yet to materialise, with the company missing several deadlines to pay an outstanding sum of cash.', 'However, Advance Northumberland officials said they were confident the site would ""secure a significant investment at some point in time"".', 'Advance Northumberland is a dedicated regeneration company wholly owned by Northumberland County Council.', 'Speaking at Monday’s meeting of the council’s corporate services and economic growth scrutiny committee, officials gave an update on the current situation.', 'There was even praise for the work carried out by Britishvolt prior to its collapse.', 'Advance Northumberland\'s director of economic growth, Michael Black, said Britishvolt had ""succeeded on a number of levels"". “', 'They secured power and planning permission and carried out ground investigations,"" he said. ""', 'We have a lot of knowledge about that site. “', 'It will secure a significant investment at some point in time.', 'It is about making sure it is the right thing at the right time.”', 'Bedlington West councillor Malcolm Robinson, who is non-aligned, questioned whether any future project on the site would be the promised gigafactory.', 'Mr Robinson was concerned the site could be carved up with smaller “piecemeal” developments, replacing the previous proposals.', 'Mr Black said: “It is a council-owned site.', 'We’re working very closely with the council but it is a question mainly for the council. “', 'We will support whatever the council wants to do.', 'Fundamentally, it is one of the greatest opportunities that Northumberland has. “', 'It is called the gigafatory site and everyone would like to see a gigafactory.', 'The market will play a large role in that.""', 'He added that Advance Northumberland had ""regular meetings"" with government because the site was ""deemed to be that important.”', 'Follow BBC North East on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.', 'Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk']",0.280627976037625,"Fundamentally, it is one of the greatest opportunities that Northumberland has. “","Plans for a Britishvolt site, to produce electric car batteries at Cambois in Blyth, are currently stalled after the start-up company went into administration.",0.7402050920895168,"Advance Northumberland's director of economic growth, Michael Black, said Britishvolt had ""succeeded on a number of levels"". “","Plans for a Britishvolt site, to produce electric car batteries at Cambois in Blyth, are currently stalled after the start-up company went into administration.",2024-03-27
Fisker shares halted as EV company navigates uncertain future,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/cars/fisker-shares-halted-ev-company-uncertain-future/index.html,"
  Updated
        5:01 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Shares of Fisker, a California-based electric vehicle startup, were halted Monday. This comes after the company warned, in an earnings report in March, that it might not have enough cash to survive the year.
    
            Later in the day, the New York Stock Exchange announced it planned to delist Fisker’s stock due to “abnormally low” price levels. That delisting will mean the company must offer to buy back bonds that are currently due in 2026 and to immediately pay off other debts due in 2025, according to a filing the company made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
    
            “We do not currently have sufficient cash reserves or financing sources sufficient to satisfy all amounts due under the 2026 Notes or the 2025 Notes, and as a result, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition,” Fisker said in its filing.
    
            Fisker’s shares traded for as much as $28 in February of 2021, valuing the company at just under $8 billion, but its shares now currently trade for less than 10 cents per share, reducing the EV car maker’s total market capitalization to less than $50 million
    
            Fisker had also previously said it was in talks with a major, established automaker but, those talks have fallen apart without a deal, according to a regulatory filing Fisker made Monday. The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.
    
            Reuters had reported it was in talks with Nissan, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions. Those talks centered on Fisker’s planned electric pickup, the Alaska, according to the report.
    
            Fisker was founded by its chief executive officer, auto designer Henrik Fisker, in 2016. Its sole product, the Fisker Ocean electric SUV, was produced in Austria under contract by third-party manufacturer Magna Steyr. Last year, 10,000 SUVs were produced but, in its earnings report, the company said only about half had been delivered to customers.
    
            Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.
    
            Fisker had also announced plans to produce a small, affordable EV called the Pear. Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio. Those talks never came to fruition.
    
            And more bad news has been mounting for the company recently. The Ocean was the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube tech personality Marques Brownlee. The video was titled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”
    
            “Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description. Brownlee’s video has racked up more than 4.5 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.
    
            Consumer Reports also recently published its own review of the Ocean panning its ride quality and software although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.
    
            Henrik Fisker admitted, in an interview with the industry newspaper Automotive News, that the Ocean had quality problems. He blamed the issues on software from various suppliers that worked poorly together. He said the problems were being addressed through software updates.
    
            But, besides its own quality issues, Fisker had to deal with much greater competition from established automakers than had existed when the company was established. Now, besides Tesla, companies like Hyundai, Kia, Ford and General Motors offer electric SUVs that are substantially similar to the Ocean and without the risks of dealing with an unknown startup.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Shares of Fisker, a California-based electric vehicle startup, were halted Monday.', 'This comes after the company warned, in an earnings report in March, that it might not have enough cash to survive the year.', 'Later in the day, the New York Stock Exchange announced it planned to delist Fisker’s stock due to “abnormally low” price levels.', 'That delisting will mean the company must offer to buy back bonds that are currently due in 2026 and to immediately pay off other debts due in 2025, according to a filing the company made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.', '“We do not currently have sufficient cash reserves or financing sources sufficient to satisfy all amounts due under the 2026 Notes or the 2025 Notes, and as a result, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition,” Fisker said in its filing.', 'Fisker’s shares traded for as much as $28 in February of 2021, valuing the company at just under $8 billion, but its shares now currently trade for less than 10 cents per share, reducing the EV car maker’s total market capitalization to less than $50 million  Fisker had also previously said it was in talks with a major, established automaker but, those talks have fallen apart without a deal, according to a regulatory filing Fisker made Monday.', 'The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.', 'Reuters had reported it was in talks with Nissan, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions.', 'Those talks centered on Fisker’s planned electric pickup, the Alaska, according to the report.', 'Fisker was founded by its chief executive officer, auto designer Henrik Fisker, in 2016.', 'Its sole product, the Fisker Ocean electric SUV, was produced in Austria under contract by third-party manufacturer Magna Steyr.', 'Last year, 10,000 SUVs were produced but, in its earnings report, the company said only about half had been delivered to customers.', 'Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.', 'Fisker had also announced plans to produce a small, affordable EV called the Pear.', 'Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio.', 'Those talks never came to fruition.', 'And more bad news has been mounting for the company recently.', 'The Ocean was the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube tech personality Marques Brownlee.', 'The video wastitled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”', '“Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description.', 'Brownlee’s video has racked up more than 4.5 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.', 'Consumer Reports also recently published its own review of the Ocean panning its ride quality and software although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.', 'Henrik Fisker admitted, in an interview with the industry newspaper Automotive News, that the Ocean had quality problems.', 'He blamed the issues on software from various suppliers that worked poorly together.', 'He said the problems were being addressed through software updates.', 'But, besides its own quality issues, Fisker had to deal with much greater competition from established automakers than had existed when the company was established.', 'Now, besides Tesla, companies like Hyundai, Kia, Ford and General Motors offer electric SUVs that are substantially similar to the Ocean and without the risks of dealing with an unknown startup.']",-0.030175502610655,"Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio.","The video wastitled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”",-0.7807632522149519,"Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.",The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.,2024-03-27
How do smart meters work and how do I know if mine is broken?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68664200,2024-03-26T13:24:20.000Z,"Almost four million smart meters in Great Britain were not working at the end of 2023, according to government data. Faulty meters can mean customers rely on estimated bills, with some paying too much and struggling to get their money back. Smart meters measure how much gas and electricity you use. You get one meter for each energy supply. They can record half-hourly price and consumption data and automatically send readings to your energy supplier at least once a month. According to the Energy Saving Trust, this means you will be billed accurately for the energy you've used. Smart meters usually come with an in-home display, which can help you track how much energy you're using. Smart meters don't use your wifi. Instead, they include a communications hub which connects the smart meter to the in-home display as well as a secure national smart meter network. This lets smart meters talk to different energy suppliers, says Ofgem. Some earlier smart meters use the 3G network instead. In-home displays, which update every 30 minutes for gas and in near real-time for electricity, don't affect the readings supplied to your energy company. All smart meters have to be officially approved and their accuracy is monitored, the UK government says. Smart Energy GB, a government-backed non-profit organisation supporting the use of smart meter technology, says they are as accurate as traditional meters. According to government figures, there were almost 35 million smart meters in homes and businesses across Great Britain at the end of 2023.  Almost four million of those were not working properly, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This means they were not operating in ""smart mode"" and sending readings to suppliers. However, Martin Lewis, from MoneySavingExpert, told the BBC Radio 4 PM programme that meters with other problems - such as those sending the wrong readings, or a fault with the in-home display - should also be included in the government statistics.  This would mean that about one in five smart meters don't work, he said. Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, says suppliers must replace faulty meters.  Unusual bills, sometimes caused by connectivity issues, and a blank screen on the meter can be signs it is not working correctly. Your bill will also contain information that could help you find out. According to Which?, readings on your bill should be marked ""smart"".  If they are marked with an ""e"", they're estimated readings, says Citizens Advice. You can also use its smart checker tool to see if there is a problem between the meter and the central network. You should contact your supplier - it should help you fix your meter. If they fail to do so within eight weeks, Ofgem has a guide on how to complain to the Energy Ombudsman. It advises taking manual meter readings in the meantime.  Customers who are concerned about paying their bill should also talk to their energy provider. Suppliers are required to offer tailored repayment plans and, where appropriate, payment holidays, Ofgem said. You can also request an independent test of your meter, says Smart Energy GB. Although it is free, you may have to pay your supplier for organising it if your meter is found to be working correctly. The government says this was the case for the vast majority of meters tested in 2021.  Conventional energy meters need to be replaced every 10 to 20 years and most suppliers no longer install non-smart versions. However, it is not compulsory to have a smart meter unless your current meter is faulty or at the end of its working life, says Ofgem. You can therefore choose not to accept an offer to have one fitted.  However, if you refuse, you might find it hard to access all tariffs, according to Citizens Advice. In general, suppliers must install a smart meter if they are replacing a meter or installing a meter for the first time, such as in a new property, says Ofgem. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Almost four million smart meters in Great Britain were not working at the end of 2023, according to government data.', 'Faulty meters can mean customers rely on estimated bills, with some paying too much and struggling to get their money back.', 'Smart meters measure how much gas and electricity you use.', 'You get one meter for each energy supply.', 'They can record half-hourly price and consumption data and automatically send readings to your energy supplier at least once a month.', ""According to the Energy Saving Trust, this means you will be billed accurately for the energy you've used."", ""Smart meters usually come with an in-home display, which can help you track how much energy you're using."", ""Smart meters don't use your wifi."", 'Instead, they include a communications hub which connects the smart meter to the in-home display as well as a secure national smart meter network.', 'This lets smart meters talk to different energy suppliers, says Ofgem.', 'Some earlier smart meters use the 3G network instead.', ""In-home displays, which update every 30 minutes for gas and in near real-time for electricity, don't affect the readings supplied to your energy company."", 'All smart meters have to be officially approved and their accuracy is monitored, the UK government says.', 'Smart Energy GB, a government-backed non-profit organisation supporting the use of smart meter technology, says they are as accurate as traditional meters.', 'According to government figures, there were almost 35 million smart meters in homes and businesses across Great Britain at the end of 2023.', 'Almost four million of those were not working properly, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.', 'This means they were not operating in ""smart mode"" and sending readings to suppliers.', 'However, Martin Lewis, from MoneySavingExpert, told the BBC Radio 4 PM programme that meters with other problems - such as those sending the wrong readings, or a fault with the in-home display - should also be included in the government statistics.', ""This would mean that about one in five smart meters don't work, he said."", 'Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, says suppliers must replace faulty meters.', 'Unusual bills, sometimes caused by connectivity issues, and a blank screen on the meter can be signs it is not working correctly.', 'Your bill will also contain information that could help you find out.', 'According to Which?,', 'readings on your bill should be marked ""smart"".', 'If they are marked with an ""e"", they\'re estimated readings, says Citizens Advice.', 'You can also use its smart checker tool to see if there is a problem between the meter and the central network.', 'You should contact your supplier - it should help you fix your meter.', 'If they fail to do so within eight weeks, Ofgem has a guide on how to complain to the Energy Ombudsman.', 'It advises taking manual meter readings in the meantime.', 'Customers who are concerned about paying their bill should also talk to their energy provider.', 'Suppliers are required to offer tailored repayment plans and, where appropriate, payment holidays, Ofgem said.', 'You can also request an independent test of your meter, says Smart Energy GB.', 'Although it is free, you may have to pay your supplier for organising it if your meter is found to be working correctly.', 'The government says this was the case for the vast majority of meters tested in 2021.', 'Conventional energy meters need to be replaced every 10 to 20 years and most suppliers no longer install non-smart versions.', 'However, it is not compulsory to have a smart meter unless your current meter is faulty or at the end of its working life, says Ofgem.', 'You can therefore choose not to accept an offer to have one fitted.', 'However, if you refuse, you might find it hard to access all tariffs, according to Citizens Advice.', 'In general, suppliers must install a smart meter if they are replacing a meter or installing a meter for the first time, such as in a new property, says Ofgem.']",0.2731208567814571,"Smart Energy GB, a government-backed non-profit organisation supporting the use of smart meter technology, says they are as accurate as traditional meters.","However, Martin Lewis, from MoneySavingExpert, told the BBC Radio 4 PM programme that meters with other problems - such as those sending the wrong readings, or a fault with the in-home display - should also be included in the government statistics.",-0.9387089610099792,,"Faulty meters can mean customers rely on estimated bills, with some paying too much and struggling to get their money back.",2024-03-27
Elon Musk's X anti-hate group case thrown out,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68657840,2024-03-25T21:21:53.000Z,"A US judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk's social media firm X against a group that had claimed that hate speech had risen on the platform since the tech tycoon took over.  X had accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) of taking ""unlawful"" steps to access its data. The US judge dismissed the case and said it was ""evident"" Mr Musk's X Corp did not like criticism.  X said it planned to appeal.  Imran Ahmed, founder and chief executive of CCDH, celebrated the win, saying Mr Musk had conducted a ""loud, hypocritical campaign"" of harassment and abuse against his organisation in an attempt to ""avoid taking responsibility for his own decisions"". ""The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies"" he said, adding that he hoped the ruling would ""embolden"" others to ""continue and even intensify"" similar work. It is a striking loss for the billionaire, a self-described ""free-speech absolutist"". The company, formerly known as Twitter, launched its lawsuit against CCDH in 2023, claiming its researchers had cherry-picked data to create misleading reports about X.  It accused the group of ""intentionally and unlawfully"" scraping data from X, in violation of its terms of service, in order to produce its research.  It said the non-profit group designed a ""scare campaign"" to drive away advertisers, and it demanded tens of millions of dollars in damages. But in his decision Judge Charles Breyer said Mr Musk was ""punishing the defendants for their speech"". Judge Breyer said X appeared ""far more concerned about CCDH's speech than it is its data collection methods"". He said the company had ""brought this case in order to punish CCDH for ... publications that criticised X Corp - and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism"". Mr Musk purchased the platform in 2022 for $44bn (£34bn) and swiftly embarked on a slew of controversial changes, sharply reducing its workforce with deep cuts to teams in charge of content moderation and other areas. His own posts have also drawn charges of anti-semitism, a claim he has denied.  ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""A US judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk's social media firm X against a group that had claimed that hate speech had risen on the platform since the tech tycoon took over."", 'X had accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) of taking ""unlawful"" steps to access its data.', 'The US judge dismissed the case and said it was ""evident"" Mr Musk\'s X Corp did not like criticism.', 'X said it planned to appeal.', 'Imran Ahmed, founder and chief executive of CCDH, celebrated the win, saying Mr Musk had conducted a ""loud, hypocritical campaign"" of harassment and abuse against his organisation in an attempt to ""avoid taking responsibility for his own decisions"". ""', 'The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies"" he said, adding that he hoped the ruling would ""embolden"" others to ""continue and even intensify"" similar work.', 'It is a striking loss for the billionaire, a self-described ""free-speech absolutist"".', 'The company, formerly known as Twitter, launched its lawsuit against CCDH in 2023, claiming its researchers had cherry-picked data to create misleading reports about X. It accused the group of ""intentionally and unlawfully"" scraping data from X, in violation of its terms of service, in order to produce its research.', 'It said the non-profit group designed a ""scare campaign"" to drive away advertisers, and it demanded tens of millions of dollars in damages.', 'But in his decision Judge Charles Breyer said Mr Musk was ""punishing the defendants for their speech"".', 'Judge Breyer said X appeared ""far more concerned about CCDH\'s speech than it is its data collection methods"".', 'He said the company had ""brought this case in order to punish CCDH for ... publications that criticised X Corp - and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism"".', 'Mr Musk purchased the platform in 2022 for $44bn (£34bn) and swiftly embarked on a slew of controversial changes, sharply reducing its workforce with deep cuts to teams in charge of content moderation and other areas.', 'His own posts have also drawn charges of anti-semitism, a claim he has denied.']",-0.3560621132186367,"The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies"" he said, adding that he hoped the ruling would ""embolden"" others to ""continue and even intensify"" similar work.","The company, formerly known as Twitter, launched its lawsuit against CCDH in 2023, claiming its researchers had cherry-picked data to create misleading reports about X. It accused the group of ""intentionally and unlawfully"" scraping data from X, in violation of its terms of service, in order to produce its research.",-0.0377290646235148,"The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies"" he said, adding that he hoped the ruling would ""embolden"" others to ""continue and even intensify"" similar work.","It is a striking loss for the billionaire, a self-described ""free-speech absolutist"".",2024-03-27
Bilt’s March Rent Day promotion: Vote for your favorite benefit with the Bilt Bracket,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/bilt-rent-day-promotion,"
  Updated
        10:57 AM EST, Mon February 26, 2024
    ","The relatively new Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees) has been incredibly popular since its inception. With a top-notch loyalty program and the opportunity to earn points on rent with absolutely no transaction fees (up to 100,000 points per calendar year), it’s no surprise to see the card flourish over the past few years.
    
            And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards — the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard — also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.
    
            With Bilt’s Rent Day promotion — which runs the first of every month — all card members have the opportunity to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent) as well as take advantage of their unique offer for the month. Bilt typically announces their promotions just a few days prior to Rent Day, and it’s something you’ll want to pay attention to.
    
            Bilt Rewards just released the March 1st edition of its monthly Rent Day promotion, and it is a unique one. Instead of Bilt announcing a single offer, all members will have the opportunity to have a say in the winning pick.
    
            A play off the March Madness bracket, the Bilt Bracket will run between now and Feb. 29, during which you can vote daily to help decide the Rent Day benefit. Various offers will go head-to-head, and like all brackets, the winner will proceed to the next round. The last standing offer will then be the Rent Day benefit on March 1.
    
            And similar to most other Rent Day promotions, the winning offer is only valid on the first day of the month (March 1, 2024, in this case).
    
            Let’s take a closer look at how this bracket will work and the Rent Day offer options.
    
            For four days straight — between Feb. 26 and Feb. 29 — Bilt members can vote for their favorite Rent Day benefit within the Bilt app or BiltRewards.com. There are 16 total offers to start with and the winners from each day will then proceed to the next round of the bracket.
    
            The last standing offer after the Feb. 29th vote will end up being the Rent Day benefit for all members to take advantage of on March 1.
    
            However, those with Gold or Platinum status with Bilt, will also receive the runner-up offer, giving select members two bonus opportunities on Rent Day.
    
            With 16 different offers, some are significantly better than others. Although, the best offer for you might truly depend on how you engage in the Bilt program. Check the Bilt app or website to see the full list of promotions you can vote on.
    
            For me, the offers that allow me to earn bonus points on specific purchases — such as bonus points at Bilt Dining restaurants — will be my top pick, but others might prefer the opportunity get bonus points by redeeming their Bilt points on rent, for example.
    
            Voting is incredible quick and can easily be completed alongside your morning coffee. Once you vote, you’ll also be given some insight on the winners with the percentage of members that picked each option thus far.
    
            On March 1st, Bilt members will also have the opportunity to redeem Bilt points for an exclusive game ticket and experience to the NCAA Men’s Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games. Tickets start at 15,000 Bilt points each for games taking place in Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles and Phoenix.
    
            You’ll be able to snag a ticket starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 1, but those with higher Bilt status will receive priority. This is because those with Platinum status will have first access at 12 p.m. EST, Gold status members at 12:30 p.m. EST, Silver status members at 1 p.m. and everyone else at 1:30 p.m.
    
            Every month on Rent Day, Bilt also gives members with the Bilt Mastercard a chance to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent).
    
            So, if you have a new restaurant you want to check out, flights to book or any other purchases to make, it could be worth waiting until March 1 to earn more points on your purchase. And if you’re dining at a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining, you can increase your earnings up to a whopping 11 points per dollar. But remember, to earn Bilt points, you must use the card five times each statement period (see Rewards & Benefits).
    
            Bilt’s monthly Rent Day promotions are a great opportunity to maximize your points as well as jump on unique promotions. Let’s see which bonus offer wins this month.
    
            Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.
    
            Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best credit cards currently available.",CNN,26/02/2024,"['The relatively new Bilt Mastercard® (seerates and fees) has been incredibly popular since its inception.', 'With a top-notch loyalty program and the opportunity to earn points on rent with absolutely no transaction fees (up to 100,000 points per calendar year), it’s no surprise to see the card flourish over the past few years.', 'And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.', 'With Bilt’s Rent Day promotion —which runs the first of every month — all card members have the opportunity to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent) as well as take advantage of their unique offer for the month.', 'Bilt typically announces their promotions just a few days prior to Rent Day, and it’s something you’ll want to pay attention to.', 'Bilt Rewards just released the March 1st edition of its monthly Rent Day promotion, and it is a unique one.', 'Instead of Bilt announcing a single offer, all members will have the opportunity to have a say in the winning pick.', 'A play off the March Madness bracket, the Bilt Bracket will run between now and Feb. 29, during which you can vote daily to help decide the Rent Day benefit.', 'Various offers will go head-to-head, and like all brackets, the winner will proceed to the next round.', 'The last standing offer will then be the Rent Day benefit on March 1.', 'And similar to most other Rent Day promotions, the winning offer is only valid on the first day of the month (March 1, 2024, in this case).', 'Let’s take a closer look at how this bracket will work and the Rent Day offer options.', 'For four days straight —between Feb. 26 and Feb. 29 —Bilt members can vote for their favorite Rent Day benefit within the Bilt app or BiltRewards.com.', 'There are 16 total offers to start with and the winners from each day will then proceed to the next round of the bracket.', 'The last standing offer after the Feb. 29th vote will end up being the Rent Day benefit for all members to take advantage of on March 1.', 'However, those with Gold or Platinum status with Bilt, will also receive the runner-up offer,giving select members two bonus opportunities on Rent Day.', 'With 16 different offers, some are significantly better than others.', 'Although, the best offer for you might truly depend on how you engage in the Bilt program.', 'Check the Bilt app or website to see the full list of promotions you can vote on.', 'For me, the offers that allow me to earn bonus points on specific purchases —such as bonus points at Bilt Dining restaurants —will be my top pick, but others might prefer the opportunity get bonus points by redeeming their Bilt points on rent, for example.', 'Voting is incredible quick and can easily be completed alongside your morning coffee.', 'Once you vote, you’ll also be given some insight on the winners with the percentage of members that picked each option thus far.', 'On March 1st, Bilt members will also have the opportunity to redeem Bilt points for an exclusive game ticket and experience to the NCAA Men’s Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games.', 'Tickets start at 15,000 Bilt points each for games taking place in Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles and Phoenix.', 'You’ll be able to snag a ticket starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 1, but those with higher Bilt status will receive priority.', 'This is because those with Platinum status will have first access at 12 p.m. EST, Gold status members at 12:30 p.m. EST, Silver status members at 1 p.m. and everyone else at 1:30 p.m.  Every month on Rent Day, Bilt also gives members with the Bilt Mastercard a chance to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent).', 'So, if you have a new restaurant you want to check out, flights to book or any other purchases to make, it could be worth waiting until March 1 to earn more points on your purchase.', 'And if you’re dining at a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining, you can increase your earnings up to a whopping 11 points per dollar.', 'But remember, to earn Bilt points, you must use the card five times each statement period (see Rewards & Benefits).', 'Bilt’s monthly Rent Day promotions are a great opportunity to maximize your points as well as jump on unique promotions.', 'Let’s see which bonus offer wins this month.', 'Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.', 'Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best credit cardscurrently available.']",0.5132379666371525,"And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.",,0.9566513225436212,"And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.",,2024-03-27
Lessons for Baltimore: How Minneapolis recovered from its I-35W bridge collapse 17 years ago,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/economy/minneapolis-bridge-collapse-baltimore-lessons/index.html,"
  Updated
        6:42 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","The collapse of the the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday is unfortunately not the first deadly collapse of a major interstate bridge in the US. But the response to a bridge failure in Minneapolis 17 years ago, one of the most catastrophic bridge failures in recent memory, could serve as a roadmap for Baltimore moving forward.
    
            On August 1, 2007, when cars were bumper to bumper in evening rush hour traffic along Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, the heavily trafficked, eight-lane bridge that spanned the Mississippi River suddenly failed and collapsed into the river and railyard below. Thirteen people were killed, and nearly 150 more were injured.
    
            In addition to the tragic loss of lives and the immediate damage, the collapse of the I-35W bridge cut off a major transportation artery for the Twin Cities. About 140,000 cars a day traversed the I-35W bridge that once stood more than 100 feet above the Mighty Mississippi.
    
            The loss of the I-35W bridge was initially estimated to sap $113,000 per day (about $17 million total in 2007 and $43 million in 2008) from the state’s economic output, according to projections from the state of Minnesota. Concern swelled about how traffic would snarl elsewhere in the state.
    
            The enormous traffic jams did not emerge as expected, and it took only 13 months for a brand new bridge to be built.
    
            “The economic impact was orders of magnitude less than people had feared,” Christopher Phelan, an economics professor at the University of Minnesota, told CNN.
    
            “There was a lot of almost instant adaptability.”
    
            In the days and weeks that followed, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) restriped several of the major highways and neighboring interstates to turn the shoulders into driving lanes, he said.
    
            The City of Lakes, by its nature also a city of bridges, and MnDOT immediately inspected the bracket plates on every truss bridge in the state and established a program to repair and replace any and all structurally deficient bridges within 10 years, MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger told NPR 2017, on the 10th anniversary of the collapse.
    
            The federal government moved swiftly as well: The House of Representatives and the US Senate voted unanimously for $250 million in emergency funding for Minnesota, and the bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 6, just days after the collapse.
    
            By mid-September, MnDOT had enlisted one firm to both design and build the replacement bridge, which was ultimately completed far faster and cheaper than projected.
    
            The I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge was opened in mid-September 2008, a startlingly fast turnaround by infrastructure standards.
    
            On Tuesday night, the I-35W bridge was lit in the colors of the Maryland state flag.
    
            US bridges can take several years to be built, with some construction projects taking much longer.
    
            “We see things that are taking 10 years to build that would have taken a year 50 years ago,” Phelan said. “Those things that are causing it to take 10 years instead of a year are not laws of nature. Those are laws of humans that can be set aside — and they have been set aside — for emergencies.”
    
            On Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made a post on social media site X calling the news of the collapse “heart-wrenching” and added that “as we pray for the people of Maryland, we’re offering any resources they may need as they grapple with this tragedy.”
    
            It’s not a complete apples to apples comparison between the I-35W bridge and the Key Bridge. The Key Bridge had about 22% of the daily traffic of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge; however, the Minneapolis bridge was about 22% the length of the truss bridge in Baltimore.
    
            Additionally, the Key Bridge’s collapse closed the nation’s ninth-busiest port.
    
            “And that’s going to last until the salvage companies can come and clear that channel,” Ryan Petersen, chief executive officer of logistics technology firm Flexport, told CNN in an interview. “It could be weeks, it could be months before they’re able to open up the channel again and make it safe for ships to continue serving the Port of Baltimore.”
    
            Ships will be re-routed, as will the daily commutes, the commercial traffic and those who used the bridge for non-work trips, said civil engineer and author David Levinson, a former University of Minnesota professor who researched the I-35W bridge.
    
            “One of the things that we saw with the 35W bridge is that we lost 140,000 trips per day on that bridge,” said Levinson, who is now a professor of transport engineering at the University of Sydney in Australia. “And we looked at the counts on all the other bridges, and they only increased by 90,000, which means about 50,000 trips, they vanished into the ether … they either were not made or they went to different destinations.”
    
            Five months after the bridge collapsed, several small businesses closed up shop, citing diminished customer traffic, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote at the time. The collapse was declared a federal disaster, allowing for businesses to get low-interest loans, but there were very few takers.
    
            Some business owners at the time said they didn’t want to take on the debt for operations that were no longer economically viable.
    
            However, the full extent of evaluating the business impact was muddled by another disaster: the broader financial crisis that would result in the Great Recession, Levinson said.
    
            The I-35W bridge failure and collapse resulted in an estimated economic loss of $71,000 to $220,000 per day, depending on how drivers adjusted their trips, Levinson and fellow professor Feng Xie wrote in a 2011 study that was published in the Transportation Planning and Technology journal.
    
            Levinson and Xie also found that MnDOT’s quick implementation of major traffic restoration projects had the potential to save the “road-users” $9,500 to $17,500 per day.
    
            “This translates into a benefit-cost ratio of 2.0-9.0, suggesting these projects are highly beneficial in an economic sense,” Levinson and Xie wrote.
    
            In the immediate aftermath of the Key Bridge collapse, Levinson told CNN that this event should hopefully bring attention to vulnerabilities of critical pieces of infrastructure.
    
            “This kind of thing, I suspect, is not going to be the last one,” he said. “We need to be thinking about ways of defending against this, not just in terms of random events, but in terms of intentional events.”",CNN,27/03/2024,"['The collapse of the the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday is unfortunately not the first deadly collapse of a major interstate bridge in the US.', 'But the response to a bridge failure in Minneapolis 17 years ago, one of the most catastrophic bridge failures in recent memory, could serve as a roadmap for Baltimore moving forward.', 'On August 1, 2007, when cars were bumper to bumper in evening rush hour traffic along Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, the heavily trafficked, eight-lane bridge that spanned the Mississippi River suddenly failed and collapsed into the river and railyard below.', 'Thirteen people were killed, and nearly 150 more were injured.', 'In addition to the tragic loss of lives and the immediate damage, the collapse of the I-35W bridge cut off a major transportation artery for the Twin Cities.', 'About 140,000 cars a day traversed the I-35W bridge that once stood more than 100 feet above the Mighty Mississippi.', 'The loss of the I-35W bridge was initially estimated to sap $113,000 per day (about $17 million total in 2007 and $43 million in 2008) from the state’s economic output, according to projections from the state of Minnesota.', 'Concern swelled about how traffic would snarl elsewhere in the state.', 'The enormous traffic jams did not emerge as expected, and it took only 13 months for a brand new bridge to be built.', '“The economic impact was orders of magnitude less than people had feared,” Christopher Phelan, an economics professor at the University of Minnesota, told CNN.', '“There was a lot of almost instant adaptability.”', 'In the days and weeks that followed, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) restriped several of the major highways and neighboring interstates to turn the shoulders into driving lanes, he said.', 'The City of Lakes, by its nature also a city of bridges, and MnDOT immediately inspected the bracket plates on every truss bridge in the state and established a program to repair and replace any and all structurally deficient bridges within 10 years, MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger told NPR 2017, on the 10th anniversary of the collapse.', 'The federal government moved swiftly as well: The House of Representatives and the US Senate voted unanimously for $250 million in emergency funding for Minnesota, and the bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 6, just days after the collapse.', 'By mid-September, MnDOT had enlisted one firm to both design and build the replacement bridge, which was ultimately completed far faster and cheaper than projected.', 'The I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge was opened in mid-September 2008, a startlingly fast turnaround by infrastructure standards.', 'On Tuesday night, the I-35W bridge was lit in the colors of the Maryland state flag.', 'US bridges can take several years to be built, with some construction projects taking much longer.', '“We see things that are taking 10 years to build that would have taken a year 50 years ago,” Phelan said. “', 'Those things that are causing it to take 10 years instead of a year are not laws of nature.', 'Those are laws of humans that can be set aside — and they have been set aside — for emergencies.”', 'On Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made a post on social media site X calling the news of the collapse “heart-wrenching” and added that “as we pray for the people of Maryland, we’re offering any resources they may need as they grapple with this tragedy.”', 'It’s not a complete apples to apples comparison between the I-35W bridge and the Key Bridge.', 'The Key Bridge had about 22% of the daily traffic of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge; however, the Minneapolis bridge was about 22% the length of the truss bridge in Baltimore.', 'Additionally, the Key Bridge’s collapse closed the nation’s ninth-busiest port.', '“And that’s going to last until the salvage companies can come and clear that channel,” Ryan Petersen, chief executive officer of logistics technology firm Flexport, told CNN in an interview. “', 'It could be weeks, it could be months before they’re able to open up the channel again and make it safe for ships to continue serving the Port of Baltimore.”', 'Ships will be re-routed, as will the daily commutes, the commercial traffic and those who used the bridge for non-work trips, said civil engineer and author David Levinson, a former University of Minnesota professor who researched the I-35W bridge.', '“One of the things that we saw with the 35W bridge is that we lost 140,000 trips per day on that bridge,” said Levinson, who is now a professor of transport engineering at the University of Sydney in Australia. “', 'And we looked at the counts on all the other bridges, and they only increased by 90,000, which means about 50,000 trips, they vanished into the ether … they either were not made or they went to different destinations.”', 'Five months after the bridge collapsed, several small businesses closed up shop, citing diminished customer traffic, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote at the time.', 'The collapse was declared a federal disaster, allowing for businesses to get low-interest loans, but there were very few takers.', 'Some business owners at the time said they didn’t want to take on the debt for operations that were no longer economically viable.', 'However, the full extent of evaluating the business impact was muddled by another disaster: the broader financial crisis that would result in the Great Recession, Levinson said.', 'The I-35W bridge failure and collapse resulted in an estimated economic loss of $71,000 to $220,000 per day, depending on how drivers adjusted their trips, Levinson and fellow professor Feng Xie wrote in a 2011 study that was published in the Transportation Planning and Technology journal.', 'Levinson and Xie also found that MnDOT’s quick implementation of major traffic restoration projects had the potential to save the “road-users” $9,500 to $17,500 per day.', '“This translates into a benefit-cost ratio of 2.0-9.0, suggesting these projects are highly beneficial in an economic sense,” Levinson and Xie wrote.', 'In the immediate aftermath of the Key Bridge collapse, Levinson told CNN that this event should hopefully bring attention to vulnerabilities of critical pieces of infrastructure.', '“This kind of thing, I suspect, is not going to be the last one,” he said. “', 'We need to be thinking about ways of defending against this, not just in terms of random events, but in terms of intentional events.”']",-0.2069684694944497,"“This translates into a benefit-cost ratio of 2.0-9.0, suggesting these projects are highly beneficial in an economic sense,” Levinson and Xie wrote.","But the response to a bridge failure in Minneapolis 17 years ago, one of the most catastrophic bridge failures in recent memory, could serve as a roadmap for Baltimore moving forward.",-0.1533745807759902,"“This translates into a benefit-cost ratio of 2.0-9.0, suggesting these projects are highly beneficial in an economic sense,” Levinson and Xie wrote.","The I-35W bridge failure and collapse resulted in an estimated economic loss of $71,000 to $220,000 per day, depending on how drivers adjusted their trips, Levinson and fellow professor Feng Xie wrote in a 2011 study that was published in the Transportation Planning and Technology journal.",2024-03-27
Everyone wants the latest chips. That’s causing a huge headache for the world’s biggest supplier,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/tech/taiwan-tsmc-talent-shortage-training-center-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Published
        8:18 PM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","Until just a few years ago, the world’s largest chipmaker had a simple answer to training new recruits — a buddy system that paired them up with senior engineers tasked with showing them the ropes.
    
            All that changed three years ago, when a global chip shortage and rising geopolitical tension turbocharged growth at TSMC. It needed to create an intensive training program to get tens of thousands of new recruits to work quickly.
    
            TSMC set up the Newcomer Training Center inside a sprawling science park in the city of Taichung in central Taiwan in 2021. That facility now holds the key to the company’s global expansion.
    
            In a world dominated by Moore’s Law — the idea that the number of transistors on microchips would double every two years — speed is of the essence for TSMC and its customers, including Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD). It also matters for US President Joe Biden, who is counting on the company to boost US manufacturing in Arizona.
    
            Today, all new engineers based in Taiwan and some overseas hires are required to spend eight weeks at the center, which CNN visited recently.
    
            “[Now], we can teach the newcomers more systematically. We can make them learn faster and build a solid foundation,” said Marcus Chen, an instructor at the center. “It’s a TSMC core value [that] we have to do everything very efficiently.”
    
            The center is modeled on the operations of a fabrication plant, called fabs, where chips are made.
    
            In one room, a rotating robotic arm cleans and polishes a semiconductor wafer by pressing it on a pad, in a process known as chemical-mechanical polishing. In another, a machine lifts a pack of wafers to the ceiling and moves it around the facility.
    
            The engineers trained at the center won’t just be deployed across TSMC’s fabs in Taiwan. Some will be used to “seed” its facilities globally.
    
            “Every new fab, at the very beginning, we need to bring a certain percentage of people from Taiwan,” Lora Ho, the company’s senior vice president of human resources, told CNN. “After many years, what we want to do is to gradually reduce assignees [and] increase the local hires.”
    
            Sometimes called the most important company in the world, TSMC (officially Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) produces an estimated 90% of the world’s super-advanced semiconductor chips, which are used to power everything from smartphones to artificial intelligence applications.
    
            To meet rising demand and facing pressure to be physically closer to its customers, TSMC is building new fabs in the United States, Japan and Germany. Its existing plants are in Taiwan as well as in eastern China and Washington state.
    
            Last month, the chip giant opened its first fab in the Japanese city of Kumamoto and is set to open two $40 billion facilities in Phoenix, Arizona in the coming years to make smaller, more advanced chips. It has committed to investing $3.8 billion to build a fab in Dresden, Germany, the company’s first in Europe.
    
            The soaring demand, particularly for chips that power AI, has created a shortage of talent for the semiconductor industry. TSMC said last year that one of its fabs in Arizona would be delayed because of a lack of specialist workers.
    
            “Finding the best talent has always been an issue but it has become even more so since the world suddenly woke up in the past few years and realized semiconductors were important,” said Stewart Randall, head of electronics and embedded software at Intralink, a consultancy.
    
            “Expanding fab numbers [and] capacity of fabs is connected to geopolitics but also market demand,” he added. “This means we need more people with IC (integrated circuits or semiconductor) design, IC manufacturing, materials science skills. Countries compete for this talent.”
    
            TSMC’s Ho said a shortage of talent is one of the main challenges the company faces.
    
            “There’s a scarcity of talent worldwide,” she said. “If we move globally, then we really need to expand our talent pool.”
    
            TSMC currently has about 77,000 employees around the world. In a few years, the number will reach 100,000, Ho added.
    
            A lack of qualified workers isn’t the only problem. TSMC has also faced challenges in adapting to differences in work culture between Asian and Western countries.
    
            While its engineers in Taiwan are paid extremely well, the job is demanding with long hours and weekend shifts. And, if an earthquake were to hit the island — a common occurrence — engineers are expected to return to their stations immediately, regardless of the time of day.
    
            Kristy Hsu, director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research,  said that while Taiwanese employees may be accustomed to overtime and being on-call, other workers may not.
    
            “For chip fabrication, and also testing and packaging, it’s a very labor-intensive industry, and therefore, people have … to work overtime,” she said. “Also, you have to always be prepared to be called [in], whether it’s during Chinese New Year or Christmas.”
    
            “That working culture has been [in] Taiwan and some other East Asian countries like Japan for generations,” she added. “When you talk about this kind of work culture in the US and Germany, it’s going to be more problematic.”
    
            Ho said as TSMC expands globally, it is learning how it should manage teams differently and efficiently from various parts of the world.
    
            “We do need to adjust to the local practice and become socially acceptable. Certain things you can do here, but you cannot do there,” she said. “The way we manage in Taiwan cannot be totally transferred [to other countries]. In the US, we have to adjust to local culture.”
    
            “People here [in Taiwan] are willing to follow the instruction. But I think in the US, you have to explain why — in the language that they’re familiar with,” she added.
    
            The chip giant’s move to diversify its production beyond Taiwan has rattled the nerves of some locals, including lawmakers, who worry that it could eventually diminish the island’s importance as a global semiconductor powerhouse.
    
            Ho played down those concerns.
    
            “I don’t think it will take away [Taiwan’s] strengths because we are still very highly concentrated in Taiwan, and the most leading-edge technology will absolutely start from Taiwan,” she said. “It’s not taking away, but it will expand Taiwan’s exposure and we can learn how to operate globally.”
    
            — CNN’s Juliana Liu contributed reporting.",CNN,22/03/2024,"['Until just a few years ago, the world’s largest chipmaker had a simple answer to training new recruits — a buddy system that paired them up with senior engineers tasked with showing them the ropes.', 'All that changed three years ago, when a global chip shortage and rising geopolitical tension turbocharged growth at TSMC.', 'It needed to create an intensive training program to get tens of thousands of new recruits to work quickly.', 'TSMC set up the Newcomer Training Center inside a sprawling science park in the city of Taichung in central Taiwan in 2021.', 'That facility now holds the key to the company’s global expansion.', 'In a world dominated by Moore’s Law — the idea that the number of transistors on microchips would double every two years — speed is of the essence for TSMC and its customers, including Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD).', 'It also matters for US President Joe Biden, who is counting on the company to boost US manufacturing in Arizona.', 'Today, all new engineers based in Taiwan and some overseas hires are required to spend eight weeks at the center, which CNN visited recently.', '“[Now], we can teach the newcomers more systematically.', 'We can make them learn faster and build a solid foundation,” said Marcus Chen, an instructor at the center. “', 'It’s a TSMC core value [that] we have to do everything very efficiently.”', 'The center is modeled on the operations of a fabrication plant, called fabs, where chips are made.', 'In one room, a rotating robotic arm cleans and polishes a semiconductor wafer by pressing it on a pad, in a process known as chemical-mechanical polishing.', 'In another, a machine lifts a pack of wafers to the ceiling and moves it around the facility.', 'The engineers trained at the center won’t just be deployed across TSMC’s fabs in Taiwan.', 'Some will be used to “seed” its facilities globally.', '“Every new fab, at the very beginning, we need to bring a certain percentage of people from Taiwan,” Lora Ho, the company’s senior vice president of human resources, told CNN. “', 'After many years, what we want to do is to gradually reduce assignees [and] increase the local hires.”', 'Sometimes called the most important company in the world, TSMC (officially Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) produces an estimated 90% of the world’s super-advanced semiconductor chips, which are used to power everything from smartphones to artificial intelligence applications.', 'To meet rising demand and facing pressure to be physically closer to its customers, TSMC is building new fabs in the United States, Japan and Germany.', 'Its existing plants are in Taiwan as well as in eastern China and Washington state.', 'Last month, the chip giant opened its first fab in the Japanese city of Kumamoto and is set to open two $40 billion facilities in Phoenix, Arizona in the coming years to make smaller, more advanced chips.', 'It has committed to investing$3.8 billion to build a fab in Dresden, Germany, the company’s first in Europe.', 'The soaring demand, particularly for chips that power AI, has created a shortage of talent for the semiconductor industry.', 'TSMC said last year that one of its fabs in Arizona would be delayed because of a lack of specialist workers.', '“Finding the best talent has always been an issue but it has become even more so since the world suddenly woke up in the past few years and realized semiconductors were important,” said Stewart Randall, head of electronics and embedded software at Intralink, a consultancy.', '“Expanding fab numbers [and] capacity of fabs is connected to geopolitics but also market demand,” he added. “', 'This means we need more people with IC (integrated circuits or semiconductor) design, IC manufacturing, materials science skills.', 'Countries compete for this talent.”', 'TSMC’s Ho said a shortage of talent is one of the main challenges the company faces.', '“There’s a scarcity of talent worldwide,” she said. “', 'If we move globally, then we really need to expand our talent pool.”', 'TSMC currently has about 77,000 employees around the world.', 'In a few years, the number will reach 100,000, Ho added.', 'A lack of qualified workers isn’t the only problem.', 'TSMC has also faced challenges in adapting to differences in work culture between Asian and Western countries.', 'While its engineers in Taiwan are paid extremely well,the job is demanding with long hours and weekend shifts.', 'And, if an earthquake were to hit the island — a common occurrence — engineers are expected to return to their stations immediately, regardless of the time of day.', 'Kristy Hsu, director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research, said that while Taiwanese employees may be accustomed to overtime and being on-call, other workers may not.', '“For chip fabrication, and also testing and packaging, it’s a very labor-intensive industry, and therefore, people have … to work overtime,” she said. “', 'Also, you have to always be prepared to be called [in], whether it’s during Chinese New Year or Christmas.”', '“That working culture has been [in] Taiwan and some other East Asian countries like Japan for generations,” she added. “', 'When you talk about this kind of work culture in the US and Germany, it’s going to be more problematic.”', 'Ho said as TSMC expands globally, it is learning how it should manage teams differently and efficientlyfrom various parts of the world.', '“We do need to adjust to the local practice and become socially acceptable.', 'Certain things you can do here, but you cannot do there,” she said. “', 'The way we manage in Taiwan cannot be totally transferred [to other countries].', 'In the US, we have to adjust to local culture.”', '“People here [in Taiwan] are willing to follow the instruction.', 'But I think in the US, you have to explain why —in the language that they’re familiar with,” she added.', 'The chip giant’s move to diversify its production beyond Taiwan has rattled the nerves of some locals, including lawmakers, who worry that it could eventually diminish the island’s importance as a global semiconductor powerhouse.', 'Ho played down those concerns.', '“I don’t think it will take away [Taiwan’s] strengths because we are still very highly concentrated in Taiwan, and the most leading-edge technology will absolutely start from Taiwan,” she said. “', 'It’s not taking away, but it will expand Taiwan’s exposure and we can learn how to operate globally.”', '— CNN’s Juliana Liu contributed reporting.']",0.1654380389073535,"Sometimes called the most important company in the world, TSMC (officially Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) produces an estimated 90% of the world’s super-advanced semiconductor chips, which are used to power everything from smartphones to artificial intelligence applications.",A lack of qualified workers isn’t the only problem.,0.1578724792129115,"It’s not taking away, but it will expand Taiwan’s exposure and we can learn how to operate globally.”","The chip giant’s move to diversify its production beyond Taiwan has rattled the nerves of some locals, including lawmakers, who worry that it could eventually diminish the island’s importance as a global semiconductor powerhouse.",2024-03-27
Trump’s impending return to Wall Street has already sparked a meme-like frenzy,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/investing/trump-dwac-truth-social-meme/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:03 PM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","Donald Trump is now more likely than ever to make a Wall Street comeback — and that has escalated the meme-trading frenzy surrounding the former president.
    
            Shareholders of Trump Media, the parent company of Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, voted Friday to approve a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a blank-check company whose purpose is to raise funds for private companies and take them public.
    
            In anticipation of its merger with Trump Media, shares of DWAC popped more than 100% this year. Trading has embodied the same kind of frenzy shown in Tupperware’s stock surge last July, or that of meme stocks AMC Entertainment and GameStop during the height of the pandemic.
    
            Trump Media saw a $26 million loss during the third quarter of last year, and many experts are questioning whether it is a solid bet — or dramatically overvalued. 
    
            “The stock price is clearly a bubble,” Yale law professor Jonathan Macey told CNN. “No rational investor would take the stock at face value, especially if they had to hold it for any length of time.”
    
            Shares of DWAC declined 13.7% on Friday.
    
            DWAC and Trump Media did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
    
            Meme stocks are characterized by a cult online following and jaw-dropping swings in their price. The first meme stock was GameStop. Investors on Reddit and other social media sites in 2021 decided to bid up shares of the struggling stock to punish hedge funds and institutional firms who hoped to turn a profit from short-selling GameStop’s stock. Short-selling involves borrowing the shares, selling them and buying them back, ideally at a lower price, before returning them and pocketing any profit.
    
            On Truth Social, there are more than 8,000 members in a chat group titled “The DWAC Shareholder Group,” where users discuss the vote and post memes and supportive messages.
    
            A list of rules pinned to the top of the chat forbids members from promoting short-selling, and urges users to provide evidence such as public filings when posting their opinions or recommendations on the new company, which would trade as Trump Media & Technology Group.
    
            “We don’t want to be accused of stock pumping or misleading investors,” one rule notes.
    
            Separately, Trump faces an upcoming Monday deadline to secure a $464 million bond in a civil fraud case against him. The New York attorney general’s office could seize his golf course and private estate north of Manhattan, or other assets, if he can’t pay up.
    
            That means that Trump is strapped for cash. If the merger is approved, it would give him a dominant stake in his firm with shares worth more than $3 billion dollars. But it’s unlikely to solve his cash crunch: Key shareholders of Trump Media, including its management team, have agreed not to sell their common stock for six months to maintain “important stability to the leadership and governance” of the company, according to SEC filings.",CNN,22/03/2024,"['Donald Trump is now more likely than ever tomake a Wall Street comeback — and thathas escalated the meme-trading frenzysurrounding the former president.', 'Shareholders of Trump Media, the parent company of Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, voted Friday to approve a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a blank-check company whose purpose is to raise funds for private companies and take them public.', 'In anticipation of its merger with Trump Media, shares of DWAC popped more than 100% this year.', 'Trading has embodied the same kind of frenzy shown in Tupperware’s stock surge last July, or that of meme stocks AMC Entertainment and GameStop during the height of the pandemic.', 'Trump Media saw a $26 million loss during the third quarter of last year, and many experts are questioning whether it is a solid bet — or dramatically overvalued.', '“The stock price is clearly a bubble,” Yale law professor Jonathan Macey told CNN. “', 'No rational investor would take the stock at face value, especially if they had to hold it for any length of time.”', 'Shares of DWAC declined 13.7% on Friday.', 'DWAC and Trump Media did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.', 'Meme stocks are characterized by a cult online following and jaw-dropping swings in their price.', 'The first meme stock was GameStop.', 'Investors on Reddit and other social media sites in 2021 decided to bid up shares of the struggling stock to punish hedge funds and institutional firms who hoped to turn a profit from short-selling GameStop’s stock.', 'Short-selling involves borrowing the shares, selling them and buying them back, ideally at a lower price, before returning them and pocketing any profit.', 'On Truth Social, there are more than 8,000 members in a chat group titled “The DWAC Shareholder Group,” where users discuss the vote and post memes and supportive messages.', 'A list of rules pinned to the top of the chat forbids members from promoting short-selling, and urges users to provide evidence such as public filings when posting their opinions or recommendations on the new company, which would trade as Trump Media & Technology Group.', '“We don’t want to be accused of stock pumping or misleading investors,” one rule notes.', 'Separately, Trump faces an upcoming Monday deadline to secure a $464 million bond in a civil fraud case against him.', 'The New York attorney general’s office could seize his golf course and private estate north of Manhattan, or other assets, if he can’t pay up.', 'That means that Trump is strapped for cash.', 'If the merger is approved, it would give him a dominant stake in his firm with shares worth more than $3 billion dollars.', 'But it’s unlikely to solve his cash crunch: Key shareholders of Trump Media, including its management team, have agreed not to sell their common stock for six months to maintain “important stability to the leadership and governance” of the company, according to SEC filings.']",0.1904273362267673,"But it’s unlikely to solve his cash crunch: Key shareholders of Trump Media, including its management team, have agreed not to sell their common stock for six months to maintain “important stability to the leadership and governance” of the company, according to SEC filings.","“We don’t want to be accused of stock pumping or misleading investors,” one rule notes.",-0.0062488794326782,"In anticipation of its merger with Trump Media, shares of DWAC popped more than 100% this year.","Trump Media saw a $26 million loss during the third quarter of last year, and many experts are questioning whether it is a solid bet — or dramatically overvalued.",2024-03-27
Trump’s Truth Social is now a public company. Experts warn its multibillion-dollar valuation defies logic,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/markets/trump-media-stock-truth-social/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:26 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","For the first time in almost 30 years, part of Donald Trump’s business empire has gone public. Trading started with a bang, but the frenzy eased considerably by the closing bell, with shares ending well off their highs of the day.
    
            Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of struggling social media platform Truth Social, began its long-delayed journey as a public company at Tuesday’s opening bell under the ticker symbol “DJT.”
    
            The stock surged about 56% at the open, to $78, and trading was briefly halted for volatility. Trump Media shares stabilized around $70 before fizzling. By the closing bell, Trump Media ended at $57.99, up by a more modest 16% on the day.
    
            Despite the late-day slide, Wall Street is still assigning Trump Media an eye-popping valuation of nearly $11 billion — a price tag that experts warn is untethered to reality.
    
            Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the shell company that became Trump Media Tuesday morning, have spiked more than 200% so far this year. That includes a 35% surge Monday after the deal closed. Shares popped again at the start of trading Tuesday — investors’ first opportunity to trade the stock after the merger, under the new DJT ticker.
    
            The skyrocketing share price comes despite the fact that Trump Media is burning through cash; piling up losses; and its main product, Truth Social, is losing users.
    
            “This is a very unusual situation. The stock is pretty much divorced from fundamentals,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, who has been studying initial public offerings (IPOs) for over 40 years.
    
            Ritter said the closest parallel would be GameStop, AMC and other so-called meme stocks that skyrocketed during Covid-19 as an army of retail traders piled in. He said Trump Media is likely worth somewhere around $2 a share — nowhere near its closing stock price of $58. 
    
            “The underlying business doesn’t seem to be worth much. There is no evidence this is going to become a large, highly profitable company,” he said. “I’m reasonably confident the stock price will eventually drop to $2 a share and could even go below that if the company blows through the money it got from the merger.”
    
            The eye-popping valuation is a massive windfall for Trump, who owns a dominant stake of 79 million shares.
    
            At Tuesday’s opening price of nearly $78, that stake is worth nearly $6 billion, although lock-up restrictions likely prevent Trump from selling or even borrowing against those shares anytime soon. The value of Trump’s stake ended at $4.6 billion at the closing bell.
    
            Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to filings. The company lost $49 million over that span.
    
            And yet the market is valuing Trump Media at approximately $11 billion.
    
            For context, Reddit was only valued at $6.4 billion at its IPO last week — even though it generated 160 times more revenue than Trump Media. (Reddit hauled in $804 million in revenue in 2023, compared with Trump Media’s annualized revenue of about $5 million.)
    
            “At these levels, it appears untethered to its underlying business results,” said Matthew Kennedy, senior IPO strategist at Renaissance Capital. “Eventually, valuations tend to fall back on fundamentals. That means this stock is definitely at risk of plummeting back down to earth.”
    
            Michael Ohlrogge, an associate professor of law at the NYU School of Law, told CNN there is “no way to square the current stock price with anything that would be called a rational valuation for this company.”
    
            Truth Social faces real challenges and is still dwarfed by its rivals.
    
            Truth Social had just 494,000 monthly active US users on iOS and Android combined in February, according to Similarweb stats provided to CNN. That’s a small fraction of the 75 million on X (formerly known as Twitter) and 142 million on Facebook.
    
            Even Threads had more than 10 times the number of monthly active users that Truth Social had in February, according to Similarweb.
    
            Not only that, but Truth Social is shrinking. Its monthly active users plunged 51% year over year in February, Similarweb stats show. The number of unique visitors to Truth Social’s website was 648,000, down 20% year over year.
    
            Kennedy described Trump Media as a “meme-SPAC,” alluding to both its astronomical valuation and the fact it was formed through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.
    
            “Stocks that trade on momentum are subject to falling rapidly,” he said.
    
            Jonathan Macey, a law professor at Yale, told CNN last week that the Digital World stock price is “clearly a bubble.”
    
            Of course, history shows that bubbles can always inflate further, and it’s very difficult to pinpoint when they will pop.
    
            That means Trump Media’s share price could keep skyrocketing for now — even if those gains are not backed up by fundamentals. In theory, a rival company or wealthy group could swoop in and acquire Trump Media even at these price levels, although Ritter said that’s very unlikely.
    
            “We’ve already seen with other meme stocks that even if they eventually fall back to reflecting a fundamental value, the process can take quite a long time,” said Ohlrogge, the NYU professor. “There’s every reason to believe that this stock could remain at highly inflated prices much longer, due to the enthusiasm that Trump’s supporters have for it.”
    
            Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN that Trump Media is probably not worth anything close to what the market is valuing it at.
    
            “But it doesn’t really matter,” he said.
    
            Tuttle noted that there is a history of SPACs spiking on their first day of trading, and he placed options bets that stand to make money if the stock shoots up.
    
            “Because of what this is, and because it’s Trump — you’ve got people expecting this thing will take off [on Tuesday,]” he said.
    
            But Tuttle advised everyday investors to use extreme caution trading Trump Media, noting the implied volatility is “insane.”
    
            “Stay away from it,” said Tuttle, who has sold his shares of Digital World but still owns options that would pay out if the stock rises sharply. “Normally, I wouldn’t touch this with a 10-foot pole. But I’m not playing with much money and I already made a lot on this. If I wake up tomorrow and it’s trading at $1, oh well.”
    
            Beyond the valuation concerns, there are other risks involved in Trump Media.
    
            For example, this company’s future is inextricably linked to that of one person: Trump.
    
            “There is a unique key man risk because Donald Trump is the chairman, top shareholder and the most popular user. He is one man, and he’s 77 years old,” said Kennedy.
    
            Not only that, but Trump is facing felony prosecution in multiple simultaneous cases.
    
            Trump Media noted that risk in SEC filings, saying: “Donald J. Trump is the subject of numerous legal proceedings, the scope and scale of which are unprecedented for a former President of the United States and current candidate for that office. An adverse outcome in one or more of the ongoing legal proceedings in which President Trump is involved could negatively impact TMTG and its Truth Social platform.”
    
            Not only does Trump himself face reputational issues, but his companies have a history of going bankrupt.
    
            The last Trump company to go public, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in 1995, used the same DJT ticker symbol. It went bankrupt in 2004 and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
    
            Trump Media even highlighted Trump’s history of bankruptcies as a risk in its SEC filing.
    
            “A number of companies that were associated with President Trump have filed for bankruptcy. There can be no assurances that TMTG will not also become bankrupt,” the company said.
    
            Another question is what happens when the lock-up restrictions on Trump and other key insiders lapse in the coming months.
    
            Trump’s legal troubles could give him a reason to sell his commanding stake, an outcome that would threaten Trump Media’s share price.
    
            Other insiders, including the sponsor of the SPAC, would also be able to sell.
    
            Like any social media business, Truth Social faces pressure to grow its user base, expand its advertising business and build a subscription service.
    
            Those tasks are complicated by the polarizing political backdrop where at least some portion of the country views the Trump movement skeptically.
    
            Kennedy said that in many ways, Trump Media going public amounts to a “multibillion-dollar bet” on a second Trump term, a return to the White House that could be lucrative for his social media network.
    
            “If he wins in November, Truth Social will probably be the primary means of presidential communication,” said Kennedy. “That’s the bet here.”
    
            Ohlrogge, the NYU professor, agrees that the election could prove to be a real turning point for this company.
    
            “If Trump were to lose the 2024 election, I’d imagine the stock price would crater quite quickly,” he said. “If he were to win, it could conceivably stay higher for longer, maybe much longer.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['For the first time in almost 30 years, part of Donald Trump’s business empire has gone public.', 'Trading started with a bang, but the frenzy eased considerably by the closing bell, with shares ending well off their highs of the day.', 'Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of struggling social media platform Truth Social, began its long-delayed journey as a public company at Tuesday’s opening bell under the ticker symbol “DJT.”', 'The stock surged about 56% at the open, to $78, and trading was briefly halted for volatility.', 'Trump Media shares stabilized around $70 before fizzling.', 'By the closing bell, Trump Media ended at $57.99, up by a more modest 16% on the day.', 'Despite the late-day slide, Wall Street is still assigning Trump Media an eye-popping valuation of nearly $11 billion — a price tag that experts warn is untethered to reality.', 'Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the shell company that became Trump Media Tuesday morning, have spiked more than 200% so far this year.', 'That includes a 35% surge Monday after the deal closed.', 'Shares popped again at the start of trading Tuesday — investors’ first opportunity to trade the stock after the merger, under the new DJT ticker.', 'The skyrocketing share price comes despite the fact that Trump Media is burning through cash; piling up losses; and its main product, Truth Social, is losing users.', '“This is a very unusual situation.', 'The stock is pretty much divorced from fundamentals,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, who has been studying initial public offerings (IPOs) for over 40 years.', 'Ritter said the closest parallel would be GameStop, AMC and other so-called meme stocks that skyrocketed during Covid-19 as an army of retail traders piled in.', 'He said Trump Media is likely worth somewhere around $2 a share — nowhere near its closing stock price of $58.', '“The underlying business doesn’t seem to be worth much.', 'There is no evidence this is going to become a large, highly profitable company,” he said. “', 'I’m reasonably confident the stock price will eventually drop to $2 a share and could even go below that if the company blows through the money it got from the merger.”', 'The eye-popping valuation is a massive windfall for Trump, who owns a dominant stake of 79 million shares.', 'At Tuesday’s opening price of nearly $78, that stake is worth nearly $6 billion, although lock-up restrictions likely prevent Trump from selling or even borrowing against those shares anytime soon.', 'The value of Trump’s stake ended at $4.6 billion at the closing bell.', 'Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to filings.', 'The company lost $49 million over that span.', 'And yet the market is valuing Trump Media at approximately $11 billion.', 'For context, Reddit was only valued at $6.4 billion at its IPO last week — even though it generated 160 times more revenue than Trump Media. (', 'Reddit hauled in $804 million in revenue in 2023, compared with Trump Media’s annualized revenue of about $5 million.)', '“At these levels, it appears untethered to its underlying business results,” said Matthew Kennedy, senior IPO strategist at Renaissance Capital. “', 'Eventually, valuations tend to fall back on fundamentals.', 'That means this stock is definitely at risk of plummeting back down to earth.”', 'Michael Ohlrogge, an associate professor of law at the NYU School of Law, told CNN there is “no way to square the current stock price with anything that would be called a rational valuation for this company.”', 'Truth Social faces real challenges and is still dwarfed by its rivals.', 'Truth Social had just 494,000 monthly active US users on iOS and Android combined in February, according to Similarweb stats provided to CNN.', 'That’s a small fraction of the 75 million on X (formerly known as Twitter) and 142 million on Facebook.', 'Even Threads had more than 10 times the number of monthly active users that Truth Social had in February, according to Similarweb.', 'Not only that, but Truth Social is shrinking.', 'Its monthly active users plunged 51% year over year in February, Similarweb stats show.', 'The number of unique visitors to Truth Social’s website was 648,000, down 20% year over year.', 'Kennedy described Trump Media as a “meme-SPAC,” alluding to both its astronomical valuation and the fact it was formed through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.', '“Stocks that trade on momentum are subject to falling rapidly,” he said.', 'Jonathan Macey, a law professor at Yale, told CNN last week that the Digital World stock price is “clearly a bubble.”', 'Of course, history shows that bubbles can always inflate further, and it’s very difficult to pinpoint when they will pop.', 'That means Trump Media’s share price could keep skyrocketing for now — even if those gains are not backed up by fundamentals.', 'In theory, a rival company or wealthy group could swoop in and acquire Trump Media even at these price levels, although Ritter said that’s very unlikely.', '“We’ve already seen with other meme stocks that even if they eventually fall back to reflecting a fundamental value, the process can take quite a long time,” said Ohlrogge, the NYU professor. “', 'There’s every reason to believe that this stock could remain at highly inflated prices much longer, due to the enthusiasm that Trump’s supporters have for it.”', 'Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN that Trump Media is probably not worth anything close to what the market is valuing it at.', '“But it doesn’t really matter,” he said.', 'Tuttle noted that there is a history of SPACs spiking on their first day of trading, and he placed options betsthat stand to make money if the stock shoots up.', '“Because of what this is, and because it’s Trump — you’ve got people expecting this thing will take off [on Tuesday,]” he said.', 'But Tuttle advised everyday investors to use extreme caution trading Trump Media, noting the implied volatility is “insane.”', '“Stay away from it,” said Tuttle, who has sold his shares of Digital World but still owns options that would pay out if the stock rises sharply. “', 'Normally, I wouldn’t touch this with a 10-foot pole.', 'But I’m not playing with much money and I already made a lot on this.', 'If I wake up tomorrow and it’s trading at $1, oh well.”', 'Beyond the valuation concerns, there are other risks involved in Trump Media.', 'For example, this company’s future is inextricably linked to that of one person: Trump.', '“There is a unique key man risk because Donald Trump is the chairman, top shareholder and the most popular user.', 'He is one man, and he’s 77 years old,” said Kennedy.', 'Not only that, but Trump is facing felony prosecution in multiple simultaneous cases.', 'Trump Media noted that risk in SEC filings, saying: “Donald J. Trump is the subject of numerous legal proceedings, the scope and scale of which are unprecedented for a former President of the United States and current candidate for that office.', 'An adverse outcome in one or more of the ongoing legal proceedings in which President Trump is involved could negatively impact TMTG and its Truth Social platform.”', 'Not only does Trump himself face reputational issues, but his companies have a history of going bankrupt.', 'The last Trump company to go public, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in 1995, used the same DJT ticker symbol.', 'It went bankrupt in 2004 and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.', 'Trump Media even highlighted Trump’s history of bankruptcies as a risk in its SEC filing.', '“A number of companies that were associated with President Trump have filed for bankruptcy.', 'There can be no assurances that TMTG will not also become bankrupt,” the company said.', 'Another question is what happens when the lock-up restrictions on Trump and other key insiders lapse in the coming months.', 'Trump’s legal troubles could give him a reason to sell his commanding stake, an outcome that would threaten Trump Media’s share price.', 'Other insiders, including the sponsor of the SPAC, would also be able to sell.', 'Like any social media business, Truth Social faces pressure to grow its user base, expand its advertising business and build a subscription service.', 'Those tasks are complicated by the polarizing political backdrop where at least some portion of the country views the Trump movement skeptically.', 'Kennedy said that in many ways, Trump Media going public amounts to a “multibillion-dollar bet” on a second Trump term, a return to the White House that could be lucrative for his social media network.', '“If he wins in November, Truth Social will probably be the primary means of presidential communication,” said Kennedy. “', 'That’s the bet here.”', 'Ohlrogge, the NYU professor, agrees that the election could prove to be a real turning point for this company.', '“If Trump were to lose the 2024 election, I’d imagine the stock price would crater quite quickly,” he said. “', 'If he were to win, it could conceivably stay higher for longer, maybe much longer.”']",0.1170921285233744,"“If he wins in November, Truth Social will probably be the primary means of presidential communication,” said Kennedy. “","Not only that, but Trump is facing felony prosecution in multiple simultaneous cases.",-0.0856393069028854,"By the closing bell, Trump Media ended at $57.99, up by a more modest 16% on the day.","Its monthly active users plunged 51% year over year in February, Similarweb stats show.",2024-03-27
China’s Xi meets American CEOs to boost confidence in world’s second largest economy,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/business/china-xi-jinping-us-ceos-meeting-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        7:08 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","Chinese leader Xi Jinping met more than a dozen US CEOs and academics on Wednesday as Beijing renewed efforts to woo back foreign investors and mend strained relations with the United States.
    
            Foreign direct investment in China has slumped in recent months as a combination of slower growth, regulatory crackdowns, onerous national security legislation and questions about the country’s long-term prospects have shaken confidence in the world’s second biggest economy.
    
            The group of CEOs included Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm (QCOM), Raj Subramaniam of FedEx (FDX) and Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group (BX).
    
            Xi invited US businesses to “continue to invest in China” and pledged further reforms to open the country’s markets to foreign firms, according to a readout of the meeting published by the foreign ministry.
    
            “China’s growth prospects are bright, and we have the confidence,” he said, adding that country’s economy has not yet peaked.
    
            Xi also called for “a better future” between China and the US. “Whether it is traditional fields such as economy, trade and agriculture, or emerging fields such as climate change and artificial intelligence, China and the United States should help boost each other’s development.”
    
            Bilateral relations have already shown improvement since he met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, Xi added.
    
            The meeting at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People came after the close of a major government forum that has invited global business leaders to engage with Chinese government officials over many years.
    
            About 100 global CEOs, as well as the heads of international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, were in the Chinese capital this week for the annual China Development Forum. More than 30 of them are US executives, according to Chinese state media.
    
            Beijing is trying to revive confidence and stabilize foreign trade and investment as the country faces its biggest economic challenges in decades. It has rolled out a series of measures since last year, including a 24-point action plan published by the cabinet earlier this month, to attract foreign investment and expand market access in high-tech sectors.
    
            But global investors remain wary of China’s rising scrutiny of Western companies as well as a structural slowdown.
    
            In the first two months of 2024, foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country shrank nearly 20% from a year ago, underscoring weak confidence among global executives.
    
            That fall came after a decline of 8% in 2023, according to the Commerce Ministry.
    
            Another gauge of FDI — direct investment liabilities — showed a 82% slump in 2023, according to figures released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. It was the lowest in 30 years.
    
            According to a survey released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China last month, 57% of US firms lacked confidence that China would further open its markets to foreign companies.
    
            China has set this year’s economic growth target at around 5%, the same as last year’s. But market watchers say the goal is “ambitious,” given a lack of major stimulus measures by the central government to directly address Chinese consumers’ weak confidence and their unwillingness to spend money.
    
            The world’s second largest economy is plagued by a myriad of problems. They include a prolonged downturn in real estate, deflation, debt, a shrinking population and a shift  in economic policy towards ideological objectives that has rattled the private sector and scared away foreign investors.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['Chinese leader Xi Jinping met more than a dozen US CEOs and academics on Wednesday as Beijing renewed efforts to woo back foreign investors and mend strained relations with the United States.', 'Foreign direct investment in China has slumped in recent months as a combination of slower growth, regulatory crackdowns, onerous national security legislation and questions about the country’s long-term prospects have shaken confidence in the world’s second biggest economy.', 'The group of CEOs included Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm (QCOM), Raj Subramaniam of FedEx (FDX) and Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group (BX).', 'Xi invited US businesses to “continue to invest in China” and pledged further reforms to open the country’s markets to foreign firms, according to a readout of the meeting published by the foreign ministry.', '“China’s growth prospects are bright, and we have the confidence,” he said, adding that country’s economy has not yet peaked.', 'Xi also called for “a better future” between China and the US. “', 'Whether it is traditional fields such as economy, trade and agriculture, or emerging fields such as climate change and artificial intelligence, China and the United States should help boost each other’s development.”', 'Bilateral relations have already shown improvement since he met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, Xi added.', 'The meeting at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People came after the close of a major government forum that has invited global business leaders to engage with Chinese government officials over many years.', 'About 100 global CEOs, as well as the heads of international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, were in the Chinese capital this week for the annual China Development Forum.', 'More than 30 of them are US executives, according to Chinese state media.', 'Beijing is trying to revive confidence and stabilize foreign trade and investment as the country faces its biggest economic challenges in decades.', 'It has rolled out a series of measures since last year, including a 24-point action plan published by the cabinet earlier this month, to attract foreign investment and expand market access in high-tech sectors.', 'But global investors remain wary of China’s rising scrutiny of Western companies as well asa structural slowdown.', 'In the first two months of 2024, foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country shrank nearly 20% from a year ago, underscoring weak confidence among global executives.', 'That fall came after a decline of 8% in 2023, according to the Commerce Ministry.', 'Another gauge of FDI — direct investment liabilities — showed a 82% slump in 2023, according to figures released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.', 'It was the lowest in 30 years.', 'According to a survey released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China last month, 57% of US firms lacked confidence that China would further open its markets to foreign companies.', 'China has set this year’s economic growth target at around 5%, the same as last year’s.', 'But market watchers say the goal is “ambitious,” given a lack of major stimulus measures by the central government to directly address Chinese consumers’ weak confidence and their unwillingness to spend money.', 'The world’s second largest economy is plagued by a myriad of problems.', 'They include a prolonged downturn in real estate, deflation, debt, a shrinking population and a shift in economic policy towards ideological objectives that has rattled the private sector and scared away foreign investors.']",0.2825188186890033,"Whether it is traditional fields such as economy, trade and agriculture, or emerging fields such as climate change and artificial intelligence, China and the United States should help boost each other’s development.”","They include a prolonged downturn in real estate, deflation, debt, a shrinking population and a shift in economic policy towards ideological objectives that has rattled the private sector and scared away foreign investors.",0.0526344399703176,"Bilateral relations have already shown improvement since he met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, Xi added.","Another gauge of FDI — direct investment liabilities — showed a 82% slump in 2023, according to figures released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.",2024-03-27
"Best mobile payment apps in 2024, tested by our editors",https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/reviews/best-mobile-payment-apps,"
  Updated
        4:04 PM EST, Tue January 9, 2024
    ","Mobile payment apps can be a convenient way to send and receive money using your smartphone or smartwatch. Paying for items this way has never been easier, thanks to the availability of numerous mobile payment apps, better payment terminal infrastructure, and wider support for Bluetooth/near-field communication (NFC) contactless credit cards by American issuers. The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.
    
            Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square). We tested Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on just their own devices and tested Google Pay, Venmo and Cash App on both Android and iOS.
    
            The apps work across a variety of web browsers (with the exception of Samsung) and watches. We tested the apps on an Apple Watch and a Samsung Galaxy Watch. We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support. As our testing concluded, two clear winners emerged: Apple Pay and Google Pay.
    
            While Apple Pay only works for its own devices, it is available in numerous countries, and its elegant and simple user interface (UI) and design make it a standout. Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments are only available in the United States. On your iOS device, you need to set up Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode. On your Apple Watch, you need to set up a passcode. You also need to be 13 years old or older.
    
            If you want to make a P2P payment, then you’ll need to send an Apple Message, which means you need to know your recipient’s phone number or email address. One nice feature is that all transactions generate 2% cash back. If you have an Apple Watch, then you need to connect your cards and bank accounts specifically on the watch for use in payments. Apple recently announced that users of other browsers besides Safari on their phones will be able to eventually use the software with the release of iOS 16.
    
            Google Pay has different lists of countries and regions in which it is available depending on the transaction type intended. Google Pay works across Android and iOS and is also designed to be capable in your browser. There aren’t any fees and immediate transfers are from debit cards only.
    
            Since Google Pay also works through browser cookies, it doesn’t require your phone to complete any online transactions. But, since it works through your Google account, you will have to exchange emails to set up the payment. Also, you will need a personal account (Pay won’t work with workspace or enterprise accounts).
    
            There are three different use cases for these apps (which we tested) that we will explain, as well as three other use cases that we will mention (even though we didn’t test these).
    
            The first use case we tested is making P2P cash payments. Two examples of this are splitting a restaurant check and sending gift money to family and friends. Consumers are increasingly using these apps according to a recent survey by Lending Tree. The survey showed that 84% of the 1,200 respondents (all U.S. consumers) have used at least one mobile payment app in the past year. Samsung Pay doesn’t support this mode but the other apps do.
    
            Some of the apps let you set up pools of funds, like a miniature version of GoFundMe to which your friends can send you contributions. There are several ways to identify your recipient: by their phone number and email address, or by their username (Block and Venmo support this) and, in some cases, by using a personal QR code (Block and Venmo are focused on this use case).
    
            The second use case we tested is paying for retail purchases instead of directly using a credit card or debit card. When the time comes to pay at a physical store, you hold your smartphone (or smartwatch) close to the payment terminal and it should read the appropriate card. This can be useful if you load multiple cards on the payment app, so you don’t have to cart around an overstuffed wallet with physical cards. It is also more secure because most of the payment apps create and then send a one-time token instead of your actual card number for each transaction. (Apple Pay and Google Pay are focused on this use case, although both also support P2P payments, too.)
    
            The third use case we tested is using them whenever you are shopping online. The Apple Pay and Google Pay apps can be used here. You can also store your card details in the various desktop browsers so that they can be auto-filled when you are at the checkout screen of your favorite retailer.
    
            So, now for the other use cases we didn’t test but are worth mentioning. Each of the payment apps has moved beyond these three core situations and now offer three other use cases: 1) a complex series of their own branded credit cards and debit cards, 2) support for Bitcoin purchases and other money-related features, and 3) cash-back offers. Again, we didn’t test these last three use cases; however, it is worth paying attention to at least the one about cash-back offers because those can really add up over time.
    
            Should you be worried about scammers when using mobile payment apps? Yes — the same Lending Tree survey we cited earlier found that 15% of the respondents have been victims of scams. And the survey also mentioned that, though P2P services are growing, they’re not FDIC insured (with the exception of Cash App, which is FDIC-insured). The survey found that “62% of consumers knew FDIC doesn’t insure P2P balances. However, 49% of those who keep a balance wrongly believe their money is protected.”
    
            If you intend to use any of these mobile payment apps on a regular basis, then you’ll want to follow these 6 steps:
    
            During our pretesting research, we found there are more than 20 different payment apps available, including apps from retailers like Starbucks and apps from Mastercard and Visa. We selected our five payment apps to test based on desired features, security options and user reviews. We tested each of them with the following criteria in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, customer support and fees.
    
            To begin our testing, we installed the apps on one or both types of smartphones (if supported) and on an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch.
    
            Next, we connected to various bank accounts and credit cards and debit cards, using them for retail purchases and P2P payments. We also tried each app when it was available for online retail purchases. We tested each app’s MFA support and other security features. We tested each app’s ability to notify you of payment transactions, and to block someone else from initiating a payment without your biometric data or other factors to approve it.
    
            Then we noted that the workflows for the payment apps were similar across the lot. We first ensured we were downloading the correct payment app from the legit app store. This is important and you should take care here. We then connected the app to either our phone number or email address (most apps want both), and then typed in a bank account or card that was to be the source and destination of our funds.
    
            This was the moment of truth, because not every payment app supported every bank card (and we didn’t find out until we got to this step). Apple Pay and Google Pay worked with more of our credit cards than the others did, but your experience could be different.
    
            After that, we set up our app’s security with our face or fingerprint to protect our transactions. It sounds more complicated than it actually was. After a flurry of confirmation emails and texts, we were ready to go shopping or send our friends some money.
    
            One of the big advantages of these apps is that you forgo the need to carry cash and you can pay someone on the spot. However, for all of these apps, our patience was rewarded. If we wanted to make a P2P payment and our recipient was willing to wait a few days, then there wasn’t any fee applied.
    
            But if we wanted the payment to happen in a matter of minutes, then it cost us.
    
            For example, all the apps were free to download. But when it came to fees, Apple charges 1.5% (with a minimum $0.25 and maximum $15 fee) and Venmo adds a 1% surcharge (with a maximum $10 fee). Square is free for all personal accounts but charges 2.75% for business users. Google Pay and Samsung Pay have no added fees.
    
            Lastly, we also reviewed complaints collected by CardPaymentOptions.com for Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Cash App and Venmo. And we tried out the various support options available for each service. All five apps had equivalent high scores on both. Cash App, Samsung Pay and Venmo all share data with third parties to track internal marketing. Apple Pay and Google Pay don’t do this, although they may use this data internally across their various properties.
    
            During our testing, we used an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch to gauge how easy it is to use a smartwatch versus a smartphone for mobile payments. So, is your smartwatch better to use than your phone for payments? No, we don’t think so.
    
            We found the watch movements needed to get close enough to the payment terminal to make a connection were more cumbersome than they were when we used our phone. And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par. If you use your watch for other apps, then great, but don’t rush out and get a watch just for payments.
    
            Free at Cash App
    
            With Cash App, which is owned by Block (formerly Square, Inc.), you set up a username that your friends can use to find you when sending or demanding funds. You do not need to know their phone number or email address. Cash App is limited to debit cards only for direct access. It also uses Plaid for connecting to your bank account, which we think adds another layer of security issues.
    
            There are also various transfer limits, too, for unidentified users (e.g., sending $250 over per week or receiving $1,000 over a month). You can set up recurring deposits, direct deposits, make bank transfers and even file your taxes.
    
            There is a 3% fee if you are moving funds with a credit card. You can also instantly purchase or sell Bitcoin from the app. Cash App also works with the Lightning network to pay anyone with these cryptocurrencies.
    
            Free at Samsung
    
            Samsung Pay works in several countries, but it is only available on Samsung smartphones and smartwatches. It is basically a stripped-down version of Google Pay, using the same banking backends. It requires your mobile number to complete its setup, and in our testing we found it didn’t support several of the debit cards we owned. It also doesn’t support any P2P payments: you’ll need to use the separate Samsung Pay Cash app.
    
            One advantage is that, while Apple Pay and Google Pay will only work with point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals equipped with NFC technology, Samsung Pay (from the phone, not from the watch) works at magnetic card terminals — those few that are left and haven’t been upgraded — as well.
    
            We had trouble getting the Samsung Pay app to work with the Samsung Galaxy Watch (like Apple Pay, you have to separately install each card to use on the watch), and needed to install and re-install various Samsung apps. We recommend using Google Pay instead.
    
            Free at Venmo
    
            Venmo, which is only available in the United States, was simple to set up and get connected to our bank card. Like Cash App, you can send money using a username, which obviates the need to know a friend’s phone number or email address. One drawback to Venmo is that all of your friends’ transactions are made public by default, so anyone can see them in its public feed. This means the first thing you need to do when using this service is turn these settings to Private.
    
            Venmo also supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum or Litecoin currency transactions. If you are sending funds from a credit card and can’t wait, then there is a 3% fee. Funds sent from your bank account are free if you can wait a few days. Fees are clearly described on their Resources page and there are fees for unverified users when sending more than $300 per week.
    
            Venmo’s browser client mirrors the UI for its phone app screens, which is useful for reviewing its numerous configuration settings. But it could do a better job explaining its security protocols.",CNN,09/01/2024,"['Mobile payment apps can be a convenient way to send and receive money using your smartphone or smartwatch.', 'Paying for items this way has never been easier, thanks to the availability of numerous mobile payment apps, better payment terminal infrastructure, and wider support for Bluetooth/near-field communication (NFC) contactless credit cards by American issuers.', 'The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.', 'Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square).', 'We tested Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on just their own devices and tested Google Pay, Venmo and Cash App on both Android and iOS.', 'The apps work across a variety of web browsers (with the exception of Samsung) and watches.', 'We tested the apps on an Apple Watch and a Samsung Galaxy Watch.', 'We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support.', 'As our testing concluded, two clear winners emerged: Apple Pay and Google Pay.', 'While Apple Pay only works for its own devices, it is available in numerous countries, and its elegant and simple user interface (UI) and design make it a standout.', 'Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments are only available in the United States.', 'On your iOS device, you need to set up Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode.', 'On your Apple Watch, you need to set up a passcode.', 'You also need to be 13 years old or older.', 'If you want to make a P2P payment, then you’ll need to send an Apple Message, which means you need to know your recipient’s phone number or email address.', 'One nice feature is that all transactions generate 2% cash back.', 'If you have an Apple Watch, then you need to connect your cards and bank accounts specifically on the watch for use in payments.', 'Apple recently announced that users of other browsers besides Safarion their phones will be able to eventually use the software with the release of iOS 16.', 'Google Pay has different lists of countries and regions in which it is available depending on the transaction type intended.', 'Google Pay works across Android and iOS and is also designed to be capable in your browser.', 'There aren’t any fees and immediate transfers are from debit cards only.', 'Since Google Pay also works through browser cookies, it doesn’t require your phone to complete any online transactions.', 'But, since it works through your Google account, you will have to exchange emails to set up the payment.', 'Also, you will need a personal account (Pay won’t work with workspace or enterprise accounts).', 'There are three different use cases for these apps (which we tested) that we will explain, as well as three other use cases that we will mention (even though we didn’t test these).', 'The first use case we tested is making P2P cash payments.', 'Two examples of this are splitting a restaurant check and sending gift money to family and friends.', 'Consumers are increasingly using these apps according to a recent survey by Lending Tree.', 'The survey showed that 84% of the 1,200 respondents (all U.S. consumers) have used at least one mobile payment app in the past year.', 'Samsung Pay doesn’t support this mode but the other apps do.', 'Some of the apps let you set up pools of funds, like a miniature version of GoFundMe to which your friends can send you contributions.', 'There are several ways to identify your recipient: by their phone number and email address, or by their username (Block and Venmo support this) and, in some cases, by using a personal QR code (Block and Venmo are focused on this use case).', 'The second use case we tested is paying for retail purchases instead of directly using a credit card or debit card.', 'When the time comes to pay at a physical store, you hold your smartphone (or smartwatch) close to the payment terminal and it should read the appropriate card.', 'This can be useful if you load multiple cards on the payment app, so you don’t have to cart around an overstuffed wallet with physical cards.', 'It is also more secure because most of the payment apps create and then send a one-time token instead of your actual card number for each transaction. (', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay are focused on this use case, although both also support P2P payments, too.)', 'The third use case we tested is using them whenever you are shopping online.', 'The Apple Pay and Google Pay apps can be used here.', 'You can also store your card details in the various desktop browsers so that they can be auto-filled when you are at the checkout screen of your favorite retailer.', 'So, now for the other use cases we didn’t test but are worth mentioning.', 'Each of the payment apps has moved beyond these three core situations and now offer three other use cases: 1) a complex series of their own branded credit cards and debit cards, 2) support for Bitcoin purchases and other money-related features, and 3) cash-back offers.', 'Again, we didn’t test these last three use cases; however, it is worth paying attention to at least the one about cash-back offers because those can really add up over time.', 'Should you be worried about scammers when using mobile payment apps?', 'Yes — the same Lending Tree survey we cited earlier found that 15% of the respondents have been victims of scams.', 'And the survey also mentioned that, though P2P services are growing, they’re not FDIC insured (with the exception of Cash App, which is FDIC-insured).', 'The survey found that “62% of consumers knew FDIC doesn’t insure P2P balances.', 'However, 49% of those who keep a balance wrongly believe their money is protected.”', 'If you intend to use any of these mobile payment apps on a regular basis, then you’ll want to follow these 6 steps:  During our pretesting research, we found there are more than 20 different payment apps available, including apps from retailers like Starbucks and apps from Mastercard and Visa.', 'We selected our five payment apps to test based on desired features, security options and user reviews.', 'We tested each of them with the following criteria in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, customer support and fees.', 'To begin our testing, we installed the apps on one or both types of smartphones (if supported) and on an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch.', 'Next, we connected to various bank accounts and credit cards and debit cards, using them for retail purchases and P2P payments.', 'We also tried each app when it was available for online retail purchases.', 'We tested each app’s MFA support and other security features.', 'We tested each app’s ability to notify you of payment transactions, and to block someone else from initiating a payment without your biometric data or other factors to approve it.', 'Then we noted that the workflows for the payment apps were similar across the lot.', 'We first ensured we were downloading the correct payment app from the legit app store.', 'This is important and you should take care here.', 'We then connected the app to either our phone number or email address (most apps want both), and then typed in a bank account or card that was to be the source and destination of our funds.', 'This was the moment of truth, because not every payment app supported every bank card (and we didn’t find out until we got to this step).', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay worked with more of our credit cards than the others did, but your experience could be different.', 'After that, we set up our app’s security with our face or fingerprint to protect our transactions.', 'It sounds more complicated than it actually was.', 'After a flurry of confirmation emails and texts, we were ready to go shopping or send our friends some money.', 'One of the big advantages of these apps is that you forgo the need to carry cash and you can pay someone on the spot.', 'However, for all of these apps, our patience was rewarded.', 'If we wanted to make a P2P payment and our recipient was willing to wait a few days, then there wasn’t any fee applied.', 'But if we wanted the payment to happen in a matter of minutes, then it cost us.', 'For example, all the apps were free to download.', 'But when it came to fees, Apple charges 1.5% (with a minimum $0.25 and maximum $15 fee) and Venmo adds a 1% surcharge (with a maximum $10 fee).', 'Square is free for all personal accounts but charges 2.75% for business users.', 'Google Pay and Samsung Pay have no added fees.', 'Lastly, we also reviewed complaints collected by CardPaymentOptions.com for Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Cash App and Venmo.', 'And we tried out the various support options available for each service.', 'All five apps had equivalent high scores on both.', 'Cash App, Samsung Pay and Venmo all share data with third parties to track internal marketing.', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay don’t do this, although they may use this data internally across their various properties.', 'During our testing, we used an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch to gauge how easy it is to use a smartwatch versus a smartphone for mobile payments.', 'So, is your smartwatch better to use than your phone for payments?', 'No, we don’t think so.', 'We found the watch movements needed to get close enough to the payment terminal to make a connection were more cumbersome than they were when we used our phone.', 'And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par.', 'If you use your watch for other apps, then great, but don’t rush out and get a watch just for payments.', 'Free at Cash App  With Cash App, which is owned by Block (formerly Square, Inc.), you set up a username that your friends can use to find you when sending or demanding funds.', 'You do not need to know their phone number or email address.', 'Cash App is limited to debit cards only for direct access.', 'It also uses Plaid for connecting to your bank account, which we think adds another layer of security issues.', 'There are also various transfer limits, too, for unidentified users (e.g., sending $250 over per week or receiving $1,000 over a month).', 'You can set up recurring deposits, direct deposits, make bank transfers and even file your taxes.', 'There is a 3% fee if you are moving funds with a credit card.', 'You can also instantly purchase or sell Bitcoin from the app.', 'Cash App also works with the Lightning network to pay anyone with these cryptocurrencies.', 'Free at Samsung  Samsung Pay works in several countries, but it is only available on Samsung smartphones and smartwatches.', 'It is basically a stripped-down version of Google Pay, using the same banking backends.', 'It requires your mobile number to complete its setup, and in our testing we found it didn’t support several of the debit cards we owned.', 'It also doesn’t support any P2P payments: you’ll need to use the separate Samsung Pay Cash app.', 'One advantage is that, while Apple Pay and Google Pay will only work with point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals equipped with NFC technology, Samsung Pay (from the phone, not from the watch) works at magnetic card terminals — those few that are left and haven’t been upgraded — as well.', 'We had trouble getting the Samsung Pay app to work with the Samsung Galaxy Watch (like Apple Pay, you have to separately install each card to use on the watch), and needed to install and re-install various Samsung apps.', 'We recommend using Google Pay instead.', 'Free at Venmo  Venmo, which is only available in the United States, was simple to set up and get connected to our bank card.', 'Like Cash App, you can send money using a username, which obviates the need to know a friend’s phone number or email address.', 'One drawback to Venmo is that all of your friends’ transactions are made public by default, so anyone can see them in its public feed.', 'This means the first thing you need to do when using this service is turn these settings to Private.', 'Venmo also supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum or Litecoin currency transactions.', 'If you are sending funds from a credit card and can’t wait, then there is a 3% fee.', 'Funds sent from your bank account are free if you can wait a few days.', 'Fees are clearly described on their Resources page and there are fees for unverified users when sending more than $300 per week.', 'Venmo’s browser client mirrors the UI for its phone app screens, which is useful for reviewing its numerous configuration settings.', 'But it could do a better job explaining its security protocols.']",0.190272273076097,"We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support.","Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square).",0.452835742632548,"The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.",And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par.,2024-03-27
It’s back: Targeted Amex card holders can get up to 30% off at Amazon,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/deals/amazon-amex-discount-promotion,"
  
        11:21 AM EST, Wed February 14, 2024
    ","Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities. While that’s true, there’s another lesser-known use for them — redeeming them for purchases at Amazon. Right now, you may be eligible for an Amazon promotion where you can save big on Amazon purchases by redeeming as little as one Amex point.
    
            Targeted American Express card members can save as much as 30% on their next Amazon purchase, for up to $30 in savings when you use Amex points to pay for at least a portion of your purchase at checkout. However, your offer may be higher or lower.
    
            This offer is set to expire on June 30, 2024, so even if you aren’t in the market to shop at Amazon right now, you have some time to take advantage of the savings. That said, Amazon also states it will deactivate the offer after 24,167 customers have redeemed it.
    
            With many Amazon discounted offers, scoring the deal can be a little complicated. But we’re going to take you through it step by step to make sure you’re getting as much of a discount as possible when you’re shopping at Amazon.
    
            To start, you must have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points. Amex cards that earn other types of rewards, such as cash back or airline miles, won’t work. But there are plenty of Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points — a small sampling of them is at the end of this story.
    
            Next, you’ll need to link your Amazon and American Express accounts. Add your American Express card as a payment method in your Amazon account, if you haven’t already. Then look for the option to enroll in “Shop with Points” under the “Your Account” tab, and click the “Enroll” button for the Amex card you just added.
    
            Once your accounts are connected, you’ll need to activate the offer by clicking on this link. Remember, this is a targeted promotion, so not everyone will be eligible for it — you could be targeted for any one of the offers or none of them. When you click on the link, if you see a message that you’re not eligible, then you’re unfortunately not targeted for this particular promotion.
    
            But even if you’re not targeted, don’t give up hope. If you just enrolled in “Shop with Points,” you may need to wait 24 hours for Amazon’s records to refresh before knowing if you’re targeted, so check back in a day or so.
    
            If you’re eligible, activate the offer by clicking on the “Activate now” button — the enrollment page will indicate your particular discount. You can then shop at Amazon as you normally would, though only products sold and shipped by Amazon are eligible for these discounts. Additionally, Amazon gift cards are excluded, though other third-party retailer gift cards sold by Amazon might be eligible.
    
            But wait! There’s one more step. When you’re ready to check out, you’ll want to make sure to select your linked American Express card as your payment method. Then you’ll need to use at least 1 point to pay for your purchase for the discount to apply.
    
            When paying with Amex Membership Rewards points at Amazon, 1 point equals 0.7 cents. That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points. Frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Membership Rewards points as high as 2 cents each when redeemed for travel.
    
            However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to pay for your entire Amazon purchase with points to get these discounts. In fact, you can use just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Amex card, and you’ll still see the discount applied to your order. However, some accounts might see that you need to redeem slightly more points — 714 to be exact — to receive the savings, so make sure to check the terms of your exact offer.
    
            To pay with the minimum number of points required, enter $0.01 in the points section at checkout, which will apply just 1 point to your payment, You can use any number of points you want, but if you don’t make this change, Amazon may automatically apply the maximum number of points to cover the entire purchase, so you’ll want to make sure to update the amount before you place the order.
    
            Once you’ve applied at least 1 point to your payment, you’ll see the discount added to your order. The discount will apply on every order you place through June 30 until you hit the total maximum in savings — which will depend on your particular offer.
    
            Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can apply this discount to your upcoming Amazon purchases, even if you don’t need anything from Amazon right at the moment.
    
            With airlines having regular delays and cancellations over the last year, placing an Apple AirTag on your luggage can be a great way to track the location of your belongings. An Apple AirTag 4 Pack is currently priced at $78.99 before taxes and shipping, but if you’re targeted for the 30% off American Express offer, that’ll bring the pack down to $55.30, or around $13.83 per AirTag before tax.
    
            Or, if you’re hoping to pick up a set of new Apple AirPods Pro 2, right now Amazon is selling them for $189.99. But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.
    
            Even if you aren’t eligible for any of these particular Amex promotions, offers like this typically resurface many times throughout the year, so keep on checking back.
    
            Amazon often runs similar promotions for other credit cards, so check out our guides to discounts for Chase and Discover card holders to see what’s available. You might also find that even if you aren’t eligible now for one of these offers, you could magically become targeted in a few weeks, so keep on checking the link to see if you’ve been granted access.
    
            Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, so keep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.
    
            Also, make sure you read our guide to the best credit cards for Amazon to be sure you’re using the right card when you buy at Amazon.
    
            Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best travel credit cards currently available.",CNN,14/02/2024,"['Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities.', 'While that’s true, there’s another lesser-known use for them — redeeming them for purchases at Amazon.', 'Right now, you may be eligible for anAmazonpromotion where you can save big on Amazon purchases by redeeming as little as one Amex point.', 'Targeted American Express card members cansave as much as 30% on their next Amazon purchase, for up to $30 in savings when you use Amex points to pay for at least a portion of your purchase at checkout.', 'However, your offer may be higher or lower.', 'This offer is set to expire on June 30, 2024, so even if you aren’t in the market to shop at Amazon right now, you have some time to take advantage of the savings.', 'That said, Amazon also states it will deactivate the offer after 24,167 customers have redeemed it.', 'With many Amazon discounted offers, scoring the deal can be a little complicated.', 'But we’re going to take you through it step by step to make sure you’re getting as much of a discount as possible when you’re shopping atAmazon.', 'To start, you must have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points.', 'Amex cards that earn other types of rewards, such as cash back or airline miles, won’t work.', 'But there are plenty of Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points — a small sampling of them is at the end of this story.', 'Next, you’ll need tolink your Amazon and American Express accounts.', 'Add your American Express card as a payment method in your Amazon account, if you haven’t already.', 'Then look for the option toenroll in “Shop with Points”under the “Your Account” tab, and click the “Enroll” button for the Amex card you just added.', 'Once your accounts are connected, you’ll need to activate the offer byclicking on this link.', 'Remember, this is a targeted promotion, so not everyone will be eligible for it — you could be targeted for any one of the offers or none of them.', 'When you click on the link, if you see a message that you’re not eligible, then you’re unfortunately not targeted for this particular promotion.', 'But even if you’re not targeted, don’t give up hope.', 'If you just enrolled in “Shop with Points,” you may need to wait 24 hours for Amazon’s records to refresh before knowing if you’re targeted, so check back in a day or so.', 'If you’re eligible, activate the offer byclicking on the “Activate now” button— the enrollment page will indicate your particular discount.', 'You can thenshop at Amazonas you normally would, though only products sold and shipped by Amazon are eligible for these discounts.', 'Additionally, Amazon gift cards are excluded, though otherthird-party retailer gift cardssold by Amazon might be eligible.', 'But wait!', 'There’s one more step.', 'When you’re ready to check out, you’ll want to make sure to select your linked American Express card as your payment method.', 'Then you’ll need to use at least 1 point to pay for your purchase for the discount to apply.', 'When paying with Amex Membership Rewards points at Amazon, 1 point equals 0.7 cents.', 'That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points.', 'Frequent flyer websiteThe Points Guyvalues Membership Rewards points as high as 2 cents each when redeemed for travel.', 'However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to pay for your entireAmazonpurchase with points to get these discounts.', 'In fact,you can use just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Amex card, and you’ll still see the discount applied to your order.', 'However, some accounts might see that you need to redeem slightly more points —714 to be exact —to receive the savings, so make sure to check the terms of your exact offer.', 'To pay with the minimum number of points required, enter $0.01 in the points section at checkout, which will apply just 1 point to your payment, You can use any number of points you want, but if you don’t make this change,Amazonmay automatically apply the maximum number of points to cover the entire purchase, so you’ll want to make sure to update the amount before you place the order.', 'Once you’ve applied at least 1 point to your payment, you’ll see the discount added to your order.', 'The discount will apply on every order you place through June 30 until you hit the total maximum in savings —which will depend on your particular offer.', 'Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can apply this discount to your upcomingAmazonpurchases, even if you don’t need anything from Amazon right at the moment.', 'With airlines having regular delays and cancellations over the last year, placing an Apple AirTag on your luggage can be a great way to track the location of your belongings.', 'An Apple AirTag 4 Pack is currently priced at $78.99 before taxes and shipping, but if you’re targeted for the 30% off American Express offer, that’ll bring the pack down to $55.30, or around $13.83 per AirTag before tax.', 'Or, if you’re hoping to pick up a set of new Apple AirPods Pro 2, right now Amazon is selling them for $189.99.', 'But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.', 'Even if you aren’t eligible for any of these particular Amex promotions, offers like this typically resurface many times throughout the year, so keep on checking back.', 'Amazon often runs similar promotions for other credit cards, so check out our guides to discounts for Chase and Discover card holders to see what’s available.', 'You might also find that even if you aren’t eligible now for one of these offers, you could magically become targeted in a few weeks, so keep on checking the link to see if you’ve been granted access.', 'Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, sokeep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.', 'Also, make sure you read our guide to thebest credit cards for Amazonto be sure you’re using the right card when you buy at Amazon.', 'Looking for a travel credit card?', 'Find out which cardsCNN Underscored Moneychose as thebest travel credit cardscurrently available.']",0.2766683229921542,Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities.,That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points.,-0.0578338623046875,"Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, sokeep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.",But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.,2024-03-27
Donald Trump media firm soars in stock market debut,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68667664,2024-03-26T14:16:15.000Z,"Shares in Donald Trump's media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market.  Shares surged past $70 in early trade, giving the firm a market value of more than $9bn. They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.  The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $4bn. Analysts say that is far more than the firm's performance warrants.  Trump Media's Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m.  It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active.  By comparison, the recently-listed Reddit currently has a market value of about $11bn. It boasts more than 70 million users and brought in $800m in revenue last year.  Kristi Marvin, chief executive of SPACInsider, compared Trump Media - which trades under the ticker DJT for Mr Trump's initials - to a meme stock, in which prices are untethered from the business prospects. Interest in Trump Media has also been fuelled by individual investors, as opposed to Wall Street firms, many of them apparently Trump supporters.  ""Everybody expected to trade a little bit crazy today, which it has,"" she said. ""The real question is how does it trade a week from now, two weeks from now and nobody really knows."" The deal to list Trump Media was first announced in 2021. The move was accomplished via what is known as a SPAC, a merger with a publicly listed shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, which was expressly created to buy a company and take it public. The deal was delayed by government investigations and other hurdles, but regulators cleared it earlier this year and Digital World shareholders voted in favour last week. Ahead of the listing on the Nasdaq exchange, Trump Media officials called it a ""pivotal moment"" for the firm - and the wider media landscape.  ""As a public company, we will passionately pursue our vision to build a movement to reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors,"" said Trump Media chief executive Devin Nunes, a former congressman.  ""We will continue to fulfil our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbour for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors."" The debut comes at a critical moment for Mr Trump, who has been scrambling for cash to pay legal penalties and owns more than half of the firm's shares. He is currently barred from selling his holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately. The company's board, which is stocked with allies including one of his sons, could potentially change that rule, but analysts have said they think that would be unlikely to happen immediately. If Mr Trump were to sell a significant chunk of his shares, it could hurt the share price.  Investors face other risks as well, tied to Mr Trump's political fortunes and his 2024 presidential campaign. A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University. However, Prof Ohlrogge said the current share price is ""far, far elevated above what anyone would consider its fundamental value"". ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""Shares in Donald Trump's media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market."", 'Shares surged past $70 in early trade, giving the firm a market value of more than $9bn.', 'They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.', 'The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $4bn.', ""Analysts say that is far more than the firm's performance warrants."", ""Trump Media's Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m. It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active."", 'By comparison, the recently-listed Reddit currently has a market value of about $11bn.', 'It boasts more than 70 million users and brought in $800m in revenue last year.', ""Kristi Marvin, chief executive of SPACInsider, compared Trump Media - which trades under the ticker DJT for Mr Trump's initials - to a meme stock, in which prices are untethered from the business prospects."", 'Interest in Trump Media has also been fuelled by individual investors, as opposed to Wall Street firms, many of them apparently Trump supporters. ""', 'Everybody expected to trade a little bit crazy today, which it has,"" she said. ""', 'The real question is how does it trade a week from now, two weeks from now and nobody really knows.""', 'The deal to list Trump Media was first announced in 2021.', 'The move was accomplished via what is known as a SPAC, a merger with a publicly listed shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, which was expressly created to buy a company and take it public.', 'The deal was delayed by government investigations and other hurdles, but regulators cleared it earlier this year and Digital World shareholders voted in favour last week.', 'Ahead of the listing on the Nasdaq exchange, Trump Media officials called it a ""pivotal moment"" for the firm - and the wider media landscape. ""', 'As a public company, we will passionately pursue our vision to build a movement to reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors,"" said Trump Media chief executive Devin Nunes, a former congressman. ""', 'We will continue to fulfil our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbour for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors.""', ""The debut comes at a critical moment for Mr Trump, who has been scrambling for cash to pay legal penalties and owns more than half of the firm's shares."", 'He is currently barred from selling his holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately.', ""The company's board, which is stocked with allies including one of his sons, could potentially change that rule, but analysts have said they think that would be unlikely to happen immediately."", 'If Mr Trump were to sell a significant chunk of his shares, it could hurt the share price.', ""Investors face other risks as well, tied to Mr Trump's political fortunes and his 2024 presidential campaign."", 'A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University.', 'However, Prof Ohlrogge said the current share price is ""far, far elevated above what anyone would consider its fundamental value"".']",0.2659210338425756,"A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University.","He is currently barred from selling his holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately.",0.4114337888630954,"They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.","Trump Media's Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m. It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active.",2024-03-27
Top soccer clubs are using an AI-powered app to scout future stars,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/tech/aiscout-app-soccer-scouting-spc-intl/index.html,"
  Published
        7:14 AM EST, Fri March 1, 2024
    ","A London-based technology company is looking to “democratize” talent-identification and scouting in soccer using a mobile app.
    
            Free to download and available globally, the aiScout app allows aspiring soccer stars to enter virtual trials for professional clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills. It offers 75 exercises, designed to test a range of skills, with videos showing users how to complete them.
    
            Performances are automatically scored by artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The data can then be accessed by clubs, allowing their scouts to peruse scores for viable talent, honing their search with a variety of filters; from age and gender to position on the pitch.
    
            The app currently has two English Premier League (EPL) partners, Chelsea and Burnley, and clubs can tailor their in-app trials to meet specific needs and set their own benchmarks by having their academy players complete the same drills.
    
            “We’re putting that data up front to make better use of [the scouts’] time,” said Richard Felton-Thomas, chief operating officer of ai.io, the company behind the app.
    
            “To say [to scouts], ‘Go over to this place today because there’s three players in that game that are all actually beating your Chelsea standard’ — that’s going to be the best use of your time.’”
    
            It already appears to be working for some. Ben Greenwood had never had a trial with a professional club until he downloaded the app in 2019. After uploading footage of himself, the 17-year-old landed a trial with Chelsea, becoming the first user of the app to get a trial with a pro club. He signed a contract with EPL team Bournemouth in 2021.
    
            Having beta-tested in with players spanning 125 countries, Greenwood among them, 135 players have been trialed or signed by pro clubs or national teams through the app — which fully launched in September 2023 — according to Felton-Thomas.
    
            Just over 100,000 players make up the current database, but with over 100 clubs lined up to join Chelsea and Burnley, as well as a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer in the US announced last May, Felton-Thomas projects user numbers to surge into the millions as the operation ramps up this year.
    
            Felton-Thomas said the “lion’s share” of its income comes from charging clubs a license fee to run the platform. Annual fees vary depending on the size of the club and the tools they require, ranging from six figures for “tier one” sides like Chelsea, to thousands of pounds for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid.
    
            The use of smart technology in sport continues to expand, including AI commentary tools and wearable tech for elite athletes. The global market for sports analytics, valued at $2.7 billion in 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.
    
            Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry? For Felton-Thomas, new technologies can co-exist with traditional methods.
    
            “It’s more about evolution than revolution,” Felton-Thomas explained.
    
            “We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity? What happens when he’s 2-0 down? What happens when someone’s shouting at him? What happens when he’s just made a massive mistake?”
    
            “We’ve got the ability to just augment real people to do their jobs better and faster, which then gives an opportunity to the player through the AI, but you’re still actually just connecting them to the human on the other side, which is the club and the scout.”
    
            While football remains ai.io’s primary focus, the company is looking into opportunities in other sports to launch in the coming years. Further ahead, it may branch out beyond sports.
    
            “You think about the notion that you can be at home and analyze your movements, and how this could spin into health care, physical assessments for military disciplines and emergency services,” Felton-Thomas told CNN.",CNN,01/03/2024,"['A London-based technology company is looking to “democratize” talent-identification and scouting in soccer using a mobile app.', 'Free to download and available globally, the aiScout app allows aspiring soccer stars to enter virtual trials for professional clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills.', 'It offers 75 exercises, designed to test a range of skills, with videos showing users how to complete them.', 'Performances are automatically scored by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.', 'The data can then be accessed by clubs, allowing their scouts to peruse scores for viable talent, honing their search with a variety of filters; from age and gender to position on the pitch.', 'The app currently has two English Premier League (EPL) partners, Chelsea and Burnley, and clubs can tailor their in-app trials to meet specific needs and set their own benchmarks by having their academy players complete the same drills.', '“We’re putting that data up front to make better use of [the scouts’] time,” said Richard Felton-Thomas, chief operating officer of ai.io, the company behind the app.', '“To say [to scouts], ‘Go over to this place today because there’s three players in that game that are all actually beating your Chelsea standard’ — that’s going to be the best use of your time.’”', 'It already appears to be working for some.', 'Ben Greenwood had never had a trial with a professional club until he downloaded the app in 2019.', 'After uploading footage of himself, the 17-year-old landed a trial with Chelsea, becoming the first user of the app to get a trial with a pro club.', 'He signed a contractwith EPL team Bournemouthin 2021.', 'Having beta-tested in with players spanning 125 countries, Greenwood among them, 135 players have been trialed or signed by pro clubs or national teams through the app — which fully launched in September 2023 — according to Felton-Thomas.', 'Just over 100,000 players make up the current database, but with over 100 clubs lined up to join Chelsea and Burnley, as well as a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer in the US announced last May, Felton-Thomas projects user numbers to surge into the millions as the operation ramps up this year.', 'Felton-Thomas said the “lion’s share” of its income comes from charging clubs a license fee to run the platform.', 'Annual fees vary depending on the size of the club and the tools they require, ranging from six figures for “tier one” sides like Chelsea, to thousands of pounds for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid.', 'The use of smart technology in sport continues to expand, includingAI commentary tools and wearable tech for elite athletes.', 'The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.', 'Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry?', 'For Felton-Thomas, new technologies can co-exist with traditional methods.', '“It’s more about evolution than revolution,” Felton-Thomas explained.', '“We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity?', 'What happens when he’s 2-0 down?', 'What happens when someone’s shouting at him?', 'What happens when he’s just made a massive mistake?”', '“We’ve got the ability to just augment real people to do their jobs better and faster, which then gives an opportunity to the player through the AI, but you’re still actually just connecting them to the human on the other side, which is the club and the scout.”', 'While football remains ai.io’s primary focus, the company is looking into opportunities in other sports to launch in the coming years.', 'Further ahead, it may branch out beyond sports.', '“You think about the notion that you can be at home and analyze your movements, and how this could spin into health care, physical assessments for military disciplines and emergency services,” Felton-Thomas told CNN.']",0.2022322827681825,"The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.","“We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity?",0.6922526104109628,"The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.",Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry?,2024-03-27
Krispy Kreme doughnuts are coming to McDonald’s,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/business/krispy-kreme-mcdonalds/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:09 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","McDonald’s customers can soon pair Krispy Kreme doughnuts with their morning McCafe, in a new food partnership that seeks to expand both brands but that could wind up weakening them instead.
    
            Three types of Krispy Kreme doughnuts — original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced “kreme” filled — will go on sale at McDonald’s restaurants starting later this year, the companies told CNN on Monday.
    
            Krispy Kreme shares jumped more than 39% on Tuesday. McDonald’s shares were flat.
    
            It’s not the first time two competitors have teamed up. For example, Wendy’s brought in Cinnabon to its breakfast lineup earlier this year. Some research suggests brand partnerships open possibilities for new customers, brand expansions and innovation. But some retail experts suggest partnerships can also be a risky move, and one that can weaken the respective brand names.
    
            Truist analysts said the Krispy Kreme doughnut delivery model will have to figure out a way to successfully service rural McDonald’s locations more than 20 miles outside of an urban center.
    
            McDonald’s has also faced pushback from customers as prices on its other menu items rise. Ian Borden, McDonald’s chief financial officer, said earlier this month that some lower-income Americans are opting to cook at home instead of dining at its restaurants. In February, CEO Chris Kempczinski addressed McDonald’s “affordability” problem and indicated the chain would cut prices on some menu items.
    
            Krispy Kreme is giving away a free glazed doughnut to guests who visit a Krispy Kreme location between 5 and 9 pm on Tuesday to celebrate the partnership.
    
            The addition of a Krispy Kreme doughnut to the McDonald’s customer’s breakfast order began as a test at 160 restaurants in Kentucky. The doughnuts will be available nationwide at participating restaurants by the end of 2026, after a phased rollout beginning later this year. Truist analysts said the long testing period reduces the risk for both parties.
    
            The doughnut will be available to purchase individually or in a pack of six, starting at breakfast, and will continue selling until they run out.
    
            There are far fewer Krispy Kreme locations than McDonald’s, which had almost 13,500 US locations in 2022. But customers can buy Krispy Kreme doughnut in other places, such as Walmart and other grocery stores. The partnership could increase the scope of Krispy Kreme, which said it has been scaling its supply chain to keep up with its promise to deliver fresh daily.
    
            “By making Kreme Krispy (sic) accessible to fans nationwide through this partnership, we expect to more than double our points of access by the end of 2026,” said Krispy Kreme President and CEO Josh Charlesworth in a statement.
    
            Krispy Kreme has been focusing its business operations on its doughnuts. The Charlotte-based company also owns Insomnia Cookies, though said in 2023 it is exploring other options such as selling the cookie brand.
    
            The company returned to the market in 2021 through an IPO. However, its stock is still trading below its IPO price of $17.
    
            “What does this mean for the company’s previous plans to expand locations? How will it impact an existing point of access which is located down the street from a McDonald’s?” Truist analysts said.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['McDonald’s customers cansoonpair Krispy Kreme doughnuts with their morning McCafe, in a new food partnership that seeks to expand both brands but that could wind up weakening them instead.', 'Three types of Krispy Kreme doughnuts — original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced “kreme” filled— will go on sale at McDonald’s restaurants starting later this year, the companies told CNN on Monday.', 'Krispy Kreme shares jumped more than 39% on Tuesday.', 'McDonald’s shares were flat.', 'It’s not the first time two competitors have teamed up.', 'For example, Wendy’s brought in Cinnabon to its breakfast lineup earlier this year.', 'Some research suggests brand partnerships open possibilities for new customers, brand expansions and innovation.', 'But some retail experts suggest partnerships can also be a risky move, and one that can weaken the respective brand names.', 'Truist analysts said the Krispy Kreme doughnut delivery model will have to figure out a way to successfully service rural McDonald’s locations more than 20 miles outside of an urban center.', 'McDonald’s has also faced pushback from customers as prices on its other menu items rise.', 'Ian Borden, McDonald’s chief financial officer, said earlier this month that some lower-income Americans are opting to cook at home instead of dining at its restaurants.', 'In February, CEO Chris Kempczinski addressed McDonald’s “affordability” problem and indicated the chain would cut prices on some menu items.', 'Krispy Kreme is giving away a free glazed doughnut to guests who visit a Krispy Kreme location between 5 and 9 pm on Tuesday to celebrate the partnership.', 'The addition of a Krispy Kreme doughnut to the McDonald’s customer’s breakfast order began as a test at 160 restaurants in Kentucky.', 'The doughnuts will be available nationwide at participating restaurants by the end of 2026, after a phased rollout beginning later this year.', 'Truist analysts said the long testing period reduces the risk for both parties.', 'The doughnut will be available to purchase individually or in a pack of six, starting at breakfast, and will continue selling until they run out.', 'There are far fewer Krispy Kreme locations than McDonald’s, which had almost 13,500 US locations in 2022.', 'But customers can buy Krispy Kreme doughnut in other places, such as Walmart and other grocery stores.', 'The partnership could increase the scope of Krispy Kreme, which said it has been scaling its supply chain to keep up with its promise to deliver fresh daily.', '“By makingKreme Krispy (sic) accessible to fans nationwide through this partnership, we expect to more than double our points of access by the end of 2026,” said Krispy Kreme President and CEO Josh Charlesworth in a statement.', 'Krispy Kreme has been focusing its business operations on its doughnuts.', 'The Charlotte-based company also owns Insomnia Cookies, though said in 2023 it is exploring other options such as selling the cookie brand.', 'The company returned to the market in 2021 through an IPO.', 'However, its stock is still trading below its IPO price of $17.', '“What does this mean for the company’s previous plans to expand locations?', 'How will it impact an existing point of access which is located down the street from a McDonald’s?”', 'Truist analysts said.']",0.083080637964168,Krispy Kreme is giving away a free glazed doughnut to guests who visit a Krispy Kreme location between 5 and 9 pm on Tuesday to celebrate the partnership.,"In February, CEO Chris Kempczinski addressed McDonald’s “affordability” problem and indicated the chain would cut prices on some menu items.",0.0961536602540449,Krispy Kreme shares jumped more than 39% on Tuesday.,"McDonald’s customers cansoonpair Krispy Kreme doughnuts with their morning McCafe, in a new food partnership that seeks to expand both brands but that could wind up weakening them instead.",2024-03-27
Digital humans: the relatable face of artificial intelligence?,https://edition.cnn.com/business/digital-humans-ai-dj-dex-spc/index.html,"
  Published
        5:33 AM EDT, Tue March 19, 2024
    ","Scrolling through the Instagram account of DJ and aspiring model Dex you’ll see her wearing new outfits, performing at shows around the world and chatting to her thousands of followers about her hobbies.
    
            However, it’s clear that there is something different about Dex; she’s an entirely virtual “digital human,” designed by a startup in the UK.
    
            For her performances, Dex is displayed on a video screen or as a holographic projection, with her mixes created by humans. She is animated using Unreal Engine — a 3D modeling software widely used in video games — combined with motion-capture. Generative artificial intelligence allows her to remember information and respond to questions, using a voice also generated by AI.
    
            “She’s probably one of the only digital humans in the performance space that you can have a conversation and interact with,” says Denise Harris, CCO of startup Sum Vivas. “You can ask her anything. She is a genius about music.”
    
            Last month, Dex performed at Digital Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris and Milan, and she has modeled outfits by Prada and Louis Vuitton at digital fashion events.
    
            For Liverpool-based Sum Vivas she’s a “showpiece” for more practical applications. The company is now developing digital humans that can “listen” to people’s questions and converse in real time. “Shellie” can provide product information as an avatar on company websites, while “Arif” is set to direct passengers and answer questions as a multilingual concierge on screens at airports.
    
            According to CEO and founder Rob Sims, digital humans can help bridge the gap between AI technology and people. “What we’ve found is when people start working with and conversing with a digital human, they very quickly suspend disbelief,” Sims tells CNN. “It becomes natural.”
    
            Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, considerable hype has surrounded the potential of generative AI — artificial intelligence powered by huge datasets of information, capable of generating text outputs in a conversational way.
    
            Record levels of investment into generative AI have followed, with over $21 billion poured into the industry during the first nine months of last year, according to data insights company Pitchbook. In March 2023, Google launched Bard (recently renamed Gemini) and around the same time Anthropic released its AI assistant Claude. As generative AI chatbots become increasingly ubiquitous, Sum Vivas is one of several companies looking to make them more human.
    
            US and New Zealand-based UneeQ has developed animated conversational “digital humans” that can be used as virtual sales reps and customer service agents on company websites, and this month it debuted Sama 2.0, an animated cabin crew member that answers questions on Qatar Airways’ website and app.
    
            Microsoft recently announced that users of its Azure software would be able to create lifelike avatars capable of turning text prompts into animated speech. However, there are widespread concerns about the impact AI could have on the job market. 
    
            “When we rely on automated tools, what skills are we losing in the process?” asks Jennifer Ding, senior researcher at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. “In some ways, we think of AI as something that’s helping us or augmenting our work,” she says. “However, alongside, this fear of replacement is bubbling up more and more.”
    
            Harris, however, points to new opportunities within digital human design and development. “Every scenario that we found, we’re creating jobs and working in harmony with people rather than taking away jobs,” she says.
    
            “Digital humans, first and foremost, should work with other human colleagues,” adds Sims. “We’ll move into a stage where digital humans will start to become just another member of the team, with added benefits for that team, and obviously the customers they serve.”",CNN,19/03/2024,"['Scrolling through the Instagram account of DJ and aspiring model Dex you’ll see her wearing new outfits, performing at shows around the world and chatting to her thousands of followers about her hobbies.', 'However, it’s clear that there is something different about Dex; she’s an entirely virtual “digital human,” designed by a startup in the UK.', 'For her performances, Dex is displayed on a video screen or as a holographic projection, with her mixes created by humans.', 'She is animated using Unreal Engine — a 3D modeling software widely used in video games — combined with motion-capture.', 'Generative artificial intelligence allows her to remember information and respond to questions, using a voice also generated by AI.', '“She’s probably one of the only digital humans in the performance space that you can have a conversation and interact with,” says Denise Harris, CCO of startup Sum Vivas. “', 'You can ask her anything.', 'She is a genius about music.”', 'Last month, Dex performed at Digital Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris and Milan, and she has modeled outfits by Prada and Louis Vuitton at digital fashion events.', 'For Liverpool-based Sum Vivas she’s a “showpiece” for more practical applications.', 'The company is now developing digital humans that can “listen” to people’s questions and converse in real time. “', 'Shellie” can provide product information as an avatar on company websites, while “Arif” is set to direct passengers and answer questions as a multilingual concierge on screens at airports.', 'According to CEO and founder Rob Sims, digital humans can help bridge the gap between AI technology and people. “', 'What we’ve found is when people start working with and conversing with a digital human, they very quickly suspend disbelief,” Sims tells CNN. “', 'It becomes natural.”', 'Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, considerable hype has surrounded the potential of generative AI — artificial intelligence powered by huge datasets of information, capable of generating text outputs in a conversational way.', 'Record levels of investment into generative AI have followed, with over $21 billion poured into the industry during the first nine months of last year, according to data insights company Pitchbook.', 'In March 2023, Google launched Bard (recently renamed Gemini) and around the same time Anthropic released its AI assistant Claude.', 'As generative AI chatbots become increasingly ubiquitous, Sum Vivas is one of several companies looking to make them more human.', 'US and New Zealand-based UneeQ has developed animated conversational “digital humans” that can be used as virtual sales reps and customer service agents on company websites, and this month it debuted Sama 2.0, an animated cabin crew member that answers questions on Qatar Airways’ website and app.', 'Microsoft recently announced that users of its Azure software would be able to create lifelike avatars capable of turning text prompts into animated speech.', 'However, there are widespread concerns about the impact AI could have on the job market.', '“When we rely on automated tools, what skills are we losing in the process?”', 'asks Jennifer Ding, senior researcher at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. “', 'In some ways, we think of AI as something that’s helping us or augmenting our work,” she says. “', 'However, alongside, this fear of replacement is bubbling up more and more.”', 'Harris, however, points to new opportunities within digital human design and development. “', 'Every scenario that we found, we’re creating jobs and working in harmony with people rather than taking away jobs,” she says.', '“Digital humans, first and foremost, should work with other human colleagues,” adds Sims. “', 'We’ll move into a stage where digital humans will start to become just another member of the team, with added benefits for that team, and obviously the customers they serve.”']",0.1214444180579973,"Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, considerable hype has surrounded the potential of generative AI — artificial intelligence powered by huge datasets of information, capable of generating text outputs in a conversational way.","However, alongside, this fear of replacement is bubbling up more and more.”",0.2107266932725906,"Harris, however, points to new opportunities within digital human design and development. “","However, there are widespread concerns about the impact AI could have on the job market.",2024-03-27
"NBC cut ties with Ronna McDaniel after extraordinary pressure, but its problems aren’t over",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/media/nbc-ronna-mcdaniel-problems-are-not-over/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:16 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","Only 80 hours elapsed between NBC News announcing Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor and the network ousting her from that very role. But for the leadership at NBC Universal News Group, those were 80 painful hours.
    
            On Tuesday evening, following another full day in which the media rumor mill churned at warp speed, NBCU News Group boss Cesar Conde sent staff a memo, notifying his troops that he had reversed his decision to welcome the former Republican National Committee chair to “the team.”
    
            “After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor,” Conde said, adding that he wanted to “personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down.”
    
            Conde had no real choice. The embattled NBCU boss, who I’m told dealt with the crisis from an unknown location outside of 30 Rock, was facing an unprecedented rebellion from his most high-profile stars, who one by one went on the air and excoriated leadership’s decision to hire McDaniel. The only aspect of Conde’s note that was surprising was the fact that it came 48 hours late, allowing what started off as a crisis to fester and balloon into one of the worst corporate public relations calamities in recent memory.
    
            “What a sh*t show!” a media executive exclaimed to me Tuesday shortly after Conde relieved McDaniel of her NBC News credentials.
    
            In his note, Conde said he took “full responsibility” for McDaniel’s hire. But, he also did point the finger, telling staffers that hiring her was “a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team.” Indeed, multiple people familiar with the matter have told me that the infighting among NBC executives over who was at fault for the disaster has reached a fever pitch, with various factions of the NBCU News Group assigning blame to others.
    
            Regardless of who is to blame, the entire affair made clear who is actually in control of the company — and it’s not Conde & Co. Despite the NBCU C-suite digging their heels in the sand as they resisted dumping McDaniel for days, they were ultimately forced to succumb to pressure from their talent. As a second media executive commented to me, it is now “very clear who is in charge” after the “weak leadership was put on full display.”
    
            “Has Cesar lost the room?” wondered a third media executive.
    
            While the Peacock family argues over who was really at fault, the company is facing a fresh public relations mess. Led by Donald Trump, right-wing personalities are already assailing the network as being overrun with intolerant woke leftists.
    
            “These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK,” Trump raged on his Truth Social platform.
    
            Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary under President George W. Bush, wrote on X: “What NBC is saying is if you’re for Trump, you don’t belong. Good. Let NBC be for Democrats only.”
    
            Of course, that narrative is intellectually dishonest. The objection to McDaniel from both within and outside of NBCU was not that she is a Republican. It wasn’t even that she was a Trump-supporting Republican. No, the objection stemmed from the fact that McDaniel was an active participant in the plot to subvert the 2020 vote. And, in addition to that disgraceful history, she had a lengthy track record smearing NBC News and MSNBC.
    
            Nevertheless, NBCU will now have to contend with such dishonest attacks being leveled by the right, which will follow them in the days, months, and even years to come. As unfair as it may be, they will certainly damage the network’s brand in Republican circles — a place it had gone through great pains to appeal to.
    
            NBCU will also have to grapple with McDaniel, who spent the last 24 hours or so interviewing lawyers as she gears up for a possible legal fight with the network, according to a person familiar with the matter. The rift between McDaniel and NBCU had grown to such an extent by Tuesday that she was not informed by network brass that she had been dismissed, I’m told. Instead, McDaniel learned of her ouster in press reports.
    
            While NBCU is being beaten up on the right, the company’s leadership was quickly praised by its journalists and top stars. Shortly after Conde sent out his memo, Rachel Maddow appeared on Joy Reid’s show, where the two lauded Conde for reversing course.
    
            “I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”",CNN,27/03/2024,"['Only 80 hours elapsed between NBC News announcing Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor and the network ousting her from that very role.', 'But for the leadership at NBC Universal News Group, those were 80painful hours.', 'On Tuesday evening, following another full day in which the media rumor mill churned at warp speed, NBCU News Group boss Cesar Conde sent staff a memo, notifying his troops that he had reversed his decision to welcome the former Republican National Committee chair to “the team.”', '“After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor,” Conde said, adding that he wanted to “personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down.”', 'Conde had no real choice.', 'The embattled NBCU boss, who I’m told dealt with the crisis from an unknown location outside of 30 Rock, was facing an unprecedented rebellion from his most high-profile stars, who one by one went on the air and excoriated leadership’s decision to hire McDaniel.', 'The only aspect of Conde’s note that was surprising was the fact that it came 48 hours late, allowing what started off as a crisis to fester and balloon into one of the worst corporate public relations calamities in recent memory.', '“What a sh*t show!”', 'a media executive exclaimed to me Tuesday shortly after Conde relieved McDaniel of her NBC News credentials.', 'In his note, Conde said he took “full responsibility” for McDaniel’s hire.', 'But, he also did point the finger, telling staffers that hiring her was “a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team.”', 'Indeed, multiple people familiar with the matter have told me that the infighting among NBC executives over who was at fault for the disaster has reached a fever pitch, with various factions of the NBCU News Group assigning blame to others.', 'Regardless of who is to blame, the entire affair made clear who is actually in control of the company — and it’s not Conde & Co. Despite the NBCU C-suite digging their heels in the sand as they resisted dumping McDaniel for days, they were ultimately forced to succumb to pressure from their talent.', 'As a second media executive commented to me, it is now “very clear who is in charge” after the “weak leadership was put on full display.”', '“Has Cesar lost the room?”', 'wondered a third media executive.', 'While the Peacock family argues over who was really at fault, the company is facing a fresh public relations mess.', 'Led by Donald Trump, right-wing personalities are already assailing the network as being overrun with intolerant woke leftists.', '“These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK,” Trump raged on his Truth Social platform.', 'Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary under President George W. Bush, wrote on X: “What NBC is saying is if you’re for Trump, you don’t belong.', 'Good.', 'Let NBC be for Democrats only.”', 'Of course, that narrative is intellectually dishonest.', 'The objection to McDaniel from both within and outside of NBCU was not that she is a Republican.', 'It wasn’t even that she was a Trump-supporting Republican.', 'No, the objection stemmed from the fact that McDaniel was an active participant in the plot to subvert the 2020 vote.', 'And, in addition to that disgraceful history, she had a lengthy track record smearing NBC News and MSNBC.', 'Nevertheless, NBCU will now have to contend with such dishonest attacks being leveled by the right, which will follow them in the days, months, and even years to come.', 'As unfair as it may be, they will certainly damage the network’s brand in Republican circles — a place it had gone through great pains to appeal to.', 'NBCU will also have to grapple with McDaniel, who spent the last 24 hours or so interviewing lawyers as she gears up for a possible legal fight with the network, according to a person familiar with the matter.', 'The rift between McDaniel and NBCU had grown to such an extent by Tuesday that she was not informed by network brass that she had been dismissed, I’m told.', 'Instead, McDaniel learned of her ouster in press reports.', 'While NBCU is being beaten up on the right, the company’s leadership was quickly praised by its journalists and top stars.', 'Shortly after Conde sent out his memo, Rachel Maddow appeared on Joy Reid’s show, where the two lauded Conde for reversing course.', '“I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “', 'That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”']",-0.0743400881523301,"“I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “","“These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK,” Trump raged on his Truth Social platform.",-0.3914039839397777,"While NBCU is being beaten up on the right, the company’s leadership was quickly praised by its journalists and top stars.","As unfair as it may be, they will certainly damage the network’s brand in Republican circles — a place it had gone through great pains to appeal to.",2024-03-27
Barclays bank payments restored after app went down in outage,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68671228,2024-03-26T23:38:31.000Z,"Barclays has said its payment systems and banking app are fully operational after earlier glitches which began on Tuesday evening. The bank apologised for issues with payments into and out of the accounts of some of its UK customers. In an update at 03:25 GMT, it said customers could make and receive payments once more. Other firms such as Sainsbury's and McDonald's were recently hit by technical issues. Dozens of account holders spoke earlier of problems logging onto the Barclays app as well as the bank's online banking service. One business customer voiced their concern on social media, saying the issue was ""not a joke or glitch; this is people's lives"". ""We need to make emergency plans if our money is inaccessible or gone,"" they added. Responding to customers via its social media pages, the bank apologised and said it was aware of issues affecting some users logging into the app, with online banking and payments.  Barclays has about 20 million customers in the UK and has previously said it handles more than 50 million payments each month. DownDetector, a website which monitors IT issues with companies, noted outages being reported with the bank from about 21:15 on Tuesday. Barclays is the latest company to be affected by technical issues in recent days.  Last weekend, supermarket Sainsbury's was forced to cancel deliveries to customers after an IT problem and could only take cash in its supermarkets. Tesco was also affected by similar technical issues.  Earlier in the month fast food chain McDonald's had to close many of its restaurants after it suffered IT outages in stores around the world, it blamed the problems on a third-party provider. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Barclays has said its payment systems and banking app are fully operational after earlier glitches which began on Tuesday evening.', 'The bank apologised for issues with payments into and out of the accounts of some of its UK customers.', 'In an update at 03:25 GMT, it said customers could make and receive payments once more.', ""Other firms such as Sainsbury's and McDonald's were recently hit by technical issues."", ""Dozens of account holders spoke earlier of problems logging onto the Barclays app as well as the bank's online banking service."", 'One business customer voiced their concern on social media, saying the issue was ""not a joke or glitch; this is people\'s lives"". ""', 'We need to make emergency plans if our money is inaccessible or gone,"" they added.', 'Responding to customers via its social media pages, the bank apologised and said it was aware of issues affecting some users logging into the app, with online banking and payments.', 'Barclays has about 20 million customers in the UK and has previously said it handles more than 50 million payments each month.', 'DownDetector, a website which monitors IT issues with companies, noted outages being reported with the bank from about 21:15 on Tuesday.', 'Barclays is the latest company to be affected by technical issues in recent days.', ""Last weekend, supermarket Sainsbury's was forced to cancel deliveries to customers after an IT problem and could only take cash in its supermarkets."", 'Tesco was also affected by similar technical issues.', ""Earlier in the month fast food chain McDonald's had to close many of its restaurants after it suffered IT outages in stores around the world, it blamed the problems on a third-party provider.""]",-0.1695634957955034,,"Last weekend, supermarket Sainsbury's was forced to cancel deliveries to customers after an IT problem and could only take cash in its supermarkets.",-0.905144018786294,,"Earlier in the month fast food chain McDonald's had to close many of its restaurants after it suffered IT outages in stores around the world, it blamed the problems on a third-party provider.",2024-03-27
Is America at risk of a bond market meltdown? This watchdog thinks so,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/business/us-debt-cbo-warning/index.html,"
  Updated
        5:59 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","The United States risks a bond market crisis of the kind that engulfed the United Kingdom 18 months ago, sending yields soaring and sparking a run on the pound, according to Congress’s independent fiscal watchdog.
    
            The stark warning from the Congressional Budget Office comes as US government debt continues to break records, fuelling concerns about the burden that places on the economy and taking a toll on America’s credit rating.
    
            In an interview with the Financial Times, CBO director Phillip Swagel said US government debt — which the Treasury Department puts at nearly $35 trillion — is on an “unprecedented” trajectory.
    
            “The danger, of course, is what the UK faced with former Prime Minister (Liz) Truss, where policymakers tried to take an action, and then there’s a market reaction to that action,” he told the newspaper, referring to the investor backlash against plans for unfunded tax cuts that forced Truss to resign after just 45 days in office.
    
            The US was “not there yet,” Swagel said. But as higher interest rates raise the cost of paying its creditors, on track to reach $1 trillion per year in 2026, bond markets could “snap back,” Swagel added. The CBO told CNN it had no further comment beyond the Financial Times interview.
    
            Britain’s bond market rout in September 2022 offered a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when investors reject a government’s plan to borrow more.
    
            UK government bonds, or gilts, and the pound sold off sharply, partly in response to plans by Truss to issue more debt in order to pay for tax cuts. Mortgage rates and other borrowing costs soared as investors demanded much higher premiums for owning UK debt.
    
            The Bank of England was ultimately forced to intervene, pledging to buy gilts on “whatever scale is necessary.”
    
            “Were dysfunction in this market to continue or worsen, there would be a material risk to UK financial stability,” Dave Ramsden, a senior official at the central bank, said at the time. “This would lead to … a reduction of the flow of credit to the real economy.”
    
            US government debt has soared under both Republicans and Democrats in recent years, swelled by former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts in 2017 and pandemic stimulus under President Joe Biden.
    
            Economists have been warning for years that the debt pile is reaching dangerously high levels and in August Fitch stripped the United States of its immaculate triple-A credit rating, citing “a high and growing general government debt burden.”
    
            There could be more borrowing to come if Trump is re-elected president in November. He has promised to extend his 2017 tax cuts and has also spoken about reducing the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 15%.
    
            “I will make the Trump tax cuts the largest tax cut in history,” he said last month at the Black Conservative Federation’s Honors Gala in South Carolina.
    
            In the UK, tax reductions planned by Truss amounted to the biggest cuts in 50 years and included slashing the top rate of income tax to 40% from 45%.
    
            Even in the absence of Truss-style dysfunction in the US Treasury market, the increased cost of servicing debt after a recent rapid run-up in official interest rates is siphoning ever greater amounts of money away from US public services.
    
            Interest costs on a common measure soared to $659 billion in fiscal year 2023, which ended on September 30, according to the Treasury Department. That’s up 39% from the previous year and nearly double what it was in fiscal year 2020.
    
            In fiscal year 2023, the government spent more to service its debt than it did on each of housing, transport and higher education, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-profit.
    
            According to the CBO, US government debt is set to keep rising. “Such large and growing debt would slow economic growth, push up interest payments to foreign holders of US debt, and pose significant risks to the fiscal and economic outlook,” it said in a report last week. “It could also cause lawmakers to feel more constrained in their policy choices.”",CNN,27/03/2024,"['The United States risks a bond market crisis of the kind that engulfed the United Kingdom 18 months ago, sending yields soaring and sparking a run on the pound, according to Congress’s independent fiscal watchdog.', 'The stark warning from the Congressional Budget Office comes as US government debt continues to break records, fuelling concerns about the burden that places on the economy and taking a toll on America’s credit rating.', 'In an interview with the Financial Times, CBO director Phillip Swagel said US government debt — which the Treasury Department puts at nearly $35 trillion —is on an “unprecedented” trajectory.', '“The danger, of course, is what the UK faced with former Prime Minister (Liz) Truss, where policymakers tried to take an action, and then there’s a market reaction to that action,” he told the newspaper, referring to the investor backlash against plans for unfunded tax cuts that forced Truss to resign after just 45 days in office.', 'The US was “not there yet,” Swagel said.', 'But as higher interest rates raise the cost of paying its creditors, on track to reach $1 trillion per year in 2026, bond markets could “snap back,” Swagel added.', 'The CBO told CNN it had no further comment beyond the Financial Times interview.', 'Britain’s bond market rout in September 2022 offered a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when investors reject a government’s plan to borrow more.', 'UK government bonds, or gilts, and the pound sold off sharply, partly in response to plans by Truss to issue more debt in order to pay for tax cuts.', 'Mortgage rates and other borrowing costs soared as investors demanded much higher premiums for owning UK debt.', 'The Bank of England was ultimately forced to intervene, pledging to buy gilts on “whatever scale is necessary.”', '“Were dysfunction in this market to continue or worsen, there would be a material risk to UK financial stability,” Dave Ramsden, a senior official at the central bank, said at the time. “', 'This would lead to … a reduction of the flow of credit to the real economy.”', 'US government debt has soared under both Republicans and Democrats in recent years, swelled by former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts in 2017 and pandemic stimulus under President Joe Biden.', 'Economists have been warning for years that the debt pile is reaching dangerously high levels and in August Fitch stripped the United States of its immaculate triple-A credit rating, citing “a high and growing general government debt burden.”', 'There could be more borrowing to come if Trump is re-elected president in November.', 'He has promised to extend his 2017 tax cuts and has also spoken about reducing the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 15%.', '“I will make the Trump tax cuts the largest tax cut in history,” he said last month at the Black Conservative Federation’s Honors Gala in South Carolina.', 'In the UK, tax reductions planned by Truss amounted to the biggest cuts in 50 years and included slashing the top rate of income tax to 40% from 45%.', 'Even in the absence of Truss-style dysfunction in the US Treasury market, the increased cost of servicing debt after a recent rapid run-up in official interest rates is siphoning ever greater amounts of money away from US public services.', 'Interest costs on a common measure soared to $659 billion in fiscal year 2023, which ended on September 30, according to the Treasury Department.', 'That’s up 39% from the previous year and nearly double what it was in fiscal year 2020.', 'In fiscal year 2023, the government spent more to service its debt than it did on each of housing, transport and higher education, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-profit.', 'According to the CBO, US government debt is set to keep rising. “', 'Such large and growing debt would slow economic growth, push up interest payments to foreign holders of US debt, and pose significant risks to the fiscal and economic outlook,” it said in a report last week. “', 'It could also cause lawmakers to feel more constrained in their policy choices.”']",-0.1486146607686415,"But as higher interest rates raise the cost of paying its creditors, on track to reach $1 trillion per year in 2026, bond markets could “snap back,” Swagel added.","“The danger, of course, is what the UK faced with former Prime Minister (Liz) Truss, where policymakers tried to take an action, and then there’s a market reaction to that action,” he told the newspaper, referring to the investor backlash against plans for unfunded tax cuts that forced Truss to resign after just 45 days in office.",-0.4990898162126541,That’s up 39% from the previous year and nearly double what it was in fiscal year 2020.,"UK government bonds, or gilts, and the pound sold off sharply, partly in response to plans by Truss to issue more debt in order to pay for tax cuts.",2024-03-27
There’s more bad news for potential homebuyers: Prices just hit another record,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/economy/us-home-prices-january-case-shiller/index.html,"
  Updated
        11:46 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","US home prices rose at the fastest clip in months to a fresh record high in January, according to data released Tuesday, highlighting how a housing shortage combined with high mortgage rates continues to limit affordability.
    
            The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price index rose 6% in January from a year before, accelerating from a 5.6% annual increase in December. It’s the highest annual increase since late 2022.
    
            “For the second consecutive month, all cities reported increases in annual prices, with San Diego surging 11.2%,” wrote Brian Luke, head of commodities, real and digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement.
    
            “On a seasonal adjusted basis, home prices have continued to break through previous all-time highs set last year,” he noted.
    
            Housing prices have shot to new heights amid a confluence of factors; specifically, decades of underbuilding has led to a shortage of millions of homes. In recent years, efforts to boost that inventory were stymied by rising costs as well as sharply rising interest rates.
    
            The Federal Reserve’s series of rate hikes meant to curb demand and slow inflation resulted in average mortgage interest rates surging to nearly 8% last year. The higher rates stifled demand and kept homesellers on the sidelines, limiting supply further.
    
            The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87% in the week ending March 21, according to Freddie Mac data.
    
            Mortgage rates are expected to drop further this year — especially if the Fed starts cutting rates as planned — however, they might not fall by much: Economists at PNC Financial Services group expect them to be in the 6.5% realm by the fourth quarter.
    
            “That means housing affordability will still be low this year,” Ershang Liang, economist at PNC Financial Services Group, told CNN.
    
            In fact, a separate report released Tuesday showed that it’s actually more affordable to rent than to buy in America’s biggest cities.
    
            Realtor.com’s Rental Report for February found that monthly rent was cheaper than shelling out for a mortgage payment in the 50 largest US cities.
    
            In February, the cost of buying a starter home in those cities was $1,027 more than renting one. That’s up from a difference of $865 in February 2023.
    
            Austin, Texas; Seattle; Phoenix; San Francisco; and Los Angeles were the top five metros with the largest rent versus buy savings, according to the Realtor.com report.
    
            In California, it’s no surprise that cities facing the biggest housing shortages are seeing some of the sharpest home price gains, said Liang.
    
            “(In Los Angeles and San Diego), a new single-family permit is issued for every 11 new jobs, so we are seeing strong employment growth in those places, but the pace of single-family homes has not been able to keep up with the employment gains there,” she said.
    
            However, decades-high interest rates and borrowing costs weighed on some price growth — especially for homes sold in the nation’s largest metro areas, according to the report.
    
            On a month-over-month, seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.4%. The S&P CoreLogic’s 20-City Composite index inched up by 0.1%, the slowest pace since February last year.
    
            “The key number is the small month-over-month gain,” Robert Frick, Navy Federal Credit Union’s corporate economist, wrote Tuesday. “If the trend continues, we could see prices start to fall; though, unfortunately, we’re a year away from seeing home prices drop nationwide, in the best case.”
    
            When stripping out seasonal adjustments, 17 of the 20 metro areas recorded price declines from December to January. San Diego, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, registered positive gains. Minneapolis home prices have declined 2.4% during the three months ended in January, according to the report.
    
            Cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Denver that have been seeing slower price growth, or even falling prices on a monthly basis, are likely experiencing a correction after previous years of sharply rising prices, Liang said.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['US home prices rose at the fastest clip in months to a fresh record high in January, according to data released Tuesday, highlighting how a housing shortage combined with high mortgage rates continues to limit affordability.', 'The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price index rose 6% in January from a year before, accelerating from a 5.6% annual increase in December.', 'It’s the highest annual increase since late 2022.', '“For the second consecutive month, all cities reported increases in annual prices, with San Diego surging 11.2%,” wrote Brian Luke, head of commodities, real and digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement.', '“On a seasonal adjusted basis, home prices have continued to break through previous all-time highs set last year,” he noted.', 'Housing prices have shot to new heights amid a confluence of factors; specifically, decades of underbuilding has led to a shortage of millions of homes.', 'In recent years, efforts to boost that inventory were stymied by rising costs as well as sharply rising interest rates.', 'The Federal Reserve’s series of rate hikes meant to curb demand and slow inflation resulted in average mortgage interest rates surging to nearly 8% last year.', 'The higher rates stifled demand and kept homesellers on the sidelines, limiting supply further.', 'The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87% in the week ending March 21, according to Freddie Mac data.', 'Mortgage rates are expected to drop further this year — especially if the Fed starts cutting rates as planned — however, they might not fall by much: Economists at PNC Financial Services group expect them to be in the 6.5% realm by the fourth quarter.', '“That means housing affordability will still be low this year,” Ershang Liang, economist at PNC Financial Services Group, told CNN.', 'In fact, a separate report released Tuesday showed that it’s actually more affordable to rent than to buy in America’s biggest cities.', 'Realtor.com’s Rental Report for February found that monthly rent was cheaper than shelling out for a mortgage payment in the 50 largest US cities.', 'In February, the cost of buying a starter home in those cities was $1,027 more than renting one.', 'That’s up from a difference of $865 in February 2023.', 'Austin, Texas; Seattle; Phoenix; San Francisco; and Los Angeles were the top five metros with the largest rent versus buy savings, according to the Realtor.com report.', 'In California, it’s no surprise that cities facing the biggest housing shortages are seeing some of the sharpest home price gains, said Liang.', '“(In Los Angeles and San Diego), a new single-family permit is issued for every 11 new jobs, so we are seeing strong employment growth in those places, but the pace of single-family homes has not been able to keep up with the employment gains there,” she said.', 'However, decades-high interest rates and borrowing costs weighed on some price growth — especially for homes sold in the nation’s largest metro areas, according to the report.', 'On a month-over-month, seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.4%.', 'The S&P CoreLogic’s 20-City Composite index inched up by 0.1%, the slowest pace since February last year.', '“The key number is the small month-over-month gain,” Robert Frick, Navy Federal Credit Union’s corporate economist, wrote Tuesday. “', 'If the trend continues, we could see prices start to fall; though, unfortunately, we’re a year away from seeing home prices drop nationwide, in the best case.”', 'When stripping out seasonal adjustments, 17 of the 20 metro areas recorded price declines from December to January.', 'San Diego, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, registered positive gains.', 'Minneapolis home prices have declined 2.4% during the three months ended in January, according to the report.', 'Cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Denver that have been seeing slower price growth, or even falling prices on a monthly basis, are likely experiencing a correction after previous years of sharply rising prices, Liang said.']",0.1660996183369771,"In recent years, efforts to boost that inventory were stymied by rising costs as well as sharply rising interest rates.","The higher rates stifled demand and kept homesellers on the sidelines, limiting supply further.",0.3078980468786679,"On a month-over-month, seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.4%.","Minneapolis home prices have declined 2.4% during the three months ended in January, according to the report.",2024-03-27
Tackling deepfakes 'has turned into an arms race',https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68549609,2024-03-27T00:11:38.000Z,"Louise Bruder never forgets a face. Which is not only a handy skill at parties, but it has helped her carve out a career. She has the fabulous job title of super-recogniser, and her work at UK digital ID firm Yoti involves comparing the photos on an identity document with an uploaded selfie, to determine if it is the same person.  But Yoti, in common with other ID firms, faces a new threat - spotting so-called deepfakes. These are fake images created using AI-powered software. Louise tells me that she hasn't yet been asked to assess deepfakes as part of her day job, but the firm is well aware of the threat. And so, it is actively working on technology that will help spot them. Putting her skills to the test with the BBC's own Deepfake quiz, she scored seven out of eight. ""There's a deadness in people's eyes that really means they don't look real,"" says Louise. Ben Colman is the boss of Reality Defender, a US firm that aims to provide technology to spot deepfakes, and he thinks Louise may struggle soon to tell real from fake. ""I'd say that in the last nine months it's become next to impossible for even the best experts to tell real versus AI generated. We need a software solution to do this,"" he says. Mr Colman differentiates between really sophisticated deepfakes, which may be deployed by a nation state to create disinformation, and what he calls ""cheapfakes"", whereby criminals use off-the-shelf AI software. Worryingly, even the cheap fakes ""are still good enough to fool people, particularly within images and audio,"" he says. Video, though ""is still a little more challenging, and requires a lot more computation"". The solution his firm offers can scan and flag AI representation in an image, video or audio. Clients include the Taiwanese government, Nato, media organisations and large banks. While it is video or image deepfakes that more often get the headlines, audio-only scams are also growing. For example criminals sending voice recordings using a person's voice to say things like ""Mum, I've lost my phone, please pay money to this account now"". Collecting voice clips from someone's account social media or YouTube is an easy job, and just a few seconds of audio is enough to clone the voice and use it to create sentences the person never said. Some off the shelf software even allows users to ""dial up"" stress levels in a voice, a technique that has been used to fool parents in real cases where parents believed their child had been kidnapped. Siwei Lyu is a professor at the University of Buffalo in the US who has studied deepfakes for many years, with the ultimate goal of developing algorithms to help automatically identify and expose them. The algorithms are trained to spot tiny differences - eyes that might not be quite looking in the right direction or, in the case of an artificially created voice, a lack of evidence of breath. Read more stories on artificial intelligence Prof Lyu thinks there needs to be a degree of urgency to solving the problem, warning that video conferencing may be the next target for criminals. ""Not far in the future you could be plugged into a Zoom call, and you think you are talking to me, but it might be a virtual version of me. Somebody might use my image and create that as a deepfake presence in the zoom call."" Deepfakes also have the potential to cause widespread societal disruption. Last year, a fake image of an explosion near the Pentagon went viral on social media, as did fake pictures of Donald Trump in handcuffs. And in January, the New Hampshire Department of Justice was forced to release a statement saying that a recorded audio of Joe Biden telling residents not to vote in the state primary election was a deepfake. Sigurdur Arnason runs a music creation platform in Iceland. Before Christmas he was asked by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service to create a video music skit using a deepfake of a beloved dead Icelandic comedian called Hemmi Gunn for a show that aired on New Year's Eve. ""We thought it would be a fun project,"" he says. ""We asked permission from the comedian's family and we created our own in-house AI models."" The skit did more than amuse, though. ""It sent shockwaves through the whole country,"" says Mr Arnason. ""All of the radio, online news publications and TV were all talking about it. Some family members were not happy because it was so real. Politicians started talking about AI regulation."" It is important that politicians and the general public have such conversations and debates, thinks Christopher Doss, a researcher at think tank Rand Corporation.  He recently conducted a study into deepfakes which revealed that the more humans are exposed to deepfakes, the less likely they are to correctly identify them. And he worries that using AI tools to fight the threat of AI creations could be a flawed approach. ""It's just going to set up a kind of arms race between those who are trying to detect it, and those who are trying to evade detection,"" he says. ""The algorithm will figure out some artefact in the current deepfake landscape, and then the creators will shore up their weaknesses and improve their methods a little bit."" For him, grappling with the problem properly will involve training people to be more critical about the content they are consuming, including viewing everything with ""a healthy scepticism"", and double-checking sources. That could mean teaching children about how to spot deepfakes from an early age. ""The biggest challenge, and the one I don't have a solution for, is how to teach the general adult population,"" he says. Mr Colman, from Reality Defender, thinks the onus should be on companies to build solutions for spotting deepfakes, not consumers. ""My mother is not responsible for identifying anti-virus issues,"" he points out. And he doesn't think she should be responsible for spotting deepfakes either. ""Social media and online sharing platforms are taking the approach that if we're not required to do it, we will do the bare minimum, and pass the buck on to consumers and let them flag things,"" he says. ""The problem with that is it's like putting the toothpaste back in the tube. ""People only flag things when they've been seen a million times and it's already too late."" Back at Yoti, Louise Bruder says that no matter how good AI gets at fighting deepfakes, there will always be a need for human checkers like herself. ""Providing a human check is a requirement for many businesses... and we don't expect that to change as it gives businesses extra confidence."" ",BBC,27/03/2024,"['Louise Bruder never forgets a face.', 'Which is not only a handy skill at parties, but it has helped her carve out a career.', 'She has the fabulous job title of super-recogniser, and her work at UK digital ID firm Yoti involves comparing the photos on an identity document with an uploaded selfie, to determine if it is the same person.', 'But Yoti, in common with other ID firms, faces a new threat - spotting so-called deepfakes.', 'These are fake images created using AI-powered software.', ""Louise tells me that she hasn't yet been asked to assess deepfakes as part of her day job, but the firm is well aware of the threat."", 'And so, it is actively working on technology that will help spot them.', 'Putting her skills to the test with the BBC\'s own Deepfake quiz, she scored seven out of eight. ""', 'There\'s a deadness in people\'s eyes that really means they don\'t look real,"" says Louise.', 'Ben Colman is the boss of Reality Defender, a US firm that aims to provide technology to spot deepfakes, and he thinks Louise may struggle soon to tell real from fake. ""', ""I'd say that in the last nine months it's become next to impossible for even the best experts to tell real versus AI generated."", 'We need a software solution to do this,"" he says.', 'Mr Colman differentiates between really sophisticated deepfakes, which may be deployed by a nation state to create disinformation, and what he calls ""cheapfakes"", whereby criminals use off-the-shelf AI software.', 'Worryingly, even the cheap fakes ""are still good enough to fool people, particularly within images and audio,"" he says.', 'Video, though ""is still a little more challenging, and requires a lot more computation"".', 'The solution his firm offers can scan and flag AI representation in an image, video or audio.', 'Clients include the Taiwanese government, Nato, media organisations and large banks.', 'While it is video or image deepfakes that more often get the headlines, audio-only scams are also growing.', 'For example criminals sending voice recordings using a person\'s voice to say things like ""Mum, I\'ve lost my phone, please pay money to this account now"".', ""Collecting voice clips from someone's account social media or YouTube is an easy job, and just a few seconds of audio is enough to clone the voice and use it to create sentences the person never said."", 'Some off the shelf software even allows users to ""dial up"" stress levels in a voice, a technique that has been used to fool parents in real cases where parents believed their child had been kidnapped.', 'Siwei Lyu is a professor at the University of Buffalo in the US who has studied deepfakes for many years, with the ultimate goal of developing algorithms to help automatically identify and expose them.', 'The algorithms are trained to spot tiny differences - eyes that might not be quite looking in the right direction or, in the case of an artificially created voice, a lack of evidence of breath.', 'Read more stories on artificial intelligence Prof Lyu thinks there needs to be a degree of urgency to solving the problem, warning that video conferencing may be the next target for criminals. ""', 'Not far in the future you could be plugged into a Zoom call, and you think you are talking to me, but it might be a virtual version of me.', 'Somebody might use my image and create that as a deepfake presence in the zoom call.""', 'Deepfakes also have the potential to cause widespread societal disruption.', 'Last year, a fake image of an explosion near the Pentagon went viral on social media, as did fake pictures of Donald Trump in handcuffs.', 'And in January, the New Hampshire Department of Justice was forced to release a statement saying that a recorded audio of Joe Biden telling residents not to vote in the state primary election was a deepfake.', 'Sigurdur Arnason runs a music creation platform in Iceland.', 'Before Christmas he was asked by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service to create a video music skit using a deepfake of a beloved dead Icelandic comedian called Hemmi Gunn for a show that aired on New Year\'s Eve. ""', 'We thought it would be a fun project,"" he says. ""', 'We asked permission from the comedian\'s family and we created our own in-house AI models.""', 'The skit did more than amuse, though. ""', 'It sent shockwaves through the whole country,"" says Mr Arnason. ""', 'All of the radio, online news publications and TV were all talking about it.', 'Some family members were not happy because it was so real.', 'Politicians started talking about AI regulation.""', 'It is important that politicians and the general public have such conversations and debates, thinks Christopher Doss, a researcher at think tank Rand Corporation.', 'He recently conducted a study into deepfakes which revealed that the more humans are exposed to deepfakes, the less likely they are to correctly identify them.', 'And he worries that using AI tools to fight the threat of AI creations could be a flawed approach. ""', 'It\'s just going to set up a kind of arms race between those who are trying to detect it, and those who are trying to evade detection,"" he says. ""', 'The algorithm will figure out some artefact in the current deepfake landscape, and then the creators will shore up their weaknesses and improve their methods a little bit.""', 'For him, grappling with the problem properly will involve training people to be more critical about the content they are consuming, including viewing everything with ""a healthy scepticism"", and double-checking sources.', 'That could mean teaching children about how to spot deepfakes from an early age. ""', 'The biggest challenge, and the one I don\'t have a solution for, is how to teach the general adult population,"" he says.', 'Mr Colman, from Reality Defender, thinks the onus should be on companies to build solutions for spotting deepfakes, not consumers. ""', 'My mother is not responsible for identifying anti-virus issues,"" he points out.', 'And he doesn\'t think she should be responsible for spotting deepfakes either. ""', 'Social media and online sharing platforms are taking the approach that if we\'re not required to do it, we will do the bare minimum, and pass the buck on to consumers and let them flag things,"" he says. ""', 'The problem with that is it\'s like putting the toothpaste back in the tube. ""', 'People only flag things when they\'ve been seen a million times and it\'s already too late.""', 'Back at Yoti, Louise Bruder says that no matter how good AI gets at fighting deepfakes, there will always be a need for human checkers like herself. ""', 'Providing a human check is a requirement for many businesses... and we don\'t expect that to change as it gives businesses extra confidence.""']",0.0295835663032425,"She has the fabulous job title of super-recogniser, and her work at UK digital ID firm Yoti involves comparing the photos on an identity document with an uploaded selfie, to determine if it is the same person.","And he worries that using AI tools to fight the threat of AI creations could be a flawed approach. """,-0.3547500584806715,"Which is not only a handy skill at parties, but it has helped her carve out a career.",I'd say that in the last nine months it's become next to impossible for even the best experts to tell real versus AI generated.,2024-03-27
Apple customers love Apple. The Biden administration thinks they could do better,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/tech/apple-monopoly/index.html,"
  Published
        8:15 AM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Apple wants to break the company’s notoriously tight grip on the iPhone, the device that’s made it one of the biggest and most profitable companies on the planet.
    
            But regardless of what happens in court, the case is already shining a light on the two faces of Apple: the cool, high-end tech brand that customers adore; and the ruthless, unavoidable behemoth that developers loathe.
    
            Here’s the deal: The Feds say Apple is maintaining a monopoly that stifles competition, deprives consumers of choice and ultimately forces them to pay more.
    
            Apple’s response to the allegations is, more or less, a) no we don’t, and b) good luck proving customer harm when everybody loves us.
    
            And that’s where this Goliath versus Goliath battle gets interesting.
    
            Customers really like Apple. We love the phones, the watches, the laptops and the AirPods that ensure we never have to be alone with our thoughts (unless, heaven help you, you forgot to charge them). Heck, I’m typing this article on an Apple keyboard connected to a MacBook connected to iCloud, and I would throw a fit if I had to switch to a PC.
    
            Apple even nodded to this in its widely circulated statement to the media Thursday:
    
            “We innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users.”
    
            Magical!  
    
            The company added: “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.”
    
            And it’s true — the gods saw fit to get Steve Jobs and Jony Ive (the revered product designer behind Apple’s biggest hits) in the same room at the same time, and the world was never the same.
    
            Their products married good design and good software. They were never cheap, but they were shiny, user-friendly, simply beautiful. With help from the best marketing team in Silicon Valley history, Apple became a tech icon with a billion devotees.
    
            But on the business side, Apple is not so beloved.
    
            The company has a reputation for quashing competition and squeezing developers with exorbitant fees. Many smaller tech companies hate Apple as much as they live in fear of its lawyers.
    
            “Apple has this practice of seeing what others innovate for the phone, copying it, and then making it so that those others can’t compete,” Adam Wolfson, an antitrust lawyer with the firm Quinn Emanuel, told me. (There’s even an industry term for when Apple appropriates a third party’s tech, called “Sherlocking” — a nod to one of Apple’s search products that rendered its non-Apple rival, Watson, redundant.)
    
            “They very much have an approach to being about as sharp-elbowed as you can possibly get,” said Wolfson, who has represented clients in Apple disputes. “Apple is extraordinarily litigious, and will fight to the very last breath, because it can.”
    
            The DOJ lawsuit argues Apple has illegally monopolized smartphone markets by blocking innovative new apps and services.
    
            If you’re an iPhone user and you’ve ever been in a text thread with someone using an Android device, you know the green-bubble problem and how annoying it is. It’s not as if Apple can’t make that experience better, according to the DOJ — it just doesn’t want to, because it’s better for Apple if its users see Android as a social faux pas. It’s tech tribalism, and Apple is a master at cultivating loyalty.
    
            The green bubble issue is just one of several ways Apple is abusing its dominant position, according to the lawsuit. (My colleague David Goldman has more on that here.)
    
            If it succeeds, the Justice Department could force Apple to loosen some of the restrictions it has placed on its “walled garden” approach, which Apple says is meant to create a seamless experience for users and keep them relatively safe from viruses.
    
            That is a concern for investors, says Gene Muster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, because the lawsuit goes after “the juiciest part of their business.”
    
            But Muster doesn’t expect the lawsuit to be a body blow for the company, and believes “people will still gravitate to Apple products.”
    
            Indeed, customer satisfaction is, paradoxically, a tricky issue for the DOJ as well. People are pretty content with their iPhones. Could we be more content with more competition? Maybe. The DOJ will have their work cut out for them trying to prove it.
    
            Ultimately, Wolfson said, “the law wants to make sure that consumers are getting the absolute best, not just what Apple decides we want.”",CNN,22/03/2024,"['The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Apple wants to break the company’s notoriously tight grip on the iPhone, the device that’s made it one of the biggest and most profitable companies on the planet.', 'But regardless of what happens in court, the case is already shining a light on the two faces of Apple: the cool, high-end tech brand that customers adore; and the ruthless, unavoidable behemoth that developers loathe.', 'Here’s the deal: The Feds say Apple is maintaining a monopoly that stifles competition, deprives consumers of choice and ultimately forces them to pay more.', 'Apple’s response to the allegations is, more or less, a) no we don’t, and b) good luck proving customer harm when everybody loves us.', 'And that’s where this Goliath versus Goliath battle gets interesting.', 'Customers really like Apple.', 'We love the phones, the watches, the laptops and the AirPods that ensure we never have to be alone with our thoughts (unless, heaven help you, you forgot to charge them).Heck, I’m typing this article on an Apple keyboard connected to a MacBook connected to iCloud, and I would throw a fit if I had to switch to a PC.', 'Apple even nodded to this in its widely circulated statement to the media Thursday:  “We innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users.”', 'Magical!', 'The company added: “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.”', 'And it’s true — the gods saw fit to get Steve Jobs and Jony Ive (the revered product designer behind Apple’s biggest hits) in the same room at the same time, and the world was never the same.', 'Their products married good design and good software.', 'They were never cheap, but they were shiny, user-friendly, simply beautiful.', 'With help from the best marketing team in Silicon Valley history, Apple became a tech icon with a billion devotees.', 'But on the business side, Apple is not so beloved.', 'The company has a reputation for quashing competition and squeezing developers with exorbitant fees.', 'Many smaller tech companies hate Apple as much as they live in fear of its lawyers.', '“Apple has this practice of seeing what others innovate for the phone, copying it, and then making it so that those others can’t compete,” Adam Wolfson, an antitrust lawyer with the firm Quinn Emanuel, told me. (', 'There’s even an industry term for when Apple appropriates a third party’s tech, called “Sherlocking” — a nod to one of Apple’s search products that rendered its non-Apple rival, Watson, redundant.)', '“They very much have an approach to being about as sharp-elbowed as you can possibly get,” said Wolfson, who has represented clients in Apple disputes. “', 'Apple is extraordinarily litigious, and will fight to the very last breath, because it can.”', 'The DOJ lawsuit argues Apple has illegally monopolized smartphone markets by blocking innovative new apps and services.', 'If you’re an iPhone user and you’ve ever been in a text thread with someone using an Android device, you know the green-bubble problem and how annoying it is.', 'It’s not as if Apple can’t make that experience better, according to the DOJ — it just doesn’t want to, because it’s better for Apple if its users see Android as a social faux pas.', 'It’s tech tribalism, and Apple is a master at cultivating loyalty.', 'The green bubble issue is just one of several ways Apple is abusing its dominant position, according to the lawsuit. (', 'My colleague David Goldman has more on that here.)', 'If it succeeds, the Justice Departmentcould force Apple to loosen some of the restrictions it has placed on its “walled garden” approach, which Apple says is meant to create a seamless experience for users and keep them relatively safe from viruses.', 'That is a concern for investors, says Gene Muster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, because the lawsuit goes after “the juiciest part of their business.”', 'But Muster doesn’t expect the lawsuit to be a body blow for the company, and believes “people will still gravitate to Apple products.”', 'Indeed, customer satisfaction is, paradoxically, a tricky issue for the DOJ as well.', 'People are pretty content with their iPhones.', 'Could we be more content with more competition?', 'Maybe.', 'The DOJ will have their work cut out for them trying to prove it.', 'Ultimately, Wolfson said, “the law wants to make sure that consumers are getting the absolute best, not just what Apple decides we want.”']",0.1890196327641951,"Apple even nodded to this in its widely circulated statement to the media Thursday:  “We innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users.”",Many smaller tech companies hate Apple as much as they live in fear of its lawyers.,0.0858245372772216,"Apple’s response to the allegations is, more or less, a) no we don’t, and b) good luck proving customer harm when everybody loves us.","Indeed, customer satisfaction is, paradoxically, a tricky issue for the DOJ as well.",2024-03-27
Microsoft stock hits all-time high after hiring former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/20/investing/microsoft-stock-record-high-altman-openai/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:19 PM EST, Mon November 20, 2023
    ","Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg.
    
            Shares of the tech behemoth rose 2.1% to an all-time high close of $377.44 on Monday, beating the previous record of $376.17.
    
            That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup. Microsoft is the artificial intelligence firm’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the company.
    
            Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.
    
            Altman’s hiring ended days of speculation that the former chief executive could return to the firm after his dramatic firing. Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, will replace OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim chief executive.
    
            Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year. The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.
    
            Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, reiterated his $425 price target for Microsoft’s stock following Altman’s and Brockman’s hires.
    
            “We view Microsoft now even in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman” at the company, Ives wrote in a note on Monday.
    
            Other members of the “Magnificent Seven” saw a boost on Monday. Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to end the trading session at $504.20 ahead of its earnings due on Tuesday, notching a record-high close for the chipmaker.",CNN,20/11/2023,"['Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg.', 'Shares of the tech behemoth rose 2.1% to an all-time high close of $377.44 on Monday, beating the previous record of $376.17.', 'That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup.', 'Microsoft is the artificial intelligence firm’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the company.', 'Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.', 'Altman’s hiring ended days of speculation that the former chief executive could return to the firm after his dramatic firing.', 'Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, will replace OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim chief executive.', 'Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year.', 'The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.', 'Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, reiterated his $425 price target for Microsoft’s stock following Altman’s and Brockman’s hires.', '“We view Microsoft now even in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman” at the company, Ives wrote in a note on Monday.', 'Other members of the “Magnificent Seven” saw a boost on Monday.', 'Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to end the trading session at $504.20 ahead of its earnings due on Tuesday, notching a record-high close for the chipmaker.']",0.3148943375907157,"The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.","Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.",0.768821742799547,Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year.,"That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup.",2024-03-27
"Cars, sugar and cruises: How the Port of Baltimore closure could hurt the economy",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/business/baltimore-port-autos-cruises/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:29 PM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024
    ","The bridge collapse that has indefinitely halted the flow of ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore could hurt the local economy, strain supply chains and scramble deliveries along the US East Coast.
    
            The Key Bridge collapsed after a container vessel called Dali collided with one of its supports. Dali is operated by Singapore-based Synergy Group but had been chartered to carry cargo by Danish shipping giant Maersk.
    
            The Port of Baltimore said in a post on X that vessel traffic was suspended until further notice, but trucks were still being processed at its terminals.
    
            Seven container vessels were scheduled to arrive in Baltimore through Saturday, according to Judah Levine, head of research at logistics firm Freightos.
    
            “We are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area,” Maersk said in a statement. It said it would discharge cargo destined for Baltimore in other ports nearby, but warned customers that could mean delays.
    
            Closer to the Midwest than any other port on the East Coast, Baltimore is a major hub for vehicles, containers and commodities. Baltimore ranks first among US ports for autos and light trucks, handling a record 850,000 vehicles last year.
    
            “Last year, we received, processed and shipped approximately 100,000 vehicles through Baltimore for US dealers located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic US,” Volkswagen said in a statement, adding that its facility is on the seaboard side of the Key Bridge. “We do not anticipate any impact on vessel operations but there may be trucking delays as traffic will be rerouted in the area.”
    
            BMW said its import terminal is also situated outside the harbor entrance and remains accessible. GM (GM) said it was working to reroute vehicle shipments to other ports, while Toyota said the closure would have some impact on exports, but it did not expect significant disruption.
    
            Nationwide Financial markets economist Oren Klachkin said in a note Tuesday that the bridge collapse threatened “to disrupt logistics activity up and down the east coast.”
    
            Part of that could be because of traffic tie-ups on the Interstate 95 corridor, a major artery for traffic along the East Coast.
    
            While many of the 30,000 to 35,000 cars and trucks that used the Key Bridge daily can be rerouted through the tunnels, that will cause traffic delays. And hazardous materials that are not allowed in the tunnels will be diverted on a longer detour.
    
            Rerouting cargo to Philadelphia, Norfolk or the Port of New York/New Jersey could push up trucking and rail prices if the volumes are significant, and could cause some congestion at those alternative ports, said Levine.
    
            “If some congestion does develop, and vessels are kept waiting, it could cause delays for importers using these ports. Congestion could also put some upward pressure on Asia - US East Coast and transatlantic freight rates,” he added.
    
            Freight rates on transatlantic routes are roughly back at 2019 levels following a spike during the pandemic. But prices for trips heading from Asia to the US East Coast are more than double their March 2019 level because attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have forced vessels to divert around Africa rather than using the Suez Canal.
    
            Other East Coast ports should have enough capacity to handle the ships normally calling on Baltimore, said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. But unexpected disruption at those other ports could cause problems.
    
            “This removes the margin for error,” he said.
    
            Despite potential for some increased cost of shipping, Zandi said the disruptions aren’t likely to cause problems for the US economy as a whole since the goods are likely to find other ports.
    
            “This specific event should not show up in the national economic statistics,” he said. “It complicates things. But there’s already a lot disruptions in the international supply chain.”
    
            Part of the issue determining the potential added costs to shipping is the unknown of how long the port stays closed.
    
            It’s too early to say when ships will begin calling on the port once again, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday.
    
            “Right now our exclusive focus is on saving lives, our exclusive focus is on search and rescue,” he said at a news conference.
    
            There is a relatively narrow channel through the center of the Patapsco River which is deep enough to allow large ships such as container ships, cruise ships and car carriers to pass. So clearing that pathway of debris could allow the port to reopen, even as crews continue to work to remove other debris that fell into the river.
    
            President Joe Biden vowed Tuesday that the federal government will assist to get the port reopened as quickly as possible, although he also would not give any time frame for when that might happen.
    
            “Fifteen thousand jobs depend on that port. And we’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers,” he said.
    
            So while it could take years to rebuild the bridge — Moore described the process as “a long-term build” and one without a timeline as of yet, removing the debris is likely to be a priority and could be accomplished much faster.
    
            Overall, Baltimore ranks as the ninth biggest US port for international cargo. It handled a record 52.3 million tons, valued at $80.8 billion, in 2023. According to the Maryland state government, the port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.
    
            Baltimore is also the leading US port for farming and construction machinery, as well as imports of sugar and gypsum, and the second in the country for exporting coal.
    
            “While Baltimore is not one of the largest US East Coast ports, it still imports and exports more than one million containers each year, so there is the potential for this to cause significant disruption to supply chains,” said Emily Stausbøll, market analyst at Norway-based shipping analytics company Xeneta.
    
            One of the key manufacturers located at the Baltimore harbor is the Domino Sugar refinery, the 115-year old facility that the company says is the largest cane sugar refinery in the Western hemisphere. One of the oldest manufacturers in the city, its Domino Sugar sign is a well-known Baltimore landmark.
    
            The refinery takes raw sugar imported by ship and refines it into various products. Company officials did not respond to questions about the inventory of raw sugar the refinery has on hand, nor its operational plan during the shutdown of the port.
    
            Baltimore also has a cruise terminal, serving ships operated by Royal Caribbean (RCL), Carnival and Norwegian (NCLH). Cruises carrying more than 444,000 passengers departed from the port last year.
    
            Reporting first quarter earnings Wednesday, Carnival Corp. (CCL) said it estimated the temporary closure of the port could cost it $10 million in full-year profit.
    
            Royal Caribbean said that its port logistics team was working on alternatives for ongoing and upcoming sailings of Vision of the Seas and would communicate any. updates to guests and travel partners once plans had been finalized.
    
            While the collapse of the bridge will cause traffic jams and headaches for the Baltimore region and temporary loss of business at the port, the money that will eventually be spent rebuilding the bridge will provide an form of economic stimulus to the city, even if that doesn’t start anytime soon.
    
            “It’s like a natural disaster. It’s highly disruptive in the immediate term, but then you get rebuilding and it adds to economic activity,” said Zandi.
    
            Hanna Ziady, Peter Valdes-Dapena, Anna Cooban, Rob North and Sugam Pokharel contributed to this article.",CNN,27/03/2024,"['The bridge collapse that has indefinitely halted the flow of ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore could hurt the local economy, strain supply chains and scramble deliveries along the US East Coast.', 'The Key Bridge collapsed after a container vessel called Dali collided with one of its supports.', 'Dali is operated by Singapore-based Synergy Group but had been chartered to carry cargo by Danish shipping giant Maersk.', 'The Port of Baltimore said in a post on X that vessel traffic was suspended until further notice, but trucks were still being processed at its terminals.', 'Seven container vessels were scheduled to arrive in Baltimore through Saturday, according to Judah Levine,head of research at logistics firm Freightos.', '“We are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area,” Maersk said in a statement.', 'It said it would discharge cargo destined for Baltimore in other ports nearby, but warned customers that could mean delays.', 'Closer to the Midwest than any other port on the East Coast, Baltimore is a major hub for vehicles, containers and commodities.', 'Baltimore ranks first among US ports for autos and light trucks, handling a record 850,000 vehicles last year.', '“Last year, we received, processed and shipped approximately 100,000 vehicles through Baltimore for US dealers located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic US,” Volkswagen said in a statement, adding that its facility is on the seaboard side of the Key Bridge. “', 'We do not anticipate any impact on vessel operations but there may be trucking delays as traffic will be rerouted in the area.”', 'BMW said its import terminal is also situated outside the harbor entrance and remains accessible.', 'GM (GM) said it was working to reroute vehicle shipments to other ports, while Toyota said the closure would have some impact on exports, but it did not expect significant disruption.', 'Nationwide Financial markets economist Oren Klachkin said in a note Tuesday that the bridge collapse threatened “to disrupt logistics activity up and down the east coast.”', 'Part of that could be because of traffic tie-ups on the Interstate 95 corridor, a major artery for traffic along the East Coast.', 'While many of the 30,000 to 35,000 cars and trucks that used the Key Bridge daily can be rerouted through the tunnels, that will cause traffic delays.', 'And hazardous materials that are not allowed in the tunnels will be diverted on a longer detour.', 'Rerouting cargo to Philadelphia, Norfolk or the Port of New York/New Jersey could push up trucking and rail prices if the volumes are significant, and could cause some congestion at those alternative ports, said Levine.', '“If some congestion does develop, and vessels are kept waiting, it could cause delays for importers using these ports.', 'Congestion could also put some upward pressure on Asia - US East Coast and transatlantic freight rates,” he added.', 'Freight rates on transatlantic routes are roughly back at 2019 levels following a spike during the pandemic.', 'But prices for trips heading from Asia to the US East Coast are more than double their March 2019 level because attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have forced vessels to divert around Africa rather than using the Suez Canal.', 'Other East Coast ports should have enough capacity to handle the ships normally calling on Baltimore, said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics.', 'But unexpected disruption at those other ports could cause problems.', '“This removes the margin for error,” he said.', 'Despite potential for some increased cost of shipping, Zandi said the disruptions aren’t likely to cause problems for the US economy as a whole since the goods are likely to find other ports.', '“This specific event should not show up in the national economic statistics,” he said. “', 'It complicates things.', 'But there’s already a lot disruptions in the international supply chain.”', 'Part of the issue determining the potential added costs to shipping is the unknown of how long the port stays closed.', 'It’s too early to say when ships will begin calling on the port once again, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday.', '“Right now our exclusive focus is on saving lives, our exclusive focus is on search and rescue,” he said at a news conference.', 'There is a relatively narrow channel through the center of the Patapsco River which is deep enough to allow large ships such as container ships, cruise ships and car carriers to pass.', 'So clearing that pathway of debris could allow the port to reopen, even as crews continue to work to remove other debris that fell into the river.', 'President Joe Biden vowed Tuesday that the federal government will assist to get the port reopened as quickly as possible, although he also would not give any time frame for when that might happen.', '“Fifteen thousand jobs depend on that port.', 'And we’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers,” he said.', 'So while it could take years to rebuild the bridge — Moore described the process as “a long-term build” and one without a timeline as of yet, removing the debris is likely to be a priority and could be accomplished much faster.', 'Overall, Baltimore ranks as the ninthbiggest US port for international cargo.', 'Ithandleda record 52.3 million tons, valued at $80.8 billion,in 2023.', 'According to the Maryland state government, the portsupports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.', 'Baltimore is also the leading US port forfarming and construction machinery, as well as imports of sugar and gypsum, and the second in the country for exporting coal.', '“While Baltimore is not one of the largest US East Coast ports, it still imports and exports more than one million containers each year, so there is the potential for this to cause significant disruption to supply chains,” said Emily Stausbøll, market analyst at Norway-based shipping analytics company Xeneta.', 'One of the key manufacturers located at the Baltimore harbor is the Domino Sugar refinery, the 115-year old facility that the company says is the largest cane sugar refinery in the Western hemisphere.', 'One of the oldest manufacturers in the city, its Domino Sugar sign is a well-known Baltimore landmark.', 'The refinery takes raw sugar imported by ship and refines it into various products.', 'Company officials did not respond to questions about the inventory of raw sugar the refinery has on hand, nor its operational plan during the shutdown of the port.', 'Baltimore also has a cruise terminal, serving ships operated by Royal Caribbean (RCL), Carnival and Norwegian (NCLH).', 'Cruises carrying more than 444,000 passengers departed from the port last year.', 'Reporting first quarter earnings Wednesday, Carnival Corp. (CCL) said it estimated the temporary closure of the port could cost it $10 million in full-year profit.', 'Royal Caribbean said that its port logistics team was working on alternatives forongoing and upcoming sailings of Vision of the Seasand would communicate any.', 'updates to guests and travel partners once plans had been finalized.', 'While the collapse of the bridge will cause traffic jams and headaches for the Baltimore region and temporary loss of business at the port, the money that will eventually be spent rebuilding the bridge will provide an form of economic stimulus to the city, even if that doesn’t start anytime soon.', '“It’s like a natural disaster.', 'It’s highly disruptive in the immediate term, but then you get rebuilding and it adds to economic activity,” said Zandi.', 'Hanna Ziady, Peter Valdes-Dapena, Anna Cooban, Rob North and Sugam Pokharel contributed to this article.']",-0.0363611413739683,"“Right now our exclusive focus is on saving lives, our exclusive focus is on search and rescue,” he said at a news conference.",But prices for trips heading from Asia to the US East Coast are more than double their March 2019 level because attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have forced vessels to divert around Africa rather than using the Suez Canal.,-0.4113175516778772,"It’s highly disruptive in the immediate term, but then you get rebuilding and it adds to economic activity,” said Zandi.","Reporting first quarter earnings Wednesday, Carnival Corp. (CCL) said it estimated the temporary closure of the port could cost it $10 million in full-year profit.",2024-03-27
The top 10 richest cities in America,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/the-top-10-richest-cities-in-america.html,2024-03-21T18:56:30+0000,"A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.New York still leads the U.S. and the world when it comes to wealthy cities.With nearly 350,000 millionaires and 60 billionaires, the Big Apple is the richest city in America, according to the USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth. Despite all the headlines about the rich leaving the city, its millionaire population has grown 48% over the past decade.The San Francisco Bay Area ranks as the second richest city in America, despite topping New York for billionaires, with more than 305,000 millionaires and 68 billionaires. The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%. The surge in investment and growth in artificial intelligence is expected to add another boost to the area.The fastest-growing U.S. city for the ultra wealthy among the top 10 is Austin, Texas, which has more than doubled its millionaire population over the past decade to nearly 33,000. Miami is up there too, with 87% growth in millionaires over the past decade — but with one-tenth the New York City total.The numbers show that the twin wealth hubs in the U.S. endure, despite wealth migration to the Sun Belt — which is roughly defined as the southern third of the U.S. known for its sunny weather and lower tax states.""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America's wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.Here are the top 10:Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer."", 'Sign upto receive future editions, straight to your inbox.', 'New York still leads the U.S. and the world when it comes to wealthy cities.', 'With nearly 350,000 millionaires and 60 billionaires, the Big Apple is the richest city in America, according to the USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.', 'Despite all the headlines about the rich leaving the city, its millionaire population has grown 48% over the past decade.', 'The San Francisco Bay Area ranks as the second richest city in America, despite topping New York for billionaires, with more than 305,000 millionaires and 68 billionaires.', ""The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%."", 'The surge in investment and growth in artificial intelligence is expected to add another boost to the area.', 'The fastest-growing U.S. city for the ultra wealthy among the top 10 is Austin, Texas, which has more than doubled its millionaire population over the past decade to nearly 33,000.', 'Miami is up there too, with 87% growth in millionaires over the past decade — but with one-tenth the New York City total.', 'The numbers show that the twin wealth hubs in the U.S. endure, despite wealth migration to the Sun Belt — which is roughly defined as the southern third of the U.S. known for its sunny weather and lower tax states.', '""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America\'s wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.', ""Here are the top 10:Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.""]",0.561624820229274,"""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America's wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.",,0.9989487926165262,"The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%.",,2024-03-26
Nordstrom shares jump 9% on report retailer is trying to go private,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/nordstrom-reportedly-trying-to-go-private.html,2024-03-19T20:25:55+0000,"In this articleNordstrom shares closed 9% higher on Tuesday following a report that the department store chain is attempting to go private.The retailer's founding family is working with Morgan Stanley and investment bank Centerview Partners to determine if private equity firms have interest in a deal, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Morgan Stanley declined to comment.A deal might not happen, according to Reuters. A previous effort to take Nordstrom private fizzled out in 2018.Nordstrom has struggled to drive sales in a competitive retail landscape where consumers squeezed by inflation have been watching their spending on apparel and other discretionary goods. Earlier this month, the company gave a gloomy sales outlook for 2024.Nordstrom said it expects full-year revenue to range from a 2% decline to a 1% increase from 2023.Before Tuesday's move, the company's shares had fallen about 7% this year.Nordstrom did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.",CNBC,19/03/2024,"['In this articleNordstrom shares closed 9% higher on Tuesday following a report that the department store chain is attempting to go private.', ""The retailer's founding family is working with Morgan Stanley and investment bank Centerview Partners to determine if private equity firms have interest in a deal, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter."", 'Morgan Stanley declined to comment.', 'A deal might not happen, according to Reuters.', 'A previous effort to take Nordstrom private fizzled out in 2018.Nordstrom has struggled to drive sales in a competitive retail landscape where consumers squeezed by inflation have been watching their spending on apparel and other discretionary goods.', ""Earlier this month, the company gave a gloomy sales outlook for 2024.Nordstrom said it expects full-year revenue to range from a 2% decline to a 1% increase from 2023.Before Tuesday's move, the company's shares had fallen about 7% this year."", ""Nordstrom did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.""]",0.0996416169569488,"The retailer's founding family is working with Morgan Stanley and investment bank Centerview Partners to determine if private equity firms have interest in a deal, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.",A previous effort to take Nordstrom private fizzled out in 2018.Nordstrom has struggled to drive sales in a competitive retail landscape where consumers squeezed by inflation have been watching their spending on apparel and other discretionary goods.,-0.3330781062444051,In this articleNordstrom shares closed 9% higher on Tuesday following a report that the department store chain is attempting to go private.,"Earlier this month, the company gave a gloomy sales outlook for 2024.Nordstrom said it expects full-year revenue to range from a 2% decline to a 1% increase from 2023.Before Tuesday's move, the company's shares had fallen about 7% this year.",2024-03-26
Top soccer clubs are using an AI-powered app to scout future stars,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/tech/aiscout-app-soccer-scouting-spc-intl/index.html,"
  Published
        7:14 AM EST, Fri March 1, 2024
    ","A London-based technology company is looking to “democratize” talent-identification and scouting in soccer using a mobile app.
    
            Free to download and available globally, the aiScout app allows aspiring soccer stars to enter virtual trials for professional clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills. It offers 75 exercises, designed to test a range of skills, with videos showing users how to complete them.
    
            Performances are automatically scored by artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The data can then be accessed by clubs, allowing their scouts to peruse scores for viable talent, honing their search with a variety of filters; from age and gender to position on the pitch.
    
            The app currently has two English Premier League (EPL) partners, Chelsea and Burnley, and clubs can tailor their in-app trials to meet specific needs and set their own benchmarks by having their academy players complete the same drills.
    
            “We’re putting that data up front to make better use of [the scouts’] time,” said Richard Felton-Thomas, chief operating officer of ai.io, the company behind the app.
    
            “To say [to scouts], ‘Go over to this place today because there’s three players in that game that are all actually beating your Chelsea standard’ — that’s going to be the best use of your time.’”
    
            It already appears to be working for some. Ben Greenwood had never had a trial with a professional club until he downloaded the app in 2019. After uploading footage of himself, the 17-year-old landed a trial with Chelsea, becoming the first user of the app to get a trial with a pro club. He signed a contract with EPL team Bournemouth in 2021.
    
            Having beta-tested in with players spanning 125 countries, Greenwood among them, 135 players have been trialed or signed by pro clubs or national teams through the app — which fully launched in September 2023 — according to Felton-Thomas.
    
            Just over 100,000 players make up the current database, but with over 100 clubs lined up to join Chelsea and Burnley, as well as a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer in the US announced last May, Felton-Thomas projects user numbers to surge into the millions as the operation ramps up this year.
    
            Felton-Thomas said the “lion’s share” of its income comes from charging clubs a license fee to run the platform. Annual fees vary depending on the size of the club and the tools they require, ranging from six figures for “tier one” sides like Chelsea, to thousands of pounds for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid.
    
            The use of smart technology in sport continues to expand, including AI commentary tools and wearable tech for elite athletes. The global market for sports analytics, valued at $2.7 billion in 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.
    
            Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry? For Felton-Thomas, new technologies can co-exist with traditional methods.
    
            “It’s more about evolution than revolution,” Felton-Thomas explained.
    
            “We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity? What happens when he’s 2-0 down? What happens when someone’s shouting at him? What happens when he’s just made a massive mistake?”
    
            “We’ve got the ability to just augment real people to do their jobs better and faster, which then gives an opportunity to the player through the AI, but you’re still actually just connecting them to the human on the other side, which is the club and the scout.”
    
            While football remains ai.io’s primary focus, the company is looking into opportunities in other sports to launch in the coming years. Further ahead, it may branch out beyond sports.
    
            “You think about the notion that you can be at home and analyze your movements, and how this could spin into health care, physical assessments for military disciplines and emergency services,” Felton-Thomas told CNN.",CNN,01/03/2024,"['A London-based technology company is looking to “democratize” talent-identification and scouting in soccer using a mobile app.', 'Free to download and available globally, the aiScout app allows aspiring soccer stars to enter virtual trials for professional clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills.', 'It offers 75 exercises, designed to test a range of skills, with videos showing users how to complete them.', 'Performances are automatically scored by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.', 'The data can then be accessed by clubs, allowing their scouts to peruse scores for viable talent, honing their search with a variety of filters; from age and gender to position on the pitch.', 'The app currently has two English Premier League (EPL) partners, Chelsea and Burnley, and clubs can tailor their in-app trials to meet specific needs and set their own benchmarks by having their academy players complete the same drills.', '“We’re putting that data up front to make better use of [the scouts’] time,” said Richard Felton-Thomas, chief operating officer of ai.io, the company behind the app.', '“To say [to scouts], ‘Go over to this place today because there’s three players in that game that are all actually beating your Chelsea standard’ — that’s going to be the best use of your time.’”', 'It already appears to be working for some.', 'Ben Greenwood had never had a trial with a professional club until he downloaded the app in 2019.', 'After uploading footage of himself, the 17-year-old landed a trial with Chelsea, becoming the first user of the app to get a trial with a pro club.', 'He signed a contractwith EPL team Bournemouthin 2021.', 'Having beta-tested in with players spanning 125 countries, Greenwood among them, 135 players have been trialed or signed by pro clubs or national teams through the app — which fully launched in September 2023 — according to Felton-Thomas.', 'Just over 100,000 players make up the current database, but with over 100 clubs lined up to join Chelsea and Burnley, as well as a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer in the US announced last May, Felton-Thomas projects user numbers to surge into the millions as the operation ramps up this year.', 'Felton-Thomas said the “lion’s share” of its income comes from charging clubs a license fee to run the platform.', 'Annual fees vary depending on the size of the club and the tools they require, ranging from six figures for “tier one” sides like Chelsea, to thousands of pounds for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid.', 'The use of smart technology in sport continues to expand, includingAI commentary tools and wearable tech for elite athletes.', 'The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.', 'Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry?', 'For Felton-Thomas, new technologies can co-exist with traditional methods.', '“It’s more about evolution than revolution,” Felton-Thomas explained.', '“We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity?', 'What happens when he’s 2-0 down?', 'What happens when someone’s shouting at him?', 'What happens when he’s just made a massive mistake?”', '“We’ve got the ability to just augment real people to do their jobs better and faster, which then gives an opportunity to the player through the AI, but you’re still actually just connecting them to the human on the other side, which is the club and the scout.”', 'While football remains ai.io’s primary focus, the company is looking into opportunities in other sports to launch in the coming years.', 'Further ahead, it may branch out beyond sports.', '“You think about the notion that you can be at home and analyze your movements, and how this could spin into health care, physical assessments for military disciplines and emergency services,” Felton-Thomas told CNN.']",0.2022322827681825,"The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.","“We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity?",0.6922526104109628,"The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.",Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry?,2024-03-26
ESPN’s model is eroding. Past and present execs are split on how it can protect its dominance,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/espn-executives-talk-streaming-plans-in-cnbc-documentary.html,2024-03-21T19:22:22+0000,"In this articleDisney's ESPN is at a crossroads.For more than 40 years, the world's largest all-sports network has grown annual revenue by increasing cable subscription fees. ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s. In 2023, ESPN's monthly carriage fee was $9.42 per subscriber, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.That business model is eroding. Since 2013, tens of millions of Americans have canceled their cable TV subscriptions, raising questions about ESPN's future in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. CNBC spoke with multiple current and former Disney and ESPN executives about the network's path ahead as part of the digital documentary ""ESPN's Fight for Dominance.""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter. The network can no longer rely on price increases to make up the difference as the number of cable customers declines.The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth. First, this fall, Disney will make ESPN available outside the traditional cable TV bundle for the first time as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. The service, which does not yet have a price, will target noncable customers who want to watch sports but don't want to pay $80 or $100 a month for a full bundle of networks.Second, in fall 2025 ESPN will launch its flagship streaming service that will include everything ESPN has to offer, both live and on demand. It will include unprecedented personalization and will interact with ESPN Bet, the company's licensed online sportsbook, and fantasy sports to cater to younger fans. The product will go well beyond ESPN+, which exists as a $10.99 streaming service that doesn't include ESPN's most expensive programming, such as all of ""Monday Night Football.""""The industry is in a transition phase right now,"" ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in an interview as part of CNBC's documentary.""We're seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. ""There's a transition to digital. That is by far the biggest component of our future.""Pitaro and head of programming Roz Durant defended ESPN's growth plan to CNBC, while former Disney and ESPN executives Bob Chapek, John Skipper and Mark Shapiro noted the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports faces multiple potential obstacles while it charts its path forward.Watch the documentary for the full story.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleDisney's ESPN is at a crossroads."", ""For more than 40 years, the world's largest all-sports network has grown annual revenue by increasing cable subscription fees."", 'ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s.', ""In 2023, ESPN's monthly carriage fee was $9.42 per subscriber, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence."", 'That business model is eroding.', ""Since 2013, tens of millions of Americans have canceled their cable TV subscriptions, raising questions about ESPN's future in an increasingly fragmented media landscape."", 'CNBC spoke with multiple current and former Disney and ESPN executives about the network\'s path ahead as part of the digital documentary ""ESPN\'s Fight for Dominance.', '""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter.', 'The network can no longer rely on price increases to make up the difference as the number of cable customers declines.', 'The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth.', 'First, this fall, Disney will make ESPN available outside the traditional cable TV bundle for the first time as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox.', ""The service, which does not yet have a price, will target noncable customers who want to watch sports but don't want to pay $80 or $100 a month for a full bundle of networks."", 'Second, in fall 2025 ESPN will launch its flagship streaming service that will include everything ESPN has to offer, both live and on demand.', ""It will include unprecedented personalization and will interact with ESPN Bet, the company's licensed online sportsbook, and fantasy sports to cater to younger fans."", 'The product will go well beyond ESPN+, which exists as a $10.99 streaming service that doesn\'t include ESPN\'s most expensive programming, such as all of ""Monday Night Football.', '""""The industry is in a transition phase right now,"" ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in an interview as part of CNBC\'s documentary.', '""We\'re seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. ""', ""There's a transition to digital."", 'That is by far the biggest component of our future.', '""Pitaro and head of programming Roz Durant defended ESPN\'s growth plan to CNBC, while former Disney and ESPN executives Bob Chapek, John Skipper and Mark Shapiro noted the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports faces multiple potential obstacles while it charts its path forward.', 'Watch the documentary for the full story.']",0.0337630750174359,The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth.,ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s.,0.0013536512851715,"""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter.","""We're seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. """,2024-03-26
"Audi reveals new all-electric Q6 e-tron SUV, its first next-generation EV",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/18/audi-reveals-all-electric-q6-e-tron-suv.html,2024-03-20T02:38:32+0000,"In this articleAudi on Monday revealed its new all-electric Q6 e-tron SUV, the first production vehicle on its next-generation electric vehicle architecture.The Volkswagen-owned luxury carmaker says the new ""Premium Platform Electric"" opens up new levels of technology for Audi, including a rapid EV recharge time of 158 miles in 10 minutes.The vehicle ushers in the next generation of EVs for Audi, which continues to offer more all-electric and plug-in hybrid EVs despite growth slowing recently for EVs.Audi confirmed it plans to introduce about 20 new or significantly redesigned models and derivatives globally through 2025, more than half of which will be electric.Ordering for the Q6 e-tron quattro as well as an ""S"" performance variant will open this month in Europe, starting at 74,400 euros or about $81,000, and 93,800 euros, or $102,030, respectively. The Q6 e-tron has an estimated range on a single charge of 625 kilometers, or 388 miles, based on European testing standards.Top performance specifications for the U.S. include up to 510 horsepower, max speed of 143 miles per hour and 0 mph to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds.Audi said the U.S. model is expected to achieve more than 300 miles on a single charge.Exact pricing, range and model details for the U.S. are expected closer to when the midsize SUV goes on sale domestically later this year, according to an Audi spokesman.Audi currently offers all-electric Q4 and Q8 SUVs as well as a $106,500 GT sedan in the U.S. market.The Q6 e-tron features a new but familiar Audi design including sleek headlamps, mesh-style grille and an overall aggressive exterior design.The new EV platform includes an 800-volt battery architecture and a maximum charging capacity of 270 kilowatt hours.",CNBC,20/03/2024,"['In this articleAudi on Monday revealed its new all-electric Q6 e-tron SUV, the first production vehicle on its next-generation electric vehicle architecture.', 'The Volkswagen-owned luxury carmaker says the new ""Premium Platform Electric"" opens up new levels of technology for Audi, including a rapid EV recharge time of 158 miles in 10 minutes.', 'The vehicle ushers in the next generation of EVs for Audi, which continues to offer more all-electric and plug-in hybrid EVs despite growth slowing recently for EVs.', 'Audi confirmed it plans to introduce about 20 new or significantly redesigned models and derivatives globally through 2025, more than half of which will be electric.', 'Ordering for the Q6 e-tron quattro as well as an ""S"" performance variant will open this month in Europe, starting at 74,400 euros or about $81,000, and 93,800 euros, or $102,030, respectively.', 'The Q6 e-tron has an estimated range on a single charge of 625 kilometers, or 388 miles, based on European testing standards.', 'Top performance specifications for the U.S. include up to 510 horsepower, max speed of 143 miles per hour and 0 mph to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds.', 'Audi said the U.S. model is expected to achieve more than 300 miles on a single charge.', 'Exact pricing, range and model details for the U.S. are expected closer to when the midsize SUV goes on sale domestically later this year, according to an Audi spokesman.', 'Audi currently offers all-electric Q4 and Q8 SUVs as well as a $106,500 GT sedan in the U.S. market.', 'The Q6 e-tron features a new but familiar Audi design including sleek headlamps, mesh-style grille and an overall aggressive exterior design.', 'The new EV platform includes an 800-volt battery architecture and a maximum charging capacity of 270 kilowatt hours.']",0.1121470533490551,"Top performance specifications for the U.S. include up to 510 horsepower, max speed of 143 miles per hour and 0 mph to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds.","The vehicle ushers in the next generation of EVs for Audi, which continues to offer more all-electric and plug-in hybrid EVs despite growth slowing recently for EVs.",0.9986298084259032,"The vehicle ushers in the next generation of EVs for Audi, which continues to offer more all-electric and plug-in hybrid EVs despite growth slowing recently for EVs.",,2024-03-26
Advisory firm ISS tells Disney shareholders to side with Nelson Peltz in proxy fight,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/proxy-advisory-firm-iss-backs-nelson-peltz-in-disney-proxy-fight.html,2024-03-21T16:28:18+0000,"In this articleProxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services on Thursday recommended that Walt Disney shareholders elect activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board in his bitter fight against CEO Bob Iger.Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, have asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3. Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he claims have been a shrinking business and a drain on shareholder value.""Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around,"" the ISS report said.While siding with Peltz, ISS told shareholders not to back Rasulo in the fight, citing his previous positioning as a potential successor to Iger.""Though we do not have any concerns about his ability to serve as an objective director, we recognize that Rasulo's potential presence might create added friction on the board,"" ISS said.ISS slammed Disney's board for repeatedly failing to find a new CEO to take over for Iger, who left his role as CEO in 2020 only to return to the position years later.Trian heralded ISS' backing as a significant victory, pointing to the advisors' support for Peltz as an experienced director at other companies. The investment firm also highlighted that ISS recommended shareholders withhold their support for former JPMorgan Chase executive Maria Elena Lagomasino, a current Disney director whom Trian has targeted for replacement.In response, Disney said that the recommendation from ISS ""fails to acknowledge the diverse set of skills and experience on Disney's Board,"" and stressed that the proxy firm is endorsing 11 of its 12 nominees.ISS also said shareholders should withhold their votes from a separate slate of nominees, from activist Blackwells. The recommendation comes as Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and top Disney shareholder and filmmaker George Lucas.Another proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, earlier this week endorsed Disney's slate of board nominees. ISS was largely expected to follow suit.Securing the support of ISS and Glass Lewis is crucial in activist fights. Large institutional shareholders will often — but not always — vote based on the recommendation of either of the two proxy advisory firms. Activists and management each make their case to the advisory firms, which in turn issue their opinions based on meetings with either side and their own analysis.— CNBC's Rohan Goswami contributed to this report.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleProxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services on Thursday recommended that Walt Disney shareholders elect activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board in his bitter fight against CEO Bob Iger.', 'Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, have asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3.', ""Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he claims have been a shrinking business and a drain on shareholder value."", '""Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around,"" the ISS report said.', 'While siding with Peltz, ISS told shareholders not to back Rasulo in the fight, citing his previous positioning as a potential successor to Iger.', '""Though we do not have any concerns about his ability to serve as an objective director, we recognize that Rasulo\'s potential presence might create added friction on the board,"" ISS said.', ""ISS slammed Disney's board for repeatedly failing to find a new CEO to take over for Iger, who left his role as CEO in 2020 only to return to the position years later."", ""Trian heralded ISS' backing as a significant victory, pointing to the advisors' support for Peltz as an experienced director at other companies."", 'The investment firm also highlighted that ISS recommended shareholders withhold their support for former JPMorgan Chase executive Maria Elena Lagomasino, a current Disney director whom Trian has targeted for replacement.', 'In response, Disney said that the recommendation from ISS ""fails to acknowledge the diverse set of skills and experience on Disney\'s Board,"" and stressed that the proxy firm is endorsing 11 of its 12 nominees.', 'ISS also said shareholders should withhold their votes from a separate slate of nominees, from activist Blackwells.', 'The recommendation comes as Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney toJPMorgan ChaseCEOJamie Dimon and top Disney shareholder and filmmaker George Lucas.', ""Another proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, earlier this week endorsed Disney's slate of board nominees."", 'ISS was largely expected to follow suit.', 'Securing the support of ISS and Glass Lewis is crucial in activist fights.', 'Large institutional shareholders will often — but not always — vote based on the recommendation of either of the two proxy advisory firms.', 'Activists and management each make their case to the advisory firms, which in turn issue their opinions based on meetings with either side and their own analysis.—', ""CNBC's Rohan Goswami contributed to this report.""]",0.0942646815043078,"""Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around,"" the ISS report said.","In response, Disney said that the recommendation from ISS ""fails to acknowledge the diverse set of skills and experience on Disney's Board,"" and stressed that the proxy firm is endorsing 11 of its 12 nominees.",-0.435148434979575,"Trian heralded ISS' backing as a significant victory, pointing to the advisors' support for Peltz as an experienced director at other companies.","Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he claims have been a shrinking business and a drain on shareholder value.",2024-03-26
"Nike shares slide on lackluster outlook, slowing China sales",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/nike-nke-earnings-q3-2024.html,2024-03-21T22:40:25+0000,"In this articleNike's China sales continued to slow during its holiday quarter, but the retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom line, helped by better than expected growth in North America and price changes.Here's how the company performed in its fiscal 2024 third quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 29 was $1.17 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.24 billion, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding 21 cents per share related to restructuring charges, earnings per share would have been 98 cents, the company said.Sales rose to $12.43 billion, up slightly from $12.39 billion a year earlier.In North America, where demand has been unsteady, sales rose about 3% to $5.07 billion, compared with estimates of $4.75 billion, according to StreetAccount.Meanwhile, sales in the rest of Nike's regions came in below estimates. In China, sales reached $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected. Revenues in the region climbed 5%, but growth there has decelerated as demand normalizes after Covid-19 lockdowns.In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. In China, sales grew 5% to $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected. Sales in Asia Pacific and Latin America rose 3% to $1.65 billion, below the $1.69 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.Nike shares rose about 5% after its report came out, but later dropped by as much as 7% after it released its guidance for the current quarter and fiscal 2025.Excluding restructuring charges, the company reiterated its sales outlook for fiscal 2024, and said it expects revenue to grow by 1%, in line with expectations of up 1.1%, according to LSEG. For the current quarter, it expects revenue to be up slightly, compared to estimates of up 2%, according to LSEG.Nike anticipates gross margins will grow 1.6 to 1.8 percentage points, helped by ""strategic price increases, lower ocean freight rates, lower product input costs and improved supply chain efficiency,"" finance chief Matthew Friend told analysts.The improvements are offset by higher markdowns and reduced benefits from Nike's channel mix, along with foreign exchange headwinds, Friend said. Those shifts in mix are related to changes in how often consumers are shopping online versus in stores or with Nike's wholesale partners.  For the full year, it expects gross margins to grow about 1.2 percentage points, below the 1.4 to 1.6 percentage point uptick that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. For fiscal 2025, Nike expects revenue and earnings to grow versus the prior year, but it didn't say by how much. Analysts had expected revenue guidance of up 5.6%, according to LSEG. Friend said Nike is ""prudently planning"" for revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 to be down low single digits, reflecting ""a subdued macro outlook around the world."" As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins. In December, it announced a broad restructuring plan to reduce costs by about $2 billion over the next three years. It also cut its sales guidance as it warned of softer demand in the quarters ahead. Two months later, it said it was shedding 2% of its workforce, or more than 1,500 jobs, so it could invest in its growth areas, such as running, the women's category and the Jordan brand.The early innings of Nike's cost cuts, which involve simplifying its assortment, reducing management layers and increasing automation, likely helped the retailer beat earnings expectations in the three months ended Nov. 30, even as it missed sales estimates for the second quarter in a row. The cuts, along with ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight rates,"" also contributed to a 1.7 percentage point gain in gross margin — the first time the company saw its gross margin increase compared to the prior year in at least six quarters. Nike's gross margin recovery continued during the quarter. The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs."" The gains were partially offset by higher product input costs and restructuring charges, company said.Nike is still considered a market leader in the sneaker and apparel space, but the category has become more crowded and the retailer has had to work harder to compete. Some analysts say its assortment has lost focus and say the company has fallen behind on innovation, giving up market share to newer entrants like Hoka and On Running, as well as legacy brands like Brooks Running and New Balance. Last month, Nike launched the Book 1, its latest basketball shoes with NBA star Devin Booker. But the release wasn't well received because it ""looked more like a casual sneaker instead of [a] basketball shoe,"" according to a research note from Jane Hali & Associates. The firm is now neutral on Nike long term, compared to its previous rating of positive, because it's unclear where the brand is headed, said senior analyst Jessica Ramirez.She's noticed that Nike has removed a lot of products from its offering, which indicates it's preparing to bring in new styles. But it's still unclear exactly what those changes will look like.""They've already said [those changes are] going to take some time,"" Ramirez told CNBC prior to Nike's earnings release. ""Its a little concerning to know they don't have a solid plan that we know of yet.""Read the full earnings release here.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleNike's China sales continued to slow during its holiday quarter, but the retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom line, helped by better than expected growth in North America and price changes."", ""Here's how the company performed in its fiscal 2024 third quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 29 was $1.17 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.24 billion, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier."", 'Excluding 21 cents per share related to restructuring charges, earnings per share would have been 98 cents, the company said.', 'Sales rose to $12.43 billion, up slightly from $12.39 billion a year earlier.', 'In North America, where demand has been unsteady, sales rose about 3% to $5.07 billion, compared with estimates of $4.75 billion, according to StreetAccount.', ""Meanwhile, sales in the rest of Nike's regions came in below estimates."", 'In China, sales reached $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected.', 'Revenues in the region climbed 5%, but growth there has decelerated as demand normalizes after Covid-19 lockdowns.', 'In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'In China, sales grew 5% to $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected.', 'Sales in Asia Pacific and Latin America rose 3% to $1.65 billion, below the $1.69 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'Nike shares rose about 5% after its report came out, but later dropped by as much as 7% after it released its guidance for the current quarter and fiscal 2025.Excluding restructuring charges, the company reiterated its sales outlook for fiscal 2024, and said it expects revenue to grow by 1%, in line with expectations of up 1.1%, according to LSEG.', 'For the current quarter, it expects revenue to be up slightly, compared to estimates of up 2%, according to LSEG.Nike anticipates gross margins will grow 1.6 to 1.8 percentage points, helped by ""strategic price increases, lower ocean freight rates, lower product input costs and improved supply chain efficiency,"" finance chief Matthew Friend told analysts.', ""The improvements are offset by higher markdowns and reduced benefits from Nike's channel mix, along with foreign exchange headwinds, Friend said."", ""Those shifts in mix are related to changes in how often consumers are shopping online versus in stores or with Nike's wholesale partners."", 'For the full year, it expects gross margins to grow about 1.2 percentage points, below the 1.4 to 1.6 percentage point uptick that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', ""For fiscal 2025, Nike expects revenue and earnings to grow versus the prior year, but it didn't say by how much."", 'Analysts had expected revenue guidance of up 5.6%, according to LSEG.Friend said Nike is ""prudently planning"" for revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 to be down low single digits, reflecting ""a subdued macro outlook around the world.', '""As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins.', 'In December, it announced a broad restructuring plan to reduce costs by about $2 billion over the next three years.', 'It also cut its sales guidance as it warned of softer demand in the quarters ahead.', ""Two months later, it said it was shedding 2% of its workforce, or more than 1,500 jobs, so it could invest in its growth areas, such as running, the women's category and the Jordan brand."", ""The early innings of Nike's cost cuts, which involve simplifying its assortment, reducing management layers and increasing automation, likely helped the retailer beat earnings expectations in the three months ended Nov. 30, even as it missed sales estimates for the second quarter in a row."", 'The cuts, along with ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight rates,"" also contributed to a 1.7 percentage point gain in gross margin — the first time the company saw its gross margin increase compared to the prior year in at least six quarters.', ""Nike's gross margin recovery continued during the quarter."", 'The retailer\'s gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""', 'The gains were partially offset by higher product input costs and restructuring charges, company said.', 'Nike is still considered a market leader in the sneaker and apparel space, but the category has become more crowded and the retailer has had to work harder to compete.', 'Some analysts say its assortment has lost focus and say the company has fallen behind on innovation, giving up market share to newer entrants like Hoka and On Running, as well as legacy brands like Brooks Running and New Balance.', 'Last month, Nike launched the Book 1, its latest basketball shoes with NBA star Devin Booker.', 'But the release wasn\'t well received because it ""looked more like a casual sneaker instead of [a] basketball shoe,"" according to a research note from Jane Hali & Associates.', ""The firm is now neutral on Nike long term, compared to its previous rating of positive, because it's unclear where the brand is headed, said senior analyst Jessica Ramirez."", ""She's noticed that Nike has removed a lot of products from its offering, which indicates it's preparing to bring in new styles."", ""But it's still unclear exactly what those changes will look like."", '""They\'ve already said [those changes are] going to take some time,"" Ramirez told CNBC prior to Nike\'s earnings release. ""', ""Its a little concerning to know they don't have a solid plan that we know of yet."", '""Read the full earnings release here.']",0.074849555456564,"""As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins.","The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""",0.3143576301377395,"The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""","In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.",2024-03-26
Opinion: The drama around Sam Altman is an urgent warning,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/21/opinions/sam-altman-openai-ouster-danger-filipovic/index.html,"
  Published
        9:50 AM EST, Tue November 21, 2023
    ","The biggest tech news this week is the ouster of Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI, a move that has shaken the company and the industry. Hundreds of OpenAI employees have threatened to resign. Altman has already moved on to a role at Microsoft. And OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on its third CEO in as many days.
    
            It’s all very juicy. But this drama should also be raising larger questions, far beyond one company’s internal hirings and firings, including: Who are the people making the decisions that will determine so much of our technological future? What guiding principles are they using to make those decisions? And how should other institutions – governments, non-tech industries, global alliances, regulatory bodies – reign in the worst excesses of potentially dangerous AI innovators?
    
            OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, with an explicit mission to harness what may soon be superhuman intelligence “to benefit humanity as a whole.” But that sensibility hasn’t lasted. The company now has a multi-billion-dollar for-profit arm. They have been developing new technologies at lightning speed, and sometimes sending them out to the public before some employees believed they were ready. The company has already reportedly invented an AI technology so dangerous they will never release it – but they also won’t tell reporters or the public exactly what it is.
    
            This dynamic – a potentially dangerous technology developed at extreme speed, largely behind closed doors – is partly to blame for Altman’s firing. The OpenAI board, according to CNN’s David Goldman, worried that “the company was making the technological equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and its caretaker, Sam Altman, was moving so fast that he risked a global catastrophe.” At particular issue seemed to be Altman’s efforts to make the tools behind ChatGPT available to anyone who wanted to make their own version of the chatbot. This could be widely disastrous, some board members worried.
    
            But then they fired him without warning, and apparently without involving Microsoft, the company’s largest shareholder. Now, Altman is at the new AI group at Microsoft, and one has to wonder if the oversight and caution there will be on par with that at OpenAI, or if he’ll be handed carte blanche to push as fast and hard as he wants. And for all the justified reticence of the OpenAI board, the company has carried out much of its work in secrecy – without the public really understanding what a handful of unaccountable technologists are building, and how it is nearly guaranteed to indelibly change their lives.
    
            AI is broadly understood to have the potential to reshape vast swaths of human existence. At the very least, it seems nearly guaranteed to change how we process information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work (and if we work). And the ramifications could be much more extreme. AI technologies have already demonstrated the ability to lie and to cover their tracks. They have already been able to suggest the design to make a virus spread more quickly. Many researchers acutely understand just how quickly these machines could develop the capacity to annihilate us, including Altman: He has a prepper’s paradise prepared in Big Sur, complete with guns and “gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force” in case AI goes off the rails and the robots go to war against humans, according to reporting in the New Yorker.
    
            But don’t worry, he told an Atlantic reporter: If AI is determined to wipe us out, “no gas mask is helping anyone.” (If you want an excellent and terrifying rundown of AI’s risks – at least those we understand right now, which are almost certainly a mere sliver of the looming perils – the Atlantic profile of Altman and his technology is worth a read).
    
            AI is very exciting technology. But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”
    
            Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed. And yet the development is being left to a handful of people (who seem to be largely men) in Silicon Valley, and other tech pockets around the globe. And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit.
    
            Do the interests of the public align with the interests of the shareholders to whom profit-driven, potentially tremendously lucrative-for-a-few companies are beholden? Or with the interests of tech entrepreneurs who are primarily excited about being at the forefront of the AI revolution, regardless of the potential human costs?
    
            One thing is clear: AI is coming. And how it is built and unleashed on the public matters more than perhaps any technology of the past century. It is, indeed, up there with the atom bomb in its destructive potential – except likely more difficult to regulate and control.
    
            “Regulation” does not begin to scratch the surface of what’s needed to make sure that the AI future is not a catastrophic one, especially since the development of AI is now a massive international arms race, with particularly horrific implications if bad actors develop this technology first. But regulation is, at minimum, a necessary step.
    
            So is transparency: In the US, companies have wide leverage to work behind a veil of secrecy, and much of what AI companies do is kept secret to stymy competition. But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.
    
            The Altman story is fascinating because Altman is the most powerful figure in AI technology, which in effect makes him one of the most powerful men in the world. But that should give us pause: Who is he, what power does he hold, what is he doing with it, who does he answer to, and are we comfortable with this much life-altering potential being held by a few unaccountable people?",CNN,21/11/2023,"['The biggest tech news this week is theousterof Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI, a move that has shaken the company and the industry.', 'Hundreds of OpenAI employees have threatened toresign.', 'Altman has alreadymoved onto a role at Microsoft.', 'And OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on itsthird CEOin as many days.', 'It’s all very juicy.', 'But this drama should also be raising larger questions, far beyond one company’s internal hirings and firings, including: Who are the people making the decisionsthat will determine so much of our technological future?', 'What guiding principles are they using to make those decisions?', 'And how should other institutions – governments, non-tech industries, global alliances, regulatory bodies – reign in the worst excesses of potentially dangerous AI innovators?', 'OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, with an explicit mission to harness what may soon be superhuman intelligence “to benefit humanity as a whole.”', 'But that sensibility hasn’t lasted.', 'The company now has a multi-billion-dollar for-profit arm.', 'They have been developing new technologies at lightning speed, and sometimes sending them out to the publicbefore some employees believed they were ready.', 'The company has already reportedly invented an AI technology so dangerous they will never release it – but they alsowon’t tellreporters or the public exactly what it is.', 'This dynamic – a potentially dangerous technology developed at extreme speed, largely behind closed doors – is partly to blame for Altman’s firing.', 'The OpenAI board, according toCNN’s David Goldman, worried that “the company was making the technological equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and its caretaker, Sam Altman, was moving so fast that he risked a global catastrophe.”', 'At particular issue seemed to be Altman’s efforts to make the tools behind ChatGPT available to anyone who wanted to make their own version of the chatbot.', 'This could be widely disastrous, some board members worried.', 'But then they fired him without warning, and apparently without involving Microsoft, the company’s largest shareholder.', 'Now, Altman is at the new AI group at Microsoft, and one has to wonder if the oversight and caution there will be on par with that at OpenAI, or if he’ll be handed carte blanche to push as fast and hard as he wants.', 'And for all the justified reticence of the OpenAI board, the company has carried out much of its work in secrecy – without the public really understanding what a handful of unaccountable technologists are building, and how it is nearly guaranteed to indelibly change their lives.', 'AI is broadly understood to have the potential to reshape vast swaths of human existence.', 'At the very least, it seems nearly guaranteed to change how we process information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work (and if we work).', 'And the ramifications could be much more extreme.', 'AI technologies have already demonstrated the abilityto lie and to cover their tracks.', 'They have already been able tosuggest the designto make a virus spread more quickly.', 'Many researchersacutely understandjust how quickly these machines could develop the capacity to annihilate us, including Altman: He has a prepper’s paradise prepared in Big Sur, complete with guns and “gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force” in case AI goes off the rails and the robots go to war against humans,according to reporting in the New Yorker.', 'But don’t worry, he told an Atlantic reporter: If AI is determined to wipe us out, “no gas mask is helping anyone.” (', 'If you want an excellent and terrifying rundown of AI’s risks – at least those we understand right now, which are almost certainly a mere sliver of the looming perils –the Atlantic profile of Altman and his technologyis worth a read).', 'AI is very exciting technology.', 'But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”', 'Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed.', 'And yet the development is being left to a handful of people (who seem to belargelymen) in Silicon Valley, and other tech pockets around the globe.', 'And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit.', 'Do the interests of the public align with the interests of the shareholders to whom profit-driven, potentially tremendously lucrative-for-a-few companies are beholden?', 'Or with the interests of tech entrepreneurs who are primarily excited about being at the forefront of the AI revolution, regardless of the potential human costs?', 'One thing is clear: AI is coming.', 'And how it is built and unleashed on the public matters more than perhaps any technology of the past century.', 'It is, indeed, up there with the atom bomb in its destructive potential – except likely more difficult to regulate and control.', '“Regulation” does not begin to scratch the surface of what’s needed to make sure that the AI future is not a catastrophic one, especially since the development of AI is now a massive international arms race, with particularly horrific implications if bad actors develop this technology first.', 'But regulation is, at minimum, a necessary step.', 'So is transparency: In the US, companies have wide leverage to work behind a veil of secrecy, and much of what AI companies do is kept secret to stymy competition.', 'But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.', 'The Altman story is fascinating because Altman is the most powerful figure in AI technology, which in effect makes him one of the most powerful men in the world.', 'But that should give us pause: Who is he, what power does he hold, what is he doing with it, who does he answer to, and are we comfortable with this much life-altering potential being held by a few unaccountable people?']",0.0034737194649936,"But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.","But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”",-0.2999434590339661,AI technologies have already demonstrated the abilityto lie and to cover their tracks.,"But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”",2024-03-26
Dragon Ball: First theme park to be built in Saudi Arabia,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68653311,2024-03-25T03:25:33.000Z,"Saudi Arabia has announced it will build a theme park based on the famed Japanese animated series Dragon Ball, sparking mixed reactions from fans. It will feature a 70m (229.6ft) dragon at its centre and at least 30 rides, the firm behind the project says. The park would be the world's first such attraction based on the popular media franchise. The announcement was met with some criticism from fans, citing Saudi Arabia's human rights record. The park will cover more than half a million square metres, according to Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) which is wholly owned by the Saudi Arabian government's investment fund. The plans are part of ""a long-term strategic partnership"" between the QIC and Toei Animation, the Japanese producer of Dragon Ball. According to the official Dragon Ball website, the park will include a roller coaster inside the dragon modelled after Shenron, a wish-giving dragon that features in the franchise. Qiddiya is a major entertainment and tourism project being built near Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh. It is part of the energy-rich nation's plans to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels. While some Dragon Ball fans have welcomed the plans for the theme park, others on social media have questioned the decision to locate the attraction in Saudi Arabia. The country has been criticised for its human rights record, treatment of women and lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ rights. The announcement comes just weeks after the death of Dragon Ball's creator, Akira Toriyama. Toriyama died on 1 March, aged 68. Only his family and very few friends attended his funeral, according to a statement on the Dragon Ball website. Fans around the world paid tribute to Toriyama for creating characters that have become a part of their lives. The Dragon Ball comic series debuted in 1984. It follows a boy named Son Goku in his quest to collect magical dragon balls that can give him super powers. It is one of the most influential and best-selling Japanese comics of all time. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['Saudi Arabia has announced it will build a theme park based on the famed Japanese animated series Dragon Ball, sparking mixed reactions from fans.', 'It will feature a 70m (229.6ft) dragon at its centre and at least 30 rides, the firm behind the project says.', ""The park would be the world's first such attraction based on the popular media franchise."", ""The announcement was met with some criticism from fans, citing Saudi Arabia's human rights record."", ""The park will cover more than half a million square metres, according to Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) which is wholly owned by the Saudi Arabian government's investment fund."", 'The plans are part of ""a long-term strategic partnership"" between the QIC and Toei Animation, the Japanese producer of Dragon Ball.', 'According to the official Dragon Ball website, the park will include a roller coaster inside the dragon modelled after Shenron, a wish-giving dragon that features in the franchise.', ""Qiddiya is a major entertainment and tourism project being built near Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh."", ""It is part of the energy-rich nation's plans to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels."", 'While some Dragon Ball fans have welcomed the plans for the theme park, others on social media have questioned the decision to locate the attraction in Saudi Arabia.', 'The country has been criticised for its human rights record, treatment of women and lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ rights.', ""The announcement comes just weeks after the death of Dragon Ball's creator, Akira Toriyama."", 'Toriyama died on 1 March, aged 68.', 'Only his family and very few friends attended his funeral, according to a statement on the Dragon Ball website.', 'Fans around the world paid tribute to Toriyama for creating characters that have become a part of their lives.', 'The Dragon Ball comic series debuted in 1984.', 'It follows a boy named Son Goku in his quest to collect magical dragon balls that can give him super powers.', 'It is one of the most influential and best-selling Japanese comics of all time.']",0.1568545183713424,It is one of the most influential and best-selling Japanese comics of all time.,"The country has been criticised for its human rights record, treatment of women and lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ rights.",-0.4214251190423965,It is part of the energy-rich nation's plans to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels.,"The country has been criticised for its human rights record, treatment of women and lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ rights.",2024-03-26
Shoppers snap up summer clothes as food sales fall,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68634774,2024-03-22T07:24:06.000Z,"Shop sales saw zero growth in February as wet weather and cost-of-living pressures kept people at home. While clothing sales increased, this was offset by falling food and fuel sales, according to official figures. February's flat sales came after a lacklustre December followed by a strong bounce back in January.  Although food price rises eased in February, people remained under pressure as a result of housing costs and fuel prices. Economists had predicted that sales volumes would fall slightly in February. However, clothing sales increased as did sales in department stores because shoppers splashed out on the new season's collections. This boost helped to offset a drop in food sales as shoppers stayed away due to poor weather. On the flipside, the weather benefitted online retailers, in particular those selling clothing. February was the fourth wettest on record in England, and it was the warmest weather on record for England and Wales, Met Office figures show. In southern England, it was the wettest February on record. Climate change means the UK weather is on average getting wetter in the winter and drier in the summer, according to the Met Office, and heavy rainfall could get more frequent and longer if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at industry group the British Retail Consortium, said that retailers are increasingly having to manage the effects of climate change, which has created more variability in the weather. ""Without action, there is a real risk of food insecurity due to falling global farm yields and increased threats to global supply chains,"" he said. Along with the weather, the economic climate also contributed to a drop in footfall in food shops. Sales in household goods stores also fell, according to the Office for National Statistics. Households have been squeezed by a cost-of-living crisis, and economic growth has been sluggish, with the UK in a shallow recession at the end of last year. However, the pace of general price rises has been slowing, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the UK economy will ""bounce back"" in 2024. Economic research firm Pantheon Macroeconomics predicted that retail sales would ""drag the economy out of recession"" in the first three months of the year. February's flat retail sales contrasted with December's drop of 3.2%, and then a strong bounce back in January. The ONS has now revised January's sales figures up from a 3.4% to a 3.6% rise. Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said it was not a surprise that February's downpours ""kept people off High Streets and tucked up in their dry living rooms"". ""After a few tricky months clothing retailers needed a win and those that have toiled to create must-have pieces at a price point that works for their buyer will be feeling a kind of fuzzy relief."" ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Shop sales saw zero growth in February as wet weather and cost-of-living pressures kept people at home.', 'While clothing sales increased, this was offset by falling food and fuel sales, according to official figures.', ""February's flat sales came after a lacklustre December followed by a strong bounce back in January."", 'Although food price rises eased in February, people remained under pressure as a result of housing costs and fuel prices.', 'Economists had predicted that sales volumes would fall slightly in February.', ""However, clothing sales increased as did sales in department stores because shoppers splashed out on the new season's collections."", 'This boost helped to offset a drop in food sales as shoppers stayed away due to poor weather.', 'On the flipside, the weather benefitted online retailers, in particular those selling clothing.', 'February was the fourth wettest on record in England, and it was the warmest weather on record for England and Wales, Met Office figures show.', 'In southern England, it was the wettest February on record.', 'Climate change means the UK weather is on average getting wetter in the winter and drier in the summer, according to the Met Office, and heavy rainfall could get more frequent and longer if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.', 'Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at industry group the British Retail Consortium, said that retailers are increasingly having to manage the effects of climate change, which has created more variability in the weather. ""', 'Without action, there is a real risk of food insecurity due to falling global farm yields and increased threats to global supply chains,"" he said.', 'Along with the weather, the economic climate also contributed to a drop in footfall in food shops.', 'Sales in household goods stores also fell, according to the Office for National Statistics.', 'Households have been squeezed by a cost-of-living crisis, and economic growth has been sluggish, with the UK in a shallow recession at the end of last year.', 'However, the pace of general price rises has been slowing, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the UK economy will ""bounce back"" in 2024.', 'Economic research firm Pantheon Macroeconomics predicted that retail sales would ""drag the economy out of recession"" in the first three months of the year.', ""February's flat retail sales contrasted with December's drop of 3.2%, and then a strong bounce back in January."", ""The ONS has now revised January's sales figures up from a 3.4% to a 3.6% rise."", 'Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said it was not a surprise that February\'s downpours ""kept people off High Streets and tucked up in their dry living rooms"". ""', 'After a few tricky months clothing retailers needed a win and those that have toiled to create must-have pieces at a price point that works for their buyer will be feeling a kind of fuzzy relief.""']",0.013974390914157,"After a few tricky months clothing retailers needed a win and those that have toiled to create must-have pieces at a price point that works for their buyer will be feeling a kind of fuzzy relief.""","Households have been squeezed by a cost-of-living crisis, and economic growth has been sluggish, with the UK in a shallow recession at the end of last year.",-0.0620959184386513,"However, clothing sales increased as did sales in department stores because shoppers splashed out on the new season's collections.","Along with the weather, the economic climate also contributed to a drop in footfall in food shops.",2024-03-26
"Darden posts first same-store sales decline since pandemic, offset by Ruth's Chris acquisition",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/darden-restaurants-dri-q3-2024-earnings.html,2024-03-21T13:43:12+0000,"In this articleDarden Restaurants on Thursday reported mixed quarterly results as the Olive Garden owner's same-store sales shrank for the first time since the Covid pandemic.Sales slowed down in January due to bad weather, and underperformed expectations in February. CFO Raj Vennam said on the company's conference call that February's weak sales exposed ""some underlying consumer weakness.""Shares of the company fell more than 4% in morning trading.Here's what the company reported for the quarter ended Feb. 25 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:Darden reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $312.9 million, or $2.60 per share, up from $286.6 million, or $2.34 per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, the restaurant company earned $2.62 per share.Net sales rose 6.8% to $2.97 billion, fueled by Darden's acquisition of Ruth's Chris Steak House and 53 other new restaurant locations.But Darden's overall same-store sales fell 1% in the quarter as almost all of its restaurant segments reported same-store sales declines. Only LongHorn Steakhouse saw same-store sales growth. A year earlier, Darden reported same-store sales growth of 11.7%.Lower-income consumers pulled back their restaurant spending, according to executives. In particular, transactions from households making less than $50,000 fell at every one of Darden's brands. Sales from households making less than $75,000 also declined. Older customers are also being more careful about how much they spend while dining, Vennam said.But there were some bright spots. Darden gained more customers from households with incomes of at least $150,000. Executives also said the company's same-store sales and traffic outpaced that of the broader industry.Despite the slowdown, Darden isn't planning on changing its strategy by leaning into discounts like many of its peers. The company instead has been raising its menu prices slightly below the pace of inflation.Olive Garden, usually the crown jewel of Darden's portfolio, reported its same-store sales fell 1.8%. Analysts were expecting the chain's same-store sales to rise 1.3%, according to StreetAccount estimates.LongHorn Steakhouse's same-store sales rose 2.3%, but still fell short of StreetAccount estimates of 3.1%.Darden's fine dining business, which includes The Capital Grille, saw its same-store sales decline 2.3%. That division now includes Ruth's Chris, but those same-store results won't be included in the category total for several more quarters.Remaining chains, like Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, collectively saw same-store sales fall 2.6%.Darden also updated its outlook for fiscal 2024. The company now expects adjusted earnings per share of $8.80 to $8.90, narrowing its earnings forecast from a prior range of $8.75 to $8.90. Darden also lowered its revenue projection from $11.5 billion to $11.4 billion and changed its same-store sales outlook from a range of 2.5% to 3% growth to a range of 1.5% to 2%.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleDarden Restaurants on Thursday reported mixed quarterly results as the Olive Garden owner's same-store sales shrank for the first time since the Covid pandemic."", 'Sales slowed down in January due to bad weather, and underperformed expectations in February.', 'CFO Raj Vennam said on the company\'s conference call that February\'s weak sales exposed ""some underlying consumer weakness.', '""Shares of the company fell more than 4% in morning trading.', ""Here's what the company reported for the quarter ended Feb. 25 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:Darden reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $312.9 million, or $2.60 per share, up from $286.6 million, or $2.34 per share, a year earlier."", 'Excluding items, the restaurant company earned $2.62 per share.', ""Net salesrose 6.8% to $2.97 billion, fueled by Darden's acquisition of Ruth's Chris Steak House and 53 other new restaurant locations."", ""But Darden's overall same-store sales fell 1% in the quarter as almost all of its restaurant segments reported same-store sales declines."", 'Only LongHorn Steakhouse saw same-store sales growth.', 'A year earlier, Darden reported same-store sales growth of 11.7%.Lower-income consumers pulled back their restaurant spending, according to executives.', ""In particular, transactions from households making less than $50,000 fell at every one of Darden's brands."", 'Sales from households making less than $75,000 also declined.', 'Older customers are also being more careful about how much they spend while dining, Vennam said.', 'But there were some bright spots.', 'Darden gained more customers from households with incomes of at least $150,000.', ""Executives also said the company's same-store sales and traffic outpaced that of the broader industry."", ""Despite the slowdown, Darden isn't planning on changing its strategy by leaning into discounts like many of its peers."", 'The company instead has been raising its menu prices slightly below the pace of inflation.', ""Olive Garden, usually the crown jewel of Darden's portfolio, reported its same-store sales fell 1.8%."", ""Analysts were expecting the chain's same-store sales to rise 1.3%, according to StreetAccount estimates."", ""LongHorn Steakhouse's same-store sales rose 2.3%, but still fell short of StreetAccount estimates of 3.1%.Darden's fine dining business, which includes The Capital Grille, saw its same-store sales decline 2.3%."", ""That division now includes Ruth's Chris, but those same-store results won't be included in the category total for several more quarters."", ""Remaining chains, like Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, collectively saw same-store sales fall 2.6%.Darden also updated its outlook for fiscal 2024."", 'The company now expects adjusted earnings per share of $8.80 to $8.90, narrowing its earnings forecast from a prior range of $8.75 to $8.90.', 'Darden also lowered its revenue projection from $11.5 billion to $11.4 billion and changed its same-store sales outlook from a range of 2.5% to 3% growth to a range of 1.5% to 2%.']",0.1507734574247539,But there were some bright spots.,"CFO Raj Vennam said on the company's conference call that February's weak sales exposed ""some underlying consumer weakness.",-0.1535310603323437,"Analysts were expecting the chain's same-store sales to rise 1.3%, according to StreetAccount estimates.",In this articleDarden Restaurants on Thursday reported mixed quarterly results as the Olive Garden owner's same-store sales shrank for the first time since the Covid pandemic.,2024-03-26
UAW says VW workers at Tennessee plant file for union election,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/18/uaw-says-vw-workers-at-tennessee-plant-file-for-union-election.html,2024-03-18T18:40:38+0000,"In this articleDETROIT — Volkswagen workers at a plant in Tennessee have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a vote to join the United Auto Workers, the union announced Monday.The filing comes after a ""supermajority of Volkswagen workers have signed union cards in just 100 days,"" the union said, marking a major milestone in the labor group's organizing drives of nonunionized auto plants in the U.S.The UAW has previously failed to organize foreign-based automakers in the U.S. Most recently, plants with Volkswagen and Nissan fell short of the support needed to unionize. In 2019, VW workers at the Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant rejected union representation in an 833-776 vote. The Chattanooga plant is VW's only U.S. assembly plant and employs more than 4,000 autoworkers who would be eligible to vote for union representation.VW confirmed receiving a notice that the UAW has filed a petition with the NLRB to hold an election. The company said it respects its workers' right to a democratic process and to organize.""We will fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to vote in privacy in this important decision. The election timeline will be determined by the NLRB. Volkswagen is proud of our working environment in Chattanooga that provides some of the best paying jobs in the area,"" the company said in an emailed statement.VW production workers at the plant earn between $23.40 per hour and $32.40 per hour, with a four-year grow-in period to top wages, according to the company.VW's hourly wages are lower than those the UAW negotiated last year with the Detroit automakers, which this year range between about $25 an hour and $36 an hour for production workers, including estimated cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA. By the end of the UAW contracts, top wages are expected to surpass $42 an hour for production workers.VW is one of 13 nonunion automakers in the U.S. that the UAW set its sights on late last year after securing record contracts with the Detroit automakers.The drive covers nearly 150,000 autoworkers across BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.",CNBC,18/03/2024,"['In this articleDETROIT — Volkswagen workers at a plant in Tennessee have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a vote to join the United Auto Workers, the union announced Monday.', 'The filing comes after a ""supermajority of Volkswagen workers have signed union cards in just 100 days,"" the union said, marking a major milestone in the labor group\'s organizing drives of nonunionized auto plants in the U.S.The UAW has previously failed to organize foreign-based automakers in the U.S. Most recently, plants withVolkswagenandNissan fell short of the support needed to unionize.', 'In 2019, VW workers at the Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant rejected union representation in an 833-776 vote.', ""The Chattanooga plant is VW's only U.S. assembly plant and employs more than 4,000 autoworkerswho would be eligible to vote for union representation."", 'VW confirmed receiving a notice that the UAW has filed a petition with the NLRB to hold an election.', ""The company said it respects its workers' right to a democratic process and to organize."", '""We will fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to vote in privacy in this important decision.', 'The election timeline will be determined by the NLRB.', 'Volkswagen is proud of our working environment in Chattanooga that provides some of the best paying jobs in the area,"" the company said in an emailed statement.', 'VW production workers at the plant earn between $23.40 per hour and $32.40 per hour, with a four-year grow-in period to top wages, according to the company.', ""VW's hourly wages are lower than those the UAW negotiated last year with the Detroit automakers, which this year range between about $25 an hour and $36 an hour for production workers, including estimated cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA."", 'By the end of the UAW contracts, top wages are expected to surpass $42 an hour for production workers.', 'VW is one of 13 nonunion automakers in the U.S. that the UAW set its sights on late last year after securing record contracts with the Detroit automakers.', 'The drive covers nearly 150,000 autoworkers across BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.']",0.1814823225523221,"Volkswagen is proud of our working environment in Chattanooga that provides some of the best paying jobs in the area,"" the company said in an emailed statement.","In 2019, VW workers at the Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant rejected union representation in an 833-776 vote.",0.3433197240034739,VW is one of 13 nonunion automakers in the U.S. that the UAW set its sights on late last year after securing record contracts with the Detroit automakers.,"VW's hourly wages are lower than those the UAW negotiated last year with the Detroit automakers, which this year range between about $25 an hour and $36 an hour for production workers, including estimated cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA.",2024-03-26
Boeing CEO to step down in broad management shake-up as 737 Max crisis weighs on aerospace giant,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/boeing-ceo-board-chair-commercial-head-out-737-max-crisis.html,2024-03-25T20:45:18+0000,"In this articleBoeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant.Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for reelection at Boeing's annual meeting in May, Boeing said Monday. He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and is a former CEO of Qualcomm. Mollenkopf will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said.And Stan Deal, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, is leaving the company effective immediately. Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services.The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes. Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.""As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing,"" Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. ""We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years,"" he wrote.Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday that the decision to resign was ""100%"" his own.""We have another mountain to climb,"" Calhoun said. ""Let's not avoid the call for action. Let's not avoid the changes that we have to make in our factory. Let's not avoid the need to slow down a bit and let the supply chain catch up.""Calhoun, a more than decade-long board member at Boeing, took the top job there in January 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes.For months Calhoun has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad quality struggles under control. The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing, and agency Administrator Mike Whitaker after the Alaska Airlines accident said Boeing will be barred from increasing 737 production until the FAA is satisfied with the company's quality control.Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans. CEOs of some of the company's largest customers, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have publicly complained about the delays.Ryanair, Boeing's largest airline customer in Europe, said in a statement Monday it welcomes the management changes.""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years, but he's not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that's where most of the problems have been in recent years,"" Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said in a video posted to social media platform X.United's CEO, Scott Kirby, earlier this month said he urged Boeing to stop making yet-to-be-certified Max 10 planes for the company because it wasn't clear when the FAA would clear those aircraft to fly.Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes. The meetings were to include Kellner and one or more other board members.Also last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at an industry conference that Boeing would burn more cash than expected because of limited 737 Max production.Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements. Its shares are down more than 26% so far this year.",CNBC,25/03/2024,"['In this articleBoeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant.', ""Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for reelection at Boeing's annual meeting in May, Boeing said Monday."", 'He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and is a former CEO of Qualcomm.', 'Mollenkopf will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said.', ""And Stan Deal, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, is leaving the company effective immediately."", ""Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services."", 'The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes.', 'Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.', '""As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing,"" Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. ""', 'We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency.', 'We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.', '""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years,"" he wrote.', 'Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday that the decision to resign was ""100%"" his own.', '""We have another mountain to climb,"" Calhoun said. ""', ""Let's not avoid the call for action."", ""Let's not avoid the changes that we have to make in our factory."", ""Let's not avoid the need to slow down a bit and let the supply chain catch up."", '""Calhoun, a more than decade-long board member at Boeing, took the top job there in January 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes.', 'For months Calhoun has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad quality struggles under control.', ""The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing, and agency Administrator Mike Whitaker after the Alaska Airlines accident said Boeing will be barred from increasing 737 production until the FAA is satisfied with the company's quality control."", ""Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans."", ""CEOs of some of the company's largest customers, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have publicly complained about the delays."", ""Ryanair, Boeing's largest airline customer in Europe, said in a statement Monday it welcomes the management changes."", '""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years, but he\'s not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that\'s where most of the problems have been in recent years,"" Ryanair CEO Michael O\'Leary said in a video posted to social media platform X.United\'s CEO, Scott Kirby, earlier this month said he urged Boeing to stop making yet-to-be-certified Max 10 planes for the company because it wasn\'t clear when the FAA would clear those aircraft to fly.', 'Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes.', 'The meetings were to include Kellner and one or more other board members.', 'Also last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at an industry conference that Boeing would burn more cash than expected because of limited 737 Max production.', ""Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements."", 'Its shares are down more than 26% so far this year.']",0.0359355919949535,We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.,"Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes.",-0.2946626056324352,Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements.,Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans.,2024-03-26
Chrysler parent Stellantis laying off 400 salaried U.S. workers due to 'unprecedented uncertainties',https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/chrysler-parent-stellantis-laying-off-400-salaried-us-workers.html,2024-03-22T17:41:18+0000,"In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews."" Stellantis employed 11,800 U.S. salaried employees as of the end of last year.The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.A spokeswoman for the automaker declined to discuss the exact number of employees who are being laid off. A source familiar with the actions confirmed it at about 400 workers, a number first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.The layoffs occurred during a ""mandatory remote work day"" for U.S. salaried, nonunion employees in Stellantis' engineering and technology organization, according to an internal announcement confirmed by two sources who were not authorized to speak about the actions.The action is the latest by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to cut costs through layoffs, buyouts and other methods since the company was established through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in 2021.The cuts are part of a push to achieve Stellantis' ""Dare Forward 2030"" strategic plan that aims to increase profits and double the automaker's revenue to 300 billion euros, or $335 billion, by then, among other targets.""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"['In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.', 'Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews.""', 'Stellantis employed 11,800 U.S. salaried employees as of the end of last year.', 'The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.', 'A spokeswoman for the automaker declined to discuss the exact number of employees who are being laid off.', 'A source familiar with the actions confirmed it at about 400 workers, a number first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.', 'The layoffs occurred during a ""mandatory remote work day"" for U.S. salaried, nonunion employees in Stellantis\' engineering and technology organization, according to an internal announcement confirmed by two sources who were not authorized to speak about the actions.', 'The action is the latest by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to cut costs through layoffs, buyouts and other methods since the company was established through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in 2021.The cuts are part of a push to achieve Stellantis\' ""Dare Forward 2030"" strategic plan that aims to increase profits and double the automaker\'s revenue to 300 billion euros, or $335 billion, by then, among other targets.', '""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.']",0.1415057079365687,"The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.","Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews.""",0.5079136937856674,"""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.","In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.",2024-03-26
Shohei Ohtani's interpreter fired after reports of theft,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68622772,2024-03-21T04:23:43.000Z,"Baseball sensation Shohei Ohtani's long-time interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, has been fired by the Los Angeles Dodgers after allegations of theft connected to illegal gambling. According to ESPN, at least $4.5m (£3.5m) was transferred from Ohtani's bank account to a bookmaker. Ohtani is not accused of wrongdoing. Mr Mizuhara spoke to the sports network about his gambling debts on Tuesday. The news comes as Ohtani made his regular season debut with the Dodgers. The team's senior communications director has told the BBC that they are gathering information and that they ""can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated"". ESPN has said it reviewed bank information showing Ohtani's name on two $500,000 payments, one sent in September and the other in October, to a bookmaking operation run by Mathew Bowyer. According to the Los Angeles Times, Mr Bowyer was investigated by a prosecution team targeting a multimillion-dollar illegal sports betting scheme but was not charged with a crime. Sports betting is legal in 38 states in America but it remains illegal in California.  Major League Baseball has its own policy that bans ""any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee"" from betting on any baseball game and placing bets with illegal bookmakers. It is not known whether any of Mr Mizuhara's sports gambling involved baseball games. No one has alleged that Ohtani placed any bets.  Mr Mizuhara reportedly said in his interview with ESPN that he had asked the baseball star for help with his gambling debts. ""Obviously, [Ohtani] wasn't happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again,"" Mr Mizuhara reportedly said. ""I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again."" A spokesman for Ohtani initially told ESPN that the former Los Angeles Angels star had transferred funds to cover his interpreter's gambling debts but he has since recanted this account.  Mr Mizuhara himself has reportedly changed his story, now saying that Ohtani did not know about the gambling debts and did not transfer the money. The LA Times has reported that Ohtani's attorneys have since accused his interpreter of ""massive theft"". ""In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities,"" a statement to the newspaper from West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler read.  The BBC has contacted the law firm for confirmation.  The news comes as Ohtani played in the Los Angeles Dodgers' season opener in Seoul. Mr Mizuhara had been with him this week in South Korea for the series against the San Diego Padres, which has drawn legions of fans.  Ahead of the second game in the series on Thursday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts repeatedly declined to comment on the issues between Mr Mizuhara and Ohtani. He only said that his star player would take the field as normal. ""Shohei's ready - ready to go for tonight's game,"" he said.  Ohtani signed a record 10-year, $700m contract with the Dodgers before this season, becoming the face of the sports franchise. He had just won his second unanimous American League MVP award. His stint in the US started in 2018, and Mr Mizuhara has been a constant companion. He and his wife were recently seen in a picture that revealed Mr Ohtani's wife, Mamiko Tanaka, after weeks of speculation. Mr Mizuhara's ability to interpret Ohtani's comments into colloquial English has been widely praised in Japan. Additional reporting by Mattea Bubalo ",BBC,21/03/2024,"[""Baseball sensation Shohei Ohtani's long-time interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, has been fired by the Los Angeles Dodgers after allegations of theft connected to illegal gambling."", ""According to ESPN, at least $4.5m (£3.5m) was transferred from Ohtani's bank account to a bookmaker."", 'Ohtani is not accused of wrongdoing.', 'Mr Mizuhara spoke to the sports network about his gambling debts on Tuesday.', 'The news comes as Ohtani made his regular season debut with the Dodgers.', 'The team\'s senior communications director has told the BBC that they are gathering information and that they ""can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated"".', ""ESPN has said it reviewed bank information showing Ohtani's name on two $500,000 payments, one sent in September and the other in October, to a bookmaking operation run by Mathew Bowyer."", 'According to the Los Angeles Times, Mr Bowyer was investigated by a prosecution team targeting a multimillion-dollar illegal sports betting scheme but was not charged with a crime.', 'Sports betting is legal in 38 states in America but it remains illegal in California.', 'Major League Baseball has its own policy that bans ""any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee"" from betting on any baseball game and placing bets with illegal bookmakers.', ""It is not known whether any of Mr Mizuhara's sports gambling involved baseball games."", 'No one has alleged that Ohtani placed any bets.', 'Mr Mizuhara reportedly said in his interview with ESPN that he had asked the baseball star for help with his gambling debts. ""', 'Obviously, [Ohtani] wasn\'t happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again,"" Mr Mizuhara reportedly said. ""', 'I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting.', 'I want people to know I did not know this was illegal.', 'I learned my lesson the hard way.', 'I will never do sports betting ever again.""', ""A spokesman for Ohtani initially told ESPN that the former Los Angeles Angels star had transferred funds to cover his interpreter's gambling debts but he has since recanted this account."", 'Mr Mizuhara himself has reportedly changed his story, now saying that Ohtani did not know about the gambling debts and did not transfer the money.', 'The LA Times has reported that Ohtani\'s attorneys have since accused his interpreter of ""massive theft"". ""', 'In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities,"" a statement to the newspaper from West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler read.', 'The BBC has contacted the law firm for confirmation.', ""The news comes as Ohtani played in the Los Angeles Dodgers' season opener in Seoul."", 'Mr Mizuhara had been with him this week in South Korea for the series against the San Diego Padres, which has drawn legions of fans.', 'Ahead of the second game in the series on Thursday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts repeatedly declined to comment on the issues between Mr Mizuhara and Ohtani.', 'He only said that his star player would take the field as normal. ""', 'Shohei\'s ready - ready to go for tonight\'s game,"" he said.', 'Ohtani signed a record 10-year, $700m contract with the Dodgers before this season, becoming the face of the sports franchise.', 'He had just won his second unanimous American League MVP award.', 'His stint in the US started in 2018, and Mr Mizuhara has been a constant companion.', ""He and his wife were recently seen in a picture that revealed Mr Ohtani's wife, Mamiko Tanaka, after weeks of speculation."", ""Mr Mizuhara's ability to interpret Ohtani's comments into colloquial English has been widely praised in Japan."", 'Additional reporting by Mattea Bubalo']",-0.0103316901559237,"Obviously, [Ohtani] wasn't happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again,"" Mr Mizuhara reportedly said. ""","According to the Los Angeles Times, Mr Bowyer was investigated by a prosecution team targeting a multimillion-dollar illegal sports betting scheme but was not charged with a crime.",0.0421294271945953,Mr Mizuhara's ability to interpret Ohtani's comments into colloquial English has been widely praised in Japan.,"Baseball sensation Shohei Ohtani's long-time interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, has been fired by the Los Angeles Dodgers after allegations of theft connected to illegal gambling.",2024-03-26
"The state of women's sports: Top executives weigh in on parity, media share and NIL regulations",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/17/womens-sports-executives-weigh-in-on-parity-media-and-nil.html,2024-03-18T13:50:17+0000,"Women's sports reached an inflection point in 2023, propelled by major new broadcast deals, once-in-a-lifetime players and record-breaking audiences that dramatically changed the sports landscape.From Caitlin Clark fever in Iowa to a packed house of 92,000 fans for women's volleyball in Nebraska, women's sports have never been more at the forefront.And it's not slowing down.Revenue generated by women's elite sports could surpass $1 billion this year, a 300% increase from 2021, according to estimates from Deloitte.Bigger media deals and more commercial sponsors are driving record valuations for women's sports, with several teams' values expected to exceed $100 million in 2024, according to Deloitte.Last year saw record media deals for women's sports as the NCAA and NWSL both inked groundbreaking agreements. And investors from private equity to celebrities are lining up to get in the game.Yet, there's still a lot of work to be done, specifically, in the areas of equal pay, prime-time access and even the need for more historical data.CNBC surveyed some of the most high-powered women executives in sports, ranging from league commissioners to team owners and CEOs, to hear their thoughts on the state of women in sports. Some of their answers have been edited for style, clarity and length.Renie Anderson, executive vice president and chief revenue officer for the NFL: The obstacle, or really the opportunity, for today is to continue to amplify the spectacular athleticism of these women. Rather than be shocked and surprised that women are spectacular at sport, we need to do a better job of weaving in the message of greatness when highlighting the greatness in men's sports. It's there. It just doesn't get the attention it deserves.Jessica Berman, commissioner of the National Women's Soccer League: Because the world has woken up to women's sports, the expectations on how fast this can grow, from all stakeholders, is really challenging. We're 100 years behind men's sports, and so it's not to say that we should move slowly. It is to say that it is challenging to sort of build the plane as quickly as so many stakeholders expect it to be built — and to do it in a way that's sustainable and commercially viable.Cathy Engelbert, commissioner of the Women's National Basketball Association: One of the obstacles is the undervaluation of our assets. Whether it's a patch on the uniform or an ad buy on a broadcast, we need to change the model. It's based on decades-old spreadsheet models that are tailored to men's sports and in those models, a lot of things that companies are now supporting in women's sports aren't being accounted for like their diversity, their community, the fact that they are not the ""one and done"" type.Jessica Gelman, KAGR CEO and founder of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference: A major obstacle has been available data on performance which supports and enhances storytelling. These stories create interest and drive (i.e. see Caitlin Clark's NCAA scoring record quest). This past year the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference donated to Sports-Reference to support the addition of college women's data back to 1987.Jayna Hefford, senior vice president of operations for the Professional Women's Hockey League: Women's sports still struggle to secure prime broadcast windows, consistent airtime and traditional media coverage. Furthermore, the scarcity of traditional media coverage has historically forced women's teams and leagues, as well as women-owned media companies, to take the lead in promoting their own narratives. This limited visibility has made it challenging to attract brand support, even though research indicates that companies investing in women's sports see lucrative returns.Haley Rosen, CEO and founder of Just Women's Sports: One of the biggest obstacles hindering the progress of women's sports today is relying on the legacy platforms. Legacy platforms aren't set up to support women's sports and build on the momentum. Yes, they'll air the games. But there's only so much time in the day for the shoulder programming and coverage needed to amplify the women's leagues, and legacy platforms are always going to prioritize men's sports. Viewership numbers are rising, but the relative percentage of women's sports coverage on legacy platforms hasn't changed.Mollie Marcoux Samaan, commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association: Women's sports today face two primary obstacles: investment and exposure. At the LPGA we've made some great strides. Our total revenue has gone up 65% in the last four years, and total purses — the prize funds players' play for each week — has grown 70% since 2021. That's because of investment, because of partnerships, because of corporate decision makers seeing not only the significant commercial value of the LPGA but also the opportunity to have a positive impact on the world.Katrina Adams, former pro tennis player and ex-CEO of the United States Tennis Association: I think what the Women's Tennis Association has done for many years, is shown other professional sports what can be achieved if they use your voice and their talent, that they can survive. When you look at the players of today — you know, we talk about the [Caitlin Clark types] and Sabrina Ionescu and Coco Gauff, who was the highest paid athlete last year — there's so many opportunities for these young women to use their platform to really speak up and speak out on what it means to be on a level playing field week in and week out.Berman: I think we have to go from these being moments to being part of a movement, so that we get out of the default of having these reference points be episodic, or transactional or in isolation, so that it can translate to more sustainable growth and investment. I think the more we can demonstrate and talk about some of those consistent data points that show that the business is actually being built in a more consistent way, the easier it'll be to debunk the narrative that these are one-off success stories.Pamela Duckworth, head of Fubo Studios at FuboTV: Female athletes are multifaceted — they are also mothers, businesswomen, philanthropists, media moguls and more. We can use the momentum from attention-grabbing sports moments to bring athletes' stories to the forefront and connect with broader audiences that way.Engelbert: Sports is about marketing, marketing, marketing. If you look back at the history of the NBA that put the league on the map and the multibillion-dollar deals, it was a rivalry coming out of college, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Then it was a marketing genius with Michael Jordan and Nike. But you need capital to market and advertise. I think the marketing strategy we put in place now that we have this capital is to build household names, create rivalries, and promote games or events of consequence.Amy Howe, FanDuel CEO: Women's sports need to continue to position their star athletes (i.e. Ionescu, A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart of WNBA) in the mainstream at parity with their male counterparts – the 3-point competition was a perfect example. Not surprisingly, all of this investment and support is fueling greater performance from female athletes which is driving added success in places like FanDuel's business, where we saw a 270% increase in bet counts on women's sports and 101% increase in handle, or amount wagered. It's a real flywheel effect.Rosen: There are tens of millions of sports fans out there waiting to be onboarded into this space. We have to make it easy and fun for them to be a women's sports fan and not just rely on the stand-alone moments. That means meeting them every day on their feeds, creating content that engages them and keeps them continually connected to this space. Kelly Laferriere, chief business officer, A-Rod Corp.:The investment community and media companies are taking notice. They recognize the strategic value. Distributing women's sports content across multiple media platforms to reach the widest possible audience will drive new revenue and keep women's sports part of mainstream conversations. The Paris Olympics in July also creates an opportunity for female athletes to shine on the world stage.Adams: I think it's an opportunity for our women to finally be recognized and actually make a living. The men, they've had this opportunity for years, for decades, ""under the table,"" if you will, now the women are able to do it legally with the NIL. For them to make a little money and really grow the sport in their communities, in their cities in their college towns, etc. I think it's great. They're learning how to become entrepreneurs at a younger age, and they're doing extremely well.Anderson: I think NIL helps likely a small few through their social media. I'm not sure outside of a handful of amazing athletes/influencers it's going to be spread out throughout college sports for women, like it is for football for men. But I guess we wait and see. I don't think it hurts, but for those few women that do benefit, it's an opportunity for them to lift up other women.Duckworth: NIL opens doors for female athletes to build their own brands in ways that weren't possible before. Why shouldn't a female athlete make money the same way her male counterpart can? Money equals independence in my book. Kudos to major sports stars like Angel Reese or Caitlin Clark on showing young women just what can be built. Hefford: The positive impact of NIL on women's college athletics has reverberated throughout women's sports, creating a scenario where all boats rise. As more female athletes become household names, the investment in women's sports is likely to increase, encouraging more young girls to start — or continue participating in — sports.Rosen: On paper, it's great and we should celebrate anything that helps women athletes grow their brand and monetize their talents. There are obviously still some details that need to be ironed out, especially when it comes to team dynamics and the potential for NIL deals to force players into taking the short-term profit at the cost of their long-term development.",CNBC,18/03/2024,"[""Women's sports reached an inflection point in 2023, propelled by major new broadcast deals, once-in-a-lifetime players and record-breaking audiences that dramatically changed the sports landscape."", ""From Caitlin Clark fever in Iowa to a packed house of 92,000 fans for women's volleyball in Nebraska, women's sports have never been more at the forefront."", ""And it's not slowing down."", ""Revenue generated by women's elite sports could surpass $1 billion this year, a 300% increase from 2021, according to estimates from Deloitte."", ""Bigger media deals and more commercial sponsors are driving record valuations for women's sports, with several teams' values expected to exceed $100 million in 2024, according to Deloitte."", ""Last year saw record media deals for women's sports as the NCAA and NWSL both inked groundbreaking agreements."", 'And investors from private equity to celebrities are lining up to get in the game.', ""Yet, there's still a lot of work to be done, specifically, in the areas of equal pay, prime-time access and even the need for more historical data."", 'CNBC surveyed some of the most high-powered women executives in sports, ranging from league commissioners to team owners and CEOs, to hear their thoughts on the state of women in sports.', 'Some of their answers have been edited for style, clarity and length.', 'Renie Anderson, executive vice president and chief revenue officer for the NFL: The obstacle, or really the opportunity, for today is to continue to amplify the spectacular athleticism of these women.', ""Rather than be shocked and surprised that women are spectacular at sport, we need to do a better job of weaving in the message of greatness when highlighting the greatness in men's sports."", ""It's there."", ""It just doesn't get the attention it deserves."", ""Jessica Berman, commissioner of the National Women's Soccer League: Because the world has woken up to women's sports, the expectations on how fast this can grow, from all stakeholders, is really challenging."", ""We're 100 years behind men's sports, and so it's not to say that we should move slowly."", ""It is to say that it is challenging to sort of build the plane as quickly as so many stakeholders expect it to be built — and to do it in a way that's sustainable and commercially viable."", ""Cathy Engelbert, commissioner of the Women's National Basketball Association: One of the obstacles is the undervaluation of our assets."", ""Whether it's a patch on the uniform or an ad buy on a broadcast, we need to change the model."", 'It\'s based on decades-old spreadsheet models that are tailored to men\'s sports and in those models, a lot of things that companies are now supporting in women\'s sports aren\'t being accounted for like their diversity, their community, the fact that they are not the ""one and done"" type.', 'Jessica Gelman, KAGR CEO and founder of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference: A major obstacle has been available data on performance which supports and enhances storytelling.', ""These stories create interest and drive (i.e. see Caitlin Clark's NCAA scoring record quest).This past year the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference donated to Sports-Reference to support the addition of college women's data back to 1987.Jayna Hefford, senior vice president of operations for the Professional Women's Hockey League: Women's sports still struggle to secure prime broadcast windows, consistent airtime and traditional media coverage."", ""Furthermore, the scarcity of traditional media coverage has historically forced women's teams and leagues, as well as women-owned media companies, to take the lead in promoting their own narratives."", ""This limited visibility has made it challenging to attract brand support, even though research indicates that companies investing in women's sports see lucrative returns."", ""Haley Rosen, CEO and founder of Just Women's Sports: One of the biggest obstacles hindering the progress of women's sports today is relying on the legacy platforms."", ""Legacy platforms aren't set up to support women's sports and build on the momentum."", ""Yes, they'll air the games."", ""But there's only so much time in the day for the shoulder programming and coverage needed to amplify the women's leagues, and legacy platforms are always going to prioritize men's sports."", ""Viewership numbers are rising, but the relative percentage of women's sports coverage on legacy platforms hasn't changed."", ""Mollie Marcoux Samaan, commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association: Women's sports today face two primary obstacles: investment and exposure."", ""At the LPGA we've made some great strides."", ""Our total revenue has gone up 65% in the last four years, and total purses — the prize funds players' play for each week — has grown 70% since 2021."", ""That's because of investment, because of partnerships, because of corporate decision makers seeing not only the significant commercial value of the LPGA but also the opportunity to have a positive impact on the world."", ""Katrina Adams, former pro tennis player and ex-CEO of the United States Tennis Association: I think what the Women's Tennis Association has done for many years, is shown other professional sports what can be achieved if they use your voice and their talent, that they can survive."", ""When you look at the players of today — you know, we talk about the [Caitlin Clark types] and Sabrina Ionescu and Coco Gauff, who was the highest paid athlete last year — there's so many opportunities for these young women to use their platform to really speak up and speak out on what it means to be on a level playing field week in and week out."", 'Berman: I think we have to go from these being moments to being part of a movement, so that we get out of the default of having these reference points be episodic, or transactional or in isolation, so that it can translate to more sustainable growth and investment.', ""I think the more we can demonstrate and talk about some of those consistent data points that show that the business is actually being built in a more consistent way, the easier it'll be to debunk the narrative that these are one-off success stories."", 'Pamela Duckworth, head of Fubo Studios at FuboTV: Female athletes are multifaceted — they are also mothers, businesswomen, philanthropists, media moguls and more.', ""We can use the momentum from attention-grabbing sports moments to bring athletes' stories to the forefront and connect with broader audiences that way."", 'Engelbert: Sports is about marketing, marketing, marketing.', 'If you look back at the history of the NBA that put the league on the map and the multibillion-dollar deals, it was a rivalry coming out of college, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.', 'Then it was a marketing genius with Michael Jordan and Nike.', 'But you need capital to market and advertise.', 'I think the marketing strategy we put in place now that we have this capital is to build household names, create rivalries, and promote games or events of consequence.', ""Amy Howe, FanDuel CEO: Women's sports need to continue to position their star athletes (i.e. Ionescu, A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart of WNBA) in the mainstream at parity with their male counterparts – the 3-point competition was a perfect example."", ""Not surprisingly, all of this investment and support is fueling greater performance from female athletes which is driving added success in places like FanDuel's business, where we saw a 270% increase in bet counts on women's sports and 101% increase in handle, or amount wagered."", ""It's a real flywheel effect."", 'Rosen: There are tens of millions of sports fans out there waiting to be onboarded into this space.', ""We have to make it easy and fun for them to be a women's sports fan and not just rely on the stand-alone moments."", 'That means meeting them every day on their feeds, creating content that engages them and keeps them continually connected to this space.', 'Kelly Laferriere, chief business officer, A-Rod Corp.:The investment community and media companies are taking notice.', 'They recognize the strategic value.', ""Distributing women's sports content across multiple media platforms to reach the widest possible audience will drive new revenue and keep women's sports part of mainstream conversations."", 'The Paris Olympics in July also creates an opportunity for female athletes to shine on the world stage.', ""Adams: I think it's an opportunity for our women to finally be recognized and actually make a living."", 'The men, they\'ve had this opportunity for years, for decades, ""under the table,"" if you will, now the women are able to do it legally with the NIL.', 'For them to make a little money and really grow the sport in their communities, in their cities in their college towns, etc.', ""I think it's great."", ""They're learning how to become entrepreneurs at a younger age, and they're doing extremely well."", 'Anderson: I think NIL helps likely a small few through their social media.', ""I'm not sure outside of a handful of amazing athletes/influencers it's going to be spread out throughout college sports for women, like it is for football for men."", 'But I guess we wait and see.', ""I don't think it hurts, but for those few women that do benefit, it's an opportunity for them to lift up other women."", ""Duckworth: NIL opens doors for female athletes to build their own brands in ways that weren't possible before."", ""Why shouldn't a female athlete make money the same way her male counterpart can?"", 'Money equals independence in my book.', 'Kudos to major sports stars like Angel Reese or Caitlin Clark on showing young women just what can be built.', ""Hefford: The positive impact of NIL on women's college athletics has reverberated throughout women's sports, creating a scenario where all boats rise."", ""As more female athletes become household names, the investment in women's sports is likely to increase, encouraging more young girls to start — or continue participating in — sports."", ""Rosen: On paper, it's great and we should celebrate anything that helps women athletes grow their brand and monetize their talents."", 'There are obviously still some details that need to be ironed out, especially when it comes to team dynamics and the potential for NIL deals to force players into taking the short-term profit at the cost of their long-term development.']",0.2888674204582378,"Rosen: On paper, it's great and we should celebrate anything that helps women athletes grow their brand and monetize their talents.","Mollie Marcoux Samaan, commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association: Women's sports today face two primary obstacles: investment and exposure.",0.6814281248277233,"Not surprisingly, all of this investment and support is fueling greater performance from female athletes which is driving added success in places like FanDuel's business, where we saw a 270% increase in bet counts on women's sports and 101% increase in handle, or amount wagered.","Jessica Gelman, KAGR CEO and founder of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference: A major obstacle has been available data on performance which supports and enhances storytelling.",2024-03-26
Your complete guide to earning and redeeming points in the Citi ThankYou Rewards program,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/citi-thankyou-points-rewards,"
  Updated
        12:10 PM EST, Wed January 10, 2024
    ","The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has evolved over the past decade and is now a formidable competitor with established programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Citi’s got a relatively small portfolio of quality credit cards and a rewarding program to boot. In fact, its credit cards offer some of the most generous category bonuses in exchange for reasonable annual fees.
    
            When it comes to redeeming your hard-earned points, Citi has an impressive transfer partner list that makes it possible to maximize your rewards for travel bookings. And if you don’t want to learn the ins and outs of various loyalty programs, Citi also gives you the option to use points for statement credits and direct travel bookings.
    
            If you’re curious about how the Citi ThankYou program works, here’s everything you need to know about how to get the most out of the program for travel.
    
            You can earn Citi ThankYou points in numerous ways. The easiest is through credit card sign-up bonuses, which range depending on the card. But that’s not the only way to earn points in this program. Between checking account bonuses and authorized user incentives, there are many ways to earn ThankYou points beyond credit cards.
    
            Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards. The issuer’s credit cards are generally split into two categories: traditional ThankYou points-earning cards and cash back cards. However, recently, Citi made a change to its program that now sees its cash back credit cards earning ThankYou Rewards points, which can also be redeemed for traditional cash back.
    
            Citi has two cards that earn ThankYou points directly. These cards are ideal for maximizing rewards on everyday purchases, with the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Rewards+® Card specifically offering significant bonuses in those everyday categories.
    
            As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditional cash back credit cards in the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings. They can be incredibly valuable, considering the Citi® Double Cash Card earns 2% on everything. By adding this card to your wallet, you’ll earn a minimum of 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent on all purchases that aren’t eligible for the bonus categories on the Citi Premier or Rewards+ cards.
    
            Considering Citi’s cash back cards have no annual fees, adding one to your wallet could make a lot of sense. You’ll enhance your point earning across the board without additional annual fees.
    
            By combining the Citi cards you have in your wallet, you can maximize your earnings and ensure you continue to work your way toward your next redemption.
    
            Adding an authorized user can help you earn more Citi points in two ways: bonus points for adding someone and for all of their purchases. First, you’ll sometimes get bonus points just for adding someone to your account. Citi frequently sends out authorized user bonuses to targeted card holders. These bonuses are typically around 2,500 bonus points but can vary.
    
            Secondly, you’ll earn Citi ThankYou points based on all the spending your authorized user puts on their card. Of course, you’ll only want to consider adding a member of your household or someone you trust to pay you back as an authorized user on your account. Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.
    
            If you’d like to earn even more ThankYou points, you can do so with a checking account. That’s because Citi offers several checking accounts that earn ThankYou points as a benefit: The Citigold, Citi Priority, Citi Private Bank and Citibank Account. With these accounts, you can earn up to 1,600 points per month on everyday banking activities. The exact number of ThankYou points you’ll earn depends on your account type and qualifying activities. Generally, Citigold, Citi Priority and Citi Private Bank accounts earn the most points.
    
            Sharing points is a great way to consolidate existing points with a significant other or family member. Citi ThankYou is one of the few programs that allows members to share points free of charge. The only stipulation is that you can only share points with someone who has a Citi ThankYou card, and Citi Custom Cash card holders are not eligible.
    
            It’s worth noting that shared points expire 90 days after receipt. So you shouldn’t transfer points unless you or the person you’re sending them to has an immediate use for them. Also, note that you can’t send or receive more than 100,000 points per calendar year.
    
            Once you’ve earned a slew of Citi ThankYou points comes the fun part of redeeming them. And thankfully, Citi offers many different ways for you to redeem your ThankYou points. You’ll get the most bang for your buck by redeeming points for travel, though that’s certainly not the only option.
    
            Here’s a look at your Citi ThankYou travel redemption options and how they work.
    
            Transferring points will get you the most value from your Citi ThankYou points. Citi has 18 airline and hotel partners, most of which you can transfer points to at a 1-to-1 ratio — however, that ratio can vary. You can redeem them for stays at all-inclusive resorts, international business-class tickets, domestic award flights and more. But keep in mind that not all airline and hotel loyalty programs are equal.
    
            Ultimately, you’ll want to research which program will offer you the most in return, depending on what your travel plans are. Like with the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, Capital One miles and American Express Membership Rewards program, you’ll need to link your accounts with each of the transfer partners, and you’ll also need to search for award availability with the airline of your choice before transferring any points.
    
            If you’re interested in transferring your Citi ThankYou points to a travel partner, these are your 18 options as well as the transfer rate.
    
            By transferring Citi ThankYou points to partner airlines, you unlock the ability to travel for next to nothing — in most cases when redeeming travel rewards, you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees on a ticket. As a result, points and miles open up the door for flying experiences that would otherwise be out of reach.
    
            Keep in mind that the most obvious airline choice may not always be your best option. Airlines typically have extensive alliance networks, allowing you to redeem points for partner airlines through their respective programs. For example, Delta Air Lines and Air France/KLM are both members of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue and redeem for flights operated by Delta Air Lines.
    
            Citi’s airline partners will get you the most value for your points, especially if you redeem them for business- and first-class travel. That being said, Citi’s airline partners offer several sweet spot awards. These heavily discounted awards will save you points on travel and make earning ThankYou points worthwhile. Some of these sweet spots awards that will get you maximum value for your ThankYou points include the following:
    
            Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points by transferring them to airline or hotel partners. But that may not always make sense for all card holders — and it’s not your only option.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each when you use them to book travel through the Citi ThankYou portal. That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions. While transferring points is the best way to maximize your ThankYou points, doing so isn’t always possible. If that’s the case — or if you’re not interested in researching award availability — redeeming at a fixed value for travel via the ThankYou portal is a decent option.
    
            Citi offers several fixed redemption options where you’ll redeem your points at 1 cent per point. This is ideal for folks who would rather leverage points for daily expenses than travel bookings. While redeeming points this way isn’t advisable, as you won’t get as much value out of each point, you should use them however they suit you best.
    
            For example, if you have no travel plans in the foreseeable future but mounting expenses at home, then redeeming your ThankYou points for mortgage or student loan payments might make sense. Here are some additional ways you can redeem your ThankYou points:
    
            Generally speaking, if you’re looking to get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points, your worst option is when redeeming for a fixed value. However, if you’re willing to sacrifice the value of your points and instead want to save some cash, it could be a solid option. Ultimately, every card holder’s goals for their points will be different, but it’s good that you have options with ThankYou points.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are worth about 1.7 cents each when you redeem them for travel through transfer partners, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy. The exact amount varies depending on the cabin and destination you’re flying to. Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value by redeeming points for international business- and first-class flights. While 1.7 cents per point isn’t guaranteed for all redemptions, it’s a number you should aim for if you want to redeem ThankYou points for maximum value.
    
            Aside from travel redemptions, you can use ThankYou points for mortgage payments, student loans, statement credits or charitable contributions, and they’re worth 1 cent apiece.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are an incredibly valuable currency and can help you meet your most aspirational travel goals. Whether you’re using points for domestic or international travel, Citi’s wide selection of transfer partners offers terrific redemption value. Between a good credit card selection, top-notch travel partners and flexibility in use, Citi ThankYou points are definitely worth adding to your points portfolio.
    
            Looking for a new travel credit card? Check out CNN Underscored’s list of the best credit cards currently available.
    
            Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
    
            Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.",CNN,10/01/2024,"['The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has evolved over the past decade and is now a formidable competitor with established programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards.', 'Citi’s got a relatively small portfolio of quality credit cards and a rewarding program to boot.', 'In fact, its credit cards offer some of the most generous category bonuses in exchange for reasonable annual fees.', 'When it comes to redeeming your hard-earned points, Citi has an impressive transfer partner list that makes it possible to maximize your rewards for travel bookings.', 'And if you don’t want to learn the ins and outs of various loyalty programs, Citi also gives you the option to use points for statement credits and direct travel bookings.', 'If you’re curious about how the Citi ThankYou program works, here’s everything you need to know about how to get the most out of the program for travel.', 'You can earn Citi ThankYou points in numerous ways.', 'The easiest is through credit card sign-up bonuses, which range depending on the card.', 'But that’s not the only way to earn points in this program.', 'Between checking account bonuses and authorized user incentives, there are many ways to earn ThankYou points beyond credit cards.', 'Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards.', 'The issuer’s credit cards are generally split into two categories: traditional ThankYou points-earning cards andcash back cards.', 'However, recently, Citi made a change to its program that now sees its cash back credit cards earning ThankYou Rewards points, which can also be redeemed for traditional cash back.', 'Citi has two cards that earn ThankYou points directly.', 'These cards are ideal for maximizing rewards on everyday purchases, with the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Rewards+® Card specifically offering significant bonuses in those everyday categories.', 'As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditionalcash back credit cardsin the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings.', 'They can be incredibly valuable, considering the Citi® Double Cash Card earns 2% on everything.', 'By adding this card to your wallet, you’ll earn a minimum of 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent on all purchases that aren’t eligible for the bonus categories on the Citi Premier or Rewards+ cards.', 'Considering Citi’s cash back cards have no annual fees, adding one to your wallet could make a lot of sense.', 'You’ll enhance your point earning across the board without additional annual fees.', 'By combining the Citi cards you have in your wallet, you can maximize your earnings and ensure you continue to work your way toward your next redemption.', 'Adding an authorized user can help you earn more Citi points in two ways: bonus points for adding someone and for all of their purchases.', 'First, you’ll sometimes get bonus points just for adding someone to your account.', 'Citi frequently sends out authorized user bonuses to targeted card holders.', 'These bonuses are typically around 2,500 bonus points but can vary.', 'Secondly, you’ll earn Citi ThankYou points based on all the spending your authorized user puts on their card.', 'Of course, you’ll only want to consider adding a member of your household or someone you trust to pay you back as anauthorized useron your account.', 'Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.', 'If you’d like to earn even more ThankYou points, you can do so with a checking account.', 'That’s because Citi offers several checking accounts that earn ThankYou points as a benefit: The Citigold, Citi Priority, Citi Private Bank and Citibank Account.', 'With these accounts, you can earn up to 1,600 points per month on everyday banking activities.', 'The exact number of ThankYou points you’ll earn depends on your account type and qualifying activities.', 'Generally, Citigold, Citi Priority and Citi Private Bank accounts earn the most points.', 'Sharing points is a great way to consolidate existing points with a significant other or family member.', 'Citi ThankYou is one of the few programs that allows members to share points free of charge.', 'The only stipulation is that you can only share points with someone who has a Citi ThankYou card, and Citi Custom Cash card holders are not eligible.', 'It’s worth noting that shared points expire 90 days after receipt.', 'So you shouldn’t transfer points unless you or the person you’re sending them to has an immediate use for them.', 'Also, note that you can’t send or receive more than 100,000 points per calendar year.', 'Once you’ve earned a slew of Citi ThankYou points comes the fun part of redeeming them.', 'And thankfully, Citi offers many different ways for you to redeem your ThankYou points.', 'You’ll get the most bang for your buck by redeeming points for travel, though that’s certainly not the only option.', 'Here’s a look at your Citi ThankYou travel redemption options and how they work.', 'Transferring points will get you the most value from your Citi ThankYou points.', 'Citi has 18 airline and hotel partners, most of which you can transfer points to at a 1-to-1 ratio — however, that ratio can vary.', 'You can redeem them for stays atall-inclusive resorts,international business-class tickets, domestic award flights and more.', 'But keep in mind that not all airline and hotel loyalty programs are equal.', 'Ultimately, you’ll want to research which program will offer you the most in return, depending on what your travel plans are.', 'Like with the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, Capital One miles andAmerican Express Membership Rewards program, you’ll need to link your accounts with each of the transfer partners, and you’ll also need to search for award availability with the airline of your choice before transferring any points.', 'If you’re interested in transferring your Citi ThankYou points to a travel partner, these are your 18 options as well as the transfer rate.', 'By transferring Citi ThankYou points to partner airlines, you unlock the ability to travel for next to nothing — in most cases when redeeming travel rewards, you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees on a ticket.', 'As a result, points and miles open up the door for flying experiences that would otherwise be out of reach.', 'Keep in mind that the most obvious airline choice may not always be your best option.', 'Airlines typically have extensive alliance networks, allowing you to redeem points for partner airlines through their respective programs.', 'For example, Delta Air Lines and Air France/KLM are both members of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue and redeem for flights operated by Delta Air Lines.', 'Citi’s airline partners will get you the most value for your points, especially if you redeem them for business- and first-class travel.', 'That being said, Citi’s airline partners offer several sweet spot awards.', 'These heavily discounted awards will save you points on travel and make earning ThankYou points worthwhile.', 'Some of these sweet spots awards that will get you maximum value for your ThankYou points include the following:  Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points by transferring them to airline or hotel partners.', 'But that may not always make sense for all card holders — and it’s not your only option.', 'Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each when you use them to book travel through the Citi ThankYou portal.', 'That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions.', 'While transferring points is the best way to maximize your ThankYou points, doing so isn’t always possible.', 'If that’s the case — or if you’re not interested in researching award availability — redeeming at a fixed value for travel via the ThankYou portal is a decent option.', 'Citi offers several fixed redemption options where you’ll redeem your points at 1 cent per point.', 'This is ideal for folks who would rather leverage points for daily expenses than travel bookings.', 'While redeeming points this way isn’t advisable, as you won’t get as much value out of each point, you should use them however they suit you best.', 'For example, if you have no travel plans in the foreseeable future but mounting expenses at home, then redeeming your ThankYou points for mortgage or student loan payments might make sense.', 'Here are some additional ways you can redeem your ThankYou points:  Generally speaking, if you’re looking to get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points, your worst option is when redeeming for a fixed value.', 'However, if you’re willing to sacrifice the value of your points and instead want to save some cash, it could be a solid option.', 'Ultimately, every card holder’s goals for their points will be different, but it’s good that you have options with ThankYou points.', 'Citi ThankYou points are worth about 1.7 cents each when you redeem them for travel through transfer partners, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy.', 'The exact amount varies depending on the cabin and destination you’re flying to.', 'Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value by redeeming points for international business- and first-class flights.', 'While 1.7 cents per point isn’t guaranteed for all redemptions, it’s a number you should aim for if you want to redeem ThankYou points for maximum value.', 'Aside from travel redemptions, you can use ThankYou points for mortgage payments, student loans, statement credits or charitable contributions, and they’re worth 1 cent apiece.', 'Citi ThankYou points are an incredibly valuable currency and can help you meet your most aspirational travel goals.', 'Whether you’re using points for domestic or international travel, Citi’s wide selection of transfer partners offers terrific redemption value.', 'Between a good credit card selection, top-notch travel partners and flexibility in use, Citi ThankYou points are definitely worth adding to your points portfolio.', 'Looking for a new travel credit card?', 'Check out CNN Underscored’s list of thebest credit cardscurrently available.', 'Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.', 'Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.']",0.419572580688158,"Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards.","Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.",0.8711563621958097,"As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditionalcash back credit cardsin the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings.",That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions.,2024-03-26
"Apple, Google and Meta at risk of ‘heavy’ fines as Europe launches new probes",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/tech/digital-markets-act-apple-google-meta/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:54 AM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","The European Union has launched investigations into Apple, Google and Facebook parent Meta on suspicion that they are failing to comply with a new landmark European law designed to promote competition in digital services.
    
            The European Commission said it “suspects” that various practices by all three companies “fall short of effective compliance” with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which went into effect earlier this month. If the probes find a “lack of full compliance,” they could face “heavy fines,” said European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
    
            The DMA requires dominant online platforms to give users more choices and rivals more opportunities to compete. It currently applies to the three tech giants under investigation, as well as Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) and ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok.
    
            By mid-May, the list could also include Elon Musk’s X and Booking.com, the EU has said.
    
            Violations of the new law can lead to stiff penalties, including fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue and up to 20% for repeat offenses. For most of the regulated companies, that would translate to tens of billions of dollars.
    
            The practices the European Commission is investigating include what it calls Meta’s “pay or consent” approach. Last October, Meta (META) launched a subscription service, called “Subscription for no ads,” allowing European users of Facebook and Instagram to pay up to €12.99 ($14) a month for ad-free versions.
    
            “The Commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model may not provide a real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by (large companies),” the body said in a statement.
    
            A Meta spokesperson responded: “Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a well-established business model across many industries, and we designed ‘Subscription for no ads’ to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA. We will continue to engage constructively with the Commission.”
    
            The EU is also looking into app stores operated by Apple (AAPL) and Google. The DMA states that large digital platforms — so-called gatekeepers — must allow app developers to “steer” consumers to offers outside the two dominant stores, free of charge.
    
            Among other concerns, the EU suspects that Apple and Google’s parent Alphabet (GOOGL) constrain developers’ ability “to freely communicate (with end-users) and promote offers and directly conclude contracts, including by imposing various charges,” the Commission said.
    
            “We are concerned Alphabet, Apple & Meta & are not meeting their obligations, e.g.: Apple & Alphabet still charge recurring fees to app developers,” European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager wrote on X Monday.
    
            Apple’s “choice screen” for Safari is also under scrutiny, the European Commission said. Under the DMA, Apple must prompt users with “choice screens which must effectively and easily allow them to select an alternative default service, such as a browser or search engine on their iPhones,” it noted.
    
            Apple told CNN in a statement: “We’re confident our plan complies with the DMA, and we’ll continue to constructively engage with the European Commission as they conduct their investigations.”
    
            Another of the Commission’s concerns pertains to Google Search. Alphabet may not have done enough to ensure that third-party services appearing in search results are treated in “a fair and non-discriminatory manner” compared with Alphabet’s own services, such as Google Shopping and Google Flights.
    
            Oliver Bethell, a competition executive at Google, said in a statement: “To comply with the Digital Markets Act, we have made significant changes to the way our services operate in Europe.
    
            “We have engaged with the European Commission, stakeholders and third parties in dozens of events over the past year to receive and respond to feedback, and to balance conflicting needs within the ecosystem. We will continue to defend our approach in the coming months.”
    
            This story has been updated with additional information.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['The European Union has launched investigations into Apple, Google and Facebook parent Meta on suspicion that they are failing to comply with a new landmark European law designed to promote competition in digital services.', 'The European Commission said it “suspects” that various practices by all three companies “fall short of effective compliance” with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which went into effect earlier this month.', 'If the probes find a “lack of full compliance,” they could face “heavy fines,” said European Commissioner Thierry Breton.', 'The DMA requires dominant online platforms to give users more choices and rivals more opportunities to compete.', 'It currently applies to the three tech giants under investigation, as well as Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) and ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok.', 'By mid-May, the list could also include Elon Musk’s X and Booking.com, the EU has said.', 'Violations of the new law can lead to stiff penalties, including fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue and up to 20% for repeat offenses.', 'For most of the regulated companies, that would translate to tens of billions of dollars.', 'The practices the European Commission is investigating include what it calls Meta’s “pay or consent” approach.', 'Last October, Meta (META)launcheda subscription service, called “Subscription for no ads,” allowing European users of Facebook and Instagram to pay up to €12.99 ($14) a month for ad-free versions.', '“The Commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model may not provide a real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by (large companies),” the body said in a statement.', 'A Meta spokesperson responded: “Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a well-established business model across many industries, and we designed ‘Subscription for no ads’ to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA.', 'We will continue to engage constructively with the Commission.”', 'The EU is also looking into app stores operated by Apple (AAPL) and Google.', 'The DMA states that large digital platforms —so-called gatekeepers —must allow app developers to “steer” consumers to offers outside the two dominant stores, free of charge.', 'Among other concerns, the EU suspects that Apple and Google’s parent Alphabet (GOOGL) constrain developers’ ability “to freely communicate (with end-users) and promote offers and directly conclude contracts, including by imposing various charges,” the Commission said.', '“We are concerned Alphabet, Apple & Meta & are not meeting their obligations, e.g.: Apple & Alphabet still charge recurring fees to app developers,” European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager wrote on X Monday.', 'Apple’s “choice screen” for Safari is also under scrutiny, the European Commission said.', 'Under the DMA, Apple must prompt users with “choice screens which must effectively and easily allow them to select an alternative default service, such as a browser or search engine on their iPhones,” it noted.', 'Apple told CNN in a statement: “We’re confident our plan complies with the DMA, and we’ll continue to constructively engage with the European Commission as they conduct their investigations.”', 'Another of the Commission’s concerns pertains to Google Search.', 'Alphabet may not have done enough to ensure that third-party services appearing in search results are treated in “a fair and non-discriminatory manner” compared with Alphabet’s own services, such as Google Shopping and Google Flights.', 'Oliver Bethell, a competition executive at Google, said in a statement: “To comply with the Digital Markets Act, we have madesignificant changesto the way our services operate in Europe.', '“We have engaged with the European Commission, stakeholders and third parties in dozens of events over the past year to receive and respond to feedback, and to balance conflicting needs within the ecosystem.', 'We will continue to defend our approach in the coming months.”', 'This story has been updated with additional information.']",0.1455842646081827,"Alphabet may not have done enough to ensure that third-party services appearing in search results are treated in “a fair and non-discriminatory manner” compared with Alphabet’s own services, such as Google Shopping and Google Flights.","Violations of the new law can lead to stiff penalties, including fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue and up to 20% for repeat offenses.",-0.5500725971327888,"Apple told CNN in a statement: “We’re confident our plan complies with the DMA, and we’ll continue to constructively engage with the European Commission as they conduct their investigations.”","The European Commission said it “suspects” that various practices by all three companies “fall short of effective compliance” with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which went into effect earlier this month.",2024-03-26
Fox News sued by family of Ukrainian journalist killed while covering war over ‘reckless and negligent conduct’,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/14/media/fox-news-sued-photojournalist-deaths/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:51 PM EDT, Thu March 14, 2024
    ","Fox News is the subject of yet another explosive lawsuit.
    
            On the two-year anniversary of the attack in Ukraine that claimed the lives of Fox News photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and contractor Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, the network was accused Thursday of being culpable for the fatal incident by engaging in “reckless and negligent conduct” that put the crew in harm’s way. The network was also accused of launching “a campaign of material misrepresentations and omissions to hide its own accountability for the disaster and shift blame” to then-security contractor Shane Thomson, who allegedly warned against the crew entering the dangerous zone near Kyiv where they were killed.
    
            The lawsuit, filed by Kuvshynova’s parents and Thomson in New York State court, not only named Fox News as a defendant, but also Fox Corporation Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch, Fox News Chief Executive Suzanne Scott, and correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was severely injured in the attack, but survived.
    
            Both deaths were announced at the time by Scott, who said the team’s vehicle came under fire as they were reporting. Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian interior minister, blamed artillery shelling by Russian forces.
    
            But the circumstances that led to the 2022 tragedy, the lawsuit stated, were uncovered as part of a sweeping investigation conducted by lawyers for Thomson and Kuvshynova’s parents to get to the bottom of what happened on March 14, 2022.
    
            Their probe found that the circumstances that led to the attack were set into motion when the Fox News team disregarded warnings to avoid the Irpin-Hostomel area near Kyiv. The mayor of Irpin had barred journalists from the city and Thomson, the security contractor, had vetoed the idea of reporting from the area, according to the lawsuit. Disregarding such security warnings would be unusual in a war zone and Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, who was also reporting from the area at the time, had indicated days prior to the incident that the network’s journalists were following protocol. Heading to the area was considered so dangerous, the lawsuit said, that the Ukrainian driver who had been working with the Fox News team “refused” to take them there, forcing the crew to “find a different driver.”
    
            Eventually, when the crew arrived in the region, they rendezvoused with a few Ukrainian soldiers, who had previously escorted The New York Times reporters into the area. That’s when they realized the vehicle the soldiers were driving was “not large enough to carry all” of them, the lawsuit said. The team decided to leave their security consultant behind, the lawsuit explained.
    
            “The absence of the security contractor was vital, as the crew made fatal mistakes,” the lawsuit said.
    
            The Fox News crew ultimately stopped at an abandoned checkpoint where they were attacked. According to the lawsuit, the “car caught fire and Sasha was burned to ashes inside it, causing her death.” Zakrzewski, the lawsuit said, “managed to escape the car but bled to death at the side of the road from a small puncture wound in his leg.” The lawsuit alleged that “the bleeding could easily have been stemmed to save his life if the security contractor trained in battlefield first aid had been present.” Hall survived the attack and was “later found grievously injured” before being taken for emergency medical care.
    
            In the aftermath of the tragedy, the lawsuit alleged that Fox News has tried to cover up its failures and hide them from the public.
    
            Fox News took “all electronic gear … that survived the attack” and “withheld any record of any evaluation or re-evaluation of the crew’s assignment,” the lawsuit said. The account of the attack that Hall later recounted in his book published by HarperCollins, the lawsuit added, was “misleading.” And, the lawsuit said, Fox News “has attempted to impose non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements on all the surviving family members.”
    
            The lawsuit also alleged that after the fatal incident, Fox News tasked Thomson with transporting Zakrzewski’s body across the Polish border to his widow. The lawsuit said that Thomson objected to the assignment, but was told he had to complete it, and was later “let go from his employment without explanation.”
    
            “He was severely traumatized by the combined experience of his colleagues being killed, transporting the dead body of his friend, and then being dismissed,” the lawsuit said. “Shane reached out to Fox repeatedly for assistance with the trauma. Fox never responded, even after Shane attempted suicide by hanging.”
    
            The lawsuit alleged that Thomson has had trouble finding work because he is “frequently associated with the Fox News disaster of being security advisor for the crew that was killed in Irpin the day after journalists were banned from the area.” The lawsuit also alleged that Fox News employees spread a bogus story that he had a “drinking problem in Kyiv at the time of the fatal incident, insinuating that this was the cause of the disastrous assignment in which Pierre and Sasha were killed.”
    
            Kuvshynova’s parents and Thomson are seeking unspecified punitive damages.
    
            “Sasha Kuvshynova’s final text message — responding to her parents, who were highly alarmed by the dangerousness of the situation unfolding on March 14, with Russian forces closing in on Kyiv — was not to worry,” the lawsuit said, “because Fox was a professional news organization that knew what it was doing and would not expose her to unnecessary danger.”",CNN,14/03/2024,"['Fox Newsis the subject of yet another explosive lawsuit.', 'On the two-year anniversary of the attack inUkrainethat claimed the lives of Fox News photojournalistPierre Zakrzewskiand contractorOleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, the network was accused Thursday of being culpable for the fatal incident by engaging in “reckless and negligent conduct” that put the crew in harm’s way.', 'The network was also accused of launching “a campaign of material misrepresentations and omissions to hide its own accountability for the disaster and shift blame” to then-security contractorShane Thomson, who allegedly warned against the crew entering the dangerous zone near Kyiv where they were killed.', 'The lawsuit, filed by Kuvshynova’s parents and Thomson in New York State court, not only named Fox News as a defendant, but alsoFox CorporationChairman EmeritusRupert Murdoch, Fox News Chief ExecutiveSuzanne Scott, and correspondentBenjamin Hall, who was severely injured in the attack, but survived.', 'Both deaths wereannounced at the timeby Scott, who said the team’s vehicle came under fire as they were reporting.', 'Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian interior minister, blamed artillery shelling by Russian forces.', 'But the circumstances that led to the 2022 tragedy, the lawsuit stated, were uncovered as part of a sweeping investigation conducted by lawyers for Thomson and Kuvshynova’s parents to get to the bottom of what happened on March 14, 2022.', 'Their probe found that the circumstances that led to the attack were set into motion when the Fox News team disregarded warnings to avoid the Irpin-Hostomel area near Kyiv.', 'The mayor of Irpin had barred journalists from the city and Thomson, the security contractor, had vetoed the idea of reporting from the area, according to the lawsuit.', 'Disregarding such security warnings would be unusual in a war zone and Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, who was also reporting from the area at the time, had indicated days prior to the incident that the network’s journalists were following protocol.', 'Heading to the area was considered so dangerous, the lawsuit said, that the Ukrainian driver who had been working with the Fox News team “refused” to take them there, forcing the crew to “find a different driver.”', 'Eventually, when the crew arrived in the region, they rendezvoused with a few Ukrainian soldiers, who had previously escortedTheNew York Timesreporters into the area.', 'That’s when they realized the vehicle the soldiers were driving was “not large enough to carry all” of them, the lawsuit said.', 'The team decided to leave their security consultant behind, the lawsuit explained.', '“The absence of the security contractor was vital, as the crew made fatal mistakes,” the lawsuit said.', 'The Fox News crew ultimately stopped at an abandoned checkpoint where they were attacked.', 'According to the lawsuit, the “car caught fire and Sasha was burned to ashes inside it, causing her death.”', 'Zakrzewski, the lawsuit said, “managed to escape the car but bled to death at the side of the road from a small puncture wound in his leg.”', 'The lawsuit alleged that “the bleeding could easily have been stemmed to save his life if the security contractor trained in battlefield first aid had been present.”', 'Hall survived the attack and was “later found grievously injured” before being taken for emergency medical care.', 'In the aftermath of the tragedy, the lawsuit alleged that Fox News has tried to cover up its failures and hide them from the public.', 'Fox News took “all electronic gear … that survived the attack” and “withheld any record of any evaluation or re-evaluation of the crew’s assignment,” the lawsuit said.', 'The account of the attack that Hall later recounted in his book published byHarperCollins, the lawsuit added, was “misleading.”', 'And, the lawsuit said, Fox News “has attempted to impose non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements on all the surviving family members.”', 'The lawsuit also alleged that after the fatal incident, Fox News tasked Thomson with transporting Zakrzewski’s body across the Polish border to his widow.', 'The lawsuit said that Thomson objected to the assignment, but was told he had to complete it, and was later “let go from his employment without explanation.”', '“He was severely traumatized by the combined experience of his colleagues being killed, transporting the dead body of his friend, and then being dismissed,” the lawsuit said. “', 'Shane reached out to Fox repeatedly for assistance with the trauma.', 'Fox never responded, even after Shane attempted suicide by hanging.”', 'The lawsuit alleged that Thomson has had trouble finding work because he is “frequently associated with the Fox News disaster of being security advisor for the crew that was killed in Irpin the day after journalists were banned from the area.”', 'The lawsuit also alleged that Fox News employees spread a bogus story that he had a “drinking problem in Kyiv at the time of the fatal incident, insinuating that this was the cause of the disastrous assignment in which Pierre and Sasha were killed.”', 'Kuvshynova’s parents and Thomson are seeking unspecified punitive damages.', '“Sasha Kuvshynova’s final text message — responding to her parents, who were highly alarmed by the dangerousness of the situation unfolding on March 14, with Russian forces closing in on Kyiv — was not to worry,” the lawsuit said, “because Fox was a professional news organization that knew what it was doing and would not expose her to unnecessary danger.”']",-0.5348643881666391,The lawsuit alleged that “the bleeding could easily have been stemmed to save his life if the security contractor trained in battlefield first aid had been present.”,"The network was also accused of launching “a campaign of material misrepresentations and omissions to hide its own accountability for the disaster and shift blame” to then-security contractorShane Thomson, who allegedly warned against the crew entering the dangerous zone near Kyiv where they were killed.",-0.7740745743115743,,The lawsuit alleged that Thomson has had trouble finding work because he is “frequently associated with the Fox News disaster of being security advisor for the crew that was killed in Irpin the day after journalists were banned from the area.”,2024-03-26
Judge tosses Elon Musk’s case against hate speech watchdog in excoriating rebuke,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/tech/judge-tosses-elon-musks-case-against-hate-speech-watchdog/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:53 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","A federal judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s X that had targeted a watchdog group for its critical reports about hate speech on the social media platform.
    
            In a blistering 52-page order, the judge blasted X’s case as plainly punitive rather than about protecting the platform’s security and legal rights.
    
            “Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation,” wrote District Judge Charles Breyer, of the US District Court for the Northern District of California, in the order’s opening lines. “Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose.”
    
            “This case represents the latter circumstance,” Breyer continued. “This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech.”
    
            X’s lawsuit had accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) of violating the company’s terms of service when it studied, and then wrote about, hate speech on the platform following Musk’s takeover of Twitter in October 2022. X has blamed CCDH’s reports, which showcase the prevalence of hate speech on the platform, for amplifying brand safety concerns and driving advertisers away from the site.
    
            In the suit, X claimed that it had suffered tens of millions of dollars in damages from CCDH’s publications. CCDH is an international non-profit with offices in the UK and US.
    
            Because of its potential to destroy the watchdog group, the case has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X as Musk has welcomed back prominent white supremacists and others to the platform who had previously been suspended when the platform was still a publicly-traded company called Twitter.
    
            In December, for example, Musk restored the X account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who lost a $1.5 billion judgement for spreading false theories about a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 children and six educators.
    
            The judge’s ruling Monday also illustrated the limits of Musk’s claim to be a “free-speech absolutist.”
    
            On Monday, Breyer wrote that CCDH’s writing about X “unquestionably constitutes” an exercise of the group’s free speech rights and that the group “makes a compelling case” that its data scraping from X “was newsgathering in furtherance of CCDH’s protected rights.”
    
            He also said he was concerned about X litigating in bad faith and denied the company an opportunity to amend and refile its breach of contract claim.
    
            “The Court is concerned that X Corp’s desire to amend its breach of contract claim has a dilatory motive — forcing CCDH to spend more time and money defending itself before it can hope to get out from under this potentially ruinous litigation,” he wrote. He added it would be “wrong” to let X amend its suit “when the damages it now alleges, and the damages it would like to allege, are so problematic, and when X Corp.’s motivation is so clear.”
    
            To fight the allegations, CCDH partly relied on a California law whose purpose is to safeguard defendants from frivolous suits intended to chill their speech. California’s law against so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) is among the toughest in the nation. On Monday, Breyer wrote that California’s anti-SLAPP law forbids plaintiffs such as X from getting around the statute through “artifices of pleading” such as breach of contract claims.
    
            In a February hearing to consider CCDH’s motion to dismiss the case, Breyer mocked X’s arguments as “vapid” and said that X notably did not file a defamation claim against the nonprofit.
    
            He repeated that criticism on Monday.
    
            “If CCDH’s publications were defamatory, that would be one thing, but X Corp. has carefully avoided saying that they are,” Breyer wrote.
    
            He added that X “wishes to have it both ways,” trying to impose “punishing damages” on CCDH but without having to clear the high bar of a defamation suit.
    
            The judge’s dismissal of the suit “sends a strong message,” said Imran Ahmed, CCDH’s CEO, in a message on X.
    
            “@CCDHate has won dismissal on all counts against @ElonMusk’s @X Corp’s outrageous and hypocritical SLAPP suit to silence our research,” Ahmed wrote. “This ruling sends a strong message to those who aim at intimidating and silencing independent research.”
    
            In a separate statement, Ahmed added, “We hope this landmark ruling will embolden public-interest researchers everywhere to continue, and even intensify, their vital work of holding social media companies accountable for the hate and disinformation they host and the harm they cause.”
    
            X, meanwhile, said in a statement posted on the platform that it disagrees with the court’s decision and plans to appeal.
    
            “Today a federal court in San Francisco issued a decision in the case X brought against the Center for Countering Digital Hate for illegally obtaining platform data to create misleading research,” the company said in a post. “X disagrees with the court’s decision and plans to appeal.”",CNN,25/03/2024,"['A federal judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s X that had targeted a watchdog group for its critical reports about hate speech on the social media platform.', 'In a blistering 52-pageorder, the judge blasted X’s case as plainly punitive rather than about protecting the platform’s security and legal rights.', '“Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation,” wrote District Judge Charles Breyer, of the US District Court for the Northern District of California, in the order’s opening lines. “', 'Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose.”', '“This case represents the latter circumstance,” Breyer continued. “', 'This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech.”', 'X’s lawsuit had accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) of violating the company’s terms of service when it studied, and then wrote about, hate speech on the platform following Musk’s takeover of Twitter in October 2022.', 'X has blamed CCDH’s reports, which showcase the prevalence of hate speech on the platform, for amplifying brand safety concerns and driving advertisers away from the site.', 'In the suit, X claimed that it had suffered tens of millions of dollars in damages from CCDH’s publications.', 'CCDH is an international non-profit with offices in the UK and US.', 'Because of its potential to destroy the watchdog group, the case has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X as Musk has welcomed back prominent white supremacists and others to the platform who had previously been suspended when the platform was still a publicly-traded company called Twitter.', 'In December, for example, Musk restored the X account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who lost a $1.5 billion judgement for spreading false theories about a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 children and six educators.', 'The judge’s ruling Monday also illustrated the limits of Musk’s claim to be a “free-speech absolutist.”', 'On Monday,Breyer wrote that CCDH’s writing about X “unquestionably constitutes” an exercise of the group’s free speech rights and that the group “makes a compelling case” that its data scraping from X “was newsgathering in furtherance of CCDH’s protected rights.”', 'He also said he was concerned about X litigating in bad faithand denied the company an opportunity to amend and refile its breach of contract claim.', '“The Court is concerned that X Corp’s desire to amend its breach of contract claim has a dilatory motive — forcing CCDH to spend more time and money defending itself before it can hope to get out from under this potentially ruinous litigation,” he wrote.', 'He added it would be “wrong” to let X amend its suit “when the damages it now alleges, and the damages it would like to allege, are so problematic, and when X Corp.’s motivation is so clear.”', 'To fight the allegations, CCDH partly relied on a California law whose purpose is to safeguard defendants from frivolous suits intended to chill their speech.', 'California’s law against so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) is among the toughest in the nation.', 'On Monday, Breyer wrote that California’s anti-SLAPP law forbids plaintiffs such as X from getting around the statute through “artifices of pleading” such as breach of contract claims.', 'In a February hearing to consider CCDH’s motion to dismiss the case, Breyer mocked X’s arguments as “vapid” and said that X notably did not file a defamation claim against the nonprofit.', 'He repeated that criticism on Monday.', '“If CCDH’s publications were defamatory, that would be one thing, but X Corp. has carefully avoided saying that they are,” Breyer wrote.', 'He added that X “wishes to have it both ways,” trying to impose “punishing damages” on CCDH but without having to clear the high bar of a defamation suit.', 'The judge’s dismissal of the suit “sends a strong message,” said Imran Ahmed, CCDH’s CEO, in amessage on X.  “@CCDHate has won dismissal on all counts against @ElonMusk’s @X Corp’s outrageous and hypocritical SLAPP suit to silence our research,” Ahmed wrote. “', 'This ruling sends a strong message to those who aim at intimidating and silencing independent research.”', 'In a separate statement, Ahmed added, “We hope this landmark ruling will embolden public-interest researchers everywhere to continue, and even intensify, their vital work of holding social media companies accountable for the hate and disinformation they host and the harm they cause.”', 'X, meanwhile, said in a statement posted on the platform that it disagrees with the court’s decision and plans to appeal.', '“Today a federal court in San Francisco issued a decision in the case X brought against the Center for Countering Digital Hate for illegally obtaining platform data to create misleading research,” the company said in a post. “', 'X disagrees with the court’s decision and plans to appeal.”']",-0.3197338786203699,"On Monday,Breyer wrote that CCDH’s writing about X “unquestionably constitutes” an exercise of the group’s free speech rights and that the group “makes a compelling case” that its data scraping from X “was newsgathering in furtherance of CCDH’s protected rights.”","X’s lawsuit had accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) of violating the company’s terms of service when it studied, and then wrote about, hate speech on the platform following Musk’s takeover of Twitter in October 2022.",-0.0273176064858069,"The judge’s dismissal of the suit “sends a strong message,” said Imran Ahmed, CCDH’s CEO, in amessage on X.  “@CCDHate has won dismissal on all counts against @ElonMusk’s @X Corp’s outrageous and hypocritical SLAPP suit to silence our research,” Ahmed wrote. “","X has blamed CCDH’s reports, which showcase the prevalence of hate speech on the platform, for amplifying brand safety concerns and driving advertisers away from the site.",2024-03-26
Homebuilder sentiment turns positive for the first time since July,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/18/homebuilder-sentiment-turns-positive-for-the-first-time-since-july.html,2024-03-18T15:15:24+0000,"U.S. homebuilders are feeling more confident about their businesses than they have since last summer, as they see better demand despite stubbornly high mortgage rates.Homebuilder sentiment rose 3 points in March to 51 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The reading gained for the fourth-straight month, hitting its highest level since July.Sentiment also moved into positive territory for the first time since July. Fifty is the line between positive and negative sentiment.Mortgage rates came down in the first week of March, only to shoot back up in the second week. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage has hovered around 7% since early February.""Buyer demand remains brisk and we expect more consumers to jump off the sidelines and into the marketplace if mortgage rates continue to fall later this year,"" said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a custom homebuilder from Wichita, Kansas. ""But even though there is strong pent-up demand, builders continue to face several supply-side challenges, including a scarcity of buildable lots and skilled labor, and new restrictive codes that continue to increase the cost of building homes.""Of the index's three components, current sales conditions rose 4 points to 56, expectations in the next six months rose 2 points to 62 and buyer traffic increased 2 points to 34. Regionally, on a three-month moving average, sentiment rose most in the Midwest and West. The report also noted that fewer builders are lowering home prices to attract buyers. In March, 24% of builders reported cutting home prices, down from 36% in December 2023 and the lowest share since July.The average price cut remains steady at around 6%. Builders are still using sales incentives such as buying down mortgage rates.""With the Federal Reserve expected to announce future rate cuts in the second half of 2024, lower financing costs will draw many prospective buyers into the market,"" said Robert Dietz, chief economist for the NAHB. ""However, as home building activity picks up, builders will likely grapple with rising material prices, particularly for lumber.""",CNBC,18/03/2024,"['U.S. homebuilders are feeling more confident about their businesses than they have since last summer, as they see better demand despite stubbornly high mortgage rates.', 'Homebuilder sentiment rose 3 points in March to 51 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.', 'The reading gained for the fourth-straight month, hitting its highest level since July.', 'Sentiment also moved into positive territory for the first time since July.', 'Fifty is the line between positive and negative sentiment.', 'Mortgage rates came down in the first week of March, only to shoot back up in the second week.', 'The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage has hovered around 7% since early February.', '""Buyer demand remains brisk and we expect more consumers to jump off the sidelines and into the marketplace if mortgage rates continue to fall later this year,"" said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a custom homebuilder from Wichita, Kansas. ""', 'But even though there is strong pent-up demand, builders continue to face several supply-side challenges, including a scarcity of buildable lots and skilled labor, and new restrictive codes that continue to increase the cost of building homes.', '""Of the index\'s three components, current sales conditions rose 4 points to 56, expectations in the next six months rose 2 points to 62 andbuyer traffic increased 2 points to 34.Regionally, on a three-month moving average, sentiment rose most in the Midwest and West.', 'The report also noted that fewer builders are lowering home prices to attract buyers.', 'In March, 24% of builders reported cutting home prices, down from 36% in December 2023 and the lowest share since July.', 'The average price cut remains steady at around 6%.', 'Builders are still using sales incentives such as buying down mortgage rates.', '""With the Federal Reserve expected to announce future rate cuts in the second half of 2024, lower financing costs will draw many prospective buyers into the market,"" said Robert Dietz, chief economist for the NAHB. ""', 'However, as home building activity picks up, builders will likely grapple with rising material prices, particularly for lumber.""']",0.170927284587413,"U.S. homebuilders are feeling more confident about their businesses than they have since last summer, as they see better demand despite stubbornly high mortgage rates.","""With the Federal Reserve expected to announce future rate cuts in the second half of 2024, lower financing costs will draw many prospective buyers into the market,"" said Robert Dietz, chief economist for the NAHB. """,0.5283413437696604,"""Of the index's three components, current sales conditions rose 4 points to 56, expectations in the next six months rose 2 points to 62 andbuyer traffic increased 2 points to 34.Regionally, on a three-month moving average, sentiment rose most in the Midwest and West.","In March, 24% of builders reported cutting home prices, down from 36% in December 2023 and the lowest share since July.",2024-03-26
Canada's maple syrup reserve hits 16-year low,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68657703,2024-03-25T17:55:45.000Z,"Canada's maple syrup reserve - the world's only - has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change.  The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year. But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg). Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production. But they say that this will not affect the availability or price of maple syrup to consumers - at least for now. ""The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008,"" Simon Doré-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told the BBC. ""But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future."" Canada's billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world's entire maple syrup production.  According to national data, a majority of that - around 90% - is produced in the province of Quebec, where the world's sole strategic reserve of maple syrup was set up 24 years ago.  The amount of maple syrup in the national reserve - stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec - has dwindled significantly since 2020. That year, the reserve had more than 103 million pounds of the sticky product. Now, the amount in the reserve is only 7% of what it was four years ago.  Part of the reason why, Mr Doré-Ouellet said, is because of poor harvest seasons over the last few years. Maple syrup production, which is typically done between early March and late April, relies heavily on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer daytime temperatures above 0C (32F). The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.  In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.  This reduction, however, came on the heels of two consecutive record years of production, in 2020 and 2019. Mr Doré-Ouellet said that because of the harvest unpredictability, fluctuations in the reserve's supply are not unusual.  ""The strategic reserve was put in place to stabilise supply - which is highly weather dependent - for buyers,"" he said. ""In the last four years, that is exactly what it has done."" Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product. In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide -  an increase of more than 19% from the year before. Mr Doré-Ouellet said the growth in demand is tied to Quebec's efforts to promote Canadian maple syrup and its benefits to other countries, primarily the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan.  With the reserve supply dwindling in the face of growing demand, many are keen to see how the upcoming harvest season unfolds.  Canada is coming out of one of its warmest winters on record. Temperatures in December, January and February were the warmest since record-keeping began in 1948.  Despite this, Mr Doré-Ouellet said there is reason to be optimistic. ""The sugaring season has come early this year and is still underway,"" he said. ""So far, production has been plentiful and the weather forecasts are encouraging for the next few weeks all across Quebec."" Because the reserve stabilises the maple syrup market for producers and buyers, he said it is important that it be built back up.  Efforts to do so are already underway, including the release of 14 million new taps to producers over the last three years to bolster harvesting efforts, he said. Mr Doré-Ouellet did note that replenishing Canada's maple syrup supply is a ""multi-year process"", adding that he believes the outcome of the 2024 season will not ""make or break"" the future of Canada's most iconic export. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""Canada's maple syrup reserve - the world's only - has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change."", 'The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year.', 'But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg).', 'Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production.', 'But they say that this will not affect the availability or price of maple syrup to consumers - at least for now. ""', 'The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008,"" Simon Doré-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told the BBC. ""', 'But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future.""', ""Canada's billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world's entire maple syrup production."", ""According to national data, a majority of that - around 90% - is produced in the province of Quebec, where the world's sole strategic reserve of maple syrup was set up 24 years ago."", 'The amount of maple syrup in the national reserve - stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec - has dwindled significantly since 2020.', 'That year, the reserve had more than 103 million pounds of the sticky product.', 'Now, the amount in the reserve is only 7% of what it was four years ago.', 'Part of the reason why, Mr Doré-Ouellet said, is because of poor harvest seasons over the last few years.', 'Maple syrup production, which is typically done between early March and late April, relies heavily on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer daytime temperatures above 0C (32F).', 'The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.', 'In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.', 'This reduction, however, came on the heels of two consecutive record years of production, in 2020 and 2019.', 'Mr Doré-Ouellet said that because of the harvest unpredictability, fluctuations in the reserve\'s supply are not unusual. ""', 'The strategic reserve was put in place to stabilise supply - which is highly weather dependent - for buyers,"" he said. ""', 'In the last four years, that is exactly what it has done.""', 'Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product.', 'In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide - an increase of more than 19% from the year before.', ""Mr Doré-Ouellet said the growth in demand is tied to Quebec's efforts to promote Canadian maple syrup and its benefits to other countries, primarily the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan."", 'With the reserve supply dwindling in the face of growing demand, many are keen to see how the upcoming harvest season unfolds.', 'Canada is coming out of one of its warmest winters on record.', 'Temperatures in December, January and February were the warmest since record-keeping began in 1948.', 'Despite this, Mr Doré-Ouellet said there is reason to be optimistic. ""', 'The sugaring season has come early this year and is still underway,"" he said. ""', 'So far, production has been plentiful and the weather forecasts are encouraging for the next few weeks all across Quebec.""', 'Because the reserve stabilises the maple syrup market for producers and buyers, he said it is important that it be built back up.', 'Efforts to do so are already underway, including the release of 14 million new taps to producers over the last three years to bolster harvesting efforts, he said.', 'Mr Doré-Ouellet did note that replenishing Canada\'s maple syrup supply is a ""multi-year process"", adding that he believes the outcome of the 2024 season will not ""make or break"" the future of Canada\'s most iconic export.']",0.1208518685319641,"The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.",Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product.,0.1002638108200497,"In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide - an increase of more than 19% from the year before.","In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.",2024-03-26
Medicare can now cover certain weight loss drugs in a big step for patients,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/medicare-can-cover-weight-loss-drugs-if-used-for-added-health-benefit.html,2024-03-21T19:51:11+0000,"In this articleMedicare can start covering certain weight loss drugs for the first time — as long as they are approved for an added health benefit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday.That opens the door for broader coverage of some highly popular weight loss medications such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which is now approved in the U.S. for heart health. Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit. Medicare prescription drug plans administered by private insurers, known as Part D, currently cannot cover those drugs for weight loss alone.The agency's guidance means Medicare patients could soon get coverage for Wegovy, as long as they have obesity and a history of heart disease and are prescribed the treatment to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose.The guidance also will open the door to future coverage of other weight loss medications, many of which are being tested for additional health conditions.Drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk, which also makes the diabetes drug Ozempic, and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more. To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s which mimic a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and help regulate blood sugar. Coverage for those treatments when used for weight loss is a mixed bag. Roughly 110 million American adults are living with obesity and approximately 50 million of them have insurance coverage for weight loss drugs, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement last week.Some of the nation's largest insurers, such as CVS Health's Aetna, also cover the treatments.But many employers don't. An October survey of more than 200 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP, found only 27% provided coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss, compared with the 76% that covered those drugs for diabetes. Notably, 13% of employers indicated they were considering coverage for weight loss.A provision of a 2003 law established that Medicare Part D plans can't cover drugs used for weight loss, but the program does cover obesity screening, behavioral counseling and bariatric surgery. A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introduced legislation that would eliminate the provision, but its fate in Congress is far from certain.A CMS spokesperson told CNBC last week that Medicaid programs would be required to cover Wegovy specifically for its new cardiovascular use. By law, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage. Around 1 in 5 state Medicaid programs currently cover GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleMedicare can start covering certain weight loss drugs for the first time — as long as they are approved for an added health benefit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday.', ""That opens the door for broader coverage of some highly popular weight loss medications such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which is now approved in the U.S. for heart health."", 'Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.', 'Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit.', 'Medicare prescription drug plans administered by private insurers, known as Part D, currently cannot cover those drugs for weight loss alone.', ""The agency's guidance means Medicare patients could soon get coverage for Wegovy, as long as they have obesity and a history of heart disease and are prescribed the treatment to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes."", 'Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose.', 'The guidance also will open the door to future coverage of other weight loss medications, many of which are being tested for additional health conditions.', 'Drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk, which also makes the diabetes drug Ozempic, and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more.', 'To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.', ""Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s which mimic a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and help regulate blood sugar."", 'Coverage for those treatments when used for weight loss is a mixed bag.', 'Roughly 110 million American adults are living with obesity and approximately 50 million of them have insurance coverage for weight loss drugs, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement last week.', ""Some of the nation's largest insurers, such asCVS Health'sAetna, also cover the treatments."", ""But many employers don't."", 'An Octobersurveyof more than 200 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP, found only 27% provided coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss, compared with the 76% that covered those drugs for diabetes.', 'Notably, 13% of employers indicated they were considering coverage for weight loss.', ""A provision of a2003 lawestablished that Medicare Part D plans can't cover drugs used for weight loss, but the program does cover obesity screening, behavioral counseling and bariatric surgery."", 'A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introducedlegislationthat would eliminate the provision, but its fate in Congress is far from certain.', 'A CMS spokesperson told CNBC last week that Medicaid programs would be required to cover Wegovy specifically for its new cardiovascular use.', 'Bylaw, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage.', 'Around 1 in 5 state Medicaid programscurrently coverGLP-1 drugs for weight loss.']",-0.0074441399614407,"Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit.","Bylaw, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage.",0.9951892097791036,Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.,,2024-03-26
More employers now say they’re willing to hire workers without a college degree. But is that playing out?,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/08/success/no-college-degree-options-better-jobs/index.html,"
  Published
        12:11 PM EST, Fri March 8, 2024
    ","For decades, not having a college degree has often been a barrier for workers seeking a higher-level, better-paying job. But more employers are now saying they’re willing to hire them.
    
            College degrees were used by companies as a proxy for skills and competence when evaluating potential hires — making it very difficult for lower-wage, non-degreed workers even to be considered.
    
            A majority of US workers have had to contend with that barrier. Only 37.7% of Americans ages 25 and up had a bachelor’s degree in 2022, according to the US Census Bureau.
    
            But employers are now — at least publicly — becoming more open to the idea of skills-based hiring, which focuses on a job candidates’ competencies and capacity to learn new skills rather than on their educational background.
    
            Why the change of heart? There are several factors. But lurking over all of them is a demographic reality: The falling US birth rate will produce fewer workers in the years ahead to replace the number of workers retiring.
    
            Additionally, employers are increasingly aware that the skills needed to do many jobs don’t necessarily require a four-year degree, and that competent workers can be trained in needed skills as they arise.
    
            President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union speech Thursday night, acknowledged the need for skills-based hiring more than once, noting that “private companies are now investing billions of dollars to build new chip factories here in America — creating tens of thousands of jobs, many of them paying over $100,000 a year, and don’t require a college degree.” He also said he is “connecting businesses and high schools so students get hands-on experience and a path to a good-paying job, whether or not they go to college.”
    
            At a Fortune conference in October last year, Ken Frazier, the former CEO of Merck, noted that roughly three-quarters of Black adults do not have college degrees, yet the vast majority of openings at leading US companies required college degrees “for almost any job.”
    
            What’s more, since George Floyd’s murder in 2020, there has been a push to improve diversity and equity in company workforces. That means the lack of college degrees can’t be ignored, since Blacks and Hispanics are least likely to have a bachelor’s degree. In 2022, only 27.6% of Black adults and 20.9% of Hispanics had one, compared to nearly 41.8% of non-Hispanic White population, according to Census data.
    
            After Floyd’s murder, Frazier co-founded the group OneTen. Its goal is to help non-degreed Black workers find better jobs with family-sustaining pay, as defined by the MIT Living Wage Calculator. OneTen’s mission has since grown to include all workers without four-year degrees, and the group has pulled together a coalition of more than 70 leading US corporations from Accenture to Yum! Brands and talent development firms that support OneTen’s mission of closing the opportunity gap for those without degrees.
    
            So far, the group has played a matchmaking role for employers in the hiring and promotion of 108,000 non-degreed workers, said OneTen CEO Debbie Dyson at the same Fortune event. She also noted its career marketplace platform has 23,000 profiles of non-degreed job seekers and those seeking training, which is a talent pool that employers can search.
    
            OneTen’s hand in more than 100,000 job advancements is notable, but it is still well below the group’s goal of 1 million hires and promotions of non-degreed workers within 10 years.
    
            That may reflect what one recent study found: Not all employers who talk about skills-based hiring and remove degree requirements from job ads are actually hiring candidates without degrees.
    
            “[F]or all its fanfare, the increased opportunity promised by skills-based hiring has borne out in not even 1 in 700 hires last year,” wrote the authors of a report from Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute.
    
            Directionally, however, the signs are encouraging. The report’s authors note that the 37% of companies in its sample that did follow through on their skills-based hiring commitment are already seeing benefits.
    
            “[D]espite the limited progress to date, our analysis shows that, for those who embrace it, skills-based hiring … yields tangible, measurable value. Skills-based hiring boosts retention among non-degreed workers hired into roles that formerly asked for degrees,” they said.
    
            Candidates hired into those roles received a 25% pay increase on average, the researchers added.
    
            “If the arc of corporate practice bends toward profitability, the win-win that skills-based hiring represents is an opportunity firms are remiss to ignore,” the authors wrote.
    
            In the meantime, the Federal Reserve banks of Philadelphia and Cleveland created an interactive tool called the Occupational Mobility Explorer that was released at the end of 2020.
    
            The tool is aimed at lower-wage workers without college degrees. It helps them identify better-paying occupations that have overlap with the skills required in their current positions.
    
            For example: A cashier in the Cincinnati metro area might consider a job first as a customer service representative, then move on to the role of police or fire station dispatcher and later transition to becoming a human resource specialist or legal assistant. The strong skills overlap between cashiers and customer service reps include customer service, communication skills and retail industry knowledge. From there, the skills commonly required of customer service reps and dispatchers include customer service, communication and problem solving. And so on. With each move, the former cashier’s pay could increase considerably. (The pay data in the tool still reflects 2020 pay levels, but it will be updated later this year, according to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Fed.)
    
            The tool can be an eye-opener not just for job seekers but also employers when it comes to seeing what skills non-degreed workers from various occupations bring to the table.
    
            “It’s a good illustration of how skills gained in prior jobs can be used to move up the career ladder,” said Keith Wardrip, senior community development research adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.",CNN,08/03/2024,"['For decades, not having a college degree has often been a barrier for workers seeking a higher-level, better-paying job.', 'But more employers are now saying they’re willing to hire them.', 'College degrees were used by companies as a proxy for skills and competence when evaluating potential hires — making it very difficult for lower-wage, non-degreed workers even to be considered.', 'A majority of US workers have had to contend with that barrier.', 'Only 37.7% of Americans ages 25 and up had a bachelor’s degree in 2022, according to the US Census Bureau.', 'But employers are now — at least publicly — becoming more open to the idea of skills-based hiring, which focuses on a job candidates’ competencies and capacity to learn new skills rather than on their educational background.', 'Why the change of heart?', 'There are several factors.', 'But lurking over all of them is a demographic reality: The falling US birth rate will produce fewer workers in the years ahead to replace the number of workers retiring.', 'Additionally, employers are increasingly aware that the skills needed to do many jobs don’t necessarily require a four-year degree, and that competent workers can be trained in needed skills as they arise.', 'President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union speech Thursday night, acknowledged the need for skills-based hiring more than once, noting that “private companies are now investing billions of dollars to build new chip factories here in America — creating tens of thousands of jobs, many of them paying over $100,000 a year, and don’t require a college degree.”', 'He also said he is “connectingbusinesses and high schoolsso students get hands-on experienceand a path to a good-paying job,whether or notthey go to college.”', 'At a Fortune conference in October last year, Ken Frazier, the former CEO of Merck, noted that roughly three-quarters of Black adults do not have college degrees, yet the vast majority of openings at leading US companies required college degrees “for almost any job.”', 'What’s more, since George Floyd’s murder in 2020, there has been a push to improve diversity and equity in company workforces.', 'That means the lack of college degrees can’t be ignored, since Blacks and Hispanics are least likely to have a bachelor’s degree.', 'In 2022, only 27.6% of Black adults and 20.9% of Hispanics had one, compared to nearly 41.8% of non-Hispanic White population, according to Census data.', 'After Floyd’s murder, Frazier co-founded the group OneTen.', 'Its goal is to help non-degreed Black workers find better jobs with family-sustaining pay, as defined by the MIT Living Wage Calculator.', 'OneTen’s mission has since grown to include all workers without four-year degrees, and the group has pulled together a coalition of more than 70 leading US corporations from Accenture to Yum!', 'Brands and talent development firms that support OneTen’s mission of closing the opportunity gap for those without degrees.', 'So far, the group has played a matchmaking role for employers in the hiring and promotion of 108,000 non-degreed workers, said OneTen CEO Debbie Dyson at the same Fortune event.', 'She also noted its career marketplace platform has 23,000 profiles of non-degreed job seekers and those seeking training, which is a talent pool that employers can search.', 'OneTen’s hand in more than 100,000 job advancements is notable, but it is still well below the group’s goal of 1 million hires and promotions of non-degreed workers within 10 years.', 'That may reflect what one recent study found: Not all employers who talk about skills-based hiring and remove degree requirements from job ads are actually hiring candidates without degrees.', '“[F]or all its fanfare, the increased opportunity promised by skills-based hiring has borne out in not even 1 in 700 hires last year,” wrote the authors of a report from Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute.', 'Directionally, however, the signs are encouraging.', 'The report’s authors note that the 37% of companies in its sample that did follow through on their skills-based hiring commitment are already seeing benefits.', '“[D]espite the limited progress to date, our analysis shows that, for those who embrace it, skills-based hiring … yields tangible, measurable value.', 'Skills-based hiring boosts retention among non-degreed workers hired into roles that formerly asked for degrees,” they said.', 'Candidates hired into those roles received a 25% pay increase on average, the researchers added.', '“If the arc of corporate practice bends toward profitability, the win-win that skills-based hiring represents is an opportunity firms are remiss to ignore,” the authors wrote.', 'In the meantime, the Federal Reserve banks of Philadelphia and Cleveland created an interactive tool called the Occupational Mobility Explorer that was released at the end of 2020.', 'The tool is aimed at lower-wage workers without college degrees.', 'It helps them identify better-paying occupations that have overlap with the skills required in their current positions.', 'For example: A cashier in the Cincinnati metro area might consider a job first as a customer service representative, then move on to the role of police or fire station dispatcher and later transition to becoming a human resource specialist or legal assistant.', 'The strong skills overlap between cashiers and customer service reps include customer service, communication skills and retail industry knowledge.', 'From there, the skills commonly required of customer service reps and dispatchers include customer service, communication and problem solving.', 'And so on.', 'With each move, the former cashier’s pay could increase considerably. (', 'The pay data in the tool still reflects 2020 pay levels, but it will be updated later this year, according to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Fed.)', 'The tool can be an eye-opener not just for job seekers but also employers when it comes to seeing what skills non-degreed workers from various occupations bring to the table.', '“It’s a good illustration of how skills gained in prior jobs can be used to move up the career ladder,” said Keith Wardrip, senior community development research adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.']",0.1698387786572772,"“If the arc of corporate practice bends toward profitability, the win-win that skills-based hiring represents is an opportunity firms are remiss to ignore,” the authors wrote.","After Floyd’s murder, Frazier co-founded the group OneTen.",0.685816365480423,"“[F]or all its fanfare, the increased opportunity promised by skills-based hiring has borne out in not even 1 in 700 hires last year,” wrote the authors of a report from Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute.",But lurking over all of them is a demographic reality: The falling US birth rate will produce fewer workers in the years ahead to replace the number of workers retiring.,2024-03-26
Can Sweden keep its edge in the music industry?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68499740,2024-03-15T00:17:40.000Z,"From Abba to Spotify, Avicii to Soundcloud, Stockholm has spawned both some of the world's most successful musicians and music tech companies. Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven times, a gong it holds jointly with Ireland - and Malmö will host this year's competition. That legacy is evident moments after stepping off the underground at Stockholm's central station. Sergels torg, the capital's main square paved in black and white triangles, is home to the Avicii Experience, an interactive museum celebrating the late Tim Bergling. He grew up here and became one of the world's bestselling DJs under his artist name Avicii. On the fifteenth floor sits Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse Entertainment which runs the museum. The company is focussed on creating the ""next generation"" of high-tech entertainment experiences, with a portfolio that also includes the Abba Voyage stage show in London, performed by avatar versions of Sweden's biggest supergroup. It is developing plans for a new show in 2027 involving digital versions of the US rock band Kiss, after testing the technology at the band's final real-life gig last year. ""What's the similarity between Kiss and Abba?,"" asks Mr Sundin rhetorically from his private office with floor-to-ceiling windows. ""They really have super fans, both artists, and they have a wide catalogue, and they have global presence all over the world."" Despite selling more than two million tickets for Abba Voyage since May 2022, he says Pophouse Entertainment still hasn't broken even on its investments, which include the technology (created in collaboration with US filmmaker George Lucas's visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic), and the event's bespoke east London arena. But Mr Sundin - a former Universal Music executive - says he has faith in the concept, and hopes it can be adapted for a handful of other big-name legacy artists in future.  ""This is for those who can't tour anymore, can't really make themselves as good [as they were]... or [want to] do different kinds of things with their music legacy,"" says Mr Sundin.  Pophouse's innovations follow a string of other music tech success stories emerging from Stockholm, a capital with a population of just one million. Daniel Ek's Spotify launched here in 2008, while Soundcloud was founded a year earlier by two students from Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin. Other companies who've made a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand, which provides a subscription service enabling businesses to play commercial music without licensing issues, and Epidemic Sound, a platform for rights-free music for content creators, recently valued at 12.5bn kronor (£950m; $1.2bn), according to Swedish business news site Dagens Industri.  ""We all know there must be something in the water,"" laughs Sarah Herlin, co-founder of Stockholm Music City, an organisation that encourages collaboration between the capital's music and tech sectors, and provides support to start-ups. On a more serious note, she argues that there are several key ingredients in Stockholm's recipe for music tech success. These include Sweden's historically strong music scene, with artists like Roxette, The Cardigans and legendary pop producer/songwriter Max Martin cementing the reputation set by Abba, and giving credibility to Swedish tech companies with a music-related focus. Plus, the country has long had a tech-savvy population, with many of today's entrepreneurs growing up in the 1990s when there were tax cuts on home hardware in Sweden, followed by an early adoption of broadband. The business culture in Sweden, which tends to promote collaboration over competition has also created a supportive ecosystem, argues Herlin. ""If you realise someone else is doing the same thing, you contact each other and see how can we do this together,"" she says. ""That often means that they all succeed instead of nobody succeeding."" More technology of business One recent example is Elk, a company that provides a remote, collaborative recording platform for artists, which was founded after two local businesses figured out they were developing similar software tools. Ms Herlin has just finished a meeting at The Node, a physical recording studio hub which opened last year on the same square as the Avicii museum, and includes some of the late DJ's equipment. ""Where you have producers, you will have music tech start-ups, and you will have investors coming to check it out,"" she says. Late on a Monday afternoon the neon-pink lit cafe area is largely empty, save for several nonchalant staff. But Ms Herlin says the space is creating a global buzz. ""We've noticed already people pop up here from New York and from London to check it out."" Seedtable, a platform that tracks the fastest growing companies in Europe lists 69 music and and audio start-ups to watch and work for in 2024, with 13 of them based in Stockholm, more than any other city in relation to population size. A few blocks away from The Node, one of them, Snafu Records, is based at a shared office space with a parquet floor and a cocktail bar. Described by its co-founder and chief executive Ankit Desai as ""the first AI enabled music label in the world"", the start-up has developed an algorithm which trawls the internet to pinpoint new artists it believes can make an impact. ""We try to find those diamonds in the rough… those undervalued artists and give them a platform to shine,"" says Mr Desai.  Since launching in 2019, the company has signed more than 150 artists. Snafu Records takes a 50% cut of all its artists earnings, although Desai says most traditional labels take up to 80%. The start-up's investors include Agnetha Fältskog (Agnetha from Abba), Finnish gaming entrepreneur Mikko Kodisoja, and Pophouse Entertainment, and it raised $7m (£5.5m) in its second funding round in late 2023. But Mr Desai admits that raising capital was ""a lot harder"" than when the label first launched in 2019, and the company is yet to turn a profit.  Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm's music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. ""People tend to move towards more safe investments in more difficult times, and music tech companies in general aren't producing profits, not even Spotify."" Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs. But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up. Some music tech entrepreneurs argue the speed at which AI tools are growing globally is also putting pressure on Stockholm's well-oiled music tech ecosystem. ""One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""It's really a race, I would say, with a lot of companies doing a lot of cool things at the same time."" Corite has also struggled to turn a profit, and is pinning its hopes on a new tool for artists and other content creators which is launching later this year.  ""We are about to raise money again and we are definitely humble,"" says Ms Olsson. ""I think, companies have a bit more to prove a bit earlier than they had before."" ",BBC,15/03/2024,"[""From Abba to Spotify, Avicii to Soundcloud, Stockholm has spawned both some of the world's most successful musicians and music tech companies."", ""Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven times, a gong it holds jointly with Ireland - and Malmö will host this year's competition."", ""That legacy is evident moments after stepping off the underground at Stockholm's central station."", ""Sergels torg, the capital's main square paved in black and white triangles, is home to the Avicii Experience, an interactive museum celebrating the late Tim Bergling."", ""He grew up here and became one of the world's bestselling DJs under his artist name Avicii."", 'On the fifteenth floor sits Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse Entertainment which runs the museum.', 'The company is focussed on creating the ""next generation"" of high-tech entertainment experiences, with a portfolio that also includes the Abba Voyage stage show in London, performed by avatar versions of Sweden\'s biggest supergroup.', 'It is developing plans for a new show in 2027 involving digital versions of the US rock band Kiss, after testing the technology at the band\'s final real-life gig last year. ""', 'What\'s the similarity between Kiss and Abba?,""', 'asks Mr Sundin rhetorically from his private office with floor-to-ceiling windows. ""', 'They really have super fans, both artists, and they have a wide catalogue, and they have global presence all over the world.""', ""Despite selling more than two million tickets for Abba Voyage since May 2022, he says Pophouse Entertainment still hasn't broken even on its investments, which include the technology (created in collaboration with US filmmaker George Lucas's visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic), and the event's bespoke east London arena."", 'But Mr Sundin - a former Universal Music executive - says he has faith in the concept, and hopes it can be adapted for a handful of other big-name legacy artists in future. ""', 'This is for those who can\'t tour anymore, can\'t really make themselves as good [as they were]... or [want to] do different kinds of things with their music legacy,"" says Mr Sundin.', ""Pophouse's innovations follow a string of other music tech success stories emerging from Stockholm, a capital with a population of just one million."", ""Daniel Ek's Spotify launched here in 2008, while Soundcloud was founded a year earlier by two students from Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin."", 'Other companies who\'ve made a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand, which provides a subscription service enabling businesses to play commercial music without licensing issues, and Epidemic Sound, a platform for rights-free music for content creators, recently valued at 12.5bn kronor (£950m; $1.2bn), according to Swedish business news site Dagens Industri. ""', 'We all know there must be something in the water,"" laughs Sarah Herlin, co-founder of Stockholm Music City, an organisation that encourages collaboration between the capital\'s music and tech sectors, and provides support to start-ups.', ""On a more serious note, she argues that there are several key ingredients in Stockholm's recipe for music tech success."", ""These include Sweden's historically strong music scene, with artists like Roxette, The Cardigans and legendary pop producer/songwriter Max Martin cementing the reputation set by Abba, and giving credibility to Swedish tech companies with a music-related focus."", ""Plus, the country has long had a tech-savvy population, with many of today's entrepreneurs growing up in the 1990s when there were tax cuts on home hardware in Sweden, followed by an early adoption of broadband."", 'The business culture in Sweden, which tends to promote collaboration over competition has also created a supportive ecosystem, argues Herlin. ""', 'If you realise someone else is doing the same thing, you contact each other and see how can we do this together,"" she says. ""', 'That often means that they all succeed instead of nobody succeeding.""', 'More technology of business One recent example is Elk, a company that provides a remote, collaborative recording platform for artists, which was founded after two local businesses figured out they were developing similar software tools.', 'Ms Herlin has just finished a meeting at The Node, a physical recording studio hub which opened last year on the same square as the Avicii museum, and includes some of the late DJ\'s equipment. ""', 'Where you have producers, you will have music tech start-ups, and you will have investors coming to check it out,"" she says.', 'Late on a Monday afternoon the neon-pink lit cafe area is largely empty, save for several nonchalant staff.', 'But Ms Herlin says the space is creating a global buzz. ""', 'We\'ve noticed already people pop up here from New York and from London to check it out.""', 'Seedtable, a platform that tracks the fastest growing companies in Europe lists 69 music and and audio start-ups to watch and work for in 2024, with 13 of them based in Stockholm, more than any other city in relation to population size.', 'A few blocks away from The Node, one of them, Snafu Records, is based at a shared office space with a parquet floor and a cocktail bar.', 'Described by its co-founder and chief executive Ankit Desai as ""the first AI enabled music label in the world"", the start-up has developed an algorithm which trawls the internet to pinpoint new artists it believes can make an impact. ""', 'We try to find those diamonds in the rough… those undervalued artists and give them a platform to shine,"" says Mr Desai.', 'Since launching in 2019, the company has signed more than 150 artists.', 'Snafu Records takes a 50% cut of all its artists earnings, although Desai says most traditional labels take up to 80%.', ""The start-up's investors include Agnetha Fältskog (Agnetha from Abba), Finnish gaming entrepreneur Mikko Kodisoja, and Pophouse Entertainment, and it raised $7m (£5.5m) in its second funding round in late 2023."", 'But Mr Desai admits that raising capital was ""a lot harder"" than when the label first launched in 2019, and the company is yet to turn a profit.', 'Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm\'s music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. ""', 'People tend to move towards more safe investments in more difficult times, and music tech companies in general aren\'t producing profits, not even Spotify.""', ""Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs."", 'But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up.', 'Some music tech entrepreneurs argue the speed at which AI tools are growing globally is also putting pressure on Stockholm\'s well-oiled music tech ecosystem. ""', 'One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""', 'It\'s really a race, I would say, with a lot of companies doing a lot of cool things at the same time.""', 'Corite has also struggled to turn a profit, and is pinning its hopes on a new tool for artists and other content creators which is launching later this year. ""', 'We are about to raise money again and we are definitely humble,"" says Ms Olsson. ""', 'I think, companies have a bit more to prove a bit earlier than they had before.""']",0.2732650350345871,"One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""","Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm's music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. """,0.2579860185322009,But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up.,"Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs.",2024-03-26
Amgen wants in on the booming weight loss drug market — and it's taking a different approach,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/24/amgen-aims-to-enter-weight-loss-drug-market-with-a-new-approach.html,2024-03-25T17:03:02+0000,"In this articleAmgen is taking a new approach as it tries to stand out in a crowded field of drugmakers racing to develop the next blockbuster weight loss drug.The biotech company is testing an injectable treatment that helps people lose weight differently from the existing injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, and other obesity medicines in development. Amgen's treatment, called MariTide, also appears to help patients keep weight off after they stop taking it.  The drugmaker is also testing its drug to be taken once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than the weekly medicines on the market. It's too early to say how competitive Amgen will be in the budding weight loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have so far dominated.Some analysts expect the market could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade, potentially leaving room for new competitors to enter. Goldman Sachs also projects that between 10 million and 70 million Americans will be taking weight loss drugs by 2028.The available data on Amgen's injectable drug is promising, but it's from a small, early-stage clinical trial. The Thousand Oaks, California-based company also is developing an oral medicine and other treatments for obesity, but has disclosed few details about them. Investors and health experts will likely get a better idea of Amgen's prospects later this year: The drugmaker expects to release initial data from an ongoing mid-stage trial on MariTide, along with phase one data on its obesity pill. It's also unclear whether Amgen's treatments will be cheaper than the existing weight loss drugs, which cost around $1,000 per month.Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Zepbound from Eli Lilly lead a new class of obesity treatments that has drawn unrelenting patient demand — and investor interest — despite their hefty price tags and limited insurance coverage. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.  Amgen's drug offers a new twist on weight loss. Much like Wegovy and Zepbound, one part of Amgen's treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help regulate a person's appetite. But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen's drug blocks it. Wegovy does not target GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.Amgen's decision to tamp down rather than boost GIP activity is based on genetics research suggesting that blocking the receptor is linked to lower fat mass and body weight, company executives have said. That appears to contradict how Zepbound works. Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial.But Amgen's MartiTide also was effective in a small, early-stage study. Patients given the highest dose of Amgen's drug — 420 milligrams — every month lost 14.5% of their body weight on average in just 12 weeks, according to data from the phase one trial published last month in the journal Nature Metabolism. There's a broader debate among researchers about why both approaches – blocking and activating GIP – are effective at promoting weight loss. One theory is that repeatedly activating the GIP receptor, as Zepbound does, ultimately causes the body to ""self-regulate"" itself and make sure there isn't too much GIP activity, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women's Hospital.That decreases GIP activity overall, which is thought to essentially mimic what Amgen's drug achieves when it blocks the GIP receptor. But Apovian cautioned that ""none of this is proven"" and more data is needed.Amgen's treatment may be better at helping people maintain weight loss than competitors, even though patients take it less frequently, early-stage trial data suggests.Amgen's study enrolled 110 patients with obesity but not diabetes. Patients in one group were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of the drug and were followed for 150 days, while a second group was given a dose every four weeks for three months. Patients who received a single shot of the highest dose of MariTide lost up to 8.2% of their body weight after 92 days. That suggests a single injection of the drug has a prolonged weight loss effect, according to the study authors. In the group that received multiple doses of the drug, patients appeared to maintain their maximum weight loss until around two months after their last dose. Their body weight started to slowly return after that. Still, their weight was as much as 11.2% lower five months after they received the last dose. ""We think meaningful weight loss is already 5%. If you take Amgen's drug, lose 14.5%, stop the drug and still have 11.2% weight loss after a few months, that's significant,"" said Dr. Holly Lofton, director of the Weight Management Program at NYU Langone Health and an obesity medicine physician. But she pointed out the need to study the treatment in a larger group of people. The sustained weight loss in Amgen's study appears to contrast with results seen in clinical trials on Zepbound and Wegovy. Patients in those studies saw their weight rebound sooner after stopping the injections. The frequency of Amgen's drug also sets it apart. Those on Wegovy or Zepbound have to take doses weekly, compared with the once-monthly MariTide. Amgen's trial used monthly dosing in part because patients saw sustained weight loss whether they had a single injection or multiple shots of the company's drug, according to the study authors. Amgen's treatment also can stay in the body for much longer than current therapies like Wegovy and Zepbound because it includes a monoclonal antibody, the authors added. Amgen's MariTide ""has that advantage where it's just going to last a lot longer. Even if you give a high dose, you're still going to have drug exposure in the body for a month or two months, so that clearly shows you don't need to take it every week,"" William Blair & Company analyst Matt Phipps told CNBC.Phipps said people typically don't want to get injections often, so some patients could prefer a monthly shot like Amgen's MariTide for a disease that will likely require chronic treatment. But he noted that a patient's choice may also depend on whether the level of weight loss and side effects of Amgen's drug end up being on par with those of the existing weekly injections. Amgen's ongoing phase two trial is exploring whether patients can take its drug even less frequently than once a month. Amgen's longer-term phase two study on nearly 600 patients will provide more clarity on how competitive MariTide will be against Wegovy and Zepbound. The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients. It expects to release initial trial results later this year. Some analysts have said the phase two trial could help address several questions, including how well patients tolerate the treatment at different dose regimens.The 52-week study is testing 11 different patient groups at a variety of dosing levels and regimens. That includes starting some patients at a lower dose of a drug and gradually increasing it until they reach a higher target dose. That dose escalation could help reduce side effects that some patients experienced after taking their first dose of MariTide in the phase one trial, according to Phipps.In that trial, the safety and side effects of Amgen's drug were similar to other GLP-1 medications. Nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported side effects, and typically lasted for about 72 hours. Four out of eight patients in a group receiving the highest dose of the treatment withdrew before getting a second shot after reporting mild gastrointestinal issues, according to the study. But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month. ""It's a little early to jump to the conclusion that the drug won't be tolerated by patients based on this phase one data,"" William Blair & Company's Phipps said.Another part of Amgen's phase two trial will also examine weight loss beyond 52 weeks, which will provide a clearer picture of how long the drug is effective.",CNBC,25/03/2024,"['In this articleAmgen is taking a new approach as it tries to stand out in a crowded field of drugmakers racing to develop the next blockbuster weight loss drug.', 'The biotech company is testing an injectable treatment that helps people lose weight differently from the existing injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, and other obesity medicines in development.', ""Amgen's treatment, called MariTide, also appears to help patients keep weight off after they stop taking it."", 'The drugmaker is also testing its drug to be taken once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than the weekly medicines on the market.', ""It's too early to say how competitive Amgen will be in the budding weight loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have so far dominated."", 'Some analysts expect the market could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade, potentially leaving room for new competitors to enter.', ""Goldman Sachs also projects that between 10 million and 70 million Americans will be taking weight loss drugs by 2028.The available data on Amgen's injectable drug is promising, but it's from a small, early-stage clinical trial."", 'The Thousand Oaks, California-based company also is developing an oral medicine and other treatments for obesity, but has disclosed few details about them.', ""Investors and health experts will likely get a better idea of Amgen's prospects later this year: The drugmaker expects to release initial data from an ongoing mid-stage trial on MariTide, along with phase one data on its obesity pill."", ""It's also unclear whether Amgen's treatments will be cheaper than the existing weight loss drugs, which cost around $1,000 per month."", 'Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Zepbound from Eli Lilly lead a new class of obesity treatments that has drawn unrelenting patient demand — and investor interest — despite their hefty price tags and limited insurance coverage.', 'Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.', ""Amgen's drug offers a new twist on weight loss."", ""Much like Wegovy and Zepbound, one part of Amgen's treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help regulate a person's appetite."", ""But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen's drug blocks it."", 'Wegovy does not target GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.', ""Amgen's decision to tamp down rather than boost GIP activity is based on genetics research suggesting that blocking the receptor is linked to lower fat mass and body weight, company executives have said."", 'That appears to contradict how Zepbound works.', ""Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial."", ""But Amgen's MartiTide also was effective in a small, early-stage study."", ""Patients given the highest dose of Amgen's drug — 420 milligrams — every month lost 14.5% of their body weight on average in just 12 weeks, according to data from the phase one trial published last month in the journal Nature Metabolism."", ""There's a broader debate among researchers about why both approaches – blocking and activating GIP – are effective at promoting weight loss."", 'One theory is that repeatedly activating the GIP receptor, as Zepbound does, ultimately causes the body to ""self-regulate"" itself and make sure there isn\'t too much GIP activity, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women\'s Hospital.', ""That decreases GIP activity overall, which is thought to essentially mimic what Amgen's drug achieves when it blocks the GIP receptor."", 'But Apovian cautioned that ""none of this is proven"" and more data is needed.', ""Amgen's treatment may be better at helping people maintain weight loss than competitors, even though patients take it less frequently, early-stage trial data suggests."", ""Amgen's study enrolled 110 patients with obesity but not diabetes."", 'Patients in one group were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of the drug and were followed for 150 days, while a second group was given a dose every four weeks for three months.', 'Patients who received a single shot of the highest dose of MariTide lost up to 8.2% of their body weight after 92 days.', 'That suggests a single injection of the drug has a prolonged weight loss effect, according to the study authors.', 'In the group that received multiple doses of the drug, patients appeared to maintain their maximum weight loss until around two months after their last dose.', 'Their body weight started to slowly return after that.', 'Still, their weight was as much as 11.2% lower five months after they received the last dose.', '""We think meaningful weight loss is already 5%.', 'If you take Amgen\'s drug, lose 14.5%, stop the drug and still have 11.2% weight loss after a few months, that\'s significant,"" said Dr. Holly Lofton, director of the Weight Management Program at NYU Langone Health and an obesity medicine physician.', 'But she pointed out the need to study the treatment in a larger group of people.', ""The sustained weight loss in Amgen's study appears to contrast with results seen in clinical trials on Zepbound and Wegovy."", 'Patients in those studies saw their weight rebound sooner after stopping the injections.', ""The frequency of Amgen's drug also sets it apart."", 'Those on Wegovy or Zepbound have to take doses weekly, compared with the once-monthly MariTide.', ""Amgen's trial used monthly dosing in part because patients saw sustained weight loss whether they had a single injection or multiple shots of the company's drug, according to the study authors."", ""Amgen's treatment also can stay in the body for much longer than current therapies like Wegovy and Zepbound because it includes a monoclonal antibody, the authors added."", 'Amgen\'s MariTide ""has that advantage where it\'s just going to last a lot longer.', 'Even if you give a high dose, you\'re still going to have drug exposure in the body for a month or two months, so that clearly shows you don\'t need to take it every week,"" William Blair & Company analyst Matt Phipps told CNBC.Phipps said people typically don\'t want to get injections often, so some patients could prefer a monthly shot like Amgen\'s MariTide for a disease that will likely require chronic treatment.', ""But he noted that a patient's choice may also depend on whether the level of weight loss and side effects of Amgen's drug end up being on par with those of the existing weekly injections."", ""Amgen's ongoing phase two trial is exploring whether patients can take its drug even less frequently than once a month."", ""Amgen's longer-term phase two study on nearly 600 patients will provide more clarity on how competitive MariTide will be against Wegovy and Zepbound."", 'The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients.', 'It expects to release initial trial results later this year.', 'Some analysts have said the phase two trial could help address several questions, including how well patients tolerate the treatment at different dose regimens.', 'The 52-week study is testing 11 different patient groups at a variety of dosing levels and regimens.', 'That includes starting some patients at a lower dose of a drug and gradually increasing it until they reach a higher target dose.', 'That dose escalation could help reduce side effects that some patients experienced after taking their first dose of MariTide in the phase one trial, according to Phipps.', ""In that trial, the safety and side effects of Amgen's drug were similar to other GLP-1 medications."", 'Nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported side effects, and typically lasted for about 72 hours.', 'Four out of eight patients in a group receiving the highest dose of the treatment withdrew before getting a second shot after reporting mild gastrointestinal issues, according to the study.', 'But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month.', '""It\'s a little early to jump to the conclusion that the drug won\'t be tolerated by patients based on this phase one data,"" William Blair & Company\'s Phipps said.', ""Another part of Amgen's phase two trial will also examine weight loss beyond 52 weeks, which will provide a clearer picture of how long the drug is effective.""]",0.0559512895439434,The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients.,"But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month.",0.7454101455708345,Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial.,"Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.",2024-03-26
Reddit: Social media firm's shares jump in stock market debut,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68610711,2024-03-21T01:01:32.000Z,"Social media site Reddit's shares have closed 48% higher on the company's first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. On Wednesday, Reddit revealed that it had priced its shares at $34 each, near the top of a marketed range. By the close of trade on Thursday its shares stood at $50.44, valuing the firm at more than $9bn (£7.1bn). It was one of the biggest ever initial public offerings (IPO) by a social media platform. It put 22 million of its shares up for sale and, in an unusual move, offered some of the shares to the platform's users, although it has not been disclosed how many took up the offer. Reddit was founded almost 20 years ago and has become one of the most popular websites in the world. It is an online forum where users can discuss topics that interest them. As of the end of December 2023 it had more than 73 million users, according to the company. But the filing brings to the forefront a question that has been bubbling for years behind the scenes - how can a business make money from what is, essentially, random conversations. People do not pay to use Reddit - the website is completely free for people to browse, post and comment. For 20 years it couldn't turn a profit, and some might ask why Reddit is worth billions if it has not ever made money. It has tried a few things, and a significant visual change in 2017 made the website more friendly to advertisers. But it seems Reddit's road to profitability has an end in sight, built around AI models. That is because companies like OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, will pay for data of those random conversations. Google is believed to have paid Reddit $60m for the right to scan almost two decades of discussions to make its AI more human-like - and Reddit has said it has agreed licensing deals worth more than $200m over the next two to three years. In February, Reddit said it lost $90.8m in 2023, so the money from artificial intelligence (AI) firms could make the platform profitable. But there are also plenty of concerns on Reddit's horizon too. For one thing, the social media platform is facing increased scrutiny from regulators.  The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is already looking into how Reddit licences its data for AI models - generally speaking, regulators don't like it when big technology firms sell data generated by users. While the platform may have seen that coming, it may have been blindsided by a challenge from Finnish firm Nokia, which is accusing it of infringing on its patents.   ""We will evaluate their claims,"" Reddit said, adding that it's faced similar accusations in the past. Perhaps most significant of all is that Reddit's filing with the US financial markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), notes its users as a potential risk that comes with owning shares in the company. ""If we fail to increase or retain our user base or if user engagement declines, our business... and prospects will be harmed,"" it said in the filing. ""If Redditors do not continue to contribute content or their contributions are not valuable or appealing to other Redditors, we may experience a decline in the number of Redditors accessing our products and services... which could result in the loss of advertisers."" Reddit's user base has been known to react with frustration to changes made on the platform. Such is their distaste for changes made in recent years, a search on the platform for chief executive Steve Huffman - username u/spez - shows that when Redditors mention him the comments are usually preceded by foul language. Despite growing discontent, threats to leave the platform - such as the blackout that rendered much of Reddit unusable in 2023 - have often proved short-lived. And although there have been efforts to create an alternative platform, one of Reddit's biggest pluses is something it does not have - a significant rival. While there may be concerns from Redditors, the social media platform seems to be on relatively safe ground when it ties its stock market value to its users, so long as there is nowhere else for them to go. ",BBC,21/03/2024,"[""Social media site Reddit's shares have closed 48% higher on the company's first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange."", 'On Wednesday, Reddit revealed that it had priced its shares at $34 each, near the top of a marketed range.', 'By the close of trade on Thursday its shares stood at $50.44, valuing the firm at more than $9bn (£7.1bn).', 'It was one of the biggest ever initial public offerings (IPO) by a social media platform.', ""It put 22 million of its shares up for sale and, in an unusual move, offered some of the shares to the platform's users, although it has not been disclosed how many took up the offer."", 'Reddit was founded almost 20 years ago and has become one of the most popular websites in the world.', 'It is an online forum where users can discuss topics that interest them.', 'As of the end of December 2023 it had more than 73 million users, according to the company.', 'But the filing brings to the forefront a question that has been bubbling for years behind the scenes - how can a business make money from what is, essentially, random conversations.', 'People do not pay to use Reddit - the website is completely free for people to browse, post and comment.', ""For 20 years it couldn't turn a profit, and some might ask why Reddit is worth billions if it has not ever made money."", 'It has tried a few things, and a significant visual change in 2017 made the website more friendly to advertisers.', ""But it seems Reddit's road to profitability has an end in sight, built around AI models."", 'That is because companies like OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, will pay for data of those random conversations.', 'Google is believed to have paid Reddit $60m for the right to scan almost two decades of discussions to make its AI more human-like - and Reddit has said it has agreed licensing deals worth more than $200m over the next two to three years.', 'In February, Reddit said it lost $90.8m in 2023, so the money from artificial intelligence (AI) firms could make the platform profitable.', ""But there are also plenty of concerns on Reddit's horizon too."", 'For one thing, the social media platform is facing increased scrutiny from regulators.', ""The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is already looking into how Reddit licences its data for AI models - generally speaking, regulators don't like it when big technology firms sell data generated by users."", 'While the platform may have seen that coming, it may have been blindsided by a challenge from Finnish firm Nokia, which is accusing it of infringing on its patents. ""', 'We will evaluate their claims,"" Reddit said, adding that it\'s faced similar accusations in the past.', 'Perhaps most significant of all is that Reddit\'s filing with the US financial markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), notes its users as a potential risk that comes with owning shares in the company. ""', 'If we fail to increase or retain our user base or if user engagement declines, our business... and prospects will be harmed,"" it said in the filing. ""', 'If Redditors do not continue to contribute content or their contributions are not valuable or appealing to other Redditors, we may experience a decline in the number of Redditors accessing our products and services... which could result in the loss of advertisers.""', ""Reddit's user base has been known to react with frustration to changes made on the platform."", 'Such is their distaste for changes made in recent years, a search on the platform for chief executive Steve Huffman - username u/spez - shows that when Redditors mention him the comments are usually preceded by foul language.', 'Despite growing discontent, threats to leave the platform - such as the blackout that rendered much of Reddit unusable in 2023 - have often proved short-lived.', ""And although there have been efforts to create an alternative platform, one of Reddit's biggest pluses is something it does not have - a significant rival."", 'While there may be concerns from Redditors, the social media platform seems to be on relatively safe ground when it ties its stock market value to its users, so long as there is nowhere else for them to go.']",0.2334020286679131,Google is believed to have paid Reddit $60m for the right to scan almost two decades of discussions to make its AI more human-like - and Reddit has said it has agreed licensing deals worth more than $200m over the next two to three years.,"If Redditors do not continue to contribute content or their contributions are not valuable or appealing to other Redditors, we may experience a decline in the number of Redditors accessing our products and services... which could result in the loss of advertisers.""",-0.1964192986488342,Google is believed to have paid Reddit $60m for the right to scan almost two decades of discussions to make its AI more human-like - and Reddit has said it has agreed licensing deals worth more than $200m over the next two to three years.,"If we fail to increase or retain our user base or if user engagement declines, our business... and prospects will be harmed,"" it said in the filing. """,2024-03-26
Easter eggs costs rise as climate change hits crops,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68619912,2024-03-21T06:00:00.000Z,"You may have noticed that Easter eggs are more expensive this year. But did you know that climate change is one of the reasons? Most chocolate is made from cocoa grown in West Africa, but a humid heatwave has blasted the crops and massively cut yields. Experts say that human-induced climate change has made the extreme heat 10 times more likely. Which? found some popular eggs have risen in price by 50% or more. The shortage of cocoa resulting from the heatwave has seen prices soar to almost $8,500 (£6,700) a tonne this week. Cocoa trees are particularly vulnerable to changes in the climate. They only grow in a narrow band of about 20 degrees latitude around the Equator. Most global production is concentrated in West Africa. In 2023, 58m kilogrammes of cocoa beans worth £127m were imported to the UK from Ivory Coast and Ghana with 85% of the UK's cocoa beans sourced from Ivory Coast. However, severe drought conditions have hit the West Africa region since February this year. This has been caused by temperatures that soared above 40C, breaking records in countries including the Ivory Coast and Ghana. It was these exceptionally high temperatures that the World Weather Attribution group, based at Imperial College London, found were made 10 times more likely by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Their study found that unless the world quickly reduces fossil fuel use, West Africa will experience similar heatwaves about every two years. ""There were reports from farmers in Ivory Coast that the heat weakened the cocoa crop,"" according to one of the authors of the study, Izadine Pinto, from the University of Cape Town.   He said the high temperatures increased the rate of evaporation, leaving the crops without sufficient moisture. Another factor impacting the crops was El Niño. This is a recurring, natural fluctuation in weather patterns in the tropical Pacific that drives up global temperatures and can lead to extreme weather in some places. A strong El Niño has been active since last June. El Niño years often present challenges for farmers, but global warming is exacerbating those changes, says Ben Clarke, an expert on extreme weather at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College. ""Increasingly, climate change driven by fossil fuel use is multiplying this natural challenge in many regions. It fuels more extreme conditions, devastates harvests, and makes food costs higher for all,"" Mr Clarke said. Drought is not the only factor affecting cocoa growers. Both Ivory Coast and Ghana have been hit with an extreme weather double whammy. In December last year, both countries experienced intense rains. Total precipitation in West Africa was more than double the 30-year average for the time of year. The wet and humid conditions allowed a fungal infection called black pod disease to flourish, rotting cocoa beans on the trees. The result of these different extreme events has been the same - the price of cocoa has more than trebled since this time last year and doubled in just the last three months. Chocolate makers typically buy beans months ahead of time but soaring prices are now beginning to affect prices in the shops. ""Lots of players who have already announced price increases. We are also part of that group,"" Martin Hug, of chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli told city analysts earlier this month.  In February, Mondelez, the company that owns the Cadbury brand, and the American chocolate maker Hershey were already warning rising cocoa prices could drive up the price of chocolate. Feeling the brunt of these price fluctuations are the farmers who grow the cocoa crops.   There are estimated to be some two million smallholder farmers in the West African cocoa belt who rely on this labour-intensive crop for most of their income. Amber Sawyer, an analyst at the climate think-tank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said wealthy countries like the UK can provide financial and technical support to developing countries to help their farmers better cope with extreme weather. But she warned that, ""as climate change worsens, more support will undoubtedly be needed to protect their livelihoods and keep the flow of cocoa beans coming into the UK."" ",BBC,21/03/2024,"['You may have noticed that Easter eggs are more expensive this year.', 'But did you know that climate change is one of the reasons?', 'Most chocolate is made from cocoa grown in West Africa, but a humid heatwave has blasted the crops and massively cut yields.', 'Experts say that human-induced climate change has made the extreme heat 10 times more likely.', 'Which?', 'found some popular eggs have risen in price by 50% or more.', 'The shortage of cocoa resulting from the heatwave has seen prices soar to almost $8,500 (£6,700) a tonne this week.', 'Cocoa trees are particularly vulnerable to changes in the climate.', 'They only grow in a narrow band of about 20 degrees latitude around the Equator.', 'Most global production is concentrated in West Africa.', ""In 2023, 58m kilogrammes of cocoa beans worth £127m were imported to the UK from Ivory Coast and Ghana with 85% of the UK's cocoa beans sourced from Ivory Coast."", 'However, severe drought conditions have hit the West Africa region since February this year.', 'This has been caused by temperatures that soared above 40C, breaking records in countries including the Ivory Coast and Ghana.', 'It was these exceptionally high temperatures that the World Weather Attribution group, based at Imperial College London, found were made 10 times more likely by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.', 'Their study found that unless the world quickly reduces fossil fuel use, West Africa will experience similar heatwaves about every two years. ""', 'There were reports from farmers in Ivory Coast that the heat weakened the cocoa crop,"" according to one of the authors of the study, Izadine Pinto, from the University of Cape Town.', 'He said the high temperatures increased the rate of evaporation, leaving the crops without sufficient moisture.', 'Another factor impacting the crops was El Niño.', 'This is a recurring, natural fluctuation in weather patterns in the tropical Pacific that drives up global temperatures and can lead to extreme weather in some places.', 'A strong El Niño has been active since last June.', 'El Niño years often present challenges for farmers, but global warming is exacerbating those changes, says Ben Clarke, an expert on extreme weather at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College. ""', 'Increasingly, climate change driven by fossil fuel use is multiplying this natural challenge in many regions.', 'It fuels more extreme conditions, devastates harvests, and makes food costs higher for all,"" Mr Clarke said.', 'Drought is not the only factor affecting cocoa growers.', 'Both Ivory Coast and Ghana have been hit with an extreme weather double whammy.', 'In December last year, both countries experienced intense rains.', 'Total precipitation in West Africa was more than double the 30-year average for the time of year.', 'The wet and humid conditions allowed a fungal infection called black pod disease to flourish, rotting cocoa beans on the trees.', 'The result of these different extreme events has been the same - the price of cocoa has more than trebled since this time last year and doubled in just the last three months.', 'Chocolate makers typically buy beans months ahead of time but soaring prices are now beginning to affect prices in the shops. ""', 'Lots of players who have already announced price increases.', 'We are also part of that group,"" Martin Hug, of chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli told city analysts earlier this month.', 'In February, Mondelez, the company that owns the Cadbury brand, and the American chocolate maker Hershey were already warning rising cocoa prices could drive up the price of chocolate.', 'Feeling the brunt of these price fluctuations are the farmers who grow the cocoa crops.', 'There are estimated to be some two million smallholder farmers in the West African cocoa belt who rely on this labour-intensive crop for most of their income.', 'Amber Sawyer, an analyst at the climate think-tank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said wealthy countries like the UK can provide financial and technical support to developing countries to help their farmers better cope with extreme weather.', 'But she warned that, ""as climate change worsens, more support will undoubtedly be needed to protect their livelihoods and keep the flow of cocoa beans coming into the UK.""']",0.0584976794325016,"Amber Sawyer, an analyst at the climate think-tank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said wealthy countries like the UK can provide financial and technical support to developing countries to help their farmers better cope with extreme weather.","It fuels more extreme conditions, devastates harvests, and makes food costs higher for all,"" Mr Clarke said.",-0.393024280667305,The result of these different extreme events has been the same - the price of cocoa has more than trebled since this time last year and doubled in just the last three months.,"Most chocolate is made from cocoa grown in West Africa, but a humid heatwave has blasted the crops and massively cut yields.",2024-03-26
The U.S. is the top country for millionaires and billionaires,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/the-us-is-the-top-country-for-millionaires-and-billionaires.html,2024-03-22T16:57:55+0000,"A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.The U.S. has rapidly overwhelmed China as the world's top spot for millionaires and billionaires, according a new report.  There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.Over the past five years, the population of millionaires in the U.S. has grown 35%, nearly twice as fast as China's. The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder. The U.S. has 9,850 centi-millionaires — those worth $100 million or more — compared with China's 2,352. The U.S. has about 788 billionaires to China's 305.""The USA remains the world's undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation,"" according to the report.Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley, said the strict Covid lockdowns in China coupled with increases in its government intervention in the private sector have slowed the growth in wealth creation.""China has certainly slowed a lot due to these elements and the U.S. has benefited,"" he said.The shift from China to the U.S. is also reflected in wealth migration patterns. A net 13,500 Chinese millionaires left China in 2023, marking a new record. The U.S. had a net inflow of 2,200 millionaires in 2023 and a projected inflow of 3,500 in 2024, according to the Henley report.""The USA remains a top draw for wealthy tech entrepreneurs and engineers, especially from Asia, Europe, and the UK,"" the report said. America's leadership in wealth creation is spilling over into spending and investing. A report from UBS and Art Basel finds that the U.S. is the leader in global art sales, accounting for 42% of sales by value. The U.S. also leads the world in sales of the highest-priced works.Bain now predicts that China will account for only 35% to 40% of global luxury goods consumption by 2030, up only slightly from current levels. Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain. Luxury sales in the U.S. last year totaled $80 billion, to China’s $52 billion, Bain found.While analysts and economists say China will still be a major source of luxury and wealth growth in the coming years, the U.S. has become both the dominant market and source of growth for the high-net-worth economy.""The wealth creation opportunities in the U.S. are second to none globally,"" Volek said.Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer."", 'Sign upto receive future editions, straight to your inbox.', ""The U.S. has rapidly overwhelmed China as the world's top spot for millionaires and billionaires, according a new report."", 'There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.', ""Over the past five years, the population of millionaires in the U.S. has grown 35%, nearly twice as fast as China's."", ""The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder."", ""The U.S. has 9,850 centi-millionaires — those worth $100 million or more — compared with China's 2,352."", 'The U.S. has about 788 billionaires to China\'s 305.""The USA remains the world\'s undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation,"" according to the report.', 'Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley, said the strict Covid lockdowns in China coupled with increases in its government intervention in the private sector have slowed the growth in wealth creation.', '""China has certainly slowed a lot due to these elements and the U.S. has benefited,"" he said.', 'The shift from China to the U.S. is also reflected in wealth migration patterns.', 'A net 13,500 Chinese millionaires left China in 2023, marking a new record.', 'The U.S. had a net inflow of 2,200 millionaires in 2023 and a projected inflow of 3,500 in 2024, according to the Henley report.', '""The USA remains a top draw for wealthy tech entrepreneurs and engineers, especially from Asia, Europe, and the UK,"" the report said.', ""America's leadership in wealth creation is spilling over into spending and investing."", 'A report from UBS and Art Basel finds that the U.S. is the leader in global art sales, accounting for 42% of sales by value.', 'The U.S. also leads the world in sales of the highest-priced works.', 'Bain now predicts that China will account for only 35% to 40% of global luxury goods consumption by 2030, up only slightly from current levels.', 'Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain.', 'Luxury sales in the U.S. last year totaled $80 billion, to China’s $52 billion, Bain found.', 'While analysts and economists say China will still be a major source of luxury and wealth growth in the coming years, the U.S. has become both the dominant market and source of growth for the high-net-worth economy.', '""The wealth creation opportunities in the U.S. are second to none globally,"" Volek said.', ""Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.""]",0.3810456003682411,"There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.",,0.5784277379512787,"The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder.","Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain.",2024-03-26
Target doubles bonuses for salaried employees as profits recover,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/target-doubles-bonuses-for-salaried-employees-as-profits-recover-.html,2024-03-21T17:31:03+0000,"In this articleTarget will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as the big-box retailer's profits recover from a bumpy nearly two-year stretch.Salaried employees at the Minneapolis-based retailer receive an annual bonus, based on Target's performance and the eligible amount set as part of their compensation. The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, a company spokesperson said Thursday. That is an increase from 50% in the prior year.In a statement, Target said the annual bonus payout is based on how the retailer performs against sales and profit goals set at the beginning of the fiscal year.""Based on Target's performance in 2023, including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year, we're rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.Target will pay out the annual cash bonuses in late March. The amount paid out won't be as high as it could be, however. It tops out at 175% of each employee's eligible bonus amount.The vast majority of Target's approximately 415,000 employees, such as those at its stores and warehouses, are paid hourly and do not qualify for the bonuses. Yet it does offer bonuses to store and supply-chain leaders, along with many corporate employees. Top executives at Target have a different bonus structure. The increased bonus payout was first reported by Bloomberg.Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft. In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period.The discounter said it expects the sales challenges will continue. For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen. For the fiscal year, Target said, it expects adjusted earnings per share will range from $8.60 to $9.60. The higher end of that range would top the adjusted earnings per share of $8.94 that it reported for the previous fiscal year.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleTarget will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as the big-box retailer's profits recover from a bumpy nearly two-year stretch."", ""Salaried employees at the Minneapolis-based retailer receive an annual bonus, based on Target's performance and the eligible amount set as part of their compensation."", ""The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, a company spokesperson said Thursday."", 'That is an increase from 50% in the prior year.', 'In a statement, Target said the annual bonus payout is based on how the retailer performs against sales and profit goals set at the beginning of the fiscal year.', '""Based on Target\'s performance in 2023,including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year,we\'re rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.', 'Target will pay out the annual cash bonuses in late March.', ""The amount paid out won't be as high as it could be, however."", ""It tops out at 175% of each employee's eligible bonus amount."", ""The vast majority of Target's approximately 415,000 employees, such as those at its stores and warehouses, are paid hourly and do not qualify for the bonuses."", 'Yet it does offer bonuses to store and supply-chain leaders, along with many corporate employees.', 'Top executives at Target have a different bonus structure.', 'The increased bonus payout was first reported by Bloomberg.', 'Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft.', ""In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period."", 'The discounter said it expects the sales challenges will continue.', 'For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen.', 'For the fiscal year, Target said, it expects adjusted earnings per share will range from $8.60 to $9.60.', 'The higher end of that range would top the adjusted earnings per share of$8.94 that it reported for the previous fiscal year.']",0.4483384428773163,"""Based on Target's performance in 2023,including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year,we're rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.","Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft.",0.3977267444133758,"For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen.","In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period.",2024-03-26
Bahrain takes full control of supercar brand McLaren,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68639320,2024-03-22T15:58:09.000Z,"Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund has taken full ownership of the McLaren Group, which builds high-end sportscars and owns a majority stake in the McLaren F1 team. The Bahraini fund, Mumtalakat, was already McLaren's biggest shareholder. The deal follows a period of deep financial uncertainty for the British company, which has been making heavy losses. McLaren hailed it as a ""major milestone"". The company is now understood to be looking at technical partnerships with other businesses, to help it develop electric vehicle technology.  ""We are delighted at Mumtalakat's continued commitment to McLaren through this deal,"" McLaren Group's executive chairman Paul Walsh said in a statement. ""This will further enable us to focus on delivering our long-term business plan, including investment in new products and technologies, while continuing to explore potential technical partnerships with industry partners."" The McLaren Group has its headquarters in the Surrey town of Woking. It owns McLaren Automotive, which over the past 14 years has become a major player in the market for prestige sportscars. Its products compete with models from the likes of Ferrari and Porsche. The group also has a majority stake in McLaren Racing, which owns the McLaren Formula 1 team, and also competes in the US IndyCar series, and the electric series Formula E and Extreme E. The business has been under financial strain since the Covid pandemic, which initially forced it to suspend production of cars, and also led to the cancellation of racing activities around the world. It underwent a major restructuring in 2020, which included the loss of more than 1,000 jobs. It was then affected by the widespread disruption to supply chains that occurred as economies got back into gear following the pandemic, in particular a shortage of computer chips. There were also problems with its new Artura hybrid sportscar, which caused it to suspend production, and led to delays in deliveries. In the first nine months of last year - the most recent period for which figures are available - it made a pre-tax loss of £276m. Mumtalakat has been an investor in McLaren Group since 2007, when it bought a 30% stake from founding shareholders Ron Dennis and Mansour Ojjeh. Over time it increased that stake to 60%, while injecting hundreds of millions of pounds into the business. Its decision to take full control, which was initially agreed last year, bolsters McLaren's finances in the short term.  Also, sources within the group say that getting rid of what was seen as an overly complex shareholder structure will make future partnerships easier.  McLaren is known to be looking for new technical link-ups to help it expand its range and in particular work on developing electric vehicles. The BBC understands the Swedish firm Polestar, owned by the Chinese group Geely, is among those to have held talks with McLaren. According to the Financial Times, discussions have also been held with Hyundai, BMW and Californian electric brand Lucid Motors. Any deal could involve Mumtalakat selling a minority stake in McLaren group to its chosen partner. ",BBC,22/03/2024,"[""Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund has taken full ownership of the McLaren Group, which builds high-end sportscars and owns a majority stake in the McLaren F1 team."", ""The Bahraini fund, Mumtalakat, was already McLaren's biggest shareholder."", 'The deal follows a period of deep financial uncertainty for the British company, which has been making heavy losses.', 'McLaren hailed it as a ""major milestone"".', 'The company is now understood to be looking at technical partnerships with other businesses, to help it develop electric vehicle technology. ""', 'We are delighted at Mumtalakat\'s continued commitment to McLaren through this deal,"" McLaren Group\'s executive chairman Paul Walsh said in a statement. ""', 'This will further enable us to focus on delivering our long-term business plan, including investment in new products and technologies, while continuing to explore potential technical partnerships with industry partners.""', 'The McLaren Group has its headquarters in the Surrey town of Woking.', 'It owns McLaren Automotive, which over the past 14 years has become a major player in the market for prestige sportscars.', 'Its products compete with models from the likes of Ferrari and Porsche.', 'The group also has a majority stake in McLaren Racing, which owns the McLaren Formula 1 team, and also competes in the US IndyCar series, and the electric series Formula E and Extreme E. The business has been under financial strain since the Covid pandemic, which initially forced it to suspend production of cars, and also led to the cancellation of racing activities around the world.', 'It underwent a major restructuring in 2020, which included the loss of more than 1,000 jobs.', 'It was then affected by the widespread disruption to supply chains that occurred as economies got back into gear following the pandemic, in particular a shortage of computer chips.', 'There were also problems with its new Artura hybrid sportscar, which caused it to suspend production, and led to delays in deliveries.', 'In the first nine months of last year - the most recent period for which figures are available - it made a pre-tax loss of £276m. Mumtalakat has been an investor in McLaren Group since 2007, when it bought a 30% stake from founding shareholders Ron Dennis and Mansour Ojjeh.', 'Over time it increased that stake to 60%, while injecting hundreds of millions of pounds into the business.', ""Its decision to take full control, which was initially agreed last year, bolsters McLaren's finances in the short term."", 'Also, sources within the group say that getting rid of what was seen as an overly complex shareholder structure will make future partnerships easier.', 'McLaren is known to be looking for new technical link-ups to help it expand its range and in particular work on developing electric vehicles.', 'The BBC understands the Swedish firm Polestar, owned by the Chinese group Geely, is among those to have held talks with McLaren.', 'According to the Financial Times, discussions have also been held with Hyundai, BMW and Californian electric brand Lucid Motors.', 'Any deal could involve Mumtalakat selling a minority stake in McLaren group to its chosen partner.']",0.0302005686108331,"We are delighted at Mumtalakat's continued commitment to McLaren through this deal,"" McLaren Group's executive chairman Paul Walsh said in a statement. ""","The group also has a majority stake in McLaren Racing, which owns the McLaren Formula 1 team, and also competes in the US IndyCar series, and the electric series Formula E and Extreme E. The business has been under financial strain since the Covid pandemic, which initially forced it to suspend production of cars, and also led to the cancellation of racing activities around the world.",0.139490415652593,"This will further enable us to focus on delivering our long-term business plan, including investment in new products and technologies, while continuing to explore potential technical partnerships with industry partners.""","There were also problems with its new Artura hybrid sportscar, which caused it to suspend production, and led to delays in deliveries.",2024-03-26
"Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek breaks silence, says there's no strategic need for ESPN partners",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/ex-disney-ceo-bob-chapek-says-espn-doesnt-need-strategic-partners.html,2024-03-21T17:11:47+0000,"In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.""Strategically, I don't really see a benefit in bringing on yet another minority partner into ESPN,"" Chapek said as part of the CNBC documentary ""ESPN's Fight for Dominance,"" which chronicles the network's digital strategy, published Thursday.Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's David Faber in July that he'd consider selling a minority stake in ESPN to strengthen the sports network's content or technology as it plans a new direct-to-consumer offering, which he later said would launch by fall 2025.The company hasn't yet announced a deal to sell a stake in ESPN. CNBC reported in August that the network had held talks with the major American professional sports leagues, including the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, about potential partnerships or investments.Disney owns 80% of ESPN and Hearst owns the other 20%, a structure that's been in place since 1996. By searching for a partner, Disney wants to enhance the content, distribution and marketing of the direct-to-consumer ESPN, which hasn't yet been priced, Iger said during Disney's August quarterly earnings call.Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games. Bringing on a technology or telecommunications company such as Verizon or Apple could give ESPN broader distribution options by reaching larger customer bases.Still, it's unclear selling equity in ESPN is needed to strike an arrangement. ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, who also spoke with CNBC as part of the documentary, downplayed the need for the sports network to sell a stake in its business to build a partnership with a league or another company.""It's not about equity,"" Pitaro said. ""It's not about these partners taking an ownership interest in ESPN. That is something, as Bob [Iger] has said, that we are very much open to, but this is about partnership and accelerating the launch or the adoption of ESPN flagship.""Chapek's remarks are his first public statements since Disney's board fired him and brought back Iger as CEO about 16 months ago. He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September. Chapek declined to comment on anything other than ESPN's future for the CNBC documentary.While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion.""There's already one minority strategic partner in Hearst. So this would be bringing on a second minority strategic partner,"" Chapek said. ""Obviously, the benefit of doing that is that you make available some cash. And given some of the conversation that's been happening between Comcast and Disney in terms of needing to buy the final share of Hulu to make it wholly owned by the Disney company, it's possible that maybe that cash itself is what they're after.""Chapek also discussed the vision he had as CEO of turning ESPN into a centralized hub to direct consumers to where a game is streaming, no matter which company owns the rights to air it — a concept CNBC first reported in March 2023.""If I'm on my Apple TV and I want to watch a movie, I have no idea whether it's on Prime or Netflix or Disney+ or Hulu or wherever it's at,"" Chapek said. ""The way I find out is I go to Apple TV, I plug in the movie that I'm looking to watch, and they direct me exactly to where that movie is. And then they connect me seamlessly without me then having to exit and go to another app to go find the show on that app. I think ESPN should be that source for a central clearinghouse.""Adding one-stop navigation can help ESPN become the first place sports fans go to when they want to watch a game, even if Disney doesn't own the rights to certain sports, Chapek said.""How do you make yourself indispensable to the sports viewer so that they stay on with you as you evolve over to a streaming world? I think solving that problem would be one big way to do it,"" Chapek said.WATCH: Bob Chapek discusses ESPN's future",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.', '""Strategically, I don\'t really see a benefit in bringing on yet another minority partner into ESPN,"" Chapek said as part of the CNBC documentary ""ESPN\'s Fight for Dominance,"" which chronicles the network\'s digital strategy, published Thursday.', ""Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's David Faber in July that he'd consider selling a minority stake in ESPN to strengthen the sports network's content or technology as it plans a new direct-to-consumer offering, which he later said would launch by fall 2025.The company hasn't yet announced a deal to sell a stake in ESPN."", 'CNBC reported in August that the network had held talks with the major American professional sports leagues, including the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, about potential partnerships or investments.', ""Disney owns 80% of ESPN and Hearst owns the other 20%, a structure that's been in place since 1996."", ""By searching for a partner, Disney wants to enhance the content, distribution and marketing of the direct-to-consumer ESPN, which hasn't yet been priced, Iger said during Disney's August quarterly earnings call."", 'Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games.', 'Bringing on a technology or telecommunications company such as Verizon or Apple could give ESPN broader distribution options by reaching larger customer bases.', ""Still, it's unclear selling equity in ESPN is needed to strike an arrangement."", 'ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, who also spoke with CNBC as part of the documentary, downplayed the need for the sports network to sell a stake in its business to build a partnership with a league or another company.', '""It\'s not about equity,"" Pitaro said. ""', ""It's not about these partners taking an ownership interest in ESPN."", 'That is something, as Bob [Iger] has said, that we are very much open to, but this is about partnership and accelerating the launch or the adoption of ESPN flagship.', '""Chapek\'s remarks are his first public statements since Disney\'s board fired him and brought back Iger as CEO about 16 months ago.', ""He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September."", ""Chapek declined to comment on anything other than ESPN's future for the CNBC documentary."", ""While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion."", '""There\'s already one minority strategic partner in Hearst.', 'So this would be bringing on a second minority strategic partner,"" Chapek said. ""', 'Obviously, the benefit of doing that is that you make available some cash.', ""And given some of the conversation that's been happening between Comcast and Disney in terms of needing to buy the final share of Hulu to make it wholly owned by the Disney company, it's possible that maybe that cash itself is what they're after."", '""Chapek also discussed the vision he had as CEO of turning ESPN into a centralized hub to direct consumers to where a game is streaming, no matter which company owns the rights to air it — a concept CNBC first reported in March 2023.""If I\'m on my Apple TV and I want to watch a movie, I have no idea whether it\'s on Prime or Netflix or Disney+ or Hulu or wherever it\'s at,"" Chapek said. ""', ""The way I find out is I go to Apple TV, I plug in the movie that I'm looking to watch, and they direct me exactly to where that movie is."", 'And then they connect me seamlessly without me then having to exit and go to another app to go find the show on that app.', 'I think ESPN should be that source for a central clearinghouse.', '""Adding one-stop navigation can help ESPN become the first place sports fans go to when they want to watch a game, even if Disney doesn\'t own the rights to certain sports, Chapek said.', '""How do you make yourself indispensable to the sports viewer so that they stay on with you as you evolve over to a streaming world?', 'I think solving that problem would be one big way to do it,"" Chapek said.', ""WATCH: Bob Chapek discusses ESPN's future""]",0.0292013742260279,"While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion.","In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.",0.6626346806685129,"Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games.","He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September.",2024-03-26
How much can my landlord increase my rent and can they keep my deposit or evict me?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-65038459,2023-03-26T23:05:39.000Z,"The average cost of renting in the UK rose by 9% in the year to February - the highest annual increase since records began in 2015. What are your rights if your landlord tries to increase your rent, keep your deposit, or evict you? It depends on your rental agreement and where you live in the UK. Most tenants in England's 4.6m privately rented homes - about one in five households - have an assured shorthold tenancy.  These are usually for a fixed term of six or 12 months, or rolling - which means there's no end date. If you are on a fixed term, the landlord: If you are on a rolling agreement, the landlord: Renting rules are different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In England, landlords can only increase your rent by what the government calls a ""fair and realistic"" amount.  That means in line with average local rents. Most landlords ask for a deposit before you move in.  The most they can charge is five or six weeks' rent, depending on your annual rent. If you have an assured shorthold tenancy in England or Wales, landlords must put your deposit in a government approved tenancy deposit scheme (TDP). This is to ensure you get your deposit back if you: At the end of your tenancy, the landlord must return your deposit within 10 days of you both agreeing how much you'll receive. If there's a dispute over the amount, the TDP offers a resolution service. There are different TDP schemes in Scotland and Northern Ireland.   Landlords need to follow strict rules if they want a tenant to leave. If not, the eviction could be illegal, or the landlord could be guilty of harassment. In England, there are two types of eviction notice, which the landlord must provide in writing: Once the notice period ends, the landlord can start eviction proceedings through court. Landlords can apply for a so-called ""possession order"". If that is granted and you don't leave, landlords can apply for a ""warrant for possession"". It is illegal for landlords to change the locks or use force to evict a tenant. Other tenancy contracts have different rules and eviction rules also differs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  In England, the landlord must give you at least 24 hours' notice to enter. They must visit at a reasonable time of day, unless it's an emergency. The landlord might make an initial inspection after a tenant moves in.  After that, visits should be at least three months apart, the National Residential Landlords Associationsays. Tenants in England have the right to ""live in a property that's safe and in a good state of repair"". Similar rules apply in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. A rented home could be unfit if, for example, the electrics are unsafe, it's damp, or there's a problem with rats or mice. There are no laws that explicitly stop landlords from refusing to rent to people with children. But since women are more likely to live with children, any such refusal in England, Wales and Scotland is likely to be indirect discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, says Shelter. The charity has a guide on how to challenge a ban on children. Those in Northern Ireland can get help from Housing Rights. A draft of the Renters (Reform) Bill in July 2022 had sought to make it illegal for a landlord to refuse tenancies to families with children, or those on benefits. However, when the bill was presented in May 2023, the measures were not included.  The government said it remained committed to bringing forward legislation to make it illegal for landlords and agents to impose blanket bans on those with children and benefit claimants. The Renters (Reform) Bill is also looking to give tenants a legal right to request to keep a ""well-behaved"" pet. If passed, the landlord can only refuse on reasonable grounds - such as the size of the property. However, landlords will be able to charge a higher rent to cover the risk of pet damage.  ",BBC,26/03/2023,"['The average cost of renting in the UK rose by 9% in the year to February - the highest annual increase since records began in 2015.', 'What are your rights if your landlord tries to increase your rent, keep your deposit, or evict you?', 'It depends on your rental agreement and where you live in the UK.', ""Most tenants in England's 4.6m privately rented homes - about one in five households - have an assured shorthold tenancy."", ""These are usually for a fixed term of six or 12 months, or rolling - which means there's no end date."", 'If you are on a fixed term, the landlord: If you are on a rolling agreement, the landlord: Renting rules are different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.', 'In England, landlords can only increase your rent by what the government calls a ""fair and realistic"" amount.', 'That means in line with average local rents.', 'Most landlords ask for a deposit before you move in.', ""The most they can charge is five or six weeks' rent, depending on your annual rent."", 'If you have an assured shorthold tenancy in England or Wales, landlords must put your deposit in a government approved tenancy deposit scheme (TDP).', ""This is to ensure you get your deposit back if you: At the end of your tenancy, the landlord must return your deposit within 10 days of you both agreeing how much you'll receive."", ""If there's a dispute over the amount, the TDP offers a resolution service."", 'There are different TDP schemes in Scotland and Northern Ireland.', 'Landlords need to follow strict rules if they want a tenant to leave.', 'If not, the eviction could be illegal, or the landlord could be guilty of harassment.', 'In England, there are two types of eviction notice, which the landlord must provide in writing: Once the notice period ends, the landlord can start eviction proceedings through court.', 'Landlords can apply for a so-called ""possession order"".', 'If that is granted and you don\'t leave, landlords can apply for a ""warrant for possession"".', 'It is illegal for landlords to change the locks or use force to evict a tenant.', 'Other tenancy contracts have different rules and eviction rules also differs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.', ""In England, the landlord must give you at least 24 hours' notice to enter."", ""They must visit at a reasonable time of day, unless it's an emergency."", 'The landlord might make an initial inspection after a tenant moves in.', 'After that, visits should be at least three months apart, the National Residential Landlords Associationsays.', 'Tenants in England have the right to ""live in a property that\'s safe and in a good state of repair"".', 'Similar rules apply in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.', ""A rented home could be unfit if, for example, the electrics are unsafe, it's damp, or there's a problem with rats or mice."", 'There are no laws that explicitly stop landlords from refusing to rent to people with children.', 'But since women are more likely to live with children, any such refusal in England, Wales and Scotland is likely to be indirect discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, says Shelter.', 'The charity has a guide on how to challenge a ban on children.', 'Those in Northern Ireland can get help from Housing Rights.', 'A draft of the Renters (Reform) Bill in July 2022 had sought to make it illegal for a landlord to refuse tenancies to families with children, or those on benefits.', 'However, when the bill was presented in May 2023, the measures were not included.', 'The government said it remained committed to bringing forward legislation to make it illegal for landlords and agents to impose blanket bans on those with children and benefit claimants.', 'The Renters (Reform) Bill is also looking to give tenants a legal right to request to keep a ""well-behaved"" pet.', 'If passed, the landlord can only refuse on reasonable grounds - such as the size of the property.', 'However, landlords will be able to charge a higher rent to cover the risk of pet damage.']",-0.0259273762773681,"Tenants in England have the right to ""live in a property that's safe and in a good state of repair"".","If not, the eviction could be illegal, or the landlord could be guilty of harassment.",0.0908378213644027,The average cost of renting in the UK rose by 9% in the year to February - the highest annual increase since records began in 2015.,"A rented home could be unfit if, for example, the electrics are unsafe, it's damp, or there's a problem with rats or mice.",2024-03-26
"Sotheby's leans into sports with auctions of Jordan shoes, Ali trunks and Kobe jersey",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/20/sothebys-holds-sports-auctions-with-jordan-ali-kobe-items.html,2024-03-20T13:47:40+0000,"Sotheby's is increasing its sports offerings, as the auction house looks to capitalize on the growing demand for sports memorabilia and draw in a younger demographic.The company on Wednesday announced its first ""Sports Week,"" which will include six live and online auctions with items from many of the biggest names in sports. The auctions will kick off April 5.Demand for athletic memorabilia has jumped in recent years, and sports has become one of Sotheby's fastest-growing categories, the auction house said.""We've seen exponential growth and interest in the category,"" Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of Streetwear & Modern Collectibles, told CNBC. ""Sports Week represents another example of Sotheby's commitment to engaging in collecting communities with creative sale formats and is presented with attractive estimates that caters to all sports fans and collectors alike, both seasoned and also those looking to kickstart their collection.""The market for sports collectibles is massive, and only getting bigger. Consulting group Market Decipher estimated the valuation of sports memorabilia at $26.1 billion globally in 2021. The group predicts the market will explode in the coming years, reaching $227.2 billion by 2032.The sports category saw higher demand during Covid, when the popular documentary series ""The Last Dance"" was released, according to Wachter. ""The Last Dance,"" which chronicled the story of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls' quest for their sixth NBA title, boosted interest in Jordan collectibles, which then translated into other sports memorabilia.Sports has also brought a new, younger demographic into the market.Sotheby's said its average client for sports memorabilia are 20 to 40 years old, and 50% of them are new to auctions. Some sales lead to more purchases in the contemporary and watch categories, Wachter said.As a result, Sotheby's is going all in on sports. In addition to dramatically increasing its offerings, the auction house is partnering with the NBA to sell game-worn jerseys, and is in talks with a variety of other sports organizations about potential tie-ups.Earlier this year, Sotheby's sold The Dynasty Collection, a set of six individual Air Jordan sneakers worn by Jordan in the clinching games of his six career NBA Finals championships, for $8 million. The sale set a new global auction record for game-worn sneakers and became the second-highest price achieved for Jordan sports memorabilia. Sotheby's Sports Week auction highlights include a pair of Muhammad Ali's shorts from his legendary ""Thrilla in Manila"" match from 1975, considered one of the greatest boxing matches in history. The trunks are expected to sell for an estimated $4 million to $6 million, which would make them one of the most valuable items of Ali memorabilia to appear at auction.A Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers jersey from Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals also up for auction that week is expected to fetch an estimated $1.5 million to $2.5 million. The late star scored 40 points that game, his highest-scoring NBA Finals performance.Sports Week will also include some classic sneakers worn by NBA greats. Sotheby's will offer 50 pairs of sneakers donned by some of the league's greatest players such as Jordan, Bryant, LeBron James, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.Jordan's Air Jordan 11s from Game 5 of the 1996 NBA Finals are the headliner, expected to fetch between $200,000 and $400,000. Jordan wore the sneakers as he returned from his brief retirement to lead the Bulls to a 72-10 regular season record and then their fourth NBA title.For fans looking to get their hands on more recent memorabilia, Sotheby's is offering several items from February's NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis. Those include a James 2024 All-Star Jersey, expected to fetch $200,000 to 300,000, along with the jerseys Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu wore during their three-point competition. The Curry and Ionescu jerseys are expected to sell for between $30,000 to $500,000, and $8,000 to $12,000, respectively.The entire sports collection is expected to sell for more than $12 million, with individual items ranging from $500 to about $6 million each.",CNBC,20/03/2024,"[""Sotheby's is increasing its sports offerings, as the auction house looks to capitalize on the growing demand for sports memorabilia and draw in a younger demographic."", 'The company on Wednesday announced its first ""Sports Week,"" which will include six live and online auctions with items from many of the biggest names in sports.', ""The auctions will kick off April 5.Demand for athletic memorabilia has jumped in recent years, and sports has become one of Sotheby's fastest-growing categories, the auction house said."", '""We\'ve seen exponential growth and interest in the category,"" Brahm Wachter, Sotheby\'s head of Streetwear & Modern Collectibles, told CNBC. ""', ""Sports Week represents another example of Sotheby's commitment to engaging in collecting communities with creative sale formats and is presented with attractive estimates that caters to all sports fans and collectors alike, both seasoned and also those looking to kickstart their collection."", '""The market for sports collectibles is massive, and only getting bigger.', 'Consulting group Market Decipher estimated the valuation of sports memorabilia at $26.1 billion globally in 2021.', 'The group predicts the market will explode in the coming years, reaching $227.2 billion by 2032.The sports category saw higher demand during Covid, when the popular documentary series ""The Last Dance"" was released, according to Wachter. ""', 'The Last Dance,"" which chronicled the story of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls\' quest for their sixth NBA title, boosted interest in Jordan collectibles, which then translated into other sports memorabilia.', 'Sports has also brought a new, younger demographic into the market.', ""Sotheby's said its average client for sports memorabilia are 20 to 40 years old, and 50% of them are new to auctions."", 'Some sales lead to more purchases in the contemporary and watch categories, Wachter said.', ""As a result, Sotheby's is going all in on sports."", 'In addition to dramatically increasing its offerings, the auction house is partnering with the NBA to sell game-worn jerseys, and is in talks with a variety of other sports organizations about potential tie-ups.', ""Earlier this year, Sotheby's sold The Dynasty Collection, a set of six individual Air Jordan sneakers worn by Jordan in the clinching games of his six career NBA Finals championships,for $8 million."", 'The sale set a new global auction record for game-worn sneakers and became the second-highest price achieved for Jordan sports memorabilia.', 'Sotheby\'s Sports Week auction highlights include a pair of Muhammad Ali\'s shorts from his legendary ""Thrilla in Manila"" match from 1975, considered one of the greatest boxing matches in history.', 'The trunks are expected to sell for an estimated $4 million to $6 million, which would make them one of the most valuable items of Ali memorabilia to appear at auction.', 'A Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers jersey from Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals also up for auction that week is expected to fetch an estimated $1.5 million to $2.5 million.', 'The late star scored 40 points that game, his highest-scoring NBA Finals performance.', 'Sports Week will also include some classic sneakers worn by NBA greats.', ""Sotheby's will offer 50 pairs of sneakers donned by some of the league's greatest players such as Jordan, Bryant, LeBron James, James Harden and Russell Westbrook."", ""Jordan's Air Jordan 11s from Game 5 of the 1996 NBA Finals are the headliner, expected to fetch between $200,000 and $400,000."", 'Jordan wore the sneakers as he returned from his brief retirement to lead the Bulls to a 72-10 regular season record and then their fourth NBA title.', ""For fans looking to get their hands on more recent memorabilia, Sotheby's is offering several items from February's NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis."", 'Those include a James 2024 All-Star Jersey, expected to fetch $200,000 to 300,000, along with the jerseys Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu wore during their three-point competition.', 'The Curry and Ionescu jerseys are expected to sell for between $30,000 to $500,000, and $8,000 to $12,000, respectively.', 'The entire sports collection is expected to sell for more than $12 million, with individual items ranging from $500 to about $6 million each.']",0.1581405628735392,"Sports Week represents another example of Sotheby's commitment to engaging in collecting communities with creative sale formats and is presented with attractive estimates that caters to all sports fans and collectors alike, both seasoned and also those looking to kickstart their collection.","In addition to dramatically increasing its offerings, the auction house is partnering with the NBA to sell game-worn jerseys, and is in talks with a variety of other sports organizations about potential tie-ups.",0.9825091163317362,"""We've seen exponential growth and interest in the category,"" Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of Streetwear & Modern Collectibles, told CNBC. """,,2024-03-26
Nigeria Binance dispute: British-Kenyan executive Nadeem Anjarwalla escapes from custody,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68656119,2024-03-25T14:52:21.000Z,"An executive of the cryptocurrency firm Binance has escaped from custody in Nigeria, the authorities there say. Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national, was arrested in February with his US colleague Tigran Gambaryan. Their detention came as the Nigerian authorities investigated alleged wrongdoing by Binance. Nigeria said that Mr Anjarwalla fled the country with a ""smuggled passport"", but a family source has said he had left by ""by lawful means"". The country is now ""working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect"", the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said in a statement. Binance has not commented on the accusations it has been facing. ""We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody. Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.  Mr Anjarwalla, the company's Africa regional manager, and Mr Gambaryan, in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested on 26 February after attending meetings in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to which they had been invited by the government. The authorities reportedly demanded that they name Nigerians trading on their platform.  A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's request to detain the two executives for 14 days, but their continued detention was not authorised by the court and they were being held ""unlawfully"", a source close to the families told the BBC. They were due to appear again in court early next month.  ""The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention,"" the ONSA said. Nigerian media are reporting that Mr Anjarwalla asked the guards at a guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to the mosque last Friday but never returned. The authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport were unknown. Mr Gambaryan remains in custody. Meanwhile, the Nigerian authorities have formally filed tax evasion charges against Binance at the High Court in Abuja, and named Mr Anjarwalla among the respondents. The Federal Inland Revenue Service is accusing the cryptocurrency platform of non-payment of value added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.  Binance has not made a statement on these charges. Last month, the Nigerian authorities clamped down on cryptocurrency firms in general over allegations they were being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.  The country's central bank alleged that over $26bn (£20.6bn) worth of transactions had passed through Binance with untraceable sources.  It accused the platforms of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the naira, the local currency, and ordered the firm to pay a fine of $10bn.  Binance is understood to be one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms in Nigeria. Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['An executive of the cryptocurrency firm Binance has escaped from custody in Nigeria, the authorities there say.', 'Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national, was arrested in February with his US colleague Tigran Gambaryan.', 'Their detention came as the Nigerian authorities investigated alleged wrongdoing by Binance.', 'Nigeria said that Mr Anjarwalla fled the country with a ""smuggled passport"", but a family source has said he had left by ""by lawful means"".', 'The country is now ""working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect"", the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said in a statement.', 'Binance has not commented on the accusations it has been facing. ""', 'We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody.', 'Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.', ""Mr Anjarwalla, the company's Africa regional manager, and Mr Gambaryan, in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested on 26 February after attending meetings in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to which they had been invited by the government."", 'The authorities reportedly demanded that they name Nigerians trading on their platform.', 'A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission\'s request to detain the two executives for 14 days, but their continued detention was not authorised by the court and they were being held ""unlawfully"", a source close to the families told the BBC.', 'They were due to appear again in court early next month. ""', 'The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention,"" the ONSA said.', 'Nigerian media are reporting that Mr Anjarwalla asked the guards at a guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to the mosque last Friday but never returned.', 'The authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport were unknown.', 'Mr Gambaryan remains in custody.', 'Meanwhile, the Nigerian authorities have formally filed tax evasion charges against Binance at the High Court in Abuja, and named Mr Anjarwalla among the respondents.', 'The Federal Inland Revenue Service is accusing the cryptocurrency platform of non-payment of value added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.', 'Binance has not made a statement on these charges.', 'Last month, the Nigerian authorities clamped down on cryptocurrency firms in general over allegations they were being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.', ""The country's central bank alleged that over $26bn (£20.6bn) worth of transactions had passed through Binance with untraceable sources."", 'It accused the platforms of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the naira, the local currency, and ordered the firm to pay a fine of $10bn.', 'Binance is understood to be one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms in Nigeria.', ""Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.""]",-0.1973722181344786,"Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.","Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.",-0.9894911050796508,,"Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.",2024-03-26
What happened when the world’s most populous nation turned off TikTok,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/14/tech/india-us-tiktok-ban-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:59 AM EDT, Fri March 15, 2024
    ","As TikTok fans in the United States worry about losing access to the wildly-popular social media app, there are lessons they can learn from a country on the other side of the world.
    
            On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban. While the Chinese-owned app is not disappearing from Americans’ phones anytime soon, many of its 170 million users in the country are deeply rattled.
    
            But here is what they need to know: It is possible to survive and thrive in a TikTok-less world. Just ask the planet’s most populous nation.
    
            In June 2020, after a violent clash on the India-China border that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, the government in New Delhi suddenly banned TikTok and several other well-known Chinese apps.
    
            “It’s important to remember that when India banned TikTok and multiple Chinese apps, the US was the first to praise the decision,” said Nikhil Pahwa, the Delhi-based founder of tech website MediaNama. “[Former] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had welcomed the ban, saying it ‘will boost India’s sovereignty.’”
    
            While India’s abrupt decision shocked the country’s 200 million TikTok users, in the four years since, many have found other suitable alternatives.
    
            “The ban on Tiktok led to the creation of a multibillion dollar opportunity … A 200 million user base needed somewhere to go,” said Pahwa, adding that it was ultimately American tech companies that seized the moment with their new offerings.
    
            The ban was not without pain. Indian TikTokkers had to grapple with confusion and even anguish in the days and months that followed.
    
            By 2020, TikTok had become hugely popular among Indians looking for relief from the pressures of strict Covid-related lockdowns.
    
            “Everyone in India wants to be a Bollywood star, and TikTok made that dream possible by making people, including those in small towns, overnight stars,” said Saptarshi Ray, head of product at Viralo, a Bengaluru-based influencer marketing platform.
    
            But it didn’t take long before other avenues for their creativity and commercial ventures sprang up.
    
            A ferocious fight ensued between US tech giants and domestic startups to fill the gap. Within a week of the ban, Meta-owned Instagram cashed in by launching its TikTok copycat, Instagram Reels, in India. Google introduced its own short video offering, YouTube Shorts.
    
            Homegrown alternatives such as MX Taka Tak and Moj also began seeing a rise in popularity and an infux in funding.
    
            Those local startups soon fizzled out, however, unable to match the reach and financial firepower of the American firms, which are flourishing.
    
            Citing independent findings from consulting firm Oxford Economics, a Google spokesperson said that “the YouTube creative ecosystem” contributed roughly $2 billion to the Indian economy in 2022.
    
            According to Ray, Indian content creators swiftly moved all the old content they had shot for TikTok to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. “Some Influencers were uploading seven Reels a day and gaining four to five million subscribers a year,” he said.
    
            But not everyone was able to build a significant following on these platforms.
    
            “Many users and creators slipped into a deep, dark space after the ban, and some have still not emerged from that space,” said Clyde Fernandes, executive director— artist management at Opraahfx, an influencer marketing and management firm.
    
            “The way one was gaining reach and followers on TikTok is [still] incomparable to any other platform out there at the moment,” he added.
    
            US officials and lawmakers have long voiced concerns that the Chinese government could compel TikTok’s parent ByteDance to hand over data collected from American users.
    
            Cybersecurity experts say that the national security concerns surrounding TikTok remain largely hypothetical. Indian experts, however, say its purge from national digital life hasn’t resulted in a safer space.
    
            “I am not so sure removal of TikTok makes a dent in the cybersecurity threat landscape. Unless there is a step change in user awareness about the software on their phones, or what they download from the open internet, this is unlikely to change,” said Vivan Sharan, partner at Delhi-based tech policy consulting firm Koan Advisory Group.
    
            US lawmakers also fear that the app could serve as a tool for Beijing to spread propaganda, misinformation or influence Americans. The removal of TikTok hasn’t insulated Indians from those threats.
    
            “In terms of content and disinformation environment, it is plain to see we still have to grapple with serious issues like deepfakes, etc, with or without TikTok,” Sharan said. “So overall, it is hard to see which part of the risk-landscape changes significantly, assuming TikTok was certifiably problematic.”",CNN,15/03/2024,"['As TikTok fans in the United States worry about losing access to the wildly-popular social media app, there are lessons they can learn from a country on the other side of the world.', 'On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban.', 'While the Chinese-owned app is not disappearing from Americans’ phones anytime soon, many of its 170 million users in the country are deeply rattled.', 'But here is what they need to know: It is possible to survive and thrive in a TikTok-less world.', 'Just ask the planet’s most populous nation.', 'In June 2020, after a violent clash on the India-China border that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, the government in New Delhi suddenly bannedTikTokand several other well-known Chinese apps.', '“It’s important to remember that when India banned TikTok and multiple Chinese apps, the US was the first to praise the decision,” said Nikhil Pahwa, the Delhi-based founder of tech website MediaNama. “[', 'Former] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had welcomed the ban, saying it ‘will boost India’s sovereignty.’”', 'While India’s abrupt decision shocked the country’s 200 million TikTok users, in the four years since, many have found other suitable alternatives.', '“The ban on Tiktok led to the creation of a multibillion dollar opportunity … A 200 million user base needed somewhere to go,” said Pahwa, adding that it was ultimately American tech companies that seized the moment with their new offerings.', 'The ban was not without pain.', 'Indian TikTokkers had to grapple with confusion and even anguish in the days and months that followed.', 'By 2020, TikTok had become hugely popular among Indians looking for relief from the pressures of strict Covid-related lockdowns.', '“Everyone in India wants to be a Bollywood star, and TikTok made that dream possible by making people, including those in small towns, overnight stars,” said Saptarshi Ray, head of product at Viralo, a Bengaluru-based influencer marketing platform.', 'But it didn’t take long before other avenues for their creativity and commercial ventures sprang up.', 'A ferocious fight ensued between US tech giants and domestic startups to fill the gap.', 'Within a week of the ban, Meta-owned Instagram cashed in bylaunching its TikTok copycat, Instagram Reels, in India.', 'Google introduced its own short video offering, YouTube Shorts.', 'Homegrown alternatives such asMX Taka TakandMoj also began seeing a rise in popularity and an infux in funding.', 'Those local startups soon fizzled out, however, unable to match the reach and financial firepower of the American firms, which are flourishing.', 'Citing independent findings from consulting firm Oxford Economics, a Google spokesperson said that “the YouTube creative ecosystem” contributed roughly $2 billion to the Indian economy in 2022.', 'According to Ray, Indian content creators swiftly moved all the old content they had shot for TikTok to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. “', 'Some Influencers were uploading seven Reels a day and gaining four to five million subscribers a year,” he said.', 'But not everyone was able to build a significant following on these platforms.', '“Many users and creators slipped into a deep, dark space after the ban, and some have still not emerged from that space,” said Clyde Fernandes, executive director— artist management at Opraahfx, an influencer marketing and management firm.', '“The way one was gaining reach and followers on TikTok is [still] incomparable to any other platform out there at the moment,” he added.', 'US officials and lawmakers have longvoiced concernsthat the Chinese government could compel TikTok’s parent ByteDance to hand over data collected from American users.', 'Cybersecurity experts say that the national security concerns surrounding TikTok remain largely hypothetical.', 'Indian experts, however, say its purge from national digital life hasn’t resulted in a safer space.', '“I am not so sure removal of TikTok makes a dent in the cybersecurity threat landscape.', 'Unless there is a step change in user awareness about the software on their phones, or what they download from the open internet, this is unlikely to change,” said Vivan Sharan, partner at Delhi-based tech policyconsultingfirmKoan AdvisoryGroup.', 'US lawmakers also fear that the app could serve as a tool for Beijing to spread propaganda, misinformation or influence Americans.', 'The removal of TikTok hasn’t insulated Indians from those threats.', '“In terms of content and disinformation environment, it is plain to see we still have to grapple with serious issues like deepfakes, etc, with or without TikTok,” Sharan said. “', 'So overall, it is hard to see which part of the risk-landscape changes significantly, assuming TikTok was certifiably problematic.”']",-0.0234839102980259,"By 2020, TikTok had become hugely popular among Indians looking for relief from the pressures of strict Covid-related lockdowns.","In June 2020, after a violent clash on the India-China border that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, the government in New Delhi suddenly bannedTikTokand several other well-known Chinese apps.",0.2692508180936178,Homegrown alternatives such asMX Taka TakandMoj also began seeing a rise in popularity and an infux in funding.,"Those local startups soon fizzled out, however, unable to match the reach and financial firepower of the American firms, which are flourishing.",2024-03-26
Nelson Peltz withholds votes from Disney CEO Bob Iger in proxy battle,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/nelson-peltz-withholds-votes-from-disney-ceo-bob-iger-in-proxy-battle.html,2024-03-25T14:22:59+0000,"In this articleNelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management withheld its votes from Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger when voting its shares in the bitter proxy battle the asset management firm is waging against the entertainment giant, according to sources who monitor the situation.The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board.In recent weeks, Disney has stepped up its attacks on Trian and Peltz. ""Correcting Trian's Fact With Fiction"" was the headline of a recent investor presentation from Disney, over a picture of Pinocchio with a growing nose.""Disney is stupid because I'm not trying to fire Bob Iger, I want to help him,"" Peltz recently told the Financial Times. ""We don't fire CEOs.""When asked for comment, a Trian spokesperson directed CNBC to a press release repeating its proxy recommendations and stating that Trian supports Iger as a candidate for the board and as CEO.Withholding its votes from Iger, however, is hardly a supportive move of his leadership, and it raises questions about how toxic of an environment the boardroom would be if Peltz is elected to the Disney board next month.Disney has nominated a slate of 12 directors, including Iger. Trian is officially recommending shareholders vote for Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and to withhold votes for Disney nominees Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman, who are current board members.Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle. The Disney board meeting will be held April 3, and Trian could change its vote between now and then.",CNBC,25/03/2024,"[""In this articleNelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management withheld its votes from Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger when voting its shares in the bitter proxy battle the asset management firm is waging against the entertainment giant, according to sources who monitor the situation."", 'The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.', ""However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board."", 'In recent weeks, Disney has stepped up its attacks on Trian and Peltz. ""', 'Correcting Trian\'s Fact With Fiction"" was the headline of a recent investor presentation from Disney, over a picture of Pinocchio with a growing nose.', '""Disney is stupid because I\'m not trying to fire Bob Iger, I want to help him,"" Peltz recently told the Financial Times. ""', ""We don't fire CEOs."", '""When asked for comment, a Trian spokesperson directed CNBC to a press release repeating its proxy recommendations and stating that Trian supports Iger as a candidate for the board and as CEO.Withholding its votes from Iger, however, is hardly a supportive move of his leadership, and it raises questions about how toxic of an environment the boardroom would be if Peltz is elected to the Disney board next month.', 'Disney has nominated a slate of 12 directors, including Iger.', 'Trian is officially recommending shareholders vote for Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and to withhold votes for Disney nominees Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman, who are current board members.', 'Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle.', 'The Disney board meeting will be held April 3, and Trian could change its vote between now and then.']",0.0365678119739758,"Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle.","The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.",-0.8371050159136454,,"However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board.",2024-03-26
"Lululemon shares plunge 16% on weak guidance, slowing North America growth",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/lululemon-lulu-earnings-q4-2023.html,2024-03-22T20:06:12+0000,"In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.Here's how the company did in its fourth fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Jan. 28 was $669.5 million, or $5.29 per share, compared with $119.8 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $3.21 billion, up about 16% from $2.77 billion a year earlier.Shares of Lululemon closed about 16% lower Friday. As of Friday's close, shares are down about 21% this year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500, which is up about 10% in that time.Like its peers, Lululemon has been grappling with uncertain demand and a slowdown in discretionary spending that's hit the apparel space particularly hard. Investors have watched how Lululemon performs in North America, its largest region by sales, as it laps tougher prior year comparisons and contends with consumers who are choosing experiences over goods like clothes and shoes. During the quarter, sales rose 9% in the Americas, compared to 29% growth in the year-ago period. While Lululemon is still growing in the region, the rate has slowed down significantly as Lululemon focuses on expanding internationally.""As you've heard from others in our industry, there has been a shift in the U.S. consumer behavior of late and we're navigating what has been a slower start to the year in this market,"" CEO Calvin McDonald said on a call with analysts Thursday. ""We view this as an opportunity to keep playing offense as we lean into investments that will continue our growth trajectory. Outside the U.S., our business remains strong.""McDonald added that both traffic and conversions are down in the U.S. He attributed that to a lack of products in sizes zero to four, key sizes for the U.S. customer base, and not enough colorful items.Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets.Comparable sales rose 12% during the quarter, just shy of the 12.3% uptick analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.For the current quarter, Lululemon expects net revenue to be between $2.18 billion and $2.20 billion, representing growth of 9% to 10%. Analysts were expecting a forecast of $2.25 billion, or growth of 12.5%, according to LSEG.It expects diluted earnings per share to be between $2.35 and $2.40, below the $2.55 analysts had expected, according to LSEG.For the full year, it expects sales to be between $10.7 billion and $10.8 billion, compared with estimates of $10.9 billion, according to LSEG.It anticipates diluted earnings per share will be between $14 and $14.20 for the year, compared to estimates of $14.13, according to LSEG.Lululemon has long been one of the market leaders for women's athletic apparel, but the Vancouver-based company is facing more competition than ever. Newer entrants like Alo Yoga and Vuori have been nipping at Lululemon's market share, and it's had to work harder to set itself apart in the more crowded category. The retailer has been working to build out its footwear offering and grow its men's business. During the quarter, it opened its first men's store in Beijing — a key growth market for the company. In February, it debuted its first men's sneaker, CityVerse, and plans to launch new running styles for both men and women as performance sneakers continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise stagnant shoewear market. Headed into the holidays, McDonald said Black Friday was the ""single biggest day"" in the company's history and he was ""encouraged"" by the trends he was seeing at the start of the season. But the retailer's holiday-quarter outlook came in a bit short of analysts' expectations. In January, it raised that guidance after it saw sales ""balanced across channels, categories, and geographies,"" finance chief Meghan Frank said in a news release. Read the full earnings release here.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market."", 'The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.', ""Here's how the company did in its fourth fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Jan. 28 was $669.5 million, or $5.29 per share, compared with $119.8 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier."", 'Sales rose to $3.21 billion, up about 16% from $2.77 billion a year earlier.', 'Shares of Lululemon closed about 16% lower Friday.', ""As of Friday's close, shares are down about 21% this year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500, which is up about 10% in that time."", ""Like its peers, Lululemon has been grappling with uncertain demand and a slowdown in discretionary spending that's hit the apparel space particularly hard."", 'Investors have watched how Lululemon performs in North America, its largest region by sales, as it laps tougher prior year comparisons and contends with consumers who are choosing experiences over goods like clothes and shoes.', 'During the quarter, sales rose 9% in the Americas, compared to 29% growth in the year-ago period.', 'While Lululemon is still growing in the region, the rate has slowed down significantly as Lululemon focuses on expanding internationally.', '""As you\'ve heard from others in our industry, there has been a shift in the U.S. consumer behavior of late and we\'re navigating what has been a slower start to the year in this market,"" CEO Calvin McDonald said on a call with analysts Thursday. ""', 'We view this as an opportunity to keep playing offense as we lean into investments that will continue our growth trajectory.', 'Outside the U.S., our business remains strong.', '""McDonald added that both traffic and conversions are down in the U.S. He attributed that to a lack of products in sizes zero to four, key sizes for the U.S. customer base, and not enough colorful items.', ""Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets."", 'Comparable sales rose 12% during the quarter, just shy of the 12.3% uptick analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'For the current quarter, Lululemon expects net revenue to be between $2.18 billion and $2.20 billion, representing growth of 9% to 10%.', ""Analysts were expecting a forecast of $2.25 billion, or growth of 12.5%, according to LSEG.It expects diluted earnings per share to be between $2.35 and $2.40, below the $2.55 analysts had expected, according to LSEG.For the full year, it expects sales to be between $10.7 billion and $10.8 billion, compared with estimates of $10.9 billion, according to LSEG.It anticipates diluted earnings per share will be between $14 and $14.20 for the year, compared to estimates of $14.13, according to LSEG.Lululemon has long been one of the market leaders for women's athletic apparel, but the Vancouver-based company is facing more competition than ever."", ""Newer entrants like Alo Yoga and Vuori have been nipping at Lululemon's market share, and it's had to work harder to set itself apart in the more crowded category."", ""The retailer has been working to build out its footwear offering and grow its men's business."", ""During the quarter, it opened its first men's store in Beijing — a key growth market for the company."", ""In February, it debuted its first men's sneaker, CityVerse, and plans to launch new running styles for both men and women as performance sneakers continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise stagnant shoewear market."", 'Headed into the holidays, McDonald said Black Friday was the ""single biggest day"" in the company\'s history and he was ""encouraged"" by the trends he was seeing at the start of the season.', ""But the retailer's holiday-quarter outlook came in a bit short of analysts' expectations."", 'In January, it raised that guidance after it saw sales ""balanced across channels, categories, and geographies,"" finance chief Meghan Frank said in a news release.', 'Read the full earnings release here.']",0.229511879571783,"The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.","In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.",0.0951000303030014,"Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets.","In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.",2024-03-26
United Airlines CEO tries to reassure customers after string of flight problems,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/18/united-ceo-tries-to-reassure-customers-after-string-of-flight-problems.html,2024-03-18T13:00:25+0000,"In this articleUnited Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Monday sought to reassure customers about the carrier's safety after a series of flight problems in recent weeks.In one incident this month, a tire fell from one of the carrier's Japan-bound Boeing 777s shortly after takeoff, damaging cars in a San Francisco airport parking lot. In another, a missing panel from the plane was discovered after the older Boeing 737 landed in Oregon on Friday.""Safety is our highest priority and is at the center of everything we do,"" Kirby said in an email to customers. ""Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety.""Kirby said the incidents, which the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, were ""all unrelated"" but that the team is reviewing the details ""and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups.""The string of recent mishaps occurred during heightened scrutiny of the aviation industry after a door plug panel blew off an Alaska Airlines' nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 on Jan. 5.On March 8, a United 737 Max plane rolled off a Houston runway. On March 4, a United Boeing 737 that was heading to Florida from Houston returned to the airport after the engine ingested plastic bubble wrap, with video on social media showing flames coming out of the engine.United's CEO said the airline had already planned to implement changes such as ""an extra day of in-person training for all pilots starting in May and a centralized training curriculum for our new-hire maintenance technicians.""""You can be confident that every time a United plane pulls away from the gate, everyone on our team is working together to keep you safe on your trip,"" Kirby wrote.",CNBC,18/03/2024,"[""In this articleUnited Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Monday sought to reassure customers about the carrier's safety after a series of flight problems in recent weeks."", ""In one incident this month, a tire fell from one of the carrier's Japan-bound Boeing 777s shortly after takeoff, damaging cars in a San Francisco airport parking lot."", 'In another, a missing panel from the plane was discovered after the older Boeing 737 landed in Oregon on Friday.', '""Safety is our highest priority and is at the center of everything we do,"" Kirby said in an email to customers. ""', 'Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety.', '""Kirby said the incidents, which the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, were ""all unrelated"" but that the team is reviewing the details ""and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups.', '""The string of recent mishaps occurred during heightened scrutiny of the aviation industry after a door plug panel blew off an Alaska Airlines\' nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 on Jan. 5.On March 8, a United 737 Max plane rolled off a Houston runway.', 'On March 4, a United Boeing 737 that was heading to Florida from Houston returned to the airport after the engine ingested plastic bubble wrap, with video on social media showing flames coming out of the engine.', 'United\'s CEO said the airline had already planned to implement changes such as ""an extra day of in-person training for all pilots starting in May and a centralized training curriculum for our new-hire maintenance technicians.', '""""You can be confident that every time a United plane pulls away from the gate, everyone on our team is working together to keep you safe on your trip,"" Kirby wrote.']",0.3142222269668697,"""""You can be confident that every time a United plane pulls away from the gate, everyone on our team is working together to keep you safe on your trip,"" Kirby wrote.","In one incident this month, a tire fell from one of the carrier's Japan-bound Boeing 777s shortly after takeoff, damaging cars in a San Francisco airport parking lot.",-0.1449467658996582,In this articleUnited Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Monday sought to reassure customers about the carrier's safety after a series of flight problems in recent weeks.,"Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety.",2024-03-26
Navy Federal says external review finds ‘non-race factors’ explained mortgage approval disparities,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/23/business/navy-federal-external-review-invs/index.html,"
  Published
        3:36 PM EDT, Sat March 23, 2024
    ","The nation’s largest credit union said this week that an external review found it hadn’t considered race in mortgage underwriting, responding to CNN’s previous reporting about racial gaps in its mortgage approval rates.
    
            Navy Federal Credit Union, which has more than 13 million members and lends to military servicemembers, Department of Defense personnel, veterans and their families, said a review it commissioned from a civil rights lawyer “found no race-based decision making in our mortgage underwriting” and that “legitimate, non-race factors” had largely explained racial differences in approval rates.
    
            A CNN investigation published in December found that Navy Federal approved more than 75% of the White borrowers who applied for a new conventional home purchase mortgage in 2022 while approving less than 50% of Black borrowers who applied for the same type of loan, according to the most recent federal data available from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
    
            The nearly 29-percentage-point gap in Navy Federal’s approval rates was the widest of any of the 50 lenders that originated the most mortgage loans in 2022. The disparity remained even after accounting for more than a dozen different variables available in public mortgage data, including applicants’ income, debt-to-income ratio and property value, CNN’s review found.
    
            In addition, an analysis by staff of the Senate Banking Committee, which 10 Democratic senators cited in a letter asking federal regulators to review Navy Federal’s mortgage lending earlier this year, also found racial disparities in Navy Federal’s mortgage approval rates based on the publicly available data.
    
            Navy Federal said Thursday that an analysis it had commissioned by lawyer Debo Adegbile, a former member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, found that those racial disparities were largely accounted for by examining “all non-public underwriting factors.”
    
            “Our review found that when all relevant factors are controlled for, which CNN did not do, the difference in approval rates between Black and White borrowers falls to less than 1%,” Adegbile said in a statement. “The remaining difference in approval rates is explained by legitimate, non-race factors like income verification and incomplete credit applications.” The analysis also accounted for other non-public factors including applicants’ credit scores, the statement said.
    
            A spokesperson for Navy Federal did not respond to a request for additional details about the analysis.
    
            As CNN previously reported, applicants’ credit scores are not available in the public mortgage data, and Navy Federal declined to provide CNN any data that would make it possible to analyze credit scores or other non-public factors.
    
            CNN’s analysis only included mortgage applications that were listed in the public data as being fully submitted and either approved or denied, and excluded those that were listed as “closed for incompleteness.” And while Navy Federal’s statement said its analysis included applicants’ debt-to-income ratios, CNN’s review also took those ratios, which are available in the public mortgage data, into account.
    
            Navy Federal described Adegbile’s analysis as an “external review,” but his law firm, WilmerHale, is also defending Navy Federal in a class-action lawsuit from Black and Latino borrowers who allege the credit union discriminated against them in mortgage applications.
    
            The same day that Navy Federal released a statement about the review, other lawyers from WilmerHale filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which had cited CNN’s reporting. Attorneys for the credit union argued that the “alleged statistical disparities” the plaintiffs had cited were not sufficient to prove discrimination, and that they “fail to identify any Navy Federal policy or practice that caused any disparity.”
    
            The lawyers also argued that agreements the plaintiffs had signed when they became members of the credit union had required them to give Navy Federal adequate notice before filing a lawsuit, and that most had not done so.
    
            Adegbile’s analysis was not included in Navy Federal’s motion to dismiss the case.
    
            The plaintiffs’ attorneys – Ben Crump, Adam Levitt, and Hassan Zavareei – said in a statement that it was “a classic conflict of interest” for Adegbile to review Navy Federal’s practices at the same time his firm was defending the credit union in court.
    
            “Navy Federal should immediately put out the full investigative report and data analysis so that Navy Federal’s members have an opportunity for themselves to review the findings,” the statement said.
    
            In its statement, Navy Federal also said it was “currently examining initiatives to build on our mission of expanding access to credit for our diverse community of members and continue our efforts to address systemic barriers to homeownership.”",CNN,23/03/2024,"['The nation’s largest credit union said this week that an external review found it hadn’tconsidered racein mortgage underwriting, responding to CNN’s previous reporting about racial gaps in its mortgage approval rates.', 'Navy Federal Credit Union, which has more than 13 million members and lends to military servicemembers, Department of Defense personnel, veterans and their families, said a review it commissioned from a civil rights lawyer “found no race-based decision making in our mortgage underwriting” and that “legitimate, non-race factors” had largely explained racial differences in approval rates.', 'A CNNinvestigationpublished in December found that Navy Federal approved more than 75% of the White borrowers who applied for a new conventional home purchase mortgage in 2022 while approving less than 50% of Black borrowers who applied for the same type of loan, according to the most recent federal data available from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.', 'The nearly 29-percentage-point gap in Navy Federal’s approval rates was the widest of any of the 50 lenders that originated the most mortgage loans in 2022.', 'The disparity remained even after accounting for more than a dozen different variables available in public mortgage data, including applicants’ income, debt-to-income ratio and property value, CNN’s review found.', 'In addition, an analysis by staff of the Senate Banking Committee, which10Democratic senators cited in a letterasking federal regulators to reviewNavy Federal’s mortgage lending earlier this year, also found racial disparities in Navy Federal’s mortgage approval rates based on the publicly available data.', 'Navy Federal said Thursday that an analysis it had commissioned by lawyer Debo Adegbile, a former member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, found that those racial disparities were largely accounted for by examining “all non-public underwriting factors.”', '“Our review found that when all relevant factors are controlled for, which CNN did not do, the difference in approval rates between Black and White borrowers falls to less than 1%,” Adegbile saidin a statement. “', 'The remaining difference in approval rates is explained by legitimate, non-race factors like income verification and incomplete credit applications.”', 'The analysis also accounted for other non-public factors including applicants’ credit scores, the statement said.', 'A spokesperson for Navy Federal did not respond to a request for additional details about the analysis.', 'As CNN previously reported, applicants’ credit scores are not available in the public mortgage data, and Navy Federal declined to provide CNN any data that would make it possible to analyze credit scores or other non-public factors.', 'CNN’s analysis only included mortgage applications that were listed in the public data as being fully submitted and either approved or denied, and excluded those that were listed as “closed for incompleteness.”', 'And while Navy Federal’s statement said its analysis included applicants’ debt-to-income ratios, CNN’s review also took those ratios, which are available in the public mortgage data, into account.', 'Navy Federal described Adegbile’s analysis as an “external review,” but his law firm,WilmerHale, is also defending Navy Federal in a class-action lawsuit from Black and Latino borrowers who allege the credit union discriminated against them in mortgage applications.', 'The same day that Navy Federal released a statement about the review, other lawyers from WilmerHale filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which had cited CNN’s reporting.', 'Attorneys for the credit union argued that the “alleged statistical disparities” the plaintiffs had cited were not sufficient to prove discrimination, and that they “fail to identify any Navy Federal policy or practice that caused any disparity.”', 'The lawyers also argued that agreements the plaintiffs had signed when they became members of the credit union had required them to give Navy Federal adequate notice before filing a lawsuit, and that most had not done so.', 'Adegbile’s analysis was not included in Navy Federal’s motion to dismiss the case.', 'The plaintiffs’ attorneys – Ben Crump, Adam Levitt, and Hassan Zavareei – said in a statement that it was “a classic conflict of interest” for Adegbile to review Navy Federal’s practices at the same time his firm was defending the credit union in court.', '“Navy Federal should immediately put out the full investigative report and data analysis so that Navy Federal’s members have an opportunity for themselves to review the findings,”the statementsaid.', 'In its statement, Navy Federal also said it was “currently examining initiatives to build on our mission of expanding access to credit for our diverse community of members and continue our efforts to address systemic barriers to homeownership.”']",0.2429838020083093,"The remaining difference in approval rates is explained by legitimate, non-race factors like income verification and incomplete credit applications.”","Attorneys for the credit union argued that the “alleged statistical disparities” the plaintiffs had cited were not sufficient to prove discrimination, and that they “fail to identify any Navy Federal policy or practice that caused any disparity.”",-0.4987203240394592,"In its statement, Navy Federal also said it was “currently examining initiatives to build on our mission of expanding access to credit for our diverse community of members and continue our efforts to address systemic barriers to homeownership.”","“Our review found that when all relevant factors are controlled for, which CNN did not do, the difference in approval rates between Black and White borrowers falls to less than 1%,” Adegbile saidin a statement. “",2024-03-26
What's behind Rishi Sunak's surprising optimism?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68634968,2024-03-22T22:02:52.000Z,"As I arrived in Downing Street to interview the prime minister earlier this week, his aides were whispering about some mysterious last minute ""artwork"" that was yet to appear. When Rishi Sunak walked into the room, a hitherto blank screen flashed with a multi-coloured line chart pointing downwards with the words ""Inflation. Halved"". Mr Sunak and his team are going to great effort to project a turnaround in the UK economy. In a wide-ranging interview on the economy, he spoke of turning points and bounceback, and insisted  it's ""not just me"" who saw green shoots of recovery up and down the country. ""Wages are up. Energy bills are falling. Pensions are going up. Tax cuts are now already happening and benefiting people. That all just gives me the confidence that the future is brighter,"" he said. ""2024 will prove to be a bounce back year for the UK economy.""  While his political position means the PM has no other choice than to say he expects a thumping economic recovery, I was somewhat taken aback by the extent of his sunny optimism. This buoyancy comes against a backdrop of consistently dire opinion polls for both Mr Sunak and the Conservative party, and the rapidly approaching local elections in England on 2 May. But the prime minister's eyes are focused on three other dates that month.  On the 10 May, the recession could be officially declared over, when GDP figures for January to March are expected to show that the economy is growing again.  On 22 May, we will get inflation figures for April, with the headline rate forecast to be below the Bank of England's 2% target for the first time in three years. But it is the next interest rate decision on 9 May that may explain Mr Sunak's sanguineness.  Up until this week, the expectation has been that an interest rate cut would come in the summer or later, when the Bank was absolutely sure that the inflation shock had been defeated.   But Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey went further in his interview with me on behalf of UK broadcasters on Thursday after rates were left unchanged at 5.25%, their highest for 16 years. When I asked him whey he had not cut rates yet, he replied: ""We're on the way."" He said that the Bank did not have to wait until after inflation was below 2% to cut. He also said that market predictions of two or three cuts were ""reasonable"". So a cut is now in play for May. Both the PM and the chancellor have been at pains not to actually tell the independent Bank of England what to do. That said, one can only imagine the rain dances being done in Downing Street for a series of rate cuts before a general election.  Yet when I was near Crewe earlier this week and asked I asked businesses and families whether they were seeing a turnaround or even stabilisation in the cost of living crisis, I got a uniformly negative response. Shaine Ashley Tench, who runs A Star Taxis, said a recent quote to insure his fleet was in the tens of thousands. ""We can't just put that onto the customers' price, because we need to be an affordable, reliable taxi company in this area,"" he said.  A second-hand car salesman told me some customers were telling him they could afford a car but were put off buying because of insurance costs. At the Wheelock Hall farm shop, a man told me the standing charge on his energy bills had gone up and his car insurance had doubled. ""It's getting worse,"" he said.  A nurse conceded that her gas and electric prices had stopped rising, but said: ""It's not getting better, it's just stopped getting worse."" She then listed all the other bills that will go up in April - mobile phone, broadband, water and council tax. The psychology of personal finances is very interesting. Can people really feel a declining inflation rate as good news or is that outweighed by prices being much higher than they were? And would a household feel it more if they had smaller bills but with above-inflation price rises, or if they saw a fall in their large energy bill? In Downing Street, they point out that members of the public on radio phone-ins or TV are bound to find some areas where they feel personal finance pain.  But the way this has been measured across the economy for decades has been by consumer confidence numbers. The GfK measure of overall consumer confidence is still in clear negative territory, but in new numbers for March, people's perceptions of their own personal finances over the next 12 months went positive for the first time since January 2022.  It is a chart being followed very carefully by the prime minister. For the Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the situation is clear. The economic situation is grim in absolute and relative terms, and whoever wins the upcoming election will inherit the worst overall set of circumstances since World War Two. In a lecture this week, she firmly committed to get debt falling in five years' time, taking on the same self imposed straitjacket that currently constrains the Conservative government.  Much was made of her comment about a 1979 moment, suggesting Thatcherite reforms. This reference, she told me, was about cutting red tape on planning to allow more new homes. But in the absence of huge government investments, the heavy lifting that would need to be done by planning reform would be huge. Each of my questions about what this might mean for public spending or tax cuts was met with an answer about the need to get growth.  The opposition remains very cautious on policy details, wary of doing anything risky to endanger the precious poll lead in the months before the election.  Could that really be sustained if there is a widely felt turnaround, a series of interest rate cuts and the end of the UK recession? Back in Downing Street I put to the PM that even if there was a turnaround his problem was that the mini-budget with £45bn of unfunded tax cuts had trashed the economic credibility of his party in the eyes of key swathes of the electorate, especially those who had taken on mortgages in the near-zero rate era.  He replied that the economy was dealing with ""lots of different challenges"" and pointed to his pandemic furlough scheme as evidence he ""knows how to run the economy"". I also asked him if he was infuriated that plotting in his party aimed at removing him from office was coming from some of the same people who backed the mini-budget. He didn't dispute the premise of the question, laughing: ""These things don't infuriate me, because fundamentally I'm just not interested in Westminster gossip."" When I asked him if he would still be PM after the local elections in May, he laughed and said yes. He has lasted longer than the last person I asked that question, then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng who was fired a day later. So the recession over, inflation below target, the first of two or three interest rate cuts over summer, helping consumers over summer and offering space for pre-election tax cuts in September. The more hazily optimistic Conservative strategists might throw in Harry Kane lifting the Euros in Berlin in July. The reality is that a window for some sort of change in the economic weather does appear to be opening up. But the real question is whether it happens quickly and visibly enough to shift the dial with the electorate.  ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['As I arrived in Downing Street to interview the prime minister earlier this week, his aides were whispering about some mysterious last minute ""artwork"" that was yet to appear.', 'When Rishi Sunak walked into the room, a hitherto blank screen flashed with a multi-coloured line chart pointing downwards with the words ""Inflation.', 'Halved"".', 'Mr Sunak and his team are going to great effort to project a turnaround in the UK economy.', 'In a wide-ranging interview on the economy, he spoke of turning points and bounceback, and insisted it\'s ""not just me"" who saw green shoots of recovery up and down the country. ""', 'Wages are up.', 'Energy bills are falling.', 'Pensions are going up.', 'Tax cuts are now already happening and benefiting people.', 'That all just gives me the confidence that the future is brighter,"" he said. ""', '2024 will prove to be a bounce back year for the UK economy.""', 'While his political position means the PM has no other choice than to say he expects a thumping economic recovery, I was somewhat taken aback by the extent of his sunny optimism.', 'This buoyancy comes against a backdrop of consistently dire opinion polls for both Mr Sunak and the Conservative party, and the rapidly approaching local elections in England on 2 May.', ""But the prime minister's eyes are focused on three other dates that month."", 'On the 10 May, the recession could be officially declared over, when GDP figures for January to March are expected to show that the economy is growing again.', ""On 22 May, we will get inflation figures for April, with the headline rate forecast to be below the Bank of England's 2% target for the first time in three years."", ""But it is the next interest rate decision on 9 May that may explain Mr Sunak's sanguineness."", 'Up until this week, the expectation has been that an interest rate cut would come in the summer or later, when the Bank was absolutely sure that the inflation shock had been defeated.', 'But Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey went further in his interview with me on behalf of UK broadcasters on Thursday after rates were left unchanged at 5.25%, their highest for 16 years.', 'When I asked him whey he had not cut rates yet, he replied: ""We\'re on the way.""', 'He said that the Bank did not have to wait until after inflation was below 2% to cut.', 'He also said that market predictions of two or three cuts were ""reasonable"".', 'So a cut is now in play for May.', 'Both the PM and the chancellor have been at pains not to actually tell the independent Bank of England what to do.', 'That said, one can only imagine the rain dances being done in Downing Street for a series of rate cuts before a general election.', 'Yet when I was near Crewe earlier this week and asked I asked businesses and families whether they were seeing a turnaround or even stabilisation in the cost of living crisis, I got a uniformly negative response.', 'Shaine Ashley Tench, who runs A Star Taxis, said a recent quote to insure his fleet was in the tens of thousands. ""', 'We can\'t just put that onto the customers\' price, because we need to be an affordable, reliable taxi company in this area,"" he said.', 'A second-hand car salesman told me some customers were telling him they could afford a car but were put off buying because of insurance costs.', 'At the Wheelock Hall farm shop, a man told me the standing charge on his energy bills had gone up and his car insurance had doubled. ""', 'It\'s getting worse,"" he said.', 'A nurse conceded that her gas and electric prices had stopped rising, but said: ""It\'s not getting better, it\'s just stopped getting worse.""', 'She then listed all the other bills that will go up in April - mobile phone, broadband, water and council tax.', 'The psychology of personal finances is very interesting.', 'Can people really feel a declining inflation rate as good news or is that outweighed by prices being much higher than they were?', 'And would a household feel it more if they had smaller bills but with above-inflation price rises, or if they saw a fall in their large energy bill?', 'In Downing Street, they point out that members of the public on radio phone-ins or TV are bound to find some areas where they feel personal finance pain.', 'But the way this has been measured across the economy for decades has been by consumer confidence numbers.', ""The GfK measure of overall consumer confidence is still in clear negative territory, but in new numbers for March, people's perceptions of their own personal finances over the next 12 months went positive for the first time since January 2022."", 'It is a chart being followed very carefully by the prime minister.', 'For the Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the situation is clear.', 'The economic situation is grim in absolute and relative terms, and whoever wins the upcoming election will inherit the worst overall set of circumstances since World War Two.', ""In a lecture this week, she firmly committed to get debt falling in five years' time, taking on the same self imposed straitjacket that currently constrains the Conservative government."", 'Much was made of her comment about a 1979 moment, suggesting Thatcherite reforms.', 'This reference, she told me, was about cutting red tape on planning to allow more new homes.', 'But in the absence of huge government investments, the heavy lifting that would need to be done by planning reform would be huge.', 'Each of my questions about what this might mean for public spending or tax cuts was met with an answer about the need to get growth.', 'The opposition remains very cautious on policy details, wary of doing anything risky to endanger the precious poll lead in the months before the election.', 'Could that really be sustained if there is a widely felt turnaround, a series of interest rate cuts and the end of the UK recession?', 'Back in Downing Street I put to the PM that even if there was a turnaround his problem was that the mini-budget with £45bn of unfunded tax cuts had trashed the economic credibility of his party in the eyes of key swathes of the electorate, especially those who had taken on mortgages in the near-zero rate era.', 'He replied that the economy was dealing with ""lots of different challenges"" and pointed to his pandemic furlough scheme as evidence he ""knows how to run the economy"".', 'I also asked him if he was infuriated that plotting in his party aimed at removing him from office was coming from some of the same people who backed the mini-budget.', 'He didn\'t dispute the premise of the question, laughing: ""These things don\'t infuriate me, because fundamentally I\'m just not interested in Westminster gossip.""', 'When I asked him if he would still be PM after the local elections in May, he laughed and said yes.', 'He has lasted longer than the last person I asked that question, then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng who was fired a day later.', 'So the recession over, inflation below target, the first of two or three interest rate cuts over summer, helping consumers over summer and offering space for pre-election tax cuts in September.', 'The more hazily optimistic Conservative strategists might throw in Harry Kane lifting the Euros in Berlin in July.', 'The reality is that a window for some sort of change in the economic weather does appear to be opening up.', 'But the real question is whether it happens quickly and visibly enough to shift the dial with the electorate.']",0.0218438050700673,"The GfK measure of overall consumer confidence is still in clear negative territory, but in new numbers for March, people's perceptions of their own personal finances over the next 12 months went positive for the first time since January 2022.","A nurse conceded that her gas and electric prices had stopped rising, but said: ""It's not getting better, it's just stopped getting worse.""",0.2502892223688272,"2024 will prove to be a bounce back year for the UK economy.""","The economic situation is grim in absolute and relative terms, and whoever wins the upcoming election will inherit the worst overall set of circumstances since World War Two.",2024-03-26
Powerball jackpot soared to an estimated $750 million after no top winners Wednesday,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/business/powerball-jackpot-drawing/index.html,"
  Published
        4:15 AM EDT, Thu March 21, 2024
    ","The Powerball jackpot soared to an estimated $750 million after no ticket matched all six numbers to nab the grand prize Wednesday, according to the lottery’s website.
    
            Wednesday’s winning numbers were 13, 22, 27, 54, 66 and Powerball 9.
    
            The now larger jackpot – with an estimated cash value of $357.3 million – will be up for grabs during the next drawing on Saturday, according to Powerball’s website.
    
            The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million. Since then, there have been 34 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner, according to the lottery.
    
            Although there was no jackpot winner Wednesday, 27 players won at least $50,000, according to the lottery.
    
            The overall odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 24.9. But the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball’s website.
    
            The Powerball jackpot isn’t the only lottery prize that’s been growing this week. No one won the Mega Millions jackpot during Tuesday’s drawing, sending the grand prize for Friday’s drawing to an estimated $977 million, according to Mega Millions.",CNN,21/03/2024,"['The Powerball jackpot soared to an estimated $750 million after no ticket matched all six numbers to nab the grand prize Wednesday, according to thelottery’s website.', 'Wednesday’s winning numbers were 13, 22, 27, 54, 66 and Powerball 9.', 'The now larger jackpot – with an estimated cash value of $357.3 million – will be up for grabs during the next drawing on Saturday, according to Powerball’s website.', 'The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million.', 'Since then, there have been 34 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner, according to the lottery.', 'Although there was no jackpot winner Wednesday, 27 players won at least $50,000, according tothe lottery.', 'The overall odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 24.9.', 'But the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball’s website.', 'The Powerball jackpot isn’t the only lottery prize that’s been growing this week.', 'No one won the Mega Millions jackpot during Tuesday’s drawing, sending the grand prize for Friday’s drawing to an estimated $977 million, according toMega Millions.']",0.5869007059546159,"The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million.",,0.999567210674286,"The Powerball jackpot soared to an estimated $750 million after no ticket matched all six numbers to nab the grand prize Wednesday, according to thelottery’s website.",,2024-03-26
Labour targets floating wind farms to boost energy security,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68654098,2024-03-25T10:43:46.000Z,"Labour is planning to invest in building floating wind farms off Britain's coast to reduce the UK's reliance on foreign energy.  Sir Keir Starmer has announced Labour will set up a state-owned firm with a £8.3bn budget which it claims will help cut energy bills and create jobs. Labour has pledged to decarbonise the UK by 2030, while the Conservatives target 2035 for net zero energy supply. The Tories said Labour's plan was ""unfunded"" and would mean higher taxes. Ahead of a general election, Labour and the Conservatives have pledged to make the UK's energy supply more secure after the price shocks that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At a port in North Wales, Sir Keir announced on Monday that Great British Energy, a publicly-owned company, will fund the construction of floating offshore wind farms. ""In an increasingly insecure world, with tyrants using energy as an economic weapon, Britain must take back control of our national energy security."" he will say.   The most recent figures show that the UK imported nearly 40% of its energy in 2022.  Sir Keir said: ""Here in Wales, the potential for offshore wind is enormous, and the UK Tory government is squandering it. With public investment through Great British Energy we can unlock billions more in private investment to turbocharge jobs and growth for Wales.""   But Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, said ""Sir Keir Starmer can't say what he will do to protect our energy security because he does not have a plan - he set out a 2030 decarbonisation promise, which Labour themselves costed at £28bn without a plan to pay for it.""  Labour recently dropped a pledge to spend £28bn a year on environmental projects if it wins the general election, which must be held by 28 January, 2025. Sir Keir blamed the ""damage the Tories have done to the economy"" for the U-turn. But he promised to stick to other commitments including battery factories and wind farms with British-made turbines. He also stood by Labour's 2030 timeline, telling the BBC that while it was a ""difficult target"" it is ""important"", adding that it is key to have a deadline to work towards. Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party, described Labour's £8.3bn investment plan as ""a drop in the ocean"". ""Especially since it follows the Party ditching its £28bn a year green investment plan,"" he said. ""The Green Party would invest whatever is needed to turbocharge the move to renewables, ensuring wind provides around 70% of the UK's electricity by 2030.""  Floating wind farms are a relatively new means of generating renewable energy with very few in operation. The first was built off the coast of Peterhead in Scotland and consists of five wind turbines, led by Norwegian firm Equinor. Floating farms allow turbines to be placed further out at sea, where wind speeds may be greater, unlike traditional wind farms which are fixed to the seabed usually in waters less than 60 metres deep. The floating turbines off the coast of Aberdeen are kept in place using three suction anchors attached to each turbine.    As well as offshore wind, Labour said they would veto any new oil and gas licences in UK waters if elected.  The Conservatives plan to continue granting fossil fuel permits and have a 2035 target for net zero energy supplies. The government insists that rejecting future UK based oil and gas production will cost jobs and jeopardise UK energy security. Sir Keir said: ""So far as oil and gas licenses are concerned, we've been very clear we're not going to revoke or interfere with any existing licenses so they will be a part of the mix for decades to come. ""But clean power is the way to ensure we get lower bills for the long term, that we get the stability and security we need, so Putin can't put his boot on our throat, but crucially so we get the next generation of jobs.""  The Liberal Democrats also back a 2030 target for net zero energy supplies. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey told the BBC: ""We are super-committed to fast-tracking action on net zero, not least because it could both reduce people's energy bills and make the UK more energy independent.""  Plaid Cymru described Labour's plan as ""unambitious"" and ""re-hashed"". Labour first announced its plan to create the Great British Energy company in September 2022.  ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""Labour is planning to invest in building floating wind farms off Britain's coast to reduce the UK's reliance on foreign energy."", 'Sir Keir Starmer has announced Labour will set up a state-owned firm with a £8.3bn budget which it claims will help cut energy bills and create jobs.', 'Labour has pledged to decarbonise the UK by 2030, while the Conservatives target 2035 for net zero energy supply.', 'The Tories said Labour\'s plan was ""unfunded"" and would mean higher taxes.', ""Ahead of a general election, Labour and the Conservatives have pledged to make the UK's energy supply more secure after the price shocks that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine."", 'At a port in North Wales, Sir Keir announced on Monday that Great British Energy, a publicly-owned company, will fund the construction of floating offshore wind farms. ""', 'In an increasingly insecure world, with tyrants using energy as an economic weapon, Britain must take back control of our national energy security.""', 'he will say.', 'The most recent figures show that the UK imported nearly 40% of its energy in 2022.', 'Sir Keir said: ""Here in Wales, the potential for offshore wind is enormous, and the UK Tory government is squandering it.', 'With public investment through Great British Energy we can unlock billions more in private investment to turbocharge jobs and growth for Wales.""', 'But Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, said ""Sir Keir Starmer can\'t say what he will do to protect our energy security because he does not have a plan - he set out a 2030 decarbonisation promise, which Labour themselves costed at £28bn without a plan to pay for it.""', 'Labour recently dropped a pledge to spend £28bn a year on environmental projects if it wins the general election, which must be held by 28 January, 2025.', 'Sir Keir blamed the ""damage the Tories have done to the economy"" for the U-turn.', 'But he promised to stick to other commitments including battery factories and wind farms with British-made turbines.', 'He also stood by Labour\'s 2030 timeline, telling the BBC that while it was a ""difficult target"" it is ""important"", adding that it is key to have a deadline to work towards.', 'Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party, described Labour\'s £8.3bn investment plan as ""a drop in the ocean"". ""', 'Especially since it follows the Party ditching its £28bn a year green investment plan,"" he said. ""', 'The Green Party would invest whatever is needed to turbocharge the move to renewables, ensuring wind provides around 70% of the UK\'s electricity by 2030.""', 'Floating wind farms are a relatively new means of generating renewable energy with very few in operation.', 'The first was built off the coast of Peterhead in Scotland and consists of five wind turbines, led by Norwegian firm Equinor.', 'Floating farms allow turbines to be placed further out at sea, where wind speeds may be greater, unlike traditional wind farms which are fixed to the seabed usually in waters less than 60 metres deep.', 'The floating turbines off the coast of Aberdeen are kept in place using three suction anchors attached to each turbine.', 'As well as offshore wind, Labour said they would veto any new oil and gas licences in UK waters if elected.', 'The Conservatives plan to continue granting fossil fuel permits and have a 2035 target for net zero energy supplies.', 'The government insists that rejecting future UK based oil and gas production will cost jobs and jeopardise UK energy security.', 'Sir Keir said: ""So far as oil and gas licenses are concerned, we\'ve been very clear we\'re not going to revoke or interfere with any existing licenses so they will be a part of the mix for decades to come. ""', 'But clean power is the way to ensure we get lower bills for the long term, that we get the stability and security we need, so Putin can\'t put his boot on our throat, but crucially so we get the next generation of jobs.""', 'The Liberal Democrats also back a 2030 target for net zero energy supplies.', 'Lib Dem leader Ed Davey told the BBC: ""We are super-committed to fast-tracking action on net zero, not least because it could both reduce people\'s energy bills and make the UK more energy independent.""', 'Plaid Cymru described Labour\'s plan as ""unambitious"" and ""re-hashed"".', 'Labour first announced its plan to create the Great British Energy company in September 2022.']",0.3330050137693183,"But Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, said ""Sir Keir Starmer can't say what he will do to protect our energy security because he does not have a plan - he set out a 2030 decarbonisation promise, which Labour themselves costed at £28bn without a plan to pay for it.""","Sir Keir blamed the ""damage the Tories have done to the economy"" for the U-turn.",0.0648311422421382,"Ahead of a general election, Labour and the Conservatives have pledged to make the UK's energy supply more secure after the price shocks that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine.","Sir Keir blamed the ""damage the Tories have done to the economy"" for the U-turn.",2024-03-26
Fanatics fires back at DraftKings' claims of corporate espionage in bitter legal battle,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/fanatics-fires-back-at-draftkings-claims-of-corporate-espionage.html,2024-03-22T12:57:12+0000,"In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive.In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.In February, Hermalyn accepted a position as the president of Fanatics VIP and head of Fanatics' Los Angeles office. He reports directly to CEO Michael Rubin.DraftKings is suing Hermalyn in federal court, arguing he downloaded confidential company documents and tried to recruit other employees away from DraftKings.Fanatics alleges in its filing that DraftKings has a ""culture of retribution"" and is making an example of Hermalyn to instill fear in other ""DK employees looking to jump ship.""By its count, 186 DraftKings employees have applied to work at Fanatics since the company announced in 2021 it would launch a sportsbook, according to the filing.In the rapidly expanding sports gambling industry, Fanatics is the newcomer, late to the game but backed by billionaire Rubin and an enviable database of customers who buy team jerseys and ball caps online or sports memorabilia through its collectibles business.DraftKings ranks No. 2 in sports betting market share, behind FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter. But those two leaders dominate, with roughly 80% market share between them.And the competition is fierce — with even well-known gambling brands like Caesars and BetMGM fighting for customers' dollars. They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier. Much of that is proprietary.But sports gamblers are notoriously promiscuous. They chase promotions or the best odds and many have more than one betting app downloaded on their phones.The most valuable customers, the VIPs, work with casino or sportsbook hosts, who build relationships and try to engender loyalty.DraftKings alleges Hermalyn reached out to one of DraftKings' most valuable customers to alert him that Hermalyn would be leaving his employer.""The evidence against Mr. Hermalyn is open-and-shut. He stole valuable trade secrets, destroyed evidence to cover his tracks and then lied about it all,"" said Orin Snyder, an attorney with Gibson Dunn representing DraftKings, in a statement to CNBC on Thursday.In a brief filed March 14, DraftKings details what it describes as corporate espionage. Fanatics, it insists, is trying to steal its VIPs, its valuable employees and its strategy to clone DraftKings' business.Fanatics in its response vehemently denies those allegations, and says DraftKings is intentionally distorting reality and engaging in character assassination.""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.DraftKings had petitioned the court to keep Hermalyn from working for Fanatics. The judge declined that petition but issued a temporary restraining order to keep Hermalyn from soliciting clients or employees from his former employer.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive."", 'In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.', ""In February, Hermalyn accepted a position as the president of Fanatics VIP and head of Fanatics' Los Angeles office."", 'He reports directly to CEO Michael Rubin.', 'DraftKings is suing Hermalyn in federal court, arguing he downloaded confidential company documents and tried to recruit other employees away from DraftKings.', 'Fanatics alleges in its filing that DraftKings has a ""culture of retribution"" and is making an example of Hermalyn to instill fear in other ""DK employees looking to jump ship.', '""By its count, 186 DraftKings employees have applied to work at Fanatics since the company announced in 2021 it would launch a sportsbook, according to the filing.', 'In the rapidly expanding sports gambling industry, Fanatics is the newcomer, late to the game but backed by billionaire Rubin and an enviable database of customers who buy team jerseys and ball caps online or sports memorabilia through its collectibles business.', 'DraftKings ranks No.', '2 in sports betting market share, behind FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter.', 'But those two leaders dominate, with roughly 80% market share between them.', ""And the competition is fierce — with even well-known gambling brands like Caesars and BetMGM fighting for customers' dollars."", ""They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier."", 'Much of that is proprietary.', 'But sports gamblers are notoriously promiscuous.', 'They chase promotions or the best odds and many have more than one betting app downloaded on their phones.', 'The most valuable customers, the VIPs, work with casino or sportsbook hosts, who build relationships and try to engender loyalty.', ""DraftKings alleges Hermalyn reached out to one of DraftKings' most valuable customers to alert him that Hermalyn would be leaving his employer."", '""The evidence against Mr. Hermalyn is open-and-shut.', 'He stole valuable trade secrets, destroyed evidence to cover his tracks and then lied about it all,"" said Orin Snyder, an attorney with Gibson Dunn representing DraftKings, in a statement to CNBC on Thursday.', 'In a brief filed March 14, DraftKings details what it describes as corporate espionage.', ""Fanatics, it insists, is trying to steal its VIPs, its valuable employees and its strategy to clone DraftKings' business."", 'Fanatics in its response vehemently denies those allegations, and says DraftKings is intentionally distorting reality and engaging in character assassination.', '""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.', 'DraftKings had petitioned the court to keep Hermalyn from working for Fanatics.', 'The judge declined that petition but issued a temporary restraining order to keep Hermalyn from soliciting clients or employees from his former employer.']",0.052403567887878,"""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.","In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.",0.0735168606042862,"They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier.",In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive.,2024-03-26
"Apple, Meta and Google to be investigated by the EU",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68655093,2024-03-25T10:14:12.000Z,"The EU has announced investigations into some of the biggest tech firms in the world over uncompetitive practices. Meta, Apple, and Alphabet, which owns Google, are being looked into for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) introduced in 2022. If they are found to have broken the rules, the firms can face huge fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover. EU antitrust boss Margrethe Vestager and industry head Thierry Breton announced the investigations on Monday. Just six companies have obligations under the DMA, but they are also the world's largest tech firms: Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance.  None of the firms are actually based in Europe - five of them are in the US, while ByteDance has headquarters in Beijing. Three of them are now facing questions just two weeks after submitting their compliance reports, which will have been meticulously compiled.  It comes three weeks after the EU fined Apple €1.8bn (£1.5bn) for breaking competition laws over music streaming. Meanwhile, the United States accused Apple of monopolising the smartphone market in a landmark lawsuit against the tech giant introduced last week. An Apple spokesperson says the company will constructively engage with the investigation and that they're confident that their plan complies with the Digital Markets Act.  They added that their teams established a variety of mechanisms to comply with the EU's landmark legislation, as well as privacy and security protections for EU users. ""Throughout, we've demonstrated flexibility and responsiveness to the European Commission and developers, listening and incorporating their feedback,"" they said. Meanwhile a Meta spokesperson said the firm's use of subscriptions as an alternative to advertising were ""a well-established business model across many industries"". ""We designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA... we will continue to engage constructively with the Commission,"" they said. Alphabet has been approached for comment. The EU said it will investigate five different possible acts of non-compliance in its announcement: The first two of these investigations concern what is known as ""anti-steering"" - and the EU says it believes the firms are making it difficult for apps to tell users about ways to pay less for their services outside of using app stores' own payment methods. Under the third point, the EU says that Apple is obliged to allow users to easily uninstall apps on their devices, change default settings and be given ""choice screens"" to let them use different browsers or search engines. The EU says Apple's web browser ""choice screen"" does not give people enough choice, and said that some apps, such as Apple Photos, cannot be deleted at all. According to Ms Vestager, the investigation will take around 12 months to complete - though Mr Breton later clarified it could take slightly longer. ""We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA,"" she said.  ""We will now investigate the companies' compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe."" The five cases are consumer-focused, and highly relatable to most people who use products from these companies, which is collectively billions of people worldwide.  ""We're talking about the protection of our citizens, we can't just sit around and wait,"" said Thierry Breton, of the EU's decision to act straight away.  There is however another reason potentially in mind: European Parliament elections are due to be held in June 2024. Dr Rupprecht Podszun, director of the Institute for Competition Law at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, called it ""a strong signal"" from the EU. ""The DMA is designed for quick results,"" he said.  ""The cases that the Commission has selected go to the heart of the business models; these are not marginal issues for the gatekeepers. ""The legal battles will be tense, but we must always bear in mind that the Court of Justice will have the last word."" ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['The EU has announced investigations into some of the biggest tech firms in the world over uncompetitive practices.', 'Meta, Apple, and Alphabet, which owns Google, are being looked into for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) introduced in 2022.', 'If they are found to have broken the rules, the firms can face huge fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover.', 'EU antitrust boss Margrethe Vestager and industry head Thierry Breton announced the investigations on Monday.', ""Just six companies have obligations under the DMA, but they are also the world's largest tech firms: Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance."", 'None of the firms are actually based in Europe - five of them are in the US, while ByteDance has headquarters in Beijing.', 'Three of them are now facing questions just two weeks after submitting their compliance reports, which will have been meticulously compiled.', 'It comes three weeks after the EU fined Apple €1.8bn (£1.5bn) for breaking competition laws over music streaming.', 'Meanwhile, the United States accused Apple of monopolising the smartphone market in a landmark lawsuit against the tech giant introduced last week.', ""An Apple spokesperson says the company will constructively engage with the investigation and that they're confident that their plan complies with the Digital Markets Act."", 'They added that their teams established a variety of mechanisms to comply with the EU\'s landmark legislation, as well as privacy and security protections for EU users. ""', 'Throughout, we\'ve demonstrated flexibility and responsiveness to the European Commission and developers, listening and incorporating their feedback,"" they said.', 'Meanwhile a Meta spokesperson said the firm\'s use of subscriptions as an alternative to advertising were ""a well-established business model across many industries"". ""', 'We designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA... we will continue to engage constructively with the Commission,"" they said.', 'Alphabet has been approached for comment.', 'The EU said it will investigate five different possible acts of non-compliance in its announcement: The first two of these investigations concern what is known as ""anti-steering"" - and the EU says it believes the firms are making it difficult for apps to tell users about ways to pay less for their services outside of using app stores\' own payment methods.', 'Under the third point, the EU says that Apple is obliged to allow users to easily uninstall apps on their devices, change default settings and be given ""choice screens"" to let them use different browsers or search engines.', 'The EU says Apple\'s web browser ""choice screen"" does not give people enough choice, and said that some apps, such as Apple Photos, cannot be deleted at all.', 'According to Ms Vestager, the investigation will take around 12 months to complete - though Mr Breton later clarified it could take slightly longer. ""', 'We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA,"" she said. ""', 'We will now investigate the companies\' compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe.""', 'The five cases are consumer-focused, and highly relatable to most people who use products from these companies, which is collectively billions of people worldwide. ""', 'We\'re talking about the protection of our citizens, we can\'t just sit around and wait,"" said Thierry Breton, of the EU\'s decision to act straight away.', 'There is however another reason potentially in mind: European Parliament elections are due to be held in June 2024.', 'Dr Rupprecht Podszun, director of the Institute for Competition Law at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, called it ""a strong signal"" from the EU. ""', 'The DMA is designed for quick results,"" he said. ""', 'The cases that the Commission has selected go to the heart of the business models; these are not marginal issues for the gatekeepers. ""', 'The legal battles will be tense, but we must always bear in mind that the Court of Justice will have the last word.""']",0.138138048675327,An Apple spokesperson says the company will constructively engage with the investigation and that they're confident that their plan complies with the Digital Markets Act.,"The EU said it will investigate five different possible acts of non-compliance in its announcement: The first two of these investigations concern what is known as ""anti-steering"" - and the EU says it believes the firms are making it difficult for apps to tell users about ways to pay less for their services outside of using app stores' own payment methods.",-0.0400070614284939,"Dr Rupprecht Podszun, director of the Institute for Competition Law at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, called it ""a strong signal"" from the EU. ""","If they are found to have broken the rules, the firms can face huge fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover.",2024-03-26
Apple lawsuit: US accuses tech giant of monopolising smartphone market,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68628989,2024-03-21T14:41:20.000Z,"The US has filed a landmark lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of monopolising the smartphone market and crushing competition. In the legal action, the justice department alleges the company abused its control of the iPhone app store to ""lock in"" customers and developers.  It accuses the firm of taking illegal steps to thwart apps seen as a threat and make rival products less appealing. Apple has vowed to ""vigorously"" fight the lawsuit and denies the claims. The sprawling complaint, filed at a federal court in New Jersey along with the attorneys general of 16 states, marks one of the biggest challenges to date for Apple, which has been fending off mounting complaints about its practices in recent years.  It alleges that Apple used ""a series of shapeshifting rules"" and restricted access to its hardware and software, in a bid to boost its own profits while raising costs for customers and stifling innovation. ""Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits but by violating federal anti-trust law,"" Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference announcing the suit.  ""Customers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law."" The 88-page complaint focuses on five areas where Apple allegedly abused its power.  For example, the US alleges that Apple used its app review process to thwart development of so-called super apps and streaming apps, because it was worried such apps would provide less incentive for customers to stick with iPhones.  It also says Apple has made it difficult to connect iPhones to smart watches made by rivals and blocked banks and other financial firms from accessing its tap-to-pay technology, allowing Apple to earn billions in fees from processing Apple Pay transactions.   The complaint also focuses on the way Apple treats messages sent from rival phones, distinguishing them with green bubbles and limiting videos and other features. It says Apple's moves have created ""social stigma"" that has helped the tech giant maintain its grip on the market.  Apple said customers were loyal because they were happy and that under US law it was free to choose its business partners. It has pointed to privacy and security concerns to justify its rules.  The company said it would ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit, which it predicted would fail.  ""We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it,"" the company said.  The case will hinge on the question of motivation, said Bill Baer, a visiting fellow at Brookings who was an anti-trust official under the Obama administration. ""Anti-trust laws and the courts' interpretation of them suggest that once you're a monopolist,"" he said, ""if you do engage in behaviours that have no legitimate business justification other than to limit competition and cement your monopoly, then that is problematic."" It is the third legal action Apple has faced from the US government since 2009 and the first anti-trust challenge filed against the company under President Joe Biden's administration. If the government wins its case, it could force Apple to overhaul its current contracts and practices - or even lead to a break-up of the company.  Shares in Apple fell more than 4% as investors digested the implications of the legal battle. Any potential changes would take years to materialise as the case makes its way through the courts.  Vanderbilt University professor Rebecca Allensworth called the case ""a blockbuster"", following other lawsuits the justice department has brought against the major tech giants. Google, Meta and Amazon all face similar lawsuits.  She said at its core, it was about increasing functionality between smartphones and making the technology and software more accessible to consumers and other businesses. ""It's not about breaking up Apple into small units or spinning off divisions,"" she said.  Apple has faced a growing legal backlash over its iOS ecosystem and business practices.  It is engaged in a lengthy legal battle with Epic Games, which makes Fortnite.  Last month, it was fined €1.8bn (£1.5bn) by the EU for breaking competition laws over music streaming. The firm had prevented streaming services from informing users of payment options outside the Apple app store, the European Commission said. Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Apple had abused its dominant position in the market for a decade, and ordered the tech giant to remove all of the restrictions. Apple said it would appeal against the decision. Anat Alon-Beck, a business law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, said the justice department's new lawsuit was ""far more extensive"" than its previous legal challenges in the EU.  ""It's not just about the 30% app store fee, but about the core unfair practices of Apple,"" she said, adding that it was ""about time"" that the DOJ took action.  ""Apple systematically excludes rivals from the Apple ecosystem. By doing that, Apple is hurting so many startup businesses, stakeholders, customers and, in my opinion, its shareholders,"" she said.  According to the justice department, Apple's share of the US smartphone market exceeds 70%, and its share of the broader smartphone market exceeds 65%.  ",BBC,21/03/2024,"['The US has filed a landmark lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of monopolising the smartphone market and crushing competition.', 'In the legal action, the justice department alleges the company abused its control of the iPhone app store to ""lock in"" customers and developers.', 'It accuses the firm of taking illegal steps to thwart apps seen as a threat and make rival products less appealing.', 'Apple has vowed to ""vigorously"" fight the lawsuit and denies the claims.', 'The sprawling complaint, filed at a federal court in New Jersey along with the attorneys general of 16 states, marks one of the biggest challenges to date for Apple, which has been fending off mounting complaints about its practices in recent years.', 'It alleges that Apple used ""a series of shapeshifting rules"" and restricted access to its hardware and software, in a bid to boost its own profits while raising costs for customers and stifling innovation. ""', 'Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits but by violating federal anti-trust law,"" Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference announcing the suit. ""', 'Customers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law.""', 'The 88-page complaint focuses on five areas where Apple allegedly abused its power.', 'For example, the US alleges that Apple used its app review process to thwart development of so-called super apps and streaming apps, because it was worried such apps would provide less incentive for customers to stick with iPhones.', 'It also says Apple has made it difficult to connect iPhones to smart watches made by rivals and blocked banks and other financial firms from accessing its tap-to-pay technology, allowing Apple to earn billions in fees from processing Apple Pay transactions.', 'The complaint also focuses on the way Apple treats messages sent from rival phones, distinguishing them with green bubbles and limiting videos and other features.', 'It says Apple\'s moves have created ""social stigma"" that has helped the tech giant maintain its grip on the market.', 'Apple said customers were loyal because they were happy and that under US law it was free to choose its business partners.', 'It has pointed to privacy and security concerns to justify its rules.', 'The company said it would ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit, which it predicted would fail. ""', 'We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it,"" the company said.', 'The case will hinge on the question of motivation, said Bill Baer, a visiting fellow at Brookings who was an anti-trust official under the Obama administration. ""', 'Anti-trust laws and the courts\' interpretation of them suggest that once you\'re a monopolist,"" he said, ""if you do engage in behaviours that have no legitimate business justification other than to limit competition and cement your monopoly, then that is problematic.""', ""It is the third legal action Apple has faced from the US government since 2009 and the first anti-trust challenge filed against the company under President Joe Biden's administration."", 'If the government wins its case, it could force Apple to overhaul its current contracts and practices - or even lead to a break-up of the company.', 'Shares in Apple fell more than 4% as investors digested the implications of the legal battle.', 'Any potential changes would take years to materialise as the case makes its way through the courts.', 'Vanderbilt University professor Rebecca Allensworth called the case ""a blockbuster"", following other lawsuits the justice department has brought against the major tech giants.', 'Google, Meta and Amazon all face similar lawsuits.', 'She said at its core, it was about increasing functionality between smartphones and making the technology and software more accessible to consumers and other businesses. ""', 'It\'s not about breaking up Apple into small units or spinning off divisions,"" she said.', 'Apple has faced a growing legal backlash over its iOS ecosystem and business practices.', 'It is engaged in a lengthy legal battle with Epic Games, which makes Fortnite.', 'Last month, it was fined €1.8bn (£1.5bn) by the EU for breaking competition laws over music streaming.', 'The firm had prevented streaming services from informing users of payment options outside the Apple app store, the European Commission said.', 'Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Apple had abused its dominant position in the market for a decade, and ordered the tech giant to remove all of the restrictions.', 'Apple said it would appeal against the decision.', 'Anat Alon-Beck, a business law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, said the justice department\'s new lawsuit was ""far more extensive"" than its previous legal challenges in the EU. ""', 'It\'s not just about the 30% app store fee, but about the core unfair practices of Apple,"" she said, adding that it was ""about time"" that the DOJ took action. ""', 'Apple systematically excludes rivals from the Apple ecosystem.', 'By doing that, Apple is hurting so many startup businesses, stakeholders, customers and, in my opinion, its shareholders,"" she said.', ""According to the justice department, Apple's share of the US smartphone market exceeds 70%, and its share of the broader smartphone market exceeds 65%.""]",-0.0055864393383311,Apple said customers were loyal because they were happy and that under US law it was free to choose its business partners.,It accuses the firm of taking illegal steps to thwart apps seen as a threat and make rival products less appealing.,-0.3595662675797939,Apple said customers were loyal because they were happy and that under US law it was free to choose its business partners.,Shares in Apple fell more than 4% as investors digested the implications of the legal battle.,2024-03-26
Banks are in limbo without a crucial lifeline. Here's where cracks may appear next,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/where-cracks-in-the-banking-sector-may-appear-without-more-ma.html,2024-03-19T22:13:09+0000,"In this articleThe forces that consumed three regional lenders in March 2023 have left hundreds of smaller banks wounded, as merger activity — a key potential lifeline — has slowed to a trickle.As the memory of last year's regional banking crisis begins to fade, it's easy to believe the industry is in the clear. But the high interest rates that caused the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and its peers in 2023 are still at play.After hiking rates 11 times through July, the Federal Reserve has yet to start cutting its benchmark. As a result, hundreds of billions of dollars of unrealized losses on low-interest bonds and loans remain buried on banks' balance sheets. That, combined with potential losses on commercial real estate, leaves swaths of the industry vulnerable.Of about 4,000 U.S. banks analyzed by consulting firm Klaros Group, 282 institutions have both high levels of commercial real estate exposure and large unrealized losses from the rate surge — a potentially toxic combo that may force these lenders to raise fresh capital or engage in mergers.  The study, based on regulatory filings known as call reports, screened for two factors: Banks where commercial real estate loans made up over 300% of capital, and firms where unrealized losses on bonds and loans pushed capital levels below 4%.Klaros declined to name the institutions in its analysis out of fear of inciting deposit runs.But there's only one company with more than $100 billion in assets found in this analysis, and, given the factors of the study, it's not hard to determine: New York Community Bank, the real estate lender that avoided disaster earlier this month with a $1.1 billion capital injection from private equity investors led by ex-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.Most of the banks deemed to be potentially challenged are community lenders with less than $10 billion in assets. Just 16 companies are in the next size bracket that includes regional banks — between $10 billion and $100 billion in assets — though they collectively hold more assets than the 265 community banks combined.Behind the scenes, regulators have been prodding banks with confidential orders to improve capital levels and staffing, according to Klaros co-founder Brian Graham.""If there were just 10 banks that were in trouble, they would have all been taken down and dealt with,"" Graham said. ""When you've got hundreds of banks facing these challenges, the regulators have to walk a bit of a tightrope.""These banks need to either raise capital, likely from private equity sources as NYCB did, or merge with stronger banks, Graham said. That's what PacWest resorted to last year; the California lender was acquired by a smaller rival after it lost deposits in the March tumult.Banks can also choose to wait as bonds mature and roll off their balance sheets, but doing so means years of underearning rivals, essentially operating as ""zombie banks"" that don't support economic growth in their communities, Graham said. That strategy also puts them at risk of being swamped by rising loan losses.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged this month that commercial real estate losses are likely to capsize some small and medium-sized banks.""This is a problem we'll be working on for years more, I'm sure. There will be bank failures,"" Powell told lawmakers. ""We're working with them ... I think it's manageable, is the word I would use.""There are other signs of mounting stress among smaller banks. In 2023, 67 lenders had low levels of liquidity — meaning the cash or securities that can be quickly sold when needed — up from nine institutions in 2021, Fitch analysts said in a recent report. They ranged in size from $90 billion in assets to under $1 billion, according to Fitch.And regulators have added more companies to their ""Problem Bank List"" of companies with the worst financial or operational ratings in the past year. There are 52 lenders with a combined $66.3 billion in assets on that list, 13 more than a year earlier, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.""The bad news is, the problems faced by the banking system haven't magically gone away,"" Graham said. ""The good news is that, compared to other banking crises I've worked through, this isn't a scenario where hundreds of banks are insolvent.""After the implosion of SVB last March, the second-largest U.S. bank failure at the time, followed by Signature's failure days later and that of First Republic in May, many in the industry predicted a wave of consolidation that could help banks deal with higher funding and compliance costs.But deals have been few and far between. There were fewer than 100 bank acquisitions announced last year, according to advisory firm Mercer Capital. The total deal value of $4.6 billion was the lowest since 1990, it found.One big hang-up: Bank executives are uncertain that their deals will pass regulatory muster. Timelines for approval have lengthened, especially for larger banks, and regulators have killed recent deals, such as the $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon by Toronto-Dominion Bank.A planned merger between Capital One and Discovery, announced in February, was promptly met with calls from some lawmakers to block the transaction.""Banks are in this pressure cooker,"" said Chris Caulfield, senior partner at consulting firm West Monroe. ""Regulators are playing a bigger role in what M&A can occur, but at the same time, they're making it much harder for banks, especially smaller ones, to be able to turn a profit.""Despite the slow environment for deals, leaders of banks all along the size spectrum recognize the need to consider mergers, according to an investment banker at a top-three global advisory firm.Discussion levels with bank CEOs are now the highest in his 23-year career, said the banker, who requested anonymity to speak about clients.""Everyone's talking, and there's acknowledgment consolidation has to happen,"" said the banker. ""The industry has structurally changed from a profitability standpoint, because of regulation and with deposits now being something that won't ever cost zero again.""Another reason to expect heightened merger activity is the age of bank leaders. A third of regional bank CEOs are older than 65, beyond the group's average retirement age, according to 2023 data from executive search firm Spencer Stuart. That could lead to a wave of departures in coming years, the firm said.""You've got a lot of folks who are tired,"" said Frank Sorrentino, an investment banker at boutique advisory Stephens. ""It's been a tough industry, and there are a lot of willing sellers who want to transact, whether that's an outright sale or a merger.""Sorrentino was involved in the January merger between FirstSun and HomeStreet, a Seattle-based bank whose shares plunged last year after a funding squeeze. He predicts a surge in merger activity from lenders between $3 billion and $20 billion in assets as smaller firms look to scale up.One deterrent to mergers is that bond and loan markdowns have been too deep, which would erode capital for the combined entity in a deal because losses on some portfolios have to be realized in a transaction. That has eased since late last year as bond yields dipped from 16-year highs.That, along with recovering bank stocks, will lead to more activity this year, Sorrentino said. Other bankers said that larger deals are more likely to be announced after the U.S. presidential election, which could usher in a new set of leaders in key regulatory roles.Easing the path for a wave of U.S. bank mergers would strengthen the system and create challengers to the megabanks, according to Mike Mayo, the veteran bank analyst and former Fed employee.""It should be game-on for bank mergers, especially the strong buying the weak,"" Mayo said. ""The merger restrictions on the industry have been the equivalent of the Jamie Dimon Protection Act.""",CNBC,19/03/2024,"['In this articleThe forces that consumed three regional lenders in March 2023 have left hundreds of smaller banks wounded, as merger activity — a key potential lifeline — has slowed to a trickle.', ""As the memory of last year's regional banking crisis begins to fade, it's easy to believe the industry is in the clear."", 'But the high interest rates that caused the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and its peers in 2023 are still at play.', 'After hiking rates 11 times through July, the Federal Reserve has yet to start cutting its benchmark.', ""As a result, hundreds of billions of dollars of unrealized losses on low-interest bonds and loans remain buried on banks' balance sheets."", 'That, combined with potential losses on commercial real estate, leaves swaths of the industry vulnerable.', 'Of about 4,000 U.S. banks analyzed by consulting firm Klaros Group, 282 institutions have both high levels of commercial real estate exposure and large unrealized losses from the rate surge — a potentially toxic combo that may force these lenders to raise fresh capital or engage in mergers.', 'The study, based on regulatory filings known as call reports, screened for two factors: Banks where commercial real estate loans made up over 300% of capital, and firms where unrealized losses on bonds and loans pushed capital levels below 4%.Klaros declined to name the institutions in its analysis out of fear of inciting deposit runs.', ""But there's only one company with more than $100 billion in assets found in this analysis, and, given the factors of the study, it's not hard to determine: New York Community Bank, the real estate lender that avoided disaster earlier this month with a $1.1 billion capital injection from private equity investors led by ex-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin."", 'Most of the banks deemed to be potentially challenged are community lenders with less than $10 billion in assets.', 'Just 16 companies are in the next size bracket that includes regional banks — between $10 billion and $100 billion in assets — though they collectively hold more assets than the 265 community banks combined.', 'Behind the scenes, regulators have been prodding banks with confidential orders to improve capital levels and staffing, according to Klaros co-founder Brian Graham.', '""If there were just 10 banks that were in trouble, they would have all been taken down and dealt with,"" Graham said. ""', ""When you've got hundreds of banks facing these challenges, the regulators have to walk a bit of a tightrope."", '""These banks need to either raise capital, likely from private equity sources as NYCB did, or merge with stronger banks, Graham said.', ""That's what PacWest resorted to last year; the California lender was acquired by a smaller rival after it lost deposits in the March tumult."", 'Banks can also choose to wait as bonds mature and roll off their balance sheets, but doing so means years of underearning rivals, essentially operating as ""zombie banks"" that don\'t support economic growth in their communities, Graham said.', 'That strategy also puts them at risk of being swamped by rising loan losses.', 'Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged this month that commercial real estate losses are likely to capsize some small and medium-sized banks.', '""This is a problem we\'ll be working on for years more, I\'m sure.', 'There will be bank failures,"" Powell told lawmakers. ""', ""We're working with them ... I think it's manageable, is the word I would use."", '""There are other signs of mounting stress among smaller banks.', 'In 2023, 67 lenders had low levels of liquidity — meaning the cash or securities that can be quickly sold when needed — up from nine institutions in 2021, Fitch analysts said in a recent report.', 'They ranged in size from $90 billion in assets to under $1 billion, according to Fitch.', 'And regulators have added more companies to their ""Problem Bank List"" of companies with the worst financial or operational ratings in the past year.', 'There are 52 lenders with a combined $66.3 billion in assets on that list, 13 more than a year earlier, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.', '""The bad news is, the problems faced by the banking system haven\'t magically gone away,"" Graham said. ""', ""The good news is that, compared to other banking crises I've worked through, this isn't a scenario where hundreds of banks are insolvent."", '""After the implosion of SVB last March, the second-largest U.S. bank failure at the time, followed by Signature\'s failure days later and that of First Republic in May, many in the industry predicted a wave of consolidation that could help banks deal with higher funding and compliance costs.', 'But deals have been few and far between.', 'There were fewer than 100 bank acquisitions announced last year, according to advisory firm Mercer Capital.', 'The total deal value of $4.6 billion was the lowest since 1990, it found.', 'One big hang-up: Bank executives are uncertain that their deals will pass regulatory muster.', 'Timelines for approval have lengthened, especially for larger banks, and regulators have killed recent deals, such as the $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon by Toronto-Dominion Bank.', 'A planned mergerbetween Capital One and Discovery, announced in February, was promptly met with calls from some lawmakers to block the transaction.', '""Banks are in this pressure cooker,"" said Chris Caulfield, senior partner at consulting firm West Monroe. ""', ""Regulators are playing a bigger role in what M&A can occur, but at the same time, they're making it much harder for banks, especially smaller ones, to be able to turn a profit."", '""Despite the slow environment for deals, leaders of banks all along the size spectrum recognize the need to consider mergers, according to an investment banker at a top-three global advisory firm.', 'Discussion levels with bank CEOs are now the highest in his 23-year career, said the banker, who requested anonymity to speak about clients.', '""Everyone\'s talking, and there\'s acknowledgment consolidation has to happen,"" said the banker. ""', ""The industry has structurally changed from a profitability standpoint, because of regulation and with deposits now being something that won't ever cost zero again."", '""Another reason to expect heightened merger activity is the age of bank leaders.', ""A third of regional bank CEOs are older than 65, beyond the group's average retirement age, according to 2023 data from executive search firm Spencer Stuart."", 'That could lead to a wave of departures in coming years, the firm said.', '""You\'ve got a lot of folks who are tired,"" said Frank Sorrentino, an investment banker at boutique advisory Stephens. ""', ""It's been a tough industry, and there are a lot of willing sellers who want to transact, whether that's an outright sale or a merger."", '""Sorrentino was involved in the January merger between FirstSun and HomeStreet, a Seattle-based bank whose shares plunged last year after a funding squeeze.', 'He predicts a surge in merger activity from lenders between $3 billion and $20 billion in assets as smaller firms look to scale up.', 'One deterrent to mergers is that bond and loan markdowns have been too deep, which would erode capital for the combined entity in a deal because losses on some portfolios have to be realized in a transaction.', 'That has eased since late last year as bond yields dipped from 16-year highs.', 'That, along with recovering bank stocks, will lead to more activity this year, Sorrentino said.', 'Other bankers said that larger deals are more likely to be announced after the U.S. presidential election, which could usher in a new set of leaders in key regulatory roles.', 'Easing the path for a wave of U.S. bank mergers would strengthen the system and create challengers to the megabanks, according to Mike Mayo, the veteran bank analyst and former Fed employee.', '""It should be game-on for bank mergers, especially the strong buying the weak,"" Mayo said. ""', 'The merger restrictions on the industry have been the equivalent of the Jamie Dimon Protection Act.""']",-0.0500367140412572,"Banks can also choose to wait as bonds mature and roll off their balance sheets, but doing so means years of underearning rivals, essentially operating as ""zombie banks"" that don't support economic growth in their communities, Graham said.","And regulators have added more companies to their ""Problem Bank List"" of companies with the worst financial or operational ratings in the past year.",-0.0907927278814644,"Behind the scenes, regulators have been prodding banks with confidential orders to improve capital levels and staffing, according to Klaros co-founder Brian Graham.","The total deal value of $4.6 billion was the lowest since 1990, it found.",2024-03-26
It’s back: Targeted Amex card holders can get up to 30% off at Amazon,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/deals/amazon-amex-discount-promotion,"
  
        11:21 AM EST, Wed February 14, 2024
    ","Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities. While that’s true, there’s another lesser-known use for them — redeeming them for purchases at Amazon. Right now, you may be eligible for an Amazon promotion where you can save big on Amazon purchases by redeeming as little as one Amex point.
    
            Targeted American Express card members can save as much as 30% on their next Amazon purchase, for up to $30 in savings when you use Amex points to pay for at least a portion of your purchase at checkout. However, your offer may be higher or lower.
    
            This offer is set to expire on June 30, 2024, so even if you aren’t in the market to shop at Amazon right now, you have some time to take advantage of the savings. That said, Amazon also states it will deactivate the offer after 24,167 customers have redeemed it.
    
            With many Amazon discounted offers, scoring the deal can be a little complicated. But we’re going to take you through it step by step to make sure you’re getting as much of a discount as possible when you’re shopping at Amazon.
    
            To start, you must have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points. Amex cards that earn other types of rewards, such as cash back or airline miles, won’t work. But there are plenty of Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points — a small sampling of them is at the end of this story.
    
            Next, you’ll need to link your Amazon and American Express accounts. Add your American Express card as a payment method in your Amazon account, if you haven’t already. Then look for the option to enroll in “Shop with Points” under the “Your Account” tab, and click the “Enroll” button for the Amex card you just added.
    
            Once your accounts are connected, you’ll need to activate the offer by clicking on this link. Remember, this is a targeted promotion, so not everyone will be eligible for it — you could be targeted for any one of the offers or none of them. When you click on the link, if you see a message that you’re not eligible, then you’re unfortunately not targeted for this particular promotion.
    
            But even if you’re not targeted, don’t give up hope. If you just enrolled in “Shop with Points,” you may need to wait 24 hours for Amazon’s records to refresh before knowing if you’re targeted, so check back in a day or so.
    
            If you’re eligible, activate the offer by clicking on the “Activate now” button — the enrollment page will indicate your particular discount. You can then shop at Amazon as you normally would, though only products sold and shipped by Amazon are eligible for these discounts. Additionally, Amazon gift cards are excluded, though other third-party retailer gift cards sold by Amazon might be eligible.
    
            But wait! There’s one more step. When you’re ready to check out, you’ll want to make sure to select your linked American Express card as your payment method. Then you’ll need to use at least 1 point to pay for your purchase for the discount to apply.
    
            When paying with Amex Membership Rewards points at Amazon, 1 point equals 0.7 cents. That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points. Frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Membership Rewards points as high as 2 cents each when redeemed for travel.
    
            However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to pay for your entire Amazon purchase with points to get these discounts. In fact, you can use just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Amex card, and you’ll still see the discount applied to your order. However, some accounts might see that you need to redeem slightly more points — 714 to be exact — to receive the savings, so make sure to check the terms of your exact offer.
    
            To pay with the minimum number of points required, enter $0.01 in the points section at checkout, which will apply just 1 point to your payment, You can use any number of points you want, but if you don’t make this change, Amazon may automatically apply the maximum number of points to cover the entire purchase, so you’ll want to make sure to update the amount before you place the order.
    
            Once you’ve applied at least 1 point to your payment, you’ll see the discount added to your order. The discount will apply on every order you place through June 30 until you hit the total maximum in savings — which will depend on your particular offer.
    
            Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can apply this discount to your upcoming Amazon purchases, even if you don’t need anything from Amazon right at the moment.
    
            With airlines having regular delays and cancellations over the last year, placing an Apple AirTag on your luggage can be a great way to track the location of your belongings. An Apple AirTag 4 Pack is currently priced at $78.99 before taxes and shipping, but if you’re targeted for the 30% off American Express offer, that’ll bring the pack down to $55.30, or around $13.83 per AirTag before tax.
    
            Or, if you’re hoping to pick up a set of new Apple AirPods Pro 2, right now Amazon is selling them for $189.99. But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.
    
            Even if you aren’t eligible for any of these particular Amex promotions, offers like this typically resurface many times throughout the year, so keep on checking back.
    
            Amazon often runs similar promotions for other credit cards, so check out our guides to discounts for Chase and Discover card holders to see what’s available. You might also find that even if you aren’t eligible now for one of these offers, you could magically become targeted in a few weeks, so keep on checking the link to see if you’ve been granted access.
    
            Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, so keep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.
    
            Also, make sure you read our guide to the best credit cards for Amazon to be sure you’re using the right card when you buy at Amazon.
    
            Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best travel credit cards currently available.",CNN,14/02/2024,"['Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities.', 'While that’s true, there’s another lesser-known use for them — redeeming them for purchases at Amazon.', 'Right now, you may be eligible for anAmazonpromotion where you can save big on Amazon purchases by redeeming as little as one Amex point.', 'Targeted American Express card members cansave as much as 30% on their next Amazon purchase, for up to $30 in savings when you use Amex points to pay for at least a portion of your purchase at checkout.', 'However, your offer may be higher or lower.', 'This offer is set to expire on June 30, 2024, so even if you aren’t in the market to shop at Amazon right now, you have some time to take advantage of the savings.', 'That said, Amazon also states it will deactivate the offer after 24,167 customers have redeemed it.', 'With many Amazon discounted offers, scoring the deal can be a little complicated.', 'But we’re going to take you through it step by step to make sure you’re getting as much of a discount as possible when you’re shopping atAmazon.', 'To start, you must have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points.', 'Amex cards that earn other types of rewards, such as cash back or airline miles, won’t work.', 'But there are plenty of Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points — a small sampling of them is at the end of this story.', 'Next, you’ll need tolink your Amazon and American Express accounts.', 'Add your American Express card as a payment method in your Amazon account, if you haven’t already.', 'Then look for the option toenroll in “Shop with Points”under the “Your Account” tab, and click the “Enroll” button for the Amex card you just added.', 'Once your accounts are connected, you’ll need to activate the offer byclicking on this link.', 'Remember, this is a targeted promotion, so not everyone will be eligible for it — you could be targeted for any one of the offers or none of them.', 'When you click on the link, if you see a message that you’re not eligible, then you’re unfortunately not targeted for this particular promotion.', 'But even if you’re not targeted, don’t give up hope.', 'If you just enrolled in “Shop with Points,” you may need to wait 24 hours for Amazon’s records to refresh before knowing if you’re targeted, so check back in a day or so.', 'If you’re eligible, activate the offer byclicking on the “Activate now” button— the enrollment page will indicate your particular discount.', 'You can thenshop at Amazonas you normally would, though only products sold and shipped by Amazon are eligible for these discounts.', 'Additionally, Amazon gift cards are excluded, though otherthird-party retailer gift cardssold by Amazon might be eligible.', 'But wait!', 'There’s one more step.', 'When you’re ready to check out, you’ll want to make sure to select your linked American Express card as your payment method.', 'Then you’ll need to use at least 1 point to pay for your purchase for the discount to apply.', 'When paying with Amex Membership Rewards points at Amazon, 1 point equals 0.7 cents.', 'That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points.', 'Frequent flyer websiteThe Points Guyvalues Membership Rewards points as high as 2 cents each when redeemed for travel.', 'However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to pay for your entireAmazonpurchase with points to get these discounts.', 'In fact,you can use just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Amex card, and you’ll still see the discount applied to your order.', 'However, some accounts might see that you need to redeem slightly more points —714 to be exact —to receive the savings, so make sure to check the terms of your exact offer.', 'To pay with the minimum number of points required, enter $0.01 in the points section at checkout, which will apply just 1 point to your payment, You can use any number of points you want, but if you don’t make this change,Amazonmay automatically apply the maximum number of points to cover the entire purchase, so you’ll want to make sure to update the amount before you place the order.', 'Once you’ve applied at least 1 point to your payment, you’ll see the discount added to your order.', 'The discount will apply on every order you place through June 30 until you hit the total maximum in savings —which will depend on your particular offer.', 'Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can apply this discount to your upcomingAmazonpurchases, even if you don’t need anything from Amazon right at the moment.', 'With airlines having regular delays and cancellations over the last year, placing an Apple AirTag on your luggage can be a great way to track the location of your belongings.', 'An Apple AirTag 4 Pack is currently priced at $78.99 before taxes and shipping, but if you’re targeted for the 30% off American Express offer, that’ll bring the pack down to $55.30, or around $13.83 per AirTag before tax.', 'Or, if you’re hoping to pick up a set of new Apple AirPods Pro 2, right now Amazon is selling them for $189.99.', 'But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.', 'Even if you aren’t eligible for any of these particular Amex promotions, offers like this typically resurface many times throughout the year, so keep on checking back.', 'Amazon often runs similar promotions for other credit cards, so check out our guides to discounts for Chase and Discover card holders to see what’s available.', 'You might also find that even if you aren’t eligible now for one of these offers, you could magically become targeted in a few weeks, so keep on checking the link to see if you’ve been granted access.', 'Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, sokeep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.', 'Also, make sure you read our guide to thebest credit cards for Amazonto be sure you’re using the right card when you buy at Amazon.', 'Looking for a travel credit card?', 'Find out which cardsCNN Underscored Moneychose as thebest travel credit cardscurrently available.']",0.2766683229921542,Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities.,That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points.,-0.0578338623046875,"Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, sokeep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.",But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.,2024-03-26
"Here's how much people are willing to spend on weight loss drugs, according to a new survey",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/23/weight-loss-drug-cost-how-much-people-are-willing-to-spend.html,2024-03-23T14:11:27+0000,"In this articleDemand for weight loss drugs is booming in the U.S. despite their limited insurance coverage and roughly $1,000 monthly price tags before discounts. But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.That's according to a recent survey from Evercore ISI focused on GLP-1s, a new class of medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, the firm surveyed more than 600 participants who are currently taking a GLP-1, considering the therapy or have taken it in the past but no longer do. The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.GLP-1s include Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, along with Eli Lilly's popular weight loss treatment Zepbound and diabetes injection Mounjaro. A monthly package of a GLP-1 costs between $900 and $1,350 before insurance and other rebates. Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have savings programs that aim to reduce out-of-pocket costs for weight loss drugs, regardless of whether a patient has commercial insurance coverage. The majority — nearly 60% — of people surveyed with annual incomes of more than $250,000 said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is more than $300 per month. Only about 4% of people with annual incomes of less than $75,000 said the same thing. Of that group, 64% said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is $50 per month or less. The maximum people currently on a GLP-1 said they are willing to pay out of pocket per month was roughly in line with what they actually paid for treatment, according to the survey. The highest price respondents would accept paying skewed lower among those who used to take a GLP-1 or are thinking of taking the drug. More than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket. Nearly 75% of those who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount. A small share of both groups paid more than $750 out of pocket per month for a GLP-1.The survey also asked respondents how long they stayed on the drugs.Notably, more than 80% of those who used to take a treatment were only on a therapy for 12 months or less. Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.That premature stoppage by some patients is one concern of certain insurers hesitant to cover them.Still, nearly half of people who are currently taking GLP-1s said they intend to stay on the drugs permanently. Only 10% of those thinking of taking a treatment said the same thing. Of that group, more than 70% said they intend to stay on a GLP-1 until they reach their weight loss goal.The survey also asked participants whether they would restart taking a GLP-1 if they regain weight after stopping the drug. The majority of patients across all groups — those currently on a GLP-1, thinking of it, or who used to take one — said ""yes."" Among those who used to take a GLP-1, 42% said they gained ""some"" weight back after stopping treatment. Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back. Another 23% said they remained at a lower weight after stopping the drug.That weight regain is consistent with what has been observed in some clinical trials on drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.Another part of the survey asked participants about whether taking a GLP-1 affected their eating and drinking habits. More than 70% of respondents reporting eating less when taking a GLP-1, regardless of whether they have pre-existing conditions. That refers to other health problems, such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.The survey finding is no surprise: GLP-1s work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and regulate blood sugar. Some treatments, such as Zepbound, mimic more than one gut hormone.More than half of those without preexisting conditions said they drank less alcohol when taking a GLP-1. Around 27% said the treatment had no effect on their alcohol consumption, while 22% said they abstain from drinking. A greater share — 51% — of those with preexisting conditions said they abstain from alcohol. The remainder said they consumed less alcohol when taking a GLP-1. Several studies have demonstrated that certain GLP-1s curb alcohol intake in rodents and monkeys. But more research is needed in humans.-- CNBC's Gabriel Cortés contributed to this report",CNBC,23/03/2024,"['In this articleDemand for weight loss drugs is booming in the U.S. despite their limited insurance coverage and roughly $1,000 monthly price tags before discounts.', 'But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.', ""That's according to a recent survey from Evercore ISI focused on GLP-1s, a new class of medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity."", 'Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, the firm surveyed more than 600 participants who are currently taking a GLP-1, considering the therapy or have taken it in the past but no longer do.', 'The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.', ""GLP-1s include Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, along with Eli Lilly's popular weight loss treatment Zepbound and diabetes injection Mounjaro."", 'A monthly package of a GLP-1 costs between $900 and $1,350 before insurance and other rebates.', 'Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have savings programs that aim to reduce out-of-pocket costs for weight loss drugs, regardless of whether a patient has commercial insurance coverage.', 'The majority — nearly 60% — of people surveyed with annual incomes of more than $250,000 said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is more than $300 per month.', 'Only about 4% of people with annual incomes of less than $75,000 said the same thing.', 'Of that group, 64% said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is $50 per month or less.', 'The maximum people currently on a GLP-1 said they are willing to pay out of pocket per month was roughly in line with what they actually paid for treatment, according to the survey.', 'The highest price respondents would accept paying skewed lower among those who used to take a GLP-1 or are thinking of taking the drug.', 'More than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket.', 'Nearly 75% of those who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount.', 'A small share of both groups paid more than $750 out of pocket per month for a GLP-1.The survey also asked respondents how long they stayed on the drugs.', 'Notably, more than 80% of those who used to take a treatment were only on a therapy for 12 months or less.', 'Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.', 'That premature stoppage by some patients is one concern of certain insurers hesitant to cover them.', 'Still, nearly half of people who are currently taking GLP-1s said they intend to stay on the drugs permanently.', 'Only 10% of those thinking of taking a treatment said the same thing.', 'Of that group, more than 70% said they intend to stay on a GLP-1 until they reach their weight loss goal.', 'The survey also asked participants whether they would restart taking a GLP-1 if they regain weight after stopping the drug.', 'The majority of patients across all groups — those currently on a GLP-1, thinking of it, or who used to take one — said ""yes.', '""Among those who used to take a GLP-1, 42% said they gained ""some"" weight back after stopping treatment.', 'Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back.', 'Another 23% said they remained at a lower weight after stopping the drug.', 'That weight regain is consistent with what has been observed in some clinical trials on drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.', 'Another part of the survey asked participants about whether taking a GLP-1 affected their eating and drinking habits.', 'More than 70% of respondents reporting eating less when taking a GLP-1, regardless of whether they have pre-existing conditions.', 'That refers to other health problems, such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.', ""The survey finding is no surprise: GLP-1s work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and regulate blood sugar."", 'Some treatments, such as Zepbound, mimic more than one gut hormone.', 'More than half of those without preexisting conditions said they drank less alcohol when taking a GLP-1.', 'Around 27% said the treatment had no effect on their alcohol consumption, while 22% said they abstain from drinking.', 'A greater share — 51% — of those with preexisting conditions said they abstain from alcohol.', 'The remainder said they consumed less alcohol when taking a GLP-1.Several studies have demonstrated that certain GLP-1s curb alcohol intake in rodents and monkeys.', ""But more research is needed in humans.-- CNBC's Gabriel Cortés contributed to this report""]",0.0154064542037785,But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.,"Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.",0.2664940953254699,"Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back.",The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.,2024-03-26
‘I want to help people fly – and keep them safe’,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68489226,2024-03-22T00:15:02.000Z,"Student Pooja Umashankar clearly remembers when she first felt the roar of an aircraft taking off. She was 10 years old and travelling from Sri Lanka to the UK with her family. Through the window near her seat, she could see hundreds of tiny lights on the ground below.  ""It's just a piece of metal,"" she remembers marvelling, ""And it's flying now."" Today, a decade and a half later, Miss Umashankar has returned from Sri Lanka to study aircraft maintenance engineering at the University of South Wales. ""I knew that I wanted to do something that nobody had ever done in my town,"" she says. The aviation industry can't find enough people like Miss Umashankar. For years, airlines and engineering firms have struggled to hire maintenance engineers, and there is now a global shortage numbering in the tens of thousands.  This is a huge problem not least because aviation is expected to balloon in the coming decades. Industry estimates suggest that roughly 700,000 engineers will have to enter the profession between now and 2040 in order to satisfy demand.  Plus, after Boeing's recent 737 Max 9 door blowout - currently the subject of an investigation - engineers have been in especially high demand to perform increased checks on 737 Max aircraft of various models.  And trade association ADS says there are 10,000 vacancies in total across the UK's aerospace, defence, security and space industries. Miss Umashankar, who is now nearing the end of her three-year degree, says she wants to be a part of the solution. ""What motivates me is to… help people travel,"" she says. ""I want to help them fly - while being safe."" She says she has especially enjoyed working with electronics during her course but was not able to find an on-the-job training placement. However, Miss Umashankar has now started applying for full-time positions. She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.  Not many of her colleagues will be women, she knows. But that does not deter her: ""There's such a shortage of female engineers in this field, I just feel that maybe I should be one of them."" Redressing the severe gender imbalance in the industry could help tackle the shortage, some observers say. In the UK, fewer than 10% of aerospace and aviation engineers are women. The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University. Only 2.8% of US aircraft technicians are women. ""I don't think that there are enough women that are involved in the industry to act as mentors,"" she says. Multiple engineering firms contacted by the BBC declined to specify whether they were short of aviation technicians at present, or to what extent. AAR Corporation, however, says it has raised salaries and launched a programme to help US military veterans join the workforce. More than 60 such candidates have been hired since 2019, the firm notes. ST Engineering has started a mentorship programme in Singapore and is in talks to set up a training academy in the US. Meanwhile, Lufthansa Technik is working to attract more women into the industry. ""Large-scale recruitment of apprentices is still ongoing,"" a spokeswoman adds. The current focus on training is significant, says Daniel Olufisan, training director and principal consultant at Wing Engineering, which works in the aviation industry. It is partly down to the fact that fewer aircraft engineers these days are ex-military and, therefore, not as many people with hands-on experience are entering maintenance roles, he suggests. Another key reason for the shortage is that a high number of engineers in their 60s are now retiring from the profession. Aircraft maintenance is not as glamorous as it once was, suggests Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant at RW Mann & Company: ""Some of the benefits that then came with working for an airline, flying on staff passes for example, just aren't there anymore."" He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. ""This is not a test flying business, this is a consumer service,"" he says. Last year, manufacturer Airbus set a target of hiring 13,000 new employees, many of whom were engineers, though in Airbus's case most were destined to work on new aircraft designs rather than maintenance. A spokeswoman confirms that the company exceeded its target and also succeeded in hiring a large proportion of engineers (25% of the total). ""It does become harder and harder to source talented professional engineers,"" acknowledges Mark Crompton, global head of employment marketing. He adds that outreach to children of school age could help encourage them to consider the career. More technology of business Airbus, like many firms, is increasing apprenticeship and internship positions to help, too. The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023. But the industry as a whole is having to face up to the impact aviation is having on climate change and even more engineers are needed to develop cleaner aircraft, explains Mr Crompton. Nadeem Bandali is an aircraft maintenance engineer at Gatwick Airport. He says that when young people ask him about his job, he shows them videos of the kind of work he does to illustrate how practical it is. ""It's purely mechanical, fixing aircraft, troubleshooting aircraft systems,"" he explains.  As an example, just a few weeks ago, he and his colleagues were tasked with locating a fault in a long sensor wire that runs through the fuselage and wings of an A320. It took a few hours, but they found it and fixed it.  He is aware of the engineer shortage but says, ""I don't think safety is an issue at the moment."" Keeping planes in the air, without incident, is a worthwhile endeavour for Miss Umashankar. ""Aircraft,"" she says, ""connect the whole world into one."" ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Student Pooja Umashankar clearly remembers when she first felt the roar of an aircraft taking off.', 'She was 10 years old and travelling from Sri Lanka to the UK with her family.', 'Through the window near her seat, she could see hundreds of tiny lights on the ground below. ""', 'It\'s just a piece of metal,"" she remembers marvelling, ""And it\'s flying now.""', 'Today, a decade and a half later, Miss Umashankar has returned from Sri Lanka to study aircraft maintenance engineering at the University of South Wales. ""', 'I knew that I wanted to do something that nobody had ever done in my town,"" she says.', ""The aviation industry can't find enough people like Miss Umashankar."", 'For years, airlines and engineering firms have struggled to hire maintenance engineers, and there is now a global shortage numbering in the tens of thousands.', 'This is a huge problem not least because aviation is expected to balloon in the coming decades.', 'Industry estimates suggest that roughly 700,000 engineers will have to enter the profession between now and 2040 in order to satisfy demand.', ""Plus, after Boeing's recent 737 Max 9 door blowout - currently the subject of an investigation - engineers have been in especially high demand to perform increased checks on 737 Max aircraft of various models."", ""And trade association ADS says there are 10,000 vacancies in total across the UK's aerospace, defence, security and space industries."", 'Miss Umashankar, who is now nearing the end of her three-year degree, says she wants to be a part of the solution. ""', 'What motivates me is to… help people travel,"" she says. ""', 'I want to help them fly - while being safe.""', 'She says she has especially enjoyed working with electronics during her course but was not able to find an on-the-job training placement.', 'However, Miss Umashankar has now started applying for full-time positions.', 'She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.', 'Not many of her colleagues will be women, she knows.', 'But that does not deter her: ""There\'s such a shortage of female engineers in this field, I just feel that maybe I should be one of them.""', 'Redressing the severe gender imbalance in the industry could help tackle the shortage, some observers say.', 'In the UK, fewer than 10% of aerospace and aviation engineers are women.', 'The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University.', 'Only 2.8% of US aircraft technicians are women. ""', 'I don\'t think that there are enough women that are involved in the industry to act as mentors,"" she says.', 'Multiple engineering firms contacted by the BBC declined to specify whether they were short of aviation technicians at present, or to what extent.', 'AAR Corporation, however, says it has raised salaries and launched a programme to help US military veterans join the workforce.', 'More than 60 such candidates have been hired since 2019, the firm notes.', 'ST Engineering has started a mentorship programme in Singapore and is in talks to set up a training academy in the US.', 'Meanwhile, Lufthansa Technik is working to attract more women into the industry. ""', 'Large-scale recruitment of apprentices is still ongoing,"" a spokeswoman adds.', 'The current focus on training is significant, says Daniel Olufisan, training director and principal consultant at Wing Engineering, which works in the aviation industry.', 'It is partly down to the fact that fewer aircraft engineers these days are ex-military and, therefore, not as many people with hands-on experience are entering maintenance roles, he suggests.', 'Another key reason for the shortage is that a high number of engineers in their 60s are now retiring from the profession.', 'Aircraft maintenance is not as glamorous as it once was, suggests Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant at RW Mann & Company: ""Some of the benefits that then came with working for an airline, flying on staff passes for example, just aren\'t there anymore.""', 'He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. ""', 'This is not a test flying business, this is a consumer service,"" he says.', ""Last year, manufacturer Airbus set a target of hiring 13,000 new employees, many of whom were engineers, though in Airbus's case most were destined to work on new aircraft designs rather than maintenance."", 'A spokeswoman confirms that the company exceeded its target and also succeeded in hiring a large proportion of engineers (25% of the total). ""', 'It does become harder and harder to source talented professional engineers,"" acknowledges Mark Crompton, global head of employment marketing.', 'He adds that outreach to children of school age could help encourage them to consider the career.', 'More technology of business Airbus, like many firms, is increasing apprenticeship and internship positions to help, too.', 'The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023.', 'But the industry as a whole is having to face up to the impact aviation is having on climate change and even more engineers are needed to develop cleaner aircraft, explains Mr Crompton.', 'Nadeem Bandali is an aircraft maintenance engineer at Gatwick Airport.', 'He says that when young people ask him about his job, he shows them videos of the kind of work he does to illustrate how practical it is. ""', 'It\'s purely mechanical, fixing aircraft, troubleshooting aircraft systems,"" he explains.', 'As an example, just a few weeks ago, he and his colleagues were tasked with locating a fault in a long sensor wire that runs through the fuselage and wings of an A320.', 'It took a few hours, but they found it and fixed it.', 'He is aware of the engineer shortage but says, ""I don\'t think safety is an issue at the moment.""', 'Keeping planes in the air, without incident, is a worthwhile endeavour for Miss Umashankar. ""', 'Aircraft,"" she says, ""connect the whole world into one.""']",0.1132175272645693,She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.,"He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. """,0.1862073948508814,The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023.,"The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University.",2024-03-26
Buying yon bonnie banks,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-68628838,2024-03-21T21:21:20.000Z,"While branches close by the hundred and your money is now handled through chat bots and contact centres, Scotland is also suffering from the loss of bank headquarters.  And the consequences of increasingly rootless and distant banks could be serious for the wider economy. On Thursday, the directors of Virgin Money UK plc announced they have agreed to recommend to shareholders that they vote to accept a £2.9bn takeover offer by Nationwide building society. Virgin Money operates under the licence for Clydesdale Bank, which took it over in 2018 and adopted its brand, saying farewell to the older brand's presence in Glasgow since 1838 while, for no obvious reason, continuing to print Clydesdale bank notes. That commitment to the deal also comes from the holding company owned by Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, which has a 14.6% stake.  In addition to trousering more than £400m from the sale, his group gets £20m for each of the six years while Nationwide continues to use the Virgin brand. At a 40% premium to the recent share price, it's not hard to see why directors have agreed. Such ""challenger banks"" have begun to look more of a challenge to themselves than to their bigger rivals. The prospects of Virgin Money growing from sixth largest bank in Britain to rival the established giants were not good. Regulatory costs weigh heavily on smaller banks, and upstarts with whizzy apps, without the legacy and focused on the relatively easy, lower-risk stuff - Monzo, Starling and Revolut, for instance - attract customers by the million.  So under Nationwide, Virgin Money and Clydesdale, along with the former Yorkshire Bank, become part of a building society. As things stand, the combination is set to have total assets of £366bn and total lending and advances of around £283bn, representing the second largest provider of mortgages and savings in the UK.  Nationwide gets Virgin Money's strengths in business lending, while extending the customer orientation of a mutual. Some HQ jobs in Glasgow may be lost where they overlap with those at Nationwide's head office in Swindon. That includes David Duffy, chief executive since 2015, who will leave by the end of the year when the takeover should be complete. The new owners are committed to the workforce of more than 7,000 people, mostly in Glasgow and Newcastle, and to branches. But that's only in ""the medium term"", which looks like 2028 for branches at least.  The demise of branch banking is being driven hard by banks themselves: coincidentally, I went into a Virgin Money branch this week with a friend who is a customer there, who wanted to open a cash ISA but didn't want to do it online. There was a blank look, and after 10 minutes in the back office, a gormless answer: ""you could make an appointment with someone who can help, but there's a long wait, and appointments are made at another branch - before then, we might find someone who could show you how to do it online"". By 2028, the new bosses will have decided if they want to run the operations separately or gain from synergy and cost-cutting. Though Nationwide is not accountable to shareholders, the cost-cutting option looks more likely - if it can't be as nimble as the app competitors, it makes sense to use its scale. Dial back a few years, and you would hear questions of whether Scottish banks and their canny reputation could survive the ignominious near-collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank of Scotland, both headquartered in Edinburgh. The capital recovered from the blow better than many expected. But under Lloyds Banking Group, HBOS quickly lost executive power from its HQ on the Mound. It returns to Scotland each year for its annual general meeting, but there's no pretence that it is based north of the border. Under government ownership, Royal Bank of Scotland continued to pay homage to its Scottish roots. It spent years eating humble pie, and it had to make use of its colossal headquarters campus at Gogarburn, near Edinburgh Airport.  But now with minority state ownership and rebranded to NatWest, its London-based executive team pay less and less attention to those roots. Royal Bank of Scotland is only retained as a brand in Scotland, and with more staff working from home, Gogarburn is operating far below capacity. Clydesdale Bank was a distant third among Scottish banks. It had also taken big risks on lending. Its parent company, National Australia Bank, despaired of it and the huge costs of redress for mis-selling financial products. It struggled to offload it, eventually spinning it off in a stock exchange float. Such new ""challenger banks"" were encouraged by government and by regulators with relaxed capital rules, and a share of funds which Royal Bank of Scotland had to pay as compensation for the state aid it received. Scotland's two main cities did exceptionally well at attracting them. Virgin Money put its HQ into Edinburgh, and bought the less toxic remnants of Northern Rock, an important part of the economy in north-east England. TSB, spun off by Lloyds, retained its historic HQ on Edinburgh's George Street, but was taken over by Sabadell of Spain and ran into expensive problems in updating its IT systems. Two new banks, the financial arms of Sainsbury's and Tesco supermarket chains, put their headquarters in Edinburgh, and Tesco followed up by locating its main processing and contact centre in Glasgow. Now, however, banks look much less attractive for big brand expansion. Government and regulators look less favourably on challenger banks. And as they retreat, that means less competition in the bank market, and risks higher costs for customers. Tesco's is being sold to Barclays, and Sainsbury's has failed to find a buyer, so it is winding down its bank.  For Scotland, that is a lot of bank headquarters to lose in only 15 years. Does that matter? According to Ian Fraser, an author and commentator on banking, it is a ""bit of a disaster"" for the Scottish economy more widely. ""It's very serious,"" he says. ""People in business were used to being able to walk a few hundred metres from their office to the bank. They got to know the managers there, who understood the needs of the business, and that included the people right at the top. ""Therefore, the bankers had a very good knowledge of the needs of the industrial base of the companies located here. That was a huge advantage for Scotland. But now the people who make the ultimate decisions on finance are based elsewhere."" ""It's the branch economy syndrome,"" he adds. Decisions made elsewhere. And that applies not only to finance, but also to businesses in other sectors being bought over and losing HQ functions to other parts of the world. Scotland continues to do well at attracting jobs through inward investment in back office technology, processing and risk functions, and there is a lively financial technology sector, clustered around universities. These are skilled staff who can make banking more efficient. Big data gives bankers ever more detailed read-outs of customer behaviour, both retail and business. But it is at the cost of more physical distant from customers, and over time, lending decisions will be handled more often by machine. In lacking the key figures at the top of banking, Scotland is far from alone. And similar smaller countries lack such easy access to the financial powerhouse and capital markets of London. But Scots have seen an unusually sharp decline in a feature of the economy they have long taken for granted. ",BBC,21/03/2024,"['While branches close by the hundred and your money is now handled through chat bots and contact centres, Scotland is also suffering from the loss of bank headquarters.', 'And the consequences of increasingly rootless and distant banks could be serious for the wider economy.', 'On Thursday, the directors of Virgin Money UK plc announced they have agreed to recommend to shareholders that they vote to accept a £2.9bn takeover offer by Nationwide building society.', ""Virgin Money operates under the licence for Clydesdale Bank, which took it over in 2018 and adopted its brand, saying farewell to the older brand's presence in Glasgow since 1838 while, for no obvious reason, continuing to print Clydesdale bank notes."", 'That commitment to the deal also comes from the holding company owned by Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, which has a 14.6% stake.', 'In addition to trousering more than £400m from the sale, his group gets £20m for each of the six years while Nationwide continues to use the Virgin brand.', ""At a 40% premium to the recent share price, it's not hard to see why directors have agreed."", 'Such ""challenger banks"" have begun to look more of a challenge to themselves than to their bigger rivals.', 'The prospects of Virgin Money growing from sixth largest bank in Britain to rival the established giants were not good.', 'Regulatory costs weigh heavily on smaller banks, and upstarts with whizzy apps, without the legacy and focused on the relatively easy, lower-risk stuff - Monzo, Starling and Revolut, for instance - attract customers by the million.', 'So under Nationwide, Virgin Money and Clydesdale, along with the former Yorkshire Bank, become part of a building society.', 'As things stand, the combination is set to have total assets of £366bn and total lending and advances of around £283bn, representing the second largest provider of mortgages and savings in the UK.', ""Nationwide gets Virgin Money's strengths in business lending, while extending the customer orientation of a mutual."", ""Some HQ jobs in Glasgow may be lost where they overlap with those at Nationwide's head office in Swindon."", 'That includes David Duffy, chief executive since 2015, who will leave by the end of the year when the takeover should be complete.', 'The new owners are committed to the workforce of more than 7,000 people, mostly in Glasgow and Newcastle, and to branches.', 'But that\'s only in ""the medium term"", which looks like 2028 for branches at least.', ""The demise of branch banking is being driven hard by banks themselves: coincidentally, I went into a Virgin Money branch this week with a friend who is a customer there, who wanted to open a cash ISA but didn't want to do it online."", 'There was a blank look, and after 10 minutes in the back office, a gormless answer: ""you could make an appointment with someone who can help, but there\'s a long wait, and appointments are made at another branch - before then, we might find someone who could show you how to do it online"".', 'By 2028, the new bosses will have decided if they want to run the operations separately or gain from synergy and cost-cutting.', ""Though Nationwide is not accountable to shareholders, the cost-cutting option looks more likely - if it can't be as nimble as the app competitors, it makes sense to use its scale."", 'Dial back a few years, and you would hear questions of whether Scottish banks and their canny reputation could survive the ignominious near-collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank of Scotland, both headquartered in Edinburgh.', 'The capital recovered from the blow better than many expected.', 'But under Lloyds Banking Group, HBOS quickly lost executive power from its HQ on the Mound.', ""It returns to Scotland each year for its annual general meeting, but there's no pretence that it is based north of the border."", 'Under government ownership, Royal Bank of Scotland continued to pay homage to its Scottish roots.', 'It spent years eating humble pie, and it had to make use of its colossal headquarters campus at Gogarburn, near Edinburgh Airport.', 'But now with minority state ownership and rebranded to NatWest, its London-based executive team pay less and less attention to those roots.', 'Royal Bank of Scotland is only retained as a brand in Scotland, and with more staff working from home, Gogarburn is operating far below capacity.', 'Clydesdale Bank was a distant third among Scottish banks.', 'It had also taken big risks on lending.', 'Its parent company, National Australia Bank, despaired of it and the huge costs of redress for mis-selling financial products.', 'It struggled to offload it, eventually spinning it off in a stock exchange float.', 'Such new ""challenger banks"" were encouraged by government and by regulators with relaxed capital rules, and a share of funds which Royal Bank of Scotland had to pay as compensation for the state aid it received.', ""Scotland's two main cities did exceptionally well at attracting them."", 'Virgin Money put its HQ into Edinburgh, and bought the less toxic remnants of Northern Rock, an important part of the economy in north-east England.', ""TSB, spun off by Lloyds, retained its historic HQ on Edinburgh's George Street, but was taken over by Sabadell of Spain and ran into expensive problems in updating its IT systems."", ""Two new banks, the financial arms of Sainsbury's and Tesco supermarket chains, put their headquarters in Edinburgh, and Tesco followed up by locating its main processing and contact centre in Glasgow."", 'Now, however, banks look much less attractive for big brand expansion.', 'Government and regulators look less favourably on challenger banks.', 'And as they retreat, that means less competition in the bank market, and risks higher costs for customers.', ""Tesco's is being sold to Barclays, and Sainsbury's has failed to find a buyer, so it is winding down its bank."", 'For Scotland, that is a lot of bank headquarters to lose in only 15 years.', 'Does that matter?', 'According to Ian Fraser, an author and commentator on banking, it is a ""bit of a disaster"" for the Scottish economy more widely. ""', 'It\'s very serious,"" he says. ""', 'People in business were used to being able to walk a few hundred metres from their office to the bank.', 'They got to know the managers there, who understood the needs of the business, and that included the people right at the top. ""', 'Therefore, the bankers had a very good knowledge of the needs of the industrial base of the companies located here.', 'That was a huge advantage for Scotland.', 'But now the people who make the ultimate decisions on finance are based elsewhere."" ""', 'It\'s the branch economy syndrome,"" he adds.', 'Decisions made elsewhere.', 'And that applies not only to finance, but also to businesses in other sectors being bought over and losing HQ functions to other parts of the world.', 'Scotland continues to do well at attracting jobs through inward investment in back office technology, processing and risk functions, and there is a lively financial technology sector, clustered around universities.', 'These are skilled staff who can make banking more efficient.', 'Big data gives bankers ever more detailed read-outs of customer behaviour, both retail and business.', 'But it is at the cost of more physical distant from customers, and over time, lending decisions will be handled more often by machine.', 'In lacking the key figures at the top of banking, Scotland is far from alone.', 'And similar smaller countries lack such easy access to the financial powerhouse and capital markets of London.', 'But Scots have seen an unusually sharp decline in a feature of the economy they have long taken for granted.']",0.0598013443473645,"Such new ""challenger banks"" were encouraged by government and by regulators with relaxed capital rules, and a share of funds which Royal Bank of Scotland had to pay as compensation for the state aid it received.","While branches close by the hundred and your money is now handled through chat bots and contact centres, Scotland is also suffering from the loss of bank headquarters.",-0.0979166550021017,"Scotland continues to do well at attracting jobs through inward investment in back office technology, processing and risk functions, and there is a lively financial technology sector, clustered around universities.",But Scots have seen an unusually sharp decline in a feature of the economy they have long taken for granted.,2024-03-26
Wetherspoon profits jump as Covid recovery continues,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68636250,2024-03-22T12:20:39.000Z,"Pub chain Wetherspoon has reported an eightfold jump in profits, saying its recovery from the Covid pandemic is continuing.    Pre-tax profits leapt from £4.6m to £36m in the first six months of the financial year, as more people visited the group's pubs.  Wetherspoon's boss said overall sales had continued to increase despite a reduction in the number of pubs. Bar sales saw the biggest increase, up 12% over the year.   The biggest sellers for the chain, which has 814 pubs, were coffee and Pepsi. Foods sales and slot machine sales also rose.  Sales were continuing to improve into the new financial year, but at a slower rate. Shares in the company dropped 6% as a result.  Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the latest financial results were ""good"" albeit not ""sensational"". He described the recovery from the pandemic as a ""slow three-year slog"". As a result, Wetherspoon's profit margins for the six months stood at 6.8%, still below the company's pre-pandemic margins of 7.1%. Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the results told a story of ""an impressive recovery"". But he said the profits growth was in comparison with a low base. ""Margins are still pretty thin and there was little in the statement to help see where an improvement might come from,"" he said. Wetherspoon has cut its number of pubs from 955 a few years ago, since when sales per pub have increased by about 50%. It said there was the potential in the UK for about 1,000 outlets. Mr Martin also highlighted the fact that the tax burden on pubs and restaurants is much higher in the UK than it is on supermarkets. He called for tax equality to revitalise High Streets and town centres, pointing towards other European countries where the VAT rate on restaurant and food sales is far lower, typically at 5-10%.  Mr Martin called for a similar approach in the UK, advocating for a VAT rate ""less draconian"" than the current 20%. ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Pub chain Wetherspoon has reported an eightfold jump in profits, saying its recovery from the Covid pandemic is continuing.', ""Pre-tax profits leapt from £4.6m to £36m in the first six months of the financial year, as more people visited the group's pubs."", ""Wetherspoon's boss said overall sales had continued to increase despite a reduction in the number of pubs."", 'Bar sales saw the biggest increase, up 12% over the year.', 'The biggest sellers for the chain, which has 814 pubs, were coffee and Pepsi.', 'Foods sales and slot machine sales also rose.', 'Sales were continuing to improve into the new financial year, but at a slower rate.', 'Shares in the company dropped 6% as a result.', 'Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin told BBC Radio 4\'s Today programme the latest financial results were ""good"" albeit not ""sensational"".', 'He described the recovery from the pandemic as a ""slow three-year slog"".', ""As a result, Wetherspoon's profit margins for the six months stood at 6.8%, still below the company's pre-pandemic margins of 7.1%."", 'Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the results told a story of ""an impressive recovery"".', 'But he said the profits growth was in comparison with a low base. ""', 'Margins are still pretty thin and there was little in the statement to help see where an improvement might come from,"" he said.', 'Wetherspoon has cut its number of pubs from 955 a few years ago, since when sales per pub have increased by about 50%.', 'It said there was the potential in the UK for about 1,000 outlets.', 'Mr Martin also highlighted the fact that the tax burden on pubs and restaurants is much higher in the UK than it is on supermarkets.', 'He called for tax equality to revitalise High Streets and town centres, pointing towards other European countries where the VAT rate on restaurant and food sales is far lower, typically at 5-10%.', 'Mr Martin called for a similar approach in the UK, advocating for a VAT rate ""less draconian"" than the current 20%.']",0.2296942954605073,"Margins are still pretty thin and there was little in the statement to help see where an improvement might come from,"" he said.",Mr Martin also highlighted the fact that the tax burden on pubs and restaurants is much higher in the UK than it is on supermarkets.,0.3579629341761271,"Pre-tax profits leapt from £4.6m to £36m in the first six months of the financial year, as more people visited the group's pubs.","As a result, Wetherspoon's profit margins for the six months stood at 6.8%, still below the company's pre-pandemic margins of 7.1%.",2024-03-26
Your personal data all over the web - is there a better way?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68286395,2024-03-08T00:08:42.000Z,"""From the beginning, I always meant for the web to be a platform for creativity and collaboration,"" says Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web. ""The first decade of the web lived up to that promise, but that's not what we've seen in the last 20 years or so."" Sir Tim says a particular problem is the way personal data is handled. When you log in and store data in a website, it can only be used within that website.  But an open source software project, called Solid, is designed to reverse that situation. The idea of Solid is that people have a private data store, and they get to choose which organisations can access it, for what purpose, and for how long.  Called a Personal Online Data Store, or Pod, it gives users control over their data, and the freedom to combine it or share it between applications. Sir Tim is co-founder of Inrupt, a company that provides Solid-based technologies. He says using the technology would mean that data storage would be ""centred around people, instead of around apps"".  Other companies providing Solid-based solutions include Graphmetrix and Digita. In Flanders, Belgium, Athumi is working on several projects using Solid.  The company was set up by the Flemish government to help re-launch the economy after the Covid-19 emergency. The company acts as a neutral intermediary, connecting businesses in different sectors and enabling them to access sensitive company and citizen data.  Athumi's first Solid project launched last year in collaboration with recruitment company Randstad, prior to a rollout with other recruitment firms. During 2024, Athumi plans to scale this application to 30,000 users.  The application solves a common problem for job applicants in Belgium. They often have to submit copies of their diplomas, typically as photocopies by mail. Sometimes people struggle to find their certificates and getting replacements causes delay and costs money. ""We made the process very easy,"" says Björn De Vidts, chief executive of Athumi.  ""The first step is to activate your pod. That is legally required because we cannot deliver services for a person who hasn't given us the authority to activate their pod. The second step is that you give permission to load your diploma into the pod. The third step is giving access to Randstad for a certain period of time to use the diploma in your pod for the specific job application."" Citizens access and manage their pods through a web browser. For some roles, the recruiter needs to verify that the claimed qualification is genuine.  This can be time-consuming when dealing with paperwork. In the Solid application, the diploma has a token that guarantees the data is authentic and hasn't been changed. More technology of business The tech is also being piloted in healthcare.  Starting this year, five Belgian hospitals will store information about hospital visits in patients' Solid pods. The idea is that it will make it easier for patients to share their medical data. For example, they could share proof of a recent medical examination when applying for a job, so they don't need to have another one. Athumi is also working with several media companies to create shared user profiles that span streaming services, so viewers can get better personalised services. The pods store data in standard formats, so that it can be reused in multiple contexts. ""What I call the real fun stuff of the data economy is when we will be able to combine these different data elements,"" says Mr De Vidts. ""That will generate use cases that we cannot even predict today. When you have enough interesting data points, application builders will, we believe, come to the pod to build new applications.""  Research commissioned by the Flemish government indicates that citizens would be willing to use the pods if they save time or money, or they help them to improve their health. The Flemish pods are hosted using Enterprise Solid Server, provided by Inrupt. John Bruce, Inrupt's co-founder and CEO, says you could have multiple pods hosted for you by companies such as internet service providers or travel firms you use frequently. All the pods can be accessed through one login. Pods could potentially make life harder for hackers.  Even though pods may share a server, each one has its own access controls, set by the user. By contrast, a company database has one set of access controls that grants access to all customer records. ""Today you exist in big databases,"" says Mr Bruce. ""Your credit card is in there with 10 million others. ""That database is a high value target. [Hackers] will put months of work in to get that database. When the data value exists only in your pod, it is like the difference in the kind of attack one would get on a bank versus you getting mugged on the street. You're not going to get a team of people following you around for three months to nick your wallet,"" he says. Amanda Finch, CEO of The Chartered Institute of Information Security, says Athumi's plan to create a centralised data platform will have benefits. As well as easing the flow of data through the economy it could boost security.  ""From a security standpoint, it should help to create a safer environment. With fewer platforms to secure, and responsibility lying with one, overarching party, you'd expect fewer vulnerabilities compared to multiple different solutions."" She adds a note of caution, though, as the new architecture means citizens take responsibility for more sensitive data than they might previously have held. ""Putting security into the hands of users and citizens is a risk when you consider how many breaches have a human element,"" she says. ""If someone is duped into sharing their pod with a fraudster, then that's it - they've potentially lost everything. Users need to make their own conscious decisions on whether they share data. But this can only happen if citizens are educated on how they can reduce risk by instilling security best practices such as strong passwords or multi-factor authentication."" Would all those companies used to hoarding data give it up easily? ""Companies don't want it,"" says Mr Bruce. ""If they could live in a world where they don't have to be responsible for your data, but they can have access to it, they'd take that in a heartbeat."" Back at Athumi, Mr De Vidts thinks Solid could be the start of a data revolution.  ""I've been working 25 years in B2B data collaboration, and this is the first time I've seen a data sharing technology that has this kind of potential to disrupt existing business models,"" he says. ""A citizen can decide what data goes to which consuming application. The data subject becomes the data controller."" ",BBC,08/03/2024,"['""From the beginning, I always meant for the web to be a platform for creativity and collaboration,"" says Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web. ""', 'The first decade of the web lived up to that promise, but that\'s not what we\'ve seen in the last 20 years or so.""', 'Sir Tim says a particular problem is the way personal data is handled.', 'When you log in and store data in a website, it can only be used within that website.', 'But an open source software project, called Solid, is designed to reverse that situation.', 'The idea of Solid is that people have a private data store, and they get to choose which organisations can access it, for what purpose, and for how long.', 'Called a Personal Online Data Store, or Pod, it gives users control over their data, and the freedom to combine it or share it between applications.', 'Sir Tim is co-founder of Inrupt, a company that provides Solid-based technologies.', 'He says using the technology would mean that data storage would be ""centred around people, instead of around apps"".', 'Other companies providing Solid-based solutions include Graphmetrix and Digita.', 'In Flanders, Belgium, Athumi is working on several projects using Solid.', 'The company was set up by the Flemish government to help re-launch the economy after the Covid-19 emergency.', 'The company acts as a neutral intermediary, connecting businesses in different sectors and enabling them to access sensitive company and citizen data.', ""Athumi's first Solid project launched last year in collaboration with recruitment company Randstad, prior to a rollout with other recruitment firms."", 'During 2024, Athumi plans to scale this application to 30,000 users.', 'The application solves a common problem for job applicants in Belgium.', 'They often have to submit copies of their diplomas, typically as photocopies by mail.', 'Sometimes people struggle to find their certificates and getting replacements causes delay and costs money. ""', 'We made the process very easy,"" says Björn De Vidts, chief executive of Athumi. ""', 'The first step is to activate your pod.', ""That is legally required because we cannot deliver services for a person who hasn't given us the authority to activate their pod."", 'The second step is that you give permission to load your diploma into the pod.', 'The third step is giving access to Randstad for a certain period of time to use the diploma in your pod for the specific job application.""', 'Citizens access and manage their pods through a web browser.', 'For some roles, the recruiter needs to verify that the claimed qualification is genuine.', 'This can be time-consuming when dealing with paperwork.', ""In the Solid application, the diploma has a token that guarantees the data is authentic and hasn't been changed."", 'More technology of business The tech is also being piloted in healthcare.', ""Starting this year, five Belgian hospitals will store information about hospital visits in patients' Solid pods."", 'The idea is that it will make it easier for patients to share their medical data.', ""For example, they could share proof of a recent medical examination when applying for a job, so they don't need to have another one."", 'Athumi is also working with several media companies to create shared user profiles that span streaming services, so viewers can get better personalised services.', 'The pods store data in standard formats, so that it can be reused in multiple contexts. ""', 'What I call the real fun stuff of the data economy is when we will be able to combine these different data elements,"" says Mr De Vidts. ""', 'That will generate use cases that we cannot even predict today.', 'When you have enough interesting data points, application builders will, we believe, come to the pod to build new applications.""', 'Research commissioned by the Flemish government indicates that citizens would be willing to use the pods if they save time or money, or they help them to improve their health.', 'The Flemish pods are hosted using Enterprise Solid Server, provided by Inrupt.', ""John Bruce, Inrupt's co-founder and CEO, says you could have multiple pods hosted for you by companies such as internet service providers or travel firms you use frequently."", 'All the pods can be accessed through one login.', 'Pods could potentially make life harder for hackers.', 'Even though pods may share a server, each one has its own access controls, set by the user.', 'By contrast, a company database has one set of access controls that grants access to all customer records. ""', 'Today you exist in big databases,"" says Mr Bruce. ""', 'Your credit card is in there with 10 million others. ""', 'That database is a high value target. [', 'Hackers] will put months of work in to get that database.', 'When the data value exists only in your pod, it is like the difference in the kind of attack one would get on a bank versus you getting mugged on the street.', 'You\'re not going to get a team of people following you around for three months to nick your wallet,"" he says.', ""Amanda Finch, CEO of The Chartered Institute of Information Security, says Athumi's plan to create a centralised data platform will have benefits."", 'As well as easing the flow of data through the economy it could boost security. ""', 'From a security standpoint, it should help to create a safer environment.', 'With fewer platforms to secure, and responsibility lying with one, overarching party, you\'d expect fewer vulnerabilities compared to multiple different solutions.""', 'She adds a note of caution, though, as the new architecture means citizens take responsibility for more sensitive data than they might previously have held. ""', 'Putting security into the hands of users and citizens is a risk when you consider how many breaches have a human element,"" she says. ""', ""If someone is duped into sharing their pod with a fraudster, then that's it - they've potentially lost everything."", 'Users need to make their own conscious decisions on whether they share data.', 'But this can only happen if citizens are educated on how they can reduce risk by instilling security best practices such as strong passwords or multi-factor authentication.""', 'Would all those companies used to hoarding data give it up easily? ""', 'Companies don\'t want it,"" says Mr Bruce. ""', 'If they could live in a world where they don\'t have to be responsible for your data, but they can have access to it, they\'d take that in a heartbeat.""', 'Back at Athumi, Mr De Vidts thinks Solid could be the start of a data revolution. ""', 'I\'ve been working 25 years in B2B data collaboration, and this is the first time I\'ve seen a data sharing technology that has this kind of potential to disrupt existing business models,"" he says. ""', 'A citizen can decide what data goes to which consuming application.', 'The data subject becomes the data controller.""']",0.2011309203114104,"But this can only happen if citizens are educated on how they can reduce risk by instilling security best practices such as strong passwords or multi-factor authentication.""","If someone is duped into sharing their pod with a fraudster, then that's it - they've potentially lost everything.",0.4941888543275686,"As well as easing the flow of data through the economy it could boost security. """,Pods could potentially make life harder for hackers.,2024-03-26
Boeing timeline: Inside the air giant’s turbulent journey in recent years,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/17/business/boeing-timeline-troubles-crashes-stock-dg/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:40 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Boeing once had a reputation for unmatched safety and quality, an economic giant and a shining example of American industrial prowess. No longer.
    
            Since late 2018, a series of setbacks has besieged the company, including two fatal crashes that grounded its best-selling jet and an incident where a door plug detached in mid-air, leaving a gaping hole in a jet’s side.
    
            In addition to the loss of 346 lives in the two crashes, the problems have cost the company tens of billions of dollars and damaged its reputation. Here’s how Boeing got to this point.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Boeing once had a reputation for unmatched safety and quality, an economic giant and a shining example of American industrial prowess.', 'No longer.', 'Since late 2018, a series of setbacks has besieged the company, including two fatal crashes that grounded its best-selling jet and an incident where a door plug detached in mid-air, leaving a gaping hole in a jet’s side.', 'In addition to the loss of 346 lives in the two crashes, the problems have cost the company tens of billions of dollars and damaged its reputation.', 'Here’s how Boeing got to this point.']",-0.1335513864576442,"Boeing once had a reputation for unmatched safety and quality, an economic giant and a shining example of American industrial prowess.","In addition to the loss of 346 lives in the two crashes, the problems have cost the company tens of billions of dollars and damaged its reputation.",-0.3317096432050069,"Boeing once had a reputation for unmatched safety and quality, an economic giant and a shining example of American industrial prowess.","Since late 2018, a series of setbacks has besieged the company, including two fatal crashes that grounded its best-selling jet and an incident where a door plug detached in mid-air, leaving a gaping hole in a jet’s side.",2024-03-26
Searches for VPNs spike in Texas after Pornhub pulls out of the state,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/15/tech/vpn-searches-spike-texas-pornhub/index.html,"
  Updated
        11:57 AM EDT, Fri March 15, 2024
    ","Searches for virtual private networking (VPN) software briefly spiked in Texas this week after Pornhub suspended service in the state over a law forcing adult websites to verify the age or identities of their users.
    
            The four-fold rise in Google searches for tools that can circumvent the state-level blocking suggests the law may already be having unintended side effects, days after a federal appeals court upheld the legislation and said it could remain in effect.
    
            Visitors with Texas IP addresses who visit Pornhub’s website are now presented with a full-page message calling the Texas law “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.”
    
            “Until the real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Texas,” the message reads. “In doing so, we are complying with the law, as we always do, but hope that governments around the world will implement laws that actually protect the safety and security of users.”
    
            Search interest in VPNs began disproportionately rising in Texas Thursday compared to the rest of the country, according to a CNN analysis of Google Trends data — quadrupling in the hours following Pornhub’s announcement before retreating slightly by early Friday morning.
    
            While Google Trends merely shows correlations between events and is only useful as a gauge of relative search interest for a given snapshot of time, the immediacy of the search spike, coupled with its concentration from within Texas, highlights the potential connection between the law and Pornhub’s users.
    
            A link “seems pretty likely,” said Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, a digital rights advocacy group.
    
            “The apparent spike in VPN searches in Texas shows that these types of age verification laws aren’t just unconstitutional, they’re also silly and ineffective,” Greer said. “Just like millions of people in countries like China, Russia and Turkey evade their government’s draconian online censorship regimes using simple tools like VPNs, now we see Texans doing the same to get around their own state government’s invasive rules.”
    
            The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), another digital rights group, said Texas is not the only state to see such searches rise in response to age verification laws.
    
            “Similar search spikes have been reported after other states passed age verification laws, which EFF opposes,” said Hudson Hongo, a spokesperson for the group. “No one should have to hand over their driver’s license just to access free websites.”
    
            Pornhub has pulled out of multiple states in response to a wave of age verification laws sweeping the country, including in Montana, Utah, Virginia and others. It also highlights the running debate in statehouses nationwide about how and whether governments can require websites to perform age verification.
    
            The law in question in Texas is known as HB 1181. It requires adult websites to implement “reasonable age verification” methods to ensure that pornography is not being distributed to minors. Those methods include either requiring users to submit “proof of identity” such as a government-issued ID to the adult website or to a third-party contractor, or by submitting other personal data to a third-party contractor, such as biometric information, that enables the vendor to check a user’s age.
    
            Last summer, a US district judge temporarily blocked the law, finding that it was overly broad, likely violated the First Amendment and threatened marginalized communities.
    
            “It runs the risk that the state can monitor when an adult views sexually explicit materials and what kind of websites they visit,” wrote Judge David Alan Ezra in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas. “Given Texas’s ongoing criminalization of homosexual intercourse, it is apparent that people who wish to view homosexual material will be profoundly chilled from doing so if they must first affirmatively identify themselves to the state.”
    
            Later, however, in response to an emergency appeal by Texas officials, the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled Ezra with an order that allowed the law to take effect.
    
            And last week, a three-judge panel of the same appeals court found that Ezra applied too tough a standard in reviewing the law.
    
            The 5th Circuit court’s latest decision formally lifts the injunction against the Texas law.
    
            Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posted on X Thursday celebrating Pornhub’s decision to withdraw from the state.
    
            “Sites like PornHub are on the run,” he wrote, adding: “In Texas, companies cannot get away with showing porn to children. If they don’t want to comply, good riddance.”
    
            Pornhub said in a blog post that it supports age verification but that forcing individual websites and third-party providers to handle users’ most sensitive personal information creates unreasonable privacy and security risks. Pornhub has proposed, and reiterated on Thursday, that age verification checks should be performed exclusively on a user’s device, without requiring them to send data over the internet to third parties.",CNN,15/03/2024,"['Searches for virtual private networking (VPN) software briefly spiked in Texas this week after Pornhub suspended service in the state over a law forcing adult websites to verify the age or identities of their users.', 'The four-fold rise in Google searches for tools that can circumvent the state-level blocking suggests the law may already be having unintended side effects, days after a federal appeals court upheld the legislation and said it could remain in effect.', 'Visitors with Texas IP addresses who visit Pornhub’s website are now presented with a full-page message calling the Texas law “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.”', '“Until the real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Texas,” the message reads. “', 'In doing so, we are complying with the law, as we always do, but hope that governments around the world will implement laws that actually protect the safety and security of users.”', 'Search interest in VPNs began disproportionately rising in Texas Thursday compared to the rest of the country, according to a CNN analysis of Google Trends data — quadrupling in the hours following Pornhub’s announcement before retreating slightly by early Friday morning.', 'While Google Trends merely shows correlations between events and is only useful as a gauge of relative search interest for a given snapshot of time, the immediacy of the search spike, coupled with its concentration from within Texas, highlights the potential connection between the law and Pornhub’s users.', 'A link “seems pretty likely,” said Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, a digital rights advocacy group.', '“The apparent spike in VPN searches in Texas shows that these types of age verification laws aren’t just unconstitutional, they’re also silly and ineffective,” Greer said. “', 'Just like millions of people in countries like China, Russia and Turkey evade their government’s draconian online censorship regimes using simple tools like VPNs, now we see Texans doing the same to get around their own state government’s invasive rules.”', 'The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), another digital rights group, said Texas is not the only state to see such searches rise in response to age verification laws.', '“Similar search spikes have been reported after other states passed age verification laws, which EFF opposes,” said Hudson Hongo, a spokesperson for the group. “', 'No one should have to hand over their driver’s license just to access free websites.”', 'Pornhub has pulled out of multiple states in response to a wave of age verification laws sweeping the country, including in Montana, Utah, Virginia and others.', 'It also highlights the running debate in statehouses nationwide about how and whether governments can require websites to perform age verification.', 'The law in question in Texas is known as HB 1181.', 'It requires adult websites to implement “reasonable age verification” methods to ensure that pornography is not being distributed to minors.', 'Those methods include either requiring users to submit “proof of identity” such as a government-issued ID to the adult website or to a third-party contractor, or by submitting other personal data to a third-party contractor, such as biometric information, that enables the vendor to check a user’s age.', 'Last summer, a US district judge temporarily blocked the law, finding that it was overly broad, likely violated the First Amendment and threatened marginalized communities.', '“It runs the risk that the state can monitor when an adult views sexually explicit materials and what kind of websites they visit,” wrote Judge David Alan Ezra in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas. “', 'Given Texas’s ongoing criminalization of homosexual intercourse, it is apparent that people who wish to view homosexual material will be profoundly chilled from doing so if they must first affirmatively identify themselves to the state.”', 'Later, however, in response to an emergency appeal by Texas officials, the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled Ezra with an order that allowed the law to take effect.', 'And last week, a three-judge panel of the same appeals court found that Ezra applied too tough a standard in reviewing the law.', 'The 5th Circuit court’s latest decision formally lifts the injunction against the Texas law.', 'Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posted on X Thursday celebrating Pornhub’s decision to withdraw from the state.', '“Sites like PornHub are on the run,” he wrote, adding: “In Texas, companies cannot get away with showing porn to children.', 'If they don’t want to comply, good riddance.”', 'Pornhub said in a blog post that it supports age verification but that forcing individual websites and third-party providers to handle users’ most sensitive personal information creates unreasonable privacy and security risks.', 'Pornhub has proposed, and reiterated on Thursday, that age verification checks should be performed exclusively on a user’s device, without requiring them to send data over the internet to third parties.']",0.1781594366727325,"In doing so, we are complying with the law, as we always do, but hope that governments around the world will implement laws that actually protect the safety and security of users.”","Last summer, a US district judge temporarily blocked the law, finding that it was overly broad, likely violated the First Amendment and threatened marginalized communities.",-0.4006589949131012,"Search interest in VPNs began disproportionately rising in Texas Thursday compared to the rest of the country, according to a CNN analysis of Google Trends data — quadrupling in the hours following Pornhub’s announcement before retreating slightly by early Friday morning.","“The apparent spike in VPN searches in Texas shows that these types of age verification laws aren’t just unconstitutional, they’re also silly and ineffective,” Greer said. “",2024-03-26
When wind turbine blades get old what's next?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68225891,2024-03-12T00:01:23.000Z,"The cranes moved in last year at Hagshaw Hill, Scotland's oldest commercial wind farm. They were there to continue the dismantling of wind turbines that had been generating electricity for the last 28 years. A similar scene can be witnessed across the world as the first wave of wind turbines built in the late 1990s and early 2000s are decommissioned. In the case of Hagshaw Hill, the existing turbines will be replaced with taller and more efficient ones that can generate up to 10 times more electricity. But working out what to do with the old turbines is challenging. Between 85 and 95% of a turbine's materials, such as steel, aluminium, and copper, can be easily recycled, but the blades are a different matter. Made of fibreglass they are covered with a tough epoxy resin, designed to withstand years of hammering by the elements. These durable qualities make breaking down the blades for recycling a tricky process. Traditional solutions include using pieces of decommissioned blades in cement kilns to manufacture cement, though this can be an energy intensive process. Blades are also commonly disposed of in landfill sites, but this option is becoming increasingly less feasible with a number of countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, banning the practice. Innovative solutions such as repurposing blades into playgrounds or bike sheds have been shown to be effective at a local level but, with some experts predicting up to 43 million tonnes of wind turbine blade waste by 2050, there is a pressing need for a system that will work on a bigger scale. Scientists and start-ups are working on the problem, with many focusing on tackling the challenge of breaking down the materials used in the blades.  ""At the end of life, if we're going to get any value out of the materials, we need to be able to separate the fibres from the resin in some way or another,"" Dr Claire Barlow, a sustainability and materials engineer, from the University of Cambridge tells me. More technology of business One approach showing promise uses a technique developed by the University of Strathclyde. It involves breaking the blades down into small pieces and feeding them into a very hot air stream. The process separates the glass fibre from the resin. The glass fibre can then be collected, treated and reused, explains Malcolm Forsyth who leads Project PRoGrESS, which aims to commercialise the technology. The project, which kicked off in 2022, is working on a pilot plant that's due to be operational in the first half of this year - though it's hit some difficulties.  ""The major challenge for the project team has been the rapid escalation of material costs partly due to the Russia and Ukraine war, as well as global inflation,"" according to Mr Forsyth.  Similar solutions are being tested elsewhere that use different methodologies but have the same overarching goal of breaking down the materials used in wind turbine blades. Danish company Vestas, the largest wind turbine producer in Europe, announced last year an approach that uses a liquid chemical solution to break down the blades into materials which can then potentially be used to make new blades. A major advantage of this approach, according to Vestas, is that it uses widely available chemicals, though details haven't been disclosed. The process has the added benefit of not requiring energy-intensive high temperatures.  Both of these traits hint at potential scalability, with the company claiming to have recycled 475 end-of-life blades in 2022. If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow. Historic blade waste currently in landfill could be recycled, as could waste which has been placed in storage awaiting a solution. At Hagshaw Hill a number of wind turbines have been kept in storage while ScottishPower Renewables decides what to do with them. Perhaps the future will be to make turbine blades that are easier to break down.  A number of companies are working on building blades made out of materials less reliant on the difficult to recycle fibreglass and epoxy resin. However at this stage, the vast majority of blades continue to be made of these traditional materials. The next few years will determine whether the recycling technology under development can be scaled-up to a useful size, without harming the environment. As Dr Barlow puts it ""that really is the silver bullet."" ",BBC,12/03/2024,"[""The cranes moved in last year at Hagshaw Hill, Scotland's oldest commercial wind farm."", 'They were there to continue the dismantling of wind turbines that had been generating electricity for the last 28 years.', 'A similar scene can be witnessed across the world as the first wave of wind turbines built in the late 1990s and early 2000s are decommissioned.', 'In the case of Hagshaw Hill, the existing turbines will be replaced with taller and more efficient ones that can generate up to 10 times more electricity.', 'But working out what to do with the old turbines is challenging.', ""Between 85 and 95% of a turbine's materials, such as steel, aluminium, and copper, can be easily recycled, but the blades are a different matter."", 'Made of fibreglass they are covered with a tough epoxy resin, designed to withstand years of hammering by the elements.', 'These durable qualities make breaking down the blades for recycling a tricky process.', 'Traditional solutions include using pieces of decommissioned blades in cement kilns to manufacture cement, though this can be an energy intensive process.', 'Blades are also commonly disposed of in landfill sites, but this option is becoming increasingly less feasible with a number of countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, banning the practice.', 'Innovative solutions such as repurposing blades into playgrounds or bike sheds have been shown to be effective at a local level but, with some experts predicting up to 43 million tonnes of wind turbine blade waste by 2050, there is a pressing need for a system that will work on a bigger scale.', 'Scientists and start-ups are working on the problem, with many focusing on tackling the challenge of breaking down the materials used in the blades. ""', 'At the end of life, if we\'re going to get any value out of the materials, we need to be able to separate the fibres from the resin in some way or another,"" Dr Claire Barlow, a sustainability and materials engineer, from the University of Cambridge tells me.', 'More technology of business One approach showing promise uses a technique developed by the University of Strathclyde.', 'It involves breaking the blades down into small pieces and feeding them into a very hot air stream.', 'The process separates the glass fibre from the resin.', 'The glass fibre can then be collected, treated and reused, explains Malcolm Forsyth who leads Project PRoGrESS, which aims to commercialise the technology.', 'The project, which kicked off in 2022, is working on a pilot plant that\'s due to be operational in the first half of this year - though it\'s hit some difficulties. ""', 'The major challenge for the project team has been the rapid escalation of material costs partly due to the Russia and Ukraine war, as well as global inflation,"" according to Mr Forsyth.', 'Similar solutions are being tested elsewhere that use different methodologies but have the same overarching goal of breaking down the materials used in wind turbine blades.', 'Danish company Vestas, the largest wind turbine producer in Europe, announced last year an approach that uses a liquid chemical solution to break down the blades into materials which can then potentially be used to make new blades.', ""A major advantage of this approach, according to Vestas, is that it uses widely available chemicals, though details haven't been disclosed."", 'The process has the added benefit of not requiring energy-intensive high temperatures.', 'Both of these traits hint at potential scalability, with the company claiming to have recycled 475 end-of-life blades in 2022.', 'If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow.', 'Historic blade waste currently in landfill could be recycled, as could waste which has been placed in storage awaiting a solution.', 'At Hagshaw Hill a number of wind turbines have been kept in storage while ScottishPower Renewables decides what to do with them.', 'Perhaps the future will be to make turbine blades that are easier to break down.', 'A number of companies are working on building blades made out of materials less reliant on the difficult to recycle fibreglass and epoxy resin.', 'However at this stage, the vast majority of blades continue to be made of these traditional materials.', 'The next few years will determine whether the recycling technology under development can be scaled-up to a useful size, without harming the environment.', 'As Dr Barlow puts it ""that really is the silver bullet.""']",0.0650669930373075,"The next few years will determine whether the recycling technology under development can be scaled-up to a useful size, without harming the environment.","If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow.",0.1610930476869855,"If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow.","The major challenge for the project team has been the rapid escalation of material costs partly due to the Russia and Ukraine war, as well as global inflation,"" according to Mr Forsyth.",2024-03-26
Legoland and Alton Towers owner to charge more at peak times,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68659045,2024-03-25T17:53:57.000Z,"The owner of theme parks including Alton Towers and Legoland is to make it more costly to visit on a sunny bank holiday than a rainy day midweek.  Merlin Entertainments, which also runs the London Eye and Madame Tussauds, is introducing ""dynamic pricing"" so prices can respond faster to weather and demand. Merlin said it would help offset a decline in visitors since the pandemic.  Around 20 of its global venues will see the changes this year.  Merlin Entertainments already uses off-peak and peak time pricing which, like many organisations, allows seasonal fluctuations to dictate demand and therefore price.  But the introduction of machine learning will make flexible ticket pricing faster and more detailed. For example, if a sunny Saturday during the summer holiday turns out to be less busy than expected, the firm could lower ticket prices on the day. Similarly, if a winter's day unexpectedly turns out to be busy, prices could rise higher than current off-peak prices, even during what is normally considered a cheaper time to visit. Merlin said in a statement that such a pricing structure ""makes sure that the peak period experience is optimised by avoiding overcrowding"". It added that ""these changes enable greater flexibility for guests booking online to choose discounted prices for select dates and times"". ""We had it in 2023 and we had the highest guest satisfaction scores in the history of the company, and seven million additional guests,"" chief executive Scott O'Neil said. ""So we're definitely getting the signal that our processes are moving in the right direction"". However, there has been some criticism of the ""dynamic pricing"" model used by companies such as Uber and restaurants, partly due to its lack of transparency about why prices are high some of the time.  In February, US burger chain Wendy's was quick to clarify that it was not introducing dynamic, or ""surge"" pricing. One of the company's most high-profile critics, left-wing senator Elizabeth Warren, said the plans meant people ""could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy's stays exactly the same"". Meanwhile, Mr O'Neil said ""dynamic"" pricing would help ""protect the guest experience"" during busier times of the year by managing queues, where waits of more than an hour are routine. Merlin said on Monday it had made record revenues of £2.1bn in 2023, an increase of 8% year on year, with much of the revenue coming from international tourists visiting the capital. Nearly one in every four visitors to London came to a Merlin attraction, the company said. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['The owner of theme parks including Alton Towers and Legoland is to make it more costly to visit on a sunny bank holiday than a rainy day midweek.', 'Merlin Entertainments, which also runs the London Eye and Madame Tussauds, is introducing ""dynamic pricing"" so prices can respond faster to weather and demand.', 'Merlin said it would help offset a decline in visitors since the pandemic.', 'Around 20 of its global venues will see the changes this year.', 'Merlin Entertainments already uses off-peak and peak time pricing which, like many organisations, allows seasonal fluctuations to dictate demand and therefore price.', 'But the introduction of machine learning will make flexible ticket pricing faster and more detailed.', 'For example, if a sunny Saturday during the summer holiday turns out to be less busy than expected, the firm could lower ticket prices on the day.', ""Similarly, if a winter's day unexpectedly turns out to be busy, prices could rise higher than current off-peak prices, even during what is normally considered a cheaper time to visit."", 'Merlin said in a statement that such a pricing structure ""makes sure that the peak period experience is optimised by avoiding overcrowding"".', 'It added that ""these changes enable greater flexibility for guests booking online to choose discounted prices for select dates and times"". ""', 'We had it in 2023 and we had the highest guest satisfaction scores in the history of the company, and seven million additional guests,"" chief executive Scott O\'Neil said. ""', 'So we\'re definitely getting the signal that our processes are moving in the right direction"".', 'However, there has been some criticism of the ""dynamic pricing"" model used by companies such as Uber and restaurants, partly due to its lack of transparency about why prices are high some of the time.', 'In February, US burger chain Wendy\'s was quick to clarify that it was not introducing dynamic, or ""surge"" pricing.', 'One of the company\'s most high-profile critics, left-wing senator Elizabeth Warren, said the plans meant people ""could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy\'s stays exactly the same"".', 'Meanwhile, Mr O\'Neil said ""dynamic"" pricing would help ""protect the guest experience"" during busier times of the year by managing queues, where waits of more than an hour are routine.', 'Merlin said on Monday it had made record revenues of £2.1bn in 2023, an increase of 8% year on year, with much of the revenue coming from international tourists visiting the capital.', 'Nearly one in every four visitors to London came to a Merlin attraction, the company said.']",0.3026671170799299,"Meanwhile, Mr O'Neil said ""dynamic"" pricing would help ""protect the guest experience"" during busier times of the year by managing queues, where waits of more than an hour are routine.","One of the company's most high-profile critics, left-wing senator Elizabeth Warren, said the plans meant people ""could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy's stays exactly the same"".",0.546469156558697,"Merlin said on Monday it had made record revenues of £2.1bn in 2023, an increase of 8% year on year, with much of the revenue coming from international tourists visiting the capital.",The owner of theme parks including Alton Towers and Legoland is to make it more costly to visit on a sunny bank holiday than a rainy day midweek.,2024-03-26
Powerball jackpot swells to an estimated $800 million after no grand prize winners Saturday,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/23/business/powerball-jackpot-saturday-drawing/index.html,"
  Updated
        6:13 AM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","When the next Powerball numbers are drawn Monday night, a lucky lottery player somewhere in the country could win an estimated $800 million grand prize.
    
            No tickets matched all six numbers for the $750 million jackpot in Saturday night’s drawing, so the jackpot continued to swell, according to the lottery.
    
            The numbers drawn Saturday were 6, 23, 25, 34, 51 and Powerball 3.
    
            Although there was no jackpot winner Saturday, five tickets won $1 million each in California, Florida, Indiana, Texas and Washington, according to the Powerball website.
    
            A lucky winner in Monday’s drawing would be able to choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take the estimated $384.8 lump sum.
    
            The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million. Since then, there have been 35 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.
    
            The Powerball jackpot isn’t the only lottery prize that’s been growing this week. No one won the Mega Millions jackpot during Friday’s drawing, sending the grand prize for Tuesday’s drawing to an estimated $1.1 billion, according to Mega Millions.
    
            Winning the Powerball jackpot means a ticket correctly guessed all five white balls plus the red Powerball. The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball.
    
            Powerball tickets cost $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET in Tallahassee, Florida.",CNN,24/03/2024,"['When the next Powerball numbers are drawn Monday night, a lucky lottery player somewhere in the country could win an estimated $800 million grand prize.', 'No tickets matched all six numbers for the$750 million jackpotin Saturday night’s drawing, so the jackpot continued to swell, according to the lottery.', 'The numbers drawn Saturday were 6, 23, 25, 34, 51 and Powerball 3.', 'Although there was no jackpot winner Saturday, five tickets won $1 million each in California, Florida, Indiana, Texas and Washington, according to the Powerball website.', 'A lucky winner in Monday’s drawing would be able to choose to receive the money in annuitized payments or take the estimated $384.8 lump sum.', 'The last time the Powerball jackpot was won was in January, when a ticket in Michigan scored a prize worth $842.4 million.', 'Since then, there have been 35 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.', 'The Powerball jackpot isn’t the only lottery prize that’s been growing this week.', 'No one won theMega Millionsjackpot during Friday’s drawing, sending the grand prize for Tuesday’s drawing to an estimated $1.1 billion, according toMega Millions.', 'Winning the Powerball jackpot means a ticket correctly guessed all five white balls plus the red Powerball.', 'The odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball.', 'Powerball tickets cost $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.', 'Drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. ET in Tallahassee, Florida.']",0.4361306012280815,"When the next Powerball numbers are drawn Monday night, a lucky lottery player somewhere in the country could win an estimated $800 million grand prize.","Since then, there have been 35 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, according to Powerball.",0.9994261264801024,"No tickets matched all six numbers for the$750 million jackpotin Saturday night’s drawing, so the jackpot continued to swell, according to the lottery.",,2024-03-26
Should you sell your home now or wait for the Realtor settlement this summer?,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/24/investing/when-to-list-your-home-nar-settlement/index.html,"
  Published
        9:30 AM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","Listing your home in the spring used to be a no-brainer. But a major real estate shakeup is complicating the equation.
    
            That shakeup is coming from a $418 million settlement the National Association of Realtors announced last week with groups of homesellers that could go into effect as early as July. The settlement will eliminate the long-standing standard 6% commission paid by the seller, which could ultimately make it cheaper to sell your home post-settlement.
    
            But is it worth waiting to list your home and potentially risking a sale?
    
            Would you rather be unloading boxes from a moving truck in a potential snowstorm or heatwave as opposed to when it’s a pleasant 60-degree day?
    
            That’s one of the main reasons spring has been the most popular season to buy a home.
    
            For families with children, it’s also an ideal time to close on home because it would allow them to stay in the same school.
    
            By springtime, people are also more likely to have paid off any debt they took on over the holidays, said Phil Crescenzo Jr., the southeast division vice president at Nation One Mortgage Corporation.
    
            The settlement could present a major downside to homebuyers.
    
            Under the current system, the buyer’s agent’s commission is baked into the total they pay for a home. That meant buyers could pay that added cost over the entire length of their mortgage.
    
            But after the settlement is finalized, many may have to pay flat fees upfront to agents. That would add to the financial burden for homebuyers – especially first-timers. And that’s on top of coming up with all the money they need for a home downpayment, closing costs, a lawyer and all the other fees associated with buying a home.
    
            Buyers, therefore, may have more of an incentive to close on a home sooner rather than later.
    
            There’s also no guarantee a federal court will sign off on the settlement as is. The unknowns associated with that are enough of a reason not to wait to list your home, said Crescenzo. From conversations he’s had with real estate agents, he said he’s not seeing any signs that the NAR settlement is delaying listing activity.
    
            “There is no reason to wait,” Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida. “The seller does not currently need to provide any compensation to the buyer’s agent.”
    
            The biggest advantage of waiting to list your home until the settlement is finalized is being able to negotiate an agent’s commission down more than they otherwise would’ve been able to. On top of that, they may be able to avoid having to pay the buyer’s agent’s commission.
    
            That could allow them to pocket thousands of dollars more on the sale of their home.
    
            If selling your home boiled down to a business decision, Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida, said he’d try to list it as soon as possible.
    
            “If I am trying to test the market, there would be no need to list it [now],” he added.
    
            But in his view, the NAR settlement shouldn’t be a major consideration when it comes to timing.
    
            “An agent who provides value will always be worth more than an agent who does not provide value,” because they can help you net more money for the sale of your home, he said.",CNN,24/03/2024,"['Listing your home in the spring used to be a no-brainer.', 'But a major real estate shakeup is complicating the equation.', 'That shakeup is coming from a$418 million settlementthe National Association of Realtors announced last week with groups of homesellers that could go into effect as early as July.', 'The settlement will eliminate the long-standing standard 6% commission paid by the seller, which could ultimately make it cheaper to sell your home post-settlement.', 'But is it worth waiting to list your home and potentially risking a sale?', 'Would you rather be unloading boxes from a moving truck in a potential snowstorm or heatwave as opposed to when it’s a pleasant 60-degree day?', 'That’s one of the main reasons spring has been the most popular season to buy a home.', 'For families with children, it’s also an ideal time to close on home because it would allow them to stay in the same school.', 'By springtime, people are also more likely to have paid off any debt they took on over the holidays, said Phil Crescenzo Jr., the southeast division vice president at Nation One Mortgage Corporation.', 'The settlement could present a major downside to homebuyers.', 'Under the current system, the buyer’s agent’s commission is baked into the total they pay for a home.', 'That meant buyers could pay that added cost over the entire length of their mortgage.', 'But after the settlement is finalized, many may have to pay flat fees upfront to agents.', 'That would add to the financial burden for homebuyers – especially first-timers.', 'And that’s on top of coming up with all the money they need for a home downpayment, closing costs, a lawyer and all the other fees associated with buying a home.', 'Buyers, therefore, may have more of an incentive to close on a home sooner rather than later.', 'There’s also no guarantee a federal court will sign off on the settlement as is.', 'The unknowns associated with that are enough of a reason not to wait to list your home, said Crescenzo.', 'From conversations he’s had with real estate agents, he said he’s not seeing any signs that the NAR settlement is delaying listing activity.', '“There is no reason to wait,” Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida. “', 'The seller does not currently need to provide any compensation to the buyer’s agent.”', 'The biggest advantage of waiting to list your home until the settlement is finalized is being able to negotiate an agent’s commission down more than they otherwise would’ve been able to.', 'On top of that, they may be able to avoid having to pay the buyer’s agent’s commission.', 'That could allow them to pocket thousands of dollars more on the sale of their home.', 'If selling your home boiled down to a business decision, Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida, said he’d try to list it as soon as possible.', '“If I am trying to test the market, there would be no need to list it [now],” he added.', 'But in his view, the NAR settlement shouldn’t be a major consideration when it comes to timing.', '“An agent who provides value will always be worth more than an agent who does not provide value,” because they can help you net more money for the sale of your home, he said.']",0.0146650118884628,"For families with children, it’s also an ideal time to close on home because it would allow them to stay in the same school.",That would add to the financial burden for homebuyers – especially first-timers.,0.5009672244389852,That could allow them to pocket thousands of dollars more on the sale of their home.,The settlement could present a major downside to homebuyers.,2024-03-26
Florida governor signs law restricting social media access for children,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/tech/florida-social-media-law-age/index.html,"
  Published
        1:53 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law banning children under age 14 from having their own social media accounts on Monday, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
    
            Fourteen and 15-year-olds will be allowed to have accounts with parental consent.
    
            In addition to restricting social media accounts for children, the legislation also places restrictions on pornographic websites.
    
            The bill, known as HB 3, requires age verification for those who visit sexually explicit websites. HB 3 goes into effect on January 1, 2025.
    
            The legislation makes Florida the latest in a string of states to pass laws that restrict young Americans from accessing social media, and is likely to invite legal challenges similar to those already filed in other parts of the country.
    
            States including Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Ohio and Utah have pushed similar bills to regulate tech platforms. In February, a federal judge temporarily blocked Ohio’s law over concerns about its breadth and the likelihood that it could infringe on teens’ First Amendment rights to access information online. And last year, another federal judge temporarily blocked Arkansas’ law.
    
            DeSantis vetoed a prior version of the Florida law after saying he wanted to ensure that any legislation provides parents with enough of an opportunity to be involved in decisions about their kids’ social media use.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law banning children under age 14 from having their own social media accounts on Monday, according to anews releasefrom the governor’s office.', 'Fourteen and 15-year-olds will be allowed to have accounts with parental consent.', 'In addition to restricting social media accounts for children, the legislation also places restrictions on pornographic websites.', 'The bill, known as HB 3, requires age verification for those who visit sexually explicit websites.', 'HB 3 goes into effect on January 1, 2025.', 'The legislation makes Florida the latest in a string of states to pass laws that restrict young Americans from accessing social media, and is likely to invite legal challenges similar to those already filed in other parts of the country.', 'States including Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Ohio and Utah have pushed similar bills to regulate tech platforms.', 'In February, a federal judge temporarily blocked Ohio’s law over concerns about its breadth and the likelihood that it could infringe on teens’ First Amendment rights to access information online.', 'And last year, another federal judge temporarily blocked Arkansas’ law.', 'DeSantis vetoed a prior version of the Florida law after saying he wanted to ensure that any legislation provides parents with enough of an opportunity to be involved in decisions about their kids’ social media use.']",-0.0093740099301647,DeSantis vetoed a prior version of the Florida law after saying he wanted to ensure that any legislation provides parents with enough of an opportunity to be involved in decisions about their kids’ social media use.,"In addition to restricting social media accounts for children, the legislation also places restrictions on pornographic websites.",-0.9662858247756958,,"And last year, another federal judge temporarily blocked Arkansas’ law.",2024-03-26
Donald Trump’s estimated net worth just doubled as Truth Social owner closes deal to go public,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/investing/trump-media-stock-trading/index.html,"
  Updated
        5:08 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group has finalized its deal to go public, creating a massive windfall for former President Donald Trump that doubles his net worth.
    
            After Trump Media announced it will make its stock market debut on Tuesday, Trump for the first time joined the list of the world’s 500 wealthiest people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
    
            Bloomberg estimated Trump’s net worth spiked by $4 billion on Monday alone, giving him a fortune of $6.5 billion.
    
            The closing of the merger between Trump Media and Digital World Acquisition Corp. amounts to a multi-billion dollar windfall for Trump, who is the chairman and dominant shareholder of the new company.
    
            News of the merger’s completion propelled shares of Digital World up 21%. Buying continued Monday afternoon, boosting Digital World 39% higher on the day to around $51. At current prices, Trump’s stake is valued at about $4 billion. However, there are lock-up restrictions that would likely prevent Trump from selling or even borrowing against the value of that stock for months.
    
            Trading of the new company under the ticker symbol “DJT” on the Nasdaq Stock Market is set to begin on Tuesday, the companies said.
    
            Devin Nunes, the CEO of the combined company, said in a statement that the business will move to “reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors.”
    
            “We will continue to fulfill our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbor for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors,” Nunes said.
    
            Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), the shell company that now owns Truth Social, surged more than 20% on Monday. The stock is up over 170% over the past six months.
    
            Experts warn that the market is overvaluing Trump Media given the company’s fundamentals.
    
            Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to SEC filings. The company posted a net loss of $49 million over that span.
    
            Meanwhile, Truth Social’s user base is shrinking – more so than that of X, the company formerly known as Twitter.
    
            The number of Truth Social’s US monthly active users on iOS and Android is down 39% year-over-year, according to Similarweb data shared with CNN earlier this month.
    
            In anticipation of its merger with Trump Media, trading of DWAC shares had embodied the same kind of frenzy shown in Tupperware’s stock surge last July, or that of meme stocks AMC Entertainment and GameStop during the height of the pandemic. On Truth Social, there are more than 8,000 members in a chat group titled “The DWAC Shareholder Group,” where users discuss the shareholder vote to approve the merger and post memes and supportive messages.
    
            Contributing: CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald and Krystal Hur.
    
            This story has been updated with additional context.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group has finalized its deal to go public, creating a massive windfall for former President Donald Trump that doubles his net worth.', 'After Trump Media announced it will make its stock market debut on Tuesday, Trump for the first time joined the list of the world’s 500 wealthiest people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.', 'Bloomberg estimated Trump’s net worth spiked by $4 billion on Monday alone, giving him a fortune of $6.5 billion.', 'The closing of the merger between Trump Media and Digital World Acquisition Corp. amounts to a multi-billion dollar windfall for Trump, who is the chairman and dominant shareholder of the new company.', 'News of the merger’s completion propelled shares of Digital World up 21%.', 'Buying continued Monday afternoon, boosting Digital World 39% higher on the day to around $51.', 'At current prices, Trump’s stake is valued at about $4 billion.', 'However, there are lock-up restrictions that would likely prevent Trump from selling or even borrowing against the value of that stock for months.', 'Trading of the new company under the ticker symbol “DJT” on the Nasdaq Stock Market is set to begin on Tuesday, the companies said.', 'Devin Nunes, the CEO of the combined company, said in a statement that the business will move to “reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors.”', '“We will continue to fulfill our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbor for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors,” Nunes said.', 'Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp(DWAC), the shell company thatnowowns Truth Social, surged more than 20% on Monday.', 'The stock is up over 170% over the past six months.', 'Experts warn that the market is overvaluing Trump Media given the company’s fundamentals.', 'Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to SEC filings.', 'The company posted a net loss of $49 million over that span.', 'Meanwhile, Truth Social’s user base is shrinking – more so than that of X, the company formerly known as Twitter.', 'The number of Truth Social’s US monthly active users on iOS and Android is down 39% year-over-year, according to Similarweb data shared with CNN earlier this month.', 'In anticipation of its merger with Trump Media, trading of DWAC shares had embodied the same kind of frenzy shown inTupperware’s stock surgelast July, or that of meme stocks AMC Entertainment and GameStop during the height of the pandemic.', 'On Truth Social, there are more than 8,000 members in a chat group titled “The DWAC Shareholder Group,” where users discuss theshareholdervoteto approve the mergerand post memes and supportive messages.', 'Contributing: CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald and Krystal Hur.', 'This story has been updated with additional context.']",0.2742322368608994,"“We will continue to fulfill our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbor for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors,” Nunes said.",The company posted a net loss of $49 million over that span.,0.2731929204680703,News of the merger’s completion propelled shares of Digital World up 21%.,"The number of Truth Social’s US monthly active users on iOS and Android is down 39% year-over-year, according to Similarweb data shared with CNN earlier this month.",2024-03-26
George Lucas backs Disney CEO Bob Iger in proxy fight with Nelson Peltz,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/george-lucas-backs-disney-ceo-bob-iger-in-nelson-peltz-proxy-fight.html,2024-03-19T22:17:24+0000,"In this articleFilmmaker and Hollywood legend George Lucas is throwing his support behind Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger in the bitter proxy battle between the company and activist investor Nelson Peltz.Lucas, who received 37.1 million Disney shares as part of Disney's $4.05 billion purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, is currently the largest individual investor in the company, multiple sources confirmed to CNBC.In a statement provided to CNBC, Lucas wrote:""Creating magic is not for amateurs. When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my long-time admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger's leadership. When Bob recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved. No one knows Disney better. I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob's track record of driving long-term value. I have voted all of my shares for Disney's 12 directors and urge other shareholders to do the same.""Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements in its battle against Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.But the support from the Lucas endorsement is key, not only because of his role as Disney's largest individual shareholder, but also because of his standing in Hollywood. Lucas wrote and created the ""Star Wars"" and ""Indiana Jones"" franchises, some of the most popular films in history, and he helped pioneer tools such as digital film editing and computer-generated imagery.Peltz has asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3. Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he thinks have been a shrinking business.Iger, meanwhile, has been trying to streamline the sprawling media company to rein in spending and make its Disney+ streaming platform profitable. Iger has instituted broad restructuring, including thousands of layoffs.",CNBC,19/03/2024,"['In this articleFilmmaker and Hollywood legend George Lucas is throwing his support behind Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger in the bitter proxy battle between the company and activist investor Nelson Peltz.', 'Lucas, who received 37.1 million Disney shares as part of Disney\'s $4.05 billion purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, is currently the largest individual investor in the company, multiple sources confirmed to CNBC.In a statement provided to CNBC, Lucas wrote:""Creating magic is not for amateurs.', ""When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my long-time admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger's leadership."", 'When Bob recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved.', 'No one knows Disney better.', ""I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob's track record of driving long-term value."", ""I have voted all of my shares for Disney's 12 directors and urge other shareholders to do the same."", '""Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements in its battle against Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.', ""But the support from the Lucas endorsement is key, not only because of his role as Disney's largest individual shareholder, but also because of his standing in Hollywood."", 'Lucas wrote and created the ""Star Wars"" and ""Indiana Jones"" franchises, some of the most popular films in history, and he helped pioneer tools such as digital film editing and computer-generated imagery.', 'Peltz has asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3.', ""Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he thinks have been a shrinking business."", 'Iger, meanwhile, has been trying to streamline the sprawling media company to rein in spending and make its Disney+ streaming platform profitable.', 'Iger has instituted broad restructuring, including thousands of layoffs.']",0.2164459397978921,I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob's track record of driving long-term value.,In this articleFilmmaker and Hollywood legend George Lucas is throwing his support behind Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger in the bitter proxy battle between the company and activist investor Nelson Peltz.,0.6152708133061727,"Iger, meanwhile, has been trying to streamline the sprawling media company to rein in spending and make its Disney+ streaming platform profitable.","Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he thinks have been a shrinking business.",2024-03-26
Leo Varadkar: Five key moments for the Brexit Taoiseach,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6pj0j3le6no,2024-03-21T07:27:53.936Z,"Leo Varadkar was taoiseach during the most intense phase of Brexit, when the Irish border was central to negotiations. In January 2017, the then UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Brexit would mean the UK leaving the single market and the customs union. That had immediate implications for Ireland, raising the prospect that it would have to harden its border with Northern Ireland. The Irish government quickly decided that would be a bad idea for economic, political and security reasons. Its Brexit bottom line was that there could be no hard border and Ireland’s place in the EU should be undisturbed. It fell to Leo Varadkar to pursue that policy.  There is a perception among some Brexit supporters that Ireland’s approach hardened when Mr Varadkar became taoiseach and that his predecessor Enda Kenny would have been a friendlier, more accommodating partner for the UK. However Ireland’s key Brexit policy had been set months before Mr Varadkar took the top job. The EU’s negotiating guidelines of April 2017 had the avoidance of a hard border in Ireland as one of its three priorities. There was certainly a stylistic contrast between Mr Kenny and Mr Varadkar. The new taoiseach could be brusque, even blunt. A month after becoming taoiseach he made clear his exasperation with some of the ideas for the border coming from Brexit supporters. ""What we’re not going to do is to design a border for the Brexiteers because they’re the ones who want a border,"" he said. ""It’s up to them to say what it is, say how it would work and first of all convince their own people, their own voters that this is actually a good idea. ""As far as this government is concerned there shouldn’t be an economic border. We don’t want one."" This robust defence of Ireland’s interest set the tone for his approach over the next few years. Throughout the second half of 2017 EU and UK negotiators laboured to find a way to square Theresa May’s hard Brexit with a soft Irish border. An interim agreement called the Joint Report saw the UK implicitly concede that an Irish Sea border, between NI and GB, could be a solution. The Joint Report laid out three possibilities: • The border issue could be solved in the context of an overall trade deal • There could be technological and administrative solutions • Northern Ireland could continue to follow some rules of the EU internal market and the customs union - this was known as the backstop For Mr Varadkar this was effectively mission accomplished with the UK signing up to a text which ruled out a hard border. ‘We have achieved all we set out to achieve in phase one of these negotiations,’ he said. ‘We have the assurances and guarantees we need from the United Kingdom and support for them from the European Union.’ He went on to paraphrase Winston Churchill describing the agreement as ‘not the end, but it is the end of the beginning.’ Mr Varadkar was right to suggest that the Brexit negotiations would not be concluded quickly. Throughout 2018 it became clear that Theresa May had signed up to a deal that would not win majority support in the House of Commons. Most importantly the DUP, which was keeping her party in power, was opposed to the backstop. There was an interminable series of summits and negotiations in an attempt to finesse the deal. At a meeting of EU leaders in October 2018 Mr Varadkar sought to impress on his peers just how important it was to stand firm on the border issue. He showed them a story from that day’s Irish Times about the IRA bombing of a customs post in 1972 in which nine people were killed. This provoked outrage among unionists who suggested he was using the threat of violence to advance his political agenda. Mr Varadkar said this was never his intention later explaining: ‘I have never used a threat of violence in politics. ‘What I did was express concerns at the time that were held by the Chief Constable and the Garda Commissioner, that the reestablishment of border posts between north and south could lead to violence. ""But there’s a very big difference I think, between warning or expressing concern about violence, and threatening it, and I certainly didn’t do that.” But this episode became emblematic of the low opinion many unionists had of his approach to Brexit. Mr Varadkar had a new UK counterpart in July 2019 when Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May. He promised to ditch the backstop but by October, he was proposing an ""all-island regulatory zone"" which would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for agriculture, food and all manufactured goods. However, the Irish government and the EU were not convinced as the plan would have potentially meant a new customs border in Ireland. They were also concerned an up-front veto for the DUP could prevent the ""all-island regulatory zone"" from ever materialising. But then came a decisive meeting with Mr Varadkar at Thornton Manor on Merseyside. This would prove to be the engagement which unlocked a deal that would finally be approved by the UK Parliament. Mr Johnson accepted that there would be a border in the Irish Sea while Mr Varadkar conceded that Stormont would need to have some democratic oversight. A joint statement said: ""Both continue to believe that a deal is in everybody’s interest. They agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal."" Just a week later, the UK and EU had agreed the Northern Ireland protocol.  An amended version of the protocol, the Windsor Framework, now governs NI’s post-Brexit trading arrangements. As Mr Varadkar announced his resignation on Wednesday he counted his approach to Brexit among his key achievements. He referenced Ireland’s original objectives saying: ""We prevented a hard border between North and South and protected our place in Europe."" He also suggested that with the DUP’s return to government a period of difficult relations, east-west as well as north-south, was now beginning to heal. ""The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded. ",BBC,21/03/2024,"['Leo Varadkar was taoiseach during the most intense phase of Brexit, when the Irish border was central to negotiations.', 'In January 2017, the then UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Brexit would mean the UK leaving the single market and the customs union.', 'That had immediate implications for Ireland, raising the prospect that it would have to harden its border with Northern Ireland.', 'The Irish government quickly decided that would be a bad idea for economic, political and security reasons.', 'Its Brexit bottom line was that there could be no hard border and Ireland’s place in the EU should be undisturbed.', 'It fell to Leo Varadkar to pursue that policy.', 'There is a perception among some Brexit supporters that Ireland’s approach hardened when Mr Varadkar became taoiseach and that his predecessor Enda Kenny would have been a friendlier, more accommodating partner for the UK.', 'However Ireland’s key Brexit policy had been set months before Mr Varadkar took the top job.', 'The EU’s negotiating guidelines of April 2017 had the avoidance of a hard border in Ireland as one of its three priorities.', 'There was certainly a stylistic contrast between Mr Kenny and Mr Varadkar.', 'The new taoiseach could be brusque, even blunt.', 'A month after becoming taoiseach he made clear his exasperation with some of the ideas for the border coming from Brexit supporters. ""', 'What we’re not going to do is to design a border for the Brexiteers because they’re the ones who want a border,"" he said. ""', 'It’s up to them to say what it is, say how it would work and first of all convince their own people, their own voters that this is actually a good idea. ""', 'As far as this government is concerned there shouldn’t be an economic border.', 'We don’t want one.""', 'This robust defence of Ireland’s interest set the tone for his approach over the next few years.', 'Throughout the second half of 2017 EU and UK negotiators laboured to find a way to square Theresa May’s hard Brexit with a soft Irish border.', 'An interim agreement called the Joint Report saw the UK implicitly concede that an Irish Sea border, between NI and GB, could be a solution.', 'The Joint Report laid out three possibilities: • The border issue could be solved in the context of an overall trade deal • There could be technological and administrative solutions • Northern Ireland could continue to follow some rules of the EU internal market and the customs union - this was known as the backstop For Mr Varadkar this was effectively mission accomplished with the UK signing up to a text which ruled out a hard border. ‘', 'We have achieved all we set out to achieve in phase one of these negotiations,’ he said. ‘', 'We have the assurances and guarantees we need from the United Kingdom and support for them from the European Union.’', 'He went on to paraphrase Winston Churchill describing the agreement as ‘not the end, but it is the end of the beginning.’', 'Mr Varadkar was right to suggest that the Brexit negotiations would not be concluded quickly.', 'Throughout 2018 it became clear that Theresa May had signed up to a deal that would not win majority support in the House of Commons.', 'Most importantly the DUP, which was keeping her party in power, was opposed to the backstop.', 'There was an interminable series of summits and negotiations in an attempt to finesse the deal.', 'At a meeting of EU leaders in October 2018 Mr Varadkar sought to impress on his peers just how important it was to stand firm on the border issue.', 'He showed them a story from that day’s Irish Times about the IRA bombing of a customs post in 1972 in which nine people were killed.', 'This provoked outrage among unionists who suggested he was using the threat of violence to advance his political agenda.', 'Mr Varadkar said this was never his intention later explaining: ‘I have never used a threat of violence in politics. ‘', 'What I did was express concerns at the time that were held by the Chief Constable and the Garda Commissioner, that the reestablishment of border posts between north and south could lead to violence. ""', 'But there’s a very big difference I think, between warning or expressing concern about violence, and threatening it, and I certainly didn’t do that.”', 'But this episode became emblematic of the low opinion many unionists had of his approach to Brexit.', 'Mr Varadkar had a new UK counterpart in July 2019 when Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May.', 'He promised to ditch the backstop but by October, he was proposing an ""all-island regulatory zone"" which would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the EU\'s single market for agriculture, food and all manufactured goods.', 'However, the Irish government and the EU were not convinced as the plan would have potentially meant a new customs border in Ireland.', 'They were also concerned an up-front veto for the DUP could prevent the ""all-island regulatory zone"" from ever materialising.', 'But then came a decisive meeting with Mr Varadkar at Thornton Manor on Merseyside.', 'This would prove to be the engagement which unlocked a deal that would finally be approved by the UK Parliament.', 'Mr Johnson accepted that there would be a border in the Irish Sea while Mr Varadkar conceded that Stormont would need to have some democratic oversight.', 'A joint statement said: ""Both continue to believe that a deal is in everybody’s interest.', 'They agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal.""', 'Just a week later, the UK and EU had agreed the Northern Ireland protocol.', 'An amended version of the protocol, the Windsor Framework, now governs NI’s post-Brexit trading arrangements.', 'As Mr Varadkar announced his resignation on Wednesday he counted his approach to Brexit among his key achievements.', 'He referenced Ireland’s original objectives saying: ""We prevented a hard border between North and South and protected our place in Europe.""', 'He also suggested that with the DUP’s return to government a period of difficult relations, east-west as well as north-south, was now beginning to heal. ""', 'The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded.']",0.1193318062671613,"The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded.",This provoked outrage among unionists who suggested he was using the threat of violence to advance his political agenda.,0.1706676334142685,"The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded.",But this episode became emblematic of the low opinion many unionists had of his approach to Brexit.,2024-03-26
"February home sales spike 9.5%, the largest monthly gain in a year, as supply improves",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/february-2024-home-sales-spike.html,2024-03-21T16:40:35+0000,"Sales of existing homes surged 9.5% in February from January to 4.38 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Housing analysts had been expecting a slight drop.Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023. Sales surged the most in the West, up 19.4%, and the South, up 16.4%. Sales in the Northeast were unchanged.""Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,"" said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. ""Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.""Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February. That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.Higher demand continued to push the median price higher, up 5.7% from the year before to $384,500 — the eighth straight month of annual gains. Competition was stiff, with 20% of homes selling above list price.The sales count is based on closings, so contracts likely signed in December and January, when the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to the mid 6% range. It is now over 7%, according to Mortgage News Daily.First-time buyers, however, did not surge with overall sales. They represented just 26% of buyers in February, down from 28% in January. Roughly 40% is the historical norm. All-cash sales were at 33%, up from 28% the year before.""The stock market, maybe that is helping, or the record-high home prices. People from expensive states like California are going to more affordable markets like Florida or Georgia and paying all cash,"" Yun said, adding that consumers may be accepting a ""new normal"" for mortgage rates.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['Sales of existing homes surged 9.5% in February from January to 4.38 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors.', 'Housing analysts had been expecting a slight drop.', 'Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023.', 'Sales surged the most in the West, up 19.4%, and the South, up 16.4%.', 'Sales in the Northeast were unchanged.', '""Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,"" said Lawrence Yun, NAR\'s chief economist. ""', 'Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.', '""Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February.', 'That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.', 'Higher demand continued to push the median price higher, up 5.7% from the year before to $384,500 — the eighth straight month of annual gains.', 'Competition was stiff, with 20% of homes selling above list price.', 'The sales count is based on closings, so contracts likely signed in December and January, when the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to the mid 6% range.', 'It is now over 7%, according to Mortgage News Daily.', 'First-time buyers, however, did not surge with overall sales.', 'They represented just 26% of buyers in February, down from 28% in January.', 'Roughly 40% is the historical norm.', 'All-cash sales were at 33%, up from 28% the year before.', '""The stock market, maybe that is helping, or the record-high home prices.', 'People from expensive states like California are going to more affordable markets like Florida or Georgia and paying all cash,"" Yun said, adding that consumers may be accepting a ""new normal"" for mortgage rates.']",0.1482912879976404,"People from expensive states like California are going to more affordable markets like Florida or Georgia and paying all cash,"" Yun said, adding that consumers may be accepting a ""new normal"" for mortgage rates.",That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.,0.2517372779548168,"""Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February.","Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023.",2024-03-26
"The last time Trump took a ‘DJT’ business public, it ended up in bankruptcy",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/investing/trump-stock/index.html,"
  Updated
        5:33 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Starting Tuesday, there’s a new company on the Nasdaq: Trump Media & Technology Group, which will trade under the stock ticker DJT.
    
            DJT, of course, stands for Donald John Trump, underscoring the company’s raison d’etre — giving a megaphone (and a serious cash infusion) to the presumptive Republican nominee. The company’s main product, Truth Social, was Trump’s quick and dirty solution to his ban on practically every mainstream social media app in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
    
            The social media app was never a blockbuster, though, and it’s unclear how the company will ever make money.
    
            If that all sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve been down this road before.
    
            While Trump Media may be new, its stock ticker is a throwback to Trump’s only other publicly traded company. Trump bestowed the same initials on his Atlantic City casino business, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, back when that company went public in 1995.
    
            It didn’t go great. At least, not for investors.
    
            Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts never turned a profit and ended up in bankruptcy in 2004, wiping out shareholders.
    
            Trump’s company lost money every single year of its existence, putting it more than $600 million in the red — despite owning premier Atlantic City casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal, a place so opulent Trump called it “the eighth wonder of the world.”
    
            The stock lost 90% its value in its first five years as a public company.
    
            Yet Trump himself made out fine. Between 1995 and 2004, Trump took home about $40 million in salary, bonuses and options — not unusual for a CEO. Then there were the less common moneymaking methods, including consulting contracts, licensing deals and reimbursements for the use of his personal jet and golf courses. Those atypical payments made up about half of the money Trump made during his tenure as the company’s leader.
    
            “The money I took out of there was incredible,” Trump told the New York Times in 2016.
    
            Trump’s stock holdings were wiped out in the bankruptcy. But he continued to make millions of dollars from the company after it came out of bankruptcy, pocketing $6.1 million from the re-named Trump Entertainment Resorts company, which traded under a new ticker — you guessed it! — TRMP.
    
            The new name and ticker didn’t help the company, though. It lost $2 billion over five years and filed for bankruptcy a second time in 2009.
    
            Like its predecessor, the new DJT is enjoying some market enthusiasm following the merger between Trump’s media entity and Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC surged 40% Monday and are up over 170% over the past six months.
    
            But a look at the fundamentals suggests the stock is wildly overvalued. Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to SEC filings. 
    
            “The stock price is clearly a bubble,” Yale law professor Jonathan Macey told my colleague Matt Egan last week. “No rational investor would take the stock at face value, especially if they had to hold it for any length of time.”
    
            Meanwhile, Truth Social’s user base is shrinking – more so than that of X, the company formerly known as Twitter.
    
            At current prices, Trump’s stake is valued at about $4 billion. In theory, he’s not allowed to sell that stock for several months after trading begins. But there could be workarounds to that so-called lock-up period, if the company’s board of directors allow it.
    
            And the board may be more amenable to green-lighting that now that Trump’s civil fraud bond obligation has shrunk by more than 60%. Trump would have to sell a much smaller sliver of his stake in Trump Media to cover his modified bond payment — $175 million, down from $454 million — to cover any shortfall.
    
            — CNN’s Matt Egan contributed reporting.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Starting Tuesday, there’s a new company on the Nasdaq:Trump Media & Technology Group, which will trade under the stock ticker DJT.', 'DJT, of course, stands for Donald John Trump, underscoring the company’s raison d’etre — giving a megaphone (and a serious cash infusion) to the presumptive Republican nominee.', 'The company’s main product, Truth Social, was Trump’s quick and dirty solution to his ban on practically every mainstream social media app in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.', 'The social media app was never a blockbuster, though, and it’s unclear how the company will ever make money.', 'If that all sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve been down this road before.', 'While Trump Media may be new, its stock ticker is a throwback to Trump’s only other publicly traded company.', 'Trump bestowed the same initials on his Atlantic City casino business, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, back when that company went public in 1995.', 'It didn’t go great.', 'At least, not for investors.', 'Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts never turned a profit and ended up in bankruptcy in 2004, wiping out shareholders.', 'Trump’s company lost money every single year of its existence, putting it more than $600 million inthe red — despite owning premier Atlantic City casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal, a place so opulent Trump called it “the eighth wonder of the world.”', 'The stock lost 90% its value in its first five years as a public company.', 'Yet Trump himself made out fine.', 'Between 1995 and 2004, Trump took home about $40 million in salary, bonuses and options — not unusual for a CEO.', 'Then there were the less common moneymaking methods, including consulting contracts, licensing deals and reimbursements for the use of his personal jet and golf courses.', 'Those atypical payments made up about half of the money Trump made during his tenure as the company’s leader.', '“The money I took out of there was incredible,” Trump told the New York Times in 2016.', 'Trump’s stock holdings were wiped out in the bankruptcy.', 'But he continued to make millions of dollars from the company after it came out of bankruptcy, pocketing $6.1 million from the re-named Trump Entertainment Resorts company, which traded under a new ticker — you guessed it! —', 'TRMP.', 'The new name and ticker didn’t help the company, though.', 'It lost $2 billion over five years and filed for bankruptcy a second time in 2009.', 'Like its predecessor, the new DJT is enjoying some market enthusiasm following the merger between Trump’s media entity and Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC surged 40% Monday and are up over 170% over the past six months.', 'But a look at the fundamentals suggests the stock is wildly overvalued.', 'Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according toSECfilings.', '“The stock price is clearly a bubble,” Yale law professor Jonathan Macey told my colleague Matt Egan last week. “', 'No rational investor would take the stock at face value, especially if they had to hold it for any length of time.”', 'Meanwhile, Truth Social’s user base is shrinking – more so than that of X, the company formerly known as Twitter.', 'At current prices, Trump’s stake is valued at about $4 billion.', 'In theory, he’s not allowed to sell that stock for several months after trading begins.', 'But there could be workarounds to that so-called lock-up period, if the company’s board of directors allow it.', 'And the board may be more amenable to green-lighting that now that Trump’s civil fraud bond obligation has shrunk by more than 60%.', 'Trump would have to sell a much smaller sliver of his stake in Trump Media to cover his modified bond payment — $175 million, down from $454 million — to cover any shortfall.', '— CNN’s Matt Egan contributed reporting.']",0.0647258032024685,"Like its predecessor, the new DJT is enjoying some market enthusiasm following the merger between Trump’s media entity and Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC surged 40% Monday and are up over 170% over the past six months.","The company’s main product, Truth Social, was Trump’s quick and dirty solution to his ban on practically every mainstream social media app in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.",-0.3509162505467733,"Like its predecessor, the new DJT is enjoying some market enthusiasm following the merger between Trump’s media entity and Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC surged 40% Monday and are up over 170% over the past six months.","Trump’s company lost money every single year of its existence, putting it more than $600 million inthe red — despite owning premier Atlantic City casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal, a place so opulent Trump called it “the eighth wonder of the world.”",2024-03-26
Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun to leave as firm faces safety crisis,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68656925,2024-03-25T12:25:37.000Z,"Boeing boss Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year amid a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record. Boeing also said that the head of its commercial airlines division will retire immediately while its chairman will not stand for re-election.  The firm is under pressure after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max in January shortly after take-off. No-one was injured but the firm's safety and quality control standards came under renewed scrutiny. Many analysts said a change in Boeing's leadership was overdue.  ""A shake-up at the top is necessary,"" said Stewart Glickman, equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that he believed the current crisis stemmed from problems in the firm's corporate culture that only fresh insight would be able to fix. ""I don't think you can change the culture with internal voices because I think this has been modus operandi for this company for too long."" Mr Calhoun took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in the aftermath of one of the biggest scandals in Boeing's history. Within the space of five months, two brand new 737 Max planes had been lost in almost identical accidents that claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew. A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing's ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"". However, in January this year a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport. An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted. Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane. In a letter to staff on Monday, Mr Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines incident as a ""watershed moment"" for Boeing and said it had to respond with ""humility and complete transparency"". ""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company,"" he said. Air safety campaigner Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Washington, said Mr Calhoun had had years to try to boost safety at the company. ""It's been one failure after the other,"" said Mr Pierson, who is now executive director at The Foundation for Aviation Safety.  ""The company deserves much better leadership and the people who get on these airplanes deserve much better leadership."" The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed ahead of safety. The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found ""multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements"". The findings came shortly after another report into Boeing's safety culture by an expert panel found a ""disconnect"" between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation. After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was found that flawed flight control software caused the incidents - details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators. The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty. It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers' lives. Mark Pegram, whose 25-year-old son Sam died when Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in 2019, said Mr Calhoun had appeared to have been brought in to say what investors wanted to hear and ""not fix the cause of the problems that were making planes fall out of the sky"".  He said he was pleased by the change but disappointed it had taken so long. ""It's something we've been calling for for quite some time now,"" he said. The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems. Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries. For Boeing, the slowdown is already generating multi-billion dollar charges, while rival Airbus gains advantage. The firm is also facing criticism it has failed to innovate. Speculation has already started as to who might replace Mr Calhoun, but the pool of people with qualifications for such a job is small.  Air transport consultant John Strickland of JLS Consulting warned that the hard work for the company was still ahead. ""It's all very well to get rid of people but what are you going to do to keep the steering the business,"" Mr Strickland said. ""This is much easier said than done."" Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced. As well as Mr Calhoun, Stan Deal will leave his role as head of Boeing's commercial airlines division immediately. He will be replaced by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as the Boeing's chief operating officer. Larry Kellner, the firm's chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020. He will lead the search for a new chief executive. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""Boeing boss Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year amid a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record."", 'Boeing also said that the head of its commercial airlines division will retire immediately while its chairman will not stand for re-election.', 'The firm is under pressure after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max in January shortly after take-off.', ""No-one was injured but the firm's safety and quality control standards came under renewed scrutiny."", 'Many analysts said a change in Boeing\'s leadership was overdue. ""', 'A shake-up at the top is necessary,"" said Stewart Glickman, equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that he believed the current crisis stemmed from problems in the firm\'s corporate culture that only fresh insight would be able to fix. ""', 'I don\'t think you can change the culture with internal voices because I think this has been modus operandi for this company for too long.""', ""Mr Calhoun took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in the aftermath of one of the biggest scandals in Boeing's history."", 'Within the space of five months, two brand new 737 Max planes had been lost in almost identical accidents that claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew.', 'A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing\'s ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"".', 'However, in January this year a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport.', 'An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted.', 'Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane.', 'In a letter to staff on Monday, Mr Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines incident as a ""watershed moment"" for Boeing and said it had to respond with ""humility and complete transparency"". ""', 'The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company,"" he said.', 'Air safety campaigner Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing\'s 737 factory in Renton, Washington, said Mr Calhoun had had years to try to boost safety at the company. ""', 'It\'s been one failure after the other,"" said Mr Pierson, who is now executive director at The Foundation for Aviation Safety. ""', 'The company deserves much better leadership and the people who get on these airplanes deserve much better leadership.""', ""The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed ahead of safety."", 'The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found ""multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements"".', 'The findings came shortly after another report into Boeing\'s safety culture by an expert panel found a ""disconnect"" between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation.', 'After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was found that flawed flight control software caused the incidents - details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators.', 'The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty.', ""It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers' lives."", 'Mark Pegram, whose 25-year-old son Sam died when Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in 2019, said Mr Calhoun had appeared to have been brought in to say what investors wanted to hear and ""not fix the cause of the problems that were making planes fall out of the sky"".', 'He said he was pleased by the change but disappointed it had taken so long. ""', 'It\'s something we\'ve been calling for for quite some time now,"" he said.', ""The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems."", 'Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries.', 'For Boeing, the slowdown is already generating multi-billion dollar charges, while rival Airbus gains advantage.', 'The firm is also facing criticism it has failed to innovate.', 'Speculation has already started as to who might replace Mr Calhoun, but the pool of people with qualifications for such a job is small.', 'Air transport consultant John Strickland of JLS Consulting warned that the hard work for the company was still ahead. ""', 'It\'s all very well to get rid of people but what are you going to do to keep the steering the business,"" Mr Strickland said. ""', 'This is much easier said than done.""', 'Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced.', ""As well as Mr Calhoun, Stan Deal will leave his role as head of Boeing's commercial airlines division immediately."", ""He will be replaced by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as the Boeing's chief operating officer."", ""Larry Kellner, the firm's chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020."", 'He will lead the search for a new chief executive.']",-0.068461434447822,"A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing's ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"".","The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems.",-0.201973021030426,Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced.,"The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed ahead of safety.",2024-03-26
Fed holds interest rates steady but signals cuts ahead,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68619144,2024-03-20T18:12:55.000Z,"The US central bank has left its key interest rate unchanged again, while it looks for more evidence that inflation is coming under control.  The decision kept the target range for the Federal Reserve's influential rate in the range of 5.25%-5.5%, the highest in more than two decades. The Fed is debating whether higher borrowing costs have done enough to ease the pressures pushing up prices. Officials said they still expected to cut rates by the end of the year. But after raising borrowing costs aggressively in response to soaring prices in 2022, the bank is proceeding cautiously.  ""We want to be careful and fortunately with the economy growing, the labour market strong and inflation coming down, we can"" be, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference after the Fed's meeting.  The Fed's move comes a day before the Bank of England will announce its own interest rate decision. It is also expected to hold UK interest rates where they are, at 5.25%, a 15-year high.  Higher interest rates in theory work to cool inflation by make borrowing more expensive, slowing the economy and easing the pressures pushing up prices. But if left in place for too long, they risk triggering a harsh economic slowdown. The moves in the US are being closely watched, as countries around the world face similar trade-offs. For now, the world's largest economy has held up surprisingly well, despite the higher interest rates. Forecasts released after the meeting showed that officials expect the economy to grow 2.1% this year, a significantly more rosy outlook than the 1.4% they projected in December. The forecasts also showed officials expect inflation to fall to 2.4% by the end of the year, approaching the 2% rate the bank wants to see.   Mr Powell said officials were not overly concerned by some recent data, which has suggested that progress might be stalling.  The inflation rate was 3.2% in the US last month and 3.1% in January. ""We're not going to overreact to these two months of data, nor are we going to ignore them,"" he said.  The forecasts showed higher rates next year than officials had previously forecast. But overall the outlook suggested that the bank's confidence that it can rein in inflation without knocking the economy off course is growing.  Charles Mangin, head of foreign exchange at UK-based Crown Agents Bank, which specialises in emerging markets, said the growth in the US was ""quite impressive"". But he warned that if strong growth leads the US to keep interest rates higher for longer than expected, it could lead to economic pain in other countries. Emerging markets have seen foreign investment slow sharply, as investors shift money to more established economies like the US in response to higher rates. Central banks in countries such as Egypt and Nigeria have already raised their own interest rates aggressively to try to compete, a path others may have to follow if they hope to bring investors back, he said.  But those moves - which sent rates to more than 20% in Egypt and Nigeria- will not come without local costs, he warned. ""The premium [to which] these guys will have to push their rates ... will put stress on the economies,"" he said. ""If now we're in the scenario where the US are going to keep rates higher for longer, it's going to be a challenge for quite a few of the emerging markets countries."" ",BBC,20/03/2024,"['The US central bank has left its key interest rate unchanged again, while it looks for more evidence that inflation is coming under control.', ""The decision kept the target range for the Federal Reserve's influential rate in the range of 5.25%-5.5%, the highest in more than two decades."", 'The Fed is debating whether higher borrowing costs have done enough to ease the pressures pushing up prices.', 'Officials said they still expected to cut rates by the end of the year.', 'But after raising borrowing costs aggressively in response to soaring prices in 2022, the bank is proceeding cautiously. ""', 'We want to be careful and fortunately with the economy growing, the labour market strong and inflation coming down, we can"" be, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference after the Fed\'s meeting.', ""The Fed's move comes a day before the Bank of England will announce its own interest rate decision."", 'It is also expected to hold UK interest rates where they are, at 5.25%, a 15-year high.', 'Higher interest rates in theory work to cool inflation by make borrowing more expensive, slowing the economy and easing the pressures pushing up prices.', 'But if left in place for too long, they risk triggering a harsh economic slowdown.', 'The moves in the US are being closely watched, as countries around the world face similar trade-offs.', ""For now, the world's largest economy has held up surprisingly well, despite the higher interest rates."", 'Forecasts released after the meeting showed that officials expect the economy to grow 2.1% this year, a significantly more rosy outlook than the 1.4% they projected in December.', 'The forecasts also showed officials expect inflation to fall to 2.4% by the end of the year, approaching the 2% rate the bank wants to see.', 'Mr Powell said officials were not overly concerned by some recent data, which has suggested that progress might be stalling.', 'The inflation rate was 3.2% in the US last month and 3.1% in January. ""', 'We\'re not going to overreact to these two months of data, nor are we going to ignore them,"" he said.', 'The forecasts showed higher rates next year than officials had previously forecast.', ""But overall the outlook suggested that the bank's confidence that it can rein in inflation without knocking the economy off course is growing."", 'Charles Mangin, head of foreign exchange at UK-based Crown Agents Bank, which specialises in emerging markets, said the growth in the US was ""quite impressive"".', 'But he warned that if strong growth leads the US to keep interest rates higher for longer than expected, it could lead to economic pain in other countries.', 'Emerging markets have seen foreign investment slow sharply, as investors shift money to more established economies like the US in response to higher rates.', 'Central banks in countries such as Egypt and Nigeria have already raised their own interest rates aggressively to try to compete, a path others may have to follow if they hope to bring investors back, he said.', 'But those moves - which sent rates to more than 20% in Egypt and Nigeria- will not come without local costs, he warned. ""', 'The premium [to which] these guys will have to push their rates ... will put stress on the economies,"" he said. ""', 'If now we\'re in the scenario where the US are going to keep rates higher for longer, it\'s going to be a challenge for quite a few of the emerging markets countries.""']",0.1691503367949176,But overall the outlook suggested that the bank's confidence that it can rein in inflation without knocking the economy off course is growing.,"But if left in place for too long, they risk triggering a harsh economic slowdown.",0.1746221874889574,"Forecasts released after the meeting showed that officials expect the economy to grow 2.1% this year, a significantly more rosy outlook than the 1.4% they projected in December.","The forecasts also showed officials expect inflation to fall to 2.4% by the end of the year, approaching the 2% rate the bank wants to see.",2024-03-26
Row erupts over German football team switching supplier from Adidas to Nike,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68634777,2024-03-22T13:28:48.000Z,"The German Football Association's (DFB) decision to switch the supplier of the national team's kit away from Adidas has been blasted by politicians. The contract will pass from the German company to US firm Nike from 2027. Economy Minister Robert Habeck said he would have ""liked a bit more local patriotism"", while Health Minister Karl Lauterbach called the decision ""wrong"". The DFB said the deal made financial sense and would support grassroots German football. Adidas has supplied the kit for the German national football team for more than 70 years. However, according to reports in the German press, Nike agreed to pay about €100m (£86m; $108m) per year to supply the kit, doubling Adidas's payment of €50m. The deal, announced on Thursday, was greeted with dismay by German politicians on the left and right. ""I can hardly imagine the German jersey without the three stripes,"" Mr Habeck said. ""For me, Adidas and black-red-gold always belonged together. A piece of German identity."" Mr Lauterbach said on X, formerly Twitter, it was ""a wrong decision where commerce destroys a tradition and a piece of home"". And Bavarian premier Markus Soeder said the national team always plays in the three stripes of Adidas. ""That was as clear as the fact that the ball is round and a game lasts 90 minutes,"" he said. ""The success story began in 1954 with the unforgettable World Cup victory, which gave our country self-confidence again. That's why it's wrong, a shame and also incomprehensible that this story should end now."" He said German football should not be ""a pawn in international corporate battles"" and that ""commerce isn't everything"". The DFB said on X that it understood the emotional reaction to its decision, saying switching supplier after 70 years was a ""drastic event"" that ""doesn't leave us cold"".  However, it said the grassroots of German football, with ""more than 24,000 football clubs, 2.2 million active players, the numerous volunteers and almost 55,000 referees"", is financed by the DFB. ""Against this background, the DFB has to make economic decisions,"" it said. ""Nike made by far the best financial offer in the transparent and non-discriminatory tender process."" ""The future partnership with Nike ensures that we can continue to carry out our central tasks for football in the coming decade,"" it added. The announcement of the Nike deal comes just months ahead of Euro 2024. Germany's men's team is using Adidas's headquarters in Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg, as its base for the tournament, which Germany is hosting. Adidas said it would not comment on contractual details. The row over the German kit comes as politicians in England criticise a Nike design for the England team kit. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the St George's Cross should not be ""messed with"" after Nike used different colours, adding navy, light blue and purple to the traditional red. The FA has defended the design, saying ""it is not the first time"" different colours have been used. ",BBC,22/03/2024,"[""The German Football Association's (DFB) decision to switch the supplier of the national team's kit away from Adidas has been blasted by politicians."", 'The contract will pass from the German company to US firm Nike from 2027.', 'Economy Minister Robert Habeck said he would have ""liked a bit more local patriotism"", while Health Minister Karl Lauterbach called the decision ""wrong"".', 'The DFB said the deal made financial sense and would support grassroots German football.', 'Adidas has supplied the kit for the German national football team for more than 70 years.', 'However, according to reports in the German press, Nike agreed to pay about €100m (£86m; $108m) per year to supply the kit, doubling Adidas\'s payment of €50m. The deal, announced on Thursday, was greeted with dismay by German politicians on the left and right. ""', 'I can hardly imagine the German jersey without the three stripes,"" Mr Habeck said. ""', 'For me, Adidas and black-red-gold always belonged together.', 'A piece of German identity.""', 'Mr Lauterbach said on X, formerly Twitter, it was ""a wrong decision where commerce destroys a tradition and a piece of home"".', 'And Bavarian premier Markus Soeder said the national team always plays in the three stripes of Adidas. ""', 'That was as clear as the fact that the ball is round and a game lasts 90 minutes,"" he said. ""', 'The success story began in 1954 with the unforgettable World Cup victory, which gave our country self-confidence again.', 'That\'s why it\'s wrong, a shame and also incomprehensible that this story should end now.""', 'He said German football should not be ""a pawn in international corporate battles"" and that ""commerce isn\'t everything"".', 'The DFB said on X that it understood the emotional reaction to its decision, saying switching supplier after 70 years was a ""drastic event"" that ""doesn\'t leave us cold"".', 'However, it said the grassroots of German football, with ""more than 24,000 football clubs, 2.2 million active players, the numerous volunteers and almost 55,000 referees"", is financed by the DFB. ""', 'Against this background, the DFB has to make economic decisions,"" it said. ""', 'Nike made by far the best financial offer in the transparent and non-discriminatory tender process."" ""', 'The future partnership with Nike ensures that we can continue to carry out our central tasks for football in the coming decade,"" it added.', 'The announcement of the Nike deal comes just months ahead of Euro 2024.', ""Germany's men's team is using Adidas's headquarters in Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg, as its base for the tournament, which Germany is hosting."", 'Adidas said it would not comment on contractual details.', 'The row over the German kit comes as politicians in England criticise a Nike design for the England team kit.', 'Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the St George\'s Cross should not be ""messed with"" after Nike used different colours, adding navy, light blue and purple to the traditional red.', 'The FA has defended the design, saying ""it is not the first time"" different colours have been used.']",0.0167747529438936,"The success story began in 1954 with the unforgettable World Cup victory, which gave our country self-confidence again.","Mr Lauterbach said on X, formerly Twitter, it was ""a wrong decision where commerce destroys a tradition and a piece of home"".",0.2199351787567138,The DFB said the deal made financial sense and would support grassroots German football.,The German Football Association's (DFB) decision to switch the supplier of the national team's kit away from Adidas has been blasted by politicians.,2024-03-26
Reddit has been around since the early days of social media. Here’s why it’s finally going public now,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/20/tech/reddit-ipo-nyse-debut/index.html,"
  Updated
        10:51 PM EDT, Wed March 20, 2024
    ","Reddit, one of the original social media companies, is finally making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange — more than a decade after many of its peers.
    
            It’s a major milestone for the nearly 20-year-old company, something Reddit has been preparing for since at least 2021, when it hired its first chief financial officer. It also marks the first social media company to go public in years, and its performance could be a signpost for other companies considering IPOs.
    
            Funds raised from a successful IPO could help Reddit invest in key areas for growth, including building out new revenue streams as it seeks to stake a claim as a data provider for the burgeoning artificial intelligence language model industry. A successful public offering could also establish a sustainable ownership structure for a company with a history of ownership changes and leadership controversies.
    
            But its success is far from guaranteed. Reddit has never turned a profit, and by its own admission, “we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future.” The company is also giving loyal users a chance to buy IPO shares, a move that’s “great for PR but practically risky,” according to Kamran Ansari, Venture Partner at investment firm Headline, because those users could cause volatility in the share price right out of the gate if they quickly sell the stock. 
    
            It’s also been a rough few years for the IPO market — and successful IPOs typically beget other successful listings. While 2021 was a record-breaking year for companies looking to make their public debuts on the US stock market, dealmaking on Wall Street has largely dried up since, as executives have contended with recession fears, elevated interest rates and rising geopolitical tensions.
    
            While IPO activity is now trending higher — there have been 23 IPOs priced so far this year, a 15% change over last year — companies that have gone public have underperformed the S&P 500 by about two percentage points, according to data from the Renaissance IPO Index.
    
            Reddit priced its shares at $34 each, the top of it’s range, according to multiple published reports. That would value the company at around $6 billion, less than the $10 billion valuation the company targeted on the private market in 2021 — which may be a reminder that in the age of continued high interest rates, money now comes at a higher cost.
    
            “Reddit’s IPO marks the return of the junk IPO,” David Trainer, CEO of New Constructs, said in an email. “We think the company may never monetize its platform without angering its users and the entire premise of Reddit is user-generated content.”
    
            Still, there may be no time like the present for Reddit to go public. The social media industry is bracing for a potential shakeup if a bill that could see TikTok banned in the United States — which has already passed the House — progresses further.
    
            Some on Wall Street also believe Reddit has more room to grow, after increasing its user base by some 40% between 2021 and 2023.
    
            “There’s really substantial growth potential when it comes to certain places outside the US, particularly ones where English is a primary language. India has been highlighted, for example, as a very substantial opportunity,” said Scott Kessler, global technology sector lead at research firm Third Bridge. He added that Reddit is available in fewer than 10 languages, meaning the company could also find new growth by making the platform accessible to more users around the world.
    
            “The big challenge, of course, is not just user growth, but the related monetization,” Kessler said.
    
            Among Reddit’s plans to better monetize those users is licensing their data to help train AI models. The company recently announced an AI licensing deal with Google that’s said to be worth $60 million per year.
    
            And while the so-called “front page of the internet” certainly seems to have potential as a data source, some users appear frustrated with the idea of their content being sold off to train AI tools. And regulators have questions, too.
    
            Reddit disclosed last week that the US Federal Trade Commission is looking into its plans to license data to AI firms, although the company said it does not believe it has violated US consumer protection law.
    
            –CNN’s Nicole Goodkind contributed to this report.",CNN,20/03/2024,"['Reddit, one of the original social media companies, is finally making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange — more than a decade after many of its peers.', 'It’s a major milestone for the nearly 20-year-old company, something Reddit has been preparing for since at least 2021, when it hired its first chief financial officer.', 'It also marks the first social media company to go public in years, and its performance could be a signpost for other companies considering IPOs.', 'Funds raised from a successful IPO could help Reddit invest in key areas for growth, including building out new revenue streams as it seeks to stake a claim as a data provider for the burgeoning artificial intelligence language model industry.', 'A successful public offering could also establish a sustainable ownership structure for a company with a history of ownership changes and leadership controversies.', 'But its success is far from guaranteed.', 'Reddit has never turned a profit, and by its own admission, “we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future.”', 'The company is also giving loyal users a chance to buy IPO shares, a move that’s “great for PR but practically risky,” according to Kamran Ansari, Venture Partner at investment firm Headline, because those users could cause volatility in the share price right out of the gate if they quickly sell the stock.', 'It’s also been a rough few years for the IPO market — and successful IPOs typically beget other successful listings.', 'While 2021 was a record-breaking year for companies looking to make their public debuts on the US stock market, dealmaking on Wall Street has largely dried up since, as executives have contended with recession fears, elevated interest rates and rising geopolitical tensions.', 'While IPO activity is now trending higher — there have been 23 IPOs priced so far this year, a 15% change over last year — companies that have gone public have underperformed the S&P 500 by about two percentage points, according to data from the Renaissance IPO Index.', 'Reddit priced its shares at $34 each, the top of it’s range, according to multiple published reports.', 'That would value the company at around $6 billion, less than the $10 billion valuation the company targeted on the private market in 2021 — which may be a reminder that in the age of continued high interest rates, money now comes at a higher cost.', '“Reddit’s IPO marks the return of the junk IPO,” David Trainer, CEO of New Constructs, said in an email.', '“We think the company may never monetize its platform without angering its users and the entire premise of Reddit is user-generated content.”', 'Still, there may be no time like the present for Reddit to go public.', 'The social media industry is bracing for a potential shakeup if a bill that could see TikTok banned in the United States — which has already passed the House — progresses further.', 'Some on Wall Street also believe Reddit has more room to grow, after increasing its user base by some 40% between 2021 and 2023.', '“There’s really substantial growth potential when it comes to certain places outside the US, particularly ones where English is a primary language.', 'India has been highlighted, for example, as a very substantial opportunity,” said Scott Kessler, global technology sector lead at research firm Third Bridge.', 'He added that Reddit is available in fewer than 10 languages, meaning the company could also find new growth by making the platform accessible to more users around the world.', '“The big challenge, of course, is not just user growth, but the related monetization,” Kessler said.', 'Among Reddit’s plans to better monetize those users is licensing their data to help train AI models.', 'The company recently announced an AI licensing deal with Google that’s said to be worth $60 million per year.', 'And while the so-called “front page of the internet” certainly seems to have potential as a data source, some users appear frustrated with the idea of their content being sold off to train AI tools.', 'And regulators have questions, too.', 'Reddit disclosed last week that the US Federal Trade Commission is looking into its plans to license data to AI firms, although the company said it does not believe it has violated US consumer protection law.', '–CNN’s Nicole Goodkind contributed to this report.']",0.2340960605141764,"Funds raised from a successful IPO could help Reddit invest in key areas for growth, including building out new revenue streams as it seeks to stake a claim as a data provider for the burgeoning artificial intelligence language model industry.","While 2021 was a record-breaking year for companies looking to make their public debuts on the US stock market, dealmaking on Wall Street has largely dried up since, as executives have contended with recession fears, elevated interest rates and rising geopolitical tensions.",0.2640216797590256,"Some on Wall Street also believe Reddit has more room to grow, after increasing its user base by some 40% between 2021 and 2023.","While 2021 was a record-breaking year for companies looking to make their public debuts on the US stock market, dealmaking on Wall Street has largely dried up since, as executives have contended with recession fears, elevated interest rates and rising geopolitical tensions.",2024-03-26
Are Hong Kong's days as a global business hub over?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-68636561,2024-03-25T00:22:34.000Z,"There is a new running joke in Hong Kong: locals mock their city for losing its status as the darling of global capital. As one joked, it is the newest Unesco world heritage site. A tough security law - Article 23 - that came into effect over the weekend has only renewed the underlying concerns.  Authorities say it will protect the city and ensure stability, while critics are alarmed it will silence all dissent with its closed-door trials and life sentences for broadly-defined offences - from insurrection to treason.  It comes at a time when Beijing's iron grip and US-China tensions were already driving away foreign investors who now have an ""anywhere but China"" policy, says Mr Chan, a real estate surveyor, who did not wish to disclose his full name.   ""Hong Kong was seen as distinct from China so investors could still invest here - not anymore now,"" he says. The emphasis on national security and the danger posed by ""foreign forces"" - a running theme in the legislation and in Beijing's recent policies - raises the stakes for foreign capital and businesses operating in the city.  ""The business has been awful in the past two years and there was no major deal at all,"" says Mr Tse, who works for a Chinese state-owned bank. He said his company fired 10% of their staff in June and another 5% just this past week. ""No one knows when it will be their turn."" While it is too early to evaluate the risks of Article 23 to businesses, it could lead to higher compliance costs because of its ""broad wording"" and the ""severe consequences of a breach"", says Johannes Hack, the president of the German Chamber of Commerce. The Hong Kong government told the BBC in a statement that Article 23 will make the city ""advance from stability to prosperity"", and will not affect ""normal"" businesses. It also said it is ""outrageous"" to single out Hong Kong when other countries have security laws too. Hong Kong's Article 23, which expands on national security legislation imposed by China in 2020, comes at a time when the city's administration is trying to reassure the world that it's still a financial dynamo.  The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce argued it ""will make Hong Kong a safer destination for local and foreign businesses and professionals operating"" in the city, while Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee had dismissed as ""ridiculous"" the notion that the administration only cared about national security, calling such concerns a form of ""soft resistance"".  Hong Kong's economy has been reeling from Beijing's crackdown since the pro-democracy protests in 2019 and a harsh zero-Covid policy. Rentals for commercial and retail spaces have fallen, leaving office buildings and shopfronts vacant. There are fewer tourists - last year's arrivals were only 60% of the pre-pandemic figure.  The value of the Hang Seng index - Hong Kong's crown jewel - has fallen by more than 40% since 2019. India overtook the city in January to become the world's fourth-largest stock market. Singapore has emerged as a stiff regional rival for finance. Global banks have been laying off people focused on Hong Kong and China, pointing to sluggish growth and plummeting investor confidence.  An exodus of capital and people has followed, with the former head of Morgan Stanley Asia declaring recently in a newspaper column that ""Hong Kong is over"". Veteran investor Lam Yat-ming wrote in an economic magazine that investors should ""cherish their lives and distance themselves from Hong Kong stocks"".  ""Outside perception of Hong Kong"" has changed, Mr Hack says. ""While the city is still distinctly different from the mainland, the focus on security may increasingly blur the distinction in people's minds.""  The former British colony has been run under the principle of ""one country, two systems"" since its return to China in 1997. Beijing promised that Hong Kong would enjoy civil liberties for half a century. But critics say it has reneged on the deal, crushing pro-democracy protests and imposing a national security law (NSL) in 2020 under which more than 260 people, including former lawmakers, have been arrested. Authorities defend it, saying it marked the transition from ""chaos to governance"".  A local security law, outlined in the city's mini constitution, was always on the cards. The first attempt in 2003 failed after half a million people took to the streets against it. This time, Article 23 was passed less than two weeks after it was tabled.  Under Xi Jinping, China attaches ""absolute importance"" to national security - and Hong Kong's status as a free society and an international gateway comes second, says Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong Baptist University. He says the arrest of Jimmy Lai, the former media mogul who has been charged under the NSL, was an ""awakening for the international community"".  ""The national security law has no limits. Personal safety, private property rights, and individual assets are not guaranteed,"" Dr Chan adds.  After police raided Mr Lai's Apple Daily newspaper in 2021, trading in his company was suspended and it was delisted the following year. The 76-year-old tycoon, who is now on trial, has been behind bars for three years and his assets worth HK$500 million ($64m; £50m) have been frozen.  Hong Kong's common law system, which underpins its rule of law, has come under scrutiny following the trials of pro-democracy protesters. But the city's judiciary is perceived as independent, at least over commercial matters, although critics worry that Mr Lee can now pick judges handling national security cases.  Under such security laws, businesses in Hong Kong have to adopt additional measures to mitigate political risk - just like in the mainland, Dr Chan says.  ""No-one can grasp the political direction, so big companies have started recruiting political consultants to evaluate risks and build political connections. These are all new costs, leading to lower efficiency.""  The city should not be discounted as an international financial hub, says Kevin Tsui, chief economist at the research firm Orientis. He adds that Hong Kong should make use of its advantages - a simple, low-rate tax system, and the fact that it's the only Chinese city with no foreign exchange controls. The Hong Kong dollar is also pegged to the US dollar, providing financial stability. ""Even if Hong Kong is just a Chinese city, foreigners want to do business with China,"" he says.  And yet confidence in the city has been shaken, not least because it is also feeling the heat of a slowing Chinese economy, which has been hit by debt and a property market crisis.  The mainland is the city's biggest trading partner and second-largest source of investment. Half of the 2,600 companies listed on Hong Kong's stock market are from mainland China. But a new rule Beijing introduced last year requires Chinese companies to have official approval to list overseas. This has made the process far more cumbersome, said a banker who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ""We can only wait because we have no idea about the progress. If the companies are involved in sensitive industries such as data security or genetic technology, the process will be extremely slow,"" he said. Hong Kong, which ranked as the world's number one IPO venue in seven of the last 15 years, is now in the eighth spot, according to industry reports.  ""Beijing wants private companies to raise funds internationally to salvage the economy, but at the same time it worries these companies will no longer be under [their] control after listing,"" says the banker who wanted to remain anonymous.  ""They want to control everything, but it will kill the financial market eventually.""  Additional reporting by Grace Tsoi in Hong Kong  ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['There is a new running joke in Hong Kong: locals mock their city for losing its status as the darling of global capital.', 'As one joked, it is the newest Unesco world heritage site.', 'A tough security law - Article 23 - that came into effect over the weekend has only renewed the underlying concerns.', 'Authorities say it will protect the city and ensure stability, while critics are alarmed it will silence all dissent with its closed-door trials and life sentences for broadly-defined offences - from insurrection to treason.', 'It comes at a time when Beijing\'s iron grip and US-China tensions were already driving away foreign investors who now have an ""anywhere but China"" policy, says Mr Chan, a real estate surveyor, who did not wish to disclose his full name. ""', 'Hong Kong was seen as distinct from China so investors could still invest here - not anymore now,"" he says.', 'The emphasis on national security and the danger posed by ""foreign forces"" - a running theme in the legislation and in Beijing\'s recent policies - raises the stakes for foreign capital and businesses operating in the city. ""', 'The business has been awful in the past two years and there was no major deal at all,"" says Mr Tse, who works for a Chinese state-owned bank.', 'He said his company fired 10% of their staff in June and another 5% just this past week. ""', 'No one knows when it will be their turn.""', 'While it is too early to evaluate the risks of Article 23 to businesses, it could lead to higher compliance costs because of its ""broad wording"" and the ""severe consequences of a breach"", says Johannes Hack, the president of the German Chamber of Commerce.', 'The Hong Kong government told the BBC in a statement that Article 23 will make the city ""advance from stability to prosperity"", and will not affect ""normal"" businesses.', 'It also said it is ""outrageous"" to single out Hong Kong when other countries have security laws too.', ""Hong Kong's Article 23, which expands on national security legislation imposed by China in 2020, comes at a time when the city's administration is trying to reassure the world that it's still a financial dynamo."", 'The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce argued it ""will make Hong Kong a safer destination for local and foreign businesses and professionals operating"" in the city, while Hong Kong\'s chief executive John Lee had dismissed as ""ridiculous"" the notion that the administration only cared about national security, calling such concerns a form of ""soft resistance"".', ""Hong Kong's economy has been reeling from Beijing's crackdown since the pro-democracy protests in 2019 and a harsh zero-Covid policy."", 'Rentals for commercial and retail spaces have fallen, leaving office buildings and shopfronts vacant.', ""There are fewer tourists - last year's arrivals were only 60% of the pre-pandemic figure."", ""The value of the Hang Seng index - Hong Kong's crown jewel - has fallen by more than 40% since 2019."", ""India overtook the city in January to become the world's fourth-largest stock market."", 'Singapore has emerged as a stiff regional rival for finance.', 'Global banks have been laying off people focused on Hong Kong and China, pointing to sluggish growth and plummeting investor confidence.', 'An exodus of capital and people has followed, with the former head of Morgan Stanley Asia declaring recently in a newspaper column that ""Hong Kong is over"".', 'Veteran investor Lam Yat-ming wrote in an economic magazine that investors should ""cherish their lives and distance themselves from Hong Kong stocks"". ""', 'Outside perception of Hong Kong"" has changed, Mr Hack says. ""', 'While the city is still distinctly different from the mainland, the focus on security may increasingly blur the distinction in people\'s minds.""', 'The former British colony has been run under the principle of ""one country, two systems"" since its return to China in 1997.', 'Beijing promised that Hong Kong would enjoy civil liberties for half a century.', 'But critics say it has reneged on the deal, crushing pro-democracy protests and imposing a national security law (NSL) in 2020 under which more than 260 people, including former lawmakers, have been arrested.', 'Authorities defend it, saying it marked the transition from ""chaos to governance"".', ""A local security law, outlined in the city's mini constitution, was always on the cards."", 'The first attempt in 2003 failed after half a million people took to the streets against it.', 'This time, Article 23 was passed less than two weeks after it was tabled.', 'Under Xi Jinping, China attaches ""absolute importance"" to national security - and Hong Kong\'s status as a free society and an international gateway comes second, says Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong Baptist University.', 'He says the arrest of Jimmy Lai, the former media mogul who has been charged under the NSL, was an ""awakening for the international community"". ""', 'The national security law has no limits.', 'Personal safety, private property rights, and individual assets are not guaranteed,"" Dr Chan adds.', ""After police raided Mr Lai's Apple Daily newspaper in 2021, trading in his company was suspended and it was delisted the following year."", 'The 76-year-old tycoon, who is now on trial, has been behind bars for three years and his assets worth HK$500 million ($64m; £50m) have been frozen.', ""Hong Kong's common law system, which underpins its rule of law, has come under scrutiny following the trials of pro-democracy protesters."", ""But the city's judiciary is perceived as independent, at least over commercial matters, although critics worry that Mr Lee can now pick judges handling national security cases."", 'Under such security laws, businesses in Hong Kong have to adopt additional measures to mitigate political risk - just like in the mainland, Dr Chan says. ""', 'No-one can grasp the political direction, so big companies have started recruiting political consultants to evaluate risks and build political connections.', 'These are all new costs, leading to lower efficiency.""', 'The city should not be discounted as an international financial hub, says Kevin Tsui, chief economist at the research firm Orientis.', ""He adds that Hong Kong should make use of its advantages - a simple, low-rate tax system, and the fact that it's the only Chinese city with no foreign exchange controls."", 'The Hong Kong dollar is also pegged to the US dollar, providing financial stability. ""', 'Even if Hong Kong is just a Chinese city, foreigners want to do business with China,"" he says.', 'And yet confidence in the city has been shaken, not least because it is also feeling the heat of a slowing Chinese economy, which has been hit by debt and a property market crisis.', ""The mainland is the city's biggest trading partner and second-largest source of investment."", ""Half of the 2,600 companies listed on Hong Kong's stock market are from mainland China."", 'But a new rule Beijing introduced last year requires Chinese companies to have official approval to list overseas.', 'This has made the process far more cumbersome, said a banker who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ""', 'We can only wait because we have no idea about the progress.', 'If the companies are involved in sensitive industries such as data security or genetic technology, the process will be extremely slow,"" he said.', 'Hong Kong, which ranked as the world\'s number one IPO venue in seven of the last 15 years, is now in the eighth spot, according to industry reports. ""', 'Beijing wants private companies to raise funds internationally to salvage the economy, but at the same time it worries these companies will no longer be under [their] control after listing,"" says the banker who wanted to remain anonymous. ""', 'They want to control everything, but it will kill the financial market eventually.""', 'Additional reporting by Grace Tsoi in Hong Kong']",-0.0375827199630413,Beijing promised that Hong Kong would enjoy civil liberties for half a century.,"But critics say it has reneged on the deal, crushing pro-democracy protests and imposing a national security law (NSL) in 2020 under which more than 260 people, including former lawmakers, have been arrested.",-0.5510380411148071,"The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce argued it ""will make Hong Kong a safer destination for local and foreign businesses and professionals operating"" in the city, while Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee had dismissed as ""ridiculous"" the notion that the administration only cared about national security, calling such concerns a form of ""soft resistance"".","Global banks have been laying off people focused on Hong Kong and China, pointing to sluggish growth and plummeting investor confidence.",2024-03-26
Neuralink: Musk's firm says first brain-chip patient plays online chess,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68622781,2024-03-21T05:59:28.000Z,"Elon Musk's brain-chip company Neuralink has shown its first patient moving a cursor on a computer using an implanted device. In a nine-minute livestream on X, formerly Twitter, Noland Arbaugh uses the cursor to play chess online. Mr Arbaugh was paralysed below the shoulders after a diving accident and received the chip implant in January. The company's goal is to connect human brains to computers to help tackle complex neurological conditions. ""The surgery was super easy,"" Mr Arbaugh said during the presentation. Mr Arbaugh also said that he had used the brain implant to play the video game Civilization VI. Neuralink gave him ""the ability to do that again and played for eight hours straight"", he said. However, Mr Arbaugh said the new technology was not perfect and they ""have run into some issues"". Neuralink's device, which is about the size of a one pound coin, is inserted into the skull, with microscopic wires which can read neuron activity and beam back a wireless signal to a receiving unit. The company has also run trials in pigs and claimed that monkeys can play a basic version of the video game Pong. Neuralink was given permission to test the chip on humans by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2023. Neuralink is one of a growing number of companies and university departments attempting to refine and ultimately commercialise this technology. For example, the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne in Switzerland has successfully enabled Gert-Jan Oskam, who is paralysed, to walk just by thinking about the movements involved. That was achieved by putting electronic implants on Mr Oskam's brain and spine, which wirelessly communicate thoughts to his legs and feet. Details of the breakthrough were published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature last year. The human brain is home to around 86 billion neurons, nerve cells connected to one another by synapses.  Every time we want to move, feel or think, a tiny electrical impulse is generated and sent incredibly quickly from one neuron to another. Scientists have developed devices which can detect some of those signals - either using a non-invasive cap placed on the head or wires implanted into the brain itself. The technology - known as a brain-computer interface (BCI) - is where many millions of dollars of research funding appears to be heading at the moment. ",BBC,21/03/2024,"[""Elon Musk's brain-chip company Neuralink has shown its first patient moving a cursor on a computer using an implanted device."", 'In a nine-minute livestream on X, formerly Twitter, Noland Arbaugh uses the cursor to play chess online.', 'Mr Arbaugh was paralysed below the shoulders after a diving accident and received the chip implant in January.', 'The company\'s goal is to connect human brains to computers to help tackle complex neurological conditions. ""', 'The surgery was super easy,"" Mr Arbaugh said during the presentation.', 'Mr Arbaugh also said that he had used the brain implant to play the video game Civilization VI.', 'Neuralink gave him ""the ability to do that again and played for eight hours straight"", he said.', 'However, Mr Arbaugh said the new technology was not perfect and they ""have run into some issues"".', ""Neuralink's device, which is about the size of a one pound coin, is inserted into the skull, with microscopic wires which can read neuron activity and beam back a wireless signal to a receiving unit."", 'The company has also run trials in pigs and claimed that monkeys can play a basic version of the video game Pong.', 'Neuralink was given permission to test the chip on humans by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2023.', 'Neuralink is one of a growing number of companies and university departments attempting to refine and ultimately commercialise this technology.', 'For example, the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne in Switzerland has successfully enabled Gert-Jan Oskam, who is paralysed, to walk just by thinking about the movements involved.', ""That was achieved by putting electronic implants on Mr Oskam's brain and spine, which wirelessly communicate thoughts to his legs and feet."", 'Details of the breakthrough were published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature last year.', 'The human brain is home to around 86 billion neurons, nerve cells connected to one another by synapses.', 'Every time we want to move, feel or think, a tiny electrical impulse is generated and sent incredibly quickly from one neuron to another.', 'Scientists have developed devices which can detect some of those signals - either using a non-invasive cap placed on the head or wires implanted into the brain itself.', 'The technology - known as a brain-computer interface (BCI) - is where many millions of dollars of research funding appears to be heading at the moment.']",0.1284337283056444,"The surgery was super easy,"" Mr Arbaugh said during the presentation.","However, Mr Arbaugh said the new technology was not perfect and they ""have run into some issues"".",0.4247250705957412,"For example, the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne in Switzerland has successfully enabled Gert-Jan Oskam, who is paralysed, to walk just by thinking about the movements involved.","However, Mr Arbaugh said the new technology was not perfect and they ""have run into some issues"".",2024-03-26
Sick people leaving workforce at record highs,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68639144,2024-03-23T02:54:36.000Z,"The number of people leaving the workforce due to long term sickness is at its highest since the 1990s, a report suggests. Adults economically inactive due to ill-health rose from 2.1m in July 2019 to a peak of 2.8m in October 2023, said the Resolution Foundation. It is the ""longest sustained rise"" since 1994-1998, when records began. The government said its recent Budget measures are estimated to boost the labour force by 300,000 workers.  The Foundation's report comes after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said more than a fifth of UK adults were not looking for work. People at either end of the age spectrum had the highest proportion of those out-of-work due to ongoing illness, the Foundation's report said. ""Younger and older people together account for nine-tenths of the rise in overall economic inactivity, which could have serious effects both on individual's living standards and career paths,"" said Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Foundation. The rise in long-term sickness leaves the UK as the only G7 economy not to have returned to its pre-pandemic employment rate, according to the Foundation. However, it did add that inactivity figures fell slightly to 2.7 million in December 2023. It said the upward trend in long-term sickness actually started before the pandemic in the summer of 2019, and has lasted for 54 months. The longest previous period of increasing economic inactivity due to ill-health was for 55 months, between 1994 and 1998, it added. As well as looking at ONS figures, the Foundation pointed to Department of Work and Pension (DWP) figures showing claims for disability benefits. It said the rise in claims for personal independence payment (Pip), the non-means tested benefit for those with health issues, were ""most striking"", with claims rising 68% from 2020 to 2024.  In the 16-17 age range, new Pip claims had increased by 138%. The Foundation said it would lead to ""wider strains on the NHS and welfare spending if we fail to improve the nation's health and reduce economic inactivity"". It also examined the DWP's data on medical conditions recorded on Work Capability Assessments and highlighted the fact that many benefit claimants cited mental health problems and musculoskeletal problems. It said 69% claimed for mental health disorders, and 48% had problems with connective or musculoskeletal pain. A spokesperson for the DWP said: ""Our plan for the economy is working. Inflation [the rate at which prices rise] is down to 3.4%, employment is up, the number of people on payrolls is at a record high, and inactivity is falling.  ""We've reduced the number of workless households by one million since 2010. Our £2.5 billion Back to Work plan will help break down barriers to work for over a million more people and our recent Budget measures are estimated to boost the labour force by an extra 300,000 workers."" In order to deal with long-term economic inactivity, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in November that reforms including stricter fit-to-work tests and jobseeker support would get 200,000 more people into work. Under those plans, the government also wants to scrap the controversial Work Capability Assessment. ""We will reform the work capability assessment to reflect greater flexibility and availability of home working after the pandemic,"" Mr Hunt said in November. ""And we will spend £1.3bn over the next five years to help nearly 700,000 people with health conditions find jobs."" The Foundation's latest report comes after it said in February that people in their early 20s are more likely to be not working due to ill health than those in their early 40s. Responding to the report, Shazia Ejaz at the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC), which represents the recruitment industry, said long NHS waiting lists ""are a big factor for why not enough people are well enough to work"". She added: ""Better infrastructure around transport, childcare and social care will all help tackle the inactivity challenge the UK faces"".  ",BBC,23/03/2024,"['The number of people leaving the workforce due to long term sickness is at its highest since the 1990s, a report suggests.', 'Adults economically inactive due to ill-health rose from 2.1m in July 2019 to a peak of 2.8m in October 2023, said the Resolution Foundation.', 'It is the ""longest sustained rise"" since 1994-1998, when records began.', 'The government said its recent Budget measures are estimated to boost the labour force by 300,000 workers.', ""The Foundation's report comes after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said more than a fifth of UK adults were not looking for work."", 'People at either end of the age spectrum had the highest proportion of those out-of-work due to ongoing illness, the Foundation\'s report said. ""', 'Younger and older people together account for nine-tenths of the rise in overall economic inactivity, which could have serious effects both on individual\'s living standards and career paths,"" said Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Foundation.', 'The rise in long-term sickness leaves the UK as the only G7 economy not to have returned to its pre-pandemic employment rate, according to the Foundation.', 'However, it did add that inactivity figures fell slightly to 2.7 million in December 2023.', 'It said the upward trend in long-term sickness actually started before the pandemic in the summer of 2019, and has lasted for 54 months.', 'The longest previous period of increasing economic inactivity due to ill-health was for 55 months, between 1994 and 1998, it added.', 'As well as looking at ONS figures, the Foundation pointed to Department of Work and Pension (DWP) figures showing claims for disability benefits.', 'It said the rise in claims for personal independence payment (Pip), the non-means tested benefit for those with health issues, were ""most striking"", with claims rising 68% from 2020 to 2024.', 'In the 16-17 age range, new Pip claims had increased by 138%.', 'The Foundation said it would lead to ""wider strains on the NHS and welfare spending if we fail to improve the nation\'s health and reduce economic inactivity"".', ""It also examined the DWP's data on medical conditions recorded on Work Capability Assessments and highlighted the fact that many benefit claimants cited mental health problems and musculoskeletal problems."", 'It said 69% claimed for mental health disorders, and 48% had problems with connective or musculoskeletal pain.', 'A spokesperson for the DWP said: ""Our plan for the economy is working.', 'Inflation [the rate at which prices rise] is down to 3.4%, employment is up, the number of people on payrolls is at a record high, and inactivity is falling. ""', ""We've reduced the number of workless households by one million since 2010."", 'Our £2.5 billion Back to Work plan will help break down barriers to work for over a million more people and our recent Budget measures are estimated to boost the labour force by an extra 300,000 workers.""', 'In order to deal with long-term economic inactivity, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in November that reforms including stricter fit-to-work tests and jobseeker support would get 200,000 more people into work.', 'Under those plans, the government also wants to scrap the controversial Work Capability Assessment. ""', 'We will reform the work capability assessment to reflect greater flexibility and availability of home working after the pandemic,"" Mr Hunt said in November. ""', 'And we will spend £1.3bn over the next five years to help nearly 700,000 people with health conditions find jobs.""', ""The Foundation's latest report comes after it said in February that people in their early 20s are more likely to be not working due to ill health than those in their early 40s."", 'Responding to the report, Shazia Ejaz at the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC), which represents the recruitment industry, said long NHS waiting lists ""are a big factor for why not enough people are well enough to work"".', 'She added: ""Better infrastructure around transport, childcare and social care will all help tackle the inactivity challenge the UK faces"".']",0.0633149136284909,"She added: ""Better infrastructure around transport, childcare and social care will all help tackle the inactivity challenge the UK faces"".","It said 69% claimed for mental health disorders, and 48% had problems with connective or musculoskeletal pain.",0.1448185812859308,"Adults economically inactive due to ill-health rose from 2.1m in July 2019 to a peak of 2.8m in October 2023, said the Resolution Foundation.","However, it did add that inactivity figures fell slightly to 2.7 million in December 2023.",2024-03-26
How Temu is shaking up the world of online shopping,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68563339,2024-03-19T00:09:28.000Z,"A record 123 million Americans tuned into this year's Super Bowl.  But as well as getting the nation's biggest sporting event, a blockbuster halftime performance and several camera cutaways of Taylor Swift in the crowd, they also got six 30-second commercials for Temu - a Chinese-owned e-commerce company. The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour. Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants. The company, which sells everything from clothes to electronics and furniture, first launched in the US in 2022 and later in the UK and the rest of the world. Since then, it has consistently topped global app download charts, with just under 152 million Americans using it every month, according to data gathered by analyst SimilarWeb. It's ""Amazon on steroids,"" says retail analyst Neil Saunders, and with the tagline ""shop like a billionaire"" it has exploded in popularity, shipping to around 50 countries worldwide. A typical 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs around $7m (£5.5m), during this year's event Temu had six of them.  ""It's a lot of money for a very, short commercial,"" Mr Saunders says.  ""But it is seen by an enormous number of people and we know that after that commercial Temu's downloads spiked,"" he adds.  SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app. In the same period, Amazon and Ebay's visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively.  ""They've also spent a lot of money on micro-marketing, persuading influencers to push products and to suggest buying things on the platform via social channels like TikTok and YouTube,"" says Mr Saunders.  These influencers typically have fewer than 10,000 followers according to Ines Durand, an e-commerce expert at SimilarWeb. ""Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains. Temu is owned by Chinese giant PDD Holdings - ""a monster in Chinese e-commerce,"" according to Shaun Rein, founder of the China Market Research Group.  ""Throughout China, everyone buys products on Pinduoduo, from speakers to t-shirts or socks,"" he says.  More technology of business The company consistently trades places with rival Alibaba for the top spot of most valuable Chinese firm listed on a US stock exchange. Its current worth sits at just under $150bn (£117bn). With the Chinese consumer market under its spell, PDD Holdings expanded overseas with Temu, using the same model that had ensured its previous success. According to Mr Rein, who is based in Shanghai, the firm has become a great source of pride and patriotism. ""They're proud that Chinese companies can slay the e-commerce dragons from the United States like Amazon,"" he adds.  A quick scroll through the Temu app or website will bring up anything from steel-toecap trainers to a device designed to help the elderly and pregnant women put on socks. A menagerie of manufactured goods, almost entirely produced in factories in China, Mr Rein explains. ""Temu use an amazing, system that relies on, heavy data collection at scale,"" says Ines Durand. ""They collect data on consumer trends, the most searched and clicked products, which they give to individual manufacturers."" Ms Durand says that while Amazon sells this data to manufacturers at a premium, Temu gives it to producers free of charge - information they use to ""test the market"" with a relatively small number of products.  A third of parcels that came into the US last year under a shipping loophole known as the de minimis threshold were from Temu and competitor Shein, according to a report from US Congress. Many countries - including the UK and USA have a de minimis threshold, designed to help citizens to import goods. So as Temu's goods are shipped directly from the factory floors, cutting out the middlemen, they become essentially duty-free. More regulation may be on the horizon to close up shipping loopholes, however, according to Mickey Diaz, chief operating officer at global freight company Unique Logistics.  ""The UK has already started to look at Temu with some scrutiny, including the sale of weapons that are otherwise not allowed into the UK, which were being imported because of these loopholes,"" she explains. Temu has been criticised for its supply chains too, with UK and US politicians accusing the e-commerce giant of allowing goods produced with forced labour to be sold on its site.  Last year, Alicia Kearns MP, head of the foreign affairs select committee, told the BBC she wanted greater scrutiny of the online marketplace to make sure ""consumers are not inadvertently contributing to the Uyghur genocide"". Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.  It told the BBC anyone doing business with it must ""comply with all regulatory standards and compliance requirements"". ""Temu's merchants, suppliers, and other third parties must pay their employees and contractors on time and comply with all applicable local wage and hours laws. ""Our current standards and practices are no different from other major e-commerce platforms trusted by consumers, and allegations in this regard are completely ungrounded,"" a spokesperson added.  Despite the controversy, analysts expect further expansion for Temu. ""We'll probably see teams start to round out its offer more, perhaps pushing into some slightly higher priced products"" predicts retail analyst Neil Saunders. According to Shaun Reid, the focus will be on grabbing an even bigger slice of the market. ""For the next two to three years, their strategy is just to grow brand awareness and market share. They don't care about profits.  ""That's exactly what happened with Pinduoduo when it launched in China. They were giving incredibly cheap deals just to grab market share."" ",BBC,19/03/2024,"[""A record 123 million Americans tuned into this year's Super Bowl."", ""But as well as getting the nation's biggest sporting event, a blockbuster halftime performance and several camera cutaways of Taylor Swift in the crowd, they also got six 30-second commercials for Temu - a Chinese-owned e-commerce company."", 'The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour.', 'Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.', 'The company, which sells everything from clothes to electronics and furniture, first launched in the US in 2022 and later in the UK and the rest of the world.', 'Since then, it has consistently topped global app download charts, with just under 152 million Americans using it every month, according to data gathered by analyst SimilarWeb.', 'It\'s ""Amazon on steroids,"" says retail analyst Neil Saunders, and with the tagline ""shop like a billionaire"" it has exploded in popularity, shipping to around 50 countries worldwide.', 'A typical 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs around $7m (£5.5m), during this year\'s event Temu had six of them. ""', 'It\'s a lot of money for a very, short commercial,"" Mr Saunders says. ""', 'But it is seen by an enormous number of people and we know that after that commercial Temu\'s downloads spiked,"" he adds.', 'SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app.', 'In the same period, Amazon and Ebay\'s visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively. ""', 'They\'ve also spent a lot of money on micro-marketing, persuading influencers to push products and to suggest buying things on the platform via social channels like TikTok and YouTube,"" says Mr Saunders.', 'These influencers typically have fewer than 10,000 followers according to Ines Durand, an e-commerce expert at SimilarWeb. ""', 'Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains.', 'Temu is owned by Chinese giant PDD Holdings - ""a monster in Chinese e-commerce,"" according to Shaun Rein, founder of the China Market Research Group. ""', 'Throughout China, everyone buys products on Pinduoduo, from speakers to t-shirts or socks,"" he says.', 'More technology of business The company consistently trades places with rival Alibaba for the top spot of most valuable Chinese firm listed on a US stock exchange.', 'Its current worth sits at just under $150bn (£117bn).', 'With the Chinese consumer market under its spell, PDD Holdings expanded overseas with Temu, using the same model that had ensured its previous success.', 'According to Mr Rein, who is based in Shanghai, the firm has become a great source of pride and patriotism. ""', 'They\'re proud that Chinese companies can slay the e-commerce dragons from the United States like Amazon,"" he adds.', 'A quick scroll through the Temu app or website will bring up anything from steel-toecap trainers to a device designed to help the elderly and pregnant women put on socks.', 'A menagerie of manufactured goods, almost entirely produced in factories in China, Mr Rein explains. ""', 'Temu use an amazing, system that relies on, heavy data collection at scale,"" says Ines Durand. ""', 'They collect data on consumer trends, the most searched and clicked products, which they give to individual manufacturers.""', 'Ms Durand says that while Amazon sells this data to manufacturers at a premium, Temu gives it to producers free of charge - information they use to ""test the market"" with a relatively small number of products.', 'A third of parcels that came into the US last year under a shipping loophole known as the de minimis threshold were from Temu and competitor Shein, according to a report from US Congress.', 'Many countries - including the UK and USA have a de minimis threshold, designed to help citizens to import goods.', ""So as Temu's goods are shipped directly from the factory floors, cutting out the middlemen, they become essentially duty-free."", 'More regulation may be on the horizon to close up shipping loopholes, however, according to Mickey Diaz, chief operating officer at global freight company Unique Logistics. ""', 'The UK has already started to look at Temu with some scrutiny, including the sale of weapons that are otherwise not allowed into the UK, which were being imported because of these loopholes,"" she explains.', 'Temu has been criticised for its supply chains too, with UK and US politicians accusing the e-commerce giant of allowing goods produced with forced labour to be sold on its site.', 'Last year, Alicia Kearns MP, head of the foreign affairs select committee, told the BBC she wanted greater scrutiny of the online marketplace to make sure ""consumers are not inadvertently contributing to the Uyghur genocide"".', 'Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.', 'It told the BBC anyone doing business with it must ""comply with all regulatory standards and compliance requirements"". ""', 'Temu\'s merchants, suppliers, and other third parties must pay their employees and contractors on time and comply with all applicable local wage and hours laws. ""', 'Our current standards and practices are no different from other major e-commerce platforms trusted by consumers, and allegations in this regard are completely ungrounded,"" a spokesperson added.', 'Despite the controversy, analysts expect further expansion for Temu. ""', 'We\'ll probably see teams start to round out its offer more, perhaps pushing into some slightly higher priced products"" predicts retail analyst Neil Saunders.', 'According to Shaun Reid, the focus will be on grabbing an even bigger slice of the market. ""', 'For the next two to three years, their strategy is just to grow brand awareness and market share.', 'They don\'t care about profits. ""', ""That's exactly what happened with Pinduoduo when it launched in China."", 'They were giving incredibly cheap deals just to grab market share.""']",0.2590481124794851,"Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains.","The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour.",0.5463065419878278,"SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app.","In the same period, Amazon and Ebay's visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively. """,2024-03-26
Goldman Sachs analysts say there’s still potential for more stock gains,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/24/investing/401k-sp-500-markets-goldman-boost/index.html,"
  Published
        2:34 PM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","It’s been a bumpy road for the stock market this year, but investors aren’t complaining.
    
            That’s because markets have rallied to new highs and have already soared past analysts’ 2024 estimates.
    
            The S&P 500 has surged more than 10% since January, and last week it surpassed Goldman Sachs’ year-end target of 5,200.
    
            So what comes next?
    
            The question is weighing heavily on the minds of investors, Goldman Sachs’ strategists wrote in a note Friday.
    
            The analysts, led by Goldman’s chief US equity strategist, David Kostin, presented a scenario in which mega-cap tech stocks could continue to grow and propel the S&P 500 an additional 15% higher to the 6,000 level by the end of the year.
    
            The current rally in growth stocks is different from what happened when markets crashed in 2021 or during the tech bubble, the analysts wrote. This time around, investors are paying closer attention to how much profit companies are actually bringing in, they said.
    
            And while enthusiasm for artificial intelligence is at a fever pitch, Goldman’s analysts said growth expectations and valuations for the largest technology, media and telecommunication stocks are “still far from bubble territory.”
    
            The investment bank also presented a more tempered scenario in which the S&P 500 climbs 11% to reach 5,800 by year-end. In this case, markets would just have to catch up to their pre-pandemic valuation levels.
    
            Either of these shifts higher, analysts wrote, are dependent on the Federal Reserve’s next policy move. Investors have been worried that the central bank will keep interest rates elevated for longer than previously expected in response to persistently high interest rates.
    
            “A shift in the interest rate outlook without a deterioration in the economy is necessary for the market rally to broaden,” the analysts said. “Today, a large swath of the market remains weighed down by concerns of ‘high-for-longer’ interest.”
    
            They also presented a worst-case scenario in which mega tech stocks could fail to live up to expectations, causing markets to fall by 14% this year.
    
            But for now, Goldman analysts will keep their baseline prediction of 5,200 for the S&P 500 unchanged. That means markets would drop by about 1% before the end of the year.
    
            “Both our expected path of the federal funds rate and our above-consensus economic growth forecast appear to already be priced by markets,” they wrote.",CNN,24/03/2024,"['It’s been a bumpy road for the stock market this year, but investors aren’t complaining.', 'That’s because markets have rallied to new highs and have already soared past analysts’ 2024 estimates.', 'The S&P 500 has surged more than 10% since January, and last week it surpassed Goldman Sachs’ year-end target of 5,200.', 'So what comes next?', 'The question is weighing heavily on the minds of investors, Goldman Sachs’ strategists wrote in a note Friday.', 'The analysts, led by Goldman’s chief US equity strategist, David Kostin, presented a scenario in which mega-cap tech stocks could continue to grow and propel the S&P 500 an additional 15% higher to the 6,000 level by the end of the year.', 'The current rally in growth stocks is different from what happened when markets crashed in 2021 or during the tech bubble, the analysts wrote.', 'This time around, investors are paying closer attention to how much profit companies are actually bringing in, they said.', 'And while enthusiasm for artificial intelligence is at a fever pitch, Goldman’s analysts said growth expectations and valuations for the largest technology, media and telecommunication stocks are “still far from bubble territory.”', 'The investment bank also presented a more tempered scenario in which the S&P 500 climbs 11% to reach 5,800 by year-end.', 'In this case, markets would just have to catch up to their pre-pandemic valuation levels.', 'Either of these shifts higher, analysts wrote, are dependent on the Federal Reserve’s next policy move.', 'Investors have been worried that the central bank will keep interest rates elevated for longer than previously expected in response to persistently high interest rates.', '“A shift in the interest rate outlook without a deterioration in the economy is necessary for the market rally to broaden,” the analysts said. “', 'Today, a large swath of the market remains weighed down by concerns of ‘high-for-longer’ interest.”', 'They also presented a worst-case scenario in which mega tech stocks could fail to live up to expectations, causing markets to fall by 14% this year.', 'But for now, Goldman analysts will keep their baseline prediction of 5,200 for the S&P 500 unchanged.', 'That means markets would drop by about 1% before the end of the year.', '“Both our expected path of the federal funds rate and our above-consensus economic growth forecast appear to already be priced by markets,” they wrote.']",0.1139082544571183,"And while enthusiasm for artificial intelligence is at a fever pitch, Goldman’s analysts said growth expectations and valuations for the largest technology, media and telecommunication stocks are “still far from bubble territory.”","They also presented a worst-case scenario in which mega tech stocks could fail to live up to expectations, causing markets to fall by 14% this year.",0.1562861700852712,"The investment bank also presented a more tempered scenario in which the S&P 500 climbs 11% to reach 5,800 by year-end.","They also presented a worst-case scenario in which mega tech stocks could fail to live up to expectations, causing markets to fall by 14% this year.",2024-03-26
"Triple lock for pensions to be in Tory manifesto, Jeremy Hunt says",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68649894,2024-03-24T10:09:26.000Z,"Jeremy Hunt has said the Conservatives will keep the triple lock system to decide rises in the state pension if they win the election. The chancellor confirmed the pledge, which means the pension rises in line with average earnings growth, inflation or 2.5% - whichever is highest. He told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he was confident the ""expensive"" promise would be paid by growing the economy. Labour said it was ""committed to retaining"" the triple lock. However, it is yet to confirm if the pledge will feature in its election manifesto. ""We will set out those plans for our manifesto in detail,"" Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds told the BBC programme.  The state pension will rise by 8.5% in April.  Mr Hunt confirmed the current triple lock system to decide how much the payments rise each year would ""absolutely"" remain if the Conservatives win the general election, which must be held by 28 January 2025, for the whole of the next parliament. ""When we came to office in 2010, pensioners were more likely to be in poverty than other income groups, now because of the triple lock that we introduced they are less likely to be in poverty,"" he told the BBC. ""I think that is a very important social change because unlike adults of working age, pensioners can't work, they have retired and so we need to respect that."" Mr Hunt said he realised continuing the policy would be an ""expensive commitment"", but added: ""You can only make that commitment if you're confident that you're going to deliver the economic growth that is going to pay for it."" Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said the pledge was a ""shameless election trick by the Conservatives"" and claimed Mr Hunt was ""yet again taking pensioners for granted"". Yael Selfin, chief economist at accountancy firm KPMG, said: ""It is easier to make this promise now that inflation is going down.""  Inflation rose by 3.4% in the year to February, which is the lowest rate since September 2021 and Ms Selfin predicted that it would fall below the Bank of England's 2% target sooner than expected this year.  Ms Selfin said: ""The extra spending on pensions will not necessarily create a lot of growth on its own. [The chancellor] would need to find other ways to stimulate growth."" Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer declined to say if the triple lock would be in his party's manifesto when asked by The Sun newspaper last week. ""We will have to see what the state of the economy is as we go into the election. We will publish all of our plans as we go in and answer that question, but I believe in the triple lock."" The state pension is a payment made every four weeks by the government to people who have reached the qualifying age and have paid enough National Insurance contributions. More than 12 million people in the UK receive it. Currently, the pension is worth £203.85 a week for the full, new flat-rate (for those who reached state pension age after April 2016), and £156.20 a week for the full, old basic state pension (for those who reached state pension age before April 2016). In April, the two payments will rise to £221.20 and £169.50 per week respectively, taking the annual totals to £11,502 and £8,814. Next month's increase is set to be the second significant rise in the state pension in two years, after a 10.1% increase in April 2023. The triple lock is designed to ensure pensioners, especially if they rely solely on the state pension, are able to afford rising prices, or keep pace with the increases in the working population's wages. It was introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010, but there has been debate over whether it can continue in the long-term future due to its costs. The state pension cost £110.5bn in 2022-2023, just under half the total amount the government spends on benefits, and the government's official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, estimated the level would grow to £124bn in 2023-2024. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies economic think tank, told the BBC he was not surprised by Mr Hunt's pledge to keep the policy in place due to pensioners being an important voting demographic to the Conservative party.   But he warned: ""It can't go on forever and they need to give an indication to when they want it to stop."" The rate of price rises in the UK - inflation - has been high in recent years, putting pensioners, as well as working families under financial pressure.  Inflation has fallen sharply but interest rates are still at a 16-year high after being raised by the Bank of England in recent times to try to slow the pace of consumer prices rising. It has made borrowing money on things such as credit cards and mortgages much more expensive for households, but has boosted returns for savers. Mr Hunt said the UK was ""not there yet"" when asked whether the cost-of-living crisis had ended, but added that a fall in interest rates would ""make the biggest difference for families up and down the country"". The Bank of England, which sets rates independently from the government, has held rates at 5.25% five times in a row, but signalled last week cuts are to be made this year, possibly as soon as May. ",BBC,24/03/2024,"['Jeremy Hunt has said the Conservatives will keep the triple lock system to decide rises in the state pension if they win the election.', 'The chancellor confirmed the pledge, which means the pension rises in line with average earnings growth, inflation or 2.5% - whichever is highest.', 'He told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he was confident the ""expensive"" promise would be paid by growing the economy.', 'Labour said it was ""committed to retaining"" the triple lock.', 'However, it is yet to confirm if the pledge will feature in its election manifesto. ""', 'We will set out those plans for our manifesto in detail,"" Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds told the BBC programme.', 'The state pension will rise by 8.5% in April.', 'Mr Hunt confirmed the current triple lock system to decide how much the payments rise each year would ""absolutely"" remain if the Conservatives win the general election, which must be held by 28 January 2025, for the whole of the next parliament. ""', 'When we came to office in 2010, pensioners were more likely to be in poverty than other income groups, now because of the triple lock that we introduced they are less likely to be in poverty,"" he told the BBC. ""', 'I think that is a very important social change because unlike adults of working age, pensioners can\'t work, they have retired and so we need to respect that.""', 'Mr Hunt said he realised continuing the policy would be an ""expensive commitment"", but added: ""You can only make that commitment if you\'re confident that you\'re going to deliver the economic growth that is going to pay for it.""', 'Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said the pledge was a ""shameless election trick by the Conservatives"" and claimed Mr Hunt was ""yet again taking pensioners for granted"".', 'Yael Selfin, chief economist at accountancy firm KPMG, said: ""It is easier to make this promise now that inflation is going down.""', ""Inflation rose by 3.4% in the year to February, which is the lowest rate since September 2021 and Ms Selfin predicted that it would fall below the Bank of England's 2% target sooner than expected this year."", 'Ms Selfin said: ""The extra spending on pensions will not necessarily create a lot of growth on its own. [', 'The chancellor] would need to find other ways to stimulate growth.""', 'Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer declined to say if the triple lock would be in his party\'s manifesto when asked by The Sun newspaper last week. ""', 'We will have to see what the state of the economy is as we go into the election.', 'We will publish all of our plans as we go in and answer that question, but I believe in the triple lock.""', 'The state pension is a payment made every four weeks by the government to people who have reached the qualifying age and have paid enough National Insurance contributions.', 'More than 12 million people in the UK receive it.', 'Currently, the pension is worth £203.85 a week for the full, new flat-rate (for those who reached state pension age after April 2016), and £156.20 a week for the full, old basic state pension (for those who reached state pension age before April 2016).', 'In April, the two payments will rise to £221.20 and £169.50 per week respectively, taking the annual totals to £11,502 and £8,814.', ""Next month's increase is set to be the second significant rise in the state pension in two years, after a 10.1% increase in April 2023."", ""The triple lock is designed to ensure pensioners, especially if they rely solely on the state pension, are able to afford rising prices, or keep pace with the increases in the working population's wages."", 'It was introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010, but there has been debate over whether it can continue in the long-term future due to its costs.', ""The state pension cost £110.5bn in 2022-2023, just under half the total amount the government spends on benefits, and the government's official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, estimated the level would grow to £124bn in 2023-2024."", ""Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies economic think tank, told the BBC he was not surprised by Mr Hunt's pledge to keep the policy in place due to pensioners being an important voting demographic to the Conservative party."", 'But he warned: ""It can\'t go on forever and they need to give an indication to when they want it to stop.""', 'The rate of price rises in the UK - inflation - has been high in recent years, putting pensioners, as well as working families under financial pressure.', 'Inflation has fallen sharply but interest rates are still at a 16-year high after being raised by the Bank of England in recent times to try to slow the pace of consumer prices rising.', 'It has made borrowing money on things such as credit cards and mortgages much more expensive for households, but has boosted returns for savers.', 'Mr Hunt said the UK was ""not there yet"" when asked whether the cost-of-living crisis had ended, but added that a fall in interest rates would ""make the biggest difference for families up and down the country"".', 'The Bank of England, which sets rates independently from the government, has held rates at 5.25% five times in a row, but signalled last week cuts are to be made this year, possibly as soon as May.']",0.2437337923854865,"Mr Hunt said he realised continuing the policy would be an ""expensive commitment"", but added: ""You can only make that commitment if you're confident that you're going to deliver the economic growth that is going to pay for it.""","When we came to office in 2010, pensioners were more likely to be in poverty than other income groups, now because of the triple lock that we introduced they are less likely to be in poverty,"" he told the BBC. """,0.6673644185066223,"Next month's increase is set to be the second significant rise in the state pension in two years, after a 10.1% increase in April 2023.",Inflation has fallen sharply but interest rates are still at a 16-year high after being raised by the Bank of England in recent times to try to slow the pace of consumer prices rising.,2024-03-26
Switzerland gets a surprise rate cut. Will other central banks move before the Fed?,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/economy/switzerland-europe-interest-rate-cuts/index.html,"
  Published
        9:38 AM EDT, Thu March 21, 2024
    ","The Swiss National Bank surprised markets Thursday by cutting interest rates, becoming the first of the world’s major central banks to do so since they began battling a post-pandemic surge in prices.
    
            The SNB announced that it would reduce the cost of borrowing by a quarter of a percentage point as it revised down its forecasts for inflation this year and next. “The fight against inflation over the past two and a half years has been effective,” it said in a statement.
    
            Pressure is also building for the European Central Bank to cut rates for the 20 countries that use the euro. Data released Thursday suggested the region’s economy went backward in March, bolstering the case for the ECB to break with tradition and reduce rates before the US Federal Reserve.
    
            The Purchasing Managers’ Index showed a slight increase to 49.9 in March, driven by expansion in the services sector, but remained below the 50 mark that separates contraction from growth.
    
            Europe’s manufacturers have spent the best part of the past two years grappling with steep energy costs, which surged after Russia invaded Ukraine. Manufacturing remains mired in a deep contraction, according to the latest PMI numbers.
    
            Commenting on Thursday’s preliminary data, Christoph Weil, senior economist at Commerzbank, said the eurozone’s economy likely stagnated “at best” in the first quarter.
    
            “The services PMI now gives some hope that the economy will return to growth in the spring. The recovery is nevertheless likely to be very subdued at first,” he wrote in a note.
    
            It’s a very different story in the United States, where the economy has, despite a turbulent few years marked by high inflation, gone absolutely gangbusters.
    
            Fed officials now expect US gross domestic product to rise 2.1% this year, a sizeable jump from their 1.4% forecast in December. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was also revised upward to 2.4% on the Fed’s preferred measure. The US labor market, meanwhile, remains resilient, with unemployment at historic lows and elevated wage inflation.
    
            The Fed kept its key interest rate steady Wednesday but continued to signal three cuts later this year. Unlike its European peer, it has the dual mandate of keeping inflation around 2% and aiming for full employment — an objective that can be aided by cutting rates to stimulate hiring. The ECB’s primary concern is to ensure stable prices.
    
            “The ‘why’ of the ECB’s decision comes in stark contrast to the Fed’s,” Felix Feather, an economic analyst at asset manager Abrdn, told CNN. He said the Fed “may choose to lower rates in an effort to pre-emptively stave off risks to the full employment part of its dual mandate.”
    
            Still, ahead of its meeting in April, the ECB has signaled that market expectations of the first rate cut in June are right. Traders are putting a high chance on that outcome and their confidence has increased since Wednesday.
    
            “When it comes to the data that is relevant for our policy decisions, we will know a bit more by April and a lot more by June,” ECB President Christine Lagarde said Wednesday at a conference in Germany.
    
            Annual consumer price inflation in the eurozone has tumbled from a record high of 10.6% in October 2022 to 2.6% in February, not far above the ECB’s 2% target.
    
            A cut at the ECB’s June 6 meeting would see it move before the Fed, which traders also currently expect to cut rates when it meets six days later. The Bank of England, which left rates unchanged Thursday, is expected to follow with its first cut later that month.
    
            Moving before the central bank of the world’s biggest economy would be an unusual step for the ECB.
    
            Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors, says the central bank has tended to follow the Fed’s lead, largely because the consequential economic events of the past two decades, such as the global financial crisis, originated on American soil.
    
            “The current economic landscape, however, is different altogether, and central banks are not bound by the moves of the past,” she told CNN.
    
            Cutting rates before the Fed does could cause the euro to lose value against the dollar, pushing up the cost of dollar-denominated imports and — ironically — fueling inflation.
    
            But ECB policymakers are far more concerned right now with boosting the region’s economy, says Adrian Prettejohn, Europe economist at Capital Economics.
    
            The central bank “will probably take some solace looking at inflation (projections) in Switzerland,” he told CNN. “What’s really going to matter for the ECB is what’s happening in their economy.”",CNN,21/03/2024,"['The Swiss National Bank surprised markets Thursday by cutting interest rates, becoming the first of the world’s major central banks to do so since they began battling a post-pandemic surge in prices.', 'The SNB announced that it would reduce the cost of borrowing by a quarter of a percentage point as it revised down its forecasts for inflation this year and next. “', 'The fight against inflation over the past two and a half years has been effective,” it said in a statement.', 'Pressure is also building for the European Central Bank to cut rates for the 20 countries that use the euro.', 'Data released Thursday suggested the region’s economy went backward in March, bolstering the case for the ECB to break with tradition and reduce rates before the US Federal Reserve.', 'The Purchasing Managers’ Index showed a slight increase to 49.9 in March, driven by expansion in the services sector, but remained below the 50 mark that separates contraction from growth.', 'Europe’s manufacturers have spent the best part of the past two years grappling with steep energy costs, which surged after Russia invaded Ukraine.', 'Manufacturing remains mired in a deep contraction, according to the latest PMI numbers.', 'Commenting on Thursday’s preliminary data, Christoph Weil, senior economist at Commerzbank, said the eurozone’s economy likely stagnated “at best” in the first quarter.', '“The services PMI now gives some hope that the economy will return to growth in the spring.', 'The recovery is nevertheless likely to be very subdued at first,” he wrote in a note.', 'It’s a very different story in the United States, where the economy has, despite a turbulent few years marked by high inflation, gone absolutely gangbusters.', 'Fed officials now expect US gross domestic product to rise 2.1% this year, a sizeable jump from their 1.4% forecast in December.', 'Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was also revised upward to 2.4% on the Fed’s preferred measure.', 'The US labor market, meanwhile, remains resilient, withunemployment at historic lowsand elevated wage inflation.', 'The Fed kept its key interest rate steady Wednesday but continued to signal three cuts later this year.', 'Unlike its European peer, it has the dual mandate of keeping inflation around 2% and aiming for full employment —an objective that can be aided by cutting rates to stimulate hiring.', 'The ECB’s primary concern is to ensure stable prices.', '“The ‘why’ of the ECB’s decision comes in stark contrast to the Fed’s,” Felix Feather, an economic analyst at asset manager Abrdn, told CNN.', 'He said the Fed “may choose to lower rates in an effort to pre-emptively stave off risks to the full employment part of its dual mandate.”', 'Still, ahead of its meeting in April, the ECB has signaled that market expectations of the first rate cut in June are right.', 'Traders are putting a high chance on that outcome and their confidence has increased since Wednesday.', '“When it comes to the data that is relevant for our policy decisions, we will know a bit more by April and a lot more by June,” ECB President Christine Lagarde said Wednesday at a conference in Germany.', 'Annual consumer price inflation in the eurozone has tumbled from a record high of 10.6% in October 2022 to 2.6% in February, not far above the ECB’s 2% target.', 'A cut at the ECB’s June 6 meeting would see it move before the Fed, which traders also currently expect to cut rates when it meets six days later.', 'The Bank of England, which left rates unchanged Thursday, is expected to follow with its first cut later that month.', 'Moving before the central bank of the world’s biggest economy would be an unusual step for the ECB.', 'Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors, says the central bank has tended to follow the Fed’s lead, largely because the consequential economic events of the past two decades, such as the global financial crisis, originated on American soil.', '“The current economic landscape, however, is different altogether, and central banks are not bound by the moves of the past,” she told CNN.', 'Cutting rates before the Fed does could cause the euro to lose value against the dollar, pushing up the cost of dollar-denominated imports and —ironically —fueling inflation.', 'But ECB policymakers are far more concerned right now with boosting the region’s economy, says Adrian Prettejohn, Europe economist at Capital Economics.', 'The central bank “will probably take some solace looking at inflation (projections) in Switzerland,” he told CNN. “', 'What’s really going to matter for the ECB is what’s happening in their economy.”']",0.07860909068531,Traders are putting a high chance on that outcome and their confidence has increased since Wednesday.,"Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors, says the central bank has tended to follow the Fed’s lead, largely because the consequential economic events of the past two decades, such as the global financial crisis, originated on American soil.",0.2994020134210586,Traders are putting a high chance on that outcome and their confidence has increased since Wednesday.,"Annual consumer price inflation in the eurozone has tumbled from a record high of 10.6% in October 2022 to 2.6% in February, not far above the ECB’s 2% target.",2024-03-26
"Hull funeral home inquiry: 'I spent £2,700 on a fake funeral policy'",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68636654,2024-03-22T15:26:00.000Z,"Buyers of funeral plans from a Hull funeral home already at the centre of a police inquiry said they have been told their policies are non-existent. Rita Goldspink and Kevin Newton paid about £2,500 each for plans bought from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in 2018 and 2012 respectively. Each has been told separately that there is no trace of their policy on the third-party insurer's database. Legacy funeral home has been contacted for comment. Two people have been bailed in a police investigation of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors that began on 6 March, following a report of ""concern for care of the deceased"". Rachel Marshall, from Hull, said the pre-paid funeral plan for her mother, Rita Goldspink, 76, had cost £2,700 in April 2018, six months after Legacy had organised her father's funeral. After news emerged of the Humberside Police investigation, Ms Marshall said she contacted the insurer and discovered they could not find ""my mum's name on their database"". She said she was later told by the insurer that she should have received a welcome pack containing details of the plan shortly after purchase. ""My mum was absolutely devastated and I was in total shock,"" said Ms Marshall.  ""All that money is gone. ""I'm gutted and have started to realise through conversations [with others that] there are more of us with these fake policies."" Kevin Newton, 69, also from Hull, said he was ""mortified"" to learn that his pre-paid funeral plan, which had cost him £2,239, was similarly untraceable. He said when he bought the third-party policy in 2012, he had received written confirmation and a receipt from Legacy.  Shortly afterwards a pack had arrived in the post, which he had believed contained official documents about his policy. However, after his family raised concerns with him last week, Mr Newton said he had phoned the third-party insurer and was told there was no trace of the policy. His daughter Kerry, 35, said: ""It's absolutely shocking because it's a lot of money for my dad to fork out and it's not like he can [afford it] again. ""I know my dad's done it so me and my brother don't have to worry about him when the time comes. It's just devastating. ""It's unforgiveable."" Another woman from Hull, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she ""can't get [her] head round"" being told there was no record of her £2,500 pre-paid funeral plan, bought from Legacy in 2016. She said she had bought the plan after using the company to arrange the funerals of both her parents, who had died three weeks apart. She too had believed a pack she received was evidence of the third-party policy. But she discovered last week the policy did not exist, the woman said. ""Initially... all I was concerned about was my mum and dad. They're supposed to be buried together in the same grave. I hope they are but I just don't know now. I'm thinking: are they there?  ""But now - finding this policy is worthless - it's just a cherry on the icing, really. I'm completely shocked. ""I mean, I'm still more troubled about mum and dad at the moment. But I know I'll never get any answers on that."" The BBC has seen documents given to all three families who bought the plans from Legacy. It is unclear whether Legacy submitted the filled-in application forms to the insurer. In a statement, the third-party insurer, Ecclesiastical Planning Services, said: ""This is a deeply distressing incident for the families affected.  ""We are unable to comment on individual cases but we are working with families who contact us to establish if they have a plan with us."" All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations. The woman said: ""I think anyone setting up a funeral business should have some sort of qualification or have been trained. And there has to be regular inspections."" Ms Marshall urged anyone who had bought a pre-paid funeral plan to ""check your policy"". ""More or less everything goes on trust,"" she said. Few details about the police investigation have been revealed but a quantity of ashes and 35 bodies were recovered from Legacy's Hessle Road premises and taken to another mortuary. The families involved have been contacted, Humberside Police have said. A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position. They have since been released on bail while police inquiries continue. The force said its dedicated helpline numbers remain open. Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Are you affected by the issues raised in this story? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk Please include your name, age and location with any submission.  ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Buyers of funeral plans from a Hull funeral home already at the centre of a police inquiry said they have been told their policies are non-existent.', 'Rita Goldspink and Kevin Newton paid about £2,500 each for plans bought from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in 2018 and 2012 respectively.', ""Each has been told separately that there is no trace of their policy on the third-party insurer's database."", 'Legacy funeral home has been contacted for comment.', 'Two people have been bailed in a police investigation of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors that began on 6 March, following a report of ""concern for care of the deceased"".', ""Rachel Marshall, from Hull, said the pre-paid funeral plan for her mother, Rita Goldspink, 76, had cost £2,700 in April 2018, six months after Legacy had organised her father's funeral."", 'After news emerged of the Humberside Police investigation, Ms Marshall said she contacted the insurer and discovered they could not find ""my mum\'s name on their database"".', 'She said she was later told by the insurer that she should have received a welcome pack containing details of the plan shortly after purchase. ""', 'My mum was absolutely devastated and I was in total shock,"" said Ms Marshall. ""', 'All that money is gone. ""', 'I\'m gutted and have started to realise through conversations [with others that] there are more of us with these fake policies.""', 'Kevin Newton, 69, also from Hull, said he was ""mortified"" to learn that his pre-paid funeral plan, which had cost him £2,239, was similarly untraceable.', 'He said when he bought the third-party policy in 2012, he had received written confirmation and a receipt from Legacy.', 'Shortly afterwards a pack had arrived in the post, which he had believed contained official documents about his policy.', 'However, after his family raised concerns with him last week, Mr Newton said he had phoned the third-party insurer and was told there was no trace of the policy.', 'His daughter Kerry, 35, said: ""It\'s absolutely shocking because it\'s a lot of money for my dad to fork out and it\'s not like he can [afford it] again. ""', ""I know my dad's done it so me and my brother don't have to worry about him when the time comes."", 'It\'s just devastating. ""', 'It\'s unforgiveable.""', 'Another woman from Hull, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she ""can\'t get [her] head round"" being told there was no record of her £2,500 pre-paid funeral plan, bought from Legacy in 2016.', 'She said she had bought the plan after using the company to arrange the funerals of both her parents, who had died three weeks apart.', 'She too had believed a pack she received was evidence of the third-party policy.', 'But she discovered last week the policy did not exist, the woman said. ""', 'Initially... all I was concerned about was my mum and dad.', ""They're supposed to be buried together in the same grave."", ""I hope they are but I just don't know now."", 'I\'m thinking: are they there? ""', ""But now - finding this policy is worthless - it's just a cherry on the icing, really."", 'I\'m completely shocked. ""', ""I mean, I'm still more troubled about mum and dad at the moment."", 'But I know I\'ll never get any answers on that.""', 'The BBC has seen documents given to all three families who bought the plans from Legacy.', 'It is unclear whether Legacy submitted the filled-in application forms to the insurer.', 'In a statement, the third-party insurer, Ecclesiastical Planning Services, said: ""This is a deeply distressing incident for the families affected. ""', 'We are unable to comment on individual cases but we are working with families who contact us to establish if they have a plan with us.""', 'All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations.', 'The woman said: ""I think anyone setting up a funeral business should have some sort of qualification or have been trained.', 'And there has to be regular inspections.""', 'Ms Marshall urged anyone who had bought a pre-paid funeral plan to ""check your policy"". ""', 'More or less everything goes on trust,"" she said.', ""Few details about the police investigation have been revealed but a quantity of ashes and 35 bodies were recovered from Legacy's Hessle Road premises and taken to another mortuary."", 'The families involved have been contacted, Humberside Police have said.', 'A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.', 'They have since been released on bail while police inquiries continue.', 'The force said its dedicated helpline numbers remain open.', 'Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.', 'Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Are you affected by the issues raised in this story?', 'Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.', ""You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk Please include your name, age and location with any submission.""]",-0.1373784424526084,Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.,"A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.",-0.8656735040924766,,"All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations.",2024-03-26
Emergency expenses will happen. Try these strategies if you don’t have the cash on hand,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/11/success/lack-of-emergency-savings/index.html,"
  Published
        6:00 AM EDT, Mon March 11, 2024
    ","Whether it’s an unexpected car repair or an emergency room visit, life happens. And it’s expensive. For those without any kind of safety net, paying for unanticipated expenses can mean borrowing money at astronomical interest rates, as well as forking over late fees if you can’t make payments on time.
    
            And while surveys indicate that there are plenty of people in just such a situation, there are some inexpensive and safe ways to access emergency funds.
    
            In a May 2023 report on the economic well-being of US households, the Federal Reserve reported that only 63% of Americans said they would pay an unexpected $400 expense with their own cash or cash equivalent (e.g. putting it on a credit card but paying that bill in full when it comes due). Of the remaining 37%, most indicated they would borrow the money (using everything from credit cards to payday loans to friends or family). Some said they would sell something to foot the bill. And 13% indicated they simply would not be able to pay it.
    
            Another survey, released by Bankrate.com in January, found that only 44% of US adults said they could pay a $1,000 emergency expense from their savings, while 35% indicated they would have to borrow the money. In that latter group, 21% said they would finance it with a credit card; 10% would borrow the money from family or friends, and 4% say they would take out a personal loan. Another 16% say they would have to reduce their spending on other things.
    
            An earlier survey by Bankrate, meanwhile, found that two-thirds of US adults worried they don’t have enough emergency savings to cover them if they lost their primary source of income. Typically, that would mean at least three months’ worth of living expenses.
    
            Credit card interest rates remain sky-high — the average at the end of February was 20.75%, according to Bankrate.com, with average penalty rates pushing 30%. So simply charging an emergency expense to a high-rate card should be your last resort.
    
            You might, however, look for a new credit card with a 0% introductory rate that will be in effect for a year or more, said Noah Damsky, founder of Marina Wealth Advisors. “This will provide you with the short-term cash you need, and provide you potentially with 18 months to pay it back, without interest.”
    
            Just be sure to pay it all back before the 0% introductory period ends, otherwise a high rate will kick in for the remaining balance.
    
            If your emergency is medical or dental in nature, ask the health provider if they offer a payment plan. “Many providers offer plans without interest, allowing you to spread the cost over several months,” said Marcel Miu, lead wealth planner at Simplify Wealth Planning.
    
            For some people, another low-cost option might be to borrow from a close relative or friend, but only if doing so would not jeopardize your relationship — which is a very personal decision. “While this option requires careful consideration and clear communication about repayment terms, it can be a way to cover expenses without the formalities and costs associated with traditional loans,” Miu said.
    
            In recent years, alternative ways to access cash have also been created outside of the traditional financial system, which has proven expensive for many families.
    
            Daisy Martini, a 29-year-old working for New York City’s Department of Education, felt she didn’t have many good options after she’d been temporarily laid off during the pandemic. Her bills were piling up and she had already accrued high credit card balances from her years in school.
    
            So to get small, short-term loans to tide her over, she turned to SoLo Funds, a community financing platform that puts borrowers in the driver seat: They decide how much they need to borrow, when they can pay it back and how much they’re willing to pay a lender as a “tip” for providing the loan. That tip can never exceed 15% of the loan. Borrowers may offer a much smaller tip, or even nothing. It’s up to lenders to decide if they will accept the borrowers’ terms. Loan amounts can’t exceed $575 and the average is $248, according to SoLo cofounder Rodney Williams. Once borrowers repay in full, they can then borrow again.
    
            Besides using SoLo for small emergency expenses, such as fixing a leak in the roof, Martini said she sometimes uses it for expenses she has a week ahead of when she knows she will be paid. She likes the platform better than the more anonymous interactions with a credit card company. Knowing who is lending to her gives her even more incentive to pay what she owes on time.
    
            “I knew if I borrowed from someone in the community who cared, I would … pay them back. You’re paying someone back who empathizes with your story,” she said.
    
            While getting a low-cost loan to tide you over in a pinch may be a relief, not having to borrow at all is optimal.
    
            To make the next emergency expense less stressful and costly, you can build emergency savings with small amounts consistently over time.
    
            Damsky recommends setting up automatic daily transfers from your checking account to a savings account. For example, he said, if you want to save roughly $150 a month, you could set up a transfer of just $5 a day or $35 a week. At the end of a year, you will have built up more than $1,800, plus whatever interest you earn on those savings. To maximize that interest, try to transfer your money into a high-yielding online savings account, which currently pay between 4% and 5%, according to Bankrate.com.
    
            The same pattern applies if your goal is to have at least three months of living expenses to protect you in case you lose your job. “Even small amounts, if consistent, can accumulate over time,” Miu said.
    
            He also recommends redirecting at least a portion of one-time annual windfalls — such as a tax refund or bonus — to a high-yield savings account.
    
            Two other proven ways to bolster emergency savings are increasing your income (e.g., taking on a side gig,) or cutting back on spending that you do not consider essential to your life, said Linda Grizely, a fee-only planner at Visions Financial Planning. But, she cautioned, ”It’s important to strike a balance and avoid excessive cuts. A plan that can be adhered to is the key to success.”",CNN,11/03/2024,"['Whether it’s an unexpected car repair or an emergency room visit, life happens.', 'And it’s expensive.', 'For those without any kind of safety net, paying for unanticipated expenses can mean borrowing money at astronomical interest rates, as well as forking over late fees if you can’t make payments on time.', 'And while surveys indicate that there are plenty of people in just such a situation, there are some inexpensive and safe ways to access emergency funds.', 'In a May 2023 report on the economic well-being of US households, the Federal Reserve reported that only 63% of Americans said they would pay an unexpected $400 expense with their own cash or cash equivalent (e.g. putting it on a credit card but paying that bill in full when it comes due).', 'Of the remaining 37%, most indicated they would borrow the money (using everything from credit cards to payday loans to friends or family).', 'Some said they would sell something to foot the bill.', 'And 13% indicated they simply would not be able to pay it.', 'Another survey, released by Bankrate.com in January, found that only 44% of US adults said they could pay a $1,000 emergency expense from their savings, while 35% indicated they would have to borrow the money.', 'In that latter group, 21% said they would finance it with a credit card; 10% would borrow the money from family or friends, and 4% say they would take out a personal loan.', 'Another 16% say they would have to reduce their spending on other things.', 'An earlier survey by Bankrate, meanwhile, found that two-thirds of US adults worried they don’t have enough emergency savings to cover them if they lost their primary source of income.', 'Typically, that would mean at least three months’ worth of living expenses.', 'Credit card interest rates remain sky-high — the average at the end of February was 20.75%, according to Bankrate.com, with average penalty rates pushing 30%.', 'So simply charging an emergency expense to a high-rate card should be your last resort.', 'You might, however, look for a new credit card with a 0% introductory rate that will be in effect for a year or more, said Noah Damsky, founder of Marina Wealth Advisors. “', 'This will provide you with the short-term cash you need, and provide you potentially with 18 months to pay it back, without interest.”', 'Just be sure to pay it all back before the 0% introductory period ends, otherwise a high rate will kick in for the remaining balance.', 'If your emergency is medical or dental in nature, ask the health provider if they offer a payment plan. “', 'Many providers offer plans without interest, allowing you to spread the cost over several months,” said Marcel Miu, lead wealth planner at Simplify Wealth Planning.', 'For some people, another low-cost option might be to borrow from a close relative or friend, but only if doing so would not jeopardize your relationship — which is a very personal decision. “', 'While this option requires careful consideration and clear communication about repayment terms, it can be a way to cover expenses without the formalities and costs associated with traditional loans,” Miu said.', 'In recent years, alternative ways to access cash have also been created outside of the traditional financial system, which has proven expensive for many families.', 'Daisy Martini, a 29-year-old working for New York City’s Department of Education, felt she didn’t have many good options after she’d been temporarily laid off during the pandemic.', 'Her bills were piling up and she had already accrued high credit card balances from her years in school.', 'So to get small, short-term loans to tide her over, she turned to SoLo Funds, a community financing platform that puts borrowers in the driver seat: They decide how much they need to borrow, when they can pay it back and how much they’re willing to pay a lender as a “tip” for providing the loan.', 'That tip can never exceed 15% of the loan.', 'Borrowers may offer a much smaller tip, or even nothing.', 'It’s up to lenders to decide if they will accept the borrowers’ terms.', 'Loan amounts can’t exceed $575 and the average is $248, according to SoLo cofounder Rodney Williams.', 'Once borrowers repay in full, they can then borrow again.', 'Besides using SoLo for small emergency expenses, such as fixing a leak in the roof, Martini said she sometimes uses it for expenses she has a week ahead of when she knows she will be paid.', 'She likes the platform better than the more anonymous interactions with a credit card company.', 'Knowing who is lending to her gives her even more incentive to pay what she owes on time.', '“I knew if I borrowed from someone in the community who cared, I would … pay them back.', 'You’re paying someone back who empathizes with your story,” she said.', 'While getting a low-cost loan to tide you over in a pinch may be a relief, not having to borrow at all is optimal.', 'To make the next emergency expense less stressful and costly, you can build emergency savings with small amounts consistently over time.', 'Damsky recommends setting up automatic daily transfers from your checking account to a savings account.', 'For example, he said, if you want to save roughly $150 a month, you could set up a transfer of just $5 a day or $35 a week.', 'At the end of a year, you will have built up more than $1,800, plus whatever interest you earn on those savings.', 'To maximize that interest, try to transfer your money into a high-yielding online savings account, which currently pay between 4% and 5%, according to Bankrate.com.', 'The same pattern applies if your goal is to have at least three months of living expenses to protect you in case you lose your job. “', 'Even small amounts, if consistent, can accumulate over time,” Miu said.', 'He also recommends redirecting at least a portion of one-time annual windfalls — such as a tax refund or bonus — to a high-yield savings account.', 'Two other proven ways to bolster emergency savings are increasing your income (e.g., taking on a side gig,) or cutting back on spending that you do not consider essential to your life, said Linda Grizely, a fee-only planner at Visions Financial Planning.', 'But, she cautioned, ”It’s important to strike a balance and avoid excessive cuts.', 'A plan that can be adhered to is the key to success.”']",0.1241565409970314,She likes the platform better than the more anonymous interactions with a credit card company.,"To make the next emergency expense less stressful and costly, you can build emergency savings with small amounts consistently over time.",-0.0698940799786494,"At the end of a year, you will have built up more than $1,800, plus whatever interest you earn on those savings.","Credit card interest rates remain sky-high — the average at the end of February was 20.75%, according to Bankrate.com, with average penalty rates pushing 30%.",2024-03-26
Trump poised for billions as stock market deal passes,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68609007,2024-03-22T02:51:02.000Z,"Donald Trump appears to be scrambling for funds to pay a $464m (£365m) fraud fine. Could the stock market ride to his rescue?  Trump Media, which runs the social media platform Truth Social, is poised to become a publicly listed company, after a majority of shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp voted on Friday to acquire it.  Mr Trump is due to have a stake of at least 58% in the merged company, worth nearly $3bn at Digital World's current share prices.  It's an astonishing potential windfall for Mr Trump in exchange for a business whose own auditor warned last year it was at risk of failure.   Never mind the many red flags associated with the deal, including unresolved lawsuits from former business partners. There's also an $18m settlement that Digital World agreed to pay last year to resolve fraud charges over how the merger plan came together.  Shares in Digital World dropped more than 13% on Friday after the approval, ending the day at $36.94. Backers of Digital World - the vast majority of whom are individual investors instead of Wall Street firms, many apparently Trump loyalists - seemed unfazed.  ""This is just the start,"" Chad Nedohin, a deal supporter, said on his show DWAC Live on the video platform Rumble after the approval was announced.  ""There's no reason to freak out."" Digital World, or DWAC (pronounced D-whack), is what is known as a SPAC, or a shell business created expressly to buy another firm and take it public. The company will now be renamed Trump Media & Technology Group and could start trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker DJT as soon as next week. The deal is unlikely to immediately resolve Mr Trump's most pressing financial issues, such as his New York fraud penalty.  The former president is barred from selling or transferring his shares for at least six months - though the new company could grant him an exemption.  Mr Trump could also try to get a loan, backed by the value of the shares. But in this case, analysts said a bank would probably lend him significantly less than the shares are worth on paper, given the potential risks of the business. That hasn't stopped some of his supporters hoping their backing will help.  Mr Nedohin, who describes himself on his website as a Canadian ""worship leader"" and goes by Captain DWAC on Truth Social, declined to be interviewed.  But on his show this week he urged investors to approve the deal, speculating it could help the former president in his legal battles.  ""If the merger is complete Friday at 10am and Trump all of a sudden has... shares of DJT that's worth three, four, five $10bn, who knows? He could easily leverage that to get a loan,"" he said.  He added: ""This is putting your money where your mouth is for free speech, to save your country, potentially losing it all."" The risk that Digital World shareholders will lose money on their investment is significant, according to analysts. Share prices are down from the highs they reached after plans to purchase Trump Media were announced in 2021.  But even after Friday's slide, they still imply Trump Media has a value of almost $5bn, which is a lot given it brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m.  The merger will provide an influx of more than $200m in cash to Trump Media, which it could use for growth and expansion. But for now Truth Social, which launched to the general public in 2022, branding itself as an alternative to major social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, remains small.  It claims about 8.9 million sign-ups and in regulatory filings Trump Media warns prospective investors that it does not track metrics like user growth or engagement that could give them a sense of its operations. And it says it has little intention of doing so.  Outside firms estimate Truth Social received about five million visits in February. By comparison, Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, and recently valued by one investor at about $14bn, received more than 100 million visits.   Analysts said Digital World was a prime example of a ""meme stock"", in which the share price is divorced from a company's fundamentals - and near-destined to fall, eventually. ""With Trump Media, I expect that it will collapse but whether it's going to occur a week from now or two years from now and how rapidly... those things are really difficult to predict,"" said University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter, who tracks public listings.  Marco Iachini, senior vice-president of research at Vanda Securities, said individual investors piled into Digital World stock after the Trump deal was announced, and again in January, after he won the Iowa primary.  Ahead of the vote this week, he said there had been less activity, a sign that professional firms might be the ones driving the trading.  Whatever is motivating buyers, Mr Trump, whose main contributions to Trump Media have been his name and posts on the platform, appears poised to be the top beneficiary.  ""It's an enormous transfer of value from [investors]... to Trump, which stands to be extremely lucrative for him,"" says Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University who has studied listings of companies such as Trump Media.   ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Donald Trump appears to be scrambling for funds to pay a $464m (£365m) fraud fine.', 'Could the stock market ride to his rescue?', 'Trump Media, which runs the social media platform Truth Social, is poised to become a publicly listed company, after a majority of shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp voted on Friday to acquire it.', ""Mr Trump is due to have a stake of at least 58% in the merged company, worth nearly $3bn at Digital World's current share prices."", ""It's an astonishing potential windfall for Mr Trump in exchange for a business whose own auditor warned last year it was at risk of failure."", 'Never mind the many red flags associated with the deal, including unresolved lawsuits from former business partners.', ""There's also an $18m settlement that Digital World agreed to pay last year to resolve fraud charges over how the merger plan came together."", 'Shares in Digital World dropped more than 13% on Friday after the approval, ending the day at $36.94.', 'Backers of Digital World - the vast majority of whom are individual investors instead of Wall Street firms, many apparently Trump loyalists - seemed unfazed. ""', 'This is just the start,"" Chad Nedohin, a deal supporter, said on his show DWAC Live on the video platform Rumble after the approval was announced. ""', 'There\'s no reason to freak out.""', 'Digital World, or DWAC (pronounced D-whack), is what is known as a SPAC, or a shell business created expressly to buy another firm and take it public.', 'The company will now be renamed Trump Media & Technology Group and could start trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker DJT as soon as next week.', ""The deal is unlikely to immediately resolve Mr Trump's most pressing financial issues, such as his New York fraud penalty."", 'The former president is barred from selling or transferring his shares for at least six months - though the new company could grant him an exemption.', 'Mr Trump could also try to get a loan, backed by the value of the shares.', 'But in this case, analysts said a bank would probably lend him significantly less than the shares are worth on paper, given the potential risks of the business.', ""That hasn't stopped some of his supporters hoping their backing will help."", 'Mr Nedohin, who describes himself on his website as a Canadian ""worship leader"" and goes by Captain DWAC on Truth Social, declined to be interviewed.', 'But on his show this week he urged investors to approve the deal, speculating it could help the former president in his legal battles. ""', ""If the merger is complete Friday at 10am and Trump all of a sudden has... shares of DJT that's worth three, four, five $10bn, who knows?"", 'He could easily leverage that to get a loan,"" he said.', 'He added: ""This is putting your money where your mouth is for free speech, to save your country, potentially losing it all.""', 'The risk that Digital World shareholders will lose money on their investment is significant, according to analysts.', 'Share prices are down from the highs they reached after plans to purchase Trump Media were announced in 2021.', ""But even after Friday's slide, they still imply Trump Media has a value of almost $5bn, which is a lot given it brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m. The merger will provide an influx of more than $200m in cash to Trump Media, which it could use for growth and expansion."", 'But for now Truth Social, which launched to the general public in 2022, branding itself as an alternative to major social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, remains small.', 'It claims about 8.9 million sign-ups and in regulatory filings Trump Media warns prospective investors that it does not track metrics like user growth or engagement that could give them a sense of its operations.', 'And it says it has little intention of doing so.', 'Outside firms estimate Truth Social received about five million visits in February.', ""By comparison, Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, and recently valued by one investor at about $14bn, received more than 100 million visits."", 'Analysts said Digital World was a prime example of a ""meme stock"", in which the share price is divorced from a company\'s fundamentals - and near-destined to fall, eventually. ""', 'With Trump Media, I expect that it will collapse but whether it\'s going to occur a week from now or two years from now and how rapidly... those things are really difficult to predict,"" said University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter, who tracks public listings.', 'Marco Iachini, senior vice-president of research at Vanda Securities, said individual investors piled into Digital World stock after the Trump deal was announced, and again in January, after he won the Iowa primary.', 'Ahead of the vote this week, he said there had been less activity, a sign that professional firms might be the ones driving the trading.', 'Whatever is motivating buyers, Mr Trump, whose main contributions to Trump Media have been his name and posts on the platform, appears poised to be the top beneficiary. ""', 'It\'s an enormous transfer of value from [investors]... to Trump, which stands to be extremely lucrative for him,"" says Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University who has studied listings of companies such as Trump Media.']",0.2332938860792381,"Whatever is motivating buyers, Mr Trump, whose main contributions to Trump Media have been his name and posts on the platform, appears poised to be the top beneficiary. """,It's an astonishing potential windfall for Mr Trump in exchange for a business whose own auditor warned last year it was at risk of failure.,-0.0636827866236368,"It's an enormous transfer of value from [investors]... to Trump, which stands to be extremely lucrative for him,"" says Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University who has studied listings of companies such as Trump Media.",Share prices are down from the highs they reached after plans to purchase Trump Media were announced in 2021.,2024-03-26
OpenAI’s wild week. How the Sam Altman story unfolded,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/22/tech/openai-sam-altman-chaos-explained-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        3:32 PM EST, Wed November 22, 2023
    ","In a year of wild tech stories that has seen Elon Musk transform Twitter, cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapse and Silicon Valley Bank implode, this week’s whiplash-inducing turmoil at OpenAI is among the most captivating.
    
            Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps the most visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move. Less than five days later, he’s back as the company’s CEO, now with a board that is, in theory, more supportive of his vision.
    
            The series of extraordinary events unfolded just days after OpenAI held its first-ever developer conference, where it laid out new, commercialized versions of its technology, including the option to customize its ChatGPT AI chatbot.
    
            If you’re just catching up, here’s what you missed from a week so incredible you’d be forgiven for thinking the script could have been written by an early version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
    
            Around 3 p.m. ET, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board that had been convened by fellow co-founder and OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, during which Altman was fired and told that the news would soon be made public.
    
            Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI president, that he would be removed from the board.
    
            Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board. The board said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would become interim CEO.
    
            OpenAI’s strategic partners, including its biggest financial backer Microsoft, were also reportedly informed of Altman’s ouster just minutes before the board’s announcement.
    
            Hours after being fired, Altman posted on X that he “loved working with such talented people” and that he would have “more to say about what’s next later.”
    
            Brockman promptly quit. “Please don’t spend any time being concerned. We will be fine,” Brockman said in a Friday post on X. “Greater things coming soon.”
    
            A key factor in the CEO’s firing was tension between Altman, who favored developing AI more aggressively, and members of the OpenAI board, who wanted to move more cautiously, according to CNN contributor Kara Swisher, who spoke to sources knowledgeable about the unfolding events.
    
            Within 24 hours of Altman being fired, reports emerged that he and other ex-OpenAI loyalists were mulling plans for their own venture.
    
            OpenAI’s board was also reportedly having second thoughts and considering asking the ousted CEO to return.
    
            By Sunday afternoon, Altman was back at OpenAI’s headquarters — this time with a guest badge — to negotiate his potential return. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly mediated the discussion. A 5 p.m. PT deadline was reportedly set for the board to agree to Altman’s demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft, and reinstating him as CEO.
    
            But those talks broke down.
    
            As Sunday turned into Monday, Nadella tweeted that Altman, along with Brockman, would join Microsoft to run a new AI research group. At OpenAI, the group found a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service, Twitch. Murati would return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.
    
            In a post on X early Monday, Shear, who left his role at Twitch in March, described the chance to join OpenAI as “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened in the lead-up to Altman’s firing.
    
            But OpenAI employees were not convinced. More than 500 staffers signed an open letter calling on the company’s board to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman. They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met.
    
            Altman posted on X, saying, “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before. we are all going to work together some way or other, and i’m so excited. one team, one mission.”
    
            The drama was far from over. The Verge reported Monday afternoon that Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members who fired him resign.
    
            And Nadella, speaking to CNBC, said he was “open to both options” when asked whether Altman would actually join Microsoft.
    
            “Look, that is for the OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose,” Nadella said. “We chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously, that depends on the people of OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft.”
    
            Altman was reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s CEO, the company said on X.
    
            “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will also join the board, alongside existing director, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.
    
            “We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said.
    
            In his own post on X, formerly Twitter, Altman wrote that he is “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI and building on the firm’s “strong partnership” with Microsoft.
    
            It’s unclear how Shear will be affected by Altman’s return. Posting on X, Shear wrote: “I am deeply pleased by this result, after (some) 72 very intense hours of work … I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”
    
            Brockman is also returning to OpenAI, according to his post on X.
    
            Ultimately, Microsoft and Altman appear to be the big winners from the dust-up: Altman will continue leading the firm he helped to found. And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.
    
            “We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadella said on X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”",CNN,22/11/2023,"['In a year of wild tech stories that has seen Elon Musk transform Twitter, cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapse and Silicon Valley Bank implode, this week’s whiplash-inducing turmoil at OpenAI is among the most captivating.', 'Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps themost visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move.', 'Less than five days later, he’s back as the company’s CEO, now with a board that is, in theory, more supportive of his vision.', 'The series of extraordinary events unfolded just days after OpenAI held itsfirst-ever developer conference, where it laid out new, commercialized versions of its technology, including the option to customize its ChatGPT AI chatbot.', 'If you’re just catching up, here’s what you missed from a week so incredible you’d be forgiven for thinking the script could have been written by an early version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.', 'Around 3 p.m. ET, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board that had been convened by fellow co-founder and OpenAI chief scientistIlya Sutskever, during which Altman was fired and told that the news would soon be made public.', 'Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI president, that he would be removed from the board.', 'Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board.', 'The board said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would become interim CEO.', 'OpenAI’s strategic partners, including its biggest financial backer Microsoft, were also reportedly informed of Altman’s ouster just minutes before the board’s announcement.', 'Hours after being fired, Altman posted on X that he “loved working with such talented people” and that he would have “more to say about what’s next later.”', 'Brockman promptly quit. “', 'Please don’t spend any time being concerned.', 'We will be fine,” Brockmansaid in a Friday poston X. “Greater things coming soon.”', 'A key factor in the CEO’s firing wastension between Altman, who favored developing AImore aggressively, and members of the OpenAI board, who wanted to move more cautiously,according to CNN contributor Kara Swisher,who spoke to sources knowledgeable about the unfolding events.', 'Within 24 hours of Altman being fired, reports emerged that he and other ex-OpenAI loyalists were mulling plans for their own venture.', 'OpenAI’s board was also reportedly having second thoughts and considering asking the ousted CEO to return.', 'By Sunday afternoon, Altman wasback at OpenAI’s headquarters— this time with a guest badge — to negotiate his potential return.', 'Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly mediated the discussion.', 'A 5 p.m. PT deadline was reportedly set for the board to agree to Altman’s demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft, and reinstating him as CEO.', 'But those talks broke down.', 'As Sunday turned into Monday, Nadella tweeted that Altman, along with Brockman, would join Microsoft to run a new AI research group.', 'At OpenAI, the group found a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service, Twitch.', 'Murati would return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.', 'In a post on X early Monday, Shear, who left his role at Twitch in March, described the chance to join OpenAI as “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.', 'He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened in the lead-up to Altman’s firing.', 'But OpenAI employees were not convinced.', 'More than 500 staffers signed an open letter calling on the company’s board to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman.', 'They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met.', 'Altman posted on X, saying, “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before.', 'we are all going to work together some way or other, and i’m so excited.', 'one team, one mission.”', 'The drama was far from over.', 'The Verge reported Monday afternoonthat Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members who fired him resign.', 'And Nadella, speaking to CNBC, said he was “open to both options” when asked whether Altman would actually join Microsoft.', '“Look, that is for the OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose,” Nadella said. “', 'We chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously, that depends on the people of OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft.”', 'Altmanwas reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s CEO, the company said on X.  “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce.', 'Former Treasury SecretaryLarry Summers will also join the board, alongside existing director, Quora CEOAdam D’Angelo.', '“We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said.', 'In his own post on X, formerly Twitter, Altmanwrotethat he is “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI and building on the firm’s “strong partnership” with Microsoft.', 'It’s unclear how Shear will be affected by Altman’s return.', 'Posting on X, Shear wrote:“I am deeply pleased by this result, after (some) 72 very intense hours of work … I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”', 'Brockman is also returning to OpenAI, according to hispost on X.  Ultimately, Microsoft and Altman appear to be the big winners from the dust-up: Altman will continue leading the firm he helped to found.', 'And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.', '“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadellasaidon X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”']",0.062777217389235,"“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadellasaidon X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”","Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board.",0.5494540418897357,And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.,"Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps themost visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move.",2024-03-26
"Prince Harry targets Rupert Murdoch in phone hacking lawsuit, alleges mogul was involved in a cover-up",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/media/prince-harry-rupert-murdoch-phone-hacking-lawsuit/index.html,"
  Published
        7:36 AM EDT, Thu March 21, 2024
    ","Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.
    
            Rupert Murdoch is at risk of being personally dragged into another major lawsuit.
    
            Lawyers for Prince Harry and a number of other notable public figures, including Guy Ritchie and Hugh Grant, asked a U.K. court on Wednesday for permission to amend their lawsuit against Murdoch’s British newspaper company, leveling the explosive allegation that the billionaire media mogul was personally involved in covering up wrongdoing.
    
            The lawsuit, filed in 2019, accuses News Group Newspapers, the parent company of The Sun tabloid and defunct News of the World, of illegal privacy invasions, including hacking. The illicit behavior occurred from the mid-1990s until 2016, according to the lawsuit.
    
            Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex now want to include claims that Murdoch personally provided “knowingly false” information on the matter. They also allege Rebekah Brooks, a top Murdoch lieutenant who currently oversees his British newspapers, of having also “lied and/or gave deliberately misleading evidence.”
    
            Executives at the newspaper group, including Murdoch, publicly promoted the false claim that there was only “one rogue reporter” in the News of the World scandal and attempted to “buy” the silence of senior executives, Harry’s lawyers said. The lawyers added that “they would not have been carrying out this extensive concealment and destruction strategy without the knowledge and approval of Rupert Murdoch and [his son and then-executive chairman] James Murdoch.”
    
            NGN aggressively pushed back on the allegations, with a spokesperson saying in a statement that they amounted to a “scurrilous and cynical attack on their integrity” and “have nothing to do with seeking compensation for victims of phone hacking or unlawful information gathering.”
    
            “Some of these allegations date back to events now thirty years old and relate to allegations which are irrelevant to the matters which are now in issue between the parties,” the spokesperson added.
    
            The high-profile suit threatens to further mar the legacy of Murdoch as the nonagenarian enters the twilight of his career and comes in the wake of multiple damaging lawsuits against Fox News, the highly profitable crown jewel of his global media empire.
    
            And the case brewing in the U.K., which is set to go to trial early next year, has the potential to have larger ramifications, rippling across the pond to the U.S. Not only is Murdoch at the center of the lawsuit, but his former deputy turned Washington Post chief executive and publisher Will Lewis is also facing allegations of engaging in the alleged cover-up. (It goes without saying that Lewis has denied all wrongdoing.)
    
            The phone hacking scandal rocked Murdoch’s media empire more than a decade ago and marked one of the lowest moments in the billionaire’s career. At the time, NGN issued an apology to victims, Murdoch shut down the popular News of the World, and the company has since settled hundreds of legal cases stemming from the scandal.
    
            Illegal phone hacking was not unique to Murdoch’s U.K. publications. The bad behavior extended to other outlets, with the country’s notoriously aggressive tabloid press doing whatever it could to dig up celebrity dirt. Just last year a court ruled that Harry was also the victim of “extensive” phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers. Harry is also suing the publisher of the Daily Mail. And he said that Murdoch’s newspapers paid his brother, Prince William, a “large sum” to settle hacking claims.
    
            On Wednesday, NGN said it wants to put its own scandal to bed.
    
             “These proceedings have now been going on for over fifteen years,” the spokesperson said, “and NGN is seeking to bring them to a close.”",CNN,21/03/2024,"['Editor’s Note:A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter.', 'Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.', 'Rupert Murdoch is at risk of being personally dragged into another major lawsuit.', 'Lawyers for Prince Harry and a number of other notable public figures, including Guy Ritchie and Hugh Grant, asked a U.K. court on Wednesday for permission to amend their lawsuit against Murdoch’s British newspaper company, leveling the explosive allegation that the billionaire media mogul was personally involved in covering up wrongdoing.', 'The lawsuit, filed in 2019, accuses News Group Newspapers, the parent company of The Sun tabloid and defunct News of the World, of illegal privacy invasions, including hacking.', 'The illicit behavior occurred from the mid-1990s until 2016, according to the lawsuit.', 'Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex now want to include claims that Murdoch personally provided “knowingly false” information on the matter.', 'They also allege Rebekah Brooks, a top Murdoch lieutenant who currently oversees his British newspapers, of having also “lied and/or gave deliberately misleading evidence.”', 'Executives at the newspaper group, including Murdoch, publicly promoted the false claim that there was only “one rogue reporter” in the News of the World scandal and attempted to “buy” the silence of senior executives, Harry’s lawyers said.', 'The lawyers added that “they would not have been carrying out this extensive concealment and destruction strategy without the knowledge and approval of Rupert Murdoch and [his son and then-executive chairman] James Murdoch.”', 'NGN aggressively pushed back on the allegations, with a spokesperson saying in a statement that they amounted to a “scurrilous and cynical attack on their integrity” and “have nothing to do with seeking compensation for victims of phone hacking or unlawful information gathering.”', '“Some of these allegations date back to events now thirty years old and relate to allegations which are irrelevant to the matters which are now in issue between the parties,” the spokesperson added.', 'The high-profile suit threatens to further mar the legacy of Murdoch as the nonagenarian enters the twilight of his career and comes in the wake of multiple damaging lawsuits against Fox News, the highly profitable crown jewel of his global media empire.', 'And the case brewing in the U.K., which is set to go to trial early next year, has the potential to have larger ramifications, rippling across the pond to the U.S. Not only is Murdoch at the center of the lawsuit, but his former deputy turned Washington Post chief executive and publisher Will Lewis is also facing allegations of engaging in the alleged cover-up. (', 'It goes without saying that Lewis has denied all wrongdoing.)', 'The phone hacking scandal rocked Murdoch’s media empire more than a decade ago and marked one of the lowest moments in the billionaire’s career.', 'At the time, NGN issued an apology to victims, Murdoch shut down the popular News of the World, and the company has since settled hundreds of legal cases stemming from the scandal.', 'Illegal phone hacking was not unique to Murdoch’s U.K. publications.', 'The bad behavior extended to other outlets, with the country’s notoriously aggressive tabloid press doing whatever it could to dig up celebrity dirt.', 'Just last year a court ruled that Harry was also the victim of “extensive” phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers.', 'Harry is also suing the publisher of the Daily Mail.', 'And he said that Murdoch’s newspapers paid his brother, Prince William, a “large sum” to settle hacking claims.', 'On Wednesday, NGN said it wants to put its own scandal to bed.', '“These proceedings have now been going on for over fifteen years,” the spokesperson said, “and NGN is seeking to bring them to a close.”']",-0.2346860388391661,"“Some of these allegations date back to events now thirty years old and relate to allegations which are irrelevant to the matters which are now in issue between the parties,” the spokesperson added.","The lawsuit, filed in 2019, accuses News Group Newspapers, the parent company of The Sun tabloid and defunct News of the World, of illegal privacy invasions, including hacking.",-0.832874846458435,,The phone hacking scandal rocked Murdoch’s media empire more than a decade ago and marked one of the lowest moments in the billionaire’s career.,2024-03-26
Why are bidets just now getting popular in America?,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/24/business/bidet-boom-america-toilets/index.html,"
  Published
        10:30 AM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","Bring up installing a bidet to the average American before the pandemic, and they might have likely flushed the idea straightaway.
    
            The bathroom washer business, once a foreign concept to many in the US, experienced a huge boom during the Covid-19 pandemic, when shoppers were battling over toilet paper shortages. But while some products or industries saw a boom during Covid that later came back down to earth –- say, masks, roller skates, pet adoptions, Zoom subscriptions, Peloton bikes -– bidets made a big splash and have managed to maintain sales growth.
    
            Bidets and their product cousins – washlets, “bum guns” and other water-based alternatives to toilet paper – are universal in most parts of the world; bidet enthusiasts tout how the devices are more sustainable, clean, and less abrasive. But Americans just can’t seem to let go of the Charmin Bear. It took a toilet paper shortage for some to come around to the 18th-century invention.
    
            During the pandemic, every single bidet sold out at bidetking.com, and the business grew exponentially, bidetking.com founder James Lin said.
    
            The site faced a massive supply crunch, and it had to air freight costly containers to meet demands. Lin described shipments of products from abroad by water completely selling out before they even hit the warehouse.
    
            By some estimates, the entire bidet market grew two to three times during 2020. Tushy, which makes a trendy bidet seat attachment, pulled in a revenue of $40 million in 2020 versus $8 million in 2019, founder Miki Agrawal said to CNN.
    
            Americans are still intrigued by the bidet. Bidetking.com reports sales have grown a minimum of 20% each year since the pandemic, with 2023 closer to 30%. 
    
            A dizzying array of bidet options confront the burgeoning American consumer. Big spenders can find luxury options to give their porcelain throne the royal treatment. Japanese electronic bidet seat maker Toto sells a “washlet” for as much as $1,420 on bidetking.com, equipped with a water heating system (that heats the toilet seat and the jet streams of water that clean the user’s backside), a wireless remote control (with multiple spray settings) and a hands-free dryer. Tushy, defined by its whimsical marketing, sells a popular bidet attachment starting at $99.
    
            Few people buy a bidet every year, so much of the growth is coming from new customers. Often, bidet sales spread just through word of mouth. Once one person is converted to the new method of bathroom sanitation, they want their friends and family to join the club. And many of those customers often become entrenched rather than transient.
    
            Some customers who start with more basic washer attachments are now upgrading to electronic models that have different temperature and pressure settings. The most popular type of bidet in the US, Lin said, is a non-electric attachment that only sprays cold water, found for less than $50 on sites like Amazon.
    
            Others have found an even cheaper alternative. Joe from Michigan, who did not want to be identified by his last name, says he grabbed a bidet attached to a toilet being discarded on the side of the street, and purchased an adapter hose to fit it into his home (after sanitizing it).  
    
            “Gosh, I wish I would have known about it sooner,” Joe told CNN.
    
            The idea to use flowing water – rather than harder objects, whether leaves or paper – to clean one’s underside may be as old as human existence.
    
            The bidet originated in France, used by aristocrats as a separate piece of furniture next to the chamber pot. Variations of the bidet are ubiquitous in a large swath of Europe to the Middle East, East Asia and some South American countries.
    
            During the booming electronics era, the Japanese brand Toto revolutionized the washlet in 1980 with a toilet seat attachment that uses warm water to cleanse. The devices have proliferated to homes and businesses around Japan and beyond.
    
            A common reason why bidets aren’t used in the US is that during World War 2, American soldiers saw brothels utilizing bidets. When they came back to United States, they shunned the bidet because of the connotations. Plus, the construction boom that took place in the post-war years built plumbing systems without bidets. (Japanese washlets and other devices, however, connect to existing toilets and don’t require separate plumbing like French-style bidets.)
    
            The foreignness of bidets stuck. Some of the new bidet users CNN interviewed said they had associated the object with places like Europe or Japan, or something found in fancy hotels. When Joe and his wife lived in Spain, he initially didn’t even know what the unattached bidet in their apartment bathroom was used for.
    
            Agrawal, the Tushy founder, said she was drawn to the bidet business because it was a standard practice she grew up in with an Indian father and Japanese mother.
    
            Of course, for many, water-based cleanliness has long been entrenched in their culture, going back centuries.
    
            For example, for practicing Muslims, the Islamic jurisprudence lays out strict guidelines on washing oneself. Many Asian and Middle Eastern countries utilize “bum guns,” or low-cost handheld sprayers attached by a hose to the side of the toilet, or jugs that look like watering cans.
    
            Eyad Atieh, a resident physician in Illinois, spent part of his childhood and adolesence in Jordan, where every house had a bidet installed. In his medical training, he learned the bidet’s health benefits, especially for those who suffer from hemorrhoids and hernias.
    
            “A big part of our culture is using water to clean, otherwise you can’t pray, you can’t be considered clean Islamically,” Atieh said.
    
            When the great toilet paper shortage hit in 2020, many Americans realized there could be another way to clean themselves. Environmental concerns around trees, paper and waste perhaps also played a role.
    
            Using toilet paper had seemed, somehow, American, with toilet paper jokes a staple in bathroom humor and “TP-ing” a stereotypical rite of passage for teens. And little is more American than the Charmin bear, an industry emblem that already dominates aisles of supermarkets.
    
            So, “getting consumers to do something different, they have to undo all those brand associations (with toilet paper) and all those habits they have,” Derek Rucker, a marketing professor at Kellogg School of Management told CNN.
    
            Rucker said the bidet industry would need to become a social norm in the US, such as being built into more new home constructions. Many bidet users in the US were converted after visiting societies where bidet use is widespread.
    
            Mikaela Koelzer, in Chicago, visited Japan the summer before the pandemic and was awestruck by the variety of bidet settings in even the most hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
    
            Then the pandemic hit, and Koelzer had “nothing but time” to find “pockets of joy” in her day. With the toilet paper mania, she decided to kill two birds with one stone and splurge on a Tushy.
    
            “It moreso was just about nurturing myself and feeling like I was doing something good for myself in a way that I could control, because everything else was just so out of control,” Koelzer said.
    
            Though Koelzer has a basic Tushy, her parents are now looking into a more state-of-the-art one that has temperature controls, she says. Two of her friends are now “proud bidet owners.”",CNN,24/03/2024,"['Bring up installing a bidet to the average American before the pandemic, and they might have likely flushed the idea straightaway.', 'The bathroom washer business, once a foreign concept to many in the US, experienced a huge boom during the Covid-19 pandemic, when shoppers were battling over toilet paper shortages.', 'But while some products or industries saw a boom during Covid that later came back down to earth –- say, masks, roller skates, pet adoptions, Zoom subscriptions, Peloton bikes -–bidets made a big splash and have managed to maintain sales growth.', 'Bidets and their product cousins – washlets, “bum guns” and other water-based alternatives to toilet paper – are universal in most parts of the world; bidet enthusiasts tout how the devices are more sustainable, clean, and less abrasive.', 'But Americans just can’t seem to let go of the Charmin Bear.', 'It took a toilet paper shortage for some to come around to the 18th-century invention.', 'During the pandemic, every single bidet sold out at bidetking.com, and the business grew exponentially, bidetking.com founder James Lin said.', 'The site faced a massive supply crunch, and it had to air freight costly containers to meet demands.', 'Lin described shipments of products from abroad by water completely selling out before they even hit the warehouse.', 'By some estimates, the entire bidet market grew two to three times during 2020.', 'Tushy, which makes a trendy bidet seat attachment, pulled in a revenue of $40 million in 2020 versus $8 million in 2019, founder Miki Agrawal said to CNN.', 'Americans are still intrigued by the bidet.', 'Bidetking.com reports sales have grown a minimum of 20% each year since the pandemic, with 2023 closer to 30%.', 'A dizzying array of bidet options confront the burgeoning American consumer.', 'Big spenders can find luxury options to give their porcelain throne the royal treatment.', 'Japanese electronic bidet seat maker Toto sells a “washlet” for as much as $1,420 on bidetking.com, equipped with a water heating system (that heats the toilet seat and the jet streams of water that clean the user’s backside), a wireless remote control (with multiple spray settings) and a hands-free dryer.', 'Tushy, defined by its whimsical marketing, sells a popular bidet attachment starting at $99.', 'Few people buy a bidet every year, so much of the growth is coming from new customers.', 'Often, bidet sales spread just through word of mouth.', 'Once one person is converted to the new method of bathroom sanitation, they want their friends and family to join the club.', 'And many of those customers often become entrenched rather than transient.', 'Some customers who start with more basic washer attachments are now upgrading to electronic models that have different temperature and pressure settings.', 'The most popular type of bidet in the US, Lin said, is a non-electric attachment that only sprays cold water, found for less than $50 on sites like Amazon.', 'Others have found an even cheaper alternative.', 'Joe from Michigan, who did not want to be identified by his last name, says he grabbed a bidet attached to a toilet being discarded on the side of the street, and purchased an adapter hose to fit it into his home (after sanitizing it).', '“Gosh, I wish I would have known about it sooner,” Joe told CNN.', 'The idea to use flowing water – rather than harder objects, whether leaves or paper – to clean one’s underside may be as old as human existence.', 'The bidet originated in France, used by aristocrats as a separate piece of furniture next to the chamber pot.', 'Variations of the bidet are ubiquitous in a large swath of Europe to the Middle East, East Asia and some South American countries.', 'During the booming electronics era, the Japanese brand Toto revolutionized the washlet in 1980 with a toilet seat attachment that uses warm water to cleanse.', 'The devices have proliferated to homes and businesses around Japan and beyond.', 'A common reason why bidets aren’t used in the US is that during World War 2, American soldiers saw brothels utilizing bidets.', 'When they came back to United States, they shunned the bidet because of the connotations.', 'Plus, the construction boom that took place in the post-war years built plumbing systems without bidets. (', 'Japanese washlets and other devices, however, connect to existing toilets and don’t require separate plumbing like French-style bidets.)', 'The foreignness of bidets stuck.', 'Some of the new bidet users CNN interviewed said they had associated the object with places like Europe or Japan, or something found in fancy hotels.', 'When Joe and his wife lived in Spain, he initially didn’t even know what the unattached bidet in their apartment bathroom was used for.', 'Agrawal, the Tushy founder, said she was drawn to the bidet business because it was a standard practice she grew up in with an Indian father and Japanese mother.', 'Of course, for many, water-based cleanliness has long been entrenched in their culture, going back centuries.', 'For example, for practicing Muslims, the Islamic jurisprudence lays out strict guidelines on washing oneself.', 'Many Asian and Middle Eastern countries utilize “bum guns,” or low-cost handheld sprayers attached by a hose to the side of the toilet, or jugs that look like watering cans.', 'Eyad Atieh, a resident physician in Illinois, spent part of his childhood and adolesence in Jordan, where every house had a bidet installed.', 'In his medical training, he learned the bidet’s health benefits, especially for those who suffer from hemorrhoids and hernias.', '“A big part of our culture is using water to clean, otherwise you can’t pray, you can’t be considered clean Islamically,” Atieh said.', 'When the great toilet paper shortage hit in 2020, many Americans realized there could be another way to clean themselves.', 'Environmental concerns around trees, paper and waste perhaps also played a role.', 'Using toilet paper had seemed, somehow, American, with toilet paper jokes a staple in bathroom humor and “TP-ing” a stereotypical rite of passage for teens.', 'And little is more American than the Charmin bear, an industry emblem that already dominates aisles of supermarkets.', 'So, “getting consumers to do something different, they have to undo all those brand associations (with toilet paper) and all those habits they have,” Derek Rucker, a marketing professor at Kellogg School of Management told CNN.', 'Rucker said the bidet industry would need to become a social norm in the US, such as being built into more new home constructions.', 'Many bidet users in the US were converted after visiting societies where bidet use is widespread.', 'Mikaela Koelzer, in Chicago, visited Japan the summer before the pandemic and was awestruck by the variety of bidet settings in even the most hole-in-the-wall restaurants.', 'Then the pandemic hit, and Koelzer had “nothing but time” to find “pockets of joy” in her day.', 'With the toilet paper mania, she decided to kill two birds with one stone and splurge on a Tushy.', '“It moreso was just about nurturing myself and feeling like I was doing something good for myself in a way that I could control, because everything else was just so out of control,” Koelzer said.', 'Though Koelzer has a basic Tushy, her parents are now looking into a more state-of-the-art one that has temperature controls, she says.', 'Two of her friends are now “proud bidet owners.”']",0.1449405510438141,"“It moreso was just about nurturing myself and feeling like I was doing something good for myself in a way that I could control, because everything else was just so out of control,” Koelzer said.","With the toilet paper mania, she decided to kill two birds with one stone and splurge on a Tushy.",0.3409830729166667,"Bidetking.com reports sales have grown a minimum of 20% each year since the pandemic, with 2023 closer to 30%.",It took a toilet paper shortage for some to come around to the 18th-century invention.,2024-03-26
FAA says future United projects ‘may be delayed’ due to increased oversight,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/23/business/united-airlines-faa-oversight/index.html,"
  Published
        6:20 PM EDT, Sat March 23, 2024
    ","The Federal Aviation Administration warned Saturday its increased oversight of United Airlines — after a string of nearly a dozen incidents on flights this month — may mean the troubled airline will have to put some of its future plans on hold.
    
            “Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”
    
            The FAA also said it would initiate an evaluation of the company’s safety management and compliance.
    
            The civil aviation authority’s stepped up oversight comes after a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon, missing an external panel on March 15.
    
            While no passengers were injured, the incident was just one in a line of recent mishaps on United flights — all involving Boeing jets. In just the last month, another United Boeing plane spewed flames from an engine after taking off, one slid off the runway, one lost a wheel during takeoff and another trailed hydraulic fluid.
    
            The FAA did not specify what future projects may be delayed by its evaluation, but on Saturday, Bloomberg reported the agency is considering preventing United Airlines from adding new routes, curbing the airline’s growth.
    
            In a Friday memo, United told employees they would start seeing “more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”
    
            United said the FAA’s review would mean an “even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.”
    
            United’s troubles come at a time of heightened safety concerns around Boeing, the manufacturer of most of the airline’s jets.
    
            The most notable mishap on a Boeing jet this year occurred on January 5, when an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane lost a door midflight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane. Last week, a LATAM Airlines Boeing plane flying from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, suddenly plunged in midair, injuring some passengers as they were thrown to the cabin’s ceiling.
    
            CNN’s Gregory Wallace, Chris Isidore and Pete Muntean contributed to this report.",CNN,23/03/2024,"['The Federal Aviation Administration warned Saturday its increased oversight of United Airlines — after a string of nearly a dozen incidents on flights this month — may mean the troubled airline will have to put some of its future plans on hold.', '“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “', 'Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”', 'The FAA also said it would initiate an evaluation of the company’s safety management and compliance.', 'The civil aviation authority’s stepped up oversight comes after a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon,missing an external panel on March 15.', 'While no passengers were injured, the incident was just one in a line of recent mishaps on United flights — all involving Boeing jets.', 'In justthe last month, another United Boeing plane spewed flames from an engine after taking off, one slid off the runway, one lost a wheel during takeoff and another trailed hydraulic fluid.', 'The FAA did not specify what future projects may be delayed by its evaluation, but on Saturday, Bloomberg reported the agency is considering preventing United Airlines from adding new routes, curbing the airline’s growth.', 'In a Friday memo, United told employees they would start seeing “more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”', 'United said the FAA’s review would mean an “even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.”', 'United’s troubles come at a time of heightened safety concerns around Boeing, the manufacturer of most of the airline’s jets.', 'The most notable mishap on a Boeing jet this year occurred on January 5, when an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane lost a door midflight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane.', 'Last week, a LATAM Airlines Boeing plane flying from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, suddenly plunged in midair, injuring some passengers as they were thrown to the cabin’s ceiling.', 'CNN’s Gregory Wallace, Chris Isidore and Pete Muntean contributed to this report.']",0.2258031478302266,"“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “","Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”",-0.6982361163411822,"“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “","The FAA did not specify what future projects may be delayed by its evaluation, but on Saturday, Bloomberg reported the agency is considering preventing United Airlines from adding new routes, curbing the airline’s growth.",2024-03-26
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to step down in wake of ongoing safety problems,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/boeing-ceo-calhoun-leaving/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:04 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said Monday he intends to leave the beleaguered company by the end of the year in a major shakeup of the company’s leadership. Boeing’s chairman and the head of the commercial airplane unit are also leaving.
    
            Boeing’s chairman, Larry Kellner, will not stand for re-election as a board director. The board has elected former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf to succeed him.
    
            The company also announced that Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, is retiring. Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief operating officer since January, is taking his place effective immediately.
    
            Boeing has been buffeted by more than five years of problems with its airplanes, including two fatal crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, and most recently a door plug that blew out of the side of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max in January, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane. The problems have led to multiple groundings for safety issues and more than $31 billion in cumulative losses.
    
            In a letter to Boeing employees Monday, Calhoun called the Alaska Airlines incident “a watershed moment for Boeing.”
    
            “The eyes of the world are on us,” he said in announcing his departure plans. “We are going to fix what isn’t working, and we are going to get our company back on the track towards recovery and stability.”
    
            The decision to leave was “100%” his choice, Calhoun said in an interview on CNBC Monday morning.
    
            But Calhoun has become the focus of many who are critical of the way Boeing has been run in recent decades and the string of safety and quality issues.
    
            “He’s the very best CEO that Airbus has ever had,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory and a leading aerospace analyst, recently referring to the advantages gained by Boeing’s main rival during his tenure running Boeing.
    
            His departure also comes in the face of widespread criticism of the company by CEOs of many of the world’s major airlines Boeing depends upon to buy its planes. CEOs of numerous airlines had asked to speak directly to the Boeing board last week, which Calhoun tried to characterize Monday as a normal process, even if it’s rare for customers to speak directly to directors.
    
            As to why Calhoun decided to stay on through the end of the year rather than leave immediately, he told CNBC: “We have another mountain to climb. Let’s not avoid what happened with Alaska Air. Let’s not avoid the call for action. Let’s not avoid the changes that we need to make in our factories.”
    
            “We will get through that,” he said. “I’ve committed myself to the board to do exactly that.”
    
            The airlines are upset both by the quality of the planes they are getting from Boeing, and the fact that Boeing won’t be able to deliver the planes they were counting on this year, as passenger demand continues to surge to record levels.
    
            Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline and one that flies only Boeing 737 planes, told CNN last week that whenever it takes deliveries of Boeing jets “we spend 48 hours going through the plane checking it for errors, omissions or anything else.”
    
            And O’Leary said while it hasn’t found anything major in those checks, it regularly finds minor problems such as tools under floorboards and missing seat handles, that “shows, I think, a lack of attention to detail quality issues in Boeing.”
    
            Ryanair issued a statement Monday saying, “We welcome these much-needed management changes in Seattle.”
    
            United Airlines, which flies Boeing jets for more than 80% of its mainline fleet, has expressed disappointment in quality issues at Boeing and a delay in its scheduled deliveries.
    
            The airline is a primary customer for a stretched version of the Boeing 737 Max, known as the Max 10, but Boeing’s inability to get the plane certified to carry passengers is also causing headaches.
    
            Scott Kirby, CEO of United, described the Alaska Airlines incident as the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for its plans to get the Max 10 this year, as planned, and it is now looking at possibly buying jets from Boeing rival Airbus to take the place of the Max 10s it has ordered.
    
            But it is difficult for airlines to shift to Airbus, which has a long backlog of jets it has already committed to build for its existing customer base. Any Boeing customer shifting to Airbus could find itself waiting until 2030 or beyond to get its planes delivered.
    
            And operating two types of aircraft of the same class is costly, since pilots are certified to fly specific aircraft, and most cannot shift back and forth between an Airbus and a Boeing without training. And the airline needs to keep a supply of expensive spare parts on hand for every type of aircraft it operates.
    
            Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci estimated recently it cost his airline $75 million to $100 million a year to operate both Airbus and Boeing single-aisle jets after it merged with Virgin America, which is why it got rid of its Airbus jets after the merger was complete. And Alaska is a smaller national airline, only America’s fifth largest. Larger airlines face even greater costs from splitting fleets between manufacturers.
    
            The Boeing 737 Max 9 was grounded for three weeks after the Alaska Airlines incident as airlines completed inspections of their own planes’ door plugs. Minicucci disclosed that many of his planes were discovered to have loose bolts, although he did not mention missing bolts.
    
            An audit of Boeing procedures by the Federal Aviation Administration in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident found numerous “non-compliance issues.” The agency gave the company 90 days to come up with a plan to fix its safety and quality issues.
    
            But the probes at Boeing aren’t limited to the FAA audit. A preliminary investigation found that the plane left the Boeing factory in October without the four bolts needed to keep the door plug in place. While the NTSB has not identified who is at fault for the missing bolts, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy criticized Boeing for not providing the agency with the documentation for who handled the installation of the door plug.
    
            Calhoun told investors in January after the incident that “we caused the problem, and we understand that. Whatever conclusions are reached, Boeing is accountable for what happened.”
    
            And Boeing is also facing an investigation by the Justice Department, which could open it up to criminal liability, and upend a controversial deferred prosecution agreement the company reached in January 2021 to settle charges it defrauded the FAA during the original certification process for the 737 Max last decade. It was days away from having that probation-like period end when the Alaska Air incident happened.
    
            The company has also had problems not related to the Max during Calhoun’s time in charge at Boeing, including a couple of halts in deliveries of the 787 Dreamliners, one of its main widebody jets, due to quality issues with that plane.
    
            Calhoun, 66, a longtime board member at Boeing, became chairman of the company in late 2019, when the board stripped his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg of that title. He was tapped as CEO after Muilenburg was ousted in December of that year, starting in the job in January 2020.
    
            Boeing was once known as a company that put engineering excellence ahead of financial performance, and produced planes that were the gold standard in the industry. Critics of the company say that focus has changed in the last 25 years, citing the 1997 merger with competitor McDonell Douglas for the shift in focus on saving money.
    
            Calhoun is one of the executives since that time with no engineering background, having served as senior managing director and head of portfolio operations at investing firm The Blackstone Group, as well as CEO of Nielsen after 26 years at General Electric.
    
            Calhoun’s tenure began about halfway through a 20-month grounding of the 737 Max due to a design flaw that was determined to have caused the two crashes; and just before the Covid pandemic broke out globally, causing a near halt in air travel and massive losses for the airlines Boeing depends upon to buy its planes.
    
            Asked about what he would like to see in his successor, Calhoun told CNBC Monday that “I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long, long-cycle business like ours. It’s not just the production of the airplane. It’s the development of the next airplane. It will be a $50 billion investment. I would like somebody who clearly has the experience inside our industry.”
    
            Shares of Boeing, which have lost more than 26% of their value since the start of the year, were 4% higher at the market open Monday, but they soon lost most of that gain and closed slightly above 1%.
    
            CNN’s Allison Morrow contributed to this report.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said Monday he intends to leave the beleaguered company by the end of the year in a major shakeup of the company’s leadership.', 'Boeing’s chairman and the head of the commercial airplane unit are also leaving.', 'Boeing’s chairman, Larry Kellner, will not stand for re-election as a board director.', 'The board has elected former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf to succeed him.', 'The company also announced that Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, is retiring.', 'Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief operating officer since January, is taking his place effective immediately.', 'Boeing has been buffeted by more than five years of problems with its airplanes, including two fatal crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, and most recently a door plug that blew out of the side of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max in January, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane.', 'The problems have led to multiple groundings for safety issues and more than $31 billion in cumulative losses.', 'In a letter to Boeing employees Monday, Calhoun called the Alaska Airlines incident “a watershed moment for Boeing.”', '“The eyes of the world are on us,” he said in announcing his departure plans. “', 'We are going to fix what isn’t working, and we are going to get our company back on the track towards recovery and stability.”', 'The decision to leave was “100%” his choice, Calhoun said in an interview on CNBC Monday morning.', 'But Calhoun has become the focus of many who are critical of the way Boeing has been run in recent decades and the string of safety and quality issues.', '“He’s the very best CEO that Airbus has ever had,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory and a leading aerospace analyst, recently referring to the advantages gained by Boeing’s main rival during his tenure running Boeing.', 'His departure also comes in the face of widespread criticism of the company by CEOs of many of the world’s major airlines Boeing depends upon to buy its planes.', 'CEOs of numerous airlines had asked to speak directly to the Boeing board last week, which Calhoun tried to characterize Monday as a normal process, even if it’s rare for customers to speak directly to directors.', 'As to why Calhoun decided to stay on through the end of the year rather than leave immediately, he told CNBC: “We have another mountain to climb.', 'Let’s not avoid what happened with Alaska Air.', 'Let’s not avoid the call for action.', 'Let’s not avoid the changes that we need to make in our factories.”', '“We will get through that,” he said. “', 'I’ve committed myself to the board to do exactly that.”', 'The airlines are upset both by the quality of the planes they are getting from Boeing, and the fact that Boeing won’t be able to deliver the planes they were counting on this year, as passenger demand continues to surge to record levels.', 'Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline and one that flies only Boeing 737 planes, told CNN last week that whenever it takes deliveries of Boeing jets “we spend 48 hours going through the plane checking it for errors, omissions or anything else.”', 'And O’Leary said while it hasn’t found anything major in those checks, it regularly finds minor problems such as tools under floorboards and missing seat handles, that “shows, I think, a lack of attention to detail quality issues in Boeing.”', 'Ryanair issued a statement Monday saying, “We welcome these much-needed management changes in Seattle.”', 'United Airlines, which flies Boeing jets for more than 80% of its mainline fleet, has expressed disappointment in quality issues at Boeing and a delay in its scheduled deliveries.', 'The airline is a primary customer for a stretched version of the Boeing 737 Max, known as the Max 10, but Boeing’s inability to get the plane certified to carry passengers is also causing headaches.', 'Scott Kirby, CEO of United, described the Alaska Airlines incident as the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for its plans to get the Max 10 this year, as planned, and it is now looking at possibly buying jets from Boeing rival Airbus to take the place of the Max 10s it has ordered.', 'But it is difficult for airlines to shift to Airbus, which has a long backlog of jets it has already committed to build for its existing customer base.', 'Any Boeing customer shifting to Airbus could find itself waiting until 2030 or beyond to get its planes delivered.', 'And operating two types of aircraft of the same class is costly, since pilots are certified to fly specific aircraft, and most cannot shift back and forth between an Airbus and a Boeing without training.', 'And the airline needs to keep a supply of expensive spare parts on hand for every type of aircraft it operates.', 'Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci estimated recently it cost his airline $75 million to $100 million a year to operate both Airbus and Boeing single-aisle jets after it merged with Virgin America, which is why it got rid of its Airbus jets after the merger was complete.', 'And Alaska is a smaller national airline, only America’s fifth largest.', 'Larger airlines face even greater costs from splitting fleets between manufacturers.', 'The Boeing 737 Max 9 was grounded for three weeks after the Alaska Airlines incident as airlines completed inspections of their own planes’ door plugs.', 'Minicucci disclosed that many of his planes were discovered to have loose bolts, although he did not mention missing bolts.', 'An audit of Boeing procedures by the Federal Aviation Administration in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident found numerous “non-compliance issues.”', 'The agency gave the company 90 days to come up with a plan to fix its safety and quality issues.', 'But the probes at Boeing aren’t limited to the FAA audit.', 'A preliminary investigation found that the plane left the Boeing factory in October without the four bolts needed to keep the door plug in place.', 'While the NTSB has not identified who is at fault for the missing bolts, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy criticized Boeing for not providing the agency with the documentation for who handled the installation of the door plug.', 'Calhoun told investors in January after the incident that “we caused the problem, and we understand that.', 'Whatever conclusions are reached, Boeing is accountable for what happened.”', 'And Boeing is also facing an investigation by the Justice Department, which could open it up to criminal liability, and upend a controversial deferred prosecution agreement the company reached in January 2021 to settle charges it defrauded the FAA during the original certification process for the 737 Max last decade.', 'It was days away from having that probation-like period end when the Alaska Air incident happened.', 'The company has also had problems not related to the Max during Calhoun’s time in charge at Boeing, including a couple of halts in deliveries of the 787 Dreamliners, one of its main widebody jets, due to quality issues with that plane.', 'Calhoun, 66, a longtime board member at Boeing, became chairman of the company in late 2019, when the board stripped his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg of that title.', 'He was tapped as CEO after Muilenburg was ousted in December of that year, starting in the job in January 2020.', 'Boeing was once known as a company that put engineering excellence ahead of financial performance, and produced planes that were the gold standard in the industry.', 'Critics of the company say that focus has changed in the last 25 years, citing the 1997 merger with competitor McDonell Douglas for the shift in focus on saving money.', 'Calhoun is one of the executives since that time with no engineering background, having served as senior managing director and head of portfolio operations at investing firm The Blackstone Group, as well as CEO of Nielsen after 26 years at General Electric.', 'Calhoun’s tenure began about halfway through a 20-month grounding of the 737 Max due to a design flaw that was determined to have caused the two crashes; and just before the Covid pandemic broke out globally, causing a near halt in air travel and massive losses for the airlines Boeing depends upon to buy its planes.', 'Asked about what he would like to see in his successor, Calhoun told CNBC Monday that “I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long, long-cycle business like ours.', 'It’s not just the production of the airplane.', 'It’s the development of the next airplane.', 'It will be a $50 billion investment.', 'I would like somebody who clearly has the experience inside our industry.”', 'Shares of Boeing, which have lost more than 26% of their value since the start of the year, were 4% higher at the market open Monday, but they soon lost most of that gain and closed slightly above 1%.', 'CNN’s Allison Morrow contributed to this report.']",-0.0028371724018646,"“He’s the very best CEO that Airbus has ever had,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory and a leading aerospace analyst, recently referring to the advantages gained by Boeing’s main rival during his tenure running Boeing.","Boeing has been buffeted by more than five years of problems with its airplanes, including two fatal crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, and most recently a door plug that blew out of the side of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max in January, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane.",-0.4541428496963099,"“He’s the very best CEO that Airbus has ever had,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory and a leading aerospace analyst, recently referring to the advantages gained by Boeing’s main rival during his tenure running Boeing.","United Airlines, which flies Boeing jets for more than 80% of its mainline fleet, has expressed disappointment in quality issues at Boeing and a delay in its scheduled deliveries.",2024-03-26
This social app prohibits edited photos to encourage users to be more authentic. It’s growing fast,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/21/business/bereal-social-media-app-cec/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:17 AM EDT, Thu April 21, 2022
    ","Scoot over, Facebook and Instagram.  
    
            There’s a newer photo-sharing app – and it’s not like other social media platforms. 
    
            The app is called BeReal. And while you may not have heard of it, a lot of young people are signing up. Its active monthly users have skyrocketed this year by more than 315%, according to data from Apptopia, which tracks and analyzes performance. 
    
            We joined the app and talked to users to get a deeper understanding of how BeReal works and what you need to know about it. 
    
            BeReal is a social media app that encourages users to share a slice of their life in real time. It was launched in early 2020 by an entrepreneur in France but a majority of its users – at least 65% – have signed up this calendar year.
    
            As its name suggests, the focus is on authenticity. Users are invited once a day to share a photo of what they’re doing at that moment, giving friends and others an unvarnished glimpse into their life. 
    
            It has no filters and no edit buttons. So if your hair is a mess at that moment and your view is of a rainy parking lot, that’s what people will see.
    
            The result is a far cry from the polished, overly curated photos popular on other social media platforms. 
    
            The concept of BeReal is simple. Once you download the app, you get a notification once a day that it’s time to “BeReal.”  That means you have two minutes to snap and post a photo of what you’re doing, no matter how mundane. 
    
            There’s no set time – the notification comes at random times of the day – adding to the app’s mystique. 
    
            “Push notifications are sent around the world simultaneously at different times each day,” the company said in a statement. “It’s a secret on how the time is chosen every day, it’s not random.”
    
            That means the potential window into your life can open at any time. When it does, the app invites you to take a photo of what you’re up to at that moment. It takes a dual photo – a selfie and one showing what’s in front of you.  (BeReal doesn’t permit videos yet.)
    
            The result is a social feed filled with unedited photos of people doing mostly everyday, unglamorous things – lounging in pajamas, doing homework, riding the bus, microwaving their dinner. 
    
            With only one post a day, there’s no clutter of friends’ pictures to mindlessly scroll through. You can only see friends’ posts if you share a photo, which eliminates lurkers. Some people turn off their location for privacy reasons, since the app works in real time.
    
            Georgetown University student Ben Telerski, 21, is an avid social media user and joined the app in August. 
    
            “What I like about BeReal is I am able to make connections with my friends via social media on a platform that does not incentivize likes, comments, or being artificial. … solely showing your friends what you are doing at the moment that the daily alert goes off,” says Telerski, a junior majoring in government. 
    
            Telerski says the posts he sees on the app are generally more authentic compared to other social media platforms. 
    
            “I try to post as soon as I see the notification, even if I am just sitting in bed or walking to class,” he says. “I think the amount of authenticity depends on the persona each person creates on social media. If someone tries to keep their social media presence highly polished and produced, BeReal is not the app to use.”
    
            When you click on the once-a-day BeReal notification, your camera opens within the app along with a timer with a two-minute countdown. You have until the timer runs out to take a picture of what’s in front of you. At the same time, your rear-facing camera snaps a selfie.
    
            The app will share both images. You can retake them anytime during the two minutes and share them with friends when you’re ready. 
    
            BeReal also allows users to take and post the photo later in the day. But it lets your friends know how many hours past the notification that you posted. In short, it puts you on blast for your lack of spontaneity. 
    
            BeReal has tapped into marketing on college campuses. It recruits young users via its college ambassador program, which allows students to host events that educate others about the app. 
    
            Telerski believes the app is popular because it’s an antidote to the pressures to look perfect online.
    
            “I have seen a lot of news coverage lately about the negative mental health impacts that social media has on Gen Z. I do not know if BeReal is directly attempting to combat this problem, but it is certainly making some ground toward that goal,” he says. 
    
            Morgan Nott, 26, manages a tea shop in Reno and is a newbie on the app. She started using it last week at a friend’s suggestion. Nott says she finds it refreshing to get a non-airbrushed, non-idealized glimpse into other people’s lives.
    
            “It’s the authenticity of it that makes it so appealing. Users aren’t as glamorized or fake as some can portray themselves on other platforms,” she says. “It’s something different.”
    
            In a statement, BeReal says its goal is to create “an alternative to addictive social networks” that focus on amassing influence, it says. 
    
            “BeReal is your chance to show your friends who you really are,”  the company says. “BeReal won’t make you famous, if you want to become an influencer you can stay on TikTok and Instagram.”
    
            The app doesn’t give you much time to put on makeup or stage your surroundings before you snap and post photos. 
    
            But some users may still try to curate their lives on the app.
    
            “There is the potential to be just as artificial on BeReal as people tend to be on other platforms,” Telerski says. Some people might ignore the notification to post at a certain time and wait to post until they are dressed up and out at dinner with friends, he says. 
    
            “It is not in the spirit of BeReal and entirely defeats the purpose,” he says. “BeReal should be full of pictures of (people) walking, doing homework and sitting in bed watching Netflix.”  
    
            The young people CNN spoke to have no plans to give up Instagram, TikTok and other social media apps.
    
            Nott says she plans to keep letting her guard down on BeReal – and to keep posting on other social media platforms as well. 
    
            Telerski says he tries to maintain a certain level of authenticity on social media regardless of the platform. Authenticity is determined by a person, not an app, he says. 
    
            “For those who think we need a new social media app in order to be truly authentic, maybe we should take that as a sign to be more authentic throughout our existing social media presence,” he says.  
    
            “Think about what social media was originally intended for – real connection through family and friends keeping up with your life. Maybe we should get back to that.”",CNN,21/04/2022,"['Scoot over, Facebook and Instagram.', 'There’s a newer photo-sharing app – and it’s not like other social media platforms.', 'The app is called BeReal.', 'And while you may not have heard of it, a lot of young people are signing up.', 'Its active monthly users have skyrocketed this year by more than 315%, according to data from Apptopia, which tracks and analyzes performance.', 'We joined the app and talked to users to get a deeper understanding of how BeReal works and what you need to know about it.', 'BeReal is a social media app that encourages users to share a slice of their life in real time.', 'It was launched in early 2020 by an entrepreneur in France but a majority of its users – at least 65% – have signed up this calendar year.', 'As its name suggests, the focus is on authenticity.', 'Users are invited once a day to share a photo of what they’re doing at that moment, giving friends and others an unvarnished glimpse into their life.', 'It has no filters and no edit buttons.', 'So if your hair is a mess at that moment and your view is of a rainy parking lot, that’s what people will see.', 'The result is a far cry from the polished, overly curated photos popular on other social media platforms.', 'The concept of BeReal is simple.', 'Once you download the app, you get a notification once a day that it’s time to “BeReal.”', 'That means you have two minutes to snap and post a photo of what you’re doing, no matter how mundane.', 'There’s no set time – the notification comes at random times of the day – adding to the app’s mystique.', '“Push notifications are sent around the world simultaneously at different times each day,” the company said in a statement. “', 'It’s a secret on how the time is chosen every day, it’s not random.”', 'That means the potential window into your life can open at any time.', 'When it does, the app invites you to take a photo of what you’re up to at that moment.', 'It takes a dual photo – a selfie and one showing what’s in front of you. (', 'BeReal doesn’t permit videos yet.)', 'The result is a social feed filled with unedited photos of people doing mostly everyday, unglamorous things – lounging in pajamas, doing homework, riding the bus, microwaving their dinner.', 'With only one post a day, there’s no clutter of friends’ pictures to mindlessly scroll through.', 'You can only see friends’ posts if you share a photo, which eliminates lurkers.', 'Some people turn off their location for privacy reasons, since the app works in real time.', 'Georgetown University student Ben Telerski, 21, is an avid social media user and joined the app in August.', '“What I like about BeReal is I am able to make connections with my friends via social media on a platform that does not incentivize likes, comments, or being artificial. …', 'solely showing your friends what you are doing at the moment that the daily alert goes off,” says Telerski, a junior majoring in government.', 'Telerski says the posts he sees on the app are generally more authentic compared to other social media platforms.', '“I try to post as soon as I see the notification, even if I am just sitting in bed or walking to class,” he says. “', 'I think the amount of authenticity depends on the persona each person creates on social media.', 'If someone tries to keep their social media presence highly polished and produced, BeReal is not the app to use.”', 'When you click on the once-a-day BeReal notification, your camera opens within the app along with a timer with a two-minute countdown.', 'You have until the timer runs out to take a picture of what’s in front of you.', 'At the same time, your rear-facing camera snaps a selfie.', 'The app will share both images.', 'You can retake them anytime during the two minutes and share them with friends when you’re ready.', 'BeReal also allows users to take and post the photo later in the day.', 'But it lets your friends know how many hours past the notification that you posted.', 'In short, it puts you on blast for your lack of spontaneity.', 'BeReal has tapped into marketing on college campuses.', 'It recruits young users via its college ambassador program, which allows students to host events that educate others about the app.', 'Telerski believes the app is popular because it’s an antidote to the pressures to look perfect online.', '“I have seen a lot of news coverage lately about the negative mental health impacts that social media has on Gen Z. I do not know if BeReal is directly attempting to combat this problem, but it is certainly making some ground toward that goal,” he says.', 'Morgan Nott, 26, manages a tea shop in Reno and is a newbie on the app.', 'She started using it last week at a friend’s suggestion.', 'Nott says she finds it refreshing to get a non-airbrushed, non-idealized glimpse into other people’s lives.', '“It’s the authenticity of it that makes it so appealing.', 'Users aren’t as glamorized or fake as some can portray themselves on other platforms,” she says. “', 'It’s something different.”', 'In a statement, BeReal says its goal is to create “an alternative to addictive social networks” that focus on amassing influence, it says.', '“BeReal is your chance to show your friends who you really are,” the company says. “', 'BeReal won’t make you famous, if you want to become an influencer you can stay on TikTok and Instagram.”', 'The app doesn’t give you much time to put on makeup or stage your surroundings before you snap and post photos.', 'But some users may still try to curate their lives on the app.', '“There is the potential to be just as artificial on BeReal as people tend to be on other platforms,” Telerski says.', 'Some people might ignore the notification to post at a certain time and wait to post until they are dressed up and out at dinner with friends, he says.', '“It is not in the spirit of BeReal and entirely defeats the purpose,” he says. “', 'BeReal should be full of pictures of (people) walking, doing homework and sitting in bed watching Netflix.”', 'The young people CNN spoke to have no plans to give up Instagram, TikTok and other social media apps.', 'Nott says she plans to keep letting her guard down on BeReal – and to keep posting on other social media platforms as well.', 'Telerski says he tries to maintain a certain level of authenticity on social media regardless of the platform.', 'Authenticity is determined by a person, not an app, he says.', '“For those who think we need a new social media app in order to be truly authentic, maybe we should take that as a sign to be more authentic throughout our existing social media presence,” he says.', '“Think about what social media was originally intended for – real connection through family and friends keeping up with your life.', 'Maybe we should get back to that.”']",0.1203665001358123,You can retake them anytime during the two minutes and share them with friends when you’re ready.,It has no filters and no edit buttons.,0.0125932469964027,"Its active monthly users have skyrocketed this year by more than 315%, according to data from Apptopia, which tracks and analyzes performance.","The result is a far cry from the polished, overly curated photos popular on other social media platforms.",2024-03-26
Chick-fil-A will stop using its ‘no antibiotics ever’ label on chicken,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/chick-fil-a-antibiotics/index.html,"
  Updated
        10:11 AM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Chick-fil-A is ditching its “no antibiotics ever” promise.
    
            Citing diminishing chicken supply, Chick-fil-A will back off its pledge never to serve chicken that was fed antibiotics, and instead it will embrace a looser industry standard: “no antibiotics important to human medicine.” Chick-fil-A first announced that it would abandon antibiotics in 2014.
    
            The change comes after Tyson, America’s biggest poultry company, last summer ended its eight-year-pledge to keep antibiotics out of its chicken. Like Chick-fil-A, Tyson said it will ensure the chicken it produces is not fed antibiotics that are important to the treatment of humans — a standard recognized by the USDA and the World Health Organization.
    
            As for other meat processors, Pilgrim’s Pride says it uses some antibiotics, while Perdue still says it does not.
    
            Antibiotic use in food production has come under intense scrutiny in recent years as some bacterial infections in humans have become increasingly resistant to treatment as a result of more frequent exposure to the drugs.
    
            But diseases in chicken coops can be difficult to control, as poultry farmers learned the hard way when a highly infectious avian flu ravaged their flocks over the past couple years, sending prices of chicken and eggs surging before coming back down to Earth late last year. That particular disease is not treatable with antibiotics, but other diseases that can kill chickens do respond to antibiotics.
    
            In addition to chickens’ health, antibiotics are particularly important to promote poultry growth — particularly for items like large broiler chickens.
    
            Chick-fil-A said in its statement that the company remains committed to serving only white breast meat with no added hormones, artificial preservatives or fillers. It expects to transition to sourcing chicken fed with antibiotics this spring.
    
            About half of US poultry farmers use some form of antibiotics to help keep chickens healthy, according to Tyson. In many chicken farms, animals are raised in crowded and unsanitary conditions and can be prone to disease.
    
            In WHO’s most recent publication on the “important to human medicine” standard, the group said there remains “clear evidence of adverse human health consequences due to resistant organisms resulting from non-human usage of antimicrobials.” It also said that the types of drugs used to promote growth and health in animals is “frequently the same, or closely related to those used in human medicine.”
    
            With the understanding that antibiotic treatments at times could be important to meat production, WHO in 2007 developed a set of risk assessments that aimed to prevent important antibiotics for humans from being used in animal production.
    
            It noted in that 2007 publication that “an appropriate balance should be struck between animal health needs and human health considerations – human health being, however, paramount compared to animal health.”",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Chick-fil-A is ditching its “no antibiotics ever” promise.', 'Citing diminishing chicken supply, Chick-fil-A will back off its pledge never to serve chicken that was fed antibiotics, and instead it will embrace a looser industry standard: “no antibiotics important to human medicine.”', 'Chick-fil-A first announced that it would abandon antibiotics in 2014.', 'The change comes after Tyson, America’s biggest poultry company, last summer ended its eight-year-pledge to keep antibiotics out of its chicken.', 'Like Chick-fil-A, Tyson said it will ensure the chicken it produces is not fed antibiotics that are important to the treatment of humans — a standard recognized by the USDA and the World Health Organization.', 'As for other meat processors, Pilgrim’s Pride says it uses some antibiotics, while Perdue still says it does not.', 'Antibiotic use in food production has come under intense scrutiny in recent years as some bacterial infections in humans have becomeincreasingly resistantto treatment as a result of more frequent exposure to the drugs.', 'But diseases in chicken coops can be difficult to control, as poultry farmers learned the hard way when ahighly infectious avian fluravaged their flocksover the past couple years, sending prices of chicken and eggs surging before coming back down to Earth late last year.', 'That particular disease is not treatable with antibiotics, but other diseases that can kill chickens do respond to antibiotics.', 'In addition to chickens’ health, antibiotics are particularly important to promote poultry growth — particularly for items like large broiler chickens.', 'Chick-fil-A said in its statement that the company remains committed to serving only white breast meat with no added hormones, artificial preservatives or fillers.', 'It expects to transition to sourcing chicken fed with antibiotics this spring.', 'About half of US poultry farmers use some form of antibiotics to help keep chickens healthy, according to Tyson.', 'In many chicken farms, animals are raised in crowded and unsanitary conditions and can be prone to disease.', 'In WHO’s most recentpublicationon the “important to human medicine” standard, the group said there remains “clear evidence of adverse human health consequences due to resistant organisms resulting from non-human usage of antimicrobials.”', 'It also said that the types of drugs used to promote growth and health in animals is “frequently the same, or closely related to those used in human medicine.”', 'With the understanding that antibiotic treatments at times could be important to meat production, WHO in 2007 developed a set of risk assessments that aimed to prevent important antibiotics for humans from being used in animal production.', 'It noted in that2007 publicationthat “an appropriate balance should be struck between animal health needs and human health considerations – human health being, however, paramount compared to animal health.”']",0.0988148235874387,"In addition to chickens’ health, antibiotics are particularly important to promote poultry growth — particularly for items like large broiler chickens.","That particular disease is not treatable with antibiotics, but other diseases that can kill chickens do respond to antibiotics.",-0.9933743178844452,,"But diseases in chicken coops can be difficult to control, as poultry farmers learned the hard way when ahighly infectious avian fluravaged their flocksover the past couple years, sending prices of chicken and eggs surging before coming back down to Earth late last year.",2024-03-26
Microsoft stock hits all-time high after hiring former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/20/investing/microsoft-stock-record-high-altman-openai/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:19 PM EST, Mon November 20, 2023
    ","Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg.
    
            Shares of the tech behemoth rose 2.1% to an all-time high close of $377.44 on Monday, beating the previous record of $376.17.
    
            That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup. Microsoft is the artificial intelligence firm’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the company.
    
            Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.
    
            Altman’s hiring ended days of speculation that the former chief executive could return to the firm after his dramatic firing. Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, will replace OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim chief executive.
    
            Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year. The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.
    
            Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, reiterated his $425 price target for Microsoft’s stock following Altman’s and Brockman’s hires.
    
            “We view Microsoft now even in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman” at the company, Ives wrote in a note on Monday.
    
            Other members of the “Magnificent Seven” saw a boost on Monday. Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to end the trading session at $504.20 ahead of its earnings due on Tuesday, notching a record-high close for the chipmaker.",CNN,20/11/2023,"['Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg.', 'Shares of the tech behemoth rose 2.1% to an all-time high close of $377.44 on Monday, beating the previous record of $376.17.', 'That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup.', 'Microsoft is the artificial intelligence firm’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the company.', 'Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.', 'Altman’s hiring ended days of speculation that the former chief executive could return to the firm after his dramatic firing.', 'Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, will replace OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim chief executive.', 'Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year.', 'The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.', 'Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, reiterated his $425 price target for Microsoft’s stock following Altman’s and Brockman’s hires.', '“We view Microsoft now even in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman” at the company, Ives wrote in a note on Monday.', 'Other members of the “Magnificent Seven” saw a boost on Monday.', 'Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to end the trading session at $504.20 ahead of its earnings due on Tuesday, notching a record-high close for the chipmaker.']",0.3148943375907157,"The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.","Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.",0.768821742799547,Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year.,"That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup.",2024-03-26
"Best mobile payment apps in 2024, tested by our editors",https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/reviews/best-mobile-payment-apps,"
  Updated
        4:04 PM EST, Tue January 9, 2024
    ","Mobile payment apps can be a convenient way to send and receive money using your smartphone or smartwatch. Paying for items this way has never been easier, thanks to the availability of numerous mobile payment apps, better payment terminal infrastructure, and wider support for Bluetooth/near-field communication (NFC) contactless credit cards by American issuers. The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.
    
            Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square). We tested Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on just their own devices and tested Google Pay, Venmo and Cash App on both Android and iOS.
    
            The apps work across a variety of web browsers (with the exception of Samsung) and watches. We tested the apps on an Apple Watch and a Samsung Galaxy Watch. We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support. As our testing concluded, two clear winners emerged: Apple Pay and Google Pay.
    
            While Apple Pay only works for its own devices, it is available in numerous countries, and its elegant and simple user interface (UI) and design make it a standout. Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments are only available in the United States. On your iOS device, you need to set up Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode. On your Apple Watch, you need to set up a passcode. You also need to be 13 years old or older.
    
            If you want to make a P2P payment, then you’ll need to send an Apple Message, which means you need to know your recipient’s phone number or email address. One nice feature is that all transactions generate 2% cash back. If you have an Apple Watch, then you need to connect your cards and bank accounts specifically on the watch for use in payments. Apple recently announced that users of other browsers besides Safari on their phones will be able to eventually use the software with the release of iOS 16.
    
            Google Pay has different lists of countries and regions in which it is available depending on the transaction type intended. Google Pay works across Android and iOS and is also designed to be capable in your browser. There aren’t any fees and immediate transfers are from debit cards only.
    
            Since Google Pay also works through browser cookies, it doesn’t require your phone to complete any online transactions. But, since it works through your Google account, you will have to exchange emails to set up the payment. Also, you will need a personal account (Pay won’t work with workspace or enterprise accounts).
    
            There are three different use cases for these apps (which we tested) that we will explain, as well as three other use cases that we will mention (even though we didn’t test these).
    
            The first use case we tested is making P2P cash payments. Two examples of this are splitting a restaurant check and sending gift money to family and friends. Consumers are increasingly using these apps according to a recent survey by Lending Tree. The survey showed that 84% of the 1,200 respondents (all U.S. consumers) have used at least one mobile payment app in the past year. Samsung Pay doesn’t support this mode but the other apps do.
    
            Some of the apps let you set up pools of funds, like a miniature version of GoFundMe to which your friends can send you contributions. There are several ways to identify your recipient: by their phone number and email address, or by their username (Block and Venmo support this) and, in some cases, by using a personal QR code (Block and Venmo are focused on this use case).
    
            The second use case we tested is paying for retail purchases instead of directly using a credit card or debit card. When the time comes to pay at a physical store, you hold your smartphone (or smartwatch) close to the payment terminal and it should read the appropriate card. This can be useful if you load multiple cards on the payment app, so you don’t have to cart around an overstuffed wallet with physical cards. It is also more secure because most of the payment apps create and then send a one-time token instead of your actual card number for each transaction. (Apple Pay and Google Pay are focused on this use case, although both also support P2P payments, too.)
    
            The third use case we tested is using them whenever you are shopping online. The Apple Pay and Google Pay apps can be used here. You can also store your card details in the various desktop browsers so that they can be auto-filled when you are at the checkout screen of your favorite retailer.
    
            So, now for the other use cases we didn’t test but are worth mentioning. Each of the payment apps has moved beyond these three core situations and now offer three other use cases: 1) a complex series of their own branded credit cards and debit cards, 2) support for Bitcoin purchases and other money-related features, and 3) cash-back offers. Again, we didn’t test these last three use cases; however, it is worth paying attention to at least the one about cash-back offers because those can really add up over time.
    
            Should you be worried about scammers when using mobile payment apps? Yes — the same Lending Tree survey we cited earlier found that 15% of the respondents have been victims of scams. And the survey also mentioned that, though P2P services are growing, they’re not FDIC insured (with the exception of Cash App, which is FDIC-insured). The survey found that “62% of consumers knew FDIC doesn’t insure P2P balances. However, 49% of those who keep a balance wrongly believe their money is protected.”
    
            If you intend to use any of these mobile payment apps on a regular basis, then you’ll want to follow these 6 steps:
    
            During our pretesting research, we found there are more than 20 different payment apps available, including apps from retailers like Starbucks and apps from Mastercard and Visa. We selected our five payment apps to test based on desired features, security options and user reviews. We tested each of them with the following criteria in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, customer support and fees.
    
            To begin our testing, we installed the apps on one or both types of smartphones (if supported) and on an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch.
    
            Next, we connected to various bank accounts and credit cards and debit cards, using them for retail purchases and P2P payments. We also tried each app when it was available for online retail purchases. We tested each app’s MFA support and other security features. We tested each app’s ability to notify you of payment transactions, and to block someone else from initiating a payment without your biometric data or other factors to approve it.
    
            Then we noted that the workflows for the payment apps were similar across the lot. We first ensured we were downloading the correct payment app from the legit app store. This is important and you should take care here. We then connected the app to either our phone number or email address (most apps want both), and then typed in a bank account or card that was to be the source and destination of our funds.
    
            This was the moment of truth, because not every payment app supported every bank card (and we didn’t find out until we got to this step). Apple Pay and Google Pay worked with more of our credit cards than the others did, but your experience could be different.
    
            After that, we set up our app’s security with our face or fingerprint to protect our transactions. It sounds more complicated than it actually was. After a flurry of confirmation emails and texts, we were ready to go shopping or send our friends some money.
    
            One of the big advantages of these apps is that you forgo the need to carry cash and you can pay someone on the spot. However, for all of these apps, our patience was rewarded. If we wanted to make a P2P payment and our recipient was willing to wait a few days, then there wasn’t any fee applied.
    
            But if we wanted the payment to happen in a matter of minutes, then it cost us.
    
            For example, all the apps were free to download. But when it came to fees, Apple charges 1.5% (with a minimum $0.25 and maximum $15 fee) and Venmo adds a 1% surcharge (with a maximum $10 fee). Square is free for all personal accounts but charges 2.75% for business users. Google Pay and Samsung Pay have no added fees.
    
            Lastly, we also reviewed complaints collected by CardPaymentOptions.com for Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Cash App and Venmo. And we tried out the various support options available for each service. All five apps had equivalent high scores on both. Cash App, Samsung Pay and Venmo all share data with third parties to track internal marketing. Apple Pay and Google Pay don’t do this, although they may use this data internally across their various properties.
    
            During our testing, we used an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch to gauge how easy it is to use a smartwatch versus a smartphone for mobile payments. So, is your smartwatch better to use than your phone for payments? No, we don’t think so.
    
            We found the watch movements needed to get close enough to the payment terminal to make a connection were more cumbersome than they were when we used our phone. And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par. If you use your watch for other apps, then great, but don’t rush out and get a watch just for payments.
    
            Free at Cash App
    
            With Cash App, which is owned by Block (formerly Square, Inc.), you set up a username that your friends can use to find you when sending or demanding funds. You do not need to know their phone number or email address. Cash App is limited to debit cards only for direct access. It also uses Plaid for connecting to your bank account, which we think adds another layer of security issues.
    
            There are also various transfer limits, too, for unidentified users (e.g., sending $250 over per week or receiving $1,000 over a month). You can set up recurring deposits, direct deposits, make bank transfers and even file your taxes.
    
            There is a 3% fee if you are moving funds with a credit card. You can also instantly purchase or sell Bitcoin from the app. Cash App also works with the Lightning network to pay anyone with these cryptocurrencies.
    
            Free at Samsung
    
            Samsung Pay works in several countries, but it is only available on Samsung smartphones and smartwatches. It is basically a stripped-down version of Google Pay, using the same banking backends. It requires your mobile number to complete its setup, and in our testing we found it didn’t support several of the debit cards we owned. It also doesn’t support any P2P payments: you’ll need to use the separate Samsung Pay Cash app.
    
            One advantage is that, while Apple Pay and Google Pay will only work with point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals equipped with NFC technology, Samsung Pay (from the phone, not from the watch) works at magnetic card terminals — those few that are left and haven’t been upgraded — as well.
    
            We had trouble getting the Samsung Pay app to work with the Samsung Galaxy Watch (like Apple Pay, you have to separately install each card to use on the watch), and needed to install and re-install various Samsung apps. We recommend using Google Pay instead.
    
            Free at Venmo
    
            Venmo, which is only available in the United States, was simple to set up and get connected to our bank card. Like Cash App, you can send money using a username, which obviates the need to know a friend’s phone number or email address. One drawback to Venmo is that all of your friends’ transactions are made public by default, so anyone can see them in its public feed. This means the first thing you need to do when using this service is turn these settings to Private.
    
            Venmo also supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum or Litecoin currency transactions. If you are sending funds from a credit card and can’t wait, then there is a 3% fee. Funds sent from your bank account are free if you can wait a few days. Fees are clearly described on their Resources page and there are fees for unverified users when sending more than $300 per week.
    
            Venmo’s browser client mirrors the UI for its phone app screens, which is useful for reviewing its numerous configuration settings. But it could do a better job explaining its security protocols.",CNN,09/01/2024,"['Mobile payment apps can be a convenient way to send and receive money using your smartphone or smartwatch.', 'Paying for items this way has never been easier, thanks to the availability of numerous mobile payment apps, better payment terminal infrastructure, and wider support for Bluetooth/near-field communication (NFC) contactless credit cards by American issuers.', 'The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.', 'Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square).', 'We tested Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on just their own devices and tested Google Pay, Venmo and Cash App on both Android and iOS.', 'The apps work across a variety of web browsers (with the exception of Samsung) and watches.', 'We tested the apps on an Apple Watch and a Samsung Galaxy Watch.', 'We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support.', 'As our testing concluded, two clear winners emerged: Apple Pay and Google Pay.', 'While Apple Pay only works for its own devices, it is available in numerous countries, and its elegant and simple user interface (UI) and design make it a standout.', 'Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments are only available in the United States.', 'On your iOS device, you need to set up Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode.', 'On your Apple Watch, you need to set up a passcode.', 'You also need to be 13 years old or older.', 'If you want to make a P2P payment, then you’ll need to send an Apple Message, which means you need to know your recipient’s phone number or email address.', 'One nice feature is that all transactions generate 2% cash back.', 'If you have an Apple Watch, then you need to connect your cards and bank accounts specifically on the watch for use in payments.', 'Apple recently announced that users of other browsers besides Safarion their phones will be able to eventually use the software with the release of iOS 16.', 'Google Pay has different lists of countries and regions in which it is available depending on the transaction type intended.', 'Google Pay works across Android and iOS and is also designed to be capable in your browser.', 'There aren’t any fees and immediate transfers are from debit cards only.', 'Since Google Pay also works through browser cookies, it doesn’t require your phone to complete any online transactions.', 'But, since it works through your Google account, you will have to exchange emails to set up the payment.', 'Also, you will need a personal account (Pay won’t work with workspace or enterprise accounts).', 'There are three different use cases for these apps (which we tested) that we will explain, as well as three other use cases that we will mention (even though we didn’t test these).', 'The first use case we tested is making P2P cash payments.', 'Two examples of this are splitting a restaurant check and sending gift money to family and friends.', 'Consumers are increasingly using these apps according to a recent survey by Lending Tree.', 'The survey showed that 84% of the 1,200 respondents (all U.S. consumers) have used at least one mobile payment app in the past year.', 'Samsung Pay doesn’t support this mode but the other apps do.', 'Some of the apps let you set up pools of funds, like a miniature version of GoFundMe to which your friends can send you contributions.', 'There are several ways to identify your recipient: by their phone number and email address, or by their username (Block and Venmo support this) and, in some cases, by using a personal QR code (Block and Venmo are focused on this use case).', 'The second use case we tested is paying for retail purchases instead of directly using a credit card or debit card.', 'When the time comes to pay at a physical store, you hold your smartphone (or smartwatch) close to the payment terminal and it should read the appropriate card.', 'This can be useful if you load multiple cards on the payment app, so you don’t have to cart around an overstuffed wallet with physical cards.', 'It is also more secure because most of the payment apps create and then send a one-time token instead of your actual card number for each transaction. (', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay are focused on this use case, although both also support P2P payments, too.)', 'The third use case we tested is using them whenever you are shopping online.', 'The Apple Pay and Google Pay apps can be used here.', 'You can also store your card details in the various desktop browsers so that they can be auto-filled when you are at the checkout screen of your favorite retailer.', 'So, now for the other use cases we didn’t test but are worth mentioning.', 'Each of the payment apps has moved beyond these three core situations and now offer three other use cases: 1) a complex series of their own branded credit cards and debit cards, 2) support for Bitcoin purchases and other money-related features, and 3) cash-back offers.', 'Again, we didn’t test these last three use cases; however, it is worth paying attention to at least the one about cash-back offers because those can really add up over time.', 'Should you be worried about scammers when using mobile payment apps?', 'Yes — the same Lending Tree survey we cited earlier found that 15% of the respondents have been victims of scams.', 'And the survey also mentioned that, though P2P services are growing, they’re not FDIC insured (with the exception of Cash App, which is FDIC-insured).', 'The survey found that “62% of consumers knew FDIC doesn’t insure P2P balances.', 'However, 49% of those who keep a balance wrongly believe their money is protected.”', 'If you intend to use any of these mobile payment apps on a regular basis, then you’ll want to follow these 6 steps:  During our pretesting research, we found there are more than 20 different payment apps available, including apps from retailers like Starbucks and apps from Mastercard and Visa.', 'We selected our five payment apps to test based on desired features, security options and user reviews.', 'We tested each of them with the following criteria in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, customer support and fees.', 'To begin our testing, we installed the apps on one or both types of smartphones (if supported) and on an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch.', 'Next, we connected to various bank accounts and credit cards and debit cards, using them for retail purchases and P2P payments.', 'We also tried each app when it was available for online retail purchases.', 'We tested each app’s MFA support and other security features.', 'We tested each app’s ability to notify you of payment transactions, and to block someone else from initiating a payment without your biometric data or other factors to approve it.', 'Then we noted that the workflows for the payment apps were similar across the lot.', 'We first ensured we were downloading the correct payment app from the legit app store.', 'This is important and you should take care here.', 'We then connected the app to either our phone number or email address (most apps want both), and then typed in a bank account or card that was to be the source and destination of our funds.', 'This was the moment of truth, because not every payment app supported every bank card (and we didn’t find out until we got to this step).', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay worked with more of our credit cards than the others did, but your experience could be different.', 'After that, we set up our app’s security with our face or fingerprint to protect our transactions.', 'It sounds more complicated than it actually was.', 'After a flurry of confirmation emails and texts, we were ready to go shopping or send our friends some money.', 'One of the big advantages of these apps is that you forgo the need to carry cash and you can pay someone on the spot.', 'However, for all of these apps, our patience was rewarded.', 'If we wanted to make a P2P payment and our recipient was willing to wait a few days, then there wasn’t any fee applied.', 'But if we wanted the payment to happen in a matter of minutes, then it cost us.', 'For example, all the apps were free to download.', 'But when it came to fees, Apple charges 1.5% (with a minimum $0.25 and maximum $15 fee) and Venmo adds a 1% surcharge (with a maximum $10 fee).', 'Square is free for all personal accounts but charges 2.75% for business users.', 'Google Pay and Samsung Pay have no added fees.', 'Lastly, we also reviewed complaints collected by CardPaymentOptions.com for Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Cash App and Venmo.', 'And we tried out the various support options available for each service.', 'All five apps had equivalent high scores on both.', 'Cash App, Samsung Pay and Venmo all share data with third parties to track internal marketing.', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay don’t do this, although they may use this data internally across their various properties.', 'During our testing, we used an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch to gauge how easy it is to use a smartwatch versus a smartphone for mobile payments.', 'So, is your smartwatch better to use than your phone for payments?', 'No, we don’t think so.', 'We found the watch movements needed to get close enough to the payment terminal to make a connection were more cumbersome than they were when we used our phone.', 'And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par.', 'If you use your watch for other apps, then great, but don’t rush out and get a watch just for payments.', 'Free at Cash App  With Cash App, which is owned by Block (formerly Square, Inc.), you set up a username that your friends can use to find you when sending or demanding funds.', 'You do not need to know their phone number or email address.', 'Cash App is limited to debit cards only for direct access.', 'It also uses Plaid for connecting to your bank account, which we think adds another layer of security issues.', 'There are also various transfer limits, too, for unidentified users (e.g., sending $250 over per week or receiving $1,000 over a month).', 'You can set up recurring deposits, direct deposits, make bank transfers and even file your taxes.', 'There is a 3% fee if you are moving funds with a credit card.', 'You can also instantly purchase or sell Bitcoin from the app.', 'Cash App also works with the Lightning network to pay anyone with these cryptocurrencies.', 'Free at Samsung  Samsung Pay works in several countries, but it is only available on Samsung smartphones and smartwatches.', 'It is basically a stripped-down version of Google Pay, using the same banking backends.', 'It requires your mobile number to complete its setup, and in our testing we found it didn’t support several of the debit cards we owned.', 'It also doesn’t support any P2P payments: you’ll need to use the separate Samsung Pay Cash app.', 'One advantage is that, while Apple Pay and Google Pay will only work with point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals equipped with NFC technology, Samsung Pay (from the phone, not from the watch) works at magnetic card terminals — those few that are left and haven’t been upgraded — as well.', 'We had trouble getting the Samsung Pay app to work with the Samsung Galaxy Watch (like Apple Pay, you have to separately install each card to use on the watch), and needed to install and re-install various Samsung apps.', 'We recommend using Google Pay instead.', 'Free at Venmo  Venmo, which is only available in the United States, was simple to set up and get connected to our bank card.', 'Like Cash App, you can send money using a username, which obviates the need to know a friend’s phone number or email address.', 'One drawback to Venmo is that all of your friends’ transactions are made public by default, so anyone can see them in its public feed.', 'This means the first thing you need to do when using this service is turn these settings to Private.', 'Venmo also supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum or Litecoin currency transactions.', 'If you are sending funds from a credit card and can’t wait, then there is a 3% fee.', 'Funds sent from your bank account are free if you can wait a few days.', 'Fees are clearly described on their Resources page and there are fees for unverified users when sending more than $300 per week.', 'Venmo’s browser client mirrors the UI for its phone app screens, which is useful for reviewing its numerous configuration settings.', 'But it could do a better job explaining its security protocols.']",0.190272273076097,"We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support.","Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square).",0.452835742632548,"The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.",And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par.,2024-03-26
The hot new scam on Wall Street,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/investing/premarket-stocks-trading-ai-washing/index.html,"
  Published
        7:50 AM EDT, Thu March 21, 2024
    ","A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.
    
            There’s a hot new scam on Wall Street, and, of course, it involves the world’s buzziest technology: artificial intelligence.
    
            The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that it had charged investment advisers Delphia and Global Predictions for making deceptive claims about their use of AI, a practice known as AI washing. Both firms agreed to settle the charges, according to the SEC.
    
            “Global Predictions cooperated fully with the inquiry and is pleased to put this behind us. Additionally, we have clarified across our marketing how exactly we use AI,” the company said in a statement to CNN on Monday. Delphia did not respond to requests for comment.
    
            The firms paid a combined $400,000 in civil penalties, according to the SEC.
    
            “We’ve seen time and again that when new technologies come along, they can create buzz from investors as well as false claims by those purporting to use those new technologies,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement on Monday. “Such AI washing hurts investors.”
    
            What is “AI washing?” The practice is comparable to greenwashing. But rather than trumpeting phony sustainable practices or a product that is supposedly zero-waste, companies engaging in AI washing falsely state that they use artificial intelligence or misportray their use of the technology.
    
            The Securities and Exchange Commission has also said that a failure to disclose potential risks surrounding AI is a form of deception. Public trading companies who participate in AI washing risk violating US securities law, Gensler warned in a speech last month.
    
            Artificial intelligence buzz helped push stocks into a fresh bull market last year after the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, despite a backdrop of sky-high interest rates, recession fears and geopolitical turmoil. Although experts have touted positive uses for AI, many worry about potentially disastrous consequences including security risks, unmitigated spread of disinformation and even human extinction.
    
            The Federal Trade Commission has warned that AI could spur a “turbocharging” of scams and fraud, and that existing laws give the US government the ability to crack down on AI-borne consumer harm.
    
            How can investors protect themselves against AI washing and other AI scams? The SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has best practices for investors to avoid such schemes. Here are some of them:
    
            • Make sure that any investment adviser, exchange or platform that you engage with is registered. You can do that for free through the SEC here.• Use information from several, verified sources before deciding where to put your dollars. Fraudsters can use AI to clone voices or generate fake video impersonating legitimate sources like government agencies or even your friends and family.• Be skeptical of endorsements from celebrities or influencers. The product or service they’re promoting could be a scam or just not right for your investment goals.• Review company disclosures and marketing tactics. Look for warning signs, such as a focus on promotions to attract investors rather than growing its business. You can find public companies’ disclosures in the SEC’s EDGAR database.• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Promises of a guaranteed, turbocharged return with little to no risk are immediate red flags.
    
            The Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady Wednesday for the fifth consecutive meeting, as the central bank awaits more data to determine when to cut rates, reports my colleague Bryan Mena.
    
            The Fed has raised rates aggressively over the past two years in a bid to fight the highest inflation in decades. But while Americans continue to deal with high interest rates and inflation, Fed officials are still not ready to bring down borrowing costs.
    
            Wall Street is betting that the first rate cut will come in the summer.
    
            Fed officials are facing the difficult task of balancing the risk of cutting too soon with the risk of cutting too late — both of which come with consequences. That’s why the timing of that first rate cut is so critical, because it could either undo the progress the Fed has seen, if officials cut too soon, or it could fail to prevent the economy from sharply deteriorating, if officials cut too late.
    
            Fed officials also released a fresh set of economic projections, which show they now expect fewer rate cuts in the coming years than they estimated in December. A majority of Fed policymakers continue to expect three rate cuts this year, but they now see fewer in 2025 and 2026. They expect interest rates in the longer run to be slightly higher than they projected in December.
    
            Economic growth is also expected to be much higher this year than officials estimated.
    
            Officials also reflected in their latest estimates that they expect “core” inflation, a measure that strips out volatile food and energy prices, to be higher this year than previously thought.
    
            Read more here.
    
            A multibillion-dollar settlement in the United States agreed last Friday has opened the door for alternative models of selling real estate, and likely spells the end to 6% commissions on home sales.
    
            American homesellers excited by the prospect of paying substantially lower fees — and realtors equally fearful of a huge cut to their income — need only look across the pond for an example of what might happen next, reports my colleague Anna Cooban.
    
            An influx of low-cost, online-only real estate agencies in Britain has shaken up its housing market in recent years, offering sellers highly competitive upfront fixed fees for a basic package of services.
    
            “Sell your home for free. No bull,” promises one such agency, Purplebricks, on its website. The company, founded a decade ago, offers sellers a valuation and a listing — “everything you need to sell your home” — for free.
    
            Sellers can choose, however, to pay for a range of services considered standard among traditional real estate agencies, and many of them do. Purplebricks charges £899 ($1,142) to have one of its agents conduct property viewings, for example, and £699 ($888) for a package that includes professional photos.
    
            But that’s still a much sweeter deal than the typical £2,850 ($3,616) a UK homeowner can expect to pay a traditional brick-and-mortar agent for a property priced at the national average of £285,000 ($362,022).
    
            Read more here.",CNN,21/03/2024,"['A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter.', 'Not a subscriber?', 'You can sign upright here.', 'You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.', 'There’s a hot new scam on Wall Street, and, of course, it involves the world’s buzziest technology: artificial intelligence.', 'The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that it had charged investment advisers Delphia and Global Predictions for making deceptive claims about their use of AI, a practice known as AI washing.', 'Both firms agreed to settle the charges, according to the SEC.', '“Global Predictions cooperated fully with the inquiry and is pleased to put this behind us.', 'Additionally, we have clarified across our marketing how exactly we use AI,” the company said in a statement to CNN on Monday.', 'Delphia did not respond to requests for comment.', 'The firms paid a combined $400,000 in civil penalties, according to the SEC.', '“We’ve seen time and again that when new technologies come along, they can create buzz from investors as well as false claims by those purporting to use those new technologies,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement on Monday. “', 'Such AI washing hurts investors.”', 'What is “AI washing?”', 'The practice is comparable to greenwashing.', 'But rather than trumpeting phony sustainable practices or a product that is supposedly zero-waste, companies engaging in AI washing falsely state that they use artificial intelligence or misportray their use of the technology.', 'The Securities and Exchange Commission has also said that a failure to disclose potential risks surrounding AI is a form of deception.', 'Public trading companies who participate in AI washing risk violating US securities law, Gensler warned in a speech last month.', 'Artificial intelligence buzz helped push stocks into a fresh bull market last year after the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, despite a backdrop of sky-high interest rates, recession fears and geopolitical turmoil.', 'Although experts have touted positive uses for AI, many worry about potentially disastrous consequences including security risks, unmitigated spread of disinformation and even human extinction.', 'The Federal Trade Commission has warned that AI could spur a “turbocharging” of scams and fraud, and that existing laws give the US government the ability to crack down on AI-borne consumer harm.', 'How can investors protect themselves against AI washing and other AI scams?', 'The SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has best practices for investors to avoid such schemes.', 'Here are some of them:  • Make sure that any investment adviser, exchange or platform that you engage with is registered.', 'You can do that for free through the SEC here.• Use information from several, verified sources before deciding where to put your dollars.', 'Fraudsters can use AI to clone voices or generate fake video impersonating legitimate sources like government agencies or even your friends and family.• Be skeptical of endorsements from celebrities or influencers.', 'The product or service they’re promoting could be a scam or just not right for your investment goals.• Review company disclosures and marketing tactics.', 'Look for warning signs, such as a focus on promotions to attract investors rather than growing its business.', 'You can find public companies’ disclosures in the SEC’s EDGAR database.• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.', 'Promises of a guaranteed, turbocharged return with little to no risk are immediate red flags.', 'The Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady Wednesday for the fifth consecutive meeting, as the central bank awaits more data to determine when to cut rates, reports my colleague Bryan Mena.', 'The Fed has raised rates aggressively over the past two years in a bid to fight the highest inflation in decades.', 'But while Americans continue to deal with high interest rates and inflation, Fed officials are still not ready to bring down borrowing costs.', 'Wall Street is betting that the first rate cut will come in the summer.', 'Fed officials are facing the difficult task of balancing the risk of cutting too soon with the risk of cutting too late — both of which come with consequences.', 'That’s why the timing of that first rate cut is so critical, because it could either undo the progress the Fed has seen, if officials cut too soon, or it could fail to prevent the economy from sharply deteriorating, if officials cut too late.', 'Fed officials also released a fresh set of economic projections, which show they now expect fewer rate cuts in the coming years than they estimated in December.', 'A majority of Fed policymakers continue to expect three rate cuts this year, but they now see fewer in 2025 and 2026.', 'They expect interest rates in the longer run to be slightly higher than they projected in December.', 'Economic growth is also expected to be much higher this year than officials estimated.', 'Officials also reflected in their latest estimates that they expect “core” inflation, a measure that strips out volatile food and energy prices, to be higher this year than previously thought.', 'Read more here.', 'A multibillion-dollar settlement in the United States agreed last Friday has opened the door for alternative models of selling real estate, and likely spells the end to 6% commissions on home sales.', 'American homesellers excited by the prospect of paying substantially lower fees — and realtors equally fearful of a huge cut to their income — need only look across the pond for an example of what might happen next, reports my colleague Anna Cooban.', 'An influx of low-cost, online-only real estate agencies in Britain has shaken up its housing market in recent years, offering sellers highly competitive upfront fixed fees for a basic package of services.', '“Sell your home for free.', 'No bull,” promises one such agency, Purplebricks, on its website.', 'The company, founded a decade ago, offers sellers a valuation and a listing — “everything you need to sell your home” — for free.', 'Sellers can choose, however, to pay for a range of services considered standard among traditional real estate agencies, and many of them do.', 'Purplebricks charges £899 ($1,142) to have one of its agents conduct property viewings, for example, and £699 ($888) for a package that includes professional photos.', 'But that’s still a much sweeter deal than the typical £2,850 ($3,616) a UK homeowner can expect to pay a traditional brick-and-mortar agent for a property priced at the national average of £285,000 ($362,022).', 'Read more here.']",-0.0102063519116562,"You can find public companies’ disclosures in the SEC’s EDGAR database.• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.","The Federal Trade Commission has warned that AI could spur a “turbocharging” of scams and fraud, and that existing laws give the US government the ability to crack down on AI-borne consumer harm.",0.4708148688077926,Economic growth is also expected to be much higher this year than officials estimated.,Such AI washing hurts investors.”,2024-03-26
Flying is getting scary. But is it still safe?,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/24/business/is-it-safe-to-fly-airplanes-boeing-max/index.html,"
  Published
        12:30 PM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","The reports of harrowing and sometimes tragic incidents aboard airplanes accelerated this year, leading many to wonder if it’s still safe to fly.
    
            A door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight leaving a gaping hole in the Boeing 737 Max fuselage. Passengers’ phones and clothing were ripped from their bodies and sent hurtling out into the night as oxygen masks dropped and the plane made its way to the ground, fortunately without any serious injuries.
    
            Another Boeing jet plunged so severely that passengers were thrown onto the ceiling of the cabin, leaving dozens so injured they need to be hospitalized upon landing.
    
            A passenger plane collided with a military plane at a Tokyo airport, killing five members of the Japanese Coast Guard who were responding to an earthquake.
    
            And more minor incidents happened, like when a 200-pound wheel fell off a plane on takeoff, crushing parked vehicles on the ground. Another plane’s engine caught fire. A jet arrived at an airport only to have a missing panel discovered. These incidents all gained attention worthy of a Kardashian on social media.
    
            But answering the question of whether it is still safe to fly is not so straightforward.
    
            The quick answer is that flying is safe — safer than most forms of travel — and far, far safer than the car ride most people take every day without thinking twice.
    
            “When you arrive at the airport, and step aboard the pressurized tube, that’s the safest part of the trip,” said Anthony Brickhouse, a crash investigator and professor of aviation safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “You were more at risk driving to the airport.”
    
            But it’s also true that it’s only pure luck that the American aviation industry has kept its near-perfect safety record intact.
    
            Since a regional jet crashed in Buffalo, New York, in January of 2009, killing 49 on board and one on the ground, only five other people have died in accidents on scheduled commercial flights in the United States:
    
            By comparison, an average of more than 100 people a day died on America’s roads and highways between 2003 and 2022, the most recent year for which full year traffic deaths are available. That means nearly as many died on roads and highways every hour, on average, as the number of people who died in US commercial aviation crashes in 15 years.
    
            However, other forms of flying are not nearly as safe.
    
            Nearly 300 people have died since 2009 while traveling in “on demand” air service, such as private jets. And nearly 5,500 people have died in general aviation, which are typically small planes often operated by amateur pilots.
    
            While commercial aviation has the safest record among transit options, railroads are the second safest form of travel.
    
            Railroads had 71 passenger deaths on commuter trains and Amtrak from 2009 through last year. But passenger trains logged far fewer miles traveled than planes or motor vehicles.
    
            When you control for the much higher number of miles traveled by planes, it’s clearly much more dangerous to travel on the ground than to fly on a commercial US airline.
    
            Ed Pierson, the director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety and a harsh critic of Boeing, said he knows the stats, but because of concerns about quality controls at the embattled aircraft maker, he still would refuse to fly on the Boeing 737 Max or have a family member do so. He has even gotten off a Max just before departure after he was surprised to find out he was on that particular model of plane.
    
            Still, Pierson said he is willing to fly on most planes, even many older Boeing models.
    
            “Taking the Max out of the equation, (flying has) been proven to be pretty darn safe,” he said.
    
            Unfortunately, the safety record of recent years is not a guarantee of safety in the future.
    
            The record for the nearly fatality-free US airplane travel industry is partly due to the efforts of aviation authorities, airlines and aircraft manufacturers, despite the criticism heaped on all three of those groups recently.
    
            But mainly it’s been sheer luck. In each case, if things had gone just a little differently, the outcomes could have been much worse.
    
            The Alaska Air plane that lost the door plug had flown for more than two months without the four bolts needed to keep the door plug in place, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
    
            It had made 153 flights before the door plug blew out at 16,000 feet. Twenty-two of those flights were between Hawaii and the mainland.
    
            If the door had blown out at the normal 35,000-foot cruising altitude, or hours from the nearest airport over the open Pacific Ocean, or if the plug had gone straight back and hit the tail of the plane and caused damage, it could likely have caused a loss of the aircraft and the 177 people on board.
    
            And that’s not the biggest break. A year ago, the discussion about air safety wasn’t focused on Boeing planes. It was on a series of near-misses on runways at the nation’s airports with reports of incident after incident of narrowly averted collisions.
    
            On February 4, 2023, a FedEx jet came within 150 feet of the runway before its pilots realized a Southwest jet was in the process of taking off on the same runway. It was one of five such incidents in which an accident was only narrowly avoided in a period of just seven weeks at the start of last year.
    
            And none of those were as potentially serious as another incident in July 2017, when an Air Canada jet piloted by a captain who had been awake for more than 19 hours nearly landed on a taxiway at San Francisco International Airport where three wide-body jets filled with passengers were waiting to take off.
    
            The NTSB later determined the Air Canada jet got within 100 feet of the ground before it took off again without making contact with any of the passenger planes on the ground. The safety regulator said more than 1,000 people on the four planes might have died had the accident not been averted at the last moment.
    
            “It would have been the worst disaster in aviation history,” Brickhouse said. “Pilots, air traffic controllers, mechanics — they’re all human, and humans make mistakes. We’ve been working toward designing the system so that when mistakes are made, we can recover from them without it being a tragedy.”
    
            But Pierson said the system is under unprecedented stress, and regulators, airlines and aircraft manufactures like Boeing need to make changes.
    
            “I think the system is under tremendous stress,” he said. “There’s a shortage of staff, in air traffic control, a shortage of pilots, of maintenance personnel, of manufacturing personnel.”
    
            What concerns Pierson the most is the attitude that the apparent safety of the American aviation system means nothing needs to be improved.
    
            “There’s a sense of overconfidence,” he said. “The gold standard is melting down, because we continue to try to downplay everything and talk about how safe the system is. That’s not the right mindset. That’s the mindset that gets people killed.”
    
            Brickhouse believes the planes now in use are safe. He said the drama of the Alaska Air incident brought attention to a series of other events that in and of themselves don’t pose a serious threat, even if they should not have happened.
    
            “We have safety events in aviation all the time. That is not an indictment of the aviation industry,” he said. “But after Alaska Air, it became a snowballing event and everyone became hypersensitive.”
    
            Despite having more confidence in the safety of the system than Pierson, Brickhouse said he also wouldn’t dismiss anyone who’s fearful about flying right now or who wants to avoid a plane like the 737 Max. And he has his own concerns about things like the number of narrowly avoided accidents at the nation’s airports.
    
            “I don’t believe in luck, but we are fortunate that these incidents  did not turn into disasters,” he said. “When you have a trend that keeps occurring, you need to focus on fixing it.”",CNN,24/03/2024,"['The reports of harrowing and sometimes tragic incidents aboard airplanes accelerated this year, leading many to wonder if it’s still safe to fly.', 'A door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight leaving a gaping hole in the Boeing 737 Max fuselage.', 'Passengers’ phones and clothing were ripped from their bodies and sent hurtling out into the night as oxygen masks dropped and the plane made its way to the ground, fortunately without any serious injuries.', 'Another Boeing jet plunged so severely that passengers were thrown onto the ceiling of the cabin, leaving dozens so injured they need to be hospitalized upon landing.', 'A passenger plane collided with a military plane at a Tokyo airport, killing five members of the Japanese Coast Guard who were responding to an earthquake.', 'And more minor incidents happened, like when a 200-pound wheel fell off a plane on takeoff, crushing parked vehicles on the ground.', 'Another plane’s engine caught fire.', 'A jet arrived at an airport only to have a missing panel discovered.', 'These incidents all gained attention worthy of a Kardashian on social media.', 'But answering the question of whether it is still safe to fly is not so straightforward.', 'The quick answer is that flying is safe — safer than most forms of travel — and far, far safer than the car ride most people take every day without thinking twice.', '“When you arrive at the airport, and step aboard the pressurized tube, that’s the safest part of the trip,” said Anthony Brickhouse, a crash investigator and professor of aviation safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “', 'You were more at risk driving to the airport.”', 'But it’s also true that it’s only pure luck that the American aviation industry has kept its near-perfect safety record intact.', 'Since a regional jet crashed in Buffalo, New York, in January of 2009, killing 49 on board and one on the ground, only five other people have died in accidents on scheduled commercial flights in the United States:  By comparison, an average of more than 100 people a day died on America’s roads and highways between 2003 and 2022, the most recent year for which full year traffic deaths are available.', 'That means nearly as many died on roads and highways every hour, on average, as the number of people who died in US commercial aviation crashes in 15 years.', 'However, other forms of flying are not nearly as safe.', 'Nearly 300 people have died since 2009 while traveling in “on demand” air service, such as private jets.', 'And nearly 5,500 people have died in general aviation, which are typically small planes often operated by amateur pilots.', 'While commercial aviation has the safest record among transit options, railroads are the second safest form of travel.', 'Railroads had 71 passenger deaths on commuter trains and Amtrak from 2009 through last year.', 'But passenger trains logged far fewer miles traveled than planes or motor vehicles.', 'When you control for the much higher number of miles traveled by planes, it’s clearly much more dangerous to travel on the ground than to fly on a commercial US airline.', 'Ed Pierson, the director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety and a harsh critic of Boeing, said he knows the stats, but because of concerns about quality controls at the embattled aircraft maker, he still would refuse to fly on the Boeing 737 Max or have a family member do so.', 'He has even gotten off a Max just before departure after he was surprised to find out he was on that particular model of plane.', 'Still, Pierson said he is willing to fly on most planes, even many older Boeing models.', '“Taking the Max out of the equation, (flying has) been proven to be pretty darn safe,” he said.', 'Unfortunately, the safety record of recent years is not a guarantee of safety in the future.', 'The record for the nearly fatality-free US airplane travel industry is partly due to the efforts of aviation authorities, airlines and aircraft manufacturers, despite the criticism heaped on all three of those groups recently.', 'But mainly it’s been sheer luck.', 'In each case, if things had gone just a little differently, the outcomes could have been much worse.', 'The Alaska Air plane that lost the door plug had flown for more than two months without the four bolts needed to keep the door plug in place, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.', 'It had made 153 flights before the door plug blew out at 16,000 feet.', 'Twenty-two of those flights were between Hawaii and the mainland.', 'If the door had blown out at the normal 35,000-foot cruising altitude, or hours from the nearest airport over the open Pacific Ocean, or if the plug had gone straight back and hit the tail of the plane and caused damage, it could likely have caused a loss of the aircraft and the 177 people on board.', 'And that’s not the biggest break.', 'A year ago, the discussion about air safety wasn’t focused on Boeing planes.', 'It was on a series of near-misses on runways at the nation’s airports with reports of incident after incident of narrowly averted collisions.', 'On February 4, 2023, a FedEx jet came within 150 feet of the runway before its pilots realized a Southwest jet was in the process of taking off on the same runway.', 'It was one of five such incidents in which an accident was only narrowly avoided in a period of just seven weeks at the start of last year.', 'And none of those were as potentially serious as another incident in July 2017, when an Air Canada jet piloted by a captain who had been awake for more than 19 hours nearly landed on a taxiway at San Francisco International Airport where three wide-body jets filled with passengers were waiting to take off.', 'The NTSB later determined the Air Canada jet got within 100 feet of the ground before it took off again without making contact with any of the passenger planes on the ground.', 'The safety regulator said more than 1,000 people on the four planes might have died had the accident not been averted at the last moment.', '“It would have been the worst disaster in aviation history,” Brickhouse said. “', 'Pilots, air traffic controllers, mechanics — they’re all human, and humans make mistakes.', 'We’ve been working toward designing the system so that when mistakes are made, we can recover from them without it being a tragedy.”', 'But Pierson said the system is under unprecedented stress, and regulators, airlines and aircraft manufactures like Boeing need to make changes.', '“I think the system is under tremendous stress,” he said. “', 'There’s a shortage of staff, in air traffic control, a shortage of pilots, of maintenance personnel, of manufacturing personnel.”', 'What concerns Pierson the most is the attitude that the apparent safety of the American aviation system means nothing needs to be improved.', '“There’s a sense of overconfidence,” he said. “', 'The gold standard is melting down, because we continue to try to downplay everything and talk about how safe the system is.', 'That’s not the right mindset.', 'That’s the mindset that gets people killed.”', 'Brickhouse believes the planes now in use are safe.', 'He said the drama of the Alaska Air incident brought attention to a series of other events that in and of themselves don’t pose a serious threat, even if they should not have happened.', '“We have safety events in aviation all the time.', 'That is not an indictment of the aviation industry,” he said. “', 'But after Alaska Air, it became a snowballing event and everyone became hypersensitive.”', 'Despite having more confidence in the safety of the system than Pierson, Brickhouse said he also wouldn’t dismiss anyone who’s fearful about flying right now or who wants to avoid a plane like the 737 Max.', 'And he has his own concerns about things like the number of narrowly avoided accidents at the nation’s airports.', '“I don’t believe in luck, but we are fortunate that these incidents did not turn into disasters,” he said. “', 'When you have a trend that keeps occurring, you need to focus on fixing it.”']",-0.0668778844128916,But it’s also true that it’s only pure luck that the American aviation industry has kept its near-perfect safety record intact.,"Since a regional jet crashed in Buffalo, New York, in January of 2009, killing 49 on board and one on the ground, only five other people have died in accidents on scheduled commercial flights in the United States:  By comparison, an average of more than 100 people a day died on America’s roads and highways between 2003 and 2022, the most recent year for which full year traffic deaths are available.",-0.2617862568451808,But it’s also true that it’s only pure luck that the American aviation industry has kept its near-perfect safety record intact.,"In each case, if things had gone just a little differently, the outcomes could have been much worse.",2024-03-26
FCC cracks down on cable ‘junk fees’,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/14/tech/americans-high-speed-internet-access-fcc/index.html,"
  Published
        2:31 PM EDT, Thu March 14, 2024
    ","The US government is cracking down on cable TV “junk fees,” forcing providers to publish a single, comprehensive price — so consumers know up front exactly how much they’ll pay for services inclusive of all extra costs.
    
            The junk fees crackdown is part of a series of moves the Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday. During its monthly open meeting, the agency addressed other consumer issues, including finalizing a new cybersecurity product label for hack-resistant tech gadgets and releasing a report finding that 24 million Americans still lack high speed internet access.
    
            The new junk fees rule requires cable and satellite TV companies to list “all-in” prices to consumers in their billing and marketing materials — including any miscellaneous fees, such as those related to sports programming or local broadcast channels.
    
            Between 24% and 33% of the typical consumer’s bill can be attributed to fees, consumer advocates told the FCC.
    
            The new rule aims to help consumers comparison shop among different providers. The move could simplify what is currently a difficult process of comparing apples to oranges, the FCC said.
    
            “No one likes surprises on their bill,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The advertised price for service should be the price you pay when your bill arrives. It shouldn’t include a bunch of unexpected junk fees that are separate from the top line price you were told when you signed up.”
    
            In a report released Thursday alongside the agency’s 3-2 vote, the FCC cited a filing that Consumer Reports submitted to the agency, alleging that cable companies publicly advertise “relatively low base rates” to lure customers in before imposing “a dizzying array of other charges.”
    
            The cable industry has pushed back, saying “all-in” pricing is unnecessary and that the current practice of breaking out fees into separate line items is a more transparent approach that helps consumers.
    
            “Our members clearly disclose the specific amounts of the fees that will apply and the total amount customers will pay for service, thereby ensuring that customers are not ‘surprised by unexpected fees,’” said NCTA, a trade association representing some of the nation’s largest cable companies, in a filing to the FCC.
    
            In a separate move last year, the FCC proposed banning certain cable fees altogether, including early termination fees that the agency says hinder competition and prevent customers from easily switching providers. That proposal would also require companies to provide consumer refunds if a subscriber cancels their plan mid-month.
    
            In addition to cable, the FCC also addressed internet availability during its Thursday meeting. Tens of millions of Americans still don’t have access to high-speed home internet, the FCC added Thursday in a new report highlighting the digital divide.
    
            The problem affects more than 1 in 4 Americans, or 28%, who live in rural areas, the FCC said, and the same is true for 23% of people living on tribal lands. Overall, 7% of the country, or 24 million Americans, lack high-speed access.
    
            “It was four years ago this week that so many of us were told to go home,” said Rosenworcel, referring to the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020. “The pandemic exposed our digital divide in living color.”
    
            The new report is based on 2022 data and first-time insights from a massive, years-long revamp of FCC coverage maps — which officials say provide radically more accurate service estimates. Previously, entire census blocks were considered served by broadband if just one household within a census block had high-speed internet, dramatically overstating the number of connected Americans.
    
            The report also reflects newly adopted revisions in how the country defines high-speed internet, which the FCC voted to approve on Thursday.
    
            The definition of high-speed home internet has not been updated since 2015, when the FCC set the threshold at a minimum download speed of 25 megabits per second and a minimum upload speed of 3 megabits per second.
    
            Thursday’s revisions set the new standard at 100 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads, reflecting advances in technology and how faster internet speeds have become an absolute necessity for everyday life, supporting everything from telehealth visits to remote work.
    
            The definition of broadband is more than academic; it has far-reaching implications for how the country allocates billions in federal funding for infrastructure and government aid programs.
    
            The FCC moves follow Congress’ decision to spend billions of dollars in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to build out internet service to hard-to-reach and underserved areas. It also comes as more than 23 million low-income households are at risk of losing their internet service, or could face potential bill shock, due to the expiration this spring of a critical benefit program popular with both parties known as the Affordable Connectivity Program.
    
            Thursday’s FCC report sets a long-term goal to serve Americans everywhere with download speeds of at least 1,000 Mbps, also known as gigabit speeds, and download speeds of 500 Mbps or more.
    
            Republican members of the FCC criticized the report on connectivity and the vote to increase the definition of broadband, saying the moves appear intended to justify more regulation of internet service providers and taxpayer spending.
    
            A Biden administration plan to protect consumer electronics from hackers also received final approval on Thursday as the FCC voted unanimously to greenlight a product label that will soon appear on smart home devices, baby monitors and other common gadgets.
    
            The label, which resembles a shield and that officials compare to the Energy Star certification program that denotes energy-efficient products, is intended to help buyers pick out connected appliances that voluntarily meet rigorous cybersecurity standards.
    
            A wide range of products will be eligible for the label, including internet-connected refrigerators, washing machines, doorbell cameras and smart speakers — provided that they meet criteria published by the National Institute for Standards and Technology.
    
            Some of the participating electronics makers and retailers in the program include giants such as Logitech, LG, Samsung, Best Buy and Amazon.
    
            “You want to know that when you bring that monitor into your house to watch your newborn, that connection is secure and is not going to invite any malware or malicious activity into your home,” said Rosenworcel, the chairwoman. “I think parents everywhere feel that way.”
    
            US officials have said that consumers have their own role to play in protecting the nation from cyberattacks — and that is by making informed decisions about what tech products to buy.
    
            “Imagine you’re a mom, and you’re worried about someone taking pictures of your infant lying in a crib and posting them on the dark web,” US deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger said during an onstage appearance this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “Think about your home alarm system, somebody hacking into it and unlocking digital locks. Those are examples we see today.”
    
            The “US Cyber Trust Mark” label will improve the country’s baseline cybersecurity by ensuring that the most widely used tech products in America are those that have been specifically hardened against hacking, the Biden administration has said. It could also encourage competition among electronics manufacturers to offer the most secure devices on the market.
    
            Thursday’s action by the FCC establishes the Cyber Trust Mark program, plus a publicly available database that will list all the trusted products that have received the label.
    
            Neuberger has said the Biden administration is working with overseas counterparts to extend the labeling program to the European Union, and that the partnership will make US products more attractive and competitive in the EU. She has also said consumers could begin seeing the label on store shelves by the end of the year.",CNN,14/03/2024,"['The US government is cracking down on cable TV “junk fees,” forcing providers to publish a single, comprehensive price — so consumers know up front exactly how much they’ll pay for services inclusive of all extra costs.', 'The junk fees crackdown is part of a series of moves the Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday.', 'During its monthly open meeting, the agency addressed other consumer issues, including finalizing a new cybersecurity product label for hack-resistant tech gadgets and releasing a report finding that 24 million Americans still lack high speed internet access.', 'The new junk fees rule requires cable and satellite TV companies to list “all-in” prices to consumers in their billing and marketing materials — including any miscellaneous fees, such as those related to sports programming or local broadcast channels.', 'Between 24% and 33% of the typical consumer’s bill can be attributed to fees, consumer advocates told the FCC.', 'The new rule aims to help consumers comparison shop among different providers.', 'The move could simplify what is currently a difficult process of comparing apples to oranges, the FCC said.', '“No one likes surprises on their bill,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “', 'The advertised price for service should be the price you pay when your bill arrives.', 'It shouldn’t include a bunch of unexpected junk fees that are separate from the top line price you were told when you signed up.”', 'In a report released Thursday alongside the agency’s 3-2 vote, the FCC cited a filing that Consumer Reports submitted to the agency, alleging that cable companies publicly advertise “relatively low base rates” to lure customers in before imposing “a dizzying array of other charges.”', 'The cable industry has pushed back, saying “all-in” pricing is unnecessary and that the current practice of breaking out fees into separate line items is a more transparent approach that helps consumers.', '“Our members clearly disclose the specific amounts of the fees that will apply and the total amount customers will pay for service, thereby ensuring that customers are not ‘surprised by unexpected fees,’” said NCTA, a trade association representing some of the nation’s largest cable companies, in a filing to the FCC.', 'In a separate move last year, the FCC proposed banning certain cable fees altogether, including early termination fees that the agency says hinder competition and prevent customers from easily switching providers.', 'That proposal would also require companies to provide consumer refunds if a subscriber cancels their plan mid-month.', 'In addition to cable, the FCC also addressed internet availability during its Thursday meeting.', 'Tens of millions of Americans still don’t have access to high-speed home internet, the FCC added Thursday in a new report highlighting thedigital divide.', 'The problem affects more than 1 in 4 Americans, or 28%, who live in rural areas, the FCC said, and the same is true for 23% of people living on tribal lands.', 'Overall, 7% of the country, or 24 million Americans, lack high-speed access.', '“It was four years ago this week that so many of us were told to go home,” said Rosenworcel, referring to the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020. “', 'The pandemic exposed our digital divide in living color.”', 'The new report is based on 2022 data and first-time insights from a massive, years-long revamp of FCC coverage maps — which officials say provide radically more accurate service estimates.', 'Previously, entire census blocks were considered served by broadband if just one household within a census block had high-speed internet, dramatically overstating the number of connected Americans.', 'The report also reflects newly adopted revisions in how the country defines high-speed internet, which the FCC voted to approve on Thursday.', 'The definition of high-speed home internet has not been updated since 2015, when the FCC set the threshold at a minimum download speed of 25 megabits per second and a minimum upload speed of 3 megabits per second.', 'Thursday’s revisions set the new standard at 100 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads, reflecting advances in technology and how faster internet speeds have become an absolute necessity for everyday life, supporting everything from telehealth visits to remote work.', 'The definition of broadband is more than academic; it has far-reaching implications for how the country allocates billions in federal funding for infrastructure and government aid programs.', 'The FCC moves follow Congress’ decision to spend billions of dollars in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to build out internet service to hard-to-reach and underserved areas.', 'It also comes as more than 23 million low-income households are at risk of losing their internet service, or could face potential bill shock, due to the expiration this spring of a critical benefit program popular with both parties known as the Affordable Connectivity Program.', 'Thursday’s FCC report sets a long-term goal to serve Americans everywhere with download speeds of at least 1,000 Mbps, also known asgigabit speeds, and download speeds of 500 Mbps or more.', 'Republican members of the FCC criticized the report on connectivity and the vote to increase the definition of broadband, saying the moves appearintended to justify more regulation of internet service providers and taxpayer spending.', 'A Biden administration plan to protect consumer electronics from hackers also received final approval on Thursday as the FCC voted unanimously to greenlight a product label that will soon appear on smart home devices, baby monitors and other common gadgets.', 'The label, which resembles a shield and that officials compare to the Energy Star certification program that denotes energy-efficient products, is intended to help buyers pick out connected appliances that voluntarily meet rigorous cybersecurity standards.', 'A wide range of products will be eligible for the label, including internet-connected refrigerators, washing machines, doorbell cameras and smart speakers — provided that they meet criteria published by the National Institute for Standards and Technology.', 'Some of the participating electronics makers and retailers in the program include giants such as Logitech, LG, Samsung, Best Buy and Amazon.', '“You want to know that when you bring that monitor into your house to watch your newborn, that connection is secure and is not going to invite any malware or malicious activity into your home,” said Rosenworcel, the chairwoman. “', 'I think parents everywhere feel that way.”', 'US officials have said that consumers have their own role to play in protecting the nation from cyberattacks — and that is by making informed decisions about what tech products to buy.', '“Imagine you’re a mom, and you’re worried about someone taking pictures of your infant lying in a crib and posting them on the dark web,” US deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger said during an onstage appearance this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “', 'Think about your home alarm system, somebody hacking into it and unlocking digital locks.', 'Those are examples we see today.”', 'The “US Cyber Trust Mark” label will improve the country’s baseline cybersecurity by ensuring that the most widely used tech products in America are those that have been specifically hardened against hacking, the Biden administration has said.', 'It could also encourage competition among electronics manufacturers to offer the most secure devices on the market.', 'Thursday’s action by the FCC establishes the Cyber Trust Mark program, plus a publicly available database that will list all the trusted products that have received the label.', 'Neuberger has said the Biden administration is working with overseas counterparts to extend the labeling program to the European Union, and that the partnership will make US products more attractive and competitive in the EU.', 'She has also said consumers could begin seeing the label on store shelves by the end of the year.']",0.1237294487049655,"A Biden administration plan to protect consumer electronics from hackers also received final approval on Thursday as the FCC voted unanimously to greenlight a product label that will soon appear on smart home devices, baby monitors and other common gadgets.","In a report released Thursday alongside the agency’s 3-2 vote, the FCC cited a filing that Consumer Reports submitted to the agency, alleging that cable companies publicly advertise “relatively low base rates” to lure customers in before imposing “a dizzying array of other charges.”",0.2868253805420615,"Neuberger has said the Biden administration is working with overseas counterparts to extend the labeling program to the European Union, and that the partnership will make US products more attractive and competitive in the EU.","It also comes as more than 23 million low-income households are at risk of losing their internet service, or could face potential bill shock, due to the expiration this spring of a critical benefit program popular with both parties known as the Affordable Connectivity Program.",2024-03-26
Realtors are nervous: ‘It could be the worst thing ever’,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/business/realtors-nar-settlement/index.html,"
  Updated
        7:16 AM EDT, Thu March 21, 2024
    ","Lower pay, intense competition for clients and a massive exodus of realtors. Those are some of the predictions that real estate professionals are making, anxiously, after the recent settlement from the National Association of Realtors with homebuyers, which establishes new rules for brokers that could upend the way Americans buy and sell their homes.
    
            On Friday, the NAR announced that it had agreed to change some of its guidelines that critics said were behind inflated home prices. If approved, the settlement will likely lower commissions brokers have charged sellers and shared with buyers’ agents. Experts say it will likely dramatically change how some real estate professionals get paid for their services.
    
            Feeling the ground shift under them, some who are helping people buy and sell homes say they aren’t sure what these changes will mean and whether they will damage the way they make their living. Some are holding out hope for the best in an uncertain time.
    
            “It could turn out to be a good thing,” said Belinda Tucker, a Realtor who started her own real estate firm last year in Moore County, North Carolina. “Or it could turn out to be the worst thing ever.”
    
            Under the current system, most home sellers pay a commission, usually 5% or 6%, upon selling their home. The commission is generally shared between the agent representing the seller and an agent representing the home buyer.
    
            Groups of sellers brought lawsuits against the NAR for this practice, alleging it was a violation of antitrust laws.
    
            Under the proposed terms of the settlement, sellers’ agents will no longer be required to offer commissions to buyers’ agents. That means some buyers’ agents will probably have to find another way to get paid.
    
            “I don’t know how we’re going to negotiate, but we’re going to have to because we have to get paid,” said Tucker.
    
            The new rules also require agents to enter into written agreements with their buyers. Many of the Realtors who spoke to CNN said they plan to stipulate that if a home seller does not agree to pay their commission, their buyer is on the hook for payment.
    
            “I have cleaned houses; I’ve moved people out. Anything to be helpful,” said Tucker. “Nobody works for free.”
    
            However, many first-time buyers, already shelling out their savings for what is often the largest purchase of their lives, may be unwilling or unable to pay thousands of dollars more for their Realtor. Some may look to negotiate their agent’s commission down to 2%, 1% – or possibly less – perhaps in the form of a flat fee.
    
            In fact, the settlement is expected to slash overall real estate commissions by 25% to 50%, according to an estimate from TD Cowen Insights.
    
            NAR currently counts more than 1.5 million members, but some Realtors and other experts predict that lower pay and increased competition may push many members out of the profession.
    
            Jing Pu, the CEO of Edgewise Realty, a real estate technology company, said the added expense may spur more home buyers to turn to internet listing sites and other technologies for their home searches rather than relying on a Realtor.
    
            “We think a lot of buyer agents may ultimately shift to selling – to the listing agent side,” he said.
    
            Many experts predict that the new rules will dramatically slash the cost of buying and selling a home since sellers often bake their commission fees to the overall price tag of their home.
    
            A price drop would be a much-needed reprieve for those looking to buy a home: the median sales price of a new home has surged 21% since January 2020.
    
            However, some Realtors estimate that the opposite will be true now that homebuyers are tasked with paying their own agents.
    
            “This is just going to be an added expense for buyers who are already really struggling to get into this housing market,” said Brita Kleingartner, a Realtor in Los Angeles, CA. “We’re at an all-time high for housing prices and affordability and this is just going to make it more difficult for buyers.”
    
            Though under the new rules, agents are still allowed to negotiate a deal in which sellers pay a buyers’ agent fee, Kleingartner pointed out that in a competitive market like Los Angeles, where she works, most homes go into bidding wars.
    
            “Buyers with extra down payment money are going to offer to pay their buyers’ agent commissions themselves,” she said. “I think it’s just going to add to the competitive nature of this market.”
    
            Tucker said the new rules and the discourse surrounding commissions make it feel like “Realtor is a bad word.”
    
            “99% of us are your neighbors. We go through the same things that any buyer and seller do,” she said. “Just like you pay your hairdresser or you landscaper or anybody else for a service, we do provide a good service.”
    
            But not all agents think the new rules spell doom for their industry.
    
            Crystal Tran, a Realtor in Chicago, said that she thinks asking buyers to agree to payment will “weed out the people who are not serious about homebuying.”
    
            “I think there’s a lot of confusion out there,” Tran said. “But this is going to make us refine our business to really show our clients our value.”
    
            When the dust settles, Tucker said she feels “confident” that her business will still be standing. “Will we be as busy with buyers? I’m not sure.”",CNN,21/03/2024,"['Lower pay, intense competition for clients and a massive exodus of realtors.', 'Those are some of the predictions that real estate professionals are making, anxiously, after the recent settlement from the National Association of Realtors with homebuyers, which establishes new rules for brokers that could upend the way Americans buy and sell their homes.', 'On Friday, the NAR announced that it had agreed to change some of its guidelines that critics said were behind inflated home prices.', 'If approved, the settlement will likely lower commissions brokers have charged sellers and shared with buyers’ agents.', 'Experts say it will likely dramatically change how some real estate professionals get paid for their services.', 'Feeling the ground shift under them, some who are helping people buy and sell homes say they aren’t sure what these changes will mean and whether they will damage the way they make their living.', 'Some are holding out hope for the best in an uncertain time.', '“It could turn out to be a good thing,” said Belinda Tucker, a Realtor who started her own real estate firm last year in Moore County, North Carolina. “', 'Or it could turn out to be the worst thing ever.”', 'Under the current system, most home sellers pay a commission, usually 5% or 6%, upon selling their home.', 'The commission is generally shared between the agent representing the seller and an agent representing the home buyer.', 'Groups of sellers brought lawsuits against the NAR for this practice, alleging it was a violation of antitrust laws.', 'Under the proposed terms of the settlement, sellers’ agents will no longer be required to offer commissions to buyers’ agents.', 'That means some buyers’ agents will probably have to find another way to get paid.', '“I don’t know how we’re going to negotiate, but we’re going to have to because we have to get paid,” said Tucker.', 'The new rules also require agents to enter into written agreements with their buyers.', 'Many of the Realtors who spoke to CNN said they plan to stipulate that if a home seller does not agree to pay their commission, their buyer is on the hook for payment.', '“I have cleaned houses; I’ve moved people out.', 'Anything to be helpful,” said Tucker. “', 'Nobody works for free.”', 'However, many first-time buyers, already shelling out their savings for what is often the largest purchase of their lives, may be unwilling or unable to pay thousands of dollars more for their Realtor.', 'Some may look to negotiate their agent’s commission down to 2%, 1% – or possibly less – perhaps in the form of a flat fee.', 'In fact, the settlement is expected to slash overall real estate commissions by 25% to 50%, according to an estimate from TD Cowen Insights.', 'NAR currently counts more than 1.5 million members, but some Realtors and other experts predict that lower pay and increased competition may push many members out of the profession.', 'Jing Pu, the CEO of Edgewise Realty, a real estate technology company, said the added expense may spur more home buyers to turn to internet listing sites and other technologies for their home searches rather than relying on a Realtor.', '“We think a lot of buyer agents may ultimately shift to selling – to the listing agent side,” he said.', 'Many experts predict that the new rules will dramatically slash the cost of buying and selling a home since sellers often bake their commission fees to the overall price tag of their home.', 'A price drop would be a much-needed reprieve for those looking to buy a home: the median sales price of a new home has surged 21% since January 2020.', 'However, some Realtors estimate that the opposite will be true now that homebuyers are tasked with paying their own agents.', '“This is just going to be an added expense for buyers who are already really struggling to get into this housing market,” said Brita Kleingartner, a Realtor in Los Angeles, CA. “', 'We’re at an all-time high for housing prices and affordability and this is just going to make it more difficult for buyers.”', 'Though under the new rules, agents are still allowed to negotiate a deal in which sellers pay a buyers’ agent fee, Kleingartner pointed out that in a competitive market like Los Angeles, where she works, most homes go into bidding wars.', '“Buyers with extra down payment money are going to offer to pay their buyers’ agent commissions themselves,” she said. “', 'I think it’s just going to add to the competitive nature of this market.”', 'Tucker said the new rules and the discourse surrounding commissions make it feel like “Realtor is a bad word.”', '“99% of us are your neighbors.', 'We go through the same things that any buyer and seller do,” she said. “', 'Just like you pay your hairdresser or you landscaper or anybody else for a service, we do provide a good service.”', 'But not all agents think the new rules spell doom for their industry.', 'Crystal Tran, a Realtor in Chicago, said that she thinks asking buyers to agree to payment will “weed out the people who are not serious about homebuying.”', '“I think there’s a lot of confusion out there,” Tran said. “', 'But this is going to make us refine our business to really show our clients our value.”', 'When the dust settles, Tucker said she feels “confident” that her business will still be standing. “', 'Will we be as busy with buyers?', 'I’m not sure.”']",-0.0131750875868854,Some are holding out hope for the best in an uncertain time.,Or it could turn out to be the worst thing ever.”,0.0566302424385434,A price drop would be a much-needed reprieve for those looking to buy a home: the median sales price of a new home has surged 21% since January 2020.,"NAR currently counts more than 1.5 million members, but some Realtors and other experts predict that lower pay and increased competition may push many members out of the profession.",2024-03-26
The Chevrolet Corvette is officially going electric,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/25/business/electric-hybrid-corvette/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:22 PM EDT, Mon April 25, 2022
    ","General Motors will produce a fully electric Chevrolet Corvette, GM President Mark Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post Monday morning. 
    
            Reuss didn’t say when the electric Corvette would come, but he hinted that a hybrid model could come relatively soon. “We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year,” he wrote. An accompanying video the company posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be a hybrid Corvette, and in another first, showed the front wheels spinning and throwing snow as if being powered. All Corvettes produced by the company previously have been rear-wheel-drive only.
    
            While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.
    
            “Electrified” is an auto industry term encompassing everything from hybrid to fully electric vehicles, and anything with an electric motor can count as “electrified.” It has long been rumored that the current generation of the Corvette, the first with its gasoline engine mounted behind the seats instead of in the front, could be built with a hybrid system. Reuss has also previously hinted there would be electrified variants of the car.
    
            Various companies are working on electric sports cars. Most all-electric vehicles in production so far have been four-door sedans and SUVs, as the need for batteries lends itself to larger and heavier vehicles. Tesla’s first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, was an electric sports car, but the second-generation of Tesla Roadster, originally unveiled as a prototype in 2017, has yet to go into production.
    
            Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle. Lamborghini has been working on plug-in hybrid sports cars, though.
    
            To date, the Corvette is only available in the base Stingray version with 6.2-liter V8 engine producing up to 495 horsepower. A 670 horsepower Corvette Z06 with a 5.5-liter V8 was unveiled last fall. The previous generation of the Corvette included included a 755-horsepower ZR1 version. Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.
    
            Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines. Ferrari’s most powerful sports cars are hybrids, for instance.  
    
            GM has said it plans to produce only zero-emission vehicles, meaning fully electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells, by 2035.",CNN,25/04/2022,"['General Motors will produce a fully electric Chevrolet Corvette, GM President Mark Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post Monday morning.', 'Reuss didn’t say when the electric Corvette would come, but he hinted that a hybrid model could come relatively soon. “', 'We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year,” he wrote.', 'An accompanying video the company posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be a hybrid Corvette, and in another first, showed the front wheels spinning and throwing snow as if being powered.', 'All Corvettes produced by the company previously have been rear-wheel-drive only.', 'While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.', '“Electrified” is an auto industry term encompassing everything from hybrid to fully electric vehicles, and anything with an electric motor can count as “electrified.”', 'It has long been rumored that the current generation of the Corvette, the first with its gasoline engine mounted behind the seats instead of in the front, could be built with a hybrid system.', 'Reuss has also previously hinted there would be electrified variants of the car.', 'Various companies are working on electric sports cars.', 'Most all-electric vehicles in production so far have been four-door sedans and SUVs, as the need for batteries lends itself to larger and heavier vehicles.', 'Tesla’s first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, was an electric sports car, but the second-generation of Tesla Roadster, originally unveiled as a prototype in 2017, has yet to go into production.', 'Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle.', 'Lamborghini has been working on plug-in hybrid sports cars, though.', 'To date, the Corvette is only available in the base Stingray version with 6.2-liter V8 engine producing up to 495 horsepower.', 'A 670 horsepower Corvette Z06 with a 5.5-liter V8 was unveiled last fall.', 'The previous generation of the Corvette included included a 755-horsepower ZR1 version.', 'Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.', 'Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines.', 'Ferrari’s most powerful sports cars are hybrids, for instance.', 'GM has said it plans to produce only zero-emission vehicles, meaning fully electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells, by 2035.']",0.0521320736918344,Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.,"While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.",0.3646015524864197,"Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines.","Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle.",2024-03-26
CNBC invited Trump on its air. The network didn’t even try to stop his lies,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/12/media/cnbc-trump-interview-lies/index.html,"
  Published
        8:22 AM EDT, Tue March 12, 2024
    ","Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.
    
            Suffice to say, this was no perfect call.
    
            CNBC on Monday made the curious decision to welcome Donald Trump onto its airwaves for an extended live telephone chat, in which the business news network allowed the twice-impeached, four-time indicted, insurrection-inciting former president a safe harbor to make a number of outrageous and false comments without scrutiny.
    
            “I believe on the ‘Squawk’ news line, we are joined by former President Donald J. Trump, DJT 45. It is good to welcome you. It’s been a while, Mr. President,” Joe Kernen, co-host of “Squawk Box,” greeted Trump on the air.
    
            Almost immediately after commencing the interview, Trump launched into one of his trademark, fact-free rants. Kernen asked the Republican candidate to outline his “vision for the country” following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, to which Trump unleashed a stream of deceit-laced drivel. Most notably, he alleged Biden has weaponized the government and that the US legal system under the “very angry and confused man” is now comparable to that of “third-world countries.”
    
            Kernen let it all fly. Rather than fact-checking Trump, or at least providing context about the serious allegations he leveled to viewers, the CNBC host brushed the insidious comments aside and attempted to move the interview along. Kernen, trying to conduct a serious interview with a very unserious man, proceeded to asked Trump about his view toward entitlements.
    
            But Trump didn’t answer. Instead, he said he disagreed with the premise of the question (that “something has to be done” to rein in entitlement programs) and pivoted to other topics, infusing his rambling response with more lies. The former president, for example, claimed that when he was in office, the country was producing oil at a “much higher level oil” than now.
    
            “We were drill, baby, drill,” Trump boasted.
    
            But, as those paying attention to the issue know well, Trump’s claim was false. US gas and crude oil production has soared to a record under Biden, surpassing Trump’s term in office. In fact, coincidentally, the US Energy Information Administration put out a press release on Monday noting that in 2023, the US broke all previous records for oil production. Unfortunately, Kernen failed to challenge Trump on the matter.
    
            Instead, throughout the interview, the “Squawk” host effectively surrendered the channel’s air to Trump, allowing the dishonest GOP candidate to abuse the platform and mislead its audience of influential viewers — all by phone.
    
            To be fair to the “Squawk” crew, it was not only Kernen who had the opportunity to ask Trump questions during the Trump chat. Co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin attempted at times to press Trump on various issues, such as his reversal on whether the US should ban TikTok. While Kernen showed no interest in holding Trump accountable, Sorkin at least tried to compel Trump to include some substance in his responses, though it was largely to no avail.
    
            Watching the CNBC interview felt like being transported in time to 2015, back when news outlets allowed Trump to phone in to news shows and deliver a drive-by of lies to their audiences. Even after the interview aired, CNBC waited hours to do the bare minimum and publish digital stories fact-checking some of Trump’s claims. Instead, the outlet quickly spliced Trump’s comments into a handful of clips and posted them online, amplifying his comments further.
    
            It is hard to see how any responsible news executive would defend CNBC’s actions as beneficial, nevermind smart. Asked why the network allowed Trump to repeatedly lie on its air without scrutiny, a CNBC spokesperson told me: “We asked former President Trump questions that are important to our audience such as social security and entitlement spending, and challenged him throughout the discussion on business issues like tariffs and their impact on the nation’s relationship with China. Additionally, the CNBC digital team has followed up with reporting throughout the day pointing out areas of inaccuracies and including comments from others questioning his statements.”
    
            Regardless of how debatable that characterization is, it is remarkable that after nearly a decade of covering Trump as a politician, prominent news outlets, having witnessed the democracy-threatening effects of Trump’s lies, have reverted to lowering their guardrails, allowing him to once again poison the public discourse with false claims. It’s even more striking given the stakes.
    
            Trump has publicly confessed he would like to rule as a strongman and exact revenge on his political opponents, should he win in November. He has even explicitly threatened NBCU News Group parent Comcast over the media giant’s political coverage, calling its chairman Brian Roberts in November a “slime ball” and declaring “our so-called ‘government’ should come down hard on them.” (Trump was notably never asked about these overt threats during his Monday interview on CNBC.)
    
            Instead of recognizing the threat Trump poses and assuming a more cautious stance, NBC News Group appears to be moving in the opposite direction. MSNBC has recently started taking Trump’s public remarks live (to the vocal objection of star host Rachel Maddow) and CNBC is now welcoming Trump to its air for friendly chats.
    
            At the end of Monday’s “Squawk” interview, Trump claimed his legal problems “aren’t legal issues” but “Biden issues;” falsely claimed Biden installed Fani Willis as the Fulton County district attorney; alleged without evidence Biden has “weaponized government” to target him; raged against E. Jean Carroll and again called her accusation of sexual assault “false,” prompting her attorney to suggest maybe she will sue him again; and ominously warned about the “fragile” state of the country and how “people are rejecting” the government for supposedly targeting him.
    
             Kernen, a purported newsman, apparently didn’t find any of those issues worth confronting Trump on. Instead, he thanked Trump for appearing on the program and immediately moved to invite him on again for more interviews.
    
             “We appreciate all the time you’ve given us this morning, Mr. President,” Kernen said. “I look forward to another conversation in the not-too-distant future.”",CNN,12/03/2024,"['Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter.', 'Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.', 'Suffice to say, this was no perfect call.', 'CNBC on Monday made the curious decision to welcome Donald Trump onto its airwaves for an extended live telephone chat, in which the business news network allowed the twice-impeached, four-time indicted, insurrection-inciting former president a safe harbor to make a number of outrageous and false comments without scrutiny.', '“I believe on the ‘Squawk’ news line, we are joined by former President Donald J. Trump, DJT 45.', 'It is good to welcome you.', 'It’s been a while, Mr. President,” Joe Kernen, co-host of “Squawk Box,” greeted Trump on the air.', 'Almost immediately after commencing the interview, Trump launched into one of his trademark, fact-free rants.', 'Kernen asked the Republican candidate to outline his “vision for the country” following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, to which Trump unleashed a stream of deceit-laced drivel.', 'Most notably, he alleged Biden has weaponized the government and that the US legal system under the “very angry and confused man” is now comparable to that of “third-world countries.”', 'Kernen let it all fly.', 'Rather than fact-checking Trump, or at least providing context about the serious allegations he leveled to viewers, the CNBC host brushed the insidious comments aside and attempted to move the interview along.', 'Kernen, trying to conduct a serious interview with a very unserious man, proceeded to asked Trump about his view toward entitlements.', 'But Trump didn’t answer.', 'Instead, he said he disagreed with the premise of the question (that “something has to be done” to rein in entitlement programs) and pivoted to other topics, infusing his rambling response with more lies.', 'The former president, for example, claimed that when he was in office, the country was producing oil at a “much higher level oil” than now.', '“We were drill, baby, drill,” Trump boasted.', 'But, as those paying attention to the issue know well, Trump’s claim was false.', 'US gas and crude oil production has soared to a record under Biden, surpassing Trump’s term in office.', 'In fact, coincidentally, the US Energy Information Administration put out a press release on Monday noting that in 2023, the US broke all previous records for oil production.', 'Unfortunately, Kernen failed to challenge Trump on the matter.', 'Instead, throughout the interview, the “Squawk” host effectively surrendered the channel’s air to Trump, allowing the dishonest GOP candidate to abuse the platform and mislead its audience of influential viewers — all by phone.', 'To be fair to the “Squawk” crew, it was not only Kernen who had the opportunity to ask Trump questions during the Trump chat.', 'Co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin attempted at times to press Trump on various issues, such as his reversal on whether the US should ban TikTok.', 'While Kernen showed no interest in holding Trump accountable, Sorkin at least tried to compel Trump to include some substance in his responses, though it was largely to no avail.', 'Watching the CNBC interview felt like being transported in time to 2015, back when news outlets allowed Trump to phone in to news shows and deliver a drive-by of lies to their audiences.', 'Even after the interview aired, CNBC waited hours to do the bare minimum and publish digital stories fact-checking some of Trump’s claims.', 'Instead, the outlet quickly spliced Trump’s comments into a handful of clips and posted them online, amplifying his comments further.', 'It is hard to see how any responsible news executive would defend CNBC’s actions as beneficial, nevermind smart.', 'Asked why the network allowed Trump to repeatedly lie on its air without scrutiny, a CNBC spokesperson told me: “We asked former President Trump questions that are important to our audience such as social security and entitlement spending, and challenged him throughout the discussion on business issues like tariffs and their impact on the nation’s relationship with China.', 'Additionally, the CNBC digital team has followed up with reporting throughout the day pointing out areas of inaccuracies and including comments from others questioning his statements.”', 'Regardless of how debatable that characterization is, it is remarkable that after nearly a decade of covering Trump as a politician, prominent news outlets, having witnessed the democracy-threatening effects of Trump’s lies, have reverted to lowering their guardrails, allowing him to once again poison the public discourse with false claims.', 'It’s even more striking given the stakes.', 'Trump has publicly confessed he would like to rule as a strongman and exact revenge on his political opponents, should he win in November.', 'He has even explicitly threatened NBCU News Group parent Comcast over the media giant’s political coverage, calling its chairman Brian Roberts in November a “slime ball” and declaring “our so-called ‘government’ should come down hard on them.” (', 'Trump was notably never asked about these overt threats during his Monday interview on CNBC.)', 'Instead of recognizing the threat Trump poses and assuming a more cautious stance, NBC News Group appears to be moving in the opposite direction.', 'MSNBC has recently started taking Trump’s public remarks live (to the vocal objection of star host Rachel Maddow) and CNBC is now welcoming Trump to its air for friendly chats.', 'At the end of Monday’s “Squawk” interview, Trump claimed his legal problems “aren’t legal issues” but “Biden issues;” falsely claimed Biden installed Fani Willis as the Fulton County district attorney; alleged without evidence Biden has “weaponized government” to target him; raged against E. Jean Carroll and again called her accusation of sexual assault “false,” prompting her attorney to suggest maybe she will sue him again; and ominously warned about the “fragile” state of the country and how “people are rejecting” the government for supposedly targeting him.', 'Kernen, a purported newsman, apparently didn’t find any of those issues worth confronting Trump on.', 'Instead, he thanked Trump for appearing on the program and immediately moved to invite him on again for more interviews.', '“We appreciate all the time you’ve given us this morning, Mr. President,” Kernen said. “', 'I look forward to another conversation in the not-too-distant future.”']",-0.0138403378389578,"It is hard to see how any responsible news executive would defend CNBC’s actions as beneficial, nevermind smart.","At the end of Monday’s “Squawk” interview, Trump claimed his legal problems “aren’t legal issues” but “Biden issues;” falsely claimed Biden installed Fani Willis as the Fulton County district attorney; alleged without evidence Biden has “weaponized government” to target him; raged against E. Jean Carroll and again called her accusation of sexual assault “false,” prompting her attorney to suggest maybe she will sue him again; and ominously warned about the “fragile” state of the country and how “people are rejecting” the government for supposedly targeting him.",-0.327125350634257,"US gas and crude oil production has soared to a record under Biden, surpassing Trump’s term in office.","Instead of recognizing the threat Trump poses and assuming a more cautious stance, NBC News Group appears to be moving in the opposite direction.",2024-03-26
Don Lemon says Elon Musk canceled his deal with X after ‘tense’ interview,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/13/media/don-lemon-says-elon-deal-canceled/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:55 PM EDT, Wed March 13, 2024
    ","Don Lemon said Wednesday that his partnership with Elon Musk went down in flames, hours after the former CNN anchor conducted an interview last week with the erratic billionaire for the debut episode of his new independent web-based show.
    
            “Elon publicly encouraged me to join X with a new show, saying I would have his ‘full support,’” Lemon said in a statement, adding that he took Musk at his word that he was “interested in working directly with diverse voices.”
    
            In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday night, Lemon spoke about his exchange with Musk and shared video excerpts from the 90 minute sit-down, in which Lemon asked Musk questions on an array of topics.
    
            Lemon said he pressed Musk about the rise in hate speech on X since the billionaire took over the social media platform last year, asking him if he believed that he and the company had a responsibility to moderate hateful content.
    
            “I don’t have to answer questions from reporters, Don,” Musk replied. “The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not do this interview.”
    
            Lemon also asked Musk about a recent meeting he held with former President Donald Trump. CNN previously confirmed the meeting with Musk, one of several Trump held with donors in Palm Beach in recent weeks as he seeks to raise more money for his financially strained campaign.
    
            “I was at a breakfast at a friend’s place and Donald Trump came by. That’s it,” Musk said, adding that Trump did “most of the talking.”
    
            Musk said Trump, who is facing more than a half a billion dollars in civil judgments and multiple criminal cases playing out in the courts, did not ask him for money. Musk said he was “not paying his legal bills in any way shape or form.”
    
            Lemon also brought up Musk’s open use of the drug ketamine, asking the SpaceX founder if he believed it posed a problem for his government security clearance. Musk, Lemon said, answered no because he has a prescription for the drug.
    
            In his statement on social media, Lemon said the sit-down he conducted with Musk for the first episode of “The Don Lemon Show,” which will be released Monday on social media platforms including X and YouTube, was “respectful and wide ranging” and that “there were no restrictions on the interview that he willingly agreed to.”
    
            “His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me,” Lemon added.
    
            In a video posted on his social media Wednesday, Lemon took further aim at Musk’s claim to be a “free speech absolutist.”
    
            “Throughout our conversation I kept reiterating to him, although it was tense at times, I thought it was good for people to see our exchange,” Lemon said. “But apparently free speech absolutism doesn’t apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me.”
    
            While the interview is not yet public, a person familiar with the matter said Musk was miffed when Lemon questioned him on his use of the drug ketamine, his government security clearance, and the issue of antisemitism.
    
            In a statement, X defended Musk’s decision to pull the plug on its agreement with Lemon.
    
            “The Don Lemon Show is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities,” the company said in a statement. “However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”
    
            Asked by a user on X what led to the decision, Musk attacked Lemon and CNN, which is not involved in Lemon’s new venture.
    
            “His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk wrote. “And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just [former CNN chief] Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”
    
            But a spokesperson for Lemon told CNN that the media personality expects Musk to honor the financial terms of the agreement.
    
            “Don has a deal with X and expects to be paid for it,” the spokesperson said. “If we have to go to court we will.”
    
            Lemon technically had not inked a contract with X, people familiar with the matter told CNN. But contracts do not necessarily have to be signed to be legally binding, particularly if it is clear each side had arrived at a mutual understanding. And according to the people close to the matter, Lemon’s camp is confident that a deal had effectively been struck, as evidenced by the fact that X had touted the deal in public announcements earlier this year. Moreover, Musk himself appeared to acknowledge that there had been a deal, texting Jay Sures, the UTA power agent who represents Lemon, “contract is canceled,” according to people familiar with the matter.
    
            The deal’s implosion comes after Musk urged Lemon to launch a show on his platform, writing last year on X: “It’d be great to have [MSNBC host] Rachel Maddow, Don Lemon & others on the left put their shows on this platform. No exclusivity or legal docs required! You will receive our full support. The digital town square is for all.”
    
            In another post, Musk directly appealed to Lemon: “Have you considered doing your show on this platform? Maybe worth a try. Audience is much bigger.”
    
            Musk has claimed to believe in free speech absolutism, but he has repeatedly taken steps to limit the speech of critics. The billionaire has at times suspended journalists from his platform and filed lawsuits against watchdogs for publishing reports critical of X.
    
            While Musk frequently launches ugly attacks on journalists and traditional news organizations, he has simultaneously elevated conspiracy theories and extremist rhetoric.
    
            Last year, Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory, which resulted in droves of advertisers fleeing X. Only then, days afterward, did Musk publicly express remorse for his actions.
    
            Lemon was ousted from CNN last year, in a decision that the longtime anchor said left him “stunned.” No specific reason was given by CNN for Lemon’s dismissal, but it came after he was widely criticized for making sexist comments about then-GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Lemon apologized for the remarks at the time, saying, “When I make a mistake, I own it. And I own this one as well.”
    
            This story has been updated with statements posted on X and additional context.",CNN,13/03/2024,"['Don Lemon said Wednesday that his partnership with Elon Musk went down in flames, hours after the former CNN anchor conducted an interview last week with the erratic billionaire for the debut episode of his new independent web-based show.', '“Elon publicly encouraged me to join X with a new show, saying I would have his ‘full support,’” Lemon said in a statement, adding that he took Musk at his word that he was “interested in working directly with diverse voices.”', 'In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday night, Lemon spoke about his exchange with Musk and shared video excerpts from the 90 minute sit-down, in which Lemon asked Musk questions on an array of topics.', 'Lemon said he pressed Musk about the rise in hate speech on X since the billionaire took over the social media platform last year, asking him if he believed that he and the company had a responsibility to moderate hateful content.', '“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters, Don,” Musk replied. “', 'The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it.', 'Otherwise, I would not do this interview.”', 'Lemon also asked Musk about a recent meeting he held with former President Donald Trump.', 'CNN previouslyconfirmedthe meeting with Musk, one of several Trump held with donors in Palm Beach in recent weeks as he seeks to raise more money for his financially strained campaign.', '“I was at a breakfast at a friend’s place and Donald Trump came by.', 'That’s it,” Musk said, adding that Trump did “most of the talking.”', 'Musk said Trump, who is facing more than a half a billion dollars in civil judgments and multiple criminal cases playing out in the courts, did not ask him for money.', 'Musk said he was “not paying his legal bills in any way shape or form.”', 'Lemon also brought up Musk’s open use of the drug ketamine, asking the SpaceX founder if he believed it posed a problem for his government security clearance.', 'Musk, Lemon said, answered no because he has a prescription for the drug.', 'In his statement on social media, Lemon said the sit-down he conducted with Musk for the first episode of “The Don Lemon Show,” which will be released Monday on social media platforms including X and YouTube, was “respectful and wide ranging” and that “there were no restrictions on the interview that he willingly agreed to.”', '“His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me,” Lemon added.', 'In avideo postedon his social media Wednesday, Lemon took further aim at Musk’s claim to be a “free speech absolutist.”', '“Throughout our conversation I kept reiterating to him, although it was tense at times, I thought it was good for people to see our exchange,” Lemon said. “', 'But apparently free speech absolutism doesn’t apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me.”', 'While the interview is not yet public, a person familiar with the matter said Musk was miffed when Lemon questioned him on his use of the drug ketamine, his government security clearance, and the issue of antisemitism.', 'In a statement, X defended Musk’s decision to pull the plug on its agreement with Lemon.', '“The Don Lemon Show is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities,” the company said in a statement. “', 'However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”', 'Asked by a user on X what led to the decision, Musk attacked Lemon and CNN, which is not involved in Lemon’s new venture.', '“His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk wrote. “', 'And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just [former CNN chief] Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”', 'But a spokesperson for Lemon told CNN that the media personality expects Musk to honor the financial terms of the agreement.', '“Don has a deal with X and expects to be paid for it,” the spokesperson said. “', 'If we have to go to court we will.”', 'Lemon technically had not inked a contract with X, people familiar with the matter told CNN.But contracts do not necessarily have to be signed to be legally binding, particularly if it is clear each side had arrived at a mutual understanding.', 'And according to the people close to the matter,Lemon’s camp is confident that a deal had effectively been struck, as evidenced by the fact that X had touted the deal in public announcements earlier this year.', 'Moreover, Musk himself appeared to acknowledge that there had been a deal, texting Jay Sures, the UTA power agent who represents Lemon, “contract is canceled,” according to people familiar with the matter.', 'The deal’s implosion comes after Musk urged Lemon to launch a show on his platform, writing last year on X: “It’d be great to have [MSNBC host] Rachel Maddow, Don Lemon & others on the left put their shows on this platform.', 'No exclusivity or legal docs required!', 'You will receive our full support.', 'The digital town square is for all.”', 'In another post, Musk directly appealed to Lemon: “Have you considered doing your show on this platform?', 'Maybe worth a try.', 'Audience is much bigger.”', 'Musk has claimed to believe in free speech absolutism, but he has repeatedly taken steps to limit the speech of critics.', 'The billionaire has at times suspended journalists from his platform and filed lawsuits against watchdogs for publishing reports critical of X.  While Musk frequently launches ugly attacks on journalists and traditional news organizations, he has simultaneously elevated conspiracy theories and extremist rhetoric.', 'Last year, Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory, which resulted in droves of advertisers fleeing X. Only then, days afterward, did Musk publicly express remorse for his actions.', 'Lemon was ousted from CNN last year, in a decision that the longtime anchor said left him “stunned.”', 'No specific reason was given by CNN for Lemon’s dismissal, but it came after he was widely criticized for making sexist comments about then-GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley.', 'Lemon apologized for the remarks at the time, saying, “When I make a mistake, I own it.', 'And I own this one as well.”', 'This story has been updated with statements posted on X and additional context.']",0.092430696653778,But a spokesperson for Lemon told CNN that the media personality expects Musk to honor the financial terms of the agreement.,"The billionaire has at times suspended journalists from his platform and filed lawsuits against watchdogs for publishing reports critical of X.  While Musk frequently launches ugly attacks on journalists and traditional news organizations, he has simultaneously elevated conspiracy theories and extremist rhetoric.",-0.4351293444633484,"And according to the people close to the matter,Lemon’s camp is confident that a deal had effectively been struck, as evidenced by the fact that X had touted the deal in public announcements earlier this year.","Lemon was ousted from CNN last year, in a decision that the longtime anchor said left him “stunned.”",2024-03-26
Chuck Todd rips NBC News for hiring former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/24/business/chuck-todd-rips-nbc-news-ronna-mcdaniel/index.html,"
  Updated
        5:34 PM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","Former “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd delivered a stunning rebuke of NBC News on Sunday, blasting the network for hiring former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid political analyst.
    
            Todd, who serves as the network’s chief political analyst, delivered his scathing criticism after McDaniel made her debut on the network during an interview with current “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker.
    
            “There’s a reason a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” Todd said, explaining that under McDaniel, the RNC engaged in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” when dealing with the news media.
    
            As RNC chair, McDaniel was a prominent election denier, working to help disgraced former President Donald Trump subvert the 2020 vote. She also has a long track record for demonizing the news media, including launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.
    
            It is unusual and widely considered unethical for a news organization to put an election denier on its payroll, never mind someone who for years has smeared the credibility of the organization and its journalists.
    
            Welker disclosed at the top of her Sunday morning program that the interview was scheduled to take place prior to NBC News announcing McDaniel would be a paid contributor. Welker also said she was not involved in McDaniel’s hiring.
    
            “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” Todd told Welker during the roundtable discussion that followed the interview.
    
            A spokesperson for NBC News declined to comment on Todd’s remarks.
    
            During her interview Sunday, McDaniel notably diverged from Trump on whether those who attacked the US Capitol on January 6 should be freed from prison.
    
            “We should not be attacking the Capitol; we should not be having violence,” she said.
    
            Asked why she didn’t offer such condemnation as RNC chairwoman, McDaniel responded, “When you’re the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team. Right now, I get to be a little bit more myself.”
    
            McDaniel also reversed her position on whether President Joe Biden was legitimately elected in 2020.
    
            In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace last year, McDaniel refused to say that Biden’s victory was fair, echoing false claims from Trump in the wake of his electoral defeat.
    
            “I don’t think he won it fair,” she told Wallace. “I don’t. I’m not going to say that.”
    
            But on Sunday, McDaniel acknowledged that Biden won the 2020 election “fair and square” even as she voiced concern over “problems” with the vote. “I believe that both can be true,” she said.
    
            While McDaniel voiced new positions on key issues that became right-wing rallying cries in the wake of the 2020 vote, she largely stood by Trump’s messaging on the current affairs program, effectively using the platform to encourage audience members to vote for Trump in November.
    
            But Todd noted that because McDaniel was a paid network contributor, it was not clear whether she was being genuine.
    
            “I don’t know what to believe,” Todd said, adding that maybe she “didn’t want to mess up her contract.”
    
            In the face of the fierce internal and external backlash it has faced, NBC News has said it is important to have McDaniel’s voice on air to represent the Republican Party position on issues.
    
            But Todd disagreed with NBC News’ decision, adding that McDaniel has “credibility issues.”
    
            Others on the Sunday broadcast panel agreed with Todd’s assessment.
    
            Kimberly Atkins Stohr, a senior opinion writer for the Boston Globe, told Welker that McDaniel is “only here after she got ousted from Trump’s RNC. Her credibility is completely shot.”
    
            “I know that she habitually lied, she habitually joined Trump in attacking … members of the press, including this network, in a way that put journalists at risk, in danger,” Stohr said.
    
            Stephen Hayes, editor of the conservative online outlet The Dispatch, added that McDaniel has “huge credibility problems, not because she’s been a partisan spinner on behalf of the Republican Party, but because she not only presided but directed, drove, the QAnonization of the Republican Party during her tenure.”",CNN,24/03/2024,"['Former “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd delivered a stunning rebuke of NBC News on Sunday, blasting the network for hiring former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid political analyst.', 'Todd, who serves as the network’s chief political analyst, delivered his scathing criticism after McDaniel made her debut on the network during an interview with current “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker.', '“There’s a reason a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” Todd said, explaining that under McDaniel, the RNC engaged in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” when dealing with the news media.', 'As RNC chair, McDaniel was a prominent election denier, working to help disgraced former President Donald Trump subvert the 2020 vote.', 'She also has a long track record for demonizing the news media, including launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.', 'It is unusual and widely considered unethical for a news organization to put an election denier on its payroll, never mind someone who for years has smeared the credibility of the organization and its journalists.', 'Welker disclosed at the top of herSunday morningprogram that the interview was scheduled to take place prior to NBC News announcing McDaniel would be a paid contributor.', 'Welker also saidshe was not involved in McDaniel’s hiring.', '“I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” Todd told Welker during the roundtable discussion that followed the interview.', 'A spokesperson for NBC News declined to comment on Todd’s remarks.', 'During her interview Sunday, McDaniel notably diverged from Trump on whetherthose who attacked the US Capitol on January 6 shouldbe freed from prison.', '“We should not be attacking the Capitol; we should not be having violence,” she said.', 'Asked why she didn’t offer such condemnation as RNC chairwoman, McDaniel responded, “When you’re the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team.', 'Right now,I get to be a little bit more myself.”', 'McDaniel also reversed her position on whether President Joe Biden was legitimately elected in 2020.', 'In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace last year, McDaniel refused to say that Biden’s victory was fair, echoing false claims from Trump in the wake of his electoral defeat.', '“I don’t think he won it fair,” she told Wallace. “', 'I don’t.', 'I’m not going to say that.”', 'But on Sunday, McDaniel acknowledged that Biden won the 2020 election “fair and square” even as she voiced concern over “problems” with the vote. “', 'I believe that both can be true,” she said.', 'While McDaniel voiced new positions on key issuesthat became right-wing rallying cries in the wake of the 2020 vote, she largely stood by Trump’s messaging on the current affairs program, effectively using the platform to encourage audience members to vote for Trump in November.', 'But Todd noted that because McDaniel was a paid network contributor, it was not clear whether she was being genuine.', '“I don’t know what to believe,” Todd said, adding that maybe she “didn’t want to mess up her contract.”', 'In the face of the fierce internal and external backlash it has faced, NBC News has said it is important to have McDaniel’s voice on air to represent the Republican Party position on issues.', 'But Todd disagreed with NBC News’ decision, adding that McDaniel has “credibility issues.”', 'Others on the Sunday broadcast panel agreed with Todd’s assessment.', 'Kimberly Atkins Stohr, a senior opinion writer for the Boston Globe, told Welker that McDaniel is “only here after she got ousted from Trump’s RNC.', 'Her credibility is completely shot.”', '“I know that she habitually lied, she habitually joined Trump in attacking … members of the press, including this network, in a way that put journalists at risk, in danger,” Stohr said.', 'Stephen Hayes, editor of the conservative online outlet The Dispatch, added that McDaniel has “huge credibility problems, not because she’s been a partisan spinner on behalf of the Republican Party, but because she not only presided but directed, drove, the QAnonization of the Republican Party during her tenure.”']",-0.0192686074036519,"“I don’t think he won it fair,” she told Wallace. “","“I know that she habitually lied, she habitually joined Trump in attacking … members of the press, including this network, in a way that put journalists at risk, in danger,” Stohr said.",-0.2818697869777679,"But on Sunday, McDaniel acknowledged that Biden won the 2020 election “fair and square” even as she voiced concern over “problems” with the vote. “","Stephen Hayes, editor of the conservative online outlet The Dispatch, added that McDaniel has “huge credibility problems, not because she’s been a partisan spinner on behalf of the Republican Party, but because she not only presided but directed, drove, the QAnonization of the Republican Party during her tenure.”",2024-03-26
H&R Block sues US Federal Trade Commission over tax ads probe,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/20/business/h-and-r-block-sues-ftc-tax-ads-probe/index.html,"
  Published
        6:49 PM EDT, Wed March 20, 2024
    ","H&R Block sued the US Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday, seeking an order that could upend the agency’s case accusing the tax giant of misleading consumers about the scope of its free tax-filing services.
    
            The lawsuit in Kansas City, Missouri, federal court claims the FTC’s use of internal administrative law judges to hear cases violates the US Constitution.
    
            The FTC last month accused H&R Block of deceiving customers with broad marketing for “free” online tax filing services that really only apply to simple returns. The agency also said H&R Block had unfairly deleted consumers’ tax data.
    
            H&R Block has denied the FTC’s claims. A hearing before an administrative judge is set for Oct. 23.
    
            Wednesday’s lawsuit cites the power of US presidents enshrined in the Constitution to remove “inferior officers.” It says the FTC’s internal judges are improperly insulated from that authority, and that the agency must abandon their use.
    
            “The FTC could still vindicate its law-enforcement interests by conducting the adjudication itself,” the lawsuit said.
    
            H&R Block declined to comment on the lawsuit but said it “offers fair and transparent pricing.”
    
            The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
    
            The FTC’s administrative law judges preside over hearings and take evidence, and they issue findings that can be appealed to the full commission. The agency then hears arguments and issues a final order. Those decisions can be appealed to a US court.
    
            Federal agencies’ use of administrative law judges have been contested in other cases.
    
            The US Supreme Court in November heard a challenge to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s similar proceedings using administrative law judges.
    
            The court’s ruling, expected by the end of June, could have broad consequences for such in-house agency tribunals.",CNN,20/03/2024,"['H&RBlocksued the US Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday, seeking an order that could upend the agency’s case accusing the tax giant of misleading consumers about the scope of its free tax-filing services.', 'The lawsuit in Kansas City, Missouri, federal court claims the FTC’s use of internal administrative law judges to hear cases violates the US Constitution.', 'The FTClast month accusedH&RBlockof deceiving customers with broad marketing for “free” online tax filing services that really only apply to simple returns.', 'The agency also said H&RBlockhad unfairly deleted consumers’ tax data.', 'H&RBlockhas denied the FTC’s claims.', 'A hearing before an administrative judge is set for Oct. 23.', 'Wednesday’s lawsuit cites the power of US presidents enshrined in the Constitution to remove “inferior officers.”', 'It says the FTC’s internal judges are improperly insulated from that authority, and that the agency must abandon their use.', '“The FTC could still vindicate its law-enforcement interests by conducting the adjudication itself,” the lawsuit said.', 'H&RBlockdeclined to comment on the lawsuit but said it “offers fair and transparent pricing.”', 'The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.', 'The FTC’s administrative law judges preside over hearings and take evidence, and they issue findings that can be appealed to the full commission.', 'The agency then hears arguments and issues a final order.', 'Those decisions can be appealed to a US court.', 'Federal agencies’ use of administrative law judges have been contested in other cases.', 'The US Supreme Court in Novemberheard a challengeto the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s similar proceedings using administrative law judges.', 'The court’s ruling, expected by the end of June, could have broad consequences for such in-house agency tribunals.']",-0.061983546481452,The US Supreme Court in Novemberheard a challengeto the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s similar proceedings using administrative law judges.,"The lawsuit in Kansas City, Missouri, federal court claims the FTC’s use of internal administrative law judges to hear cases violates the US Constitution.",0.0328978300094604,"“The FTC could still vindicate its law-enforcement interests by conducting the adjudication itself,” the lawsuit said.",The agency also said H&RBlockhad unfairly deleted consumers’ tax data.,2024-03-26
Here’s why the Fed doesn’t see a US recession in coming years,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/24/economy/stocks-week-ahead-fed-recession-coming-years/index.html,"
  Published
        7:30 AM EDT, Sun March 24, 2024
    ","America’s central bank doesn’t see any signs of a recession on the horizon. Not this year nor the year after.
    
            The Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee of 19 officials released a new set of economic projections last week, showing that they now expect economic growth in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to be even stronger than they previously thought.
    
            That optimism seems to be the consensus among analysts, including Goldman Sachs’ chief economist: The ruthless economic pains of a recession, such as mass layoffs and tepid consumer spending, probably won’t happen anytime soon.
    
            “The economy is strong, the labor market is strong and inflation has come way down,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.
    
            Corporate earnings have been robust, the stock market continues to break record after record and America might be in the thick of a productivity boom that could boost growth without stoking inflation.
    
            And even though interest rates are at their highest levels in two decades, the economy continues to display remarkable resilience. Economists say that strength could persist through the coming years.
    
            Fed officials continue to expect three rate cuts this year but the days of ultra-low interest rates are long gone. Interest rates will eventually settle down at levels well above the near-zero rates seen before the Fed began to hike in 2022.
    
            But economists say that won’t present any problem for the sturdy US economy.
    
            “A lot of my peers are calling it higher-for-longer, but it’s really stronger-for-longer,” Mike Skordeles, head of US economics at Truist Advisory Services, told CNN.
    
            US gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, registered at a strong 3.2% annualized rate in the fourth quarter. That was after a gangbusters 4.9% rate in the prior three-month period. The Atlanta Fed is currently projecting that the economy expanded at a 2.1% rate in the first three months of 2024.
    
            Fed officials estimate that growth in 2024 overall will hit 2.1%, then 2% in each of the following two years.
    
            The job market, a key driver of growth, also remains on strong footing. It’s seen a gradual, orderly slowdown from the red-hot pace in 2021, when the labor market ascended from pandemic depths, but unemployment remains low and payroll growth is still humming along.
    
            Employers added 275,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate edged higher to 3.9% from 3.7%, but it has remained below 4% for more than two years. Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs and often seen as the earliest indicator of any changes in the job market, remain at historically low levels.
    
            Skordeles said the economy is expected to remain solid because of “better productivity than we had prior to the pandemic” and “structural changes in the workforce.”
    
            But as rosy as the outlook may be, any unforeseen economic shock could derail growth and lead to a downturn. One risk is the possibility that inflation’s descent does indeed stall.
    
            “We do believe that the recession risk has come down,” Stephanie Lang, chief investment officer at Homrich Berg, told CNN. “But the big wild card, of course, is if we get some surprise on the inflation data that the Fed and the market were not expecting.”
    
            “If that happens then the Fed will be more tilted toward fighting inflation, so they may be in a situation in which they keep rates restrictive for too long, causing economic growth to come down too far, leading to a recession,” she said.
    
            Reddit, one of the original social media companies, finally made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday — more than a decade after many of its peers, reports my colleague Clare Duffy.
    
            Trading under the ticker “RDDT,” shares started trading at $47 and reached a high of $57.80 early Thursday afternoon, up as much as 70% from its initial price offering of $34. At its peak, shares of the stock had a market cap of about $10.9 billion.
    
            It’s a major milestone for the nearly 20-year-old company, something Reddit has been preparing for since at least 2021, when it hired its first chief financial officer. It also marks the first social media company to go public in years, and its performance could be a signpost for other companies considering IPOs.
    
            Reddit entered its second official day of trading on Friday with a downward adjustment — shares were down about 8.5% after springing 48% higher following its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
    
            Read more here.
    
            Monday: The Chicago Fed releases its National Activity Index for February. The US Commerce Department releases February data on sales of new single-family homes. Fed Governor Lisa Cook delivers remarks.
    
            Tuesday: Earnings from McCormick and GameStop. The US Commerce Department releases February figures on new orders for durable goods. S&P Global releases its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for January. The Conference Board releases its consumer survey for March.
    
            Wednesday: Fed Governor Christopher Waller delivers remarks.
    
            Thursday: Earnings from Walgreens Boots Alliance. The US Commerce Department releases its final estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product. The US Labor Department reports the number of new applications for unemployment benefits in the week ended March 23. The University of Michigan releases its final reading of consumer sentiment in March. The National Association of Realtors reports February home sales based on contract signings.
    
            Friday: US markets are closed in observance of Good Friday. The US Commerce Department releases February data on household spending, income and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivers remarks.",CNN,24/03/2024,"['America’s central bank doesn’t see any signs of a recession on the horizon.', 'Not this year nor the year after.', 'The Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee of 19 officials released a new set of economic projections last week, showing that they now expect economic growth in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to be even stronger than they previously thought.', 'That optimism seems to be the consensus among analysts, including Goldman Sachs’ chief economist: The ruthless economic pains of a recession, such as mass layoffs and tepid consumer spending, probably won’t happen anytime soon.', '“The economy is strong, the labor market is strong and inflation has come way down,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.', 'Corporate earnings have been robust, the stock market continues to break record after record and America might be in the thick of a productivity boom that could boost growth without stoking inflation.', 'And even though interest rates are at their highest levels in two decades, the economy continues to display remarkable resilience.', 'Economists say that strength could persist through the coming years.', 'Fed officials continue to expect three rate cuts this year but the days of ultra-low interest rates are long gone.', 'Interest rates will eventually settle down at levels well above the near-zero rates seen before the Fed began to hike in 2022.', 'But economists say that won’t present any problem for the sturdy US economy.', '“A lot of my peers are calling it higher-for-longer, but it’s really stronger-for-longer,” Mike Skordeles, head of US economics at Truist Advisory Services, told CNN.', 'US gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, registered at a strong 3.2% annualized rate in the fourth quarter.', 'That was after a gangbusters 4.9% rate in the prior three-month period.', 'The Atlanta Fed is currently projecting that the economy expanded at a 2.1% rate in the first three months of 2024.', 'Fed officials estimate that growth in 2024 overall will hit 2.1%, then 2% in each of the following two years.', 'The job market, a key driver of growth, also remains on strong footing.', 'It’s seen a gradual, orderly slowdown from the red-hot pace in 2021, when the labor market ascended from pandemic depths, but unemployment remains low and payroll growth is still humming along.', 'Employers added 275,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate edged higher to 3.9% from 3.7%, but it has remained below 4% for more than two years.', 'Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs and often seen as the earliest indicator of any changes in the job market, remain at historically low levels.', 'Skordeles said the economy is expected to remain solid because of “better productivity than we had prior to the pandemic” and “structural changes in the workforce.”', 'But as rosy as the outlook may be, any unforeseen economic shock could derail growth and lead to a downturn.', 'One risk is the possibility that inflation’s descent does indeed stall.', '“We do believe that the recession risk has come down,” Stephanie Lang, chief investment officer at Homrich Berg, told CNN.“But the big wild card, of course, is if we get some surprise on the inflation data that the Fed and the market were not expecting.”', '“If that happens then the Fed will be more tilted toward fighting inflation, so they may be in a situation in which they keep rates restrictive for too long, causing economic growth to come down too far, leading to a recession,” she said.', 'Reddit, one of the original social media companies,finally made its debuton the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday — more than a decade after many of its peers, reports my colleague Clare Duffy.', 'Trading under the ticker “RDDT,” shares started trading at $47 and reached a high of $57.80 early Thursday afternoon, up as much as 70% from its initial price offering of $34.', 'At its peak, shares of the stock had a market cap of about $10.9 billion.', 'It’s a major milestone for the nearly 20-year-old company, something Reddit has been preparing for since at least 2021, when it hired its first chief financial officer.', 'It also marks the first social media company to go public in years, and its performance could be a signpost for other companies considering IPOs.', 'Reddit entered itssecond official day of tradingon Friday with a downward adjustment — shares were down about 8.5% after springing 48% higher following its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.', 'Read more here.', 'Monday: The Chicago Fed releases its National Activity Index for February.', 'The US Commerce Department releases February data on sales of new single-family homes.', 'Fed Governor Lisa Cook delivers remarks.', 'Tuesday: Earnings from McCormick and GameStop.', 'The US Commerce Department releases February figures on new orders for durable goods.', 'S&P Global releases its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for January.', 'The Conference Board releases its consumer survey for March.', 'Wednesday: Fed Governor Christopher Waller delivers remarks.', 'Thursday: Earnings from Walgreens Boots Alliance.', 'The US Commerce Department releases its final estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product.', 'The US Labor Department reports the number of new applications for unemployment benefits in the week ended March 23.', 'The University of Michigan releases its final reading of consumer sentiment in March.', 'The National Association of Realtors reports February home sales based on contract signings.', 'Friday: US markets are closed in observance of Good Friday.', 'The US Commerce Department releases February data on household spending, income and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.', 'Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivers remarks.']",0.0794072922599032,"Corporate earnings have been robust, the stock market continues to break record after record and America might be in the thick of a productivity boom that could boost growth without stoking inflation.",But economists say that won’t present any problem for the sturdy US economy.,0.5242843580245972,Skordeles said the economy is expected to remain solid because of “better productivity than we had prior to the pandemic” and “structural changes in the workforce.”,Reddit entered itssecond official day of tradingon Friday with a downward adjustment — shares were down about 8.5% after springing 48% higher following its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.,2024-03-26
Key takeaways from the Fed’s rate decision and Powell’s press conference,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/20/economy/what-to-expect-from-the-fed-meeting/index.html,"
  Updated
        10:04 PM EDT, Wed March 20, 2024
    ","The Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady Wednesday for the fifth consecutive meeting, as the central bank awaits more data to determine when to cut rates.
    
            The Fed has raised rates aggressively over the past two years in a bid to fight the highest inflation in decades. But while Americans continue to deal with high interest rates and inflation, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is still not ready to lower borrowing costs just yet.
    
            Wall Street is betting that the first rate cut will come in the summer.
    
            Fed officials are facing the difficult task of balancing the risk of cutting too soon with the risk of cutting too late — both of which come with consequences. That’s why the timing of that first rate cut is so critical, because it could either undo the progress the Fed has seen, if officials cut too soon, or it could fail to prevent the economy from sharply deteriorating, if officials cut too late.
    
            Fed officials also released a fresh set of economic projections Wednesday. They show that central bank officials now expect fewer rate cuts in the coming years than they estimated in December. A majority of Fed policymakers continue to expect three rate cuts this year, but they now see fewer in 2025 and 2026. They expect interest rates in the longer run to be slightly higher than they projected in December.
    
            Economic growth is also expected to be much higher this year than officials estimated.
    
            Officials also reflected in their latest estimates that they expect “core” inflation, a measure that strips out volatile food and energy prices, to be higher this year than previously thought.
    
            US stocks broadly soared to new highs Wednesday, with the S&P 500 topping the 5,200 level for the first time ever, closing 0.9% higher. The blue-chip Dow also reached a new record, up 401 points, or 1%, at 39,511.34; and the tech-heavy Nasdaq hit 16,369.41, also a new high.
    
            Here are some key takeways from the Fed’s latest decision.
    
            Powell said “we continue to make good progress in bringing inflation down,” but it has become evident there are some persistent price pressures in housing and the services sector.
    
            That could be worrisome for the Fed as it faces the final stretch of its historic inflation fight. Rising shelter costs and a sharp climb in gas prices pushed up consumer prices in February, according to the latest Consumer Price Index.
    
            The Fed chief repeated his usual phrase that inflation’s journey back down to 2% will be a bumpy one.
    
            “We’ve got nine months of 2.5% inflation, now we’ve had two months of kind of bumpy inflation,” Powell said Wednesday in a post-meeting press conference. “Now, there were some bumps and the question is, are they more than bumps? And we can’t know that, that’s why we are approaching this question carefully.”
    
            Economists like to look at data over several months to strip out any “noise,” or month-to-month fluctuations, and make sense of any durable trends. That’s how the Fed is approaching the current situation with inflation; waiting for more data to know if inflation has indeed stalled. Powell added there might have also been some “seasonal effects” that skewed data for January.
    
            Asked about the role of rising shelter costs in pushing up inflation, Powell said there is “some confidence that the lower market rents we’re seeing will show up over time, but there’s a little bit of uncertainty about when that will happen.”
    
            Chair Powell laid out the risks of cutting too soon versus cutting too late, explaining that the Fed is still in wait-and-see mode because there simply isn’t any urgency to cut rates.
    
            “It is consequential,” Powell said. “Fortunately, with the economy growing, with the labor market strong and inflation coming down, we can approach that question carefully and let the data speak on that.”
    
            Powell said officials want to “feel more confident” inflation is headed toward the central bank’s 2% target. Wednesday’s policy statement also made that clear.
    
            “The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the targetrange until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent,” it said.
    
            America’s economy remains solid by many measures and in Powell’s own view.
    
            “The economy is strong, the labor market is strong and inflation has come way down,” he said.
    
            Economic growth in the first quarter is expected to register at a healthy 2.1% annualized rate, according to the Atlanta Fed’s latest projection, following two straight quarters of growth above a robust 3%.
    
            The job market is still humming along, with employers continuing to add jobs at a brisk pace while unemployment remains low. The jobless rate edged higher in February, to 3.9% from 3.7%, but it has remained below 4% for more than two years.
    
            Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, recently told CNN that “it doesn’t look like the economy is anywhere close to a recession.”
    
            If the job market does weaken more than expected in the coming months, that could change the path of monetary policy.
    
            “If you look historically, we’re high. And the longer we stay at that — if inflation continues falling — we’re going to have to start thinking about the employment side of the mandate,” Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told CNBC earlier this month.
    
             It’s also possible that the US economy’s persistent strength could be standing in the way of any further improvement on the inflation front. Officials also consider the role of productivity when assessing growth, which boomed last year.
    
            Consumer spending also remains healthy, but it has cooled down from the red-hot pace in the summer. Spending fell sharply in January, mostly due to the unseasonably cold weather, but the Commerce Department’s latest report on retail spending showed that there was a rebound in February. Broader figures on consumer spending in February are due later this month.",CNN,20/03/2024,"['TheFederal Reserveheld its key interest rate steady Wednesday for the fifth consecutive meeting, as the central bank awaits more data to determine when to cutrates.', 'TheFedhas raisedratesaggressively over the past two years in a bid to fight the highestinflationin decades.', 'But while Americans continue to deal with high interestratesandinflation,FedChair Jerome Powell said the central bank is still not ready to lower borrowing costs just yet.', 'Wall Street is betting that the first rate cut will come in the summer.', 'Fedofficials are facing the difficult task of balancing the risk of cutting too soon with the risk of cutting too late — both of which come with consequences.', 'That’s why the timing of that first rate cut is so critical, because it could either undo the progress theFedhas seen, if officials cut too soon, or it could fail to prevent theeconomyfrom sharply deteriorating, if officials cut too late.', 'Fedofficials also released a fresh set of economic projections Wednesday.', 'They show that central bank officials now expect fewer rate cuts in the coming years than they estimated in December.', 'A majority ofFedpolicymakers continue to expect three rate cuts this year, but they now see fewer in 2025 and 2026.', 'They expect interestratesin the longer run to be slightly higher than they projected in December.', 'Economic growth is also expected to be much higher this year than officials estimated.', 'Officials also reflected in their latest estimates that they expect “core”inflation, a measure that strips out volatile food and energy prices, to be higher this year than previously thought.', 'US stocks broadly soared to new highs Wednesday, with the S&P 500 topping the 5,200 level for the first time ever, closing 0.9% higher.', 'The blue-chip Dow also reached a new record, up 401 points, or 1%, at 39,511.34; and the tech-heavy Nasdaq hit 16,369.41, also a new high.', 'Here are some key takeways from the Fed’s latest decision.', 'Powell said “we continue to make good progress in bringing inflation down,” but it has become evident there are some persistent price pressures inhousingand the services sector.', 'That could be worrisome for theFedas it faces the final stretch of its historicinflationfight.', 'Rising shelter costs and a sharp climb in gas prices pushed up consumer prices in February, according to the latest Consumer Price Index.', 'The Fed chief repeated his usual phrase that inflation’s journey back down to 2% will be a bumpy one.', '“We’ve got nine months of 2.5% inflation, now we’ve had two months of kind of bumpy inflation,” Powell said Wednesday in a post-meeting press conference. “', 'Now, there were some bumps and the question is, are they more than bumps?', 'And we can’t know that, that’s why we are approaching this question carefully.”', 'Economists like to look at data over several months to strip out any “noise,” or month-to-month fluctuations, and make sense of any durable trends.', 'That’s how the Fed is approaching the current situation with inflation; waiting for more data to know if inflation has indeed stalled.', 'Powell added there might have also been some “seasonal effects” that skewed data for January.', 'Asked about the role of rising shelter costs in pushing up inflation, Powell said there is “some confidence that the lower market rents we’re seeing will show up over time, but there’s a little bit of uncertainty about when that will happen.”', 'Chair Powell laid out the risks of cutting too soon versus cutting too late, explaining that the Fed is still in wait-and-see mode because there simply isn’t any urgency to cut rates.', '“It is consequential,” Powell said. “', 'Fortunately, with the economy growing, with the labor market strong and inflation coming down, we can approach that question carefully and let the data speak on that.”', 'Powell said officials want to “feel more confident” inflation is headed toward the central bank’s 2% target.', 'Wednesday’s policy statement also made that clear.', '“The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the targetrange until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent,” it said.', 'America’seconomyremains solid by many measures and in Powell’s own view.', '“The economy is strong, the labor market is strong and inflation has come way down,” he said.', 'Economic growth in the first quarter is expected to register at a healthy 2.1% annualized rate, according to the AtlantaFed’s latest projection, following two straight quarters of growth above a robust 3%.', 'The job market is still humming along, with employers continuing to addjobsat a brisk pace whileunemploymentremains low.', 'The jobless rate edged higher in February, to 3.9% from 3.7%, but it has remained below 4% for more than two years.', 'Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, recently told CNN that “it doesn’t look like the economy is anywhere close to a recession.”', 'If the job market does weaken more than expected in the coming months, that could change the path of monetary policy.', '“If you look historically, we’re high.', 'And the longer we stay at that — ifinflationcontinues falling — we’re going to have to start thinking about theemploymentside of the mandate,” ChicagoFedPresident Austan Goolsbee told CNBC earlier this month.', 'It’s also possible that the USeconomy’s persistent strength could be standing in the way of any further improvement on theinflationfront.', 'Officials also consider the role of productivity when assessing growth, which boomed last year.', 'Consumer spending also remains healthy, but it has cooled down from the red-hot pace in the summer.', 'Spending fell sharply in January, mostly due to the unseasonably cold weather, but the Commerce Department’s latest report on retail spending showed that there was a rebound in February.', 'Broader figures on consumer spending in February are due later this month.']",0.0667650248841427,"Economic growth in the first quarter is expected to register at a healthy 2.1% annualized rate, according to the AtlantaFed’s latest projection, following two straight quarters of growth above a robust 3%.","That’s why the timing of that first rate cut is so critical, because it could either undo the progress theFedhas seen, if officials cut too soon, or it could fail to prevent theeconomyfrom sharply deteriorating, if officials cut too late.",0.4728723029295603,"Economic growth in the first quarter is expected to register at a healthy 2.1% annualized rate, according to the AtlantaFed’s latest projection, following two straight quarters of growth above a robust 3%.","If the job market does weaken more than expected in the coming months, that could change the path of monetary policy.",2024-03-26
Fisker shares halted as EV company navigates uncertain future,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/cars/fisker-shares-halted-ev-company-uncertain-future/index.html,"
  Updated
        5:34 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Shares of Fisker, a California-based electric vehicle startup, were halted Monday. This comes after the company warned, in an earnings report in March, that it might not have enough cash to survive the year.
    
            Later in the day, the New York Stock Exchange announced it planned to delist Fisker’s stock due to “abnormally low” price levels. That delisting will mean the company must offer to buy back bonds that are currently due in 2026 and to immediately pay off other debts due in 2025, according to a filing the company made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
    
            “We do not currently have sufficient cash reserves or financing sources sufficient to satisfy all amounts due under the 2026 Notes or the 2025 Notes, and as a result, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition,” Fisker said in its filing.
    
            Fisker’s shares traded for as much as $28 in February of 2021, valuing the company at just under $8 billion, but its shares now currently trade for less than 10 cents per share, reducing the EV car maker’s total market capitalization to less than $50 million
    
            Fisker had also previously said it was in talks with a major, established automaker but, those talks have fallen apart without a deal, according to a regulatory filing Fisker made Monday. The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.
    
            Reuters had reported it was in talks with Nissan, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions. Those talks centered on Fisker’s planned electric pickup, the Alaska, according to the report.
    
            Fisker was founded by its chief executive officer, auto designer Henrik Fisker, in 2016. Its sole product, the Fisker Ocean electric SUV, was produced in Austria under contract by third-party manufacturer Magna Steyr. Last year, 10,000 SUVs were produced but, in its earnings report, the company said only about half had been delivered to customers.
    
            Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.
    
            Fisker had also announced plans to produce a small, affordable EV called the Pear. Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio. Those talks never came to fruition.
    
            And more bad news has been mounting for the company recently. The Ocean was the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube tech personality Marques Brownlee. The video was titled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”
    
            “Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description. Brownlee’s video has racked up more than 4.5 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.
    
            Consumer Reports also recently published its own review of the Ocean panning its ride quality and software although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.
    
            Henrik Fisker admitted, in an interview with the industry newspaper Automotive News, that the Ocean had quality problems. He blamed the issues on software from various suppliers that worked poorly together. He said the problems were being addressed through software updates.
    
            But, besides its own quality issues, Fisker had to deal with much greater competition from established automakers than had existed when the company was established. Now, besides Tesla, companies like Hyundai, Kia, Ford and General Motors offer electric SUVs that are substantially similar to the Ocean and without the risks of dealing with an unknown startup.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Shares of Fisker, a California-based electric vehicle startup, were halted Monday.', 'This comes after the company warned, in an earnings report in March, that it might not have enough cash to survive the year.', 'Later in the day, the New York Stock Exchange announced it planned to delist Fisker’s stock due to “abnormally low” price levels.', 'That delisting will mean the company must offer to buy back bonds that are currently due in 2026 and to immediately pay off other debts due in 2025, according to a filing the company made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.', '“We do not currently have sufficient cash reserves or financing sources sufficient to satisfy all amounts due under the 2026 Notes or the 2025 Notes, and as a result, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition,” Fisker said in its filing.', 'Fisker’s shares traded for as much as $28 in February of 2021, valuing the company at just under $8 billion, but its shares now currently trade for less than 10 cents per share, reducing the EV car maker’s total market capitalization to less than $50 million  Fisker had also previously said it was in talks with a major, established automaker but, those talks have fallen apart without a deal, according to a regulatory filing Fisker made Monday.', 'The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.', 'Reuters had reported it was in talks with Nissan, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions.', 'Those talks centered on Fisker’s planned electric pickup, the Alaska, according to the report.', 'Fisker was founded by its chief executive officer, auto designer Henrik Fisker, in 2016.', 'Its sole product, the Fisker Ocean electric SUV, was produced in Austria under contract by third-party manufacturer Magna Steyr.', 'Last year, 10,000 SUVs were produced but, in its earnings report, the company said only about half had been delivered to customers.', 'Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.', 'Fisker had also announced plans to produce a small, affordable EV called the Pear.', 'Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio.', 'Those talks never came to fruition.', 'And more bad news has been mounting for the company recently.', 'The Ocean was the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube tech personality Marques Brownlee.', 'The video wastitled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”', '“Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description.', 'Brownlee’s video has racked up more than 4.5 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.', 'Consumer Reports also recently published its own review of the Ocean panning its ride quality and software although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.', 'Henrik Fisker admitted, in an interview with the industry newspaper Automotive News, that the Ocean had quality problems.', 'He blamed the issues on software from various suppliers that worked poorly together.', 'He said the problems were being addressed through software updates.', 'But, besides its own quality issues, Fisker had to deal with much greater competition from established automakers than had existed when the company was established.', 'Now, besides Tesla, companies like Hyundai, Kia, Ford and General Motors offer electric SUVs that are substantially similar to the Ocean and without the risks of dealing with an unknown startup.']",-0.030175502610655,"Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio.","The video wastitled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”",-0.7807632522149519,"Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.",The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.,2024-03-26
Trader Joe’s just increased the price of a banana for the first time in more than 20 years,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/trader-joes-banana-price-increase/index.html,"
  Published
        4:11 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Food prices have gone a bit bananas — and that includes a famously priced 19-cent fruit at Trader Joe’s.
    
            The snack-heavy grocer told CNN on Monday that it recently increased the price of the banana to 23 cents, a more than 20% increase.
    
            “We only change our prices when our costs change, and after holding our price for Bananas at 19¢ each for more than two decades, we’ve now reached a point where this change is necessary,” a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said to CNN.
    
            Stores have carved out loyal fanbases and distinguished themselves from competition by sticking to low-cost deals that become synonymous to the brand (think Costco’s $1.50 hot dog). Though overall food inflation hasn’t been rising as fast as it has been, Americans are still seeing the effects in the grocery store.
    
            The 19-cent banana is a well-known deal at Trader Joe’s — so much so that it’s ranked as the favorite piece of produce by the company’s customers.
    
            Bananas have managed to remain affordable for most Americans. Demand in recent years for bananas in the US has been driven primarily by the fruit’s affordability, according to a 2023 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The report also noted that prices at the retail level remained mostly unchanged in 2023. That’s because of fierce grocery store competition and bananas’ role as a loss leader, or an item that is purposefully priced lower to attract customers and encourage them to buy more expensive products.
    
            The average price of bananas in the US has remained steady from February 2023 to February 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at 62 to 64 cents a pound throughout the year.
    
            However, CBS News reported that experts from the World Banana Forum in March warned that climate change and rising temperatures can drive up banana prices.
    
            Trader Joe’s noted it has been able to lower prices for some of its other produce, such as raw almonds, romaine hearts, organic tri-color bell peppers, and green onions.
    
            In the first episode of the “Inside Trader Joe’s” podcast, former CEO Dan Bane said when the stores used to sell them by the pound, he asked an older customer why she didn’t take a bag of bananas after browsing through them.
    
            “She says to me, ‘Sonny… I may not live to that fourth banana.’ And so we decided the next day we were going to sell individual bananas. And they’ve been 19 cents ever since,” Bane said.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Food prices have gone a bit bananas — and that includes a famously priced 19-cent fruit at Trader Joe’s.', 'The snack-heavy grocer told CNN on Monday that it recently increased the price of the banana to 23 cents, a more than 20% increase.', '“We only change our prices when our costs change, and after holding our price for Bananas at 19¢ each for more than two decades, we’ve now reached a point where this change is necessary,” a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said to CNN.', 'Stores have carved out loyal fanbases and distinguished themselves from competition by sticking to low-cost deals that become synonymous to the brand (think Costco’s $1.50 hot dog).', 'Though overall food inflation hasn’t been rising as fast as it has been, Americans are still seeing the effects in the grocery store.', 'The 19-cent banana is a well-known deal at Trader Joe’s — so much so that it’s ranked as the favorite piece of produce by the company’s customers.', 'Bananas have managed to remain affordable for most Americans.', 'Demand in recent years for bananas in the US has been driven primarily by the fruit’s affordability, according to a 2023 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.', 'The report also noted that prices at the retail level remained mostly unchanged in 2023.', 'That’s because of fierce grocery store competition and bananas’ role as a loss leader, or an item that is purposefully priced lower to attract customers and encourage them to buy more expensive products.', 'The average price of bananas in the US has remained steady from February 2023 to February 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at 62 to 64 cents a pound throughout the year.', 'However, CBS News reported that experts from the World Banana Forum in March warned that climate change and rising temperatures can drive up banana prices.', 'Trader Joe’s noted it has been able to lower prices for some of its other produce, such as raw almonds, romaine hearts, organic tri-color bell peppers, and green onions.', 'In the first episode of the “Inside Trader Joe’s” podcast, former CEO Dan Bane said when the stores used to sell them by the pound, he asked an older customer why she didn’t take a bag of bananas after browsing through them.', '“She says to me, ‘Sonny… I may not live to that fourth banana.’', 'And so we decided the next day we were going to sell individual bananas.', 'And they’ve been 19 cents ever since,” Bane said.']",0.0924481704671553,The 19-cent banana is a well-known deal at Trader Joe’s — so much so that it’s ranked as the favorite piece of produce by the company’s customers.,"Trader Joe’s noted it has been able to lower prices for some of its other produce, such as raw almonds, romaine hearts, organic tri-color bell peppers, and green onions.",0.4031878818165172,"Trader Joe’s noted it has been able to lower prices for some of its other produce, such as raw almonds, romaine hearts, organic tri-color bell peppers, and green onions.","However, CBS News reported that experts from the World Banana Forum in March warned that climate change and rising temperatures can drive up banana prices.",2024-03-26
Why lab-grown diamond sales are surging,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/27/business/diamonds-manmade-demand/index.html,"
  Published
        7:49 AM EDT, Wed April 27, 2022
    ","It’s proposal season, and engagements are on the rise. So are factory-made diamond sales.
    
            Not that you’d know the difference. Man-made diamonds look the same as naturally occurring ones. The only noticeable difference is the price tag.
    
            “The result is really stunning,” said Edahn Golan, an independent diamond industry analyst.
    
            He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.
    
            Going back by another month, to February, the data showed the number of rings sold with lab diamonds that month surged even more, to 80% compared to a year earlier while the number fell by 13% for natural diamond engagement rings. 
    
            “The big fear in the natural diamonds industry is that consumers will start accepting lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings,” he said. Too late. “It’s actually happening.” 
    
            Why are consumers flocking to man-made diamonds? Cost is the most obvious reason. The average retail price of the most popular one carat round man-made diamond for an engagement ring in March was $2,318, Golan said.
    
            “This is substantially less – as much as 73% cheaper – than a natural diamond of the same size, cut and clarity as the man-made diamond, which would cost $8,740,” he said. Plus, the lower cost allows couples to buy a bigger stone.
    
            “A lab diamond is a real diamond, but maybe it took a few weeks to make it,” said Golan. “Natural diamonds were formed over 800 million to three billion years and there isn’t an infinite supply of them.” 
    
            This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.
    
            The sanctions directly target Alrosa, partly owned by the Russian government, which the US government identified as the world’s largest diamond mining company, accounting for 28% of global diamond output.
    
            Man-made diamonds are also becoming popular as consumers are more aware and educated about them, said Dan Moran, a third-generation diamond expert and owner of LA-based fine jeweler Concierge Diamonds. Moran said the typical buyer of man-made diamonds is typically younger than 40 and very budget conscious.
    
            Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.
    
            Among Millennials and Gen Z, their eco-conscious mindset and ethical concerns about natural diamond sourcing is another factor influencing their preference for non-traditional engagement rings, according to a report from wedding planning website The Knot.
    
            Although its slice is growing, the market share for man-made diamonds remains relatively small.
    
            Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan. 
    
            Some major jewelry retailers are driving the effort to take man-made diamonds mainstream. In 2021, the world’s largest jewelry company, Pandora
            
                (PANDY), made a major shift by announcing it would stop using mined diamonds and would swap to lab-created diamonds in its jewelry. 
    
            Pandora said it’s instituting the change as part of an effort to sell sustainable jewelry, and also because consumers increasingly are asking for it.
    
            Signet,
            
                (SIG) the largest jewelry company in the United States (which owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared chains) called out the popularity of lab diamond jewelry in its March earnings call with analysts.
    
            Calling it a “fast-growing category” in its jewelry portfolio, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos told analysts that lab-created diamonds are among the big jewelry trends she expects this year. 
    
            The company said it has expanded its man-made bridal jewelry selection in both its Zales and Kay Jewelers stores in response to the increased demand. 
    
            Fine jewelry brand Charles and Colvard, which makes lab-created diamonds, said consumers don’t just want to look good with the jewelry they are wearing, they also want to feel good about it.
    
            “As the momentum for conscious consumerism grows, the surge towards lab grown diamonds isn’t surprising,” said Don O’Connell, president and CEO of Charles & Colvard. “[Consumers] want to know the origins of their stones and be reassured they’re conflict-free. They’re embracing the choice to purchase a piece of fine jewelry that aligns with their values.”
    
            Lab-grown diamond brand VRAI said the pandemic, too, has sparked attention and action toward social and environmental issues. It said consumers are being more thoughtful and reassessing their purchasing habits, as well as the companies and industries they are supporting.
    
            There is, however, one important consideration for anyone buying lab-created diamonds: Man-made diamonds have little resale value. 
    
            So while you may not be able to tell a natural diamond from a factory made variety, someone with a trained eye can, said Golan. Once a stone is identified as a factory diamond, even though you paid a lot less for it, you also won’t get much for it. 
    
            But the value of a ring isn’t just monetary.
    
            “As a professional in the industry, I am asked all the time by people about what I think about a ring they have,” said Moran, of Concierge Jewelers. “I always say, if you love it, be happy with it. An engagement ring is a symbol of commitment and enduring love.”",CNN,27/04/2022,"['It’s proposal season, and engagements are on the rise.', 'So are factory-made diamond sales.', 'Not that you’d know the difference.', 'Man-made diamonds look the same as naturally occurring ones.', 'The only noticeable difference is the price tag.', '“The result is really stunning,” said Edahn Golan, an independent diamond industry analyst.', 'He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.', 'Going back by another month, to February, the data showed the number of rings sold with lab diamonds that month surged even more, to 80% compared to a year earlier while the number fell by 13% for natural diamond engagement rings.', '“The big fear in the natural diamonds industry is that consumers will start accepting lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings,” he said.', 'Too late. “', 'It’s actually happening.”', 'Why are consumers flocking to man-made diamonds?', 'Cost is the most obvious reason.', 'The average retail price of the most popular one carat round man-made diamond for an engagement ring in March was $2,318, Golan said.', '“This is substantially less – as much as 73% cheaper – than a natural diamond of the same size, cut and clarity as the man-made diamond, which would cost $8,740,” he said.', 'Plus, the lower cost allows couples to buy a bigger stone.', '“A lab diamond is a real diamond, but maybe it took a few weeks to make it,” said Golan. “', 'Natural diamonds were formed over 800 million to three billion years and there isn’t an infinite supply of them.”', 'This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.', 'The sanctions directly target Alrosa, partly owned by the Russian government, which the US government identified as the world’s largest diamond mining company, accounting for 28% of global diamond output.', 'Man-made diamonds are also becoming popular as consumers are more aware and educated about them, said Dan Moran, a third-generation diamond expert and owner of LA-based fine jeweler Concierge Diamonds.', 'Moran said the typical buyer of man-made diamonds is typically younger than 40 and very budget conscious.', 'Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.', 'Among Millennials and Gen Z, their eco-conscious mindset and ethical concerns about natural diamond sourcing is another factor influencing their preference for non-traditional engagement rings, according to a report from wedding planning website The Knot.', 'Although its slice is growing, the market share for man-made diamonds remains relatively small.', 'Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan.', 'Some major jewelry retailers are driving the effort to take man-made diamonds mainstream.', 'In 2021, the world’s largest jewelry company, Pandora  (PANDY), made a major shift by announcing it would stop using mined diamonds and would swap to lab-created diamonds in its jewelry.', 'Pandora said it’s instituting the change as part of an effort to sell sustainable jewelry, and also because consumers increasingly are asking for it.', 'Signet,  (SIG) the largest jewelry company in the United States (which owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared chains) called out the popularity of lab diamond jewelry in its March earnings call with analysts.', 'Calling it a “fast-growing category” in its jewelry portfolio, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos told analysts that lab-created diamonds are among the big jewelry trends she expects this year.', 'The company said it has expanded its man-made bridal jewelry selection in both its Zales and Kay Jewelers stores in response to the increased demand.', 'Fine jewelry brand Charles and Colvard, which makes lab-created diamonds, said consumers don’t just want to look good with the jewelry they are wearing, they also want to feel good about it.', '“As the momentum for conscious consumerism grows, the surge towards lab grown diamonds isn’t surprising,” said Don O’Connell, president and CEO of Charles & Colvard. “[', 'Consumers] want to know the origins of their stones and be reassured they’re conflict-free.', 'They’re embracing the choice to purchase a piece of fine jewelry that aligns with their values.”', 'Lab-grown diamond brand VRAI said the pandemic, too, has sparked attention and action toward social and environmental issues.', 'It said consumers are being more thoughtful and reassessing their purchasing habits, as well as the companies and industries they are supporting.', 'There is, however, one important consideration for anyone buying lab-created diamonds: Man-made diamonds have little resale value.', 'So while you may not be able to tell a natural diamond from a factory made variety, someone with a trained eye can, said Golan.', 'Once a stone is identified as a factory diamond, even though you paid a lot less for it, you also won’t get much for it.', 'But the value of a ring isn’t just monetary.', '“As a professional in the industry, I am asked all the time by people about what I think about a ring they have,” said Moran, of Concierge Jewelers. “', 'I always say, if you love it, be happy with it.', 'An engagement ring is a symbol of commitment and enduring love.”']",0.3714494325159568,"He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.",Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.,0.8542834222316742,"Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan.","This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.",2024-03-26
"Self-proclaimed bitcoin inventor is not ‘Satoshi Nakamoto,’ UK judge rules",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/14/tech/uk-bitcoin-not-satoshi-nakamoto-hnk-intl/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:34 AM EDT, Fri March 15, 2024
    ","London — An Australian computer scientist who claims he invented bitcoin is not “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonymous inventor of the cryptocurrency, a judge at London’s High Court ruled on Thursday.
    
            Craig Wright has long claimed to have been the author of a 2008 white paper, the foundational text of bitcoin, published under the pseudonym.
    
            The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) took Wright to court to stop him suing bitcoin developers, asking for a ruling that Wright was not Satoshi.
    
            Judge James Mellor said at the end of closing arguments on Thursday that the evidence Wright was not Satoshi was “overwhelming.”
    
            “Dr Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper,” Mellor said. “Dr Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011.”
    
            COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block (SQ), said the ruling was “a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth.”
    
            “For over eight years, Dr Wright and his financial backers have lied about his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto and used that lie to bully and intimidate developers in the bitcoin community,” a COPA spokesperson said in a statement.
    
            “That ends today with the court’s ruling that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto.”
    
            A spokesperson for Wright said he was “not prepared to speak to anyone at this time.”
    
            COPA had accused Wright of repeatedly forging documents to substantiate his claim, including during the trial itself, which Wright denied when he gave evidence.
    
            Its lawyer, Jonathan Hough, said at the start of the trial in February that Wright’s claim was “a brazen lie, an elaborate false narrative supported by forgery on an industrial scale.”
    
            Hough said that “there are elements of Dr Wright’s conduct that stray into farce,” citing his alleged use of ChatGPT to produce forgeries.
    
            But he added: “Dr Wright’s conduct is also deadly serious. On the basis of his dishonest claim to be Satoshi, he has pursued claims he puts at hundreds of billions of dollars, including against numerous private individuals.”
    
            Wright’s lawyers, however, argued in court filings that he had produced “clear evidence demonstrating his authorship of the white paper and creation of bitcoin.”
    
            In their closing arguments, COPA’s lawyers asked Mellor to refer the case to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service “for consideration of prosecution for the offenses of perjury and perverting the course of justice.”
    
            Mellor did not indicate whether or not he would do so.",CNN,15/03/2024,"['London — An Australian computer scientist who claims he invented bitcoin is not “SatoshiNakamoto,” the pseudonymous inventor of the cryptocurrency, a judge at London’s High Court ruled on Thursday.', 'Craig Wright has long claimed to have been the author of a 2008 white paper, the foundational text of bitcoin, published under the pseudonym.', 'The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA)took Wright to courtto stop him suing bitcoin developers, asking for a ruling that Wright was notSatoshi.', 'Judge James Mellor said at the end of closing arguments on Thursday that the evidence Wright was notSatoshiwas “overwhelming.”', '“Dr Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper,” Mellor said. “', 'Dr Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonymSatoshiNakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011.”', 'COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block(SQ), said the ruling was “a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth.”', '“For over eight years, Dr Wright and his financial backers have lied about his identity asSatoshiNakamoto and used that lie to bully and intimidate developers in the bitcoin community,” a COPA spokesperson said in a statement.', '“That ends today with the court’s ruling that Craig Wright is notSatoshiNakamoto.”', 'A spokesperson for Wright said he was “not prepared to speak to anyone at this time.”', 'COPA had accused Wright of repeatedly forging documents to substantiate his claim, including during the trial itself, which Wright denied whenhe gave evidence.', 'Its lawyer, Jonathan Hough, said at the start of the trial in February that Wright’s claim was “a brazen lie, an elaborate false narrative supported by forgery on an industrial scale.”', 'Hough said that “there are elements of Dr Wright’s conduct that stray into farce,” citing his alleged use of ChatGPT to produce forgeries.', 'But he added: “Dr Wright’s conduct is also deadly serious.', 'On the basis of his dishonest claim to beSatoshi, he has pursued claims he puts at hundreds of billions of dollars, including against numerous private individuals.”', 'Wright’s lawyers, however, argued in court filings that he had produced “clear evidence demonstrating his authorship of the white paper and creation of bitcoin.”', 'In their closing arguments, COPA’s lawyers asked Mellor to refer the case to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service “for consideration of prosecution for the offenses of perjury and perverting the course of justice.”', 'Mellor did not indicate whether or not he would do so.']",-0.1734526306101531,"COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block(SQ), said the ruling was “a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth.”","In their closing arguments, COPA’s lawyers asked Mellor to refer the case to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service “for consideration of prosecution for the offenses of perjury and perverting the course of justice.”",-0.2548577586809794,"COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block(SQ), said the ruling was “a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth.”",Judge James Mellor said at the end of closing arguments on Thursday that the evidence Wright was notSatoshiwas “overwhelming.”,2024-03-26
Rate cut in June or July? What matters is the Fed wants to get started,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:45 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Last week was the kind that investors dream about.
    
            Markets vaulted higher after the Federal Reserve policy meeting concluded on Wednesday — the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with two back-to-back record highs and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched three consecutive highs before breaking for the weekend.
    
            The S&P 500 knocked past the key threshold level of 5,200 and the Dow had its best week of the year.
    
            A lot of people made a lot of money.
    
            So where do we go from here?
    
            Before the Bell spoke with David Mericle, Goldman Sachs’ chief US economist, to discuss what exactly investors were celebrating, whether it can continue and why he thinks the chance of a recession are just about as low as they can be.
    
            This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
    
            Before the Bell: It’s an understatement to say that Wall Street was happy with the results of last week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting. Markets have rallied to new highs, and a global rally is underway. But the meeting left things exactly where they were. Is it possible that investors are celebrating a bit too hard, and could this rally soon lose momentum?
    
            David Mericle: I do think we learned something this week: The next few inflation prints don’t need to be amazing for [the Fed] to follow through on cutting rates in June. They stuck to that three-cut median in the dot plot despite raising their inflation forecast by two-tenths of a percentage point for this year. So our basic assumption is that [inflation data from] January and February will prove to be outliers and that, going forward, we will see inflation step back down to something like the pace that we were running at in the back half of last year.
    
            The message from the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] is that even if [inflation rates aren’t] as low as what we’re forecasting, there’s still a little bit of wiggle room to nevertheless deliver that June cut. The leadership seems to feel pretty strongly about not waiting indefinitely to get started. So markets didn’t really know exactly what we needed to see on inflation prior to this week, and now we found out that we need to see a little bit less. That’s positive information for markets.
    
            Markets still seem somewhat uncertain about whether the first rate hike will be in June or July.
    
            We still have three rounds of inflation reports ahead of us before June. It’s still three months off. Markets probably shouldn’t be pricing in anything with too much certainty at that horizon. But the meeting did have some impact on market pricing. [About 70% of investors now think a rate cut will occur in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.]
    
            Goldman Sachs is currently predicting a 15% chance of recession over the next 12 months, down from 35% last year. What’s the significance of that change?
    
            That was a meaningful change from 35% down to 15%. And the reason that we made that change was we felt we had sufficient evidence that two things that we worried about in real time had worked out.
    
            One was that the hard part of the inflation fight was over. Inflation expectations were back to normal, and the labor market had largely rebalanced to its pre-pandemic state without the unemployment rate going up. Seeing that happen made us more confident that the Fed wouldn’t be forced to cause a recession in order to get inflation down.
    
            The other thing was that we learned enough about the regional banking stress of last spring to not worry as much anymore.
    
            Once those two risks had passed, it’s not that there was no probability of recession. There’s always some — in late 2019 we thought the probability of recession was very low. It’s a good reminder that unexpected things like the pandemic can always surprise us. So we always want to make some allowance for that. The reason we say 15% risk is because that is roughly the historical unconditional average. So if you were just in a typical year and there was nothing particularly distinctive to worry about, we would say the recession risk was 15% over the next 12 months. But the reasons that we saw the recession probability as higher than usual I feel today are behind us.
    
            So a 15% recession rate is baseline for you, it will never go below that number?
    
            By looking back at recent history, we can think of it as how often when we weren’t in recession have we gone into recession over the next 12 months.
    
            Are we thinking about recession in the wrong way? Some economists say we’ve been in a rolling recession over the last few years. 
    
            I think the way we define recession, through the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, is a holistic approach that looks at many different sources of data. The way that we do this, looking at a variety of data, is a sensible way of doing it.
    
            Are we in an unprecedented economic environment right now? 
    
            There have been a lot of unprecedented things that have occurred over the last few years, but at this point, I think we are moving back into more familiar territory. We’re not there yet, obviously. But broadly we are gliding back to that pre-pandemic dynamic where we had a very strong labor market by historical standards but did not have an inflation problem. The key thing that’s different is that interest rates are likely to wind up meaningfully higher than they were last cycle. But if your historical memory stretches beyond last cycle, then where interest rates are likely to settle this time around doesn’t look unprecedented. Broadly, we seem to be heading back to somewhere pretty familiar — basically, where we left off.
    
            The Federal Aviation Administration warned Saturday its increased oversight of United Airlines — after a string of nearly a dozen incidents on flights this month — may mean the troubled airline will have to put some of its future plans on hold.
    
            “Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”
    
            The FAA also said it would initiate an evaluation of the company’s safety management and compliance, reported my colleague Samantha Delouya.
    
            The civil aviation authority’s stepped up oversight comes after a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon, missing an external panel on March 15.
    
            In a Friday memo, United told employees they would start seeing “more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”
    
            United said the FAA’s review would mean an “even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.”
    
            By as soon as May, more than 23 million US households risk being kicked off their internet plans or facing skyrocketing bills that force them to pay hundreds more per year to get online, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
    
            The looming disaster could affect nearly 1 in 5 households nationwide, or nearly 60 million Americans, going by Census Bureau population estimates.
    
            Such broad disruptions to internet access would affect people’s ability to do schoolwork, to seek and do jobs, to visit their doctors virtually or refill prescriptions online, or to connect to public services, widening the digital divide between have and have-nots and potentially leading to economic instability on a massive scale.
    
            The crisis is linked to a critical government program expected to run out of funding at the end of April. Known as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the benefit provides discounts on internet service valued at up to $30 per month to qualifying low-income households, or up to $75 per month for eligible recipients on tribal lands.
    
            Lawmakers have known for months about the approaching deadline. Yet Congress is nowhere close to approving the $6 billion that President Joe Biden says would renew the ACP and avert calamity for tens of millions of Americans.
    
            This past week, congressional leaders missed what advocates say was the last, best legislative opportunity for funding the ACP: The 11th-hour budget deal designed to avert a government shutdown. The bill text released this week includes no money for the program, heightening the odds of an emergency that will plunge millions into financial distress just months before the pivotal 2024 election.
    
            Now, with time running out for the ACP, the FCC has been forced to begin shutting down the program — halting new signups and warning users their benefits are about to be suspended.
    
            Read more here.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Last week was the kind that investors dream about.', 'Markets vaulted higher after the Federal Reserve policy meeting concluded on Wednesday — the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with two back-to-back record highs and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched three consecutive highs before breaking for the weekend.', 'The S&P 500 knocked past the key threshold level of 5,200 and the Dow had its best week of the year.', 'A lot of people made a lot of money.', 'So where do we go from here?', 'Before the Bell spoke with David Mericle, Goldman Sachs’ chief US economist, to discuss what exactly investors were celebrating, whether it can continue and why he thinks the chance of a recession are just about as low as they can be.', 'This interview has been edited for length and clarity.', 'Before the Bell: It’s an understatement to say that Wall Street was happy with the results of last week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting.', 'Markets have rallied to new highs, and a global rally is underway.', 'But the meeting left things exactly where they were.', 'Is it possible that investors are celebrating a bit too hard, and could this rally soon lose momentum?', 'David Mericle: I do think we learned something this week:The next few inflation prints don’t need to be amazing for [the Fed] to follow through on cutting rates in June.', 'They stuck to that three-cut median in the dot plot despite raising their inflation forecast by two-tenths of a percentage point for this year.', 'So our basic assumption is that [inflation data from] January and Februarywill prove to be outliers and that, going forward, we will see inflation step back down to something like the pace that we were running at in the back half of last year.', 'The message from the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] is that even if [inflation rates aren’t] as low as what we’re forecasting, there’s still a little bit of wiggle room to nevertheless deliver that June cut.', 'The leadership seems to feel pretty strongly about not waiting indefinitely to get started.', 'So markets didn’t really know exactly what we needed to see on inflation prior to this week, and now we found out that we need to see a little bit less.', 'That’s positive information for markets.', 'Markets still seem somewhat uncertain about whether the first rate hike will be in June or July.', 'We still have three rounds of inflation reports ahead of us before June.', 'It’s still three months off.', 'Markets probably shouldn’t be pricing in anything with too much certainty at that horizon.', 'But the meeting did have some impact on market pricing. [', 'About 70% of investors now think a rate cut will occur in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.]', 'Goldman Sachs is currently predicting a 15% chance of recession over the next 12 months, down from 35% last year.', 'What’s the significance of that change?', 'That was a meaningful change from 35% down to 15%.', 'And the reason that we made that change was we felt we had sufficient evidence that two things that we worried about in real time had worked out.', 'One was that the hard part of the inflation fight was over.', 'Inflation expectations were back to normal, and the labor market had largely rebalanced to its pre-pandemic state without the unemployment rate going up.', 'Seeing that happen made us more confident that the Fed wouldn’t be forced to cause a recession in order to get inflation down.', 'The other thing was that we learned enough about the regional banking stress of last spring to not worry as much anymore.', 'Once those two risks had passed, it’s not that there was no probability of recession.', 'There’s always some — in late 2019 we thought the probability of recession was very low.', 'It’s a good reminder that unexpected things like the pandemic can always surprise us.', 'So we always want to make some allowance for that.', 'The reason we say 15% risk is because that is roughly the historical unconditional average.', 'So if you were just in a typical year and there was nothing particularly distinctive to worry about, we would say the recession risk was 15% over the next 12 months.', 'But the reasons that we saw the recession probability as higher than usual I feel today are behind us.', 'So a 15% recession rate is baseline for you, it will never go below that number?', 'By looking back at recent history, we can think of it as how often when we weren’t in recession have we gone into recession over the next 12 months.', 'Are we thinking about recession in the wrong way?', 'Some economists say we’ve been in a rolling recession over the last few years.', 'I think the way we define recession, through the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, is a holistic approach that looks at many different sources of data.', 'The way that we do this, looking at a variety of data, is a sensible way of doing it.', 'Are we in an unprecedented economic environment right now?', 'There have been a lot of unprecedented things that have occurred over the last few years, but at this point, I think we are moving back into more familiar territory.', 'We’re not there yet, obviously.', 'But broadly we are gliding back to that pre-pandemic dynamic where we had a very strong labor market by historical standards but did not have an inflation problem.', 'The key thing that’s different is that interest rates are likely to wind up meaningfully higher than they were last cycle.', 'But if your historical memory stretches beyond last cycle, then where interest rates are likely to settle this time around doesn’t look unprecedented.', 'Broadly, we seem to be heading back to somewhere pretty familiar — basically, where we left off.', 'The Federal Aviation Administration warned Saturday its increased oversight of United Airlines — after a string of nearly a dozen incidents on flights this month — may mean the troubled airline will have to put some of its future plans on hold.', '“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “', 'Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”', 'The FAA also said it would initiate an evaluation of the company’s safety management and compliance, reported my colleague Samantha Delouya.', 'The civil aviation authority’s stepped up oversight comes after a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon,missing an external panelon March 15.', 'In a Friday memo,United told employeesthey would start seeing “more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”', 'United said the FAA’s review would mean an “even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.”', 'By as soon as May, more than 23 million US households risk being kicked off their internet plans or facing skyrocketing bills that force them to pay hundreds more per year to get online, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).', 'The looming disaster could affect nearly 1 in 5 households nationwide, or nearly 60 million Americans, going by Census Bureaupopulation estimates.', 'Such broad disruptions to internet access would affect people’s ability to do schoolwork, to seek and do jobs, to visit their doctorsvirtually or refill prescriptions online, or to connect to public services, widening the digital divide between have and have-nots and potentially leading to economic instability on a massive scale.', 'The crisis is linked to a critical government program expected to run out of funding at the end of April.', 'Known as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the benefit provides discounts on internet service valued at up to $30 per month to qualifying low-income households, or up to $75 per month for eligible recipients on tribal lands.', 'Lawmakers have known for months about the approaching deadline.', 'Yet Congress is nowhere close to approving the $6 billion that President Joe Biden says would renew the ACP and avert calamity for tens of millions of Americans.', 'This past week, congressional leaders missed what advocates say was the last, best legislative opportunity for funding the ACP: The 11th-hour budgetdealdesigned to avert a government shutdown.', 'The bill text released this week includes no money for the program, heightening the odds of an emergency that will plunge millions into financial distress just months before the pivotal 2024 election.', 'Now, with time running out for the ACP, the FCC has been forced to begin shutting down the program — halting new signups and warning users their benefits are about to be suspended.', 'Read more here.']",0.0103164220403079,"“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” an FAA spokesperson said in a statement. “","The bill text released this week includes no money for the program, heightening the odds of an emergency that will plunge millions into financial distress just months before the pivotal 2024 election.",0.069201061502099,"The S&P 500 knocked past the key threshold level of 5,200 and the Dow had its best week of the year.","Goldman Sachs is currently predicting a 15% chance of recession over the next 12 months, down from 35% last year.",2024-03-26
$800 million up for grabs in tonight’s Powerball drawing - and an even bigger Mega Millions jackpot is up Tuesday,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/powerball-jackpot-800-million-monday/index.html,"
  Updated
        6:11 AM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Lottery players have two opportunities to potentially strike it rich this week as the Powerball jackpot climbs to a colossal $800 million for Monday night’s drawing and Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot tops $1 billion.
    
            The Powerball jackpot was last won on January 1 by a ticket in Michigan with an estimated $842.4 million prize.
    
            If the prize is won Monday it would be the sixth-largest in the game’s history. A winner would have the option of receiving an estimated $800 million in annual payments or a lump sum payment of $384.8 million – both before taxes, according to Powerball.
    
            Monday night’s Powerball drawing will be held at 10:59 p.m. ET.
    
            There have been 35 consecutive Powerball drawings with no grand prize winner. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9, but the odds of snagging the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.
    
            If the odds aren’t in your favor during Monday’s Powerball drawing, you can try again with Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, when $1.1 billion will be up for grabs.
    
            The lottery crossed the billion-dollar mark after there were no grand prize winners in Friday’s drawing.
    
            If the jackpot is won Tuesday, it would be the fifth largest prize in the history of the game, according to Mega Millions.
    
            Tuesday’s drawing will happen at 11 p.m. ET.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Lottery players have two opportunities to potentially strike it rich this week as the Powerball jackpot climbs to a colossal $800 million for Monday night’s drawing and Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot tops $1 billion.', 'The Powerball jackpot was last won on January 1 by a ticket in Michigan with an estimated $842.4 million prize.', 'If the prize is won Monday it would be the sixth-largest in the game’s history.', 'A winner would have the option of receiving an estimated $800 million in annual payments or a lump sum payment of $384.8 million – both before taxes, according to Powerball.', 'Monday night’s Powerball drawing will be held at 10:59 p.m. ET.', 'There have been 35 consecutive Powerball drawings with no grand prize winner.', 'The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9, but the odds of snagging the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.', 'If the odds aren’t in your favor during Monday’s Powerball drawing, you can try again with Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, when $1.1 billion will be up for grabs.', 'The lottery crossed the billion-dollar mark after there were no grand prize winners in Friday’s drawing.', 'If the jackpot is won Tuesday, it would be the fifth largest prize in the history of the game, according to Mega Millions.', 'Tuesday’s drawing will happen at 11 p.m. ET.']",0.5778542669368817,Lottery players have two opportunities to potentially strike it rich this week as the Powerball jackpot climbs to a colossal $800 million for Monday night’s drawing and Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot tops $1 billion.,,0.9960877001285552,Lottery players have two opportunities to potentially strike it rich this week as the Powerball jackpot climbs to a colossal $800 million for Monday night’s drawing and Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot tops $1 billion.,,2024-03-26
Bilt’s March Rent Day promotion: Vote for your favorite benefit with the Bilt Bracket,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/bilt-rent-day-promotion,"
  Updated
        10:57 AM EST, Mon February 26, 2024
    ","The relatively new Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees) has been incredibly popular since its inception. With a top-notch loyalty program and the opportunity to earn points on rent with absolutely no transaction fees (up to 100,000 points per calendar year), it’s no surprise to see the card flourish over the past few years.
    
            And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards — the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard — also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.
    
            With Bilt’s Rent Day promotion — which runs the first of every month — all card members have the opportunity to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent) as well as take advantage of their unique offer for the month. Bilt typically announces their promotions just a few days prior to Rent Day, and it’s something you’ll want to pay attention to.
    
            Bilt Rewards just released the March 1st edition of its monthly Rent Day promotion, and it is a unique one. Instead of Bilt announcing a single offer, all members will have the opportunity to have a say in the winning pick.
    
            A play off the March Madness bracket, the Bilt Bracket will run between now and Feb. 29, during which you can vote daily to help decide the Rent Day benefit. Various offers will go head-to-head, and like all brackets, the winner will proceed to the next round. The last standing offer will then be the Rent Day benefit on March 1.
    
            And similar to most other Rent Day promotions, the winning offer is only valid on the first day of the month (March 1, 2024, in this case).
    
            Let’s take a closer look at how this bracket will work and the Rent Day offer options.
    
            For four days straight — between Feb. 26 and Feb. 29 — Bilt members can vote for their favorite Rent Day benefit within the Bilt app or BiltRewards.com. There are 16 total offers to start with and the winners from each day will then proceed to the next round of the bracket.
    
            The last standing offer after the Feb. 29th vote will end up being the Rent Day benefit for all members to take advantage of on March 1.
    
            However, those with Gold or Platinum status with Bilt, will also receive the runner-up offer, giving select members two bonus opportunities on Rent Day.
    
            With 16 different offers, some are significantly better than others. Although, the best offer for you might truly depend on how you engage in the Bilt program. Check the Bilt app or website to see the full list of promotions you can vote on.
    
            For me, the offers that allow me to earn bonus points on specific purchases — such as bonus points at Bilt Dining restaurants — will be my top pick, but others might prefer the opportunity get bonus points by redeeming their Bilt points on rent, for example.
    
            Voting is incredible quick and can easily be completed alongside your morning coffee. Once you vote, you’ll also be given some insight on the winners with the percentage of members that picked each option thus far.
    
            On March 1st, Bilt members will also have the opportunity to redeem Bilt points for an exclusive game ticket and experience to the NCAA Men’s Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games. Tickets start at 15,000 Bilt points each for games taking place in Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles and Phoenix.
    
            You’ll be able to snag a ticket starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 1, but those with higher Bilt status will receive priority. This is because those with Platinum status will have first access at 12 p.m. EST, Gold status members at 12:30 p.m. EST, Silver status members at 1 p.m. and everyone else at 1:30 p.m.
    
            Every month on Rent Day, Bilt also gives members with the Bilt Mastercard a chance to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent).
    
            So, if you have a new restaurant you want to check out, flights to book or any other purchases to make, it could be worth waiting until March 1 to earn more points on your purchase. And if you’re dining at a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining, you can increase your earnings up to a whopping 11 points per dollar. But remember, to earn Bilt points, you must use the card five times each statement period (see Rewards & Benefits).
    
            Bilt’s monthly Rent Day promotions are a great opportunity to maximize your points as well as jump on unique promotions. Let’s see which bonus offer wins this month.
    
            Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.
    
            Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best credit cards currently available.",CNN,26/02/2024,"['The relatively new Bilt Mastercard® (seerates and fees) has been incredibly popular since its inception.', 'With a top-notch loyalty program and the opportunity to earn points on rent with absolutely no transaction fees (up to 100,000 points per calendar year), it’s no surprise to see the card flourish over the past few years.', 'And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.', 'With Bilt’s Rent Day promotion —which runs the first of every month — all card members have the opportunity to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent) as well as take advantage of their unique offer for the month.', 'Bilt typically announces their promotions just a few days prior to Rent Day, and it’s something you’ll want to pay attention to.', 'Bilt Rewards just released the March 1st edition of its monthly Rent Day promotion, and it is a unique one.', 'Instead of Bilt announcing a single offer, all members will have the opportunity to have a say in the winning pick.', 'A play off the March Madness bracket, the Bilt Bracket will run between now and Feb. 29, during which you can vote daily to help decide the Rent Day benefit.', 'Various offers will go head-to-head, and like all brackets, the winner will proceed to the next round.', 'The last standing offer will then be the Rent Day benefit on March 1.', 'And similar to most other Rent Day promotions, the winning offer is only valid on the first day of the month (March 1, 2024, in this case).', 'Let’s take a closer look at how this bracket will work and the Rent Day offer options.', 'For four days straight —between Feb. 26 and Feb. 29 —Bilt members can vote for their favorite Rent Day benefit within the Bilt app or BiltRewards.com.', 'There are 16 total offers to start with and the winners from each day will then proceed to the next round of the bracket.', 'The last standing offer after the Feb. 29th vote will end up being the Rent Day benefit for all members to take advantage of on March 1.', 'However, those with Gold or Platinum status with Bilt, will also receive the runner-up offer,giving select members two bonus opportunities on Rent Day.', 'With 16 different offers, some are significantly better than others.', 'Although, the best offer for you might truly depend on how you engage in the Bilt program.', 'Check the Bilt app or website to see the full list of promotions you can vote on.', 'For me, the offers that allow me to earn bonus points on specific purchases —such as bonus points at Bilt Dining restaurants —will be my top pick, but others might prefer the opportunity get bonus points by redeeming their Bilt points on rent, for example.', 'Voting is incredible quick and can easily be completed alongside your morning coffee.', 'Once you vote, you’ll also be given some insight on the winners with the percentage of members that picked each option thus far.', 'On March 1st, Bilt members will also have the opportunity to redeem Bilt points for an exclusive game ticket and experience to the NCAA Men’s Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games.', 'Tickets start at 15,000 Bilt points each for games taking place in Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles and Phoenix.', 'You’ll be able to snag a ticket starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 1, but those with higher Bilt status will receive priority.', 'This is because those with Platinum status will have first access at 12 p.m. EST, Gold status members at 12:30 p.m. EST, Silver status members at 1 p.m. and everyone else at 1:30 p.m.  Every month on Rent Day, Bilt also gives members with the Bilt Mastercard a chance to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent).', 'So, if you have a new restaurant you want to check out, flights to book or any other purchases to make, it could be worth waiting until March 1 to earn more points on your purchase.', 'And if you’re dining at a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining, you can increase your earnings up to a whopping 11 points per dollar.', 'But remember, to earn Bilt points, you must use the card five times each statement period (see Rewards & Benefits).', 'Bilt’s monthly Rent Day promotions are a great opportunity to maximize your points as well as jump on unique promotions.', 'Let’s see which bonus offer wins this month.', 'Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.', 'Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best credit cardscurrently available.']",0.5132379666371525,"And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.",,0.9566513225436212,"And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.",,2024-03-26
Why Nike wants to make Air Force 1 sneakers harder to find,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/nike-air-force-1-sneakers/index.html,"
  Published
        9:36 AM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Nike Air Force 1 and Nike Pegasus sneakers are everywhere. That’s a problem for Nike, and it wants to make them harder to buy.
    
            Nike is scaling back production of these classic sneaker lines to prevent discounting and make room for its newer lines.
    
            The Air Force 1 and Pegasus are staples of Nike’s sneaker lineup, and some of Nike’s oldest sneaker lines. The Air Force 1’s are known for their all-white design, while the Pegasus have large Nike swooshes on their mid-sole. They are both marketed for everyday wear, but growth has slowed for these lines and other Nike products, and stores have been promoting the shoes more frequently to clear the glut off shelves.
    
            This is a risk for Nike, which sees itself as a premium brand that wants to protect its ability to sell merchandise at higher prices and prevent products from being discounted too heavily.
    
            So Nike is cutting back supply to try to juice demand and sell them at full prices. Nike also wants to push shoppers to buy new, higher-priced Air Max shoes and newer Pegasus products.
    
            “We are in the midst of shifting our product portfolio” toward newer lines, Nike finance chief Matthew Friend said on an earnings call Thursday. “We are pulling back supply of classics such as the Air Force 1, and we’re reducing supply of Pegasus.”
    
            Nike’s moves could also make it harder for consumers to find traditional white Air Force 1 sneakers and Pegasus versions at shoe stores.
    
            But loyal Nike customers will transition to other Nike shoes, said Christopher Burns, a sneaker industry analyst and founder of Arch USA, a sneaker and lifestyle blog.
    
            And it won’t impact sneakerheads like Burns much. Sneaker collectors focus on limited-edition and special collaboration lines — not mass market lines like Air Force 1, he said.
    
            Still, Nike’s strategy will impact sales and could backfire if consumers aren’t keen on its new styles.
    
            Nike said the cutback will hurt its sales during its upcoming fiscal year. Sales during the first half of the year will fall to low single-digits, the company said.
    
            “It’s the right strategy long-term, but it’s unclear how strong new styles will resonate,” said Randal Konik, a retail analyst at Jefferies.
    
            Nike’s move to slash supply comes as the company faces a consumer slowdown for discretionary goods and tough competition from upstart running brands like Hoka and On.
    
            Customers are changing their behavior, passing up discretionary purchases of expensive sneakers and athletic clothing for basics and experiences such as concerts and travel.
    
            Nike slashed its revenue outlook for the year and said it was looking for as much as $2 billion in cost savings in the next three years. In January, Nike cut 1,700 employees.
    
            Nike is also facing new competition.
    
            Hoka, a French brand founded as a running shoe for hardcore marathoners that soon caught on in the mainstream, is growing.
    
            Known for its chunky insoles, even President Joe Biden was photographed earlier this week striding out of the White House in a new set of Hoka sneakers — far from a Gen Z-endorsement, but a sign that a once virtually unknown brand is making a dent in sales and visibility.
    
            Meanwhile, Nike has also changed its distribution strategy.
    
            The company in recent years has slashed the number of traditional retailers it sells its goods to while shifting to grow directly through its own channels, especially online. Nike has said it can make more than double the profit selling goods through its own website and physical stores than it can through wholesale partners.
    
            Nike has said it would focus its resources, marketing and top products on just 40 select retail partners, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Nike Air Force 1 and Nike Pegasus sneakers are everywhere.', 'That’s a problem for Nike, and it wants to make them harder to buy.', 'Nike is scaling back production of these classic sneaker lines to prevent discounting and make room for its newer lines.', 'The Air Force 1 and Pegasus are staples of Nike’s sneaker lineup, and some of Nike’s oldest sneaker lines.', 'The Air Force 1’s are known for their all-white design, while the Pegasus have large Nike swooshes on their mid-sole.', 'They are both marketed for everyday wear, but growth has slowed for these lines and other Nike products, and stores have been promoting the shoes more frequently to clear the glut off shelves.', 'This is a risk for Nike, which sees itself as a premium brand that wants to protect its ability to sell merchandise at higher prices and prevent products from being discounted too heavily.', 'So Nike is cutting back supply to try to juice demand and sell them at full prices.', 'Nike also wants to push shoppers to buy new, higher-priced Air Max shoes and newer Pegasus products.', '“We are in the midst of shifting our product portfolio” toward newer lines, Nike finance chief Matthew Friend said on an earnings call Thursday. “', 'We are pulling back supply of classics such as the Air Force 1, and we’re reducing supply of Pegasus.”', 'Nike’s moves could also make it harder for consumers to find traditional white Air Force 1 sneakers and Pegasus versions at shoe stores.', 'But loyal Nike customers will transition to other Nike shoes, said Christopher Burns, a sneaker industry analyst and founder of Arch USA, a sneaker and lifestyle blog.', 'And it won’t impact sneakerheads like Burns much.', 'Sneaker collectors focus on limited-edition and special collaboration lines — not mass market lines like Air Force 1, he said.', 'Still, Nike’s strategy will impact sales and could backfire if consumers aren’t keen on its new styles.', 'Nike said the cutback will hurt its sales during its upcoming fiscal year.', 'Sales during the first half of the year will fall to low single-digits, the company said.', '“It’s the right strategy long-term, but it’s unclear how strong new styles will resonate,” said Randal Konik, a retail analyst at Jefferies.', 'Nike’s move to slash supply comes as the company faces a consumer slowdown for discretionary goods and tough competition from upstart running brands like Hoka and On.', 'Customers are changing their behavior, passing up discretionary purchases of expensive sneakers and athletic clothing for basics and experiences such as concerts and travel.', 'Nike slashed its revenue outlook for the year and said it was looking for as much as $2 billion in cost savings in the next three years.', 'In January, Nike cut 1,700 employees.', 'Nike is also facing new competition.', 'Hoka, a French brand founded as a running shoe for hardcore marathoners that soon caught on in the mainstream, is growing.', 'Known for its chunky insoles,even President Joe Biden was photographed earlier this week striding out of the White House in a new set of Hoka sneakers — far froma Gen Z-endorsement, but a sign that a once virtually unknown brand is making a dent in sales and visibility.', 'Meanwhile, Nike has also changed its distribution strategy.', 'The company in recent years has slashed the number of traditional retailers it sells its goods to while shifting to grow directly through its own channels, especially online.', 'Nike has said it can make more than double the profitselling goodsthrough its own website and physical stores than it can through wholesale partners.', 'Nike has said it would focus its resources, marketing and top products on just 40 select retail partners, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker.']",0.0683004331819564,"They are both marketed for everyday wear, but growth has slowed for these lines and other Nike products, and stores have been promoting the shoes more frequently to clear the glut off shelves.",Nike said the cutback will hurt its sales during its upcoming fiscal year.,-0.3633997220742075,Nike has said it can make more than double the profitselling goodsthrough its own website and physical stores than it can through wholesale partners.,"Sales during the first half of the year will fall to low single-digits, the company said.",2024-03-26
Trump is about to get $3 billion richer after deal is approved to take his company public. But it won’t solve his cash crunch,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/business/trump-truth-social-dwac-shares/index.html,"
  Updated
        1:01 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Truth Social owner Trump Media will begin trading Tuesday as the merger closes
    
            Investors have approved a deal on Friday to make Truth Social owner Trump Media a publicly traded company.
    
            The green light from shareholders clears a major hurdle for a long-delayed merger that will generate a multi-billion dollar windfall for former President Donald Trump at a time when he’s facing immense financial and legal pressure.
    
            According to a preliminary vote total announced during the meeting, a majority of shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. voted in favor of the deal to merge with Trump Media. The companies have indicated the merger could close as soon as early next week.
    
            The new company will be called Trump Media & Technology Group and trade under the ticker DJT, Trump’s initials. It will own Trump’s struggling social media platform Truth Social.
    
            Shareholders voted to approve Trump Media’s merger with a blank-check company, following years of legal and regulatory obstacles. Trump will own a dominant stake in a public company, with shares worth more than $3 billion at current market prices.
    
            However, experts tell CNN there are numerous practical, financial and legal reasons why this deal is unlikely to solve Trump’s imminent cash crunch.
    
            “President Trump won’t be able to monetize that stake right away,” said Matthew Kennedy, senior initial public offering market strategist at Renaissance Capital.
    
            Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a $464 million bond in New York’s civil fraud case against him or New York’s attorney general could try to seize his golf course and private estate north of Manhattan – or other assets.
    
            The good news for Trump is that there are strong incentives for shareholders to approve the merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp.
    
            If it gets the green light from shareholders, Trump stands to be the dominant shareholder, with a stake of at least 58.1%, according to filings.
    
            The merger agreement calls for Trump to own roughly 79 million shares of the new public company – and potentially tens of millions more if certain goals are hit.
    
            At Digital World’s share price of around $43 Thursday, that massive stake would be worth $3.4 billion – at least on paper. But Digital World shares were volatile Friday, and they were closed 14% lower.
    
            The merger could close swiftly.
    
            Regulatory filings indicate the companies expect to close the merger on the second business day after the shareholder vote is approved. That sets the stage for trading to begin under the new name and ticker symbol by Tuesday or Wednesday, although it could take longer, according to Kennedy.
    
            But the deal still faces legal uncertainty. There is ongoing litigation seeking to block the merger from closing.
    
            The bad news for Trump is that this stake is not as liquid as it sounds. Those paper gains would be very difficult for Trump to translate to actual cash.
    
            In fact, Trump’s shares in this company are in many ways even less liquid than his real estate holdings, according to Charles Whitehead, a law professor at Cornell Law School.
    
            First, experts say the market is drastically overvaluing Trump Media based on the company’s fundamentals.
    
            That means Trump would have a hard time dumping the stock or even pledging it as collateral.
    
            “The stock price is clearly a bubble,” Yale law professor Jonathan Macey told CNN. “No rational investor would take the stock at face value, especially if they had to hold it for any length of time.”
    
            SEC filings indicate Trump Media’s revenue amounted to just $1.1 million during the third quarter. The company posted a loss of $26 million that quarter.
    
            Not only that, but Truth Social appears to be shrinking.
    
            The number of Truth Social’s US monthly active users on iOS and Android is down 39% year-over-year, according to Similarweb data shared with CNN earlier this month. Truth Social remains much smaller than X (formerly Twitter), which is also shrinking but at a slower pace.
    
            And yet Trump Media is being valued north of $6 billion on a fully diluted basis, which includes all stocks and options that could be converted to common stock, according to Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida.
    
            Ritter said the current market price is hard, if not impossible, to justify.
    
            “It is grossly overvalued,” said Ritter. “It qualifies as a meme stock for which the price is divorced from fundamental value…Meme stock investors are usually buying on the basis of the greater fool theory of investing: It is overvalued today, but I hope to make money selling it to an even greater fool tomorrow at an even higher price.”
    
            But even in the unlikely event that Trump found a taker for those shares, experts say he is likely not allowed to sell or pledge that stock – at least not yet.
    
            As is typical in a deal like this, certain shareholders are subject to a lock-up period that prevents insiders from immediately selling.
    
            “No one wants to buy into a company where the largest shareholder – and really the face of the biggest product – is selling,” said Whitehead.
    
            In this case, key shareholders of Trump Media, including its management team, have agreed not to sell their common stock for six months to maintain “important stability to the leadership and governance” of the company, according to SEC filings.
    
            Not only does that lock-up agreement prevent these key shareholders from selling their stock for six months, it says they have agreed not to “lend, offer, pledge…encumber, donate” that stock during the period.
    
            If the share price stays above $12 for a period of time, it’s possible that insiders can sell or pledge their stock 150 days after the deal closes.
    
            “The lock-up is meant to stop insiders from selling immediately after the merger,” said Xavier Kowalski, a former partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel who is now a lecturer in the finance department at the University of Florida. “It also stops them from pledging the stock, like with a margin loan. So it’s going to be difficult to find a way to use those shares to get cash for now.”
    
            Moreover, there are additional lock-up restrictions contained in an amended charter that experts say appear to include Trump. That lock-up also restricts certain shareholders from immediately selling after the deal closes.
    
            “If his shares are covered by the charter’s lockup provisions then, absent an amendment to the charter, President Trump cannot pledge this stock. Full stop,” Whitehead said.
    
            And amending the charter would be tricky – even for Trump and his outsized sway over the company. That’s the kind of thing that would have to be disclosed ahead of time because it would impact potential buyers of the stock.
    
            “He can’t do this quietly. If President Trump today intends to amend the charter and they are not disclosing this intention, that’s a problem,” Whitehead said. “Presumably, they would need to take the position after the vote approving the merger that President Trump woke up and suddenly said, ‘Hey, let’s amend the charter.’”
    
            Now even if Trump overcame these potentially insurmountable obstacles, there is no guarantee any bank would take this stock as collateral in a loan.
    
            “If I’m a bank, I’m going to be troubled by the idea of a significant shareholder pledging his stake,” Whitehead said. “Any bank doing a proper credit analysis must be sensitive to the fact that this stock may very well tank if it turns out that President Trump is looking to sell down the position.”
    
            This story has been updated with additional developments and context.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Truth Social owner Trump Media will begin trading Tuesday as the merger closes  Investors have approved a deal on Friday to make Truth Social owner Trump Media a publicly traded company.', 'The green light from shareholders clears a major hurdle for a long-delayed merger that will generate a multi-billion dollar windfall for former President Donald Trump at a time when he’s facing immense financial and legal pressure.', 'According to a preliminary vote total announced during the meeting, a majority of shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. voted in favor of the deal to merge with Trump Media.', 'The companies have indicated the merger could close as soon as early next week.', 'The new company will be called Trump Media & Technology Group and trade under the ticker DJT, Trump’s initials.', 'It will own Trump’s struggling social media platform Truth Social.', 'Shareholders voted to approve Trump Media’s merger with a blank-check company, following years of legal and regulatory obstacles.', 'Trump will own a dominant stake in a public company, with shares worth more than $3 billion at current market prices.', 'However, experts tell CNN there are numerous practical, financial and legal reasons why this deal is unlikely to solve Trump’s imminent cash crunch.', '“President Trump won’t be able to monetize that stake right away,” said Matthew Kennedy, senior initial public offering market strategist at Renaissance Capital.', 'Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a $464 million bond in New York’s civil fraud case against him or New York’s attorney general could try to seize his golf course and private estate north of Manhattan – or other assets.', 'The good news for Trump is that there are strong incentives for shareholders to approve the merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp.  If it gets the green light from shareholders, Trump stands to be the dominant shareholder, with a stake of at least 58.1%, according to filings.', 'The merger agreement calls for Trump to own roughly 79 million shares of the new public company – and potentially tens of millions more if certain goals are hit.', 'At Digital World’s share price of around $43 Thursday, that massive stake would be worth $3.4 billion – at least on paper.', 'But Digital World shares were volatile Friday, and they were closed 14% lower.', 'The merger could close swiftly.', 'Regulatory filings indicate the companies expect to close the merger on the second business day after the shareholder vote is approved.', 'That sets the stage for trading to begin under the new name and ticker symbol by Tuesday or Wednesday, although it could take longer, according to Kennedy.', 'But the deal still faces legal uncertainty.', 'There is ongoing litigation seeking to block the merger from closing.', 'The bad news for Trump is that this stake is not as liquid as it sounds.', 'Those paper gains would be very difficult for Trump to translate to actual cash.', 'In fact, Trump’s shares in this company are in many ways even less liquid than his real estate holdings, according to Charles Whitehead, a law professor at Cornell Law School.', 'First, experts say the market is drastically overvaluing Trump Media based on the company’s fundamentals.', 'That means Trump would have a hard time dumping the stock or even pledging it as collateral.', '“The stock price is clearly a bubble,” Yale law professor Jonathan Macey told CNN. “', 'No rational investor would take the stock at face value, especially if they had to hold it for any length of time.”', 'SEC filings indicate Trump Media’s revenue amounted to just $1.1 million during the third quarter.', 'The company posted a loss of $26 million that quarter.', 'Not only that, but Truth Social appears to be shrinking.', 'The number of Truth Social’s US monthly active users on iOS and Android is down 39% year-over-year, according to Similarweb data shared with CNN earlier this month.', 'Truth Social remains much smaller than X (formerly Twitter), which is also shrinking but at a slower pace.', 'And yet Trump Media is being valued north of $6 billion on a fully diluted basis, which includes all stocks and options that could be converted to common stock, according to Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida.', 'Ritter said the current market price is hard, if not impossible, to justify.', '“It is grossly overvalued,” said Ritter. “', 'It qualifies as a meme stock for which the price is divorced from fundamental value…Meme stock investors are usually buying on the basis of the greater fool theory of investing: It is overvalued today, but I hope to make money selling it to an even greater fool tomorrow at an even higher price.”', 'But even in the unlikely event that Trump found a taker for those shares, experts say he is likely not allowed to sell or pledge that stock – at least not yet.', 'As is typical in a deal like this, certain shareholders are subject to a lock-up period that prevents insiders from immediately selling.', '“No one wants to buy into a company where the largest shareholder – and really the face of the biggest product – is selling,” said Whitehead.', 'In this case, key shareholders of Trump Media, including its management team, have agreed not to sell their common stock for six months to maintain “important stability to the leadership and governance” of the company, according to SEC filings.', 'Not only does that lock-up agreement prevent these key shareholders from selling their stock for six months, it says they have agreed not to “lend, offer, pledge…encumber, donate” that stock during the period.', 'If the share price stays above $12 for a period of time, it’s possible that insiders can sell or pledge their stock 150 days after the deal closes.', '“The lock-up is meant to stop insiders from selling immediately after the merger,” said Xavier Kowalski, a former partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel who is now a lecturer in the finance department at the University of Florida. “', 'It also stops them from pledging the stock, like with a margin loan.', 'So it’s going to be difficult to find a way to use those shares to get cash for now.”', 'Moreover, there are additional lock-up restrictions contained in an amended charter that experts say appear to include Trump.', 'That lock-up also restricts certain shareholders from immediately selling after the deal closes.', '“If his shares are covered by the charter’s lockup provisions then, absent an amendment to the charter,PresidentTrump cannot pledge this stock.', 'Full stop,” Whitehead said.', 'And amending the charter would be tricky – even for Trump and his outsized sway over the company.', 'That’s the kind of thing that would have to be disclosed ahead of time because it would impact potential buyers of the stock.', '“He can’t do this quietly.', 'IfPresidentTrump today intends to amend the charter and they are not disclosingthis intention, that’s a problem,” Whitehead said. “', 'Presumably, they wouldneedto take the position after the voteapproving the merger that PresidentTrump woke up and suddenly said, ‘Hey, let’s amend the charter.’”', 'Now even if Trump overcame these potentially insurmountable obstacles, there is no guarantee any bank would take this stock as collateral in a loan.', '“If I’m a bank, I’m going to be troubled by the idea of a significant shareholder pledging his stake,” Whitehead said. “', 'Any bank doing a proper credit analysis must be sensitive to the fact that this stock may very well tank if it turns out that President Trump is looking to sell down the position.”', 'This story has been updated with additional developments and context.']",0.1015604053798328,"The good news for Trump is that there are strong incentives for shareholders to approve the merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp.  If it gets the green light from shareholders, Trump stands to be the dominant shareholder, with a stake of at least 58.1%, according to filings.",There is ongoing litigation seeking to block the merger from closing.,-0.5847145432517642,"The good news for Trump is that there are strong incentives for shareholders to approve the merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp.  If it gets the green light from shareholders, Trump stands to be the dominant shareholder, with a stake of at least 58.1%, according to filings.","The number of Truth Social’s US monthly active users on iOS and Android is down 39% year-over-year, according to Similarweb data shared with CNN earlier this month.",2024-03-26
China former football chief sentenced to life for bribery,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68662441,2024-03-26T03:59:39.000Z,"A former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, according to the country's state media. In January, he pleaded guilty to taking bribes worth a total of 81 million yuan ($11.2m; £8.9m). An anti-corruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping has cut through sport, banking and the military. In football, more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated. The trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Huangshi in central China revealed Chen's illicit activities from 2010 to 2023, which included his earlier role as the president and chairman of Shanghai International Port Group. Prosecutors said Chen accepted money and valuables in exchange for his help with obtaining project contracts and arranging sporting events. The court ruling said he had brought ""tremendous damage"" to China's football cause, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency. State media also said that three other senior football officials were sentenced on Tuesday to between eight and 14 years in prison for corruption. Earlier this year, an ex-Everton midfielder and former head coach of China's national men's soccer team, Li Tie, confessed to fixing matches and offering bribes to people, including Chen, to get China's top coaching job. China's foreign ministry also confirmed that South Korea's Son Jun-ho, who played for Shandong Taishan, was held in police custody in relation to a bribery case. South Korea's foreign ministry said this week that he had been released from detention. In the past President Xi has voiced his ambition to turn China into a major footballing nation. In 2011, he spoke of his 'three wishes' for Chinese football: to qualify for the World Cup again, to host the tournament and to one day win the trophy.   Over the past decade, clubs in China's Super League have spent huge sums of money to attract some of the world's top players, including Brazilian midfielder Oscar, former Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and Belgian international Axel Witsel. However, that resulted in clubs piling up debts and the CFA announced a salary cap in 2020. At the time, it said the move was aimed to focus investment on developing homegrown talent instead of importing international stars. Now, only a small number of foreign players remain in the league. Recent detentions of major football figures have dealt another setback to the country's football ambitions. Despite these problems, domestic football is still popular in China and Mr Chen's corruption scandal shocked fans. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""A former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, according to the country's state media."", 'In January, he pleaded guilty to taking bribes worth a total of 81 million yuan ($11.2m; £8.9m).', 'An anti-corruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping has cut through sport, banking and the military.', 'In football, more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated.', ""The trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Huangshi in central China revealed Chen's illicit activities from 2010 to 2023, which included his earlier role as the president and chairman of Shanghai International Port Group."", 'Prosecutors said Chen accepted money and valuables in exchange for his help with obtaining project contracts and arranging sporting events.', 'The court ruling said he had brought ""tremendous damage"" to China\'s football cause, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency.', 'State media also said that three other senior football officials were sentenced on Tuesday to between eight and 14 years in prison for corruption.', ""Earlier this year, an ex-Everton midfielder and former head coach of China's national men's soccer team, Li Tie, confessed to fixing matches and offering bribes to people, including Chen, to get China's top coaching job."", ""China's foreign ministry also confirmed that South Korea's Son Jun-ho, who played for Shandong Taishan, was held in police custody in relation to a bribery case."", ""South Korea's foreign ministry said this week that he had been released from detention."", 'In the past President Xi has voiced his ambition to turn China into a major footballing nation.', ""In 2011, he spoke of his 'three wishes' for Chinese football: to qualify for the World Cup again, to host the tournament and to one day win the trophy."", ""Over the past decade, clubs in China's Super League have spent huge sums of money to attract some of the world's top players, including Brazilian midfielder Oscar, former Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and Belgian international Axel Witsel."", 'However, that resulted in clubs piling up debts and the CFA announced a salary cap in 2020.', 'At the time, it said the move was aimed to focus investment on developing homegrown talent instead of importing international stars.', 'Now, only a small number of foreign players remain in the league.', ""Recent detentions of major football figures have dealt another setback to the country's football ambitions."", ""Despite these problems, domestic football is still popular in China and Mr Chen's corruption scandal shocked fans.""]",0.0315067115162816,"Over the past decade, clubs in China's Super League have spent huge sums of money to attract some of the world's top players, including Brazilian midfielder Oscar, former Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and Belgian international Axel Witsel.","The court ruling said he had brought ""tremendous damage"" to China's football cause, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency.",-0.4104255608149937,"Despite these problems, domestic football is still popular in China and Mr Chen's corruption scandal shocked fans.",Recent detentions of major football figures have dealt another setback to the country's football ambitions.,2024-03-26
"Hull funeral home inquiry: 'I spent £2,700 on a fake funeral policy'",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68636654,2024-03-22T15:26:00.000Z,"Buyers of funeral plans from a Hull funeral home already at the centre of a police inquiry said they have been told their policies are non-existent. Rita Goldspink and Kevin Newton paid about £2,500 each for plans bought from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in 2018 and 2012 respectively. Each has been told separately that there is no trace of their policy on the third-party insurer's database. Legacy funeral home has been contacted for comment. Two people have been bailed in a police investigation of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors that began on 6 March, following a report of ""concern for care of the deceased"". Rachel Marshall, from Hull, said the pre-paid funeral plan for her mother, Rita Goldspink, 76, had cost £2,700 in April 2018, six months after Legacy had organised her father's funeral. After news emerged of the Humberside Police investigation, Ms Marshall said she contacted the insurer and discovered they could not find ""my mum's name on their database"". She said she was later told by the insurer that she should have received a welcome pack containing details of the plan shortly after purchase. ""My mum was absolutely devastated and I was in total shock,"" said Ms Marshall.  ""All that money is gone. ""I'm gutted and have started to realise through conversations [with others that] there are more of us with these fake policies."" Kevin Newton, 69, also from Hull, said he was ""mortified"" to learn that his pre-paid funeral plan, which had cost him £2,239, was similarly untraceable. He said when he bought the third-party policy in 2012, he had received written confirmation and a receipt from Legacy.  Shortly afterwards a pack had arrived in the post, which he had believed contained official documents about his policy. However, after his family raised concerns with him last week, Mr Newton said he had phoned the third-party insurer and was told there was no trace of the policy. His daughter Kerry, 35, said: ""It's absolutely shocking because it's a lot of money for my dad to fork out and it's not like he can [afford it] again. ""I know my dad's done it so me and my brother don't have to worry about him when the time comes. It's just devastating. ""It's unforgiveable."" Another woman from Hull, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she ""can't get [her] head round"" being told there was no record of her £2,500 pre-paid funeral plan, bought from Legacy in 2016. She said she had bought the plan after using the company to arrange the funerals of both her parents, who had died three weeks apart. She too had believed a pack she received was evidence of the third-party policy. But she discovered last week the policy did not exist, the woman said. ""Initially... all I was concerned about was my mum and dad. They're supposed to be buried together in the same grave. I hope they are but I just don't know now. I'm thinking: are they there?  ""But now - finding this policy is worthless - it's just a cherry on the icing, really. I'm completely shocked. ""I mean, I'm still more troubled about mum and dad at the moment. But I know I'll never get any answers on that."" The BBC has seen documents given to all three families who bought the plans from Legacy. It is unclear whether Legacy submitted the filled-in application forms to the insurer. In a statement, the third-party insurer, Ecclesiastical Planning Services, said: ""This is a deeply distressing incident for the families affected.  ""We are unable to comment on individual cases but we are working with families who contact us to establish if they have a plan with us."" All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations. The woman said: ""I think anyone setting up a funeral business should have some sort of qualification or have been trained. And there has to be regular inspections."" Ms Marshall urged anyone who had bought a pre-paid funeral plan to ""check your policy"". ""More or less everything goes on trust,"" she said. Few details about the police investigation have been revealed but a quantity of ashes and 35 bodies were recovered from Legacy's Hessle Road premises and taken to another mortuary. The families involved have been contacted, Humberside Police have said. A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position. They have since been released on bail while police inquiries continue. The force said its dedicated helpline numbers remain open. Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Are you affected by the issues raised in this story? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk Please include your name, age and location with any submission.  ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Buyers of funeral plans from a Hull funeral home already at the centre of a police inquiry said they have been told their policies are non-existent.', 'Rita Goldspink and Kevin Newton paid about £2,500 each for plans bought from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in 2018 and 2012 respectively.', ""Each has been told separately that there is no trace of their policy on the third-party insurer's database."", 'Legacy funeral home has been contacted for comment.', 'Two people have been bailed in a police investigation of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors that began on 6 March, following a report of ""concern for care of the deceased"".', ""Rachel Marshall, from Hull, said the pre-paid funeral plan for her mother, Rita Goldspink, 76, had cost £2,700 in April 2018, six months after Legacy had organised her father's funeral."", 'After news emerged of the Humberside Police investigation, Ms Marshall said she contacted the insurer and discovered they could not find ""my mum\'s name on their database"".', 'She said she was later told by the insurer that she should have received a welcome pack containing details of the plan shortly after purchase. ""', 'My mum was absolutely devastated and I was in total shock,"" said Ms Marshall. ""', 'All that money is gone. ""', 'I\'m gutted and have started to realise through conversations [with others that] there are more of us with these fake policies.""', 'Kevin Newton, 69, also from Hull, said he was ""mortified"" to learn that his pre-paid funeral plan, which had cost him £2,239, was similarly untraceable.', 'He said when he bought the third-party policy in 2012, he had received written confirmation and a receipt from Legacy.', 'Shortly afterwards a pack had arrived in the post, which he had believed contained official documents about his policy.', 'However, after his family raised concerns with him last week, Mr Newton said he had phoned the third-party insurer and was told there was no trace of the policy.', 'His daughter Kerry, 35, said: ""It\'s absolutely shocking because it\'s a lot of money for my dad to fork out and it\'s not like he can [afford it] again. ""', ""I know my dad's done it so me and my brother don't have to worry about him when the time comes."", 'It\'s just devastating. ""', 'It\'s unforgiveable.""', 'Another woman from Hull, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she ""can\'t get [her] head round"" being told there was no record of her £2,500 pre-paid funeral plan, bought from Legacy in 2016.', 'She said she had bought the plan after using the company to arrange the funerals of both her parents, who had died three weeks apart.', 'She too had believed a pack she received was evidence of the third-party policy.', 'But she discovered last week the policy did not exist, the woman said. ""', 'Initially... all I was concerned about was my mum and dad.', ""They're supposed to be buried together in the same grave."", ""I hope they are but I just don't know now."", 'I\'m thinking: are they there? ""', ""But now - finding this policy is worthless - it's just a cherry on the icing, really."", 'I\'m completely shocked. ""', ""I mean, I'm still more troubled about mum and dad at the moment."", 'But I know I\'ll never get any answers on that.""', 'The BBC has seen documents given to all three families who bought the plans from Legacy.', 'It is unclear whether Legacy submitted the filled-in application forms to the insurer.', 'In a statement, the third-party insurer, Ecclesiastical Planning Services, said: ""This is a deeply distressing incident for the families affected. ""', 'We are unable to comment on individual cases but we are working with families who contact us to establish if they have a plan with us.""', 'All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations.', 'The woman said: ""I think anyone setting up a funeral business should have some sort of qualification or have been trained.', 'And there has to be regular inspections.""', 'Ms Marshall urged anyone who had bought a pre-paid funeral plan to ""check your policy"". ""', 'More or less everything goes on trust,"" she said.', ""Few details about the police investigation have been revealed but a quantity of ashes and 35 bodies were recovered from Legacy's Hessle Road premises and taken to another mortuary."", 'The families involved have been contacted, Humberside Police have said.', 'A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.', 'They have since been released on bail while police inquiries continue.', 'The force said its dedicated helpline numbers remain open.', 'Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.', 'Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Are you affected by the issues raised in this story?', 'Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.', ""You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk Please include your name, age and location with any submission.""]",-0.1373784424526084,Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist.,"A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.",-0.8656735040924766,,"All three families said they had ""lost trust"" in the financial sector, particularly in the funeral industry, and have called for tighter regulations.",2024-03-26
Your personal data all over the web - is there a better way?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68286395,2024-03-08T00:08:42.000Z,"""From the beginning, I always meant for the web to be a platform for creativity and collaboration,"" says Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web. ""The first decade of the web lived up to that promise, but that's not what we've seen in the last 20 years or so."" Sir Tim says a particular problem is the way personal data is handled. When you log in and store data in a website, it can only be used within that website.  But an open source software project, called Solid, is designed to reverse that situation. The idea of Solid is that people have a private data store, and they get to choose which organisations can access it, for what purpose, and for how long.  Called a Personal Online Data Store, or Pod, it gives users control over their data, and the freedom to combine it or share it between applications. Sir Tim is co-founder of Inrupt, a company that provides Solid-based technologies. He says using the technology would mean that data storage would be ""centred around people, instead of around apps"".  Other companies providing Solid-based solutions include Graphmetrix and Digita. In Flanders, Belgium, Athumi is working on several projects using Solid.  The company was set up by the Flemish government to help re-launch the economy after the Covid-19 emergency. The company acts as a neutral intermediary, connecting businesses in different sectors and enabling them to access sensitive company and citizen data.  Athumi's first Solid project launched last year in collaboration with recruitment company Randstad, prior to a rollout with other recruitment firms. During 2024, Athumi plans to scale this application to 30,000 users.  The application solves a common problem for job applicants in Belgium. They often have to submit copies of their diplomas, typically as photocopies by mail. Sometimes people struggle to find their certificates and getting replacements causes delay and costs money. ""We made the process very easy,"" says Björn De Vidts, chief executive of Athumi.  ""The first step is to activate your pod. That is legally required because we cannot deliver services for a person who hasn't given us the authority to activate their pod. The second step is that you give permission to load your diploma into the pod. The third step is giving access to Randstad for a certain period of time to use the diploma in your pod for the specific job application."" Citizens access and manage their pods through a web browser. For some roles, the recruiter needs to verify that the claimed qualification is genuine.  This can be time-consuming when dealing with paperwork. In the Solid application, the diploma has a token that guarantees the data is authentic and hasn't been changed. More technology of business The tech is also being piloted in healthcare.  Starting this year, five Belgian hospitals will store information about hospital visits in patients' Solid pods. The idea is that it will make it easier for patients to share their medical data. For example, they could share proof of a recent medical examination when applying for a job, so they don't need to have another one. Athumi is also working with several media companies to create shared user profiles that span streaming services, so viewers can get better personalised services. The pods store data in standard formats, so that it can be reused in multiple contexts. ""What I call the real fun stuff of the data economy is when we will be able to combine these different data elements,"" says Mr De Vidts. ""That will generate use cases that we cannot even predict today. When you have enough interesting data points, application builders will, we believe, come to the pod to build new applications.""  Research commissioned by the Flemish government indicates that citizens would be willing to use the pods if they save time or money, or they help them to improve their health. The Flemish pods are hosted using Enterprise Solid Server, provided by Inrupt. John Bruce, Inrupt's co-founder and CEO, says you could have multiple pods hosted for you by companies such as internet service providers or travel firms you use frequently. All the pods can be accessed through one login. Pods could potentially make life harder for hackers.  Even though pods may share a server, each one has its own access controls, set by the user. By contrast, a company database has one set of access controls that grants access to all customer records. ""Today you exist in big databases,"" says Mr Bruce. ""Your credit card is in there with 10 million others. ""That database is a high value target. [Hackers] will put months of work in to get that database. When the data value exists only in your pod, it is like the difference in the kind of attack one would get on a bank versus you getting mugged on the street. You're not going to get a team of people following you around for three months to nick your wallet,"" he says. Amanda Finch, CEO of The Chartered Institute of Information Security, says Athumi's plan to create a centralised data platform will have benefits. As well as easing the flow of data through the economy it could boost security.  ""From a security standpoint, it should help to create a safer environment. With fewer platforms to secure, and responsibility lying with one, overarching party, you'd expect fewer vulnerabilities compared to multiple different solutions."" She adds a note of caution, though, as the new architecture means citizens take responsibility for more sensitive data than they might previously have held. ""Putting security into the hands of users and citizens is a risk when you consider how many breaches have a human element,"" she says. ""If someone is duped into sharing their pod with a fraudster, then that's it - they've potentially lost everything. Users need to make their own conscious decisions on whether they share data. But this can only happen if citizens are educated on how they can reduce risk by instilling security best practices such as strong passwords or multi-factor authentication."" Would all those companies used to hoarding data give it up easily? ""Companies don't want it,"" says Mr Bruce. ""If they could live in a world where they don't have to be responsible for your data, but they can have access to it, they'd take that in a heartbeat."" Back at Athumi, Mr De Vidts thinks Solid could be the start of a data revolution.  ""I've been working 25 years in B2B data collaboration, and this is the first time I've seen a data sharing technology that has this kind of potential to disrupt existing business models,"" he says. ""A citizen can decide what data goes to which consuming application. The data subject becomes the data controller."" ",BBC,08/03/2024,"['""From the beginning, I always meant for the web to be a platform for creativity and collaboration,"" says Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web. ""', 'The first decade of the web lived up to that promise, but that\'s not what we\'ve seen in the last 20 years or so.""', 'Sir Tim says a particular problem is the way personal data is handled.', 'When you log in and store data in a website, it can only be used within that website.', 'But an open source software project, called Solid, is designed to reverse that situation.', 'The idea of Solid is that people have a private data store, and they get to choose which organisations can access it, for what purpose, and for how long.', 'Called a Personal Online Data Store, or Pod, it gives users control over their data, and the freedom to combine it or share it between applications.', 'Sir Tim is co-founder of Inrupt, a company that provides Solid-based technologies.', 'He says using the technology would mean that data storage would be ""centred around people, instead of around apps"".', 'Other companies providing Solid-based solutions include Graphmetrix and Digita.', 'In Flanders, Belgium, Athumi is working on several projects using Solid.', 'The company was set up by the Flemish government to help re-launch the economy after the Covid-19 emergency.', 'The company acts as a neutral intermediary, connecting businesses in different sectors and enabling them to access sensitive company and citizen data.', ""Athumi's first Solid project launched last year in collaboration with recruitment company Randstad, prior to a rollout with other recruitment firms."", 'During 2024, Athumi plans to scale this application to 30,000 users.', 'The application solves a common problem for job applicants in Belgium.', 'They often have to submit copies of their diplomas, typically as photocopies by mail.', 'Sometimes people struggle to find their certificates and getting replacements causes delay and costs money. ""', 'We made the process very easy,"" says Björn De Vidts, chief executive of Athumi. ""', 'The first step is to activate your pod.', ""That is legally required because we cannot deliver services for a person who hasn't given us the authority to activate their pod."", 'The second step is that you give permission to load your diploma into the pod.', 'The third step is giving access to Randstad for a certain period of time to use the diploma in your pod for the specific job application.""', 'Citizens access and manage their pods through a web browser.', 'For some roles, the recruiter needs to verify that the claimed qualification is genuine.', 'This can be time-consuming when dealing with paperwork.', ""In the Solid application, the diploma has a token that guarantees the data is authentic and hasn't been changed."", 'More technology of business The tech is also being piloted in healthcare.', ""Starting this year, five Belgian hospitals will store information about hospital visits in patients' Solid pods."", 'The idea is that it will make it easier for patients to share their medical data.', ""For example, they could share proof of a recent medical examination when applying for a job, so they don't need to have another one."", 'Athumi is also working with several media companies to create shared user profiles that span streaming services, so viewers can get better personalised services.', 'The pods store data in standard formats, so that it can be reused in multiple contexts. ""', 'What I call the real fun stuff of the data economy is when we will be able to combine these different data elements,"" says Mr De Vidts. ""', 'That will generate use cases that we cannot even predict today.', 'When you have enough interesting data points, application builders will, we believe, come to the pod to build new applications.""', 'Research commissioned by the Flemish government indicates that citizens would be willing to use the pods if they save time or money, or they help them to improve their health.', 'The Flemish pods are hosted using Enterprise Solid Server, provided by Inrupt.', ""John Bruce, Inrupt's co-founder and CEO, says you could have multiple pods hosted for you by companies such as internet service providers or travel firms you use frequently."", 'All the pods can be accessed through one login.', 'Pods could potentially make life harder for hackers.', 'Even though pods may share a server, each one has its own access controls, set by the user.', 'By contrast, a company database has one set of access controls that grants access to all customer records. ""', 'Today you exist in big databases,"" says Mr Bruce. ""', 'Your credit card is in there with 10 million others. ""', 'That database is a high value target. [', 'Hackers] will put months of work in to get that database.', 'When the data value exists only in your pod, it is like the difference in the kind of attack one would get on a bank versus you getting mugged on the street.', 'You\'re not going to get a team of people following you around for three months to nick your wallet,"" he says.', ""Amanda Finch, CEO of The Chartered Institute of Information Security, says Athumi's plan to create a centralised data platform will have benefits."", 'As well as easing the flow of data through the economy it could boost security. ""', 'From a security standpoint, it should help to create a safer environment.', 'With fewer platforms to secure, and responsibility lying with one, overarching party, you\'d expect fewer vulnerabilities compared to multiple different solutions.""', 'She adds a note of caution, though, as the new architecture means citizens take responsibility for more sensitive data than they might previously have held. ""', 'Putting security into the hands of users and citizens is a risk when you consider how many breaches have a human element,"" she says. ""', ""If someone is duped into sharing their pod with a fraudster, then that's it - they've potentially lost everything."", 'Users need to make their own conscious decisions on whether they share data.', 'But this can only happen if citizens are educated on how they can reduce risk by instilling security best practices such as strong passwords or multi-factor authentication.""', 'Would all those companies used to hoarding data give it up easily? ""', 'Companies don\'t want it,"" says Mr Bruce. ""', 'If they could live in a world where they don\'t have to be responsible for your data, but they can have access to it, they\'d take that in a heartbeat.""', 'Back at Athumi, Mr De Vidts thinks Solid could be the start of a data revolution. ""', 'I\'ve been working 25 years in B2B data collaboration, and this is the first time I\'ve seen a data sharing technology that has this kind of potential to disrupt existing business models,"" he says. ""', 'A citizen can decide what data goes to which consuming application.', 'The data subject becomes the data controller.""']",0.2011309203114104,"But this can only happen if citizens are educated on how they can reduce risk by instilling security best practices such as strong passwords or multi-factor authentication.""","If someone is duped into sharing their pod with a fraudster, then that's it - they've potentially lost everything.",0.4941888543275686,"As well as easing the flow of data through the economy it could boost security. """,Pods could potentially make life harder for hackers.,2024-03-26
Smart meter figures: Nearly four million not working properly,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9zqn77ezno,2024-03-26T00:21:36.075Z,"Almost four million smart meters in Great Britain are not working properly. According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnez), 2.7 million were not operating in smart mode as of June 2023. It has since revised this figure to 4.31 million, citing reporting errors from a minority of suppliers. At the end of last year, 3.98 million were faulty. Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, says suppliers must replace broken meters. Smart meters measure how much gas and electricity a household uses and show how much it costs in near real time. They can send readings via a remote connection to energy suppliers (smart mode). If they lose connection customers often rely on estimated bills, which should be corrected once the supplier has manual meter readings.  But some customers have paid too much and struggled to get their money back – or too little and gone into debt. According to Smart Energy GB, a non-profit organisation focusing on the benefits of smart meters, there are now almost 35 million smart meters in Great Britain and the 'vast majority' are operating as intended.  It said 88.6% were operating in smart mode at the end of 2023, up from 87.3% the previous year.  Peta Butler, 79, lives near Tunbridge Wells. Between January and June 2023 her energy bill went up to over £3,500, leaving her ""terrified"" to use electricity. Her son said the problems began when she was changed to a smart meter on a single tariff, in 2022. The new meter was not recorded properly and she kept getting estimated bills based on her old meter.  She said: “It’s been two years of hell. It’s affected my health. And it’s completely taken away any confidence I’ve got. If I have to do anything, I just panic. I don’t sleep at night really because my body, it can’t let go.” Mrs Butler said she recently received £2,900 back from Utility Warehouse - which did not cover what she was owed. She is now with a different supplier. A Utility Warehouse spokesperson said they would refund Mrs Butler with all the money she had paid on the account.  ""We acknowledge that the customer service Mrs Butler received fell below our usual high standards and we’re sorry for the inconvenience and distress this has caused,"" they said. ""We have spoken to the customer and after further reviewing the account, have agreed to provide a goodwill payment in acknowledgement of the service she received.”  According to Elizabeth Blakelock, principal policy manager at Citizens Advice, there are three things that need to be working so the smart meter gives the information required: If any of those things are not working, you may be getting estimated bills. The in-home display does not have to be working for your bills to be correct - and some people choose not to use it - but if there is a problem with it, it is worth checking your bills.  If you think there's a problem between the smart reader and the central system, use the Citizens Advice smart checker. Contact your supplier to give them a correct meter reading, which should help make your bill more accurate in the short-term. They should also help fix your meter. If your supplier has not fixed the issue in eight weeks, contact the Energy Ombudsman. Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis said: “You have a difference between the government’s definition and my own definition of broken.  ""The government’s definition of broken is they can’t send a reading and therefore they’re a ‘thick’ metre because you have to do the readings yourself, which I get huge complaints about.  ""My definition of broken is if the person who has the house says they’re broken – so their internal monitor not working would be a classic example – or it giving the wrong reading would be another example  - even if it can feed them through .  ""We think  - we’re just firming this out – at least one in five of smart meters in people’s homes doesn’t work right now."" “People don’t want more smart meters. The target should be on working smart meters as opposed to new smart meters  - which is something I’ll be pushing on in the next month or two.” Dianne Green, 75, from East Sussex, has been having issues with her smart meter since she was taken on by British Gas in April 2022, when her previous company went bust.  She said her online account showed she was using roughly £60 per month, but British Gas wanted to put her direct debit up to £169 per month. Mrs Green said her physical disabilities meant she couldn’t reach the electricity meter to get manual readings. She currently pays £95 a month, but the last bill showed she was over £600 in debit.  “I’m in debt all the time, and I’m paying,” she added. “It’s very upsetting, and it’s very worrying. You’re constantly thinking of trying to find ways of putting it right. It does make you ill. It makes you frightened."" Mrs Green has been waiting for two years for her problems to be fixed. British Gas said it sent an engineer around on Monday to ensure it is set to provide single rate smart meter readings.  ""Going forward she will receive accurate bills and won’t need to provide us with manual meter readings. We’re very sorry that we did not fix this for her sooner and as goodwill we’ve removed the outstanding balance on her account,” it said. The Desnez says the ""vast majority"" of smart meters are working correctly, but ""reporting errors by a minority of suppliers have uncovered more meters not operating in smart mode than previously thought”. Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, has written to Ofgem, urging ""action to ensure suppliers are held to account if they are not supporting customers with issues as they should be”. Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, said it had asked suppliers to provide more detail on how they plan to tackle connectivity issues. “If customers have concerns about the way this is handled, they can complain to their supplier, and if the issue is not resolved to their satisfaction, they should raise it with the ombudsman,” it said. What can I do if I can't afford my energy bill? Read more here ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Almost four million smart meters in Great Britain are not working properly.', 'According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnez), 2.7 million were not operating in smart mode as of June 2023.', 'It has since revised this figure to 4.31 million, citing reporting errors from a minority of suppliers.', 'At the end of last year, 3.98 million were faulty.', 'Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, says suppliers must replace broken meters.', 'Smart meters measure how much gas and electricity a household uses and show how much it costs in near real time.', 'They can send readings via a remote connection to energy suppliers (smart mode).', 'If they lose connection customers often rely on estimated bills, which should be corrected once the supplier has manual meter readings.', 'But some customers have paid too much and struggled to get their money back – or too little and gone into debt.', ""According to Smart Energy GB, a non-profit organisation focusing on the benefits of smart meters, there are now almost 35 million smart meters in Great Britain and the 'vast majority' are operating as intended."", 'It said 88.6% were operating in smart mode at the end of 2023, up from 87.3% the previous year.', 'Peta Butler, 79, lives near Tunbridge Wells.', 'Between January and June 2023 her energy bill went up to over £3,500, leaving her ""terrified"" to use electricity.', 'Her son said the problems began when she was changed to a smart meter on a single tariff, in 2022.', 'The new meter was not recorded properly and she kept getting estimated bills based on her old meter.', 'She said: “It’s been two years of hell.', 'It’s affected my health.', 'And it’s completely taken away any confidence I’ve got.', 'If I have to do anything, I just panic.', 'I don’t sleep at night really because my body, it can’t let go.”', 'Mrs Butler said she recently received £2,900 back from Utility Warehouse - which did not cover what she was owed.', 'She is now with a different supplier.', 'A Utility Warehouse spokesperson said they would refund Mrs Butler with all the money she had paid on the account. ""', 'We acknowledge that the customer service Mrs Butler received fell below our usual high standards and we’re sorry for the inconvenience and distress this has caused,"" they said. ""', 'We have spoken to the customer and after further reviewing the account, have agreed to provide a goodwill payment in acknowledgement of the service she received.”', 'According to Elizabeth Blakelock, principal policy manager at Citizens Advice, there are three things that need to be working so the smart meter gives the information required: If any of those things are not working, you may be getting estimated bills.', 'The in-home display does not have to be working for your bills to be correct - and some people choose not to use it - but if there is a problem with it, it is worth checking your bills.', ""If you think there's a problem between the smart reader and the central system, use the Citizens Advice smart checker."", 'Contact your supplier to give them a correct meter reading, which should help make your bill more accurate in the short-term.', 'They should also help fix your meter.', 'If your supplier has not fixed the issue in eight weeks, contact the Energy Ombudsman.', 'Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis said: “You have a difference between the government’s definition and my own definition of broken. ""', 'The government’s definition of broken is they can’t send a reading and therefore they’re a ‘thick’ metre because you have to do the readings yourself, which I get huge complaints about. ""', 'My definition of broken is if the person who has the house says they’re broken – so their internal monitor not working would be a classic example – or it giving the wrong reading would be another example - even if it can feed them through . ""', 'We think - we’re just firming this out – at least one in five of smart meters in people’s homes doesn’t work right now."" “', 'People don’t want more smart meters.', 'The target should be on working smart meters as opposed to new smart meters - which is something I’ll be pushing on in the next month or two.”', 'Dianne Green, 75, from East Sussex, has been having issues with her smart meter since she was taken on by British Gas in April 2022, when her previous company went bust.', 'She said her online account showed she was using roughly £60 per month, but British Gas wanted to put her direct debit up to £169 per month.', 'Mrs Green said her physical disabilities meant she couldn’t reach the electricity meter to get manual readings.', 'She currently pays £95 a month, but the last bill showed she was over £600 in debit. “', 'I’m in debt all the time, and I’m paying,” she added. “', 'It’s very upsetting, and it’s very worrying.', 'You’re constantly thinking of trying to find ways of putting it right.', 'It does make you ill.', 'It makes you frightened.""', 'Mrs Green has been waiting for two years for her problems to be fixed.', 'British Gas said it sent an engineer around on Monday to ensure it is set to provide single rate smart meter readings. ""', 'Going forward she will receive accurate bills and won’t need to provide us with manual meter readings.', 'We’re very sorry that we did not fix this for her sooner and as goodwill we’ve removed the outstanding balance on her account,” it said.', 'The Desnez says the ""vast majority"" of smart meters are working correctly, but ""reporting errors by a minority of suppliers have uncovered more meters not operating in smart mode than previously thought”.', 'Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, has written to Ofgem, urging ""action to ensure suppliers are held to account if they are not supporting customers with issues as they should be”.', 'Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, said it had asked suppliers to provide more detail on how they plan to tackle connectivity issues. “', 'If customers have concerns about the way this is handled, they can complain to their supplier, and if the issue is not resolved to their satisfaction, they should raise it with the ombudsman,” it said.', ""What can I do if I can't afford my energy bill?"", 'Read more here']",0.0313184101750439,"According to Smart Energy GB, a non-profit organisation focusing on the benefits of smart meters, there are now almost 35 million smart meters in Great Britain and the 'vast majority' are operating as intended.","My definition of broken is if the person who has the house says they’re broken – so their internal monitor not working would be a classic example – or it giving the wrong reading would be another example - even if it can feed them through . """,-0.3849310040473938,"It said 88.6% were operating in smart mode at the end of 2023, up from 87.3% the previous year.",And it’s completely taken away any confidence I’ve got.,2024-03-26
"Disposable bans will not work, says vape boss",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68656715,2024-03-26T00:13:31.000Z,"Banning disposable vapes will not be ""effective"", the boss of the UK's largest tobacco firm has told the BBC.  Tadeu Marroco, chief executive of British American Tobacco (BAT), also said raising the smoking age would have ""non-intended consequences"".  The government plans to outlaw disposable vapes next April as part of the ""biggest public health measure in decades"". BAT is the UK's third-largest vape seller. Sales of disposable vapes - which give a few hundred puffs of nicotine-containing liquid before being thrown away - have skyrocketed in recent years in Britain. It is estimated hundreds of millions are now sold every year, many of them illegal.  Last week the government published the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born from 2009 onwards, and bring in on-the-spot fines for retailers caught selling to under-18s.  But Mr Marroco said such a ban had not worked overseas. ""In other countries this hasn't been effective,"" he said. ""In Australia they have banned the whole category, and the amount teenagers use in the illegal market is very high. The same is happening in Brazil,"" he added. However, campaigners believe otherwise. Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said, ""The ban on disposables can be made to work but it requires tough enforcement not just in shops but at the border to prevent illegal imports."" As one of the biggest publicly-listed companies in the UK, BAT is third in the disposable vape sector behind market leaders Chinese firms SKE and iMiracle, which make Elfbar and Lost Mary. Mr Marroco agreed that tougher penalties are needed. He said proposed on-the-spot fines of £100 were ""not enough"", calling the French proposal of €100,000 (£86,000)""a proper fine"". But he warned of ""non-intended consequences"" for retail and law enforcement from the government's plan to keep raising the smoking age every year, so that people born in or after 2009 will never legally be able to buy tobacco.  ""We need to tackle first of all the underage vapour use, we need to have a retail licence as we do for alcohol,"" he said, and repeated the company's calls for a ban on flavours which might appeal to children such as sweets and soft drinks.  ""There is no doubt that the UK is being looked at by a number of countries around the world. That's why it's so important to get it right here,"" he said.   Asked whether BAT was only advocating policies which aligned with its commercial interests, the chief executive stated: ""This is an industry which has been under a lot of scrutiny on how we reduce the health impact of our products... this is the first time that we have the technology to do that."" Mr Marroco defended the company's use of sponsorship as ""predominantly for adults"" - it hands out free samples to promote its oral nicotine pouch products. ""We are very cautious about that,"" he said. BAT also sponsors Formula One but Mr Marroco said the company's controls were ""robust enough"" to stop teenagers being encouraged to buy nicotine pouches.  However, he admitted that the law did not prevent them purchasing them. ""At the moment if you're 14 you can buy nicotine pouches [legally in the UK]. This needs to stop,"" he said.  The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will give government powers to control sales of nicotine pouches. BAT has had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for violating international sanctions in North Korea and breaking competition rules in Nigeria. Mr Marroco would not comment if that made the company a trusted voice on vape regulation, but said: ""We have exhaustively spoken about those problems in the past, and these stay there in the past...BAT today has the opportunity now that we didn't have in the past to reduce the risk of our products."" Ms Arnott from ASH said: ""We've heard it all before that BAT has turned a new leaf and is now on the side of the angels.  ""But BAT is still promoting tobacco cigarettes...and that's still where they're making most of their profits. That's why they don't like the government's age of sale legislation, not because it won't work but because it will.""  In a statement the Department for Health and Social Care said smoking was responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the UK, costing £17bn a year.  ""The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is the biggest public health measure in decades, protecting future generations from the harms of smoking.  ""It will save thousands of lives and billions of pounds for our NHS, freeing up new resource which can be spent to improve outcomes across the UK."" ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Banning disposable vapes will not be ""effective"", the boss of the UK\'s largest tobacco firm has told the BBC.', 'Tadeu Marroco, chief executive of British American Tobacco (BAT), also said raising the smoking age would have ""non-intended consequences"".', 'The government plans to outlaw disposable vapes next April as part of the ""biggest public health measure in decades"".', ""BAT is the UK's third-largest vape seller."", 'Sales of disposable vapes - which give a few hundred puffs of nicotine-containing liquid before being thrown away - have skyrocketed in recent years in Britain.', 'It is estimated hundreds of millions are now sold every year, many of them illegal.', 'Last week the government published the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born from 2009 onwards, and bring in on-the-spot fines for retailers caught selling to under-18s.', 'But Mr Marroco said such a ban had not worked overseas. ""', 'In other countries this hasn\'t been effective,"" he said. ""', 'In Australia they have banned the whole category, and the amount teenagers use in the illegal market is very high.', 'The same is happening in Brazil,"" he added.', 'However, campaigners believe otherwise.', 'Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said, ""The ban on disposables can be made to work but it requires tough enforcement not just in shops but at the border to prevent illegal imports.""', 'As one of the biggest publicly-listed companies in the UK, BAT is third in the disposable vape sector behind market leaders Chinese firms SKE and iMiracle, which make Elfbar and Lost Mary.', 'Mr Marroco agreed that tougher penalties are needed.', 'He said proposed on-the-spot fines of £100 were ""not enough"", calling the French proposal of €100,000 (£86,000)""a proper fine"".', 'But he warned of ""non-intended consequences"" for retail and law enforcement from the government\'s plan to keep raising the smoking age every year, so that people born in or after 2009 will never legally be able to buy tobacco. ""', 'We need to tackle first of all the underage vapour use, we need to have a retail licence as we do for alcohol,"" he said, and repeated the company\'s calls for a ban on flavours which might appeal to children such as sweets and soft drinks. ""', 'There is no doubt that the UK is being looked at by a number of countries around the world.', 'That\'s why it\'s so important to get it right here,"" he said.', 'Asked whether BAT was only advocating policies which aligned with its commercial interests, the chief executive stated: ""This is an industry which has been under a lot of scrutiny on how we reduce the health impact of our products... this is the first time that we have the technology to do that.""', 'Mr Marroco defended the company\'s use of sponsorship as ""predominantly for adults"" - it hands out free samples to promote its oral nicotine pouch products. ""', 'We are very cautious about that,"" he said.', 'BAT also sponsors Formula One but Mr Marroco said the company\'s controls were ""robust enough"" to stop teenagers being encouraged to buy nicotine pouches.', 'However, he admitted that the law did not prevent them purchasing them. ""', ""At the moment if you're 14 you can buy nicotine pouches [legally in the UK]."", 'This needs to stop,"" he said.', 'The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will give government powers to control sales of nicotine pouches.', 'BAT has had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for violating international sanctions in North Korea and breaking competition rules in Nigeria.', 'Mr Marroco would not comment if that made the company a trusted voice on vape regulation, but said: ""We have exhaustively spoken about those problems in the past, and these stay there in the past...BAT today has the opportunity now that we didn\'t have in the past to reduce the risk of our products.""', 'Ms Arnott from ASH said: ""We\'ve heard it all before that BAT has turned a new leaf and is now on the side of the angels. ""', ""But BAT is still promoting tobacco cigarettes...and that's still where they're making most of their profits."", 'That\'s why they don\'t like the government\'s age of sale legislation, not because it won\'t work but because it will.""', 'In a statement the Department for Health and Social Care said smoking was responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the UK, costing £17bn a year. ""', 'The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is the biggest public health measure in decades, protecting future generations from the harms of smoking. ""', 'It will save thousands of lives and billions of pounds for our NHS, freeing up new resource which can be spent to improve outcomes across the UK.""']",-0.0427035103534292,"It will save thousands of lives and billions of pounds for our NHS, freeing up new resource which can be spent to improve outcomes across the UK.""","Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said, ""The ban on disposables can be made to work but it requires tough enforcement not just in shops but at the border to prevent illegal imports.""",-0.0635259584947065,Sales of disposable vapes - which give a few hundred puffs of nicotine-containing liquid before being thrown away - have skyrocketed in recent years in Britain.,"Banning disposable vapes will not be ""effective"", the boss of the UK's largest tobacco firm has told the BBC.",2024-03-26
When wind turbine blades get old what's next?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68225891,2024-03-12T00:01:23.000Z,"The cranes moved in last year at Hagshaw Hill, Scotland's oldest commercial wind farm. They were there to continue the dismantling of wind turbines that had been generating electricity for the last 28 years. A similar scene can be witnessed across the world as the first wave of wind turbines built in the late 1990s and early 2000s are decommissioned. In the case of Hagshaw Hill, the existing turbines will be replaced with taller and more efficient ones that can generate up to 10 times more electricity. But working out what to do with the old turbines is challenging. Between 85 and 95% of a turbine's materials, such as steel, aluminium, and copper, can be easily recycled, but the blades are a different matter. Made of fibreglass they are covered with a tough epoxy resin, designed to withstand years of hammering by the elements. These durable qualities make breaking down the blades for recycling a tricky process. Traditional solutions include using pieces of decommissioned blades in cement kilns to manufacture cement, though this can be an energy intensive process. Blades are also commonly disposed of in landfill sites, but this option is becoming increasingly less feasible with a number of countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, banning the practice. Innovative solutions such as repurposing blades into playgrounds or bike sheds have been shown to be effective at a local level but, with some experts predicting up to 43 million tonnes of wind turbine blade waste by 2050, there is a pressing need for a system that will work on a bigger scale. Scientists and start-ups are working on the problem, with many focusing on tackling the challenge of breaking down the materials used in the blades.  ""At the end of life, if we're going to get any value out of the materials, we need to be able to separate the fibres from the resin in some way or another,"" Dr Claire Barlow, a sustainability and materials engineer, from the University of Cambridge tells me. More technology of business One approach showing promise uses a technique developed by the University of Strathclyde. It involves breaking the blades down into small pieces and feeding them into a very hot air stream. The process separates the glass fibre from the resin. The glass fibre can then be collected, treated and reused, explains Malcolm Forsyth who leads Project PRoGrESS, which aims to commercialise the technology. The project, which kicked off in 2022, is working on a pilot plant that's due to be operational in the first half of this year - though it's hit some difficulties.  ""The major challenge for the project team has been the rapid escalation of material costs partly due to the Russia and Ukraine war, as well as global inflation,"" according to Mr Forsyth.  Similar solutions are being tested elsewhere that use different methodologies but have the same overarching goal of breaking down the materials used in wind turbine blades. Danish company Vestas, the largest wind turbine producer in Europe, announced last year an approach that uses a liquid chemical solution to break down the blades into materials which can then potentially be used to make new blades. A major advantage of this approach, according to Vestas, is that it uses widely available chemicals, though details haven't been disclosed. The process has the added benefit of not requiring energy-intensive high temperatures.  Both of these traits hint at potential scalability, with the company claiming to have recycled 475 end-of-life blades in 2022. If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow. Historic blade waste currently in landfill could be recycled, as could waste which has been placed in storage awaiting a solution. At Hagshaw Hill a number of wind turbines have been kept in storage while ScottishPower Renewables decides what to do with them. Perhaps the future will be to make turbine blades that are easier to break down.  A number of companies are working on building blades made out of materials less reliant on the difficult to recycle fibreglass and epoxy resin. However at this stage, the vast majority of blades continue to be made of these traditional materials. The next few years will determine whether the recycling technology under development can be scaled-up to a useful size, without harming the environment. As Dr Barlow puts it ""that really is the silver bullet."" ",BBC,12/03/2024,"[""The cranes moved in last year at Hagshaw Hill, Scotland's oldest commercial wind farm."", 'They were there to continue the dismantling of wind turbines that had been generating electricity for the last 28 years.', 'A similar scene can be witnessed across the world as the first wave of wind turbines built in the late 1990s and early 2000s are decommissioned.', 'In the case of Hagshaw Hill, the existing turbines will be replaced with taller and more efficient ones that can generate up to 10 times more electricity.', 'But working out what to do with the old turbines is challenging.', ""Between 85 and 95% of a turbine's materials, such as steel, aluminium, and copper, can be easily recycled, but the blades are a different matter."", 'Made of fibreglass they are covered with a tough epoxy resin, designed to withstand years of hammering by the elements.', 'These durable qualities make breaking down the blades for recycling a tricky process.', 'Traditional solutions include using pieces of decommissioned blades in cement kilns to manufacture cement, though this can be an energy intensive process.', 'Blades are also commonly disposed of in landfill sites, but this option is becoming increasingly less feasible with a number of countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, banning the practice.', 'Innovative solutions such as repurposing blades into playgrounds or bike sheds have been shown to be effective at a local level but, with some experts predicting up to 43 million tonnes of wind turbine blade waste by 2050, there is a pressing need for a system that will work on a bigger scale.', 'Scientists and start-ups are working on the problem, with many focusing on tackling the challenge of breaking down the materials used in the blades. ""', 'At the end of life, if we\'re going to get any value out of the materials, we need to be able to separate the fibres from the resin in some way or another,"" Dr Claire Barlow, a sustainability and materials engineer, from the University of Cambridge tells me.', 'More technology of business One approach showing promise uses a technique developed by the University of Strathclyde.', 'It involves breaking the blades down into small pieces and feeding them into a very hot air stream.', 'The process separates the glass fibre from the resin.', 'The glass fibre can then be collected, treated and reused, explains Malcolm Forsyth who leads Project PRoGrESS, which aims to commercialise the technology.', 'The project, which kicked off in 2022, is working on a pilot plant that\'s due to be operational in the first half of this year - though it\'s hit some difficulties. ""', 'The major challenge for the project team has been the rapid escalation of material costs partly due to the Russia and Ukraine war, as well as global inflation,"" according to Mr Forsyth.', 'Similar solutions are being tested elsewhere that use different methodologies but have the same overarching goal of breaking down the materials used in wind turbine blades.', 'Danish company Vestas, the largest wind turbine producer in Europe, announced last year an approach that uses a liquid chemical solution to break down the blades into materials which can then potentially be used to make new blades.', ""A major advantage of this approach, according to Vestas, is that it uses widely available chemicals, though details haven't been disclosed."", 'The process has the added benefit of not requiring energy-intensive high temperatures.', 'Both of these traits hint at potential scalability, with the company claiming to have recycled 475 end-of-life blades in 2022.', 'If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow.', 'Historic blade waste currently in landfill could be recycled, as could waste which has been placed in storage awaiting a solution.', 'At Hagshaw Hill a number of wind turbines have been kept in storage while ScottishPower Renewables decides what to do with them.', 'Perhaps the future will be to make turbine blades that are easier to break down.', 'A number of companies are working on building blades made out of materials less reliant on the difficult to recycle fibreglass and epoxy resin.', 'However at this stage, the vast majority of blades continue to be made of these traditional materials.', 'The next few years will determine whether the recycling technology under development can be scaled-up to a useful size, without harming the environment.', 'As Dr Barlow puts it ""that really is the silver bullet.""']",0.0650669930373075,"The next few years will determine whether the recycling technology under development can be scaled-up to a useful size, without harming the environment.","If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow.",0.1610930476869855,"If technologies such as these succeed ""then not only can we solve the problem of new waste coming through, but we can also actually tackle historic waste,"" according to Dr Barlow.","The major challenge for the project team has been the rapid escalation of material costs partly due to the Russia and Ukraine war, as well as global inflation,"" according to Mr Forsyth.",2024-03-26
Fed holds interest rates steady but signals cuts ahead,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68619144,2024-03-20T18:12:55.000Z,"The US central bank has left its key interest rate unchanged again, while it looks for more evidence that inflation is coming under control.  The decision kept the target range for the Federal Reserve's influential rate in the range of 5.25%-5.5%, the highest in more than two decades. The Fed is debating whether higher borrowing costs have done enough to ease the pressures pushing up prices. Officials said they still expected to cut rates by the end of the year. But after raising borrowing costs aggressively in response to soaring prices in 2022, the bank is proceeding cautiously.  ""We want to be careful and fortunately with the economy growing, the labour market strong and inflation coming down, we can"" be, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference after the Fed's meeting.  The Fed's move comes a day before the Bank of England will announce its own interest rate decision. It is also expected to hold UK interest rates where they are, at 5.25%, a 15-year high.  Higher interest rates in theory work to cool inflation by make borrowing more expensive, slowing the economy and easing the pressures pushing up prices. But if left in place for too long, they risk triggering a harsh economic slowdown. The moves in the US are being closely watched, as countries around the world face similar trade-offs. For now, the world's largest economy has held up surprisingly well, despite the higher interest rates. Forecasts released after the meeting showed that officials expect the economy to grow 2.1% this year, a significantly more rosy outlook than the 1.4% they projected in December. The forecasts also showed officials expect inflation to fall to 2.4% by the end of the year, approaching the 2% rate the bank wants to see.   Mr Powell said officials were not overly concerned by some recent data, which has suggested that progress might be stalling.  The inflation rate was 3.2% in the US last month and 3.1% in January. ""We're not going to overreact to these two months of data, nor are we going to ignore them,"" he said.  The forecasts showed higher rates next year than officials had previously forecast. But overall the outlook suggested that the bank's confidence that it can rein in inflation without knocking the economy off course is growing.  Charles Mangin, head of foreign exchange at UK-based Crown Agents Bank, which specialises in emerging markets, said the growth in the US was ""quite impressive"". But he warned that if strong growth leads the US to keep interest rates higher for longer than expected, it could lead to economic pain in other countries. Emerging markets have seen foreign investment slow sharply, as investors shift money to more established economies like the US in response to higher rates. Central banks in countries such as Egypt and Nigeria have already raised their own interest rates aggressively to try to compete, a path others may have to follow if they hope to bring investors back, he said.  But those moves - which sent rates to more than 20% in Egypt and Nigeria- will not come without local costs, he warned. ""The premium [to which] these guys will have to push their rates ... will put stress on the economies,"" he said. ""If now we're in the scenario where the US are going to keep rates higher for longer, it's going to be a challenge for quite a few of the emerging markets countries."" ",BBC,20/03/2024,"['The US central bank has left its key interest rate unchanged again, while it looks for more evidence that inflation is coming under control.', ""The decision kept the target range for the Federal Reserve's influential rate in the range of 5.25%-5.5%, the highest in more than two decades."", 'The Fed is debating whether higher borrowing costs have done enough to ease the pressures pushing up prices.', 'Officials said they still expected to cut rates by the end of the year.', 'But after raising borrowing costs aggressively in response to soaring prices in 2022, the bank is proceeding cautiously. ""', 'We want to be careful and fortunately with the economy growing, the labour market strong and inflation coming down, we can"" be, Fed chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference after the Fed\'s meeting.', ""The Fed's move comes a day before the Bank of England will announce its own interest rate decision."", 'It is also expected to hold UK interest rates where they are, at 5.25%, a 15-year high.', 'Higher interest rates in theory work to cool inflation by make borrowing more expensive, slowing the economy and easing the pressures pushing up prices.', 'But if left in place for too long, they risk triggering a harsh economic slowdown.', 'The moves in the US are being closely watched, as countries around the world face similar trade-offs.', ""For now, the world's largest economy has held up surprisingly well, despite the higher interest rates."", 'Forecasts released after the meeting showed that officials expect the economy to grow 2.1% this year, a significantly more rosy outlook than the 1.4% they projected in December.', 'The forecasts also showed officials expect inflation to fall to 2.4% by the end of the year, approaching the 2% rate the bank wants to see.', 'Mr Powell said officials were not overly concerned by some recent data, which has suggested that progress might be stalling.', 'The inflation rate was 3.2% in the US last month and 3.1% in January. ""', 'We\'re not going to overreact to these two months of data, nor are we going to ignore them,"" he said.', 'The forecasts showed higher rates next year than officials had previously forecast.', ""But overall the outlook suggested that the bank's confidence that it can rein in inflation without knocking the economy off course is growing."", 'Charles Mangin, head of foreign exchange at UK-based Crown Agents Bank, which specialises in emerging markets, said the growth in the US was ""quite impressive"".', 'But he warned that if strong growth leads the US to keep interest rates higher for longer than expected, it could lead to economic pain in other countries.', 'Emerging markets have seen foreign investment slow sharply, as investors shift money to more established economies like the US in response to higher rates.', 'Central banks in countries such as Egypt and Nigeria have already raised their own interest rates aggressively to try to compete, a path others may have to follow if they hope to bring investors back, he said.', 'But those moves - which sent rates to more than 20% in Egypt and Nigeria- will not come without local costs, he warned. ""', 'The premium [to which] these guys will have to push their rates ... will put stress on the economies,"" he said. ""', 'If now we\'re in the scenario where the US are going to keep rates higher for longer, it\'s going to be a challenge for quite a few of the emerging markets countries.""']",0.1691503367949176,But overall the outlook suggested that the bank's confidence that it can rein in inflation without knocking the economy off course is growing.,"But if left in place for too long, they risk triggering a harsh economic slowdown.",0.1746221874889574,"Forecasts released after the meeting showed that officials expect the economy to grow 2.1% this year, a significantly more rosy outlook than the 1.4% they projected in December.","The forecasts also showed officials expect inflation to fall to 2.4% by the end of the year, approaching the 2% rate the bank wants to see.",2024-03-26
Offshore Energies UK report: Oil and gas fight for survival,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-68668648,2024-03-26T15:42:50.000Z,"If only everything could be reduced to a three-word slogan: ""Take Back Control"" or ""Yes We Can"".   The ""Just Stop Oil"" campaign group tells us it's a question of justice and it's simple - ""just"" like that. The fossil fuels industry is struggling to find a simple response. With equal and opposite simplification, it could be ""You'll Need Us"". But the argument set out in the annual business report of Offshore Energies UK is much more complex than that. And in the battle for the survival of the oil and gas industry in British waters, the stakes are high. That yearly report used to be an upsum of industry drilling activity and investment plans, with big, impressive numbers for employment and impact. This one admits that the previous £200bn investment forecast for this decade now look more like £160bn, and that's if politicians get off their case. A lot of that is yet to be committed, and industry is proving reluctant to make that commitment while Britain battles over the pace of transition to net zero carbon emissions. This year's report is more of an argument against execution - a plea of mitigation by an industry that has swiftly moved from blue chip to polluting pariah.  With four recent tax rises from Conservatives, and Labour wanting to go further with the windfall tax as well as putting the brakes on new licences for drilling, OEUK says Britain is looking increasingly ""uninvestable"". It is reminding the government today that it thought it secured a North Sea Transition Deal three years ago, but doesn't recognise it in the more hostile environment it now faces.  The trade body last month made its case to Labour's Treasury team, and says the discussions continue. But it also knows it has to win hearts and minds across the public too. The big carrot of a smooth and successful transition from fossil fuels to renewables could be £450bn of investment by 2040, and many jobs that could go with that. More than half of that big number would be offshore wind power, if governments and regulators can secure the best possible sequence of planning consents and grid connections. A big 'if'. Hydrogen could be worth £25bn - much of it using renewable power, much of it cracking gas. The prospect here is growth to equal the scale of the electricity industry by the middle of the century. Carbon capture and storage could bring £34bn in investment. The controversial bit is the £145bn that the industry reckons could still be invested in oil and gas under British waters. It is emphasised this is not the value of the industry for the big producers associated with outrageously large profits, but the contract value to the supply chain.  There is likely to be more public sympathy and a lot more jobs in the companies supplying services and making more modest profits, across drilling, engineering, logistics, shipping, cables and catering, as well as finance, accountancy, law and geology expertise. How many jobs? The OEUK says 200,000 are supported by oil and gas, and UK ministers use that figure to make the case for drilling with more vigour.  But the number is being contested by anti-oil campaigners, suggesting that the economic argument is getting some traction. The next bit of the industry's case is that oil and gas should be allowed to keep drilling while it makes the transition into renewable energies.  It has mapped skills from one to the other, reckoning oil and gas can provide between 60 and 80% of the expertise required. Ditch that expertise before the renewables investment ramps up, goes the argument, and Britain will have to import skills and equipment, as it already does in large-scale fabrication and shipbuilding.  Conversely, retain those skills, deploy them in renewables, and there will be an export market within 15 years worth more than £1,000bn. That's another suspiciously round number. The part of the argument that affects us all is that there is nothing simple about ""just"" stopping oil and gas, when our collective demand and the need for it remains so high.  The industry doesn't quite say it, but there's a subliminal message: you depend on our produce, so don't blame us for giving you what you want, and need to lubricate your economy, keep you warm through the winter and go on holiday. Of all the UK's energy needs - across transport, heating, industry and power - oil and gas accounted for around 74% last year. From 2022, demand for gas was down 11% and oil was up 2%, mainly because more planes were flying post-pandemic. Even on the 'balanced pathway' to net zero by 2050, which has been set out by the Committee on Climate Change, oil and gas will continue to provide a fifth of that energy by mid-century. If so, it will then have to be fully offset, much of it by carbon capture and storage (a technology which anti-oil campaigners see as merely an excuse to keep drilling). Production from UK waters met 47% of gas demand last year, and 57% of oil demand (a net figure, because much oil goes overseas for refining, and Britain buys back refined product sourced from lots of places).  At 1.2 million daily barrels of oil or its equivalent, that was the lowest output since 1977. It has fallen 28% since 2019, when output was flowing from big investments earlier last decade. OEUK expects annual decline averaging at least 8% per year from now.  If investment doesn't keep flowing to tap into further reserves, that declining trend could be as high as 15% per year. Gas output is forecast to fall faster than oil, and at a much faster pace than gas central heating is being replaced. No great loss, you might say. Climate scientists tell us that we cannot sanction more production without busting through 1.5 degrees of warming.  But if UK demand declines on current projections, much more imported energy will be required. The liquified gas comes with a much bigger carbon footprint, and as production declines globally, the remaining big exporters may have the rest of us over a barrel. It is not only that tax is weighing heavily on profitability, with Harbour Energy, now the biggest producer from UK waters, recently reporting an effective tax rate of 95%.  It is also claimed that the windfall tax is being applied to profits that no longer reflect a windfall. The trade body shows that gas prices are getting close to their levels before Russia started sabre-rattling on the Ukrainian border. Flows have stepped up from Norway and shiploads of Liquified Natural Gas. Oil prices are down from the Ukraine war highs, but are trending at relatively high levels. Since the start of this year, the benchmark Brent crude price has risen from $76 to $87 per barrel.  On the other side of the financial equation for oil companies, the cost of drilling the average barrel is up 50%, says OEUK. And without big new fields coming on stream, that unit cost will surely rise. It is claimed the rate of return on investment has dropped to 3% - lower than many other sectors. None of this is likely to win the sympathy of environment campaigners, who note the vast profits made by producers down the years and around the world.  But among others, and particularly those contesting the Westminster election due in the next ten months, the industry wants to push back on simple slogans. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['If only everything could be reduced to a three-word slogan: ""Take Back Control"" or ""Yes We Can"".', 'The ""Just Stop Oil"" campaign group tells us it\'s a question of justice and it\'s simple - ""just"" like that.', 'The fossil fuels industry is struggling to find a simple response.', 'With equal and opposite simplification, it could be ""You\'ll Need Us"".', 'But the argument set out in the annual business report of Offshore Energies UK is much more complex than that.', 'And in the battle for the survival of the oil and gas industry in British waters, the stakes are high.', 'That yearly report used to be an upsum of industry drilling activity and investment plans, with big, impressive numbers for employment and impact.', ""This one admits that the previous £200bn investment forecast for this decade now look more like £160bn, and that's if politicians get off their case."", 'A lot of that is yet to be committed, and industry is proving reluctant to make that commitment while Britain battles over the pace of transition to net zero carbon emissions.', ""This year's report is more of an argument against execution - a plea of mitigation by an industry that has swiftly moved from blue chip to polluting pariah."", 'With four recent tax rises from Conservatives, and Labour wanting to go further with the windfall tax as well as putting the brakes on new licences for drilling, OEUK says Britain is looking increasingly ""uninvestable"".', ""It is reminding the government today that it thought it secured a North Sea Transition Deal three years ago, but doesn't recognise it in the more hostile environment it now faces."", ""The trade body last month made its case to Labour's Treasury team, and says the discussions continue."", 'But it also knows it has to win hearts and minds across the public too.', 'The big carrot of a smooth and successful transition from fossil fuels to renewables could be £450bn of investment by 2040, and many jobs that could go with that.', 'More than half of that big number would be offshore wind power, if governments and regulators can secure the best possible sequence of planning consents and grid connections.', ""A big 'if'."", 'Hydrogen could be worth £25bn - much of it using renewable power, much of it cracking gas.', 'The prospect here is growth to equal the scale of the electricity industry by the middle of the century.', 'Carbon capture and storage could bring £34bn in investment.', 'The controversial bit is the £145bn that the industry reckons could still be invested in oil and gas under British waters.', 'It is emphasised this is not the value of the industry for the big producers associated with outrageously large profits, but the contract value to the supply chain.', 'There is likely to be more public sympathy and a lot more jobs in the companies supplying services and making more modest profits, across drilling, engineering, logistics, shipping, cables and catering, as well as finance, accountancy, law and geology expertise.', 'How many jobs?', 'The OEUK says 200,000 are supported by oil and gas, and UK ministers use that figure to make the case for drilling with more vigour.', 'But the number is being contested by anti-oil campaigners, suggesting that the economic argument is getting some traction.', ""The next bit of the industry's case is that oil and gas should be allowed to keep drilling while it makes the transition into renewable energies."", 'It has mapped skills from one to the other, reckoning oil and gas can provide between 60 and 80% of the expertise required.', 'Ditch that expertise before the renewables investment ramps up, goes the argument, and Britain will have to import skills and equipment, as it already does in large-scale fabrication and shipbuilding.', 'Conversely, retain those skills, deploy them in renewables, and there will be an export market within 15 years worth more than £1,000bn.', ""That's another suspiciously round number."", 'The part of the argument that affects us all is that there is nothing simple about ""just"" stopping oil and gas, when our collective demand and the need for it remains so high.', ""The industry doesn't quite say it, but there's a subliminal message: you depend on our produce, so don't blame us for giving you what you want, and need to lubricate your economy, keep you warm through the winter and go on holiday."", ""Of all the UK's energy needs - across transport, heating, industry and power - oil and gas accounted for around 74% last year."", 'From 2022, demand for gas was down 11% and oil was up 2%, mainly because more planes were flying post-pandemic.', ""Even on the 'balanced pathway' to net zero by 2050, which has been set out by the Committee on Climate Change, oil and gas will continue to provide a fifth of that energy by mid-century."", 'If so, it will then have to be fully offset, much of it by carbon capture and storage (a technology which anti-oil campaigners see as merely an excuse to keep drilling).', 'Production from UK waters met 47% of gas demand last year, and 57% of oil demand (a net figure, because much oil goes overseas for refining, and Britain buys back refined product sourced from lots of places).', 'At 1.2 million daily barrels of oil or its equivalent, that was the lowest output since 1977.', 'It has fallen 28% since 2019, when output was flowing from big investments earlier last decade.', 'OEUK expects annual decline averaging at least 8% per year from now.', ""If investment doesn't keep flowing to tap into further reserves, that declining trend could be as high as 15% per year."", 'Gas output is forecast to fall faster than oil, and at a much faster pace than gas central heating is being replaced.', 'No great loss, you might say.', 'Climate scientists tell us that we cannot sanction more production without busting through 1.5 degrees of warming.', 'But if UK demand declines on current projections, much more imported energy will be required.', 'The liquified gas comes with a much bigger carbon footprint, and as production declines globally, the remaining big exporters may have the rest of us over a barrel.', 'It is not only that tax is weighing heavily on profitability, with Harbour Energy, now the biggest producer from UK waters, recently reporting an effective tax rate of 95%.', 'It is also claimed that the windfall tax is being applied to profits that no longer reflect a windfall.', 'The trade body shows that gas prices are getting close to their levels before Russia started sabre-rattling on the Ukrainian border.', 'Flows have stepped up from Norway and shiploads of Liquified Natural Gas.', 'Oil prices are down from the Ukraine war highs, but are trending at relatively high levels.', 'Since the start of this year, the benchmark Brent crude price has risen from $76 to $87 per barrel.', 'On the other side of the financial equation for oil companies, the cost of drilling the average barrel is up 50%, says OEUK.', 'And without big new fields coming on stream, that unit cost will surely rise.', 'It is claimed the rate of return on investment has dropped to 3% - lower than many other sectors.', 'None of this is likely to win the sympathy of environment campaigners, who note the vast profits made by producers down the years and around the world.', 'But among others, and particularly those contesting the Westminster election due in the next ten months, the industry wants to push back on simple slogans.']",0.101447178926729,"None of this is likely to win the sympathy of environment campaigners, who note the vast profits made by producers down the years and around the world.","But the number is being contested by anti-oil campaigners, suggesting that the economic argument is getting some traction.",-0.0490332697999888,"Since the start of this year, the benchmark Brent crude price has risen from $76 to $87 per barrel.",It is claimed the rate of return on investment has dropped to 3% - lower than many other sectors.,2024-03-26
Can Sweden keep its edge in the music industry?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68499740,2024-03-15T00:17:40.000Z,"From Abba to Spotify, Avicii to Soundcloud, Stockholm has spawned both some of the world's most successful musicians and music tech companies. Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven times, a gong it holds jointly with Ireland - and Malmö will host this year's competition. That legacy is evident moments after stepping off the underground at Stockholm's central station. Sergels torg, the capital's main square paved in black and white triangles, is home to the Avicii Experience, an interactive museum celebrating the late Tim Bergling. He grew up here and became one of the world's bestselling DJs under his artist name Avicii. On the fifteenth floor sits Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse Entertainment which runs the museum. The company is focussed on creating the ""next generation"" of high-tech entertainment experiences, with a portfolio that also includes the Abba Voyage stage show in London, performed by avatar versions of Sweden's biggest supergroup. It is developing plans for a new show in 2027 involving digital versions of the US rock band Kiss, after testing the technology at the band's final real-life gig last year. ""What's the similarity between Kiss and Abba?,"" asks Mr Sundin rhetorically from his private office with floor-to-ceiling windows. ""They really have super fans, both artists, and they have a wide catalogue, and they have global presence all over the world."" Despite selling more than two million tickets for Abba Voyage since May 2022, he says Pophouse Entertainment still hasn't broken even on its investments, which include the technology (created in collaboration with US filmmaker George Lucas's visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic), and the event's bespoke east London arena. But Mr Sundin - a former Universal Music executive - says he has faith in the concept, and hopes it can be adapted for a handful of other big-name legacy artists in future.  ""This is for those who can't tour anymore, can't really make themselves as good [as they were]... or [want to] do different kinds of things with their music legacy,"" says Mr Sundin.  Pophouse's innovations follow a string of other music tech success stories emerging from Stockholm, a capital with a population of just one million. Daniel Ek's Spotify launched here in 2008, while Soundcloud was founded a year earlier by two students from Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin. Other companies who've made a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand, which provides a subscription service enabling businesses to play commercial music without licensing issues, and Epidemic Sound, a platform for rights-free music for content creators, recently valued at 12.5bn kronor (£950m; $1.2bn), according to Swedish business news site Dagens Industri.  ""We all know there must be something in the water,"" laughs Sarah Herlin, co-founder of Stockholm Music City, an organisation that encourages collaboration between the capital's music and tech sectors, and provides support to start-ups. On a more serious note, she argues that there are several key ingredients in Stockholm's recipe for music tech success. These include Sweden's historically strong music scene, with artists like Roxette, The Cardigans and legendary pop producer/songwriter Max Martin cementing the reputation set by Abba, and giving credibility to Swedish tech companies with a music-related focus. Plus, the country has long had a tech-savvy population, with many of today's entrepreneurs growing up in the 1990s when there were tax cuts on home hardware in Sweden, followed by an early adoption of broadband. The business culture in Sweden, which tends to promote collaboration over competition has also created a supportive ecosystem, argues Herlin. ""If you realise someone else is doing the same thing, you contact each other and see how can we do this together,"" she says. ""That often means that they all succeed instead of nobody succeeding."" More technology of business One recent example is Elk, a company that provides a remote, collaborative recording platform for artists, which was founded after two local businesses figured out they were developing similar software tools. Ms Herlin has just finished a meeting at The Node, a physical recording studio hub which opened last year on the same square as the Avicii museum, and includes some of the late DJ's equipment. ""Where you have producers, you will have music tech start-ups, and you will have investors coming to check it out,"" she says. Late on a Monday afternoon the neon-pink lit cafe area is largely empty, save for several nonchalant staff. But Ms Herlin says the space is creating a global buzz. ""We've noticed already people pop up here from New York and from London to check it out."" Seedtable, a platform that tracks the fastest growing companies in Europe lists 69 music and and audio start-ups to watch and work for in 2024, with 13 of them based in Stockholm, more than any other city in relation to population size. A few blocks away from The Node, one of them, Snafu Records, is based at a shared office space with a parquet floor and a cocktail bar. Described by its co-founder and chief executive Ankit Desai as ""the first AI enabled music label in the world"", the start-up has developed an algorithm which trawls the internet to pinpoint new artists it believes can make an impact. ""We try to find those diamonds in the rough… those undervalued artists and give them a platform to shine,"" says Mr Desai.  Since launching in 2019, the company has signed more than 150 artists. Snafu Records takes a 50% cut of all its artists earnings, although Desai says most traditional labels take up to 80%. The start-up's investors include Agnetha Fältskog (Agnetha from Abba), Finnish gaming entrepreneur Mikko Kodisoja, and Pophouse Entertainment, and it raised $7m (£5.5m) in its second funding round in late 2023. But Mr Desai admits that raising capital was ""a lot harder"" than when the label first launched in 2019, and the company is yet to turn a profit.  Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm's music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. ""People tend to move towards more safe investments in more difficult times, and music tech companies in general aren't producing profits, not even Spotify."" Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs. But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up. Some music tech entrepreneurs argue the speed at which AI tools are growing globally is also putting pressure on Stockholm's well-oiled music tech ecosystem. ""One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""It's really a race, I would say, with a lot of companies doing a lot of cool things at the same time."" Corite has also struggled to turn a profit, and is pinning its hopes on a new tool for artists and other content creators which is launching later this year.  ""We are about to raise money again and we are definitely humble,"" says Ms Olsson. ""I think, companies have a bit more to prove a bit earlier than they had before."" ",BBC,15/03/2024,"[""From Abba to Spotify, Avicii to Soundcloud, Stockholm has spawned both some of the world's most successful musicians and music tech companies."", ""Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven times, a gong it holds jointly with Ireland - and Malmö will host this year's competition."", ""That legacy is evident moments after stepping off the underground at Stockholm's central station."", ""Sergels torg, the capital's main square paved in black and white triangles, is home to the Avicii Experience, an interactive museum celebrating the late Tim Bergling."", ""He grew up here and became one of the world's bestselling DJs under his artist name Avicii."", 'On the fifteenth floor sits Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse Entertainment which runs the museum.', 'The company is focussed on creating the ""next generation"" of high-tech entertainment experiences, with a portfolio that also includes the Abba Voyage stage show in London, performed by avatar versions of Sweden\'s biggest supergroup.', 'It is developing plans for a new show in 2027 involving digital versions of the US rock band Kiss, after testing the technology at the band\'s final real-life gig last year. ""', 'What\'s the similarity between Kiss and Abba?,""', 'asks Mr Sundin rhetorically from his private office with floor-to-ceiling windows. ""', 'They really have super fans, both artists, and they have a wide catalogue, and they have global presence all over the world.""', ""Despite selling more than two million tickets for Abba Voyage since May 2022, he says Pophouse Entertainment still hasn't broken even on its investments, which include the technology (created in collaboration with US filmmaker George Lucas's visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic), and the event's bespoke east London arena."", 'But Mr Sundin - a former Universal Music executive - says he has faith in the concept, and hopes it can be adapted for a handful of other big-name legacy artists in future. ""', 'This is for those who can\'t tour anymore, can\'t really make themselves as good [as they were]... or [want to] do different kinds of things with their music legacy,"" says Mr Sundin.', ""Pophouse's innovations follow a string of other music tech success stories emerging from Stockholm, a capital with a population of just one million."", ""Daniel Ek's Spotify launched here in 2008, while Soundcloud was founded a year earlier by two students from Stockholm School of Economics, Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who later relocated the business to Berlin."", 'Other companies who\'ve made a global impact include Soundtrack Your Brand, which provides a subscription service enabling businesses to play commercial music without licensing issues, and Epidemic Sound, a platform for rights-free music for content creators, recently valued at 12.5bn kronor (£950m; $1.2bn), according to Swedish business news site Dagens Industri. ""', 'We all know there must be something in the water,"" laughs Sarah Herlin, co-founder of Stockholm Music City, an organisation that encourages collaboration between the capital\'s music and tech sectors, and provides support to start-ups.', ""On a more serious note, she argues that there are several key ingredients in Stockholm's recipe for music tech success."", ""These include Sweden's historically strong music scene, with artists like Roxette, The Cardigans and legendary pop producer/songwriter Max Martin cementing the reputation set by Abba, and giving credibility to Swedish tech companies with a music-related focus."", ""Plus, the country has long had a tech-savvy population, with many of today's entrepreneurs growing up in the 1990s when there were tax cuts on home hardware in Sweden, followed by an early adoption of broadband."", 'The business culture in Sweden, which tends to promote collaboration over competition has also created a supportive ecosystem, argues Herlin. ""', 'If you realise someone else is doing the same thing, you contact each other and see how can we do this together,"" she says. ""', 'That often means that they all succeed instead of nobody succeeding.""', 'More technology of business One recent example is Elk, a company that provides a remote, collaborative recording platform for artists, which was founded after two local businesses figured out they were developing similar software tools.', 'Ms Herlin has just finished a meeting at The Node, a physical recording studio hub which opened last year on the same square as the Avicii museum, and includes some of the late DJ\'s equipment. ""', 'Where you have producers, you will have music tech start-ups, and you will have investors coming to check it out,"" she says.', 'Late on a Monday afternoon the neon-pink lit cafe area is largely empty, save for several nonchalant staff.', 'But Ms Herlin says the space is creating a global buzz. ""', 'We\'ve noticed already people pop up here from New York and from London to check it out.""', 'Seedtable, a platform that tracks the fastest growing companies in Europe lists 69 music and and audio start-ups to watch and work for in 2024, with 13 of them based in Stockholm, more than any other city in relation to population size.', 'A few blocks away from The Node, one of them, Snafu Records, is based at a shared office space with a parquet floor and a cocktail bar.', 'Described by its co-founder and chief executive Ankit Desai as ""the first AI enabled music label in the world"", the start-up has developed an algorithm which trawls the internet to pinpoint new artists it believes can make an impact. ""', 'We try to find those diamonds in the rough… those undervalued artists and give them a platform to shine,"" says Mr Desai.', 'Since launching in 2019, the company has signed more than 150 artists.', 'Snafu Records takes a 50% cut of all its artists earnings, although Desai says most traditional labels take up to 80%.', ""The start-up's investors include Agnetha Fältskog (Agnetha from Abba), Finnish gaming entrepreneur Mikko Kodisoja, and Pophouse Entertainment, and it raised $7m (£5.5m) in its second funding round in late 2023."", 'But Mr Desai admits that raising capital was ""a lot harder"" than when the label first launched in 2019, and the company is yet to turn a profit.', 'Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm\'s music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. ""', 'People tend to move towards more safe investments in more difficult times, and music tech companies in general aren\'t producing profits, not even Spotify.""', ""Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs."", 'But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up.', 'Some music tech entrepreneurs argue the speed at which AI tools are growing globally is also putting pressure on Stockholm\'s well-oiled music tech ecosystem. ""', 'One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""', 'It\'s really a race, I would say, with a lot of companies doing a lot of cool things at the same time.""', 'Corite has also struggled to turn a profit, and is pinning its hopes on a new tool for artists and other content creators which is launching later this year. ""', 'We are about to raise money again and we are definitely humble,"" says Ms Olsson. ""', 'I think, companies have a bit more to prove a bit earlier than they had before.""']",0.2732650350345871,"One of the biggest challenges is to keep up with everything,"" says Emelie Olsson, chief operating officer and co-founder at Corite, a music tech start-up which uses crowdfunding to help artists gain financial backing from fans (and rewards fans if artists score a hit). ""","Emil Widhagen, a journalist for Swedish tech and start-up news site Breakit, argues many of Stockholm's music tech start-ups are facing similar challenges to Snafu Records, as a result of global economic jitters. """,0.2579860185322009,But the company still saw a 4% increase in subscribers despite putting its prices up.,"Indeed, Spotify - the world's biggest subscription audio streaming site - reported a loss of around €75m (£64m; $82m) in the final quarter of 2023, despite cutting around 1,500 jobs.",2024-03-26
NBC News boss Cesar Conde faces backlash from his network’s anchors over ‘inexplicable’ decision to hire ex-RNC chair Ronna McDaniel,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/media/nbc-news-cesar-conde-ronna-mcdaniel-backlash/index.html,"
  Published
        8:05 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Cesar Conde has a decision to make — and it’s not an especially difficult one.
    
            The NBCUniversal News Group chair is facing a torrent of backlash from his own staff after greenlighting the hire of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid network contributor.
    
            Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.” And they’re not doing it via anonymous comments to the press. They’re doing it on the record on NBCU’s own air. Chuck Todd broke the dam on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” with a set of candid comments about the hiring, and Rachel Maddow capped the flood of backlash Monday night with a blistering 30-minute monologue eviscerating the network’s leadership for the “inexplicable” move.
    
            Suffice to say, NBCU News Group is in unprecedented territory. Never has a network’s C-suite ever been so thoroughly flogged by its most high-profile stars in such no holds barred fashion. Saying that Conde simply has a crisis on his hands would be a contender for understatement of the year. It’s a five-alarm fire at NBCU News Group, and one of Conde’s own making.
    
            While NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown were most directly responsible for McDaniel’s hiring, a decision that MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to it at the time, the buck ultimately stops with Conde, who hold the real power at the Peacock Network. McDaniel’s hiring could not have happened without Conde’s blessing.
    
            It does not take a brilliant political mind with prescient foresight to understand that hiring McDaniel would ignite a firestorm of outrage — from both within 30 Rock and outside it. Conde, someone who ostensibly supports American democracy, should have rejected McDaniel’s hiring on the grounds that NBCU News Group could not put someone on its payroll who tried to subvert the 2020 vote.
    
            As so many of NBCU’s staffers have underscored, the objection to McDaniel is not that she is a Republican. It’s not even that she is a Donald Trump-supporting Republican. It’s that she was an active participant in the plot to overthrow the last presidential election. That is not to even mention McDaniel’s years of demonizing the press, smearing the journalists who work at NBC News and MSNBC as she sought to destroy the credibility of the organization that she ran to after being chased out of the RNC.
    
            The notion put forward by NBC that it needed to hire McDaniel to bring its viewers “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party” is absurd. If that’s the case, the network should move to hire free agents like Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens. They too have their hands on the pulse of the Republican Party. In fact, they represent much more of where the GOP stands today than McDaniel. So, using NBC’s logic, why not hire them? (Spoiler: News organizations rightfully have established basic standards for paid contributors. Asking that your employees have a commitment to democracy, to the truth, and to basic decency is not a big ask.)
    
            But even if Conde has no allegiance to basic democratic principles, which this hire calls into question, given that he is known to be a political player who cares deeply about his own image in the press, he should have been wise enough to foresee that hiring McDaniel would be an ill-conceived move. How this did not occur to Conde is unfathomable and shows a tremendous lack of judgment.
    
            Even more bizarre is Conde’s management, or lack thereof, since the controversy erupted. It was clear early on that his employees at NBC News and MSNBC did not support McDaniel’s hiring. If that was not evident on Friday, it was clear as day on Sunday after “Meet the Press.” The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it.
    
            At that point, the writing should have been on the wall for Conde — as it was for every other media executive that I have spoken with over the last 24 hours. It is evident that McDaniel has no real future as an NBC analyst and the decision to bring her on as a contributor will have to be reversed. After all, which NBC or MSNBC program is going to invite her on after all of this?
    
            The only real question for Conde after the Sunday morning scolding should have been how he chose to back out of the deal in the least painful way possible. To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning.
    
            But no such announcement came.
    
            Instead, Conde has allowed the mess to spiral absolutely out of control. MSNBC’s top stars hammered the network’s leadership throughout the day Monday over the hire. NBC News’ Guild blasted Conde, saying in a statement that under him the company had quietly laid off employees over the last month and instead chosen to “prioritize an election denier over its reporters.” The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory.
    
            All the while, Conde has remained silent. I asked his spokesperson, Stephen Labaton, on Monday whether the NBCU News Group boss had any comment on the situation. Does he have any regret? I didn’t get an on-the-record response. Suffice to say, however, that what Conde does moving forward will say a lot about his character and commitment to democratic values. It will also say a lot about the NBCU News Group and what type of organization it is.
    
            In her biting monologue on Monday night, however, Maddow did offer Conde a way out of this mess.
    
            “Mistakes will be made,” Maddow said.”But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions. Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it, and correcting course. Not digging in. Not blaming others. Take a minute. Acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call.”
    
            “It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong,” Maddow added. “It is a sign of strength. And our country needs us to be strong now.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Cesar Conde has a decision to make — and it’s not an especially difficult one.', 'The NBCUniversal News Group chair is facing a torrent of backlash from his own staff after greenlighting the hire of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid network contributor.', 'Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.”', 'And they’re not doing it via anonymous comments to the press.', 'They’re doing it on the record on NBCU’s own air.', 'Chuck Todd broke the dam on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” with a set of candid comments about the hiring, and Rachel Maddow capped the flood of backlash Monday night with a blistering 30-minute monologue eviscerating the network’s leadership for the “inexplicable” move.', 'Suffice to say, NBCU News Group is in unprecedented territory.', 'Never has a network’s C-suite ever been so thoroughly flogged by its most high-profile stars in such no holds barred fashion.', 'Saying that Conde simply has a crisis on his hands would be a contender for understatement of the year.', 'It’s a five-alarm fire at NBCU News Group, and one of Conde’s own making.', 'While NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown were most directly responsible for McDaniel’s hiring, a decision that MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to it at the time, the buck ultimately stops with Conde, who hold the real power at the Peacock Network.', 'McDaniel’s hiring could not have happened without Conde’s blessing.', 'It does not take a brilliant political mind with prescient foresight to understand that hiring McDaniel would ignite a firestorm of outrage — from both within 30 Rock and outside it.', 'Conde, someone who ostensibly supports American democracy, should have rejected McDaniel’s hiring on the grounds that NBCU News Group could not put someone on its payroll who tried to subvert the 2020 vote.', 'As so many of NBCU’s staffers have underscored, the objection to McDaniel is not that she is a Republican.', 'It’s not even that she is a Donald Trump-supporting Republican.', 'It’s that she was an active participant in the plot to overthrow the last presidential election.', 'That is not to even mention McDaniel’s years of demonizing the press, smearing the journalists who work at NBC News and MSNBC as she sought to destroy the credibility of the organization that she ran to after being chased out of the RNC.', 'The notion put forward by NBC that it needed to hire McDaniel to bring its viewers “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party” is absurd.', 'If that’s the case, the network should move to hire free agents like Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens.', 'They too have their hands on the pulse of the Republican Party.', 'In fact, they represent much more of where the GOP stands today than McDaniel.', 'So, using NBC’s logic, why not hire them? (', 'Spoiler: News organizations rightfully have established basic standards for paid contributors.', 'Asking that your employees have a commitment to democracy, to the truth, and to basic decency is not a big ask.)', 'But even if Conde has no allegiance to basic democratic principles, which this hire calls into question, given that he is known to be a political player who cares deeply about his own image in the press, he should have been wise enough to foresee that hiring McDaniel would be an ill-conceived move.', 'How this did not occur to Conde is unfathomable and shows a tremendous lack of judgment.', 'Even more bizarre is Conde’s management, or lack thereof, since the controversy erupted.', 'It was clear early on that his employees at NBC News and MSNBC did not support McDaniel’s hiring.', 'If that was not evident on Friday, it was clear as day on Sunday after “Meet the Press.”', 'The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it.', 'At that point, the writing should have been on the wall for Conde — as it was for every other media executive that I have spoken with over the last 24 hours.', 'It is evident that McDaniel has no real future as an NBC analyst and the decision to bring her on as a contributor will have to be reversed.', 'After all, which NBC or MSNBC program is going to invite her on after all of this?', 'The only real question for Conde after the Sunday morning scolding should have been how he chose to back out of the deal in the least painful way possible.', 'To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning.', 'But no such announcement came.', 'Instead, Conde has allowed the mess to spiral absolutely out of control.', 'MSNBC’s top stars hammered the network’s leadership throughout the day Monday over the hire.', 'NBC News’ Guild blasted Conde, saying in a statement that under him the company had quietly laid off employees over the last month and instead chosen to “prioritize an election denier over its reporters.”', 'The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory.', 'All the while, Conde has remained silent.', 'I asked his spokesperson, Stephen Labaton, on Monday whether the NBCU News Group boss had any comment on the situation.', 'Does he have any regret?', 'I didn’t get an on-the-record response.', 'Suffice to say, however, that what Conde does moving forward will say a lot about his character and commitment to democratic values.', 'It will also say a lot about the NBCU News Group and what type of organization it is.', 'In her biting monologue on Monday night, however, Maddow did offer Conde a way out of this mess.', '“Mistakes will be made,” Maddow said.', '”But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions.', 'Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it, and correcting course.', 'Not digging in.', 'Not blaming others.', 'Take a minute.', 'Acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call.”', '“It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong,” Maddow added. “', 'It is a sign of strength.', 'And our country needs us to be strong now.”']",-0.032955005531589,"Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.”",The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory.,-0.501803499001723,"To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning.","The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it.",2024-03-26
"Best mobile payment apps in 2024, tested by our editors",https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/reviews/best-mobile-payment-apps,"
  Updated
        4:04 PM EST, Tue January 9, 2024
    ","Mobile payment apps can be a convenient way to send and receive money using your smartphone or smartwatch. Paying for items this way has never been easier, thanks to the availability of numerous mobile payment apps, better payment terminal infrastructure, and wider support for Bluetooth/near-field communication (NFC) contactless credit cards by American issuers. The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.
    
            Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square). We tested Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on just their own devices and tested Google Pay, Venmo and Cash App on both Android and iOS.
    
            The apps work across a variety of web browsers (with the exception of Samsung) and watches. We tested the apps on an Apple Watch and a Samsung Galaxy Watch. We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support. As our testing concluded, two clear winners emerged: Apple Pay and Google Pay.
    
            While Apple Pay only works for its own devices, it is available in numerous countries, and its elegant and simple user interface (UI) and design make it a standout. Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments are only available in the United States. On your iOS device, you need to set up Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode. On your Apple Watch, you need to set up a passcode. You also need to be 13 years old or older.
    
            If you want to make a P2P payment, then you’ll need to send an Apple Message, which means you need to know your recipient’s phone number or email address. One nice feature is that all transactions generate 2% cash back. If you have an Apple Watch, then you need to connect your cards and bank accounts specifically on the watch for use in payments. Apple recently announced that users of other browsers besides Safari on their phones will be able to eventually use the software with the release of iOS 16.
    
            Google Pay has different lists of countries and regions in which it is available depending on the transaction type intended. Google Pay works across Android and iOS and is also designed to be capable in your browser. There aren’t any fees and immediate transfers are from debit cards only.
    
            Since Google Pay also works through browser cookies, it doesn’t require your phone to complete any online transactions. But, since it works through your Google account, you will have to exchange emails to set up the payment. Also, you will need a personal account (Pay won’t work with workspace or enterprise accounts).
    
            There are three different use cases for these apps (which we tested) that we will explain, as well as three other use cases that we will mention (even though we didn’t test these).
    
            The first use case we tested is making P2P cash payments. Two examples of this are splitting a restaurant check and sending gift money to family and friends. Consumers are increasingly using these apps according to a recent survey by Lending Tree. The survey showed that 84% of the 1,200 respondents (all U.S. consumers) have used at least one mobile payment app in the past year. Samsung Pay doesn’t support this mode but the other apps do.
    
            Some of the apps let you set up pools of funds, like a miniature version of GoFundMe to which your friends can send you contributions. There are several ways to identify your recipient: by their phone number and email address, or by their username (Block and Venmo support this) and, in some cases, by using a personal QR code (Block and Venmo are focused on this use case).
    
            The second use case we tested is paying for retail purchases instead of directly using a credit card or debit card. When the time comes to pay at a physical store, you hold your smartphone (or smartwatch) close to the payment terminal and it should read the appropriate card. This can be useful if you load multiple cards on the payment app, so you don’t have to cart around an overstuffed wallet with physical cards. It is also more secure because most of the payment apps create and then send a one-time token instead of your actual card number for each transaction. (Apple Pay and Google Pay are focused on this use case, although both also support P2P payments, too.)
    
            The third use case we tested is using them whenever you are shopping online. The Apple Pay and Google Pay apps can be used here. You can also store your card details in the various desktop browsers so that they can be auto-filled when you are at the checkout screen of your favorite retailer.
    
            So, now for the other use cases we didn’t test but are worth mentioning. Each of the payment apps has moved beyond these three core situations and now offer three other use cases: 1) a complex series of their own branded credit cards and debit cards, 2) support for Bitcoin purchases and other money-related features, and 3) cash-back offers. Again, we didn’t test these last three use cases; however, it is worth paying attention to at least the one about cash-back offers because those can really add up over time.
    
            Should you be worried about scammers when using mobile payment apps? Yes — the same Lending Tree survey we cited earlier found that 15% of the respondents have been victims of scams. And the survey also mentioned that, though P2P services are growing, they’re not FDIC insured (with the exception of Cash App, which is FDIC-insured). The survey found that “62% of consumers knew FDIC doesn’t insure P2P balances. However, 49% of those who keep a balance wrongly believe their money is protected.”
    
            If you intend to use any of these mobile payment apps on a regular basis, then you’ll want to follow these 6 steps:
    
            During our pretesting research, we found there are more than 20 different payment apps available, including apps from retailers like Starbucks and apps from Mastercard and Visa. We selected our five payment apps to test based on desired features, security options and user reviews. We tested each of them with the following criteria in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, customer support and fees.
    
            To begin our testing, we installed the apps on one or both types of smartphones (if supported) and on an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch.
    
            Next, we connected to various bank accounts and credit cards and debit cards, using them for retail purchases and P2P payments. We also tried each app when it was available for online retail purchases. We tested each app’s MFA support and other security features. We tested each app’s ability to notify you of payment transactions, and to block someone else from initiating a payment without your biometric data or other factors to approve it.
    
            Then we noted that the workflows for the payment apps were similar across the lot. We first ensured we were downloading the correct payment app from the legit app store. This is important and you should take care here. We then connected the app to either our phone number or email address (most apps want both), and then typed in a bank account or card that was to be the source and destination of our funds.
    
            This was the moment of truth, because not every payment app supported every bank card (and we didn’t find out until we got to this step). Apple Pay and Google Pay worked with more of our credit cards than the others did, but your experience could be different.
    
            After that, we set up our app’s security with our face or fingerprint to protect our transactions. It sounds more complicated than it actually was. After a flurry of confirmation emails and texts, we were ready to go shopping or send our friends some money.
    
            One of the big advantages of these apps is that you forgo the need to carry cash and you can pay someone on the spot. However, for all of these apps, our patience was rewarded. If we wanted to make a P2P payment and our recipient was willing to wait a few days, then there wasn’t any fee applied.
    
            But if we wanted the payment to happen in a matter of minutes, then it cost us.
    
            For example, all the apps were free to download. But when it came to fees, Apple charges 1.5% (with a minimum $0.25 and maximum $15 fee) and Venmo adds a 1% surcharge (with a maximum $10 fee). Square is free for all personal accounts but charges 2.75% for business users. Google Pay and Samsung Pay have no added fees.
    
            Lastly, we also reviewed complaints collected by CardPaymentOptions.com for Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Cash App and Venmo. And we tried out the various support options available for each service. All five apps had equivalent high scores on both. Cash App, Samsung Pay and Venmo all share data with third parties to track internal marketing. Apple Pay and Google Pay don’t do this, although they may use this data internally across their various properties.
    
            During our testing, we used an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch to gauge how easy it is to use a smartwatch versus a smartphone for mobile payments. So, is your smartwatch better to use than your phone for payments? No, we don’t think so.
    
            We found the watch movements needed to get close enough to the payment terminal to make a connection were more cumbersome than they were when we used our phone. And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par. If you use your watch for other apps, then great, but don’t rush out and get a watch just for payments.
    
            Free at Cash App
    
            With Cash App, which is owned by Block (formerly Square, Inc.), you set up a username that your friends can use to find you when sending or demanding funds. You do not need to know their phone number or email address. Cash App is limited to debit cards only for direct access. It also uses Plaid for connecting to your bank account, which we think adds another layer of security issues.
    
            There are also various transfer limits, too, for unidentified users (e.g., sending $250 over per week or receiving $1,000 over a month). You can set up recurring deposits, direct deposits, make bank transfers and even file your taxes.
    
            There is a 3% fee if you are moving funds with a credit card. You can also instantly purchase or sell Bitcoin from the app. Cash App also works with the Lightning network to pay anyone with these cryptocurrencies.
    
            Free at Samsung
    
            Samsung Pay works in several countries, but it is only available on Samsung smartphones and smartwatches. It is basically a stripped-down version of Google Pay, using the same banking backends. It requires your mobile number to complete its setup, and in our testing we found it didn’t support several of the debit cards we owned. It also doesn’t support any P2P payments: you’ll need to use the separate Samsung Pay Cash app.
    
            One advantage is that, while Apple Pay and Google Pay will only work with point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals equipped with NFC technology, Samsung Pay (from the phone, not from the watch) works at magnetic card terminals — those few that are left and haven’t been upgraded — as well.
    
            We had trouble getting the Samsung Pay app to work with the Samsung Galaxy Watch (like Apple Pay, you have to separately install each card to use on the watch), and needed to install and re-install various Samsung apps. We recommend using Google Pay instead.
    
            Free at Venmo
    
            Venmo, which is only available in the United States, was simple to set up and get connected to our bank card. Like Cash App, you can send money using a username, which obviates the need to know a friend’s phone number or email address. One drawback to Venmo is that all of your friends’ transactions are made public by default, so anyone can see them in its public feed. This means the first thing you need to do when using this service is turn these settings to Private.
    
            Venmo also supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum or Litecoin currency transactions. If you are sending funds from a credit card and can’t wait, then there is a 3% fee. Funds sent from your bank account are free if you can wait a few days. Fees are clearly described on their Resources page and there are fees for unverified users when sending more than $300 per week.
    
            Venmo’s browser client mirrors the UI for its phone app screens, which is useful for reviewing its numerous configuration settings. But it could do a better job explaining its security protocols.",CNN,09/01/2024,"['Mobile payment apps can be a convenient way to send and receive money using your smartphone or smartwatch.', 'Paying for items this way has never been easier, thanks to the availability of numerous mobile payment apps, better payment terminal infrastructure, and wider support for Bluetooth/near-field communication (NFC) contactless credit cards by American issuers.', 'The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.', 'Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square).', 'We tested Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on just their own devices and tested Google Pay, Venmo and Cash App on both Android and iOS.', 'The apps work across a variety of web browsers (with the exception of Samsung) and watches.', 'We tested the apps on an Apple Watch and a Samsung Galaxy Watch.', 'We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support.', 'As our testing concluded, two clear winners emerged: Apple Pay and Google Pay.', 'While Apple Pay only works for its own devices, it is available in numerous countries, and its elegant and simple user interface (UI) and design make it a standout.', 'Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments are only available in the United States.', 'On your iOS device, you need to set up Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode.', 'On your Apple Watch, you need to set up a passcode.', 'You also need to be 13 years old or older.', 'If you want to make a P2P payment, then you’ll need to send an Apple Message, which means you need to know your recipient’s phone number or email address.', 'One nice feature is that all transactions generate 2% cash back.', 'If you have an Apple Watch, then you need to connect your cards and bank accounts specifically on the watch for use in payments.', 'Apple recently announced that users of other browsers besides Safarion their phones will be able to eventually use the software with the release of iOS 16.', 'Google Pay has different lists of countries and regions in which it is available depending on the transaction type intended.', 'Google Pay works across Android and iOS and is also designed to be capable in your browser.', 'There aren’t any fees and immediate transfers are from debit cards only.', 'Since Google Pay also works through browser cookies, it doesn’t require your phone to complete any online transactions.', 'But, since it works through your Google account, you will have to exchange emails to set up the payment.', 'Also, you will need a personal account (Pay won’t work with workspace or enterprise accounts).', 'There are three different use cases for these apps (which we tested) that we will explain, as well as three other use cases that we will mention (even though we didn’t test these).', 'The first use case we tested is making P2P cash payments.', 'Two examples of this are splitting a restaurant check and sending gift money to family and friends.', 'Consumers are increasingly using these apps according to a recent survey by Lending Tree.', 'The survey showed that 84% of the 1,200 respondents (all U.S. consumers) have used at least one mobile payment app in the past year.', 'Samsung Pay doesn’t support this mode but the other apps do.', 'Some of the apps let you set up pools of funds, like a miniature version of GoFundMe to which your friends can send you contributions.', 'There are several ways to identify your recipient: by their phone number and email address, or by their username (Block and Venmo support this) and, in some cases, by using a personal QR code (Block and Venmo are focused on this use case).', 'The second use case we tested is paying for retail purchases instead of directly using a credit card or debit card.', 'When the time comes to pay at a physical store, you hold your smartphone (or smartwatch) close to the payment terminal and it should read the appropriate card.', 'This can be useful if you load multiple cards on the payment app, so you don’t have to cart around an overstuffed wallet with physical cards.', 'It is also more secure because most of the payment apps create and then send a one-time token instead of your actual card number for each transaction. (', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay are focused on this use case, although both also support P2P payments, too.)', 'The third use case we tested is using them whenever you are shopping online.', 'The Apple Pay and Google Pay apps can be used here.', 'You can also store your card details in the various desktop browsers so that they can be auto-filled when you are at the checkout screen of your favorite retailer.', 'So, now for the other use cases we didn’t test but are worth mentioning.', 'Each of the payment apps has moved beyond these three core situations and now offer three other use cases: 1) a complex series of their own branded credit cards and debit cards, 2) support for Bitcoin purchases and other money-related features, and 3) cash-back offers.', 'Again, we didn’t test these last three use cases; however, it is worth paying attention to at least the one about cash-back offers because those can really add up over time.', 'Should you be worried about scammers when using mobile payment apps?', 'Yes — the same Lending Tree survey we cited earlier found that 15% of the respondents have been victims of scams.', 'And the survey also mentioned that, though P2P services are growing, they’re not FDIC insured (with the exception of Cash App, which is FDIC-insured).', 'The survey found that “62% of consumers knew FDIC doesn’t insure P2P balances.', 'However, 49% of those who keep a balance wrongly believe their money is protected.”', 'If you intend to use any of these mobile payment apps on a regular basis, then you’ll want to follow these 6 steps:  During our pretesting research, we found there are more than 20 different payment apps available, including apps from retailers like Starbucks and apps from Mastercard and Visa.', 'We selected our five payment apps to test based on desired features, security options and user reviews.', 'We tested each of them with the following criteria in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, customer support and fees.', 'To begin our testing, we installed the apps on one or both types of smartphones (if supported) and on an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch.', 'Next, we connected to various bank accounts and credit cards and debit cards, using them for retail purchases and P2P payments.', 'We also tried each app when it was available for online retail purchases.', 'We tested each app’s MFA support and other security features.', 'We tested each app’s ability to notify you of payment transactions, and to block someone else from initiating a payment without your biometric data or other factors to approve it.', 'Then we noted that the workflows for the payment apps were similar across the lot.', 'We first ensured we were downloading the correct payment app from the legit app store.', 'This is important and you should take care here.', 'We then connected the app to either our phone number or email address (most apps want both), and then typed in a bank account or card that was to be the source and destination of our funds.', 'This was the moment of truth, because not every payment app supported every bank card (and we didn’t find out until we got to this step).', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay worked with more of our credit cards than the others did, but your experience could be different.', 'After that, we set up our app’s security with our face or fingerprint to protect our transactions.', 'It sounds more complicated than it actually was.', 'After a flurry of confirmation emails and texts, we were ready to go shopping or send our friends some money.', 'One of the big advantages of these apps is that you forgo the need to carry cash and you can pay someone on the spot.', 'However, for all of these apps, our patience was rewarded.', 'If we wanted to make a P2P payment and our recipient was willing to wait a few days, then there wasn’t any fee applied.', 'But if we wanted the payment to happen in a matter of minutes, then it cost us.', 'For example, all the apps were free to download.', 'But when it came to fees, Apple charges 1.5% (with a minimum $0.25 and maximum $15 fee) and Venmo adds a 1% surcharge (with a maximum $10 fee).', 'Square is free for all personal accounts but charges 2.75% for business users.', 'Google Pay and Samsung Pay have no added fees.', 'Lastly, we also reviewed complaints collected by CardPaymentOptions.com for Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Cash App and Venmo.', 'And we tried out the various support options available for each service.', 'All five apps had equivalent high scores on both.', 'Cash App, Samsung Pay and Venmo all share data with third parties to track internal marketing.', 'Apple Pay and Google Pay don’t do this, although they may use this data internally across their various properties.', 'During our testing, we used an Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch to gauge how easy it is to use a smartwatch versus a smartphone for mobile payments.', 'So, is your smartwatch better to use than your phone for payments?', 'No, we don’t think so.', 'We found the watch movements needed to get close enough to the payment terminal to make a connection were more cumbersome than they were when we used our phone.', 'And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par.', 'If you use your watch for other apps, then great, but don’t rush out and get a watch just for payments.', 'Free at Cash App  With Cash App, which is owned by Block (formerly Square, Inc.), you set up a username that your friends can use to find you when sending or demanding funds.', 'You do not need to know their phone number or email address.', 'Cash App is limited to debit cards only for direct access.', 'It also uses Plaid for connecting to your bank account, which we think adds another layer of security issues.', 'There are also various transfer limits, too, for unidentified users (e.g., sending $250 over per week or receiving $1,000 over a month).', 'You can set up recurring deposits, direct deposits, make bank transfers and even file your taxes.', 'There is a 3% fee if you are moving funds with a credit card.', 'You can also instantly purchase or sell Bitcoin from the app.', 'Cash App also works with the Lightning network to pay anyone with these cryptocurrencies.', 'Free at Samsung  Samsung Pay works in several countries, but it is only available on Samsung smartphones and smartwatches.', 'It is basically a stripped-down version of Google Pay, using the same banking backends.', 'It requires your mobile number to complete its setup, and in our testing we found it didn’t support several of the debit cards we owned.', 'It also doesn’t support any P2P payments: you’ll need to use the separate Samsung Pay Cash app.', 'One advantage is that, while Apple Pay and Google Pay will only work with point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals equipped with NFC technology, Samsung Pay (from the phone, not from the watch) works at magnetic card terminals — those few that are left and haven’t been upgraded — as well.', 'We had trouble getting the Samsung Pay app to work with the Samsung Galaxy Watch (like Apple Pay, you have to separately install each card to use on the watch), and needed to install and re-install various Samsung apps.', 'We recommend using Google Pay instead.', 'Free at Venmo  Venmo, which is only available in the United States, was simple to set up and get connected to our bank card.', 'Like Cash App, you can send money using a username, which obviates the need to know a friend’s phone number or email address.', 'One drawback to Venmo is that all of your friends’ transactions are made public by default, so anyone can see them in its public feed.', 'This means the first thing you need to do when using this service is turn these settings to Private.', 'Venmo also supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum or Litecoin currency transactions.', 'If you are sending funds from a credit card and can’t wait, then there is a 3% fee.', 'Funds sent from your bank account are free if you can wait a few days.', 'Fees are clearly described on their Resources page and there are fees for unverified users when sending more than $300 per week.', 'Venmo’s browser client mirrors the UI for its phone app screens, which is useful for reviewing its numerous configuration settings.', 'But it could do a better job explaining its security protocols.']",0.190272273076097,"We tested each of them with the following in mind: ease of installation, ease of setup, features, security, fees and customer support.","Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square).",0.452835742632548,"The coronavirus pandemic has also helped to make contactless “everything” more compelling, so being able to use our smartphones or smartwatches for mobile banking and payments is as appealing as ever.",And the usability factors to set up the account on the watches are sub-par.,2024-03-26
Trump poised for billions as stock market deal passes,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68609007,2024-03-22T02:51:02.000Z,"Donald Trump appears to be scrambling for funds to pay a $464m (£365m) fraud fine. Could the stock market ride to his rescue?  Trump Media, which runs the social media platform Truth Social, is poised to become a publicly listed company, after a majority of shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp voted on Friday to acquire it.  Mr Trump is due to have a stake of at least 58% in the merged company, worth nearly $3bn at Digital World's current share prices.  It's an astonishing potential windfall for Mr Trump in exchange for a business whose own auditor warned last year it was at risk of failure.   Never mind the many red flags associated with the deal, including unresolved lawsuits from former business partners. There's also an $18m settlement that Digital World agreed to pay last year to resolve fraud charges over how the merger plan came together.  Shares in Digital World dropped more than 13% on Friday after the approval, ending the day at $36.94. Backers of Digital World - the vast majority of whom are individual investors instead of Wall Street firms, many apparently Trump loyalists - seemed unfazed.  ""This is just the start,"" Chad Nedohin, a deal supporter, said on his show DWAC Live on the video platform Rumble after the approval was announced.  ""There's no reason to freak out."" Digital World, or DWAC (pronounced D-whack), is what is known as a SPAC, or a shell business created expressly to buy another firm and take it public. The company will now be renamed Trump Media & Technology Group and could start trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker DJT as soon as next week. The deal is unlikely to immediately resolve Mr Trump's most pressing financial issues, such as his New York fraud penalty.  The former president is barred from selling or transferring his shares for at least six months - though the new company could grant him an exemption.  Mr Trump could also try to get a loan, backed by the value of the shares. But in this case, analysts said a bank would probably lend him significantly less than the shares are worth on paper, given the potential risks of the business. That hasn't stopped some of his supporters hoping their backing will help.  Mr Nedohin, who describes himself on his website as a Canadian ""worship leader"" and goes by Captain DWAC on Truth Social, declined to be interviewed.  But on his show this week he urged investors to approve the deal, speculating it could help the former president in his legal battles.  ""If the merger is complete Friday at 10am and Trump all of a sudden has... shares of DJT that's worth three, four, five $10bn, who knows? He could easily leverage that to get a loan,"" he said.  He added: ""This is putting your money where your mouth is for free speech, to save your country, potentially losing it all."" The risk that Digital World shareholders will lose money on their investment is significant, according to analysts. Share prices are down from the highs they reached after plans to purchase Trump Media were announced in 2021.  But even after Friday's slide, they still imply Trump Media has a value of almost $5bn, which is a lot given it brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m.  The merger will provide an influx of more than $200m in cash to Trump Media, which it could use for growth and expansion. But for now Truth Social, which launched to the general public in 2022, branding itself as an alternative to major social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, remains small.  It claims about 8.9 million sign-ups and in regulatory filings Trump Media warns prospective investors that it does not track metrics like user growth or engagement that could give them a sense of its operations. And it says it has little intention of doing so.  Outside firms estimate Truth Social received about five million visits in February. By comparison, Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, and recently valued by one investor at about $14bn, received more than 100 million visits.   Analysts said Digital World was a prime example of a ""meme stock"", in which the share price is divorced from a company's fundamentals - and near-destined to fall, eventually. ""With Trump Media, I expect that it will collapse but whether it's going to occur a week from now or two years from now and how rapidly... those things are really difficult to predict,"" said University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter, who tracks public listings.  Marco Iachini, senior vice-president of research at Vanda Securities, said individual investors piled into Digital World stock after the Trump deal was announced, and again in January, after he won the Iowa primary.  Ahead of the vote this week, he said there had been less activity, a sign that professional firms might be the ones driving the trading.  Whatever is motivating buyers, Mr Trump, whose main contributions to Trump Media have been his name and posts on the platform, appears poised to be the top beneficiary.  ""It's an enormous transfer of value from [investors]... to Trump, which stands to be extremely lucrative for him,"" says Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University who has studied listings of companies such as Trump Media.   ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Donald Trump appears to be scrambling for funds to pay a $464m (£365m) fraud fine.', 'Could the stock market ride to his rescue?', 'Trump Media, which runs the social media platform Truth Social, is poised to become a publicly listed company, after a majority of shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp voted on Friday to acquire it.', ""Mr Trump is due to have a stake of at least 58% in the merged company, worth nearly $3bn at Digital World's current share prices."", ""It's an astonishing potential windfall for Mr Trump in exchange for a business whose own auditor warned last year it was at risk of failure."", 'Never mind the many red flags associated with the deal, including unresolved lawsuits from former business partners.', ""There's also an $18m settlement that Digital World agreed to pay last year to resolve fraud charges over how the merger plan came together."", 'Shares in Digital World dropped more than 13% on Friday after the approval, ending the day at $36.94.', 'Backers of Digital World - the vast majority of whom are individual investors instead of Wall Street firms, many apparently Trump loyalists - seemed unfazed. ""', 'This is just the start,"" Chad Nedohin, a deal supporter, said on his show DWAC Live on the video platform Rumble after the approval was announced. ""', 'There\'s no reason to freak out.""', 'Digital World, or DWAC (pronounced D-whack), is what is known as a SPAC, or a shell business created expressly to buy another firm and take it public.', 'The company will now be renamed Trump Media & Technology Group and could start trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker DJT as soon as next week.', ""The deal is unlikely to immediately resolve Mr Trump's most pressing financial issues, such as his New York fraud penalty."", 'The former president is barred from selling or transferring his shares for at least six months - though the new company could grant him an exemption.', 'Mr Trump could also try to get a loan, backed by the value of the shares.', 'But in this case, analysts said a bank would probably lend him significantly less than the shares are worth on paper, given the potential risks of the business.', ""That hasn't stopped some of his supporters hoping their backing will help."", 'Mr Nedohin, who describes himself on his website as a Canadian ""worship leader"" and goes by Captain DWAC on Truth Social, declined to be interviewed.', 'But on his show this week he urged investors to approve the deal, speculating it could help the former president in his legal battles. ""', ""If the merger is complete Friday at 10am and Trump all of a sudden has... shares of DJT that's worth three, four, five $10bn, who knows?"", 'He could easily leverage that to get a loan,"" he said.', 'He added: ""This is putting your money where your mouth is for free speech, to save your country, potentially losing it all.""', 'The risk that Digital World shareholders will lose money on their investment is significant, according to analysts.', 'Share prices are down from the highs they reached after plans to purchase Trump Media were announced in 2021.', ""But even after Friday's slide, they still imply Trump Media has a value of almost $5bn, which is a lot given it brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m. The merger will provide an influx of more than $200m in cash to Trump Media, which it could use for growth and expansion."", 'But for now Truth Social, which launched to the general public in 2022, branding itself as an alternative to major social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, remains small.', 'It claims about 8.9 million sign-ups and in regulatory filings Trump Media warns prospective investors that it does not track metrics like user growth or engagement that could give them a sense of its operations.', 'And it says it has little intention of doing so.', 'Outside firms estimate Truth Social received about five million visits in February.', ""By comparison, Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, and recently valued by one investor at about $14bn, received more than 100 million visits."", 'Analysts said Digital World was a prime example of a ""meme stock"", in which the share price is divorced from a company\'s fundamentals - and near-destined to fall, eventually. ""', 'With Trump Media, I expect that it will collapse but whether it\'s going to occur a week from now or two years from now and how rapidly... those things are really difficult to predict,"" said University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter, who tracks public listings.', 'Marco Iachini, senior vice-president of research at Vanda Securities, said individual investors piled into Digital World stock after the Trump deal was announced, and again in January, after he won the Iowa primary.', 'Ahead of the vote this week, he said there had been less activity, a sign that professional firms might be the ones driving the trading.', 'Whatever is motivating buyers, Mr Trump, whose main contributions to Trump Media have been his name and posts on the platform, appears poised to be the top beneficiary. ""', 'It\'s an enormous transfer of value from [investors]... to Trump, which stands to be extremely lucrative for him,"" says Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University who has studied listings of companies such as Trump Media.']",0.2332938860792381,"Whatever is motivating buyers, Mr Trump, whose main contributions to Trump Media have been his name and posts on the platform, appears poised to be the top beneficiary. """,It's an astonishing potential windfall for Mr Trump in exchange for a business whose own auditor warned last year it was at risk of failure.,-0.0636827866236368,"It's an enormous transfer of value from [investors]... to Trump, which stands to be extremely lucrative for him,"" says Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University who has studied listings of companies such as Trump Media.",Share prices are down from the highs they reached after plans to purchase Trump Media were announced in 2021.,2024-03-26
Ferguson Marine boss sacked as more ferry delays 'likely',https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-68666020,2024-03-26T11:40:24.000Z,"The head of the company building two delayed and over-budget CalMac ferries has been sacked. Chief executive David Tydeman's contract was terminated by Ferguson Marine as the board attempt to ensure the company's ""long-term future"".  The exact reasons for his departure have not been revealed. It comes as the Scottish government said there would ""likely"" be further delays to the delivery of Glen Sannox, which was due in May. The cost of the two ferries is running at nearly four times the initial £97m cost and they will be delivered six years late. Mr Tydeman joined the Port Glasgow shipyard in 2022, having previously run a yacht-building company. Non-executive director John Petticrew is taking over as interim chief executive. Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the first vessel, Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year. But it emerged in February that the cost to complete the Glen Sannox will rise to between £145.5m and £149.1m, while the Glen Rosa will be delivered ""no later than"" September 2025. The total cost for both ferries is now close to £400m. Mr Tydeman's sacking comes amid a number of changes among the state-owned company's senior management.  Board chairman Andrew Miller said: ""Ferguson Marine needs strong leadership to ensure its long-term future. The board recognised that action needed to be taken to restructure the current leadership team and it has taken these steps to address this. ""Our focus is on the completion of Glen Sannox and hull 802 (Glen Rosa), and the implementation of a robust business plan to improve the commercial viability of Ferguson Marine. ""With this new senior management team in place and a full complement of board members, we have the breadth and depth of experience and capability to drive forward these plans."" Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan said Mr Tydeman's sacking was a matter for the Ferguson board and that she was focusing on getting the ferries finished, driving down costs and securing a ""sustainable future"" for the yard and workers. She said: ""While the yard had previously stated that the delivery date for Glen Sannox was planned for late May, we are aware that, in the last week, the outgoing CEO intimated further delay was likely. ""That is unacceptable. I know the board are intent on doing everything they can to ensure that delay does not happen. ""I will be stressing to the new interim CEO and the board the importance of the ferries entering service to our island communities as soon as possible."" Construction of the two vessels, the first ships ever built by a UK shipyard capable of running on liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been plagued by design challenges since the order was placed in 2015. Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019. In February, Mr Miller told MSPs it would be harder to return the business to the private sector without investment in a new automated plating line - with the company seeking further finance from the Scottish government. The company is due to submit a new business case to ministers by the end of March. In 2022, a number of Ferguson Marine workers who took part in an informal meeting with MSPs praised Mr Tydeman's leadership and compared him favourably to the shipyard's previous management,  saying he ""talked sense"". Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP described Mr Tydeman as a ""scapegoat"" and said ministers had to explain why he had been fired. ""The only people not held accountable are those who are most responsible: the SNP government,"" he said. ""It beggars belief that not a single ministerial resignation has been offered when the buck stops with them for years of grotesque mismanagement of Scotland's ferry network. ""While they try to pass the buck with another round of boardroom hiring and firing, our betrayed island communities continue to wait for the lifeline vessels they were promised years ago to finally be delivered."" Scottish Labour's transport spokesperson Alex Rowley said: ""This sudden overhaul raises serious questions and the public deserve transparency about what has happened.  ""The skilled and dedicated workers at this yard have been badly failed by successive leaderships and by this incompetent SNP government - the new board must do right by them and secure a thriving future for the yard.  ""Workers, islanders and taxpayers have all been failed throughout this fiasco - it is essential that this new leadership gets things back on track and delivers these lifeline ferries with no more delays and overruns,"" he added. David Tydeman took on what some would consider a near-impossible job. And he's been bundled out after just over two years.  His challenge was immense, and two-fold. Firstly, to deliver two Calmac ferries which are grossly over-budget and years late. And secondly, to knock the Ferguson shipyard into shape to allow it to win more shipbuilding contracts.  When he showed me round the MV Glen Sannox last year he was blunt about the mistakes made in its construction before he took on the job. And he was clear-eyed about the mountain of work required to get the vessel into service.  But he was upbeat. The vessel was almost ready to sail, he said. And the yard had made great strides, he claimed, in developing the systems needed to build other ships in future.  So his sacking - apparently for highlighting yet another problem with the timing and cost of these two troubled ferries -- seems odd.  Can his replacement hope to do any better?  ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['The head of the company building two delayed and over-budget CalMac ferries has been sacked.', 'Chief executive David Tydeman\'s contract was terminated by Ferguson Marine as the board attempt to ensure the company\'s ""long-term future"".', 'The exact reasons for his departure have not been revealed.', 'It comes as the Scottish government said there would ""likely"" be further delays to the delivery of Glen Sannox, which was due in May.', 'The cost of the two ferries is running at nearly four times the initial £97m cost and they will be delivered six years late.', 'Mr Tydeman joined the Port Glasgow shipyard in 2022, having previously run a yacht-building company.', 'Non-executive director John Petticrew is taking over as interim chief executive.', 'Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the first vessel, Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year.', 'But it emerged in February that the cost to complete the Glen Sannox will rise to between £145.5m and £149.1m, while the Glen Rosa will be delivered ""no later than"" September 2025.', ""The total cost for both ferries is now close to £400m. Mr Tydeman's sacking comes amid a number of changes among the state-owned company's senior management."", 'Board chairman Andrew Miller said: ""Ferguson Marine needs strong leadership to ensure its long-term future.', 'The board recognised that action needed to be taken to restructure the current leadership team and it has taken these steps to address this. ""', 'Our focus is on the completion of Glen Sannox and hull 802 (Glen Rosa), and the implementation of a robust business plan to improve the commercial viability of Ferguson Marine. ""', 'With this new senior management team in place and a full complement of board members, we have the breadth and depth of experience and capability to drive forward these plans.""', 'Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan said Mr Tydeman\'s sacking was a matter for the Ferguson board and that she was focusing on getting the ferries finished, driving down costs and securing a ""sustainable future"" for the yard and workers.', 'She said: ""While the yard had previously stated that the delivery date for Glen Sannox was planned for late May, we are aware that, in the last week, the outgoing CEO intimated further delay was likely. ""', 'That is unacceptable.', 'I know the board are intent on doing everything they can to ensure that delay does not happen. ""', 'I will be stressing to the new interim CEO and the board the importance of the ferries entering service to our island communities as soon as possible.""', 'Construction of the two vessels, the first ships ever built by a UK shipyard capable of running on liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been plagued by design challenges since the order was placed in 2015.', 'Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019.', 'In February, Mr Miller told MSPs it would be harder to return the business to the private sector without investment in a new automated plating line - with the company seeking further finance from the Scottish government.', 'The company is due to submit a new business case to ministers by the end of March.', 'In 2022, a number of Ferguson Marine workers who took part in an informal meeting with MSPs praised Mr Tydeman\'s leadership and compared him favourably to the shipyard\'s previous management, saying he ""talked sense"".', 'Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP described Mr Tydeman as a ""scapegoat"" and said ministers had to explain why he had been fired. ""', 'The only people not held accountable are those who are most responsible: the SNP government,"" he said. ""', 'It beggars belief that not a single ministerial resignation has been offered when the buck stops with them for years of grotesque mismanagement of Scotland\'s ferry network. ""', 'While they try to pass the buck with another round of boardroom hiring and firing, our betrayed island communities continue to wait for the lifeline vessels they were promised years ago to finally be delivered.""', 'Scottish Labour\'s transport spokesperson Alex Rowley said: ""This sudden overhaul raises serious questions and the public deserve transparency about what has happened. ""', 'The skilled and dedicated workers at this yard have been badly failed by successive leaderships and by this incompetent SNP government - the new board must do right by them and secure a thriving future for the yard. ""', 'Workers, islanders and taxpayers have all been failed throughout this fiasco - it is essential that this new leadership gets things back on track and delivers these lifeline ferries with no more delays and overruns,"" he added.', 'David Tydeman took on what some would consider a near-impossible job.', ""And he's been bundled out after just over two years."", 'His challenge was immense, and two-fold.', 'Firstly, to deliver two Calmac ferries which are grossly over-budget and years late.', 'And secondly, to knock the Ferguson shipyard into shape to allow it to win more shipbuilding contracts.', 'When he showed me round the MV Glen Sannox last year he was blunt about the mistakes made in its construction before he took on the job.', 'And he was clear-eyed about the mountain of work required to get the vessel into service.', 'But he was upbeat.', 'The vessel was almost ready to sail, he said.', 'And the yard had made great strides, he claimed, in developing the systems needed to build other ships in future.', 'So his sacking - apparently for highlighting yet another problem with the timing and cost of these two troubled ferries -- seems odd.', 'Can his replacement hope to do any better?']",0.0333597451071301,"Mr Tydeman had recently attempted to highlight progress on the first vessel, Glen Sannox, praising its performance in sea trials earlier this year.","Workers, islanders and taxpayers have all been failed throughout this fiasco - it is essential that this new leadership gets things back on track and delivers these lifeline ferries with no more delays and overruns,"" he added.",0.048735431262425,"And the yard had made great strides, he claimed, in developing the systems needed to build other ships in future.","Steel fabrication outpaced detailed design work, leading to errors and reworking, with repeated delays and cost increases that continued after the Port Glasgow yard fell back into administration and was nationalised in 2019.",2024-03-26
Legoland and Alton Towers owner to charge more at peak times,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68659045,2024-03-25T17:53:57.000Z,"The owner of theme parks including Alton Towers and Legoland is to make it more costly to visit on a sunny bank holiday than a rainy day midweek.  Merlin Entertainments, which also runs the London Eye and Madame Tussauds, is introducing ""dynamic pricing"" so prices can respond faster to weather and demand. Merlin said it would help offset a decline in visitors since the pandemic.  Around 20 of its global venues will see the changes this year.  Merlin Entertainments already uses off-peak and peak time pricing which, like many organisations, allows seasonal fluctuations to dictate demand and therefore price.  But the introduction of machine learning will make flexible ticket pricing faster and more detailed. For example, if a sunny Saturday during the summer holiday turns out to be less busy than expected, the firm could lower ticket prices on the day. Similarly, if a winter's day unexpectedly turns out to be busy, prices could rise higher than current off-peak prices, even during what is normally considered a cheaper time to visit. Merlin said in a statement that such a pricing structure ""makes sure that the peak period experience is optimised by avoiding overcrowding"". It added that ""these changes enable greater flexibility for guests booking online to choose discounted prices for select dates and times"". ""We had it in 2023 and we had the highest guest satisfaction scores in the history of the company, and seven million additional guests,"" chief executive Scott O'Neil said. ""So we're definitely getting the signal that our processes are moving in the right direction"". However, there has been some criticism of the ""dynamic pricing"" model used by companies such as Uber and restaurants, partly due to its lack of transparency about why prices are high some of the time.  In February, US burger chain Wendy's was quick to clarify that it was not introducing dynamic, or ""surge"" pricing. One of the company's most high-profile critics, left-wing senator Elizabeth Warren, said the plans meant people ""could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy's stays exactly the same"". Meanwhile, Mr O'Neil said ""dynamic"" pricing would help ""protect the guest experience"" during busier times of the year by managing queues, where waits of more than an hour are routine. Merlin said on Monday it had made record revenues of £2.1bn in 2023, an increase of 8% year on year, with much of the revenue coming from international tourists visiting the capital. Nearly one in every four visitors to London came to a Merlin attraction, the company said. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['The owner of theme parks including Alton Towers and Legoland is to make it more costly to visit on a sunny bank holiday than a rainy day midweek.', 'Merlin Entertainments, which also runs the London Eye and Madame Tussauds, is introducing ""dynamic pricing"" so prices can respond faster to weather and demand.', 'Merlin said it would help offset a decline in visitors since the pandemic.', 'Around 20 of its global venues will see the changes this year.', 'Merlin Entertainments already uses off-peak and peak time pricing which, like many organisations, allows seasonal fluctuations to dictate demand and therefore price.', 'But the introduction of machine learning will make flexible ticket pricing faster and more detailed.', 'For example, if a sunny Saturday during the summer holiday turns out to be less busy than expected, the firm could lower ticket prices on the day.', ""Similarly, if a winter's day unexpectedly turns out to be busy, prices could rise higher than current off-peak prices, even during what is normally considered a cheaper time to visit."", 'Merlin said in a statement that such a pricing structure ""makes sure that the peak period experience is optimised by avoiding overcrowding"".', 'It added that ""these changes enable greater flexibility for guests booking online to choose discounted prices for select dates and times"". ""', 'We had it in 2023 and we had the highest guest satisfaction scores in the history of the company, and seven million additional guests,"" chief executive Scott O\'Neil said. ""', 'So we\'re definitely getting the signal that our processes are moving in the right direction"".', 'However, there has been some criticism of the ""dynamic pricing"" model used by companies such as Uber and restaurants, partly due to its lack of transparency about why prices are high some of the time.', 'In February, US burger chain Wendy\'s was quick to clarify that it was not introducing dynamic, or ""surge"" pricing.', 'One of the company\'s most high-profile critics, left-wing senator Elizabeth Warren, said the plans meant people ""could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy\'s stays exactly the same"".', 'Meanwhile, Mr O\'Neil said ""dynamic"" pricing would help ""protect the guest experience"" during busier times of the year by managing queues, where waits of more than an hour are routine.', 'Merlin said on Monday it had made record revenues of £2.1bn in 2023, an increase of 8% year on year, with much of the revenue coming from international tourists visiting the capital.', 'Nearly one in every four visitors to London came to a Merlin attraction, the company said.']",0.3026671170799299,"Meanwhile, Mr O'Neil said ""dynamic"" pricing would help ""protect the guest experience"" during busier times of the year by managing queues, where waits of more than an hour are routine.","One of the company's most high-profile critics, left-wing senator Elizabeth Warren, said the plans meant people ""could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy's stays exactly the same"".",0.546469156558697,"Merlin said on Monday it had made record revenues of £2.1bn in 2023, an increase of 8% year on year, with much of the revenue coming from international tourists visiting the capital.",The owner of theme parks including Alton Towers and Legoland is to make it more costly to visit on a sunny bank holiday than a rainy day midweek.,2024-03-26
This social app prohibits edited photos to encourage users to be more authentic. It’s growing fast,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/21/business/bereal-social-media-app-cec/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:17 AM EDT, Thu April 21, 2022
    ","Scoot over, Facebook and Instagram.  
    
            There’s a newer photo-sharing app – and it’s not like other social media platforms. 
    
            The app is called BeReal. And while you may not have heard of it, a lot of young people are signing up. Its active monthly users have skyrocketed this year by more than 315%, according to data from Apptopia, which tracks and analyzes performance. 
    
            We joined the app and talked to users to get a deeper understanding of how BeReal works and what you need to know about it. 
    
            BeReal is a social media app that encourages users to share a slice of their life in real time. It was launched in early 2020 by an entrepreneur in France but a majority of its users – at least 65% – have signed up this calendar year.
    
            As its name suggests, the focus is on authenticity. Users are invited once a day to share a photo of what they’re doing at that moment, giving friends and others an unvarnished glimpse into their life. 
    
            It has no filters and no edit buttons. So if your hair is a mess at that moment and your view is of a rainy parking lot, that’s what people will see.
    
            The result is a far cry from the polished, overly curated photos popular on other social media platforms. 
    
            The concept of BeReal is simple. Once you download the app, you get a notification once a day that it’s time to “BeReal.”  That means you have two minutes to snap and post a photo of what you’re doing, no matter how mundane. 
    
            There’s no set time – the notification comes at random times of the day – adding to the app’s mystique. 
    
            “Push notifications are sent around the world simultaneously at different times each day,” the company said in a statement. “It’s a secret on how the time is chosen every day, it’s not random.”
    
            That means the potential window into your life can open at any time. When it does, the app invites you to take a photo of what you’re up to at that moment. It takes a dual photo – a selfie and one showing what’s in front of you.  (BeReal doesn’t permit videos yet.)
    
            The result is a social feed filled with unedited photos of people doing mostly everyday, unglamorous things – lounging in pajamas, doing homework, riding the bus, microwaving their dinner. 
    
            With only one post a day, there’s no clutter of friends’ pictures to mindlessly scroll through. You can only see friends’ posts if you share a photo, which eliminates lurkers. Some people turn off their location for privacy reasons, since the app works in real time.
    
            Georgetown University student Ben Telerski, 21, is an avid social media user and joined the app in August. 
    
            “What I like about BeReal is I am able to make connections with my friends via social media on a platform that does not incentivize likes, comments, or being artificial. … solely showing your friends what you are doing at the moment that the daily alert goes off,” says Telerski, a junior majoring in government. 
    
            Telerski says the posts he sees on the app are generally more authentic compared to other social media platforms. 
    
            “I try to post as soon as I see the notification, even if I am just sitting in bed or walking to class,” he says. “I think the amount of authenticity depends on the persona each person creates on social media. If someone tries to keep their social media presence highly polished and produced, BeReal is not the app to use.”
    
            When you click on the once-a-day BeReal notification, your camera opens within the app along with a timer with a two-minute countdown. You have until the timer runs out to take a picture of what’s in front of you. At the same time, your rear-facing camera snaps a selfie.
    
            The app will share both images. You can retake them anytime during the two minutes and share them with friends when you’re ready. 
    
            BeReal also allows users to take and post the photo later in the day. But it lets your friends know how many hours past the notification that you posted. In short, it puts you on blast for your lack of spontaneity. 
    
            BeReal has tapped into marketing on college campuses. It recruits young users via its college ambassador program, which allows students to host events that educate others about the app. 
    
            Telerski believes the app is popular because it’s an antidote to the pressures to look perfect online.
    
            “I have seen a lot of news coverage lately about the negative mental health impacts that social media has on Gen Z. I do not know if BeReal is directly attempting to combat this problem, but it is certainly making some ground toward that goal,” he says. 
    
            Morgan Nott, 26, manages a tea shop in Reno and is a newbie on the app. She started using it last week at a friend’s suggestion. Nott says she finds it refreshing to get a non-airbrushed, non-idealized glimpse into other people’s lives.
    
            “It’s the authenticity of it that makes it so appealing. Users aren’t as glamorized or fake as some can portray themselves on other platforms,” she says. “It’s something different.”
    
            In a statement, BeReal says its goal is to create “an alternative to addictive social networks” that focus on amassing influence, it says. 
    
            “BeReal is your chance to show your friends who you really are,”  the company says. “BeReal won’t make you famous, if you want to become an influencer you can stay on TikTok and Instagram.”
    
            The app doesn’t give you much time to put on makeup or stage your surroundings before you snap and post photos. 
    
            But some users may still try to curate their lives on the app.
    
            “There is the potential to be just as artificial on BeReal as people tend to be on other platforms,” Telerski says. Some people might ignore the notification to post at a certain time and wait to post until they are dressed up and out at dinner with friends, he says. 
    
            “It is not in the spirit of BeReal and entirely defeats the purpose,” he says. “BeReal should be full of pictures of (people) walking, doing homework and sitting in bed watching Netflix.”  
    
            The young people CNN spoke to have no plans to give up Instagram, TikTok and other social media apps.
    
            Nott says she plans to keep letting her guard down on BeReal – and to keep posting on other social media platforms as well. 
    
            Telerski says he tries to maintain a certain level of authenticity on social media regardless of the platform. Authenticity is determined by a person, not an app, he says. 
    
            “For those who think we need a new social media app in order to be truly authentic, maybe we should take that as a sign to be more authentic throughout our existing social media presence,” he says.  
    
            “Think about what social media was originally intended for – real connection through family and friends keeping up with your life. Maybe we should get back to that.”",CNN,21/04/2022,"['Scoot over, Facebook and Instagram.', 'There’s a newer photo-sharing app – and it’s not like other social media platforms.', 'The app is called BeReal.', 'And while you may not have heard of it, a lot of young people are signing up.', 'Its active monthly users have skyrocketed this year by more than 315%, according to data from Apptopia, which tracks and analyzes performance.', 'We joined the app and talked to users to get a deeper understanding of how BeReal works and what you need to know about it.', 'BeReal is a social media app that encourages users to share a slice of their life in real time.', 'It was launched in early 2020 by an entrepreneur in France but a majority of its users – at least 65% – have signed up this calendar year.', 'As its name suggests, the focus is on authenticity.', 'Users are invited once a day to share a photo of what they’re doing at that moment, giving friends and others an unvarnished glimpse into their life.', 'It has no filters and no edit buttons.', 'So if your hair is a mess at that moment and your view is of a rainy parking lot, that’s what people will see.', 'The result is a far cry from the polished, overly curated photos popular on other social media platforms.', 'The concept of BeReal is simple.', 'Once you download the app, you get a notification once a day that it’s time to “BeReal.”', 'That means you have two minutes to snap and post a photo of what you’re doing, no matter how mundane.', 'There’s no set time – the notification comes at random times of the day – adding to the app’s mystique.', '“Push notifications are sent around the world simultaneously at different times each day,” the company said in a statement. “', 'It’s a secret on how the time is chosen every day, it’s not random.”', 'That means the potential window into your life can open at any time.', 'When it does, the app invites you to take a photo of what you’re up to at that moment.', 'It takes a dual photo – a selfie and one showing what’s in front of you. (', 'BeReal doesn’t permit videos yet.)', 'The result is a social feed filled with unedited photos of people doing mostly everyday, unglamorous things – lounging in pajamas, doing homework, riding the bus, microwaving their dinner.', 'With only one post a day, there’s no clutter of friends’ pictures to mindlessly scroll through.', 'You can only see friends’ posts if you share a photo, which eliminates lurkers.', 'Some people turn off their location for privacy reasons, since the app works in real time.', 'Georgetown University student Ben Telerski, 21, is an avid social media user and joined the app in August.', '“What I like about BeReal is I am able to make connections with my friends via social media on a platform that does not incentivize likes, comments, or being artificial. …', 'solely showing your friends what you are doing at the moment that the daily alert goes off,” says Telerski, a junior majoring in government.', 'Telerski says the posts he sees on the app are generally more authentic compared to other social media platforms.', '“I try to post as soon as I see the notification, even if I am just sitting in bed or walking to class,” he says. “', 'I think the amount of authenticity depends on the persona each person creates on social media.', 'If someone tries to keep their social media presence highly polished and produced, BeReal is not the app to use.”', 'When you click on the once-a-day BeReal notification, your camera opens within the app along with a timer with a two-minute countdown.', 'You have until the timer runs out to take a picture of what’s in front of you.', 'At the same time, your rear-facing camera snaps a selfie.', 'The app will share both images.', 'You can retake them anytime during the two minutes and share them with friends when you’re ready.', 'BeReal also allows users to take and post the photo later in the day.', 'But it lets your friends know how many hours past the notification that you posted.', 'In short, it puts you on blast for your lack of spontaneity.', 'BeReal has tapped into marketing on college campuses.', 'It recruits young users via its college ambassador program, which allows students to host events that educate others about the app.', 'Telerski believes the app is popular because it’s an antidote to the pressures to look perfect online.', '“I have seen a lot of news coverage lately about the negative mental health impacts that social media has on Gen Z. I do not know if BeReal is directly attempting to combat this problem, but it is certainly making some ground toward that goal,” he says.', 'Morgan Nott, 26, manages a tea shop in Reno and is a newbie on the app.', 'She started using it last week at a friend’s suggestion.', 'Nott says she finds it refreshing to get a non-airbrushed, non-idealized glimpse into other people’s lives.', '“It’s the authenticity of it that makes it so appealing.', 'Users aren’t as glamorized or fake as some can portray themselves on other platforms,” she says. “', 'It’s something different.”', 'In a statement, BeReal says its goal is to create “an alternative to addictive social networks” that focus on amassing influence, it says.', '“BeReal is your chance to show your friends who you really are,” the company says. “', 'BeReal won’t make you famous, if you want to become an influencer you can stay on TikTok and Instagram.”', 'The app doesn’t give you much time to put on makeup or stage your surroundings before you snap and post photos.', 'But some users may still try to curate their lives on the app.', '“There is the potential to be just as artificial on BeReal as people tend to be on other platforms,” Telerski says.', 'Some people might ignore the notification to post at a certain time and wait to post until they are dressed up and out at dinner with friends, he says.', '“It is not in the spirit of BeReal and entirely defeats the purpose,” he says. “', 'BeReal should be full of pictures of (people) walking, doing homework and sitting in bed watching Netflix.”', 'The young people CNN spoke to have no plans to give up Instagram, TikTok and other social media apps.', 'Nott says she plans to keep letting her guard down on BeReal – and to keep posting on other social media platforms as well.', 'Telerski says he tries to maintain a certain level of authenticity on social media regardless of the platform.', 'Authenticity is determined by a person, not an app, he says.', '“For those who think we need a new social media app in order to be truly authentic, maybe we should take that as a sign to be more authentic throughout our existing social media presence,” he says.', '“Think about what social media was originally intended for – real connection through family and friends keeping up with your life.', 'Maybe we should get back to that.”']",0.1203665001358123,You can retake them anytime during the two minutes and share them with friends when you’re ready.,It has no filters and no edit buttons.,0.0125932469964027,"Its active monthly users have skyrocketed this year by more than 315%, according to data from Apptopia, which tracks and analyzes performance.","The result is a far cry from the polished, overly curated photos popular on other social media platforms.",2024-03-26
Target doubles bonuses for salaried employees as profits recover,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/target-doubles-bonuses-for-salaried-employees-as-profits-recover-.html,2024-03-21T17:31:03+0000,"In this articleTarget will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as the big-box retailer's profits recover from a bumpy nearly two-year stretch.Salaried employees at the Minneapolis-based retailer receive an annual bonus, based on Target's performance and the eligible amount set as part of their compensation. The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, a company spokesperson said Thursday. That is an increase from 50% in the prior year.In a statement, Target said the annual bonus payout is based on how the retailer performs against sales and profit goals set at the beginning of the fiscal year.""Based on Target's performance in 2023, including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year, we're rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.Target will pay out the annual cash bonuses in late March. The amount paid out won't be as high as it could be, however. It tops out at 175% of each employee's eligible bonus amount.The vast majority of Target's approximately 415,000 employees, such as those at its stores and warehouses, are paid hourly and do not qualify for the bonuses. Yet it does offer bonuses to store and supply-chain leaders, along with many corporate employees. Top executives at Target have a different bonus structure. The increased bonus payout was first reported by Bloomberg.Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft. In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period.The discounter said it expects the sales challenges will continue. For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen. For the fiscal year, Target said, it expects adjusted earnings per share will range from $8.60 to $9.60. The higher end of that range would top the adjusted earnings per share of $8.94 that it reported for the previous fiscal year.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleTarget will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as the big-box retailer's profits recover from a bumpy nearly two-year stretch."", ""Salaried employees at the Minneapolis-based retailer receive an annual bonus, based on Target's performance and the eligible amount set as part of their compensation."", ""The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, a company spokesperson said Thursday."", 'That is an increase from 50% in the prior year.', 'In a statement, Target said the annual bonus payout is based on how the retailer performs against sales and profit goals set at the beginning of the fiscal year.', '""Based on Target\'s performance in 2023,including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year,we\'re rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.', 'Target will pay out the annual cash bonuses in late March.', ""The amount paid out won't be as high as it could be, however."", ""It tops out at 175% of each employee's eligible bonus amount."", ""The vast majority of Target's approximately 415,000 employees, such as those at its stores and warehouses, are paid hourly and do not qualify for the bonuses."", 'Yet it does offer bonuses to store and supply-chain leaders, along with many corporate employees.', 'Top executives at Target have a different bonus structure.', 'The increased bonus payout was first reported by Bloomberg.', 'Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft.', ""In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period."", 'The discounter said it expects the sales challenges will continue.', 'For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen.', 'For the fiscal year, Target said, it expects adjusted earnings per share will range from $8.60 to $9.60.', 'The higher end of that range would top the adjusted earnings per share of$8.94 that it reported for the previous fiscal year.']",0.4483384428773163,"""Based on Target's performance in 2023,including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year,we're rewarding our team accordingly,"" the company statement said.","Target has dealt with a challenging nearly two-year stretch marked by inventory troubles, weaker discretionary spending, inflated supply chain costs and higher levels of theft.",0.3977267444133758,"For the full year 2024, Target said it anticipates comparable sales will be flat to up 2%.But the company has improved profits and margins as Target has kept a sharper focus on inventory and as some of its costs, such as freight, have fallen.","In the holiday quarter, Target's comparable sales declined for the third quarter in a row, and its e-commerce sales also dropped compared with the year-ago period.",2024-03-26
Nelson Peltz withholds votes from Disney CEO Bob Iger in proxy battle,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/nelson-peltz-withholds-votes-from-disney-ceo-bob-iger-in-proxy-battle.html,2024-03-25T14:22:59+0000,"In this articleNelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management withheld its votes from Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger when voting its shares in the bitter proxy battle the asset management firm is waging against the entertainment giant, according to sources who monitor the situation.The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board.In recent weeks, Disney has stepped up its attacks on Trian and Peltz. ""Correcting Trian's Fact With Fiction"" was the headline of a recent investor presentation from Disney, over a picture of Pinocchio with a growing nose.""Disney is stupid because I'm not trying to fire Bob Iger, I want to help him,"" Peltz recently told the Financial Times. ""We don't fire CEOs.""When asked for comment, a Trian spokesperson directed CNBC to a press release repeating its proxy recommendations and stating that Trian supports Iger as a candidate for the board and as CEO.Withholding its votes from Iger, however, is hardly a supportive move of his leadership, and it raises questions about how toxic of an environment the boardroom would be if Peltz is elected to the Disney board next month.Disney has nominated a slate of 12 directors, including Iger. Trian is officially recommending shareholders vote for Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and to withhold votes for Disney nominees Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman, who are current board members.Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle. The Disney board meeting will be held April 3, and Trian could change its vote between now and then.",CNBC,25/03/2024,"[""In this articleNelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management withheld its votes from Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger when voting its shares in the bitter proxy battle the asset management firm is waging against the entertainment giant, according to sources who monitor the situation."", 'The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.', ""However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board."", 'In recent weeks, Disney has stepped up its attacks on Trian and Peltz. ""', 'Correcting Trian\'s Fact With Fiction"" was the headline of a recent investor presentation from Disney, over a picture of Pinocchio with a growing nose.', '""Disney is stupid because I\'m not trying to fire Bob Iger, I want to help him,"" Peltz recently told the Financial Times. ""', ""We don't fire CEOs."", '""When asked for comment, a Trian spokesperson directed CNBC to a press release repeating its proxy recommendations and stating that Trian supports Iger as a candidate for the board and as CEO.Withholding its votes from Iger, however, is hardly a supportive move of his leadership, and it raises questions about how toxic of an environment the boardroom would be if Peltz is elected to the Disney board next month.', 'Disney has nominated a slate of 12 directors, including Iger.', 'Trian is officially recommending shareholders vote for Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo and to withhold votes for Disney nominees Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman, who are current board members.', 'Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle.', 'The Disney board meeting will be held April 3, and Trian could change its vote between now and then.']",0.0365678119739758,"Trian owns a relatively small position in Disney, representing about 1.5% of the outstanding shares when combined with the ownership position of former Marvel Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has sided with Peltz in the proxy battle.","The move is hardly shocking, given the acrimonious nature of the battle.",-0.8371050159136454,,"However, it is counter to Trian's proxy recommendations, and it doesn't mesh with the public statements Peltz has made about wanting to work together with management if he is elected to the Disney board.",2024-03-26
"Lululemon shares plunge 16% on weak guidance, slowing North America growth",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/lululemon-lulu-earnings-q4-2023.html,2024-03-22T20:06:12+0000,"In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.Here's how the company did in its fourth fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Jan. 28 was $669.5 million, or $5.29 per share, compared with $119.8 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $3.21 billion, up about 16% from $2.77 billion a year earlier.Shares of Lululemon closed about 16% lower Friday. As of Friday's close, shares are down about 21% this year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500, which is up about 10% in that time.Like its peers, Lululemon has been grappling with uncertain demand and a slowdown in discretionary spending that's hit the apparel space particularly hard. Investors have watched how Lululemon performs in North America, its largest region by sales, as it laps tougher prior year comparisons and contends with consumers who are choosing experiences over goods like clothes and shoes. During the quarter, sales rose 9% in the Americas, compared to 29% growth in the year-ago period. While Lululemon is still growing in the region, the rate has slowed down significantly as Lululemon focuses on expanding internationally.""As you've heard from others in our industry, there has been a shift in the U.S. consumer behavior of late and we're navigating what has been a slower start to the year in this market,"" CEO Calvin McDonald said on a call with analysts Thursday. ""We view this as an opportunity to keep playing offense as we lean into investments that will continue our growth trajectory. Outside the U.S., our business remains strong.""McDonald added that both traffic and conversions are down in the U.S. He attributed that to a lack of products in sizes zero to four, key sizes for the U.S. customer base, and not enough colorful items.Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets.Comparable sales rose 12% during the quarter, just shy of the 12.3% uptick analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.For the current quarter, Lululemon expects net revenue to be between $2.18 billion and $2.20 billion, representing growth of 9% to 10%. Analysts were expecting a forecast of $2.25 billion, or growth of 12.5%, according to LSEG.It expects diluted earnings per share to be between $2.35 and $2.40, below the $2.55 analysts had expected, according to LSEG.For the full year, it expects sales to be between $10.7 billion and $10.8 billion, compared with estimates of $10.9 billion, according to LSEG.It anticipates diluted earnings per share will be between $14 and $14.20 for the year, compared to estimates of $14.13, according to LSEG.Lululemon has long been one of the market leaders for women's athletic apparel, but the Vancouver-based company is facing more competition than ever. Newer entrants like Alo Yoga and Vuori have been nipping at Lululemon's market share, and it's had to work harder to set itself apart in the more crowded category. The retailer has been working to build out its footwear offering and grow its men's business. During the quarter, it opened its first men's store in Beijing — a key growth market for the company. In February, it debuted its first men's sneaker, CityVerse, and plans to launch new running styles for both men and women as performance sneakers continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise stagnant shoewear market. Headed into the holidays, McDonald said Black Friday was the ""single biggest day"" in the company's history and he was ""encouraged"" by the trends he was seeing at the start of the season. But the retailer's holiday-quarter outlook came in a bit short of analysts' expectations. In January, it raised that guidance after it saw sales ""balanced across channels, categories, and geographies,"" finance chief Meghan Frank said in a news release. Read the full earnings release here.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market."", 'The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.', ""Here's how the company did in its fourth fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Jan. 28 was $669.5 million, or $5.29 per share, compared with $119.8 million, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier."", 'Sales rose to $3.21 billion, up about 16% from $2.77 billion a year earlier.', 'Shares of Lululemon closed about 16% lower Friday.', ""As of Friday's close, shares are down about 21% this year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500, which is up about 10% in that time."", ""Like its peers, Lululemon has been grappling with uncertain demand and a slowdown in discretionary spending that's hit the apparel space particularly hard."", 'Investors have watched how Lululemon performs in North America, its largest region by sales, as it laps tougher prior year comparisons and contends with consumers who are choosing experiences over goods like clothes and shoes.', 'During the quarter, sales rose 9% in the Americas, compared to 29% growth in the year-ago period.', 'While Lululemon is still growing in the region, the rate has slowed down significantly as Lululemon focuses on expanding internationally.', '""As you\'ve heard from others in our industry, there has been a shift in the U.S. consumer behavior of late and we\'re navigating what has been a slower start to the year in this market,"" CEO Calvin McDonald said on a call with analysts Thursday. ""', 'We view this as an opportunity to keep playing offense as we lean into investments that will continue our growth trajectory.', 'Outside the U.S., our business remains strong.', '""McDonald added that both traffic and conversions are down in the U.S. He attributed that to a lack of products in sizes zero to four, key sizes for the U.S. customer base, and not enough colorful items.', ""Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets."", 'Comparable sales rose 12% during the quarter, just shy of the 12.3% uptick analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'For the current quarter, Lululemon expects net revenue to be between $2.18 billion and $2.20 billion, representing growth of 9% to 10%.', ""Analysts were expecting a forecast of $2.25 billion, or growth of 12.5%, according to LSEG.It expects diluted earnings per share to be between $2.35 and $2.40, below the $2.55 analysts had expected, according to LSEG.For the full year, it expects sales to be between $10.7 billion and $10.8 billion, compared with estimates of $10.9 billion, according to LSEG.It anticipates diluted earnings per share will be between $14 and $14.20 for the year, compared to estimates of $14.13, according to LSEG.Lululemon has long been one of the market leaders for women's athletic apparel, but the Vancouver-based company is facing more competition than ever."", ""Newer entrants like Alo Yoga and Vuori have been nipping at Lululemon's market share, and it's had to work harder to set itself apart in the more crowded category."", ""The retailer has been working to build out its footwear offering and grow its men's business."", ""During the quarter, it opened its first men's store in Beijing — a key growth market for the company."", ""In February, it debuted its first men's sneaker, CityVerse, and plans to launch new running styles for both men and women as performance sneakers continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise stagnant shoewear market."", 'Headed into the holidays, McDonald said Black Friday was the ""single biggest day"" in the company\'s history and he was ""encouraged"" by the trends he was seeing at the start of the season.', ""But the retailer's holiday-quarter outlook came in a bit short of analysts' expectations."", 'In January, it raised that guidance after it saw sales ""balanced across channels, categories, and geographies,"" finance chief Meghan Frank said in a news release.', 'Read the full earnings release here.']",0.229511879571783,"The retailer reported holiday earnings on Thursday evening that topped expectations, but showed that its growth in North America is stagnating.","In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.",0.0951000303030014,"Meanwhile, international sales grew 54% on a reported basis, with sales in China growing 78% and 36% in the rest of Lululemon's markets.","In this articleShares of Lululemon plunged on Friday after the athletic apparel retailer issued disappointing guidance and said it's seeing soft sales in the U.S., its largest market.",2024-03-26
Nigeria Binance dispute: British-Kenyan executive Nadeem Anjarwalla escapes from custody,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68656119,2024-03-25T14:52:21.000Z,"An executive of the cryptocurrency firm Binance has escaped from custody in Nigeria, the authorities there say. Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national, was arrested in February with his US colleague Tigran Gambaryan. Their detention came as the Nigerian authorities investigated alleged wrongdoing by Binance. Nigeria said that Mr Anjarwalla fled the country with a ""smuggled passport"", but a family source has said he had left by ""by lawful means"". The country is now ""working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect"", the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said in a statement. Binance has not commented on the accusations it has been facing. ""We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody. Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.  Mr Anjarwalla, the company's Africa regional manager, and Mr Gambaryan, in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested on 26 February after attending meetings in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to which they had been invited by the government. The authorities reportedly demanded that they name Nigerians trading on their platform.  A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's request to detain the two executives for 14 days, but their continued detention was not authorised by the court and they were being held ""unlawfully"", a source close to the families told the BBC. They were due to appear again in court early next month.  ""The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention,"" the ONSA said. Nigerian media are reporting that Mr Anjarwalla asked the guards at a guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to the mosque last Friday but never returned. The authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport were unknown. Mr Gambaryan remains in custody. Meanwhile, the Nigerian authorities have formally filed tax evasion charges against Binance at the High Court in Abuja, and named Mr Anjarwalla among the respondents. The Federal Inland Revenue Service is accusing the cryptocurrency platform of non-payment of value added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.  Binance has not made a statement on these charges. Last month, the Nigerian authorities clamped down on cryptocurrency firms in general over allegations they were being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.  The country's central bank alleged that over $26bn (£20.6bn) worth of transactions had passed through Binance with untraceable sources.  It accused the platforms of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the naira, the local currency, and ordered the firm to pay a fine of $10bn.  Binance is understood to be one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms in Nigeria. Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['An executive of the cryptocurrency firm Binance has escaped from custody in Nigeria, the authorities there say.', 'Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan dual national, was arrested in February with his US colleague Tigran Gambaryan.', 'Their detention came as the Nigerian authorities investigated alleged wrongdoing by Binance.', 'Nigeria said that Mr Anjarwalla fled the country with a ""smuggled passport"", but a family source has said he had left by ""by lawful means"".', 'The country is now ""working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect"", the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said in a statement.', 'Binance has not commented on the accusations it has been facing. ""', 'We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody.', 'Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.', ""Mr Anjarwalla, the company's Africa regional manager, and Mr Gambaryan, in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested on 26 February after attending meetings in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to which they had been invited by the government."", 'The authorities reportedly demanded that they name Nigerians trading on their platform.', 'A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission\'s request to detain the two executives for 14 days, but their continued detention was not authorised by the court and they were being held ""unlawfully"", a source close to the families told the BBC.', 'They were due to appear again in court early next month. ""', 'The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention,"" the ONSA said.', 'Nigerian media are reporting that Mr Anjarwalla asked the guards at a guest house where he was being held to allow him to go to the mosque last Friday but never returned.', 'The authorities had reportedly confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport were unknown.', 'Mr Gambaryan remains in custody.', 'Meanwhile, the Nigerian authorities have formally filed tax evasion charges against Binance at the High Court in Abuja, and named Mr Anjarwalla among the respondents.', 'The Federal Inland Revenue Service is accusing the cryptocurrency platform of non-payment of value added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.', 'Binance has not made a statement on these charges.', 'Last month, the Nigerian authorities clamped down on cryptocurrency firms in general over allegations they were being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.', ""The country's central bank alleged that over $26bn (£20.6bn) worth of transactions had passed through Binance with untraceable sources."", 'It accused the platforms of fixing exchange rates and currency speculation leading to the free-fall of the naira, the local currency, and ordered the firm to pay a fine of $10bn.', 'Binance is understood to be one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms in Nigeria.', ""Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.""]",-0.1973722181344786,"Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,"" a Binance spokesperson said.","Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.",-0.9894911050796508,,"Africa's largest economy is battling an economic crisis worsened by the weakening of the naira, the soaring cost of living, and food inflation.",2024-03-26
The top 10 richest cities in America,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/the-top-10-richest-cities-in-america.html,2024-03-21T18:56:30+0000,"A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.New York still leads the U.S. and the world when it comes to wealthy cities.With nearly 350,000 millionaires and 60 billionaires, the Big Apple is the richest city in America, according to the USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth. Despite all the headlines about the rich leaving the city, its millionaire population has grown 48% over the past decade.The San Francisco Bay Area ranks as the second richest city in America, despite topping New York for billionaires, with more than 305,000 millionaires and 68 billionaires. The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%. The surge in investment and growth in artificial intelligence is expected to add another boost to the area.The fastest-growing U.S. city for the ultra wealthy among the top 10 is Austin, Texas, which has more than doubled its millionaire population over the past decade to nearly 33,000. Miami is up there too, with 87% growth in millionaires over the past decade — but with one-tenth the New York City total.The numbers show that the twin wealth hubs in the U.S. endure, despite wealth migration to the Sun Belt — which is roughly defined as the southern third of the U.S. known for its sunny weather and lower tax states.""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America's wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.Here are the top 10:Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer."", 'Sign upto receive future editions, straight to your inbox.', 'New York still leads the U.S. and the world when it comes to wealthy cities.', 'With nearly 350,000 millionaires and 60 billionaires, the Big Apple is the richest city in America, according to the USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.', 'Despite all the headlines about the rich leaving the city, its millionaire population has grown 48% over the past decade.', 'The San Francisco Bay Area ranks as the second richest city in America, despite topping New York for billionaires, with more than 305,000 millionaires and 68 billionaires.', ""The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%."", 'The surge in investment and growth in artificial intelligence is expected to add another boost to the area.', 'The fastest-growing U.S. city for the ultra wealthy among the top 10 is Austin, Texas, which has more than doubled its millionaire population over the past decade to nearly 33,000.', 'Miami is up there too, with 87% growth in millionaires over the past decade — but with one-tenth the New York City total.', 'The numbers show that the twin wealth hubs in the U.S. endure, despite wealth migration to the Sun Belt — which is roughly defined as the southern third of the U.S. known for its sunny weather and lower tax states.', '""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America\'s wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.', ""Here are the top 10:Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.""]",0.561624820229274,"""Despite the recent rise of major wealth hubs in Texas and Florida, the Bay Area and New York City are expected to remain America's wealthiest cities for many more decades to come,"" said Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth.",,0.9989487926165262,"The Bay Area's growth rate over the past 10 years has been even more impressive, with its millionaire population soaring 82%.",,2024-03-26
McDonald's to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts nationwide by the end of 2026,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/mcdonalds-to-sell-krispy-kreme-doughnuts-nationwide-by-end-of-2026.html,2024-03-26T20:22:10+0000,"In this articleMcDonald's is planning to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts at its restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026, the chains announced Tuesday.The rollout will start in the second half of this year, but it will take roughly two and a half years as Krispy Kreme more than doubles its distribution to satisfy the partnership. For the duration of the agreement, McDonald's will be the exclusive fast-food partner for Krispy Kreme in the U.S.Shares of Krispy Kreme soared 39% on Tuesday. The stock was earlier on track for its best day ever.The doughnut chain uses a ""hub and spoke"" model that lets it make and distribute its treats efficiently. Production hubs, which are either stores or doughnut factories, send off freshly made doughnuts every day to retail locations such as grocery stores and gas stations.The partnership with McDonald's is a major opportunity for Krispy Kreme to expand its reach. It delivers its doughnuts to 6,800 third-party stores, as of Dec. 31. McDonald's has roughly 13,500 restaurants in the U.S. and plans to open 900 new locations nationwide by 2027.""We think we can service about 6,000 restaurants with our existing infrastructure, mostly doughnut shops, which have excess capacity,"" Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth told CNBC.Krispy Kreme has also been expanding its capacity so it can deliver fresh doughnuts to the roughly 7,500 McDonald's restaurants that it can't currently reach.While McDonald's is the primary reason the company is expanding its distribution so quickly, Charlesworth said Krispy Kreme will also be using the opportunity to land in grocery and convenience stores that prefer national suppliers.""That means that the overall efficiency and productivity of our distribution network will significantly improve over time, not just because of all those local deliveries,"" he said.Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell. The extra demand from McDonald's and other new customers means its production lines can churn out higher volume with few additional costs.""Overall, therefore, it makes our system more profitable to grow the deliver fresh daily channel, and McDonald's is an accelerator of that,"" Charlesworth said.The two chains' relationship started about a year and a half ago, when McDonald's began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at nine restaurants as a test. Months later, the pilot had expanded to roughly 160 restaurants across Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky. Those initial restaurants will keep selling the doughnuts during the national rollout.Demand from McDonald's customers during the tests exceeded both chains' expectations, according to Charlesworth.For McDonald's, the addition of Krispy Kreme doughnuts helps bolster its bakery and breakfast offerings. The burger chain has been leaning into coffee, a common drink pairing for doughnuts, but trimming other bakery items such as cinnamon rolls from its menu.McDonald's customers will be able to order the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts, either individually or in packs of six. The restaurants will sell the doughnuts all day.In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations. The chain's doughnuts can currently be found in more than 14,100 stores across 39 countries.Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion. As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales.Similar concerns have weighed on McDonald's, although its stock has risen 2% in the past year as consumers trade down to its cheap food and drinks. The company has a market value of $201 billion.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"[""In this articleMcDonald's is planning to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts at its restaurants nationwide by the end of 2026, the chains announced Tuesday."", 'The rollout will start in the second half of this year, but it will take roughly two and a half years as Krispy Kreme more than doubles its distribution to satisfy the partnership.', ""For the duration of the agreement, McDonald's will be the exclusive fast-food partner for Krispy Kreme in the U.S.Shares of Krispy Kreme soared 39% on Tuesday."", 'The stock was earlier on track for its best day ever.', 'The doughnut chain uses a ""hub and spoke"" model that lets it make and distribute its treats efficiently.', 'Production hubs, which are either stores or doughnut factories, send off freshly made doughnuts every day to retail locations such as grocery stores and gas stations.', ""The partnership with McDonald's is a major opportunity for Krispy Kreme to expand its reach."", 'It delivers its doughnuts to 6,800 third-party stores, as of Dec. 31.', 'McDonald\'s has roughly 13,500 restaurants in the U.S. and plans to open 900 new locations nationwide by 2027.""We think we can service about 6,000 restaurants with our existing infrastructure, mostly doughnut shops, which have excess capacity,"" Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth told CNBC.Krispy Kreme has also been expanding its capacity so it can deliver fresh doughnuts to the roughly 7,500 McDonald\'s restaurants that it can\'t currently reach.', ""While McDonald's is the primary reason the company is expanding its distribution so quickly, Charlesworth said Krispy Kreme will also be using the opportunity to land in grocery and convenience stores that prefer national suppliers."", '""That means that the overall efficiency and productivity of our distribution network will significantly improve over time, not just because of all those local deliveries,"" he said.', ""Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell."", ""The extra demand from McDonald's and other new customers means its production lines can churn out higher volume with few additional costs."", '""Overall, therefore, it makes our system more profitable to grow the deliver fresh daily channel, and McDonald\'s is an accelerator of that,"" Charlesworth said.', ""The two chains' relationship started about a year and a half ago, when McDonald's began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at nine restaurants as a test."", 'Months later, the pilot hadexpandedto roughly 160 restaurants across Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky.', 'Those initial restaurants will keep selling the doughnuts during the national rollout.', ""Demand from McDonald's customers during the tests exceeded both chains' expectations, according to Charlesworth."", ""For McDonald's, the addition of Krispy Kreme doughnuts helps bolster its bakery and breakfast offerings."", 'The burger chain has been leaning into coffee, a common drink pairing for doughnuts, but trimming other bakery items such as cinnamon rolls from its menu.', ""McDonald's customers will be able to order the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts, either individually or in packs of six."", 'The restaurants will sell the doughnuts all day.', 'In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations.', ""The chain's doughnuts can currently be found in more than 14,100 stores across 39 countries."", 'Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion.', ""As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales."", ""Similar concerns have weighed on McDonald's, although its stock has risen 2% in the past year as consumers trade down to its cheap food and drinks."", 'The company has a market value of $201 billion.']",0.2322509842203297,"Additionally, Krispy Kreme's doughnut shops typically make more of the sweet treat than the chain can sell.","As hype over weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic has soared, investors have worried about whether the treatments will cut into Krispy Kreme's future sales.",0.7299659132957459,"In the long term, Krispy Kreme now expects it can reach more than 100,000 points of access for its doughnuts globally, up from its prior outlook of 75,000 locations.","Shares of Krispy Kreme have fallen 20% over the past year, dragging its market value down to $2.11 billion.",2024-03-26
How Temu is shaking up the world of online shopping,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68563339,2024-03-19T00:09:28.000Z,"A record 123 million Americans tuned into this year's Super Bowl.  But as well as getting the nation's biggest sporting event, a blockbuster halftime performance and several camera cutaways of Taylor Swift in the crowd, they also got six 30-second commercials for Temu - a Chinese-owned e-commerce company. The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour. Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants. The company, which sells everything from clothes to electronics and furniture, first launched in the US in 2022 and later in the UK and the rest of the world. Since then, it has consistently topped global app download charts, with just under 152 million Americans using it every month, according to data gathered by analyst SimilarWeb. It's ""Amazon on steroids,"" says retail analyst Neil Saunders, and with the tagline ""shop like a billionaire"" it has exploded in popularity, shipping to around 50 countries worldwide. A typical 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs around $7m (£5.5m), during this year's event Temu had six of them.  ""It's a lot of money for a very, short commercial,"" Mr Saunders says.  ""But it is seen by an enormous number of people and we know that after that commercial Temu's downloads spiked,"" he adds.  SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app. In the same period, Amazon and Ebay's visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively.  ""They've also spent a lot of money on micro-marketing, persuading influencers to push products and to suggest buying things on the platform via social channels like TikTok and YouTube,"" says Mr Saunders.  These influencers typically have fewer than 10,000 followers according to Ines Durand, an e-commerce expert at SimilarWeb. ""Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains. Temu is owned by Chinese giant PDD Holdings - ""a monster in Chinese e-commerce,"" according to Shaun Rein, founder of the China Market Research Group.  ""Throughout China, everyone buys products on Pinduoduo, from speakers to t-shirts or socks,"" he says.  More technology of business The company consistently trades places with rival Alibaba for the top spot of most valuable Chinese firm listed on a US stock exchange. Its current worth sits at just under $150bn (£117bn). With the Chinese consumer market under its spell, PDD Holdings expanded overseas with Temu, using the same model that had ensured its previous success. According to Mr Rein, who is based in Shanghai, the firm has become a great source of pride and patriotism. ""They're proud that Chinese companies can slay the e-commerce dragons from the United States like Amazon,"" he adds.  A quick scroll through the Temu app or website will bring up anything from steel-toecap trainers to a device designed to help the elderly and pregnant women put on socks. A menagerie of manufactured goods, almost entirely produced in factories in China, Mr Rein explains. ""Temu use an amazing, system that relies on, heavy data collection at scale,"" says Ines Durand. ""They collect data on consumer trends, the most searched and clicked products, which they give to individual manufacturers."" Ms Durand says that while Amazon sells this data to manufacturers at a premium, Temu gives it to producers free of charge - information they use to ""test the market"" with a relatively small number of products.  A third of parcels that came into the US last year under a shipping loophole known as the de minimis threshold were from Temu and competitor Shein, according to a report from US Congress. Many countries - including the UK and USA have a de minimis threshold, designed to help citizens to import goods. So as Temu's goods are shipped directly from the factory floors, cutting out the middlemen, they become essentially duty-free. More regulation may be on the horizon to close up shipping loopholes, however, according to Mickey Diaz, chief operating officer at global freight company Unique Logistics.  ""The UK has already started to look at Temu with some scrutiny, including the sale of weapons that are otherwise not allowed into the UK, which were being imported because of these loopholes,"" she explains. Temu has been criticised for its supply chains too, with UK and US politicians accusing the e-commerce giant of allowing goods produced with forced labour to be sold on its site.  Last year, Alicia Kearns MP, head of the foreign affairs select committee, told the BBC she wanted greater scrutiny of the online marketplace to make sure ""consumers are not inadvertently contributing to the Uyghur genocide"". Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.  It told the BBC anyone doing business with it must ""comply with all regulatory standards and compliance requirements"". ""Temu's merchants, suppliers, and other third parties must pay their employees and contractors on time and comply with all applicable local wage and hours laws. ""Our current standards and practices are no different from other major e-commerce platforms trusted by consumers, and allegations in this regard are completely ungrounded,"" a spokesperson added.  Despite the controversy, analysts expect further expansion for Temu. ""We'll probably see teams start to round out its offer more, perhaps pushing into some slightly higher priced products"" predicts retail analyst Neil Saunders. According to Shaun Reid, the focus will be on grabbing an even bigger slice of the market. ""For the next two to three years, their strategy is just to grow brand awareness and market share. They don't care about profits.  ""That's exactly what happened with Pinduoduo when it launched in China. They were giving incredibly cheap deals just to grab market share."" ",BBC,19/03/2024,"[""A record 123 million Americans tuned into this year's Super Bowl."", ""But as well as getting the nation's biggest sporting event, a blockbuster halftime performance and several camera cutaways of Taylor Swift in the crowd, they also got six 30-second commercials for Temu - a Chinese-owned e-commerce company."", 'The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour.', 'Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.', 'The company, which sells everything from clothes to electronics and furniture, first launched in the US in 2022 and later in the UK and the rest of the world.', 'Since then, it has consistently topped global app download charts, with just under 152 million Americans using it every month, according to data gathered by analyst SimilarWeb.', 'It\'s ""Amazon on steroids,"" says retail analyst Neil Saunders, and with the tagline ""shop like a billionaire"" it has exploded in popularity, shipping to around 50 countries worldwide.', 'A typical 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs around $7m (£5.5m), during this year\'s event Temu had six of them. ""', 'It\'s a lot of money for a very, short commercial,"" Mr Saunders says. ""', 'But it is seen by an enormous number of people and we know that after that commercial Temu\'s downloads spiked,"" he adds.', 'SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app.', 'In the same period, Amazon and Ebay\'s visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively. ""', 'They\'ve also spent a lot of money on micro-marketing, persuading influencers to push products and to suggest buying things on the platform via social channels like TikTok and YouTube,"" says Mr Saunders.', 'These influencers typically have fewer than 10,000 followers according to Ines Durand, an e-commerce expert at SimilarWeb. ""', 'Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains.', 'Temu is owned by Chinese giant PDD Holdings - ""a monster in Chinese e-commerce,"" according to Shaun Rein, founder of the China Market Research Group. ""', 'Throughout China, everyone buys products on Pinduoduo, from speakers to t-shirts or socks,"" he says.', 'More technology of business The company consistently trades places with rival Alibaba for the top spot of most valuable Chinese firm listed on a US stock exchange.', 'Its current worth sits at just under $150bn (£117bn).', 'With the Chinese consumer market under its spell, PDD Holdings expanded overseas with Temu, using the same model that had ensured its previous success.', 'According to Mr Rein, who is based in Shanghai, the firm has become a great source of pride and patriotism. ""', 'They\'re proud that Chinese companies can slay the e-commerce dragons from the United States like Amazon,"" he adds.', 'A quick scroll through the Temu app or website will bring up anything from steel-toecap trainers to a device designed to help the elderly and pregnant women put on socks.', 'A menagerie of manufactured goods, almost entirely produced in factories in China, Mr Rein explains. ""', 'Temu use an amazing, system that relies on, heavy data collection at scale,"" says Ines Durand. ""', 'They collect data on consumer trends, the most searched and clicked products, which they give to individual manufacturers.""', 'Ms Durand says that while Amazon sells this data to manufacturers at a premium, Temu gives it to producers free of charge - information they use to ""test the market"" with a relatively small number of products.', 'A third of parcels that came into the US last year under a shipping loophole known as the de minimis threshold were from Temu and competitor Shein, according to a report from US Congress.', 'Many countries - including the UK and USA have a de minimis threshold, designed to help citizens to import goods.', ""So as Temu's goods are shipped directly from the factory floors, cutting out the middlemen, they become essentially duty-free."", 'More regulation may be on the horizon to close up shipping loopholes, however, according to Mickey Diaz, chief operating officer at global freight company Unique Logistics. ""', 'The UK has already started to look at Temu with some scrutiny, including the sale of weapons that are otherwise not allowed into the UK, which were being imported because of these loopholes,"" she explains.', 'Temu has been criticised for its supply chains too, with UK and US politicians accusing the e-commerce giant of allowing goods produced with forced labour to be sold on its site.', 'Last year, Alicia Kearns MP, head of the foreign affairs select committee, told the BBC she wanted greater scrutiny of the online marketplace to make sure ""consumers are not inadvertently contributing to the Uyghur genocide"".', 'Temu says it ""strictly prohibits"" the use of forced, penal, or child labour by all its merchants.', 'It told the BBC anyone doing business with it must ""comply with all regulatory standards and compliance requirements"". ""', 'Temu\'s merchants, suppliers, and other third parties must pay their employees and contractors on time and comply with all applicable local wage and hours laws. ""', 'Our current standards and practices are no different from other major e-commerce platforms trusted by consumers, and allegations in this regard are completely ungrounded,"" a spokesperson added.', 'Despite the controversy, analysts expect further expansion for Temu. ""', 'We\'ll probably see teams start to round out its offer more, perhaps pushing into some slightly higher priced products"" predicts retail analyst Neil Saunders.', 'According to Shaun Reid, the focus will be on grabbing an even bigger slice of the market. ""', 'For the next two to three years, their strategy is just to grow brand awareness and market share.', 'They don\'t care about profits. ""', ""That's exactly what happened with Pinduoduo when it launched in China."", 'They were giving incredibly cheap deals just to grab market share.""']",0.2590481124794851,"Micro-influencers have strong communities, so their endorsement means a strong trust towards these products,"" she explains.","The shopping giant has been criticised by politicians in the UK and US - a US government investigation finding an ""extremely high risk"" that products sold on Temu could have been made with forced labour.",0.5463065419878278,"SimilarWeb data suggests individual visitors to the platform worldwide were up by nearly a quarter on the day of the Super Bowl compared with the previous Sunday, with 8.2 million people browsing the website and app.","In the same period, Amazon and Ebay's visitors were down by 5% and 2% respectively. """,2024-03-26
The U.S. is the top country for millionaires and billionaires,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/the-us-is-the-top-country-for-millionaires-and-billionaires.html,2024-03-22T16:57:55+0000,"A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.The U.S. has rapidly overwhelmed China as the world's top spot for millionaires and billionaires, according a new report.  There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.Over the past five years, the population of millionaires in the U.S. has grown 35%, nearly twice as fast as China's. The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder. The U.S. has 9,850 centi-millionaires — those worth $100 million or more — compared with China's 2,352. The U.S. has about 788 billionaires to China's 305.""The USA remains the world's undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation,"" according to the report.Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley, said the strict Covid lockdowns in China coupled with increases in its government intervention in the private sector have slowed the growth in wealth creation.""China has certainly slowed a lot due to these elements and the U.S. has benefited,"" he said.The shift from China to the U.S. is also reflected in wealth migration patterns. A net 13,500 Chinese millionaires left China in 2023, marking a new record. The U.S. had a net inflow of 2,200 millionaires in 2023 and a projected inflow of 3,500 in 2024, according to the Henley report.""The USA remains a top draw for wealthy tech entrepreneurs and engineers, especially from Asia, Europe, and the UK,"" the report said. America's leadership in wealth creation is spilling over into spending and investing. A report from UBS and Art Basel finds that the U.S. is the leader in global art sales, accounting for 42% of sales by value. The U.S. also leads the world in sales of the highest-priced works.Bain now predicts that China will account for only 35% to 40% of global luxury goods consumption by 2030, up only slightly from current levels. Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain. Luxury sales in the U.S. last year totaled $80 billion, to China’s $52 billion, Bain found.While analysts and economists say China will still be a major source of luxury and wealth growth in the coming years, the U.S. has become both the dominant market and source of growth for the high-net-worth economy.""The wealth creation opportunities in the U.S. are second to none globally,"" Volek said.Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer."", 'Sign upto receive future editions, straight to your inbox.', ""The U.S. has rapidly overwhelmed China as the world's top spot for millionaires and billionaires, according a new report."", 'There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.', ""Over the past five years, the population of millionaires in the U.S. has grown 35%, nearly twice as fast as China's."", ""The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder."", ""The U.S. has 9,850 centi-millionaires — those worth $100 million or more — compared with China's 2,352."", 'The U.S. has about 788 billionaires to China\'s 305.""The USA remains the world\'s undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation,"" according to the report.', 'Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley, said the strict Covid lockdowns in China coupled with increases in its government intervention in the private sector have slowed the growth in wealth creation.', '""China has certainly slowed a lot due to these elements and the U.S. has benefited,"" he said.', 'The shift from China to the U.S. is also reflected in wealth migration patterns.', 'A net 13,500 Chinese millionaires left China in 2023, marking a new record.', 'The U.S. had a net inflow of 2,200 millionaires in 2023 and a projected inflow of 3,500 in 2024, according to the Henley report.', '""The USA remains a top draw for wealthy tech entrepreneurs and engineers, especially from Asia, Europe, and the UK,"" the report said.', ""America's leadership in wealth creation is spilling over into spending and investing."", 'A report from UBS and Art Basel finds that the U.S. is the leader in global art sales, accounting for 42% of sales by value.', 'The U.S. also leads the world in sales of the highest-priced works.', 'Bain now predicts that China will account for only 35% to 40% of global luxury goods consumption by 2030, up only slightly from current levels.', 'Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain.', 'Luxury sales in the U.S. last year totaled $80 billion, to China’s $52 billion, Bain found.', 'While analysts and economists say China will still be a major source of luxury and wealth growth in the coming years, the U.S. has become both the dominant market and source of growth for the high-net-worth economy.', '""The wealth creation opportunities in the U.S. are second to none globally,"" Volek said.', ""Sign up to receive future editions of CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank.""]",0.3810456003682411,"There are now more than 5.5 million Americans with liquid investible assets of more than $1 million, up 62% over the past decade and well above the global growth rate of 38%, according to the 2024 USA Wealth Report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth.",,0.5784277379512787,"The U.S. is now home to 37% of the world's millionaires, up from 35% in 2018.The divergence grows even more at the top of the wealth ladder.","Overall luxury spending in China is about 40% below where it was in 2019, according to Bain.",2024-03-26
3 ways Apple’s monopoly lawsuit could change the iPhone experience for fans,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/apples-iphone-changes-lawsuit/index.html,"
  Published
        6:30 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","When Apple launched its first Mac computer in 1984, with its iconic Mac smiley-face “hello” greeting, it wanted to differentiate itself in the fledgling PC market. The Mac was approachable with its friendly, innovative design – Apple’s way of setting the Mac apart in the confusing PC landscape.
    
            That consumer-friendly mantra still exists today, with Apple carefully curating an easy-breezy yet controlled user experience across its products, including the billions of iPhones used around the world.
    
            But the Biden administration believes Apple took that too far. On Thursday, the Department of Justice sued Apple for illegally monopolizing the smartphone market. In a press conference, the government provided a long list of how Apple has allegedly squashed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach, restricting how third-party companies interact with its brands and services.
    
            The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them. Apple added that the lawsuit could empower the government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”
    
            But if successful, the lawsuit could ripple across Apple’s products and services. Although the suit could take years to play out, here’s a closer look what it may eventually mean for iPhone users:
    
            If found liable, the company could be forced to change a number of things.
    
            One such change is how iPhone users could get greater access to “super apps” that have been largely restricted before. The term refers to one-stop-shop apps that allow for messaging, ordering food, payment processing and other capabilities all within one platform.
    
             According to Dipanjan Chatterjee, a principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, super apps most threaten Apple’s preeminence in the lives of its customers.
    
            “An offering like WeChat, dubbed China’s everything app, can provide an alternative to the Apple ecosystem for people to communicate, bank, share memories, talk to businesses and more,” he said. “What Apple fears most is becoming irrelevant to its customers.”
    
            At the same time, super apps like WeChat are created by larger companies and could, therefore, put some smaller companies at a disadvantage. And the concept hasn’t been welcomed much in the US anyway.
    
            The US government, however, could argue that lack of interest may be due to Apple’s high share of the smartphone market and its resistance to offer super apps in its store, Chatterjee said.
    
            Apple may also be required to offer more support for cross-platform messaging, an issue the company previously said it’s already working on.
    
            The company lets iPhone users send high-quality photos and videos to one another, but similar texts to Android phones are slower and grainy. It also maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue.
    
            In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap. Apple’s move to add support for the standard called RCS (rich communication services) is intended to roll out later this year. RCS is considered the replacement to alternatives such as SMS, or short messaging service, and can work over both Wi-Fi and mobile data.
    
            The change followed pressure from both regulators and competitors to more seamlessly work across operating systems. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, for example, requires companies to make their key services interoperable between platforms. The US government could require the same.
    
            Another likely change is how hardware from other companies, such as smartwatches, will interact with the Apple range of devices and software, including the iPhone and Apple’s services like Fitness+. The company has also required Apple Watch users to own iOS devices as a way to keep them locked into its existing ecosystem.
    
            Chatterjee said making this change would have both positives and negatives.
    
            “The net result would reside somewhere along the spectrum of access to more and cheaper options but also the devaluation of the customer experience that is so highly prized by Apple’s customers,” he said.
    
            The Biden administration has also taken issue with Apple’s lack of support for mobile cloud services. Loosening this could allow users to access games and other cloud-based apps without having to pay for pricey hardware.
    
            The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating. Although the Biden administration will have to prove these harms, some critics say any potential changes Apple could make will negatively impact the user experience.
    
            David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research, said he recognizes that the content and applications market should be open, and Apple needs to avoid monopolistic advantages that can restrict competition, push up prices or block innovation. But Apple’s success stems in part to its tight grip on its products and services, keeping things intuitive and seamless.
    
            “If Apple is forced to comply, it could potentially spell the end to the provision of this consistent and unified user experience, although by the same token, consumers will be open to a greater choice of apps and services, helping more developers and providers,” McQueen said.
    
            Chatterjee noted some people are drawn to the Apple family of products precisely because of the carefully managed ecosystem’s ease of use. Apple may have to work that much harder to preserve the integrity of its experience, but any changes probably won’t be enough to make customers to leave and go elsewhere.
    
            “The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said.
    
            But he added those currently outside of the Apple ecosystem will likely benefit by “plugging in opportunistically without having to go all in with Apple.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['When Apple launched its first Mac computer in 1984, with its iconic Mac smiley-face “hello” greeting, it wanted to differentiate itself in the fledgling PC market.', 'The Mac was approachable with its friendly, innovative design – Apple’s way of setting the Mac apart in the confusing PC landscape.', 'That consumer-friendly mantra still exists today, with Apple carefully curating an easy-breezy yet controlled user experience across its products, including the billions of iPhones used around the world.', 'But the Biden administration believes Apple took that too far.', 'On Thursday, the Department of Justice sued Apple for illegally monopolizing the smartphone market.', 'In a press conference, the government provided a long list of how Apple has allegedly squashed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach, restricting how third-party companies interact with its brands and services.', 'The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them.', 'Apple added that the lawsuit could empower the government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”', 'But if successful, the lawsuit could ripple across Apple’s products and services.', 'Although the suit could take years to play out, here’s a closer look what it may eventually mean for iPhone users:  If found liable, the company could be forced to change a number of things.', 'One such change is how iPhone users could get greater access to “super apps” that have been largely restricted before.', 'The term refers to one-stop-shop apps that allow for messaging, ordering food, payment processing and other capabilities all within one platform.', 'According to Dipanjan Chatterjee, a principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, super apps most threaten Apple’s preeminence in the lives of its customers.', '“An offering like WeChat, dubbed China’s everything app, can provide an alternative to the Apple ecosystem for people to communicate, bank, share memories, talk to businesses and more,” he said.', '“What Apple fears most is becoming irrelevant to its customers.”', 'At the same time, super apps like WeChat are created by larger companies and could, therefore, put some smaller companies at a disadvantage.', 'And the concept hasn’t been welcomed much in the US anyway.', 'The US government, however, could argue that lack of interest may be due to Apple’s high share of the smartphone market and its resistance to offer super apps in its store, Chatterjee said.', 'Apple may also be required to offer more support for cross-platform messaging, an issue the company previously said it’s already working on.', 'The company lets iPhone users send high-quality photos and videos to one another, but similar texts to Android phones are slower and grainy.', 'It also maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue.', 'In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap.', 'Apple’s move to add support for the standard called RCS (rich communication services) is intended to roll out later this year.', 'RCS is considered the replacement to alternatives such as SMS, or short messaging service, and can work over both Wi-Fi and mobile data.', 'The change followed pressure from both regulators and competitors to more seamlessly work across operating systems.', 'The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, for example, requires companies to make their key services interoperable between platforms.', 'The US government could require the same.', 'Another likely change is how hardware from other companies, such as smartwatches, will interact with the Apple range of devices and software, including the iPhone and Apple’s services like Fitness+.', 'The company has also required Apple Watch users to own iOS devices as a way to keep them locked into its existing ecosystem.', 'Chatterjee said making this change would have both positives and negatives.', '“The net result would reside somewhere along the spectrum of access to more and cheaper options but also the devaluation of the customer experience that is so highly prized by Apple’s customers,” he said.', 'The Biden administration has also taken issue with Apple’s lack of support for mobile cloud services.', 'Loosening this could allow users to access games and other cloud-based apps without having to pay for pricey hardware.', 'The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating.', 'Although the Biden administration will have to prove these harms, some critics say any potential changes Apple could make will negatively impact the user experience.', 'David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research, said he recognizes that the content and applications market should be open, and Apple needs to avoid monopolistic advantages that can restrict competition, push up prices or block innovation.', 'But Apple’s success stems in part to its tight grip on its products and services, keeping things intuitive and seamless.', '“If Apple is forced to comply, it could potentially spell the end to the provision of this consistent and unified user experience, although by the same token, consumers will be open to a greater choice of apps and services, helping more developers and providers,” McQueen said.', 'Chatterjee noted some people are drawn to the Apple family of products precisely because of the carefully managed ecosystem’s ease of use.', 'Apple may have to work that much harder to preserve the integrity of its experience, but any changes probably won’t be enough to make customers to leave and go elsewhere.', '“The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said.', 'But he added those currently outside of the Apple ecosystem will likely benefit by “plugging in opportunistically without having to go all in with Apple.”']",0.2470050112228104,"In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap.",The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them.,-0.151834836602211,"“The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said.","The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating.",2024-03-26
Welsh shoppers shell out the most for Easter eggs,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68658213,2024-03-26T11:10:18.000Z,"Shoppers in Wales have spent the most on Easter eggs while people in Scotland shelled out the least, figures suggest. Kantar, a research firm which tracks thousands of till receipts, said that on average the Welsh spent £14.18 while the Scots handed over £12.68. Overall, consumers bought four chocolate eggs on average compared to six over Easter last year. The price of chocolate has been rising as adverse weather and disease blights cocoa crops in West Africa.  Cocoa prices in New York have surged to a fresh record after the Ivory Coast and Ghana, which are responsible for 60% of the world's cocoa, produced less of the crop.    On Tuesday, Ocado Retail, which owns an online food joint venture with Marks & Spencer, said that it expected cocoa prices ""to peak at some point"". But Ocado Retail's chief executive, Hannah Gibson, said the firm expected prices to ""remain high for some time"".  Overall, food inflation - which measures the pace at which prices are rising - has been slowing. But Kantar said that prices of confectionary made with chocolate or sugar are growing at a faster pace.  This year on average, people across the UK spent £13.52 on four Easter eggs over the three months to 17 March, Kantar said. Last year, the average spend was just under £14 for six eggs.  After Wales, Northern England was the second biggest spender on chocolate treats at an average £13.84. On the lower end of the scale, Londoners were only marginally ahead of Scotland with an average spend of just over £13.    Kantar said grocery inflation eased to 4.5% in the four weeks to 17 March. That was the lowest rate since February 2022, just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine which sent energy and food prices soaring.  ""Grocery inflation has come down significantly since hitting an eye-watering peak of 17% in March 2023,"" said Fraser McKevitt, Kantar's head of retail and consumer insight. ""However, despite this continued slowdown, many British households are still feeling the squeeze."" Kantar said shoppers were actively searching for cheaper deals and ""are using promotions to help manage budgets"".  Nevertheless, analysis shows sales of branded goods pushed ahead of supermarket's own labels, and premium own-label lines saw significant growth of 16.1% - the quickest rate in nearly three years.   ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Shoppers in Wales have spent the most on Easter eggs while people in Scotland shelled out the least, figures suggest.', 'Kantar, a research firm which tracks thousands of till receipts, said that on average the Welsh spent £14.18 while the Scots handed over £12.68.', 'Overall, consumers bought four chocolate eggs on average compared to six over Easter last year.', 'The price of chocolate has been rising as adverse weather and disease blights cocoa crops in West Africa.', ""Cocoa prices in New York have surged to a fresh record after the Ivory Coast and Ghana, which are responsible for 60% of the world's cocoa, produced less of the crop."", 'On Tuesday, Ocado Retail, which owns an online food joint venture with Marks & Spencer, said that it expected cocoa prices ""to peak at some point"".', 'But Ocado Retail\'s chief executive, Hannah Gibson, said the firm expected prices to ""remain high for some time"".', 'Overall, food inflation - which measures the pace at which prices are rising - has been slowing.', 'But Kantar said that prices of confectionary made with chocolate or sugar are growing at a faster pace.', 'This year on average, people across the UK spent £13.52 on four Easter eggs over the three months to 17 March, Kantar said.', 'Last year, the average spend was just under £14 for six eggs.', 'After Wales, Northern England was the second biggest spender on chocolate treats at an average £13.84.', 'On the lower end of the scale, Londoners were only marginally ahead of Scotland with an average spend of just over £13.', 'Kantar said grocery inflation eased to 4.5% in the four weeks to 17 March.', 'That was the lowest rate since February 2022, just before Russia\'s invasion of Ukraine which sent energy and food prices soaring. ""', 'Grocery inflation has come down significantly since hitting an eye-watering peak of 17% in March 2023,"" said Fraser McKevitt, Kantar\'s head of retail and consumer insight. ""', 'However, despite this continued slowdown, many British households are still feeling the squeeze.""', 'Kantar said shoppers were actively searching for cheaper deals and ""are using promotions to help manage budgets"".', ""Nevertheless, analysis shows sales of branded goods pushed ahead of supermarket's own labels, and premium own-label lines saw significant growth of 16.1% - the quickest rate in nearly three years.""]",0.0840521059915,"Kantar said shoppers were actively searching for cheaper deals and ""are using promotions to help manage budgets"".",The price of chocolate has been rising as adverse weather and disease blights cocoa crops in West Africa.,-0.0034746314798082,"Nevertheless, analysis shows sales of branded goods pushed ahead of supermarket's own labels, and premium own-label lines saw significant growth of 16.1% - the quickest rate in nearly three years.","Grocery inflation has come down significantly since hitting an eye-watering peak of 17% in March 2023,"" said Fraser McKevitt, Kantar's head of retail and consumer insight. """,2024-03-26
"Cars, sugar and cruises: How the Port of Baltimore closure could hurt the economy",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/business/baltimore-port-autos-cruises/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:57 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","The bridge collapse that has indefinitely halted the flow of ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore could hurt the local economy, strain supply chains and scramble deliveries along the US East Coast.
    
            The Key Bridge collapsed after a container vessel called Dali collided with one of its supports. Dali is operated by Singapore-based Synergy Group but had been chartered to carry cargo by Danish shipping giant Maersk.
    
            The Port of Baltimore said in a post on X that vessel traffic was suspended until further notice, but trucks were still being processed at its terminals.
    
            Seven container vessels were scheduled to arrive in Baltimore through Saturday, according to Judah Levine, head of research at logistics firm Freightos.
    
            “We are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area,” Maersk said in a statement. It said it would discharge cargo destined for Baltimore in other ports nearby, but Maesrk warned customers that could mean delays.
    
            Closer to the Midwest than any other port on the East Coast, Baltimore is a major hub for vehicles, containers and commodities. Baltimore ranks first among US ports for autos and light trucks, handling a record 850,000 vehicles last year.
    
            “Last year, we received, processed and shipped approximately 100,000 vehicles through Baltimore for US dealers located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S,” VW said in a statement. “We do not anticipate any impact on vessel operations but there may be trucking delays as traffic will be rerouted in the area.”
    
            “This morning’s bridge collapse in Baltimore threatens to disrupt logistics activity up and down the east coast,” Nationwide Financial markets economist Oren Klachkin said in a note Tuesday.
    
            Part of that could be because of traffic tie-ups on the Interstate 95 corridor, a major artery for traffic along the East Coast.
    
            While many of the 30,000 to 35,000 cars and trucks that used the Key Bridge daily can be rerouted through the two nearby tunnels, that will cause traffic delays. And hazardous materials that are not allowed in the tunnels will be diverted on a longer detour.
    
            Rerouting cargo to Philadelphia, Norfolk or the Port of New York/New Jersey could push up trucking and rail prices if the volumes are significant, and could cause some congestion at those alternative ports, said Levine.
    
            “If some congestion does develop, and vessels are kept waiting, it could cause delays for importers using these ports. Congestion could also put some upward pressure on Asia - US East Coast and transatlantic freight rates,” he added.
    
            Freight rates on transatlantic routes are roughly back at 2019 levels following a spike in shipping costs during the pandemic. But prices for trips heading from Asia to the US East Coast are more than double their March 2019 level because attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have forced vessels to divert around Africa rather than sailing through the Suez Canal.
    
            But those ports have enough capacity to handle the ships normally calling on Baltimore said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. What could cause problems is if there are further disruptions at other East Coast ports for some unexpected reason.
    
            “This removes the margin for error,” he said.
    
            Despite potential for some increased cost of shipping, Zandi said the disruptions aren’t likely to cause problems for the US economy as a whole since the goods are likely to find other ports.
    
            “This specific event should not show up in the national economic statistics,” he said. “It complicates things. But there’s already a lot disruptions in the international supply chain.”
    
            Part of the issue determining the potential added costs to shipping is the unknown of how long the port stays closed.
    
            It’s too early to say when ships will begin calling on the port once again, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday.
    
            “Right now our exclusive focus is on saving lives, our exclusive focus is on search and rescue,” he said at a news conference.
    
            There is a relatively narrow channel through the center of the Patapsco River which is deep enough to allow large ships such as container ships, cruise ships and car carriers to pass. So clearing that pathway of debris could allow the port to reopen, even as crews continue to work to remove other debris that fell into the river.
    
            President Joe Biden vowed Tuesday that the federal government will assist to get the port reopened as quickly as possible, although he also would not give any time frame for when that might happen.
    
            “Fifteen thousand jobs depend on that port. And we’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers,” he said.
    
            So while it could take years to rebuild the bridge — Moore described the process as “a long-term build” and one without a timeline as of yet, removing the debris is likely to be a priority and could be accomplished much faster.
    
            Overall, Baltimore ranks as the ninth biggest US port for international cargo. It handled a record 52.3 million tons, valued at $80.8 billion, in 2023. According to the Maryland state government, the port supports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.
    
            Baltimore is also the leading US port for farming and construction machinery, as well as imports of sugar and gypsum, and the second in the country for exporting coal.
    
            “While Baltimore is not one of the largest US East Coast ports, it still imports and exports more than one million containers each year, so there is the potential for this to cause significant disruption to supply chains,” said Emily Stausbøll, market analyst at Norway-based shipping analytics company Xeneta.
    
            One of the key manufacturers located at the Baltimore harbor is the Domino Sugar refinery, the 115-year old facility that the company says is the largest cane sugar refinery in the Western hemisphere. One of the oldest manufacturers in the city, its Domino Sugar sign is a well-known Baltimore landmark.
    
            The refinery takes raw sugar imported by ship and refines it into various sugar products. Company officials did not respond to questions about the inventory of raw sugar the refinery has on hand, nor its operational plan during the shutdown of Baltimore’s shipping.
    
            Baltimore also has a cruise terminal, serving ships operated by Royal Caribbean (RCL), Carnival (CCL) and Norwegian (NCLH). Cruises carrying more than 444,000 passengers departed from the port last year.
    
            “Our thoughts are with those affected by this tragic accident,” Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson Matt Lupoli said, adding it was premature to comment on the possible impact on upcoming sailings.
    
            The Cruise Lines International Association (CIAL) said that it was “deeply saddened by the tragedy.”
    
            “We are closely following this situation. Right now, the most important thing to do is to allow the emergency workers to do their work,” it said in a statement
    
            Royal Caribbean said that its port logistics team was working on alternatives for ongoing and upcoming sailings of Vision of the Seas and would communicate any. updates to guests and travel partners once plans had been finalized.
    
            While the collapse of the bridge will cause traffic jams and headaches for the Baltimore region and temporary loss of business at the port, the money that will eventually be spent rebuilding the bridge will provide an form of economic stimulus to the city, even if that doesn’t start anytime soon.
    
            “It’s like a natural disaster. It’s highly disruptive in the immediate term, but then you get rebuilding and it adds to economic activity,” said Zandi.
    
            Hanna Ziady, Peter Valdes-Dapena, Rob North and Sugam Pokharel contributed to this article.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['The bridge collapse that has indefinitely halted the flow of ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore could hurt the local economy, strain supply chains and scramble deliveries along the US East Coast.', 'The Key Bridge collapsed after a container vessel called Dali collided with one of its supports.', 'Dali is operated by Singapore-based Synergy Group but had been chartered to carry cargo by Danish shipping giant Maersk.', 'The Port of Baltimore said in a post on X that vessel traffic was suspended until further notice, but trucks were still being processed at its terminals.', 'Seven container vessels were scheduled to arrive in Baltimore through Saturday, according to Judah Levine,head of research at logistics firm Freightos.', '“We are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area,” Maersk said in a statement.', 'It said it would discharge cargo destined for Baltimore in other ports nearby, but Maesrk warned customers that could mean delays.', 'Closer to the Midwest than any other port on the East Coast, Baltimore is a major hub for vehicles, containers and commodities.', 'Baltimore ranks first among US ports for autos and light trucks, handling a record 850,000 vehicles last year.', '“Last year, we received, processed and shipped approximately 100,000 vehicles through Baltimore for US dealers located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S,” VW said in a statement. “', 'We do not anticipate any impact on vessel operations but there may be trucking delays as traffic will be rerouted in the area.”', '“This morning’s bridge collapse in Baltimore threatens to disrupt logistics activity up and down the east coast,” Nationwide Financial markets economist Oren Klachkin said in a note Tuesday.', 'Part of that could be because of traffic tie-ups on the Interstate 95 corridor, a major artery for traffic along the East Coast.', 'While many of the 30,000 to 35,000 cars and trucks that used the Key Bridge daily can be rerouted through the two nearby tunnels, that will cause traffic delays.', 'And hazardous materials that are not allowed in the tunnels will be diverted on a longer detour.', 'Rerouting cargo to Philadelphia, Norfolk or the Port of New York/New Jersey could push up trucking and rail prices if the volumes are significant, and could cause some congestion at those alternative ports, said Levine.', '“If some congestion does develop, and vessels are kept waiting, it could cause delays for importers using these ports.', 'Congestion could also put some upward pressure on Asia - US East Coast and transatlantic freight rates,” he added.', 'Freight rates on transatlantic routes are roughly back at 2019 levels following a spike in shipping costs during the pandemic.', 'But prices for trips heading from Asia to the US East Coast are more than double their March 2019 level because attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have forced vessels to divert around Africa rather than sailing through the Suez Canal.', 'But those ports have enough capacity to handle the ships normally calling on Baltimore said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics.', 'What could cause problems is if there are further disruptions at other East Coast ports for some unexpected reason.', '“This removes the margin for error,” he said.', 'Despite potential for some increased cost of shipping, Zandi said the disruptions aren’t likely to cause problems for the US economy as a whole since the goods are likely to find other ports.', '“This specific event should not show up in the national economic statistics,” he said. “', 'It complicates things.', 'But there’s already a lot disruptions in the international supply chain.”', 'Part of the issue determining the potential added costs to shipping is the unknown of how long the port stays closed.', 'It’s too early to say when ships will begin calling on the port once again, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Monday.', '“Right now our exclusive focus is on saving lives, our exclusive focus is on search and rescue,” he said at a news conference.', 'There is a relatively narrow channel through the center of the Patapsco River which is deep enough to allow large ships such as container ships, cruise ships and car carriers to pass.', 'So clearing that pathway of debris could allow the port to reopen, even as crews continue to work to remove other debris that fell into the river.', 'President Joe Biden vowed Tuesday that the federal government will assist to get the port reopened as quickly as possible, although he also would not give any time frame for when that might happen.', '“Fifteen thousand jobs depend on that port.', 'And we’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers,” he said.', 'So while it could take years to rebuild the bridge — Moore described the process as “a long-term build” and one without a timeline as of yet, removing the debris is likely to be a priority and could be accomplished much faster.', 'Overall, Baltimore ranks as the ninthbiggest US port for international cargo.', 'Ithandleda record 52.3 million tons, valued at $80.8 billion,in 2023.', 'According to the Maryland state government, the portsupports 15,330 direct jobs and 139,180 jobs in related services.', 'Baltimore is also the leading US port forfarming and construction machinery, as well as imports of sugar and gypsum, and the second in the country for exporting coal.', '“While Baltimore is not one of the largest US East Coast ports, it still imports and exports more than one million containers each year, so there is the potential for this to cause significant disruption to supply chains,” said Emily Stausbøll, market analyst at Norway-based shipping analytics company Xeneta.', 'One of the key manufacturers located at the Baltimore harbor is the Domino Sugar refinery, the 115-year old facility that the company says is the largest cane sugar refinery in the Western hemisphere.', 'One of the oldest manufacturers in the city, its Domino Sugar sign is a well-known Baltimore landmark.', 'The refinery takes raw sugar imported by ship and refines it into various sugar products.', 'Company officials did not respond to questions about the inventory of raw sugar the refinery has on hand, nor its operational plan during the shutdown of Baltimore’s shipping.', 'Baltimore also has a cruise terminal, serving ships operated by Royal Caribbean (RCL), Carnival (CCL) and Norwegian (NCLH).', 'Cruises carrying more than 444,000 passengers departed from the port last year.', '“Our thoughts are with those affected by this tragic accident,” Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson Matt Lupoli said, adding it was premature to comment on the possible impact on upcoming sailings.', 'The Cruise Lines International Association (CIAL) said that it was “deeply saddened by the tragedy.”', '“We are closely following this situation.', 'Right now, the most important thing to do is to allow the emergency workers to do their work,” it said in a statement  Royal Caribbean said that its port logistics team was working on alternatives forongoing and upcoming sailings of Vision of the Seasand would communicate any.', 'updates to guests and travel partners once plans had been finalized.', 'While the collapse of the bridge will cause traffic jams and headaches for the Baltimore region and temporary loss of business at the port, the money that will eventually be spent rebuilding the bridge will provide an form of economic stimulus to the city, even if that doesn’t start anytime soon.', '“It’s like a natural disaster.', 'It’s highly disruptive in the immediate term, but then you get rebuilding and it adds to economic activity,” said Zandi.', 'Hanna Ziady, Peter Valdes-Dapena, Rob North and Sugam Pokharel contributed to this article.']",-0.0741714690923929,"“Right now our exclusive focus is on saving lives, our exclusive focus is on search and rescue,” he said at a news conference.",The Cruise Lines International Association (CIAL) said that it was “deeply saddened by the tragedy.”,-0.3556454509496689,"It’s highly disruptive in the immediate term, but then you get rebuilding and it adds to economic activity,” said Zandi.","The bridge collapse that has indefinitely halted the flow of ships in and out of the Port of Baltimore could hurt the local economy, strain supply chains and scramble deliveries along the US East Coast.",2024-03-26
"Nike shares slide on lackluster outlook, slowing China sales",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/nike-nke-earnings-q3-2024.html,2024-03-21T22:40:25+0000,"In this articleNike's China sales continued to slow during its holiday quarter, but the retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom line, helped by better than expected growth in North America and price changes.Here's how the company performed in its fiscal 2024 third quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 29 was $1.17 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.24 billion, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding 21 cents per share related to restructuring charges, earnings per share would have been 98 cents, the company said.Sales rose to $12.43 billion, up slightly from $12.39 billion a year earlier.In North America, where demand has been unsteady, sales rose about 3% to $5.07 billion, compared with estimates of $4.75 billion, according to StreetAccount.Meanwhile, sales in the rest of Nike's regions came in below estimates. In China, sales reached $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected. Revenues in the region climbed 5%, but growth there has decelerated as demand normalizes after Covid-19 lockdowns.In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. In China, sales grew 5% to $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected. Sales in Asia Pacific and Latin America rose 3% to $1.65 billion, below the $1.69 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.Nike shares rose about 5% after its report came out, but later dropped by as much as 7% after it released its guidance for the current quarter and fiscal 2025.Excluding restructuring charges, the company reiterated its sales outlook for fiscal 2024, and said it expects revenue to grow by 1%, in line with expectations of up 1.1%, according to LSEG. For the current quarter, it expects revenue to be up slightly, compared to estimates of up 2%, according to LSEG.Nike anticipates gross margins will grow 1.6 to 1.8 percentage points, helped by ""strategic price increases, lower ocean freight rates, lower product input costs and improved supply chain efficiency,"" finance chief Matthew Friend told analysts.The improvements are offset by higher markdowns and reduced benefits from Nike's channel mix, along with foreign exchange headwinds, Friend said. Those shifts in mix are related to changes in how often consumers are shopping online versus in stores or with Nike's wholesale partners.  For the full year, it expects gross margins to grow about 1.2 percentage points, below the 1.4 to 1.6 percentage point uptick that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. For fiscal 2025, Nike expects revenue and earnings to grow versus the prior year, but it didn't say by how much. Analysts had expected revenue guidance of up 5.6%, according to LSEG. Friend said Nike is ""prudently planning"" for revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 to be down low single digits, reflecting ""a subdued macro outlook around the world."" As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins. In December, it announced a broad restructuring plan to reduce costs by about $2 billion over the next three years. It also cut its sales guidance as it warned of softer demand in the quarters ahead. Two months later, it said it was shedding 2% of its workforce, or more than 1,500 jobs, so it could invest in its growth areas, such as running, the women's category and the Jordan brand.The early innings of Nike's cost cuts, which involve simplifying its assortment, reducing management layers and increasing automation, likely helped the retailer beat earnings expectations in the three months ended Nov. 30, even as it missed sales estimates for the second quarter in a row. The cuts, along with ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight rates,"" also contributed to a 1.7 percentage point gain in gross margin — the first time the company saw its gross margin increase compared to the prior year in at least six quarters. Nike's gross margin recovery continued during the quarter. The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs."" The gains were partially offset by higher product input costs and restructuring charges, company said.Nike is still considered a market leader in the sneaker and apparel space, but the category has become more crowded and the retailer has had to work harder to compete. Some analysts say its assortment has lost focus and say the company has fallen behind on innovation, giving up market share to newer entrants like Hoka and On Running, as well as legacy brands like Brooks Running and New Balance. Last month, Nike launched the Book 1, its latest basketball shoes with NBA star Devin Booker. But the release wasn't well received because it ""looked more like a casual sneaker instead of [a] basketball shoe,"" according to a research note from Jane Hali & Associates. The firm is now neutral on Nike long term, compared to its previous rating of positive, because it's unclear where the brand is headed, said senior analyst Jessica Ramirez.She's noticed that Nike has removed a lot of products from its offering, which indicates it's preparing to bring in new styles. But it's still unclear exactly what those changes will look like.""They've already said [those changes are] going to take some time,"" Ramirez told CNBC prior to Nike's earnings release. ""Its a little concerning to know they don't have a solid plan that we know of yet.""Read the full earnings release here.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleNike's China sales continued to slow during its holiday quarter, but the retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom line, helped by better than expected growth in North America and price changes."", ""Here's how the company performed in its fiscal 2024 third quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:The company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 29 was $1.17 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $1.24 billion, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier."", 'Excluding 21 cents per share related to restructuring charges, earnings per share would have been 98 cents, the company said.', 'Sales rose to $12.43 billion, up slightly from $12.39 billion a year earlier.', 'In North America, where demand has been unsteady, sales rose about 3% to $5.07 billion, compared with estimates of $4.75 billion, according to StreetAccount.', ""Meanwhile, sales in the rest of Nike's regions came in below estimates."", 'In China, sales reached $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected.', 'Revenues in the region climbed 5%, but growth there has decelerated as demand normalizes after Covid-19 lockdowns.', 'In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'In China, sales grew 5% to $2.08 billion, just below the $2.09 billion analysts had expected.', 'Sales in Asia Pacific and Latin America rose 3% to $1.65 billion, below the $1.69 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', 'Nike shares rose about 5% after its report came out, but later dropped by as much as 7% after it released its guidance for the current quarter and fiscal 2025.Excluding restructuring charges, the company reiterated its sales outlook for fiscal 2024, and said it expects revenue to grow by 1%, in line with expectations of up 1.1%, according to LSEG.', 'For the current quarter, it expects revenue to be up slightly, compared to estimates of up 2%, according to LSEG.Nike anticipates gross margins will grow 1.6 to 1.8 percentage points, helped by ""strategic price increases, lower ocean freight rates, lower product input costs and improved supply chain efficiency,"" finance chief Matthew Friend told analysts.', ""The improvements are offset by higher markdowns and reduced benefits from Nike's channel mix, along with foreign exchange headwinds, Friend said."", ""Those shifts in mix are related to changes in how often consumers are shopping online versus in stores or with Nike's wholesale partners."", 'For the full year, it expects gross margins to grow about 1.2 percentage points, below the 1.4 to 1.6 percentage point uptick that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.', ""For fiscal 2025, Nike expects revenue and earnings to grow versus the prior year, but it didn't say by how much."", 'Analysts had expected revenue guidance of up 5.6%, according to LSEG.Friend said Nike is ""prudently planning"" for revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 to be down low single digits, reflecting ""a subdued macro outlook around the world.', '""As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins.', 'In December, it announced a broad restructuring plan to reduce costs by about $2 billion over the next three years.', 'It also cut its sales guidance as it warned of softer demand in the quarters ahead.', ""Two months later, it said it was shedding 2% of its workforce, or more than 1,500 jobs, so it could invest in its growth areas, such as running, the women's category and the Jordan brand."", ""The early innings of Nike's cost cuts, which involve simplifying its assortment, reducing management layers and increasing automation, likely helped the retailer beat earnings expectations in the three months ended Nov. 30, even as it missed sales estimates for the second quarter in a row."", 'The cuts, along with ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight rates,"" also contributed to a 1.7 percentage point gain in gross margin — the first time the company saw its gross margin increase compared to the prior year in at least six quarters.', ""Nike's gross margin recovery continued during the quarter."", 'The retailer\'s gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""', 'The gains were partially offset by higher product input costs and restructuring charges, company said.', 'Nike is still considered a market leader in the sneaker and apparel space, but the category has become more crowded and the retailer has had to work harder to compete.', 'Some analysts say its assortment has lost focus and say the company has fallen behind on innovation, giving up market share to newer entrants like Hoka and On Running, as well as legacy brands like Brooks Running and New Balance.', 'Last month, Nike launched the Book 1, its latest basketball shoes with NBA star Devin Booker.', 'But the release wasn\'t well received because it ""looked more like a casual sneaker instead of [a] basketball shoe,"" according to a research note from Jane Hali & Associates.', ""The firm is now neutral on Nike long term, compared to its previous rating of positive, because it's unclear where the brand is headed, said senior analyst Jessica Ramirez."", ""She's noticed that Nike has removed a lot of products from its offering, which indicates it's preparing to bring in new styles."", ""But it's still unclear exactly what those changes will look like."", '""They\'ve already said [those changes are] going to take some time,"" Ramirez told CNBC prior to Nike\'s earnings release. ""', ""Its a little concerning to know they don't have a solid plan that we know of yet."", '""Read the full earnings release here.']",0.074849555456564,"""As consumers pull back on spending on discretionary items like clothes and shoes, Nike has spent the past few months focused on what it can control: cutting costs and becoming more efficient so it can drive profits and protect its margins.","The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""",0.3143576301377395,"The retailer's gross margin grew by 1.5 percentage points to 44.8%, driven by ""strategic pricing actions and lower ocean freight and logistics costs.""","In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, revenue fell 3% to $3.14 billion, worse than the $3.17 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount.",2024-03-26
"Sotheby's leans into sports with auctions of Jordan shoes, Ali trunks and Kobe jersey",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/20/sothebys-holds-sports-auctions-with-jordan-ali-kobe-items.html,2024-03-20T13:47:40+0000,"Sotheby's is increasing its sports offerings, as the auction house looks to capitalize on the growing demand for sports memorabilia and draw in a younger demographic.The company on Wednesday announced its first ""Sports Week,"" which will include six live and online auctions with items from many of the biggest names in sports. The auctions will kick off April 5.Demand for athletic memorabilia has jumped in recent years, and sports has become one of Sotheby's fastest-growing categories, the auction house said.""We've seen exponential growth and interest in the category,"" Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of Streetwear & Modern Collectibles, told CNBC. ""Sports Week represents another example of Sotheby's commitment to engaging in collecting communities with creative sale formats and is presented with attractive estimates that caters to all sports fans and collectors alike, both seasoned and also those looking to kickstart their collection.""The market for sports collectibles is massive, and only getting bigger. Consulting group Market Decipher estimated the valuation of sports memorabilia at $26.1 billion globally in 2021. The group predicts the market will explode in the coming years, reaching $227.2 billion by 2032.The sports category saw higher demand during Covid, when the popular documentary series ""The Last Dance"" was released, according to Wachter. ""The Last Dance,"" which chronicled the story of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls' quest for their sixth NBA title, boosted interest in Jordan collectibles, which then translated into other sports memorabilia.Sports has also brought a new, younger demographic into the market.Sotheby's said its average client for sports memorabilia are 20 to 40 years old, and 50% of them are new to auctions. Some sales lead to more purchases in the contemporary and watch categories, Wachter said.As a result, Sotheby's is going all in on sports. In addition to dramatically increasing its offerings, the auction house is partnering with the NBA to sell game-worn jerseys, and is in talks with a variety of other sports organizations about potential tie-ups.Earlier this year, Sotheby's sold The Dynasty Collection, a set of six individual Air Jordan sneakers worn by Jordan in the clinching games of his six career NBA Finals championships, for $8 million. The sale set a new global auction record for game-worn sneakers and became the second-highest price achieved for Jordan sports memorabilia. Sotheby's Sports Week auction highlights include a pair of Muhammad Ali's shorts from his legendary ""Thrilla in Manila"" match from 1975, considered one of the greatest boxing matches in history. The trunks are expected to sell for an estimated $4 million to $6 million, which would make them one of the most valuable items of Ali memorabilia to appear at auction.A Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers jersey from Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals also up for auction that week is expected to fetch an estimated $1.5 million to $2.5 million. The late star scored 40 points that game, his highest-scoring NBA Finals performance.Sports Week will also include some classic sneakers worn by NBA greats. Sotheby's will offer 50 pairs of sneakers donned by some of the league's greatest players such as Jordan, Bryant, LeBron James, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.Jordan's Air Jordan 11s from Game 5 of the 1996 NBA Finals are the headliner, expected to fetch between $200,000 and $400,000. Jordan wore the sneakers as he returned from his brief retirement to lead the Bulls to a 72-10 regular season record and then their fourth NBA title.For fans looking to get their hands on more recent memorabilia, Sotheby's is offering several items from February's NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis. Those include a James 2024 All-Star Jersey, expected to fetch $200,000 to 300,000, along with the jerseys Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu wore during their three-point competition. The Curry and Ionescu jerseys are expected to sell for between $30,000 to $500,000, and $8,000 to $12,000, respectively.The entire sports collection is expected to sell for more than $12 million, with individual items ranging from $500 to about $6 million each.",CNBC,20/03/2024,"[""Sotheby's is increasing its sports offerings, as the auction house looks to capitalize on the growing demand for sports memorabilia and draw in a younger demographic."", 'The company on Wednesday announced its first ""Sports Week,"" which will include six live and online auctions with items from many of the biggest names in sports.', ""The auctions will kick off April 5.Demand for athletic memorabilia has jumped in recent years, and sports has become one of Sotheby's fastest-growing categories, the auction house said."", '""We\'ve seen exponential growth and interest in the category,"" Brahm Wachter, Sotheby\'s head of Streetwear & Modern Collectibles, told CNBC. ""', ""Sports Week represents another example of Sotheby's commitment to engaging in collecting communities with creative sale formats and is presented with attractive estimates that caters to all sports fans and collectors alike, both seasoned and also those looking to kickstart their collection."", '""The market for sports collectibles is massive, and only getting bigger.', 'Consulting group Market Decipher estimated the valuation of sports memorabilia at $26.1 billion globally in 2021.', 'The group predicts the market will explode in the coming years, reaching $227.2 billion by 2032.The sports category saw higher demand during Covid, when the popular documentary series ""The Last Dance"" was released, according to Wachter. ""', 'The Last Dance,"" which chronicled the story of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls\' quest for their sixth NBA title, boosted interest in Jordan collectibles, which then translated into other sports memorabilia.', 'Sports has also brought a new, younger demographic into the market.', ""Sotheby's said its average client for sports memorabilia are 20 to 40 years old, and 50% of them are new to auctions."", 'Some sales lead to more purchases in the contemporary and watch categories, Wachter said.', ""As a result, Sotheby's is going all in on sports."", 'In addition to dramatically increasing its offerings, the auction house is partnering with the NBA to sell game-worn jerseys, and is in talks with a variety of other sports organizations about potential tie-ups.', ""Earlier this year, Sotheby's sold The Dynasty Collection, a set of six individual Air Jordan sneakers worn by Jordan in the clinching games of his six career NBA Finals championships,for $8 million."", 'The sale set a new global auction record for game-worn sneakers and became the second-highest price achieved for Jordan sports memorabilia.', 'Sotheby\'s Sports Week auction highlights include a pair of Muhammad Ali\'s shorts from his legendary ""Thrilla in Manila"" match from 1975, considered one of the greatest boxing matches in history.', 'The trunks are expected to sell for an estimated $4 million to $6 million, which would make them one of the most valuable items of Ali memorabilia to appear at auction.', 'A Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers jersey from Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals also up for auction that week is expected to fetch an estimated $1.5 million to $2.5 million.', 'The late star scored 40 points that game, his highest-scoring NBA Finals performance.', 'Sports Week will also include some classic sneakers worn by NBA greats.', ""Sotheby's will offer 50 pairs of sneakers donned by some of the league's greatest players such as Jordan, Bryant, LeBron James, James Harden and Russell Westbrook."", ""Jordan's Air Jordan 11s from Game 5 of the 1996 NBA Finals are the headliner, expected to fetch between $200,000 and $400,000."", 'Jordan wore the sneakers as he returned from his brief retirement to lead the Bulls to a 72-10 regular season record and then their fourth NBA title.', ""For fans looking to get their hands on more recent memorabilia, Sotheby's is offering several items from February's NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis."", 'Those include a James 2024 All-Star Jersey, expected to fetch $200,000 to 300,000, along with the jerseys Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu wore during their three-point competition.', 'The Curry and Ionescu jerseys are expected to sell for between $30,000 to $500,000, and $8,000 to $12,000, respectively.', 'The entire sports collection is expected to sell for more than $12 million, with individual items ranging from $500 to about $6 million each.']",0.1581405628735392,"Sports Week represents another example of Sotheby's commitment to engaging in collecting communities with creative sale formats and is presented with attractive estimates that caters to all sports fans and collectors alike, both seasoned and also those looking to kickstart their collection.","In addition to dramatically increasing its offerings, the auction house is partnering with the NBA to sell game-worn jerseys, and is in talks with a variety of other sports organizations about potential tie-ups.",0.9825091163317362,"""We've seen exponential growth and interest in the category,"" Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of Streetwear & Modern Collectibles, told CNBC. """,,2024-03-26
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to step down in wake of ongoing safety problems,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/boeing-ceo-calhoun-leaving/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:04 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said Monday he intends to leave the beleaguered company by the end of the year in a major shakeup of the company’s leadership. Boeing’s chairman and the head of the commercial airplane unit are also leaving.
    
            Boeing’s chairman, Larry Kellner, will not stand for re-election as a board director. The board has elected former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf to succeed him.
    
            The company also announced that Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, is retiring. Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief operating officer since January, is taking his place effective immediately.
    
            Boeing has been buffeted by more than five years of problems with its airplanes, including two fatal crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, and most recently a door plug that blew out of the side of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max in January, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane. The problems have led to multiple groundings for safety issues and more than $31 billion in cumulative losses.
    
            In a letter to Boeing employees Monday, Calhoun called the Alaska Airlines incident “a watershed moment for Boeing.”
    
            “The eyes of the world are on us,” he said in announcing his departure plans. “We are going to fix what isn’t working, and we are going to get our company back on the track towards recovery and stability.”
    
            The decision to leave was “100%” his choice, Calhoun said in an interview on CNBC Monday morning.
    
            But Calhoun has become the focus of many who are critical of the way Boeing has been run in recent decades and the string of safety and quality issues.
    
            “He’s the very best CEO that Airbus has ever had,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory and a leading aerospace analyst, recently referring to the advantages gained by Boeing’s main rival during his tenure running Boeing.
    
            His departure also comes in the face of widespread criticism of the company by CEOs of many of the world’s major airlines Boeing depends upon to buy its planes. CEOs of numerous airlines had asked to speak directly to the Boeing board last week, which Calhoun tried to characterize Monday as a normal process, even if it’s rare for customers to speak directly to directors.
    
            As to why Calhoun decided to stay on through the end of the year rather than leave immediately, he told CNBC: “We have another mountain to climb. Let’s not avoid what happened with Alaska Air. Let’s not avoid the call for action. Let’s not avoid the changes that we need to make in our factories.”
    
            “We will get through that,” he said. “I’ve committed myself to the board to do exactly that.”
    
            The airlines are upset both by the quality of the planes they are getting from Boeing, and the fact that Boeing won’t be able to deliver the planes they were counting on this year, as passenger demand continues to surge to record levels.
    
            Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline and one that flies only Boeing 737 planes, told CNN last week that whenever it takes deliveries of Boeing jets “we spend 48 hours going through the plane checking it for errors, omissions or anything else.”
    
            And O’Leary said while it hasn’t found anything major in those checks, it regularly finds minor problems such as tools under floorboards and missing seat handles, that “shows, I think, a lack of attention to detail quality issues in Boeing.”
    
            Ryanair issued a statement Monday saying, “We welcome these much-needed management changes in Seattle.”
    
            United Airlines, which flies Boeing jets for more than 80% of its mainline fleet, has expressed disappointment in quality issues at Boeing and a delay in its scheduled deliveries.
    
            The airline is a primary customer for a stretched version of the Boeing 737 Max, known as the Max 10, but Boeing’s inability to get the plane certified to carry passengers is also causing headaches.
    
            Scott Kirby, CEO of United, described the Alaska Airlines incident as the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for its plans to get the Max 10 this year, as planned, and it is now looking at possibly buying jets from Boeing rival Airbus to take the place of the Max 10s it has ordered.
    
            But it is difficult for airlines to shift to Airbus, which has a long backlog of jets it has already committed to build for its existing customer base. Any Boeing customer shifting to Airbus could find itself waiting until 2030 or beyond to get its planes delivered.
    
            And operating two types of aircraft of the same class is costly, since pilots are certified to fly specific aircraft, and most cannot shift back and forth between an Airbus and a Boeing without training. And the airline needs to keep a supply of expensive spare parts on hand for every type of aircraft it operates.
    
            Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci estimated recently it cost his airline $75 million to $100 million a year to operate both Airbus and Boeing single-aisle jets after it merged with Virgin America, which is why it got rid of its Airbus jets after the merger was complete. And Alaska is a smaller national airline, only America’s fifth largest. Larger airlines face even greater costs from splitting fleets between manufacturers.
    
            The Boeing 737 Max 9 was grounded for three weeks after the Alaska Airlines incident as airlines completed inspections of their own planes’ door plugs. Minicucci disclosed that many of his planes were discovered to have loose bolts, although he did not mention missing bolts.
    
            An audit of Boeing procedures by the Federal Aviation Administration in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident found numerous “non-compliance issues.” The agency gave the company 90 days to come up with a plan to fix its safety and quality issues.
    
            But the probes at Boeing aren’t limited to the FAA audit. A preliminary investigation found that the plane left the Boeing factory in October without the four bolts needed to keep the door plug in place. While the NTSB has not identified who is at fault for the missing bolts, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy criticized Boeing for not providing the agency with the documentation for who handled the installation of the door plug.
    
            Calhoun told investors in January after the incident that “we caused the problem, and we understand that. Whatever conclusions are reached, Boeing is accountable for what happened.”
    
            And Boeing is also facing an investigation by the Justice Department, which could open it up to criminal liability, and upend a controversial deferred prosecution agreement the company reached in January 2021 to settle charges it defrauded the FAA during the original certification process for the 737 Max last decade. It was days away from having that probation-like period end when the Alaska Air incident happened.
    
            The company has also had problems not related to the Max during Calhoun’s time in charge at Boeing, including a couple of halts in deliveries of the 787 Dreamliners, one of its main widebody jets, due to quality issues with that plane.
    
            Calhoun, 66, a longtime board member at Boeing, became chairman of the company in late 2019, when the board stripped his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg of that title. He was tapped as CEO after Muilenburg was ousted in December of that year, starting in the job in January 2020.
    
            Boeing was once known as a company that put engineering excellence ahead of financial performance, and produced planes that were the gold standard in the industry. Critics of the company say that focus has changed in the last 25 years, citing the 1997 merger with competitor McDonell Douglas for the shift in focus on saving money.
    
            Calhoun is one of the executives since that time with no engineering background, having served as senior managing director and head of portfolio operations at investing firm The Blackstone Group, as well as CEO of Nielsen after 26 years at General Electric.
    
            Calhoun’s tenure began about halfway through a 20-month grounding of the 737 Max due to a design flaw that was determined to have caused the two crashes; and just before the Covid pandemic broke out globally, causing a near halt in air travel and massive losses for the airlines Boeing depends upon to buy its planes.
    
            Asked about what he would like to see in his successor, Calhoun told CNBC Monday that “I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long, long-cycle business like ours. It’s not just the production of the airplane. It’s the development of the next airplane. It will be a $50 billion investment. I would like somebody who clearly has the experience inside our industry.”
    
            Shares of Boeing, which have lost more than 26% of their value since the start of the year, were 4% higher at the market open Monday, but they soon lost most of that gain and closed slightly above 1%.
    
            CNN’s Allison Morrow contributed to this report.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said Monday he intends to leave the beleaguered company by the end of the year in a major shakeup of the company’s leadership.', 'Boeing’s chairman and the head of the commercial airplane unit are also leaving.', 'Boeing’s chairman, Larry Kellner, will not stand for re-election as a board director.', 'The board has elected former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf to succeed him.', 'The company also announced that Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, is retiring.', 'Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief operating officer since January, is taking his place effective immediately.', 'Boeing has been buffeted by more than five years of problems with its airplanes, including two fatal crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, and most recently a door plug that blew out of the side of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max in January, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane.', 'The problems have led to multiple groundings for safety issues and more than $31 billion in cumulative losses.', 'In a letter to Boeing employees Monday, Calhoun called the Alaska Airlines incident “a watershed moment for Boeing.”', '“The eyes of the world are on us,” he said in announcing his departure plans. “', 'We are going to fix what isn’t working, and we are going to get our company back on the track towards recovery and stability.”', 'The decision to leave was “100%” his choice, Calhoun said in an interview on CNBC Monday morning.', 'But Calhoun has become the focus of many who are critical of the way Boeing has been run in recent decades and the string of safety and quality issues.', '“He’s the very best CEO that Airbus has ever had,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory and a leading aerospace analyst, recently referring to the advantages gained by Boeing’s main rival during his tenure running Boeing.', 'His departure also comes in the face of widespread criticism of the company by CEOs of many of the world’s major airlines Boeing depends upon to buy its planes.', 'CEOs of numerous airlines had asked to speak directly to the Boeing board last week, which Calhoun tried to characterize Monday as a normal process, even if it’s rare for customers to speak directly to directors.', 'As to why Calhoun decided to stay on through the end of the year rather than leave immediately, he told CNBC: “We have another mountain to climb.', 'Let’s not avoid what happened with Alaska Air.', 'Let’s not avoid the call for action.', 'Let’s not avoid the changes that we need to make in our factories.”', '“We will get through that,” he said. “', 'I’ve committed myself to the board to do exactly that.”', 'The airlines are upset both by the quality of the planes they are getting from Boeing, and the fact that Boeing won’t be able to deliver the planes they were counting on this year, as passenger demand continues to surge to record levels.', 'Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline and one that flies only Boeing 737 planes, told CNN last week that whenever it takes deliveries of Boeing jets “we spend 48 hours going through the plane checking it for errors, omissions or anything else.”', 'And O’Leary said while it hasn’t found anything major in those checks, it regularly finds minor problems such as tools under floorboards and missing seat handles, that “shows, I think, a lack of attention to detail quality issues in Boeing.”', 'Ryanair issued a statement Monday saying, “We welcome these much-needed management changes in Seattle.”', 'United Airlines, which flies Boeing jets for more than 80% of its mainline fleet, has expressed disappointment in quality issues at Boeing and a delay in its scheduled deliveries.', 'The airline is a primary customer for a stretched version of the Boeing 737 Max, known as the Max 10, but Boeing’s inability to get the plane certified to carry passengers is also causing headaches.', 'Scott Kirby, CEO of United, described the Alaska Airlines incident as the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for its plans to get the Max 10 this year, as planned, and it is now looking at possibly buying jets from Boeing rival Airbus to take the place of the Max 10s it has ordered.', 'But it is difficult for airlines to shift to Airbus, which has a long backlog of jets it has already committed to build for its existing customer base.', 'Any Boeing customer shifting to Airbus could find itself waiting until 2030 or beyond to get its planes delivered.', 'And operating two types of aircraft of the same class is costly, since pilots are certified to fly specific aircraft, and most cannot shift back and forth between an Airbus and a Boeing without training.', 'And the airline needs to keep a supply of expensive spare parts on hand for every type of aircraft it operates.', 'Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci estimated recently it cost his airline $75 million to $100 million a year to operate both Airbus and Boeing single-aisle jets after it merged with Virgin America, which is why it got rid of its Airbus jets after the merger was complete.', 'And Alaska is a smaller national airline, only America’s fifth largest.', 'Larger airlines face even greater costs from splitting fleets between manufacturers.', 'The Boeing 737 Max 9 was grounded for three weeks after the Alaska Airlines incident as airlines completed inspections of their own planes’ door plugs.', 'Minicucci disclosed that many of his planes were discovered to have loose bolts, although he did not mention missing bolts.', 'An audit of Boeing procedures by the Federal Aviation Administration in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident found numerous “non-compliance issues.”', 'The agency gave the company 90 days to come up with a plan to fix its safety and quality issues.', 'But the probes at Boeing aren’t limited to the FAA audit.', 'A preliminary investigation found that the plane left the Boeing factory in October without the four bolts needed to keep the door plug in place.', 'While the NTSB has not identified who is at fault for the missing bolts, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy criticized Boeing for not providing the agency with the documentation for who handled the installation of the door plug.', 'Calhoun told investors in January after the incident that “we caused the problem, and we understand that.', 'Whatever conclusions are reached, Boeing is accountable for what happened.”', 'And Boeing is also facing an investigation by the Justice Department, which could open it up to criminal liability, and upend a controversial deferred prosecution agreement the company reached in January 2021 to settle charges it defrauded the FAA during the original certification process for the 737 Max last decade.', 'It was days away from having that probation-like period end when the Alaska Air incident happened.', 'The company has also had problems not related to the Max during Calhoun’s time in charge at Boeing, including a couple of halts in deliveries of the 787 Dreamliners, one of its main widebody jets, due to quality issues with that plane.', 'Calhoun, 66, a longtime board member at Boeing, became chairman of the company in late 2019, when the board stripped his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg of that title.', 'He was tapped as CEO after Muilenburg was ousted in December of that year, starting in the job in January 2020.', 'Boeing was once known as a company that put engineering excellence ahead of financial performance, and produced planes that were the gold standard in the industry.', 'Critics of the company say that focus has changed in the last 25 years, citing the 1997 merger with competitor McDonell Douglas for the shift in focus on saving money.', 'Calhoun is one of the executives since that time with no engineering background, having served as senior managing director and head of portfolio operations at investing firm The Blackstone Group, as well as CEO of Nielsen after 26 years at General Electric.', 'Calhoun’s tenure began about halfway through a 20-month grounding of the 737 Max due to a design flaw that was determined to have caused the two crashes; and just before the Covid pandemic broke out globally, causing a near halt in air travel and massive losses for the airlines Boeing depends upon to buy its planes.', 'Asked about what he would like to see in his successor, Calhoun told CNBC Monday that “I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long, long-cycle business like ours.', 'It’s not just the production of the airplane.', 'It’s the development of the next airplane.', 'It will be a $50 billion investment.', 'I would like somebody who clearly has the experience inside our industry.”', 'Shares of Boeing, which have lost more than 26% of their value since the start of the year, were 4% higher at the market open Monday, but they soon lost most of that gain and closed slightly above 1%.', 'CNN’s Allison Morrow contributed to this report.']",-0.0028371724018646,"“He’s the very best CEO that Airbus has ever had,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory and a leading aerospace analyst, recently referring to the advantages gained by Boeing’s main rival during his tenure running Boeing.","Boeing has been buffeted by more than five years of problems with its airplanes, including two fatal crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, and most recently a door plug that blew out of the side of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max in January, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane.",-0.4541428496963099,"“He’s the very best CEO that Airbus has ever had,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory and a leading aerospace analyst, recently referring to the advantages gained by Boeing’s main rival during his tenure running Boeing.","United Airlines, which flies Boeing jets for more than 80% of its mainline fleet, has expressed disappointment in quality issues at Boeing and a delay in its scheduled deliveries.",2024-03-26
Boeing’s embattled CEO is poised to walk away with millions,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/investing/boeing-ceo-millions-nightcap/index.html,"
  Published
        6:00 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","The beauty of being a CEO in America is that when your company does well, you get extra money as a reward. And when your company does badly, you get extra money to encourage you to stick around and lead it through the storm. What a deal!
    
            And at some point, you get to bow out and float toward retirement on your golden parachute, which means — you guessed it — more money.
    
            That’s the dream awaiting Dave Calhoun, the CEO of Boeing, who is preparing to retire after four years at the helm, during which he failed to fix the company’s biggest problems around safety and quality control that burned its reputation with customers.
    
            By the time he steps down at the end of this year, he’ll be 67 years old and poised to collect millions of dollars on top of the many millions he’s already made as CEO.
    
            There’s a certain dark irony in Calhoun pulling the metaphorical ripcord now, while Boeing is flailing, though it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which he got to keep his job in the midst of cascading mishaps and near-disasters over the past three months.
    
            Exactly how much Calhoun will receive isn’t clear yet, as it depends on how Boeing’s stock performs. A Boeing spokesperson said that details of his compensation will be shared in company filings in the coming weeks.
    
            But we already know that Calhoun has made about $63 million over the past three years in total compensation, according to regulatory filings. That includes a $1.4 million base salary, plus millions in stock-based incentives.
    
            According to Boeing’s most recent proxy statement, Calhoun is set to walk away with about $15 million worth of stock, cash and options in retirement. But that doesn’t account for incentives along the way that could boost his potential future earnings. One estimate, according to Fortune, suggests Calhoun could walk away with $24 million, with the potential to collect $45.5 million more if Boeing’s stock goes up 37%. That gives Calhoun a pretty hefty incentive to choose his successor carefully.
    
            If history is any guide, Calhoun could have done a much worse job and still made out startlingly well.
    
            His predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, was fired over his mishandling of Boeing’s response to two crashes that killed 346 people. And while Muilenburg was denied severance pay, he still walked away with $80 million worth of stock and other assets.
    
            Post-Muilenburg, the board tapped one of their own to take over.
    
            Calhoun, an accountant by training and a longtime Boeing director, ascended as CEO in January of 2020 with a message that Boeing would be getting back to its roots and focusing on safety and quality.
    
            The honeymoon period didn’t last long.
    
            Even as the board heaped praise on Calhoun, Boeing’s own customers started sounding off about their frustrations with the leadership.
    
            In 2022, the CEO of Ryanair said “Boeing management is running around like headless chickens,” and that executives needed an immediate “reboot, or a boot up the a**.” Around the same time, the head of aircraft leasing company Avalon said Boeing had “lost its way” and might need “fresh leadership.”
    
            Under Calhoun, labor relations at Boeing have been badly frayed. The company laid off at least 16,000 employees in response to the pandemic, and moved production of the 787 Dreamliner from its unionized plant in Washington to a non-unionized plant in South Carolina. This summer, more than 30,000 Seattle-area mechanics are set to vote on a strike authorization that could result in a work stoppage when their contract expires in September.
    
            Still, Calhoun has held on, thanks to a loyal board and a business model that makes it virtually impossible for Boeing to lose customers or go bankrupt. And once again, Boeing finds itself in a crisis, looking for a new leader to steer it to a safe landing.
    
            —CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed reporting.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['The beauty of being a CEO in America is that when your company does well, you get extra money as a reward.', 'And when your company does badly, you get extra money to encourage you to stick around and lead it through the storm.', 'What a deal!', 'And at some point, you get to bow out and float toward retirement on your golden parachute, which means — you guessed it — more money.', 'That’s the dream awaiting Dave Calhoun, the CEO of Boeing, who is preparing to retire after four years at the helm, during which he failed to fix the company’s biggest problems around safety and quality control that burned its reputation with customers.', 'By the time he steps down at the end of this year, he’ll be 67 years old and poised to collect millions of dollars on top of the many millions he’s already made as CEO.', 'There’s a certain dark irony in Calhoun pulling the metaphorical ripcord now, while Boeing is flailing, though it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which he got to keep his job in the midst of cascading mishaps and near-disasters over the past three months.', 'Exactly how much Calhoun will receive isn’t clear yet, as it depends on how Boeing’s stock performs.', 'A Boeing spokesperson said that details of his compensation will be shared in company filings in the coming weeks.', 'But we already know that Calhoun has made about $63 million over the past three years in total compensation, according to regulatory filings.', 'That includes a $1.4 million base salary, plus millions in stock-based incentives.', 'According to Boeing’s most recent proxy statement, Calhoun is set to walk away with about $15 million worth of stock, cash and options in retirement.', 'But that doesn’t account for incentives along the way that could boost his potential future earnings.', 'One estimate, according to Fortune, suggests Calhoun could walk away with $24 million, with the potential to collect $45.5 million more if Boeing’s stock goes up 37%.', 'That gives Calhoun a pretty hefty incentive to choose his successor carefully.', 'If history is any guide, Calhoun could have done a much worse job and still made out startlingly well.', 'His predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, was fired over his mishandling of Boeing’s response to two crashes that killed 346 people.', 'And while Muilenburg was denied severance pay, he still walked away with $80 million worth of stock and other assets.', 'Post-Muilenburg, the board tapped one of their own to take over.', 'Calhoun, an accountant by training and a longtime Boeing director, ascended as CEO in January of 2020 with a message that Boeing would be getting back to its roots and focusing on safety and quality.', 'The honeymoon period didn’t last long.', 'Even as the board heaped praise on Calhoun, Boeing’s own customers started sounding off about their frustrations with the leadership.', 'In 2022, the CEO of Ryanair said “Boeing management is running around like headless chickens,” and that executives needed an immediate “reboot, or a boot up the a**.”', 'Around the same time, the head of aircraft leasing company Avalon said Boeing had “lost its way” and might need“fresh leadership.”', 'Under Calhoun, labor relations at Boeing have been badly frayed.', 'The company laid off at least 16,000 employees in response to the pandemic, and moved production of the 787 Dreamliner from its unionized plant in Washington to a non-unionized plant in South Carolina.', 'This summer, more than 30,000 Seattle-area mechanics are set to vote on a strike authorization that could result in a work stoppage when their contract expires in September.', 'Still, Calhoun has held on, thanks to a loyal board and a business model that makes it virtually impossible for Boeing to lose customers or go bankrupt.', 'And once again, Boeing finds itself in a crisis, looking for a new leader to steer it to a safe landing.', '—CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed reporting.']",0.0560960191372614,"The beauty of being a CEO in America is that when your company does well, you get extra money as a reward.","His predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, was fired over his mishandling of Boeing’s response to two crashes that killed 346 people.",0.2734341208751385,But that doesn’t account for incentives along the way that could boost his potential future earnings.,"Under Calhoun, labor relations at Boeing have been badly frayed.",2024-03-26
Banks are in limbo without a crucial lifeline. Here's where cracks may appear next,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/where-cracks-in-the-banking-sector-may-appear-without-more-ma.html,2024-03-19T22:13:09+0000,"In this articleThe forces that consumed three regional lenders in March 2023 have left hundreds of smaller banks wounded, as merger activity — a key potential lifeline — has slowed to a trickle.As the memory of last year's regional banking crisis begins to fade, it's easy to believe the industry is in the clear. But the high interest rates that caused the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and its peers in 2023 are still at play.After hiking rates 11 times through July, the Federal Reserve has yet to start cutting its benchmark. As a result, hundreds of billions of dollars of unrealized losses on low-interest bonds and loans remain buried on banks' balance sheets. That, combined with potential losses on commercial real estate, leaves swaths of the industry vulnerable.Of about 4,000 U.S. banks analyzed by consulting firm Klaros Group, 282 institutions have both high levels of commercial real estate exposure and large unrealized losses from the rate surge — a potentially toxic combo that may force these lenders to raise fresh capital or engage in mergers.  The study, based on regulatory filings known as call reports, screened for two factors: Banks where commercial real estate loans made up over 300% of capital, and firms where unrealized losses on bonds and loans pushed capital levels below 4%.Klaros declined to name the institutions in its analysis out of fear of inciting deposit runs.But there's only one company with more than $100 billion in assets found in this analysis, and, given the factors of the study, it's not hard to determine: New York Community Bank, the real estate lender that avoided disaster earlier this month with a $1.1 billion capital injection from private equity investors led by ex-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.Most of the banks deemed to be potentially challenged are community lenders with less than $10 billion in assets. Just 16 companies are in the next size bracket that includes regional banks — between $10 billion and $100 billion in assets — though they collectively hold more assets than the 265 community banks combined.Behind the scenes, regulators have been prodding banks with confidential orders to improve capital levels and staffing, according to Klaros co-founder Brian Graham.""If there were just 10 banks that were in trouble, they would have all been taken down and dealt with,"" Graham said. ""When you've got hundreds of banks facing these challenges, the regulators have to walk a bit of a tightrope.""These banks need to either raise capital, likely from private equity sources as NYCB did, or merge with stronger banks, Graham said. That's what PacWest resorted to last year; the California lender was acquired by a smaller rival after it lost deposits in the March tumult.Banks can also choose to wait as bonds mature and roll off their balance sheets, but doing so means years of underearning rivals, essentially operating as ""zombie banks"" that don't support economic growth in their communities, Graham said. That strategy also puts them at risk of being swamped by rising loan losses.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged this month that commercial real estate losses are likely to capsize some small and medium-sized banks.""This is a problem we'll be working on for years more, I'm sure. There will be bank failures,"" Powell told lawmakers. ""We're working with them ... I think it's manageable, is the word I would use.""There are other signs of mounting stress among smaller banks. In 2023, 67 lenders had low levels of liquidity — meaning the cash or securities that can be quickly sold when needed — up from nine institutions in 2021, Fitch analysts said in a recent report. They ranged in size from $90 billion in assets to under $1 billion, according to Fitch.And regulators have added more companies to their ""Problem Bank List"" of companies with the worst financial or operational ratings in the past year. There are 52 lenders with a combined $66.3 billion in assets on that list, 13 more than a year earlier, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.""The bad news is, the problems faced by the banking system haven't magically gone away,"" Graham said. ""The good news is that, compared to other banking crises I've worked through, this isn't a scenario where hundreds of banks are insolvent.""After the implosion of SVB last March, the second-largest U.S. bank failure at the time, followed by Signature's failure days later and that of First Republic in May, many in the industry predicted a wave of consolidation that could help banks deal with higher funding and compliance costs.But deals have been few and far between. There were fewer than 100 bank acquisitions announced last year, according to advisory firm Mercer Capital. The total deal value of $4.6 billion was the lowest since 1990, it found.One big hang-up: Bank executives are uncertain that their deals will pass regulatory muster. Timelines for approval have lengthened, especially for larger banks, and regulators have killed recent deals, such as the $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon by Toronto-Dominion Bank.A planned merger between Capital One and Discovery, announced in February, was promptly met with calls from some lawmakers to block the transaction.""Banks are in this pressure cooker,"" said Chris Caulfield, senior partner at consulting firm West Monroe. ""Regulators are playing a bigger role in what M&A can occur, but at the same time, they're making it much harder for banks, especially smaller ones, to be able to turn a profit.""Despite the slow environment for deals, leaders of banks all along the size spectrum recognize the need to consider mergers, according to an investment banker at a top-three global advisory firm.Discussion levels with bank CEOs are now the highest in his 23-year career, said the banker, who requested anonymity to speak about clients.""Everyone's talking, and there's acknowledgment consolidation has to happen,"" said the banker. ""The industry has structurally changed from a profitability standpoint, because of regulation and with deposits now being something that won't ever cost zero again.""Another reason to expect heightened merger activity is the age of bank leaders. A third of regional bank CEOs are older than 65, beyond the group's average retirement age, according to 2023 data from executive search firm Spencer Stuart. That could lead to a wave of departures in coming years, the firm said.""You've got a lot of folks who are tired,"" said Frank Sorrentino, an investment banker at boutique advisory Stephens. ""It's been a tough industry, and there are a lot of willing sellers who want to transact, whether that's an outright sale or a merger.""Sorrentino was involved in the January merger between FirstSun and HomeStreet, a Seattle-based bank whose shares plunged last year after a funding squeeze. He predicts a surge in merger activity from lenders between $3 billion and $20 billion in assets as smaller firms look to scale up.One deterrent to mergers is that bond and loan markdowns have been too deep, which would erode capital for the combined entity in a deal because losses on some portfolios have to be realized in a transaction. That has eased since late last year as bond yields dipped from 16-year highs.That, along with recovering bank stocks, will lead to more activity this year, Sorrentino said. Other bankers said that larger deals are more likely to be announced after the U.S. presidential election, which could usher in a new set of leaders in key regulatory roles.Easing the path for a wave of U.S. bank mergers would strengthen the system and create challengers to the megabanks, according to Mike Mayo, the veteran bank analyst and former Fed employee.""It should be game-on for bank mergers, especially the strong buying the weak,"" Mayo said. ""The merger restrictions on the industry have been the equivalent of the Jamie Dimon Protection Act.""",CNBC,19/03/2024,"['In this articleThe forces that consumed three regional lenders in March 2023 have left hundreds of smaller banks wounded, as merger activity — a key potential lifeline — has slowed to a trickle.', ""As the memory of last year's regional banking crisis begins to fade, it's easy to believe the industry is in the clear."", 'But the high interest rates that caused the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and its peers in 2023 are still at play.', 'After hiking rates 11 times through July, the Federal Reserve has yet to start cutting its benchmark.', ""As a result, hundreds of billions of dollars of unrealized losses on low-interest bonds and loans remain buried on banks' balance sheets."", 'That, combined with potential losses on commercial real estate, leaves swaths of the industry vulnerable.', 'Of about 4,000 U.S. banks analyzed by consulting firm Klaros Group, 282 institutions have both high levels of commercial real estate exposure and large unrealized losses from the rate surge — a potentially toxic combo that may force these lenders to raise fresh capital or engage in mergers.', 'The study, based on regulatory filings known as call reports, screened for two factors: Banks where commercial real estate loans made up over 300% of capital, and firms where unrealized losses on bonds and loans pushed capital levels below 4%.Klaros declined to name the institutions in its analysis out of fear of inciting deposit runs.', ""But there's only one company with more than $100 billion in assets found in this analysis, and, given the factors of the study, it's not hard to determine: New York Community Bank, the real estate lender that avoided disaster earlier this month with a $1.1 billion capital injection from private equity investors led by ex-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin."", 'Most of the banks deemed to be potentially challenged are community lenders with less than $10 billion in assets.', 'Just 16 companies are in the next size bracket that includes regional banks — between $10 billion and $100 billion in assets — though they collectively hold more assets than the 265 community banks combined.', 'Behind the scenes, regulators have been prodding banks with confidential orders to improve capital levels and staffing, according to Klaros co-founder Brian Graham.', '""If there were just 10 banks that were in trouble, they would have all been taken down and dealt with,"" Graham said. ""', ""When you've got hundreds of banks facing these challenges, the regulators have to walk a bit of a tightrope."", '""These banks need to either raise capital, likely from private equity sources as NYCB did, or merge with stronger banks, Graham said.', ""That's what PacWest resorted to last year; the California lender was acquired by a smaller rival after it lost deposits in the March tumult."", 'Banks can also choose to wait as bonds mature and roll off their balance sheets, but doing so means years of underearning rivals, essentially operating as ""zombie banks"" that don\'t support economic growth in their communities, Graham said.', 'That strategy also puts them at risk of being swamped by rising loan losses.', 'Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged this month that commercial real estate losses are likely to capsize some small and medium-sized banks.', '""This is a problem we\'ll be working on for years more, I\'m sure.', 'There will be bank failures,"" Powell told lawmakers. ""', ""We're working with them ... I think it's manageable, is the word I would use."", '""There are other signs of mounting stress among smaller banks.', 'In 2023, 67 lenders had low levels of liquidity — meaning the cash or securities that can be quickly sold when needed — up from nine institutions in 2021, Fitch analysts said in a recent report.', 'They ranged in size from $90 billion in assets to under $1 billion, according to Fitch.', 'And regulators have added more companies to their ""Problem Bank List"" of companies with the worst financial or operational ratings in the past year.', 'There are 52 lenders with a combined $66.3 billion in assets on that list, 13 more than a year earlier, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.', '""The bad news is, the problems faced by the banking system haven\'t magically gone away,"" Graham said. ""', ""The good news is that, compared to other banking crises I've worked through, this isn't a scenario where hundreds of banks are insolvent."", '""After the implosion of SVB last March, the second-largest U.S. bank failure at the time, followed by Signature\'s failure days later and that of First Republic in May, many in the industry predicted a wave of consolidation that could help banks deal with higher funding and compliance costs.', 'But deals have been few and far between.', 'There were fewer than 100 bank acquisitions announced last year, according to advisory firm Mercer Capital.', 'The total deal value of $4.6 billion was the lowest since 1990, it found.', 'One big hang-up: Bank executives are uncertain that their deals will pass regulatory muster.', 'Timelines for approval have lengthened, especially for larger banks, and regulators have killed recent deals, such as the $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon by Toronto-Dominion Bank.', 'A planned mergerbetween Capital One and Discovery, announced in February, was promptly met with calls from some lawmakers to block the transaction.', '""Banks are in this pressure cooker,"" said Chris Caulfield, senior partner at consulting firm West Monroe. ""', ""Regulators are playing a bigger role in what M&A can occur, but at the same time, they're making it much harder for banks, especially smaller ones, to be able to turn a profit."", '""Despite the slow environment for deals, leaders of banks all along the size spectrum recognize the need to consider mergers, according to an investment banker at a top-three global advisory firm.', 'Discussion levels with bank CEOs are now the highest in his 23-year career, said the banker, who requested anonymity to speak about clients.', '""Everyone\'s talking, and there\'s acknowledgment consolidation has to happen,"" said the banker. ""', ""The industry has structurally changed from a profitability standpoint, because of regulation and with deposits now being something that won't ever cost zero again."", '""Another reason to expect heightened merger activity is the age of bank leaders.', ""A third of regional bank CEOs are older than 65, beyond the group's average retirement age, according to 2023 data from executive search firm Spencer Stuart."", 'That could lead to a wave of departures in coming years, the firm said.', '""You\'ve got a lot of folks who are tired,"" said Frank Sorrentino, an investment banker at boutique advisory Stephens. ""', ""It's been a tough industry, and there are a lot of willing sellers who want to transact, whether that's an outright sale or a merger."", '""Sorrentino was involved in the January merger between FirstSun and HomeStreet, a Seattle-based bank whose shares plunged last year after a funding squeeze.', 'He predicts a surge in merger activity from lenders between $3 billion and $20 billion in assets as smaller firms look to scale up.', 'One deterrent to mergers is that bond and loan markdowns have been too deep, which would erode capital for the combined entity in a deal because losses on some portfolios have to be realized in a transaction.', 'That has eased since late last year as bond yields dipped from 16-year highs.', 'That, along with recovering bank stocks, will lead to more activity this year, Sorrentino said.', 'Other bankers said that larger deals are more likely to be announced after the U.S. presidential election, which could usher in a new set of leaders in key regulatory roles.', 'Easing the path for a wave of U.S. bank mergers would strengthen the system and create challengers to the megabanks, according to Mike Mayo, the veteran bank analyst and former Fed employee.', '""It should be game-on for bank mergers, especially the strong buying the weak,"" Mayo said. ""', 'The merger restrictions on the industry have been the equivalent of the Jamie Dimon Protection Act.""']",-0.0500367140412572,"Banks can also choose to wait as bonds mature and roll off their balance sheets, but doing so means years of underearning rivals, essentially operating as ""zombie banks"" that don't support economic growth in their communities, Graham said.","And regulators have added more companies to their ""Problem Bank List"" of companies with the worst financial or operational ratings in the past year.",-0.0907927278814644,"Behind the scenes, regulators have been prodding banks with confidential orders to improve capital levels and staffing, according to Klaros co-founder Brian Graham.","The total deal value of $4.6 billion was the lowest since 1990, it found.",2024-03-26
Are Hong Kong's days as a global business hub over?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-68636561,2024-03-25T00:22:34.000Z,"There is a new running joke in Hong Kong: locals mock their city for losing its status as the darling of global capital. As one joked, it is the newest Unesco world heritage site. A tough security law - Article 23 - that came into effect over the weekend has only renewed the underlying concerns.  Authorities say it will protect the city and ensure stability, while critics are alarmed it will silence all dissent with its closed-door trials and life sentences for broadly-defined offences - from insurrection to treason.  It comes at a time when Beijing's iron grip and US-China tensions were already driving away foreign investors who now have an ""anywhere but China"" policy, says Mr Chan, a real estate surveyor, who did not wish to disclose his full name.   ""Hong Kong was seen as distinct from China so investors could still invest here - not anymore now,"" he says. The emphasis on national security and the danger posed by ""foreign forces"" - a running theme in the legislation and in Beijing's recent policies - raises the stakes for foreign capital and businesses operating in the city.  ""The business has been awful in the past two years and there was no major deal at all,"" says Mr Tse, who works for a Chinese state-owned bank. He said his company fired 10% of their staff in June and another 5% just this past week. ""No one knows when it will be their turn."" While it is too early to evaluate the risks of Article 23 to businesses, it could lead to higher compliance costs because of its ""broad wording"" and the ""severe consequences of a breach"", says Johannes Hack, the president of the German Chamber of Commerce. The Hong Kong government told the BBC in a statement that Article 23 will make the city ""advance from stability to prosperity"", and will not affect ""normal"" businesses. It also said it is ""outrageous"" to single out Hong Kong when other countries have security laws too. Hong Kong's Article 23, which expands on national security legislation imposed by China in 2020, comes at a time when the city's administration is trying to reassure the world that it's still a financial dynamo.  The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce argued it ""will make Hong Kong a safer destination for local and foreign businesses and professionals operating"" in the city, while Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee had dismissed as ""ridiculous"" the notion that the administration only cared about national security, calling such concerns a form of ""soft resistance"".  Hong Kong's economy has been reeling from Beijing's crackdown since the pro-democracy protests in 2019 and a harsh zero-Covid policy. Rentals for commercial and retail spaces have fallen, leaving office buildings and shopfronts vacant. There are fewer tourists - last year's arrivals were only 60% of the pre-pandemic figure.  The value of the Hang Seng index - Hong Kong's crown jewel - has fallen by more than 40% since 2019. India overtook the city in January to become the world's fourth-largest stock market. Singapore has emerged as a stiff regional rival for finance. Global banks have been laying off people focused on Hong Kong and China, pointing to sluggish growth and plummeting investor confidence.  An exodus of capital and people has followed, with the former head of Morgan Stanley Asia declaring recently in a newspaper column that ""Hong Kong is over"". Veteran investor Lam Yat-ming wrote in an economic magazine that investors should ""cherish their lives and distance themselves from Hong Kong stocks"".  ""Outside perception of Hong Kong"" has changed, Mr Hack says. ""While the city is still distinctly different from the mainland, the focus on security may increasingly blur the distinction in people's minds.""  The former British colony has been run under the principle of ""one country, two systems"" since its return to China in 1997. Beijing promised that Hong Kong would enjoy civil liberties for half a century. But critics say it has reneged on the deal, crushing pro-democracy protests and imposing a national security law (NSL) in 2020 under which more than 260 people, including former lawmakers, have been arrested. Authorities defend it, saying it marked the transition from ""chaos to governance"".  A local security law, outlined in the city's mini constitution, was always on the cards. The first attempt in 2003 failed after half a million people took to the streets against it. This time, Article 23 was passed less than two weeks after it was tabled.  Under Xi Jinping, China attaches ""absolute importance"" to national security - and Hong Kong's status as a free society and an international gateway comes second, says Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong Baptist University. He says the arrest of Jimmy Lai, the former media mogul who has been charged under the NSL, was an ""awakening for the international community"".  ""The national security law has no limits. Personal safety, private property rights, and individual assets are not guaranteed,"" Dr Chan adds.  After police raided Mr Lai's Apple Daily newspaper in 2021, trading in his company was suspended and it was delisted the following year. The 76-year-old tycoon, who is now on trial, has been behind bars for three years and his assets worth HK$500 million ($64m; £50m) have been frozen.  Hong Kong's common law system, which underpins its rule of law, has come under scrutiny following the trials of pro-democracy protesters. But the city's judiciary is perceived as independent, at least over commercial matters, although critics worry that Mr Lee can now pick judges handling national security cases.  Under such security laws, businesses in Hong Kong have to adopt additional measures to mitigate political risk - just like in the mainland, Dr Chan says.  ""No-one can grasp the political direction, so big companies have started recruiting political consultants to evaluate risks and build political connections. These are all new costs, leading to lower efficiency.""  The city should not be discounted as an international financial hub, says Kevin Tsui, chief economist at the research firm Orientis. He adds that Hong Kong should make use of its advantages - a simple, low-rate tax system, and the fact that it's the only Chinese city with no foreign exchange controls. The Hong Kong dollar is also pegged to the US dollar, providing financial stability. ""Even if Hong Kong is just a Chinese city, foreigners want to do business with China,"" he says.  And yet confidence in the city has been shaken, not least because it is also feeling the heat of a slowing Chinese economy, which has been hit by debt and a property market crisis.  The mainland is the city's biggest trading partner and second-largest source of investment. Half of the 2,600 companies listed on Hong Kong's stock market are from mainland China. But a new rule Beijing introduced last year requires Chinese companies to have official approval to list overseas. This has made the process far more cumbersome, said a banker who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ""We can only wait because we have no idea about the progress. If the companies are involved in sensitive industries such as data security or genetic technology, the process will be extremely slow,"" he said. Hong Kong, which ranked as the world's number one IPO venue in seven of the last 15 years, is now in the eighth spot, according to industry reports.  ""Beijing wants private companies to raise funds internationally to salvage the economy, but at the same time it worries these companies will no longer be under [their] control after listing,"" says the banker who wanted to remain anonymous.  ""They want to control everything, but it will kill the financial market eventually.""  Additional reporting by Grace Tsoi in Hong Kong  ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['There is a new running joke in Hong Kong: locals mock their city for losing its status as the darling of global capital.', 'As one joked, it is the newest Unesco world heritage site.', 'A tough security law - Article 23 - that came into effect over the weekend has only renewed the underlying concerns.', 'Authorities say it will protect the city and ensure stability, while critics are alarmed it will silence all dissent with its closed-door trials and life sentences for broadly-defined offences - from insurrection to treason.', 'It comes at a time when Beijing\'s iron grip and US-China tensions were already driving away foreign investors who now have an ""anywhere but China"" policy, says Mr Chan, a real estate surveyor, who did not wish to disclose his full name. ""', 'Hong Kong was seen as distinct from China so investors could still invest here - not anymore now,"" he says.', 'The emphasis on national security and the danger posed by ""foreign forces"" - a running theme in the legislation and in Beijing\'s recent policies - raises the stakes for foreign capital and businesses operating in the city. ""', 'The business has been awful in the past two years and there was no major deal at all,"" says Mr Tse, who works for a Chinese state-owned bank.', 'He said his company fired 10% of their staff in June and another 5% just this past week. ""', 'No one knows when it will be their turn.""', 'While it is too early to evaluate the risks of Article 23 to businesses, it could lead to higher compliance costs because of its ""broad wording"" and the ""severe consequences of a breach"", says Johannes Hack, the president of the German Chamber of Commerce.', 'The Hong Kong government told the BBC in a statement that Article 23 will make the city ""advance from stability to prosperity"", and will not affect ""normal"" businesses.', 'It also said it is ""outrageous"" to single out Hong Kong when other countries have security laws too.', ""Hong Kong's Article 23, which expands on national security legislation imposed by China in 2020, comes at a time when the city's administration is trying to reassure the world that it's still a financial dynamo."", 'The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce argued it ""will make Hong Kong a safer destination for local and foreign businesses and professionals operating"" in the city, while Hong Kong\'s chief executive John Lee had dismissed as ""ridiculous"" the notion that the administration only cared about national security, calling such concerns a form of ""soft resistance"".', ""Hong Kong's economy has been reeling from Beijing's crackdown since the pro-democracy protests in 2019 and a harsh zero-Covid policy."", 'Rentals for commercial and retail spaces have fallen, leaving office buildings and shopfronts vacant.', ""There are fewer tourists - last year's arrivals were only 60% of the pre-pandemic figure."", ""The value of the Hang Seng index - Hong Kong's crown jewel - has fallen by more than 40% since 2019."", ""India overtook the city in January to become the world's fourth-largest stock market."", 'Singapore has emerged as a stiff regional rival for finance.', 'Global banks have been laying off people focused on Hong Kong and China, pointing to sluggish growth and plummeting investor confidence.', 'An exodus of capital and people has followed, with the former head of Morgan Stanley Asia declaring recently in a newspaper column that ""Hong Kong is over"".', 'Veteran investor Lam Yat-ming wrote in an economic magazine that investors should ""cherish their lives and distance themselves from Hong Kong stocks"". ""', 'Outside perception of Hong Kong"" has changed, Mr Hack says. ""', 'While the city is still distinctly different from the mainland, the focus on security may increasingly blur the distinction in people\'s minds.""', 'The former British colony has been run under the principle of ""one country, two systems"" since its return to China in 1997.', 'Beijing promised that Hong Kong would enjoy civil liberties for half a century.', 'But critics say it has reneged on the deal, crushing pro-democracy protests and imposing a national security law (NSL) in 2020 under which more than 260 people, including former lawmakers, have been arrested.', 'Authorities defend it, saying it marked the transition from ""chaos to governance"".', ""A local security law, outlined in the city's mini constitution, was always on the cards."", 'The first attempt in 2003 failed after half a million people took to the streets against it.', 'This time, Article 23 was passed less than two weeks after it was tabled.', 'Under Xi Jinping, China attaches ""absolute importance"" to national security - and Hong Kong\'s status as a free society and an international gateway comes second, says Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong Baptist University.', 'He says the arrest of Jimmy Lai, the former media mogul who has been charged under the NSL, was an ""awakening for the international community"". ""', 'The national security law has no limits.', 'Personal safety, private property rights, and individual assets are not guaranteed,"" Dr Chan adds.', ""After police raided Mr Lai's Apple Daily newspaper in 2021, trading in his company was suspended and it was delisted the following year."", 'The 76-year-old tycoon, who is now on trial, has been behind bars for three years and his assets worth HK$500 million ($64m; £50m) have been frozen.', ""Hong Kong's common law system, which underpins its rule of law, has come under scrutiny following the trials of pro-democracy protesters."", ""But the city's judiciary is perceived as independent, at least over commercial matters, although critics worry that Mr Lee can now pick judges handling national security cases."", 'Under such security laws, businesses in Hong Kong have to adopt additional measures to mitigate political risk - just like in the mainland, Dr Chan says. ""', 'No-one can grasp the political direction, so big companies have started recruiting political consultants to evaluate risks and build political connections.', 'These are all new costs, leading to lower efficiency.""', 'The city should not be discounted as an international financial hub, says Kevin Tsui, chief economist at the research firm Orientis.', ""He adds that Hong Kong should make use of its advantages - a simple, low-rate tax system, and the fact that it's the only Chinese city with no foreign exchange controls."", 'The Hong Kong dollar is also pegged to the US dollar, providing financial stability. ""', 'Even if Hong Kong is just a Chinese city, foreigners want to do business with China,"" he says.', 'And yet confidence in the city has been shaken, not least because it is also feeling the heat of a slowing Chinese economy, which has been hit by debt and a property market crisis.', ""The mainland is the city's biggest trading partner and second-largest source of investment."", ""Half of the 2,600 companies listed on Hong Kong's stock market are from mainland China."", 'But a new rule Beijing introduced last year requires Chinese companies to have official approval to list overseas.', 'This has made the process far more cumbersome, said a banker who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ""', 'We can only wait because we have no idea about the progress.', 'If the companies are involved in sensitive industries such as data security or genetic technology, the process will be extremely slow,"" he said.', 'Hong Kong, which ranked as the world\'s number one IPO venue in seven of the last 15 years, is now in the eighth spot, according to industry reports. ""', 'Beijing wants private companies to raise funds internationally to salvage the economy, but at the same time it worries these companies will no longer be under [their] control after listing,"" says the banker who wanted to remain anonymous. ""', 'They want to control everything, but it will kill the financial market eventually.""', 'Additional reporting by Grace Tsoi in Hong Kong']",-0.0375827199630413,Beijing promised that Hong Kong would enjoy civil liberties for half a century.,"But critics say it has reneged on the deal, crushing pro-democracy protests and imposing a national security law (NSL) in 2020 under which more than 260 people, including former lawmakers, have been arrested.",-0.5510380411148071,"The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce argued it ""will make Hong Kong a safer destination for local and foreign businesses and professionals operating"" in the city, while Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee had dismissed as ""ridiculous"" the notion that the administration only cared about national security, calling such concerns a form of ""soft resistance"".","Global banks have been laying off people focused on Hong Kong and China, pointing to sluggish growth and plummeting investor confidence.",2024-03-26
"Apple, Meta and Google to be investigated by the EU",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68655093,2024-03-25T10:14:12.000Z,"The EU has announced investigations into some of the biggest tech firms in the world over uncompetitive practices. Meta, Apple, and Alphabet, which owns Google, are being looked into for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) introduced in 2022. If they are found to have broken the rules, the firms can face huge fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover. EU antitrust boss Margrethe Vestager and industry head Thierry Breton announced the investigations on Monday. Just six companies have obligations under the DMA, but they are also the world's largest tech firms: Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance.  None of the firms are actually based in Europe - five of them are in the US, while ByteDance has headquarters in Beijing. Three of them are now facing questions just two weeks after submitting their compliance reports, which will have been meticulously compiled.  It comes three weeks after the EU fined Apple €1.8bn (£1.5bn) for breaking competition laws over music streaming. Meanwhile, the United States accused Apple of monopolising the smartphone market in a landmark lawsuit against the tech giant introduced last week. An Apple spokesperson says the company will constructively engage with the investigation and that they're confident that their plan complies with the Digital Markets Act.  They added that their teams established a variety of mechanisms to comply with the EU's landmark legislation, as well as privacy and security protections for EU users. ""Throughout, we've demonstrated flexibility and responsiveness to the European Commission and developers, listening and incorporating their feedback,"" they said. Meanwhile a Meta spokesperson said the firm's use of subscriptions as an alternative to advertising were ""a well-established business model across many industries"". ""We designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA... we will continue to engage constructively with the Commission,"" they said. Alphabet has been approached for comment. The EU said it will investigate five different possible acts of non-compliance in its announcement: The first two of these investigations concern what is known as ""anti-steering"" - and the EU says it believes the firms are making it difficult for apps to tell users about ways to pay less for their services outside of using app stores' own payment methods. Under the third point, the EU says that Apple is obliged to allow users to easily uninstall apps on their devices, change default settings and be given ""choice screens"" to let them use different browsers or search engines. The EU says Apple's web browser ""choice screen"" does not give people enough choice, and said that some apps, such as Apple Photos, cannot be deleted at all. According to Ms Vestager, the investigation will take around 12 months to complete - though Mr Breton later clarified it could take slightly longer. ""We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA,"" she said.  ""We will now investigate the companies' compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe."" The five cases are consumer-focused, and highly relatable to most people who use products from these companies, which is collectively billions of people worldwide.  ""We're talking about the protection of our citizens, we can't just sit around and wait,"" said Thierry Breton, of the EU's decision to act straight away.  There is however another reason potentially in mind: European Parliament elections are due to be held in June 2024. Dr Rupprecht Podszun, director of the Institute for Competition Law at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, called it ""a strong signal"" from the EU. ""The DMA is designed for quick results,"" he said.  ""The cases that the Commission has selected go to the heart of the business models; these are not marginal issues for the gatekeepers. ""The legal battles will be tense, but we must always bear in mind that the Court of Justice will have the last word."" ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['The EU has announced investigations into some of the biggest tech firms in the world over uncompetitive practices.', 'Meta, Apple, and Alphabet, which owns Google, are being looked into for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) introduced in 2022.', 'If they are found to have broken the rules, the firms can face huge fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover.', 'EU antitrust boss Margrethe Vestager and industry head Thierry Breton announced the investigations on Monday.', ""Just six companies have obligations under the DMA, but they are also the world's largest tech firms: Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance."", 'None of the firms are actually based in Europe - five of them are in the US, while ByteDance has headquarters in Beijing.', 'Three of them are now facing questions just two weeks after submitting their compliance reports, which will have been meticulously compiled.', 'It comes three weeks after the EU fined Apple €1.8bn (£1.5bn) for breaking competition laws over music streaming.', 'Meanwhile, the United States accused Apple of monopolising the smartphone market in a landmark lawsuit against the tech giant introduced last week.', ""An Apple spokesperson says the company will constructively engage with the investigation and that they're confident that their plan complies with the Digital Markets Act."", 'They added that their teams established a variety of mechanisms to comply with the EU\'s landmark legislation, as well as privacy and security protections for EU users. ""', 'Throughout, we\'ve demonstrated flexibility and responsiveness to the European Commission and developers, listening and incorporating their feedback,"" they said.', 'Meanwhile a Meta spokesperson said the firm\'s use of subscriptions as an alternative to advertising were ""a well-established business model across many industries"". ""', 'We designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA... we will continue to engage constructively with the Commission,"" they said.', 'Alphabet has been approached for comment.', 'The EU said it will investigate five different possible acts of non-compliance in its announcement: The first two of these investigations concern what is known as ""anti-steering"" - and the EU says it believes the firms are making it difficult for apps to tell users about ways to pay less for their services outside of using app stores\' own payment methods.', 'Under the third point, the EU says that Apple is obliged to allow users to easily uninstall apps on their devices, change default settings and be given ""choice screens"" to let them use different browsers or search engines.', 'The EU says Apple\'s web browser ""choice screen"" does not give people enough choice, and said that some apps, such as Apple Photos, cannot be deleted at all.', 'According to Ms Vestager, the investigation will take around 12 months to complete - though Mr Breton later clarified it could take slightly longer. ""', 'We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA,"" she said. ""', 'We will now investigate the companies\' compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe.""', 'The five cases are consumer-focused, and highly relatable to most people who use products from these companies, which is collectively billions of people worldwide. ""', 'We\'re talking about the protection of our citizens, we can\'t just sit around and wait,"" said Thierry Breton, of the EU\'s decision to act straight away.', 'There is however another reason potentially in mind: European Parliament elections are due to be held in June 2024.', 'Dr Rupprecht Podszun, director of the Institute for Competition Law at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, called it ""a strong signal"" from the EU. ""', 'The DMA is designed for quick results,"" he said. ""', 'The cases that the Commission has selected go to the heart of the business models; these are not marginal issues for the gatekeepers. ""', 'The legal battles will be tense, but we must always bear in mind that the Court of Justice will have the last word.""']",0.138138048675327,An Apple spokesperson says the company will constructively engage with the investigation and that they're confident that their plan complies with the Digital Markets Act.,"The EU said it will investigate five different possible acts of non-compliance in its announcement: The first two of these investigations concern what is known as ""anti-steering"" - and the EU says it believes the firms are making it difficult for apps to tell users about ways to pay less for their services outside of using app stores' own payment methods.",-0.0400070614284939,"Dr Rupprecht Podszun, director of the Institute for Competition Law at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, called it ""a strong signal"" from the EU. ""","If they are found to have broken the rules, the firms can face huge fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover.",2024-03-26
Canada's maple syrup reserve hits 16-year low,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68657703,2024-03-25T17:55:45.000Z,"Canada's maple syrup reserve - the world's only - has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change.  The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year. But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg). Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production. But they say that this will not affect the availability or price of maple syrup to consumers - at least for now. ""The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008,"" Simon Doré-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told the BBC. ""But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future."" Canada's billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world's entire maple syrup production.  According to national data, a majority of that - around 90% - is produced in the province of Quebec, where the world's sole strategic reserve of maple syrup was set up 24 years ago.  The amount of maple syrup in the national reserve - stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec - has dwindled significantly since 2020. That year, the reserve had more than 103 million pounds of the sticky product. Now, the amount in the reserve is only 7% of what it was four years ago.  Part of the reason why, Mr Doré-Ouellet said, is because of poor harvest seasons over the last few years. Maple syrup production, which is typically done between early March and late April, relies heavily on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer daytime temperatures above 0C (32F). The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.  In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.  This reduction, however, came on the heels of two consecutive record years of production, in 2020 and 2019. Mr Doré-Ouellet said that because of the harvest unpredictability, fluctuations in the reserve's supply are not unusual.  ""The strategic reserve was put in place to stabilise supply - which is highly weather dependent - for buyers,"" he said. ""In the last four years, that is exactly what it has done."" Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product. In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide -  an increase of more than 19% from the year before. Mr Doré-Ouellet said the growth in demand is tied to Quebec's efforts to promote Canadian maple syrup and its benefits to other countries, primarily the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan.  With the reserve supply dwindling in the face of growing demand, many are keen to see how the upcoming harvest season unfolds.  Canada is coming out of one of its warmest winters on record. Temperatures in December, January and February were the warmest since record-keeping began in 1948.  Despite this, Mr Doré-Ouellet said there is reason to be optimistic. ""The sugaring season has come early this year and is still underway,"" he said. ""So far, production has been plentiful and the weather forecasts are encouraging for the next few weeks all across Quebec."" Because the reserve stabilises the maple syrup market for producers and buyers, he said it is important that it be built back up.  Efforts to do so are already underway, including the release of 14 million new taps to producers over the last three years to bolster harvesting efforts, he said. Mr Doré-Ouellet did note that replenishing Canada's maple syrup supply is a ""multi-year process"", adding that he believes the outcome of the 2024 season will not ""make or break"" the future of Canada's most iconic export. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""Canada's maple syrup reserve - the world's only - has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change."", 'The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year.', 'But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg).', 'Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production.', 'But they say that this will not affect the availability or price of maple syrup to consumers - at least for now. ""', 'The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008,"" Simon Doré-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told the BBC. ""', 'But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future.""', ""Canada's billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world's entire maple syrup production."", ""According to national data, a majority of that - around 90% - is produced in the province of Quebec, where the world's sole strategic reserve of maple syrup was set up 24 years ago."", 'The amount of maple syrup in the national reserve - stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec - has dwindled significantly since 2020.', 'That year, the reserve had more than 103 million pounds of the sticky product.', 'Now, the amount in the reserve is only 7% of what it was four years ago.', 'Part of the reason why, Mr Doré-Ouellet said, is because of poor harvest seasons over the last few years.', 'Maple syrup production, which is typically done between early March and late April, relies heavily on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer daytime temperatures above 0C (32F).', 'The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.', 'In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.', 'This reduction, however, came on the heels of two consecutive record years of production, in 2020 and 2019.', 'Mr Doré-Ouellet said that because of the harvest unpredictability, fluctuations in the reserve\'s supply are not unusual. ""', 'The strategic reserve was put in place to stabilise supply - which is highly weather dependent - for buyers,"" he said. ""', 'In the last four years, that is exactly what it has done.""', 'Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product.', 'In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide - an increase of more than 19% from the year before.', ""Mr Doré-Ouellet said the growth in demand is tied to Quebec's efforts to promote Canadian maple syrup and its benefits to other countries, primarily the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan."", 'With the reserve supply dwindling in the face of growing demand, many are keen to see how the upcoming harvest season unfolds.', 'Canada is coming out of one of its warmest winters on record.', 'Temperatures in December, January and February were the warmest since record-keeping began in 1948.', 'Despite this, Mr Doré-Ouellet said there is reason to be optimistic. ""', 'The sugaring season has come early this year and is still underway,"" he said. ""', 'So far, production has been plentiful and the weather forecasts are encouraging for the next few weeks all across Quebec.""', 'Because the reserve stabilises the maple syrup market for producers and buyers, he said it is important that it be built back up.', 'Efforts to do so are already underway, including the release of 14 million new taps to producers over the last three years to bolster harvesting efforts, he said.', 'Mr Doré-Ouellet did note that replenishing Canada\'s maple syrup supply is a ""multi-year process"", adding that he believes the outcome of the 2024 season will not ""make or break"" the future of Canada\'s most iconic export.']",0.1208518685319641,"The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.",Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product.,0.1002638108200497,"In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide - an increase of more than 19% from the year before.","In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.",2024-03-26
"Green bubbles, Apple Pay and other reasons why America says Apple is breaking the law",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/tech/america-apple-monopoly/index.html,"
  Published
        12:26 PM EDT, Thu March 21, 2024
    ","“Buy your mom an iPhone.”
    
            That was Apple CEO Tim Cook’s famous response at Vox’s 2022 Code Conference, when a reporter complained that her mother couldn’t see the videos she texted to her mom’s Android phone because they were grainy and slow.
    
            It’s also a quip that US Attorney General Merrick Garland quoted – and sharply criticized – Thursday at a press conference announcing the Justice Department’s landmark antitrust lawsuit against Apple, in which the Biden administration and 16 states allege Apple is illegally abusing the iPhone’s monopoly power in the smartphone market.
    
            The massive lawsuit against one of the world’s largest companies claims Apple is breaking the law by carefully curating its app store and customer experience, designed to lure customers in and keep them buying Apple products and services – to the exclusion of competitors.
    
            Apple, in a statement, said it disagreed with the lawsuit and would fight it vigorously.
    
            “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets,” the company said.
    
            If successful, the suit could force Apple to loosen some of the restrictions it has placed on its “walled garden” approach to hardware and software. It could be made to open up its iPhone to alternative app stores and its technologies like iMessage with Android phones.
    
            The Justice Department, in its complaint, highlighted five ways it says Apple is abusing its dominant position to the detriment of Americans.
    
            With iMessage, Apple created an enhanced text messaging service that allows people to seamlessly communicate with one another, sending rich text, high-quality video and audio that uploads almost instantly – as long as it’s sent to another iPhone customer.
    
            When those messages get sent to people with Android phones, they appear grainy, they can be slow to load, and they can miss out on key features like emoji responses, editing functionality and end-to-end encryption. The dreaded “green bubbles” that mark Android users within iMessage – and particularly the lower-quality performance – are illegal, the Justice Department alleges.
    
            “As any iPhone user who has ever seen a green text message, or received a tiny, grainy video can attest — Apple’s anticompetitive conduct also includes making it more difficult for iPhone users to message with users of non-Apple products,” Garland said on Thursday. “As a result, iPhone users perceive rival smartphones as being lower quality because the experience of messaging friends and family who do not own iPhones is worse — even though Apple is the one responsible for breaking cross-platform messaging. And it does so intentionally.”
    
            Apple last year said it would adopt a new standard of technology for communication with Android phones that will open up some, but not all, of those features. The green bubbles will remain.
    
            Apple helped revolutionize the way we pay for things, tying customers’ credit cards to technology inside iPhones to make payments more secure and seamless. And Apple takes a tiny payment for each transaction.
    
            But Apple Pay is the only way iPhone owners can pay for stuff using that technology on an iPhone. Apple, citing security reasons, doesn’t allow third-party apps to access the chip that allows for iPhones to make mobile payments. It also could entice some customers to stick with iPhones when they’d otherwise switch to a competitor, the lawsuit alleges.
    
            “Apple also deprives users of the benefits and innovations third-party wallets would provide,” the Justice Department said in its complaint. “Cross-platform digital wallets would offer an easier, more seamless, and potentially more secure way for users to switch from the iPhone to another smartphone.”
    
            Apple Watch, one of Apple’s most successful products, is not compatible with Android phones – on purpose, the Justice Department alleges.
    
            Although some smartwatches work seamlessly with any kind of smartphone, Apple Watches, a market leader, require iPhones to operate. That locks customers into Apple’s ecosystem of hardware and software, forcing Apple Watch customers to buy iPhones.
    
            “Apple uses smartwatches, a costly accessory, to prevent iPhone customers from choosing other phones,” the Justice Department said in its complaint. “Having copied the idea of a smartwatch from third-party developers, Apple now prevents those developers from innovating and limits the Apple Watch to the iPhone to prevent a negative ‘impact to iPhone sales.’”
    
            The only way to get apps on an iPhone is through Apple’s proprietary app store. Apple has long claimed that its approach to maintaining what apps can and cannot be used on an iPhone helps customers. It prevents spam and harmful apps, Apple says.
    
            It forces apps into Apple’s onerous limitations and expensive 30% commissions, the Justice Department argues. And it limits competition.
    
            For example, the Justice Department cites cloud-based gaming app stores as a service that Apple illegally prevents from appearing on an iPhone. Companies that want to stream games to customers have to load each individual game to the app store, which prevents companies from marketing and selling potentially powerful and popular competitive technology to customers.
    
            Apple forces app developers to write code specifically for its operating system, restricting developers from coding using universal languages that could offer a single app experience across any device.
    
            That prevents apps from becoming “super apps” – apps that run identically on Apple’s iOS iPhone operating system and Google’s Android OS. Apple also restricts “mini programs” – apps within apps that effectively run on the web. The Justice Department says that requirement locks developers into Apple’s system.
    
            “Since at least 2017, Apple has arbitrarily imposed exclusionary requirements that unnecessarily and unjustifiably restrict mini programs and super apps,” the Justice Department said in its complaint. “Apple exerted its control over app distribution to stifle others’ innovation.”",CNN,21/03/2024,"['“Buy your mom an iPhone.”', 'That was Apple CEO Tim Cook’s famous response at Vox’s 2022 Code Conference, when a reporter complained that her mother couldn’t see the videos she texted to her mom’s Android phone because they were grainy and slow.', 'It’s also a quip that US Attorney General Merrick Garland quoted – and sharply criticized – Thursday at a press conference announcing the Justice Department’s landmark antitrust lawsuit against Apple, in which the Biden administration and 16 states allege Apple is illegally abusing the iPhone’s monopoly power in the smartphone market.', 'The massive lawsuit against one of the world’s largest companies claims Apple is breaking the law by carefully curating its app store and customer experience, designed to lure customers in and keep them buying Apple products and services – to the exclusion of competitors.', 'Apple, in a statement, said it disagreed with the lawsuit and would fight it vigorously.', '“This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets,” the company said.', 'If successful, the suit could force Apple to loosen some of the restrictions it has placed on its “walled garden” approach to hardware and software.', 'It could be made to open up its iPhone to alternative app stores and its technologies like iMessage with Android phones.', 'The Justice Department, in its complaint, highlighted five ways it says Apple is abusing its dominant position to the detriment of Americans.', 'With iMessage, Apple created an enhanced text messaging service that allows people to seamlessly communicate with one another, sending rich text, high-quality video and audio that uploads almost instantly – as long as it’s sent to another iPhone customer.', 'When those messages get sent to people with Android phones, they appear grainy, they can be slow to load, and they can miss out on key features like emoji responses, editing functionality and end-to-end encryption.', 'The dreaded “green bubbles” that mark Android users within iMessage – and particularly the lower-quality performance – are illegal, the Justice Department alleges.', '“As any iPhone user who has ever seen a green text message, or received a tiny, grainy video can attest — Apple’s anticompetitive conduct also includes making it more difficult for iPhone users to message with users of non-Apple products,” Garland said on Thursday. “', 'As a result, iPhone users perceive rival smartphones as being lower quality because the experience of messaging friends and family who do not own iPhones is worse — even though Apple is the one responsible for breaking cross-platform messaging.', 'And it does so intentionally.”', 'Apple last year said it would adopt a new standard of technology for communication with Android phones that will open up some, but not all, of those features.', 'The green bubbles will remain.', 'Apple helped revolutionize the way we pay for things, tying customers’ credit cards to technology inside iPhones to make payments more secure and seamless.', 'And Apple takes a tiny payment for each transaction.', 'But Apple Pay is the only way iPhone owners can pay for stuff using that technology on an iPhone.', 'Apple, citing security reasons, doesn’t allow third-party apps to access the chip that allows for iPhones to make mobile payments.', 'It also could entice some customers to stick with iPhones when they’d otherwise switch to a competitor, the lawsuit alleges.', '“Apple also deprives users of the benefits and innovations third-party wallets would provide,” the Justice Department said in its complaint. “', 'Cross-platform digital wallets would offer an easier, more seamless, and potentially more secure way for users to switch from the iPhone to another smartphone.”', 'Apple Watch, one of Apple’s most successful products, is not compatible with Android phones – on purpose, the Justice Department alleges.', 'Although some smartwatches work seamlessly with any kind of smartphone, Apple Watches, a market leader, require iPhones to operate.', 'That locks customers into Apple’s ecosystem of hardware and software, forcing Apple Watch customers to buy iPhones.', '“Apple uses smartwatches, a costly accessory, to prevent iPhone customers from choosing other phones,” the Justice Department said in its complaint. “', 'Having copied the idea of a smartwatch from third-party developers, Apple now prevents those developers from innovating and limits the Apple Watch to the iPhone to prevent a negative ‘impact to iPhone sales.’”', 'The only way to get apps on an iPhone is through Apple’s proprietary app store.', 'Apple has long claimed that its approach to maintaining what apps can and cannot be used on an iPhone helps customers.', 'It prevents spam and harmful apps, Apple says.', 'It forces apps into Apple’s onerous limitations and expensive 30% commissions, the Justice Department argues.', 'And it limits competition.', 'For example, the Justice Department cites cloud-based gaming app stores as a service that Apple illegally prevents from appearing on an iPhone.', 'Companies that want to stream games to customers have to load each individual game to the app store, which prevents companies from marketing and selling potentially powerful and popular competitive technology to customers.', 'Apple forces app developers to write code specifically for its operating system, restricting developers from coding using universal languages that could offer a single app experience across any device.', 'That prevents apps from becoming “super apps” – apps that run identically on Apple’s iOS iPhone operating system and Google’s Android OS.', 'Apple also restricts “mini programs” – apps within apps that effectively run on the web.', 'The Justice Department says that requirement locks developers into Apple’s system.', '“Since at least 2017, Apple has arbitrarily imposed exclusionary requirements that unnecessarily and unjustifiably restrict mini programs and super apps,” the Justice Department said in its complaint. “', 'Apple exerted its control over app distribution to stifle others’ innovation.”']",0.1253723688452146,"Apple Watch, one of Apple’s most successful products, is not compatible with Android phones – on purpose, the Justice Department alleges.","The dreaded “green bubbles” that mark Android users within iMessage – and particularly the lower-quality performance – are illegal, the Justice Department alleges.",-0.3221259117126465,"Cross-platform digital wallets would offer an easier, more seamless, and potentially more secure way for users to switch from the iPhone to another smartphone.”","As a result, iPhone users perceive rival smartphones as being lower quality because the experience of messaging friends and family who do not own iPhones is worse — even though Apple is the one responsible for breaking cross-platform messaging.",2024-03-26
Fanatics fires back at DraftKings' claims of corporate espionage in bitter legal battle,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/fanatics-fires-back-at-draftkings-claims-of-corporate-espionage.html,2024-03-22T12:57:12+0000,"In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive.In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.In February, Hermalyn accepted a position as the president of Fanatics VIP and head of Fanatics' Los Angeles office. He reports directly to CEO Michael Rubin.DraftKings is suing Hermalyn in federal court, arguing he downloaded confidential company documents and tried to recruit other employees away from DraftKings.Fanatics alleges in its filing that DraftKings has a ""culture of retribution"" and is making an example of Hermalyn to instill fear in other ""DK employees looking to jump ship.""By its count, 186 DraftKings employees have applied to work at Fanatics since the company announced in 2021 it would launch a sportsbook, according to the filing.In the rapidly expanding sports gambling industry, Fanatics is the newcomer, late to the game but backed by billionaire Rubin and an enviable database of customers who buy team jerseys and ball caps online or sports memorabilia through its collectibles business.DraftKings ranks No. 2 in sports betting market share, behind FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter. But those two leaders dominate, with roughly 80% market share between them.And the competition is fierce — with even well-known gambling brands like Caesars and BetMGM fighting for customers' dollars. They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier. Much of that is proprietary.But sports gamblers are notoriously promiscuous. They chase promotions or the best odds and many have more than one betting app downloaded on their phones.The most valuable customers, the VIPs, work with casino or sportsbook hosts, who build relationships and try to engender loyalty.DraftKings alleges Hermalyn reached out to one of DraftKings' most valuable customers to alert him that Hermalyn would be leaving his employer.""The evidence against Mr. Hermalyn is open-and-shut. He stole valuable trade secrets, destroyed evidence to cover his tracks and then lied about it all,"" said Orin Snyder, an attorney with Gibson Dunn representing DraftKings, in a statement to CNBC on Thursday.In a brief filed March 14, DraftKings details what it describes as corporate espionage. Fanatics, it insists, is trying to steal its VIPs, its valuable employees and its strategy to clone DraftKings' business.Fanatics in its response vehemently denies those allegations, and says DraftKings is intentionally distorting reality and engaging in character assassination.""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.DraftKings had petitioned the court to keep Hermalyn from working for Fanatics. The judge declined that petition but issued a temporary restraining order to keep Hermalyn from soliciting clients or employees from his former employer.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"[""In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive."", 'In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.', ""In February, Hermalyn accepted a position as the president of Fanatics VIP and head of Fanatics' Los Angeles office."", 'He reports directly to CEO Michael Rubin.', 'DraftKings is suing Hermalyn in federal court, arguing he downloaded confidential company documents and tried to recruit other employees away from DraftKings.', 'Fanatics alleges in its filing that DraftKings has a ""culture of retribution"" and is making an example of Hermalyn to instill fear in other ""DK employees looking to jump ship.', '""By its count, 186 DraftKings employees have applied to work at Fanatics since the company announced in 2021 it would launch a sportsbook, according to the filing.', 'In the rapidly expanding sports gambling industry, Fanatics is the newcomer, late to the game but backed by billionaire Rubin and an enviable database of customers who buy team jerseys and ball caps online or sports memorabilia through its collectibles business.', 'DraftKings ranks No.', '2 in sports betting market share, behind FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter.', 'But those two leaders dominate, with roughly 80% market share between them.', ""And the competition is fierce — with even well-known gambling brands like Caesars and BetMGM fighting for customers' dollars."", ""They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier."", 'Much of that is proprietary.', 'But sports gamblers are notoriously promiscuous.', 'They chase promotions or the best odds and many have more than one betting app downloaded on their phones.', 'The most valuable customers, the VIPs, work with casino or sportsbook hosts, who build relationships and try to engender loyalty.', ""DraftKings alleges Hermalyn reached out to one of DraftKings' most valuable customers to alert him that Hermalyn would be leaving his employer."", '""The evidence against Mr. Hermalyn is open-and-shut.', 'He stole valuable trade secrets, destroyed evidence to cover his tracks and then lied about it all,"" said Orin Snyder, an attorney with Gibson Dunn representing DraftKings, in a statement to CNBC on Thursday.', 'In a brief filed March 14, DraftKings details what it describes as corporate espionage.', ""Fanatics, it insists, is trying to steal its VIPs, its valuable employees and its strategy to clone DraftKings' business."", 'Fanatics in its response vehemently denies those allegations, and says DraftKings is intentionally distorting reality and engaging in character assassination.', '""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.', 'DraftKings had petitioned the court to keep Hermalyn from working for Fanatics.', 'The judge declined that petition but issued a temporary restraining order to keep Hermalyn from soliciting clients or employees from his former employer.']",0.052403567887878,"""To be clear, this is not a case in which an employee was hired to move a book of business from one company to another: Fanatics already has 100 million customers in the U.S., each of DK and Fanatics have tens of thousands of VIP customers, and it is well known that many if not all those customers overlap,"" the company said in its filing.","In a legal brief filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Fanatics accuses DraftKings of distorting reality and character assassination of its former senior vice president of business development, Michael Hermalyn.",0.0735168606042862,"They're investing in technology to improve their apps, individualize marketing and promotions, and make deposits and withdrawals easier.",In this articleSports merchandise giant Fanatics is firing back against sportsbook giant DraftKings in an ongoing legal fight over Fanatics' hiring of a top DraftKings executive.,2024-03-26
Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun to leave as firm faces safety crisis,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68656925,2024-03-25T12:25:37.000Z,"Boeing boss Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year amid a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record. Boeing also said that the head of its commercial airlines division will retire immediately while its chairman will not stand for re-election.  The firm is under pressure after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max in January shortly after take-off. No-one was injured but the firm's safety and quality control standards came under renewed scrutiny. Mr Calhoun took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in the aftermath of one of the biggest scandals in Boeing's history. Within the space of five months, two brand new 737 Max planes had been lost in almost identical accidents that claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew. A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing's ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"". However, in January this year a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport. An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted. Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane. Many analysts said a change in Boeing's leadership was overdue.  ""A shake-up at the top is necessary,"" said Stewart Glickman, equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that he believed the current crisis stemmed from problems in the firm's corporate culture that only fresh insight would be able to fix. ""I don't think you can change the culture with internal voices because I think this has been modus operandi for this company for too long."" In a letter to staff on Monday, Mr Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines incident as a ""watershed moment"" for Boeing and said it had to respond with ""humility and complete transparency"". ""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company,"" he said. Air safety campaigner Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Washington, said Mr Calhoun had had years to try to boost safety at the company. ""It's been one failure after the other,"" said Mr Pierson, who is now executive director at The Foundation for Aviation Safety.  ""The company deserves much better leadership and the people who get on these airplanes deserve much better leadership."" The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety. The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found ""multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements"". Another report into Boeing's safety culture by an expert panel found a ""disconnect"" between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation. After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was discovered that flawed flight control software caused the incidents - details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators. The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty. It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers' lives. Mark Pegram, whose 25-year-old son Sam died when Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in 2019, said Mr Calhoun had appeared to have been brought in to say what investors wanted to hear and ""not fix the cause of the problems that were making planes fall out of the sky"".  He said he was pleased by the change but disappointed it had taken so long. ""It's something we've been calling for for quite some time now,"" he said. The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems. Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries. On Monday, Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary said that the company ""welcomed"" Boeing's management changes, specifically the departure of Stan Deal will is leaving his role as head of the commercial airlines division immediately.  Mr O'Leary said: ""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years but he is not the person to turnaround the operation in Seattle and that's where most of the problems have been in recent years."" Scott Hamilton, managing director of Seattle-based aircraft and economics research firm Leeham Company, told the BBC's Today programme: ""I've never quite understood O'Leary's defence of Calhoun. ""I certainly understand his criticism of Stan Deal, now the former chief executive of Boeing commercial airplanes. but I've never understood his defence of Calhoun quite frankly."" Mr Hamilton added: ""I think the rank and file [at Boeing] are happy to see the changes. The unknown, of course, is who is going to come in to replace Calhoun."" Speculation has already started on who that might be but the pool of people with qualifications for such a job is small.  Air transport consultant John Strickland of JLS Consulting warned that the hard work for the company was still ahead. ""It's all very well to get rid of people but what are you going to do to keep steering the business,"" Mr Strickland said. ""This is much easier said than done."" Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced. Mr Deal will will be replaced as head of Boeing's commercial airlines division by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as Boeing's chief operating officer. Larry Kellner, the firm's chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm, the chip-maker, who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020. He will lead the search for a new chief executive. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""Boeing boss Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year amid a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record."", 'Boeing also said that the head of its commercial airlines division will retire immediately while its chairman will not stand for re-election.', 'The firm is under pressure after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max in January shortly after take-off.', ""No-one was injured but the firm's safety and quality control standards came under renewed scrutiny."", ""Mr Calhoun took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in the aftermath of one of the biggest scandals in Boeing's history."", 'Within the space of five months, two brand new 737 Max planes had been lost in almost identical accidents that claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew.', 'A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing\'s ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"".', 'However, in January this year a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport.', 'An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted.', 'Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane.', 'Many analysts said a change in Boeing\'s leadership was overdue. ""', 'A shake-up at the top is necessary,"" said Stewart Glickman, equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that he believed the current crisis stemmed from problems in the firm\'s corporate culture that only fresh insight would be able to fix. ""', 'I don\'t think you can change the culture with internal voices because I think this has been modus operandi for this company for too long.""', 'In a letter to staff on Monday, Mr Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines incident as a ""watershed moment"" for Boeing and said it had to respond with ""humility and complete transparency"". ""', 'The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company,"" he said.', 'Air safety campaigner Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing\'s 737 factory in Renton, Washington, said Mr Calhoun had had years to try to boost safety at the company. ""', 'It\'s been one failure after the other,"" said Mr Pierson, who is now executive director at The Foundation for Aviation Safety. ""', 'The company deserves much better leadership and the people who get on these airplanes deserve much better leadership.""', ""The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety."", 'The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found ""multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements"".', 'Another report into Boeing\'s safety culture by an expert panel found a ""disconnect"" between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation.', 'After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was discovered that flawed flight control software caused the incidents - details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators.', 'The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty.', ""It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers' lives."", 'Mark Pegram, whose 25-year-old son Sam died when Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in 2019, said Mr Calhoun had appeared to have been brought in to say what investors wanted to hear and ""not fix the cause of the problems that were making planes fall out of the sky"".', 'He said he was pleased by the change but disappointed it had taken so long. ""', 'It\'s something we\'ve been calling for for quite some time now,"" he said.', ""The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems."", 'Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries.', 'On Monday, Ryanair\'s chief executive Michael O\'Leary said that the company ""welcomed"" Boeing\'s management changes, specifically the departure of Stan Deal will is leaving his role as head of the commercial airlines division immediately.', 'Mr O\'Leary said: ""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years but he is not the person to turnaround the operation in Seattle and that\'s where most of the problems have been in recent years.""', 'Scott Hamilton, managing director of Seattle-based aircraft and economics research firm Leeham Company, told the BBC\'s Today programme: ""I\'ve never quite understood O\'Leary\'s defence of Calhoun. ""', 'I certainly understand his criticism of Stan Deal, now the former chief executive of Boeing commercial airplanes.', 'but I\'ve never understood his defence of Calhoun quite frankly.""', 'Mr Hamilton added: ""I think the rank and file [at Boeing] are happy to see the changes.', 'The unknown, of course, is who is going to come in to replace Calhoun.""', 'Speculation has already started on who that might be but the pool of people with qualifications for such a job is small.', 'Air transport consultant John Strickland of JLS Consulting warned that the hard work for the company was still ahead. ""', 'It\'s all very well to get rid of people but what are you going to do to keep steering the business,"" Mr Strickland said. ""', 'This is much easier said than done.""', 'Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced.', ""Mr Deal will will be replaced as head of Boeing's commercial airlines division by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as Boeing's chief operating officer."", ""Larry Kellner, the firm's chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm, the chip-maker, who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020."", 'He will lead the search for a new chief executive.']",-0.0543304938948831,"A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing's ""safety culture"" and ""rebuild trust"".","The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems.",-0.0480022403326901,Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced.,"The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety.",2024-03-26
Nordstrom shares jump 9% on report retailer is trying to go private,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/nordstrom-reportedly-trying-to-go-private.html,2024-03-19T20:25:55+0000,"In this articleNordstrom shares closed 9% higher on Tuesday following a report that the department store chain is attempting to go private.The retailer's founding family is working with Morgan Stanley and investment bank Centerview Partners to determine if private equity firms have interest in a deal, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Morgan Stanley declined to comment.A deal might not happen, according to Reuters. A previous effort to take Nordstrom private fizzled out in 2018.Nordstrom has struggled to drive sales in a competitive retail landscape where consumers squeezed by inflation have been watching their spending on apparel and other discretionary goods. Earlier this month, the company gave a gloomy sales outlook for 2024.Nordstrom said it expects full-year revenue to range from a 2% decline to a 1% increase from 2023.Before Tuesday's move, the company's shares had fallen about 7% this year.Nordstrom did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.",CNBC,19/03/2024,"['In this articleNordstrom shares closed 9% higher on Tuesday following a report that the department store chain is attempting to go private.', ""The retailer's founding family is working with Morgan Stanley and investment bank Centerview Partners to determine if private equity firms have interest in a deal, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter."", 'Morgan Stanley declined to comment.', 'A deal might not happen, according to Reuters.', 'A previous effort to take Nordstrom private fizzled out in 2018.Nordstrom has struggled to drive sales in a competitive retail landscape where consumers squeezed by inflation have been watching their spending on apparel and other discretionary goods.', ""Earlier this month, the company gave a gloomy sales outlook for 2024.Nordstrom said it expects full-year revenue to range from a 2% decline to a 1% increase from 2023.Before Tuesday's move, the company's shares had fallen about 7% this year."", ""Nordstrom did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.""]",0.0996416169569488,"The retailer's founding family is working with Morgan Stanley and investment bank Centerview Partners to determine if private equity firms have interest in a deal, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.",A previous effort to take Nordstrom private fizzled out in 2018.Nordstrom has struggled to drive sales in a competitive retail landscape where consumers squeezed by inflation have been watching their spending on apparel and other discretionary goods.,-0.3330781062444051,In this articleNordstrom shares closed 9% higher on Tuesday following a report that the department store chain is attempting to go private.,"Earlier this month, the company gave a gloomy sales outlook for 2024.Nordstrom said it expects full-year revenue to range from a 2% decline to a 1% increase from 2023.Before Tuesday's move, the company's shares had fallen about 7% this year.",2024-03-26
More stocks are joining the gangbusters rally. That’s good news for investors,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/investing/premarket-stocks-trading-rally/index.html,"
  Published
        7:47 AM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.
    
            The dwindling ranks of the Magnificent Seven are finally getting reinforcements.
    
            The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indexes notched record highs on Wednesday and Thursday after the Federal Reserve reiterated its forecast for three quarter-point rate cuts in 2024. Investors had worried that the central bank would adjust its expectations to fewer than three cuts following a slate of hot inflation data in recent months.
    
            But more stocks than just Big Tech have paved the way higher. The S&P 600 index, which tracks American small-cap stocks, just turned positive for the year. That’s good news for Wall Street, because smaller companies generate most of their revenue from US customers, making them bellwethers of the US economy. Small caps are often active in sectors like financials and industrials that tend to rise and fall with wider economic activity.
    
            “When you see small-cap industrials leading, that’s usually a sign that the market is saying things are on pretty firm footing here,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group.
    
            Their participation also shows that the market’s surge is extending beyond tech giants. That’s a welcome sign for investors, since a broader rally begets a healthier rally. When the market’s gains don’t depend on just a handful of names, they’re less vulnerable to pullbacks.
    
            The rally had already begun broadening in recent weeks, before the Fed-induced euphoria. Some investors say that’s because corporate earnings beats coupled with strong economic data have renewed hopes for a soft landing, or a scenario in which the Fed brings inflation down to its 2% target without triggering a recession.
    
            About 93% of S&P 500 companies have posted fourth-quarter results, and 78% have beat earnings expectations, according to Ned Davis Research data through March 19.
    
            “Recession” was mentioned in 47 fourth-quarter earnings calls of S&P 500 companies, the lowest count since 2021, according to FactSet data through March 7. In contrast, “soft landing” was cited on 37 earnings calls, the highest number of companies mentioning the term going back at least three years.
    
            Meanwhile, jobs data in recent months shows that the labor market is staying resilient against interest rates hovering at a 23-year high.
    
            That has led stocks to continue soaring after last year’s powerful rally, even though shares of Tesla and Apple have fallen, while Alphabet has lagged the double-digit percentage gains notched by Magnificent Seven peers Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta.
    
            Still, Detrick says that a 5% to 7% selloff wouldn’t be worrisome: “Just enough to shake out those johnny-come-lately weak hands … because [the rally is] almost too easy,” he said.
    
            Wall Street could also be getting too ahead of itself by expecting such a rosy outcome for the economy, some investors say.
    
            “It’s going to be important for investors to ascertain what expectations that have been embedded are realistic and which expectations are a little bit too optimistic,” said Jeffrey Schulze, head of economic and market strategy at ClearBridge Investments.
    
            The US Justice Department and more than a dozen states filed a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, accusing the giant company of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market, report my colleagues Brian Fung, Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez.
    
            It’s the largest in a recent string of Big Tech companies to face antitrust complaints from the US government, which is cracking down on the massive industry, whose power has gone largely unchecked over the past several decades.
    
            The complaint, said Attorney General Merrick Garland at a news conference, alleges that ”Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits but by violating federal antitrust law.”
    
            “Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law,” he added.
    
            The long-anticipated lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, comes after years of allegations by critics that Apple has harmed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach to its hardware and software: Apple famously makes its tech easy to use, but it achieves that by tightly controlling — and in some cases, restricting — how third-party companies can interact with the tech behemoth’s products and services. In some cases, Apple may give its own products better access and features than its competitors.
    
            The company said it denied the lawsuit’s allegations and would fight them and added that the lawsuit could empower the government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”
    
            But Garland on Thursday said Apple’s actions have wide-ranging effects.
    
            “Monopolies like Apple’s threaten the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based. They stifle innovation. They hurt producers and workers and increase cost for consumers,” Garland said Thursday.
    
            Read more here.
    
            The Swiss National Bank surprised markets Thursday by cutting interest rates, becoming the first of the world’s major central banks to do so since they began battling a post-pandemic surge in prices.
    
            The SNB announced that it would reduce the cost of borrowing by a quarter of a percentage point as it revised down its forecasts for inflation this year and next, reports my colleague Anna Cooban. “The fight against inflation over the past two and a half years has been effective,” it said in a statement.
    
            Pressure is also building for the European Central Bank to cut rates for the 20 countries that use the euro. Data released Thursday suggested the region’s economy went backward in March, bolstering the case for the ECB to break with tradition and reduce rates before the US Federal Reserve.
    
            The Purchasing Managers’ Index showed a slight increase to 49.9 in March, driven by expansion in the services sector, but remained below the 50 mark that separates contraction from growth.
    
            Europe’s manufacturers have spent the best part of the past two years grappling with steep energy costs, which surged after Russia invaded Ukraine. Manufacturing remains mired in a deep contraction, according to the latest PMI numbers.
    
            Read more here.",CNN,22/03/2024,"['A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter.', 'Not a subscriber?', 'You can sign upright here.', 'You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.', 'The dwindling ranks of the Magnificent Seven are finally getting reinforcements.', 'The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indexes notched record highs on Wednesday and Thursday after the Federal Reserve reiterated its forecast for three quarter-point rate cuts in 2024.', 'Investors had worried that the central bank would adjust its expectations to fewer than three cuts following a slate of hot inflation data in recent months.', 'But more stocks than just Big Tech have paved the way higher.', 'The S&P 600 index, which tracks American small-cap stocks, just turned positive for the year.', 'That’s good news for Wall Street, because smaller companies generate most of their revenue from US customers, making them bellwethers of the US economy.', 'Small caps are often active in sectors like financials and industrials that tend to rise and fall with wider economic activity.', '“When you see small-cap industrials leading, that’s usually a sign that the market is saying things are on pretty firm footing here,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group.', 'Their participation also shows that the market’s surge is extending beyond tech giants.', 'That’s a welcome sign for investors, since a broader rally begets a healthier rally.', 'When the market’s gains don’t depend on just a handful of names, they’re less vulnerable to pullbacks.', 'The rally had already begun broadening in recent weeks, before the Fed-induced euphoria.', 'Some investors say that’s because corporate earnings beats coupled with strong economic data have renewed hopes for a soft landing, or a scenario in which the Fed brings inflation down to its 2% target without triggering a recession.', 'About 93% of S&P 500 companies have posted fourth-quarter results, and 78% have beat earnings expectations, according to Ned Davis Research data through March 19.', '“Recession” was mentioned in 47 fourth-quarter earnings calls of S&P 500 companies, the lowest count since 2021, according to FactSet data through March 7.', 'In contrast, “soft landing” was cited on 37 earnings calls, the highest number of companies mentioning the term going back at least three years.', 'Meanwhile, jobs data in recent months shows that the labor market is staying resilient against interest rates hovering at a 23-year high.', 'That has led stocks to continue soaring after last year’s powerful rally, even though shares of Tesla and Apple have fallen, while Alphabet has lagged the double-digit percentage gains notched by Magnificent Seven peers Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta.', 'Still, Detrick says that a 5% to 7% selloff wouldn’t be worrisome: “Just enough to shake out those johnny-come-lately weak hands … because [the rally is] almost too easy,” he said.', 'Wall Street could also be getting too ahead of itself by expecting such a rosy outcome for the economy, some investors say.', '“It’s going to be important for investors to ascertain what expectations that have been embedded are realistic and which expectations are a little bit too optimistic,” said Jeffrey Schulze, head of economic and market strategy at ClearBridge Investments.', 'The US Justice Department and more than a dozen states filed a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, accusing the giant company of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market, report my colleagues Brian Fung, Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez.', 'It’s the largest in a recent string of Big Tech companies to face antitrust complaints from the US government, which is cracking down on the massive industry, whose power has gone largely unchecked over the past several decades.', 'The complaint, said Attorney General Merrick Garland at a news conference, alleges that ”Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits but by violating federal antitrust law.”', '“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law,” he added.', 'The long-anticipated lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, comes after years of allegations by critics that Apple has harmed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach to its hardware and software: Apple famously makes its tech easy to use, but it achieves that by tightly controlling — and in some cases, restricting — how third-party companies can interact with the tech behemoth’s products and services.', 'In some cases, Apple may give its own products better access and features than its competitors.', 'The company said it denied the lawsuit’s allegations and would fight them and added that the lawsuit could empower the government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”', 'But Garland on Thursday said Apple’s actions have wide-ranging effects.', '“Monopolies like Apple’s threaten the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based.', 'They stifle innovation.', 'They hurt producers and workers and increase cost for consumers,” Garland said Thursday.', 'Read more here.', 'The Swiss National Bank surprised markets Thursday by cutting interest rates, becoming the first of the world’s major central banks to do so since they began battling a post-pandemic surge in prices.', 'The SNB announced that it would reduce the cost of borrowing by a quarter of a percentage point as it revised down its forecasts for inflation this year and next, reports my colleague Anna Cooban. “', 'The fight against inflation over the past two and a half years has been effective,” it said in a statement.', 'Pressure is also building for the European Central Bank to cut rates for the 20 countries that use the euro.', 'Data released Thursday suggested the region’s economy went backward in March, bolstering the case for the ECB to break with tradition and reduce rates before the US Federal Reserve.', 'The Purchasing Managers’ Index showed a slight increase to 49.9 in March, driven by expansion in the services sector, but remained below the 50 mark that separates contraction from growth.', 'Europe’s manufacturers have spent the best part of the past two years grappling with steep energy costs, which surged after Russia invaded Ukraine.', 'Manufacturing remains mired in a deep contraction, according to the latest PMI numbers.', 'Read more here.']",0.1296622593366684,"Some investors say that’s because corporate earnings beats coupled with strong economic data have renewed hopes for a soft landing, or a scenario in which the Fed brings inflation down to its 2% target without triggering a recession.","The complaint, said Attorney General Merrick Garland at a news conference, alleges that ”Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits but by violating federal antitrust law.”",0.2511580490296887,"That’s a welcome sign for investors, since a broader rally begets a healthier rally.","Data released Thursday suggested the region’s economy went backward in March, bolstering the case for the ECB to break with tradition and reduce rates before the US Federal Reserve.",2024-03-26
Chrysler parent Stellantis laying off 400 salaried U.S. workers due to 'unprecedented uncertainties',https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/chrysler-parent-stellantis-laying-off-400-salaried-us-workers.html,2024-03-22T17:41:18+0000,"In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews."" Stellantis employed 11,800 U.S. salaried employees as of the end of last year.The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.A spokeswoman for the automaker declined to discuss the exact number of employees who are being laid off. A source familiar with the actions confirmed it at about 400 workers, a number first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.The layoffs occurred during a ""mandatory remote work day"" for U.S. salaried, nonunion employees in Stellantis' engineering and technology organization, according to an internal announcement confirmed by two sources who were not authorized to speak about the actions.The action is the latest by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to cut costs through layoffs, buyouts and other methods since the company was established through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in 2021.The cuts are part of a push to achieve Stellantis' ""Dare Forward 2030"" strategic plan that aims to increase profits and double the automaker's revenue to 300 billion euros, or $335 billion, by then, among other targets.""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.",CNBC,22/03/2024,"['In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.', 'Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews.""', 'Stellantis employed 11,800 U.S. salaried employees as of the end of last year.', 'The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.', 'A spokeswoman for the automaker declined to discuss the exact number of employees who are being laid off.', 'A source familiar with the actions confirmed it at about 400 workers, a number first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.', 'The layoffs occurred during a ""mandatory remote work day"" for U.S. salaried, nonunion employees in Stellantis\' engineering and technology organization, according to an internal announcement confirmed by two sources who were not authorized to speak about the actions.', 'The action is the latest by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to cut costs through layoffs, buyouts and other methods since the company was established through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe in 2021.The cuts are part of a push to achieve Stellantis\' ""Dare Forward 2030"" strategic plan that aims to increase profits and double the automaker\'s revenue to 300 billion euros, or $335 billion, by then, among other targets.', '""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.']",0.1415057079365687,"The cuts are effective March 31.""As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,"" the company said in an emailed statement.","Stellantis on Friday said the layoffs would affect about 2% of employees in those units ""after rigorous organizational reviews.""",0.5079136937856674,"""While we understand this is difficult news, these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,"" the company said.","In this articleDETROIT — Stellantis is laying off roughly 400 salaried employees in the U.S. in its engineering, technology and software units to cut costs as the automaker faces what it calls challenging market conditions.",2024-03-26
Boeing timeline: Inside the air giant’s turbulent journey in recent years,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/17/business/boeing-timeline-troubles-crashes-stock-dg/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:40 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Boeing once had a reputation for unmatched safety and quality, an economic giant and a shining example of American industrial prowess. No longer.
    
            Since late 2018, a series of setbacks has besieged the company, including two fatal crashes that grounded its best-selling jet and an incident where a door plug detached in mid-air, leaving a gaping hole in a jet’s side.
    
            In addition to the loss of 346 lives in the two crashes, the problems have cost the company tens of billions of dollars and damaged its reputation. Here’s how Boeing got to this point.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Boeing once had a reputation for unmatched safety and quality, an economic giant and a shining example of American industrial prowess.', 'No longer.', 'Since late 2018, a series of setbacks has besieged the company, including two fatal crashes that grounded its best-selling jet and an incident where a door plug detached in mid-air, leaving a gaping hole in a jet’s side.', 'In addition to the loss of 346 lives in the two crashes, the problems have cost the company tens of billions of dollars and damaged its reputation.', 'Here’s how Boeing got to this point.']",-0.1335513864576442,"Boeing once had a reputation for unmatched safety and quality, an economic giant and a shining example of American industrial prowess.","In addition to the loss of 346 lives in the two crashes, the problems have cost the company tens of billions of dollars and damaged its reputation.",-0.3317096432050069,"Boeing once had a reputation for unmatched safety and quality, an economic giant and a shining example of American industrial prowess.","Since late 2018, a series of setbacks has besieged the company, including two fatal crashes that grounded its best-selling jet and an incident where a door plug detached in mid-air, leaving a gaping hole in a jet’s side.",2024-03-26
"February home sales spike 9.5%, the largest monthly gain in a year, as supply improves",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/february-2024-home-sales-spike.html,2024-03-21T16:40:35+0000,"Sales of existing homes surged 9.5% in February from January to 4.38 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Housing analysts had been expecting a slight drop.Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023. Sales surged the most in the West, up 19.4%, and the South, up 16.4%. Sales in the Northeast were unchanged.""Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,"" said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. ""Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.""Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February. That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.Higher demand continued to push the median price higher, up 5.7% from the year before to $384,500 — the eighth straight month of annual gains. Competition was stiff, with 20% of homes selling above list price.The sales count is based on closings, so contracts likely signed in December and January, when the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to the mid 6% range. It is now over 7%, according to Mortgage News Daily.First-time buyers, however, did not surge with overall sales. They represented just 26% of buyers in February, down from 28% in January. Roughly 40% is the historical norm. All-cash sales were at 33%, up from 28% the year before.""The stock market, maybe that is helping, or the record-high home prices. People from expensive states like California are going to more affordable markets like Florida or Georgia and paying all cash,"" Yun said, adding that consumers may be accepting a ""new normal"" for mortgage rates.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['Sales of existing homes surged 9.5% in February from January to 4.38 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors.', 'Housing analysts had been expecting a slight drop.', 'Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023.', 'Sales surged the most in the West, up 19.4%, and the South, up 16.4%.', 'Sales in the Northeast were unchanged.', '""Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,"" said Lawrence Yun, NAR\'s chief economist. ""', 'Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.', '""Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February.', 'That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.', 'Higher demand continued to push the median price higher, up 5.7% from the year before to $384,500 — the eighth straight month of annual gains.', 'Competition was stiff, with 20% of homes selling above list price.', 'The sales count is based on closings, so contracts likely signed in December and January, when the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to the mid 6% range.', 'It is now over 7%, according to Mortgage News Daily.', 'First-time buyers, however, did not surge with overall sales.', 'They represented just 26% of buyers in February, down from 28% in January.', 'Roughly 40% is the historical norm.', 'All-cash sales were at 33%, up from 28% the year before.', '""The stock market, maybe that is helping, or the record-high home prices.', 'People from expensive states like California are going to more affordable markets like Florida or Georgia and paying all cash,"" Yun said, adding that consumers may be accepting a ""new normal"" for mortgage rates.']",0.1482912879976404,"People from expensive states like California are going to more affordable markets like Florida or Georgia and paying all cash,"" Yun said, adding that consumers may be accepting a ""new normal"" for mortgage rates.",That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.,0.2517372779548168,"""Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February.","Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023.",2024-03-26
Could AI take the grind out of accountancy?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68553123,2024-03-26T00:24:13.000Z,"Owen Hewitt, is a trainee chartered accountant at accountancy firm haysmacintyre. He's two years into his training with more exams coming up this year.  What's unusual about him and his peers, is that they will be the first generation of accountants to use artificial intelligence (AI) right from the beginning of their careers. Mr Hewitt is hoping that AI will take over some of the more tedious parts of the job. ""These (AI) can remove the burden of the more time-consuming tasks, like analysis of financial data,"" says Mr Hewitt. That leaves the humans to focus on more subjective - and more interesting - decisions, like whether a business is viable, or whether debts are likely to be paid. ""Whilst AI can learn from data and make predictions, it can't yet replace the human judgement required to weigh up different variables and make an informed decision,"" he says. So, AI is increasingly being used for routine and time-consuming tasks such as summarising documents, creating content, drafting documentation, advanced searching, analytics and insight and knowledge management - often work done by more junior accountancy staff. ""When you look at some of the tasks that auditors were doing - some of the boring, mundane tasks around churning data and manipulating it into a format where you can then actually do something valuable with it - that's where artificial intelligence can play a really big part,"" says Matthew Campbell, audit chief technology officer for KPMG UK. Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs. According to a KPMG survey, four in 10 senior audit professionals expect that the increased efficiency that AI can bring will lead to a reduction in the size of auditing teams. Already, many manual audit and reporting tasks have been outsourced to other countries, with most major banks in the UK now having taken on large numbers of qualified accountants in India, who perform a significant proportion of month-end financial reporting tasks. This, says Alex King, founder and chartered accountant at finance platform Generation Money, means that junior accountants working in audit will need to focus more on client-facing skills. ""Generally, the nature of a junior accountant's role is likely to change more towards systems management - overseeing AI powered software and databases - and relationship management, and away from the traditional reconciliations and ledgers work,"" he says. As a result, training programmes are changing. ""We're still recruiting a number of people, graduates, and we're also recruiting a number of apprentices. I think what will change over time is the skillsets of some of those individuals,"" says Mr Campbell. ""We're already starting to see that, so we've invested in putting a number of our auditors through a master's degree in applied data science, so they can take that auditing and accounting knowledge with their data science skills knowledge, to really bring the best of those skills together."" The accountancy industry has seen some high-profile failures in recent years. In March, KPMG was fined £1.5m for failings in its 2019 audit of advertising agency M&C Saatchi. And it's not alone in making errors. Last summer, a report from the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) found that four in 10 audits conducted by global accounting firms had significant flaws, and that the proportion was rising rapidly. Meanwhile, the UK's accountancy regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), carried out 19 investigations in the 2022-2023 financial year, slapping fines of £40.5 million on auditing firms and their clients for audit failings. As a result, auditing firms are now under great scrutiny; and to tighten up their procedures, many are turning to AI. ""As generative AI plays a more prominent role in contributing to first drafts of content, the human auditor role can be elevated to focus on areas of judgment and challenge,"" says Marc Bena, digital audit leader at PwC UK. ""The ability to analyse data at a much larger scale also means we can perform better risk assessments and analysis."" AI is particularly good at spotting anomalies in vast amounts of data, making it useful when examining what may amount to billions of transactions by a client. KPMG itself uses AI for high-risk transactions to look for such anomalies, such as the posting of unusual amounts, postings made by somebody unusual or postings made at a weekend. ""We get to a point where it's a truly data-driven audit, where we identify the risks from within a population of data and use that to help focus our audit efforts on the most complex, the high-risk, the most judgmental areas,"" says Mr Campbell. More technology of business As for more high-level jobs, AI may help here too. Auditing firms have been finding it hard to retain talent, with 90% of auditors telling Caseware last year that it is either somewhat or extremely difficult. Overall, auditing job vacancies rose during the last year by a quarter, according to a survey from automation platform DataSnipper. However, 86% of auditing staff agreed that AI helps cut down time on repetitive task - and 83% said they'd be more inclined to stay at a company with AI initiatives in place. ""They can get through some of the laborious, time-intensive tasks to actually get into the value of doing the analysis, the output and the interpretation,"" says Mr Campbell. ""The bits of their role that it's taking away is stuff that they weren't enjoying."" ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Owen Hewitt, is a trainee chartered accountant at accountancy firm haysmacintyre.', ""He's two years into his training with more exams coming up this year."", ""What's unusual about him and his peers, is that they will be the first generation of accountants to use artificial intelligence (AI) right from the beginning of their careers."", 'Mr Hewitt is hoping that AI will take over some of the more tedious parts of the job. ""', 'These (AI) can remove the burden of the more time-consuming tasks, like analysis of financial data,"" says Mr Hewitt.', 'That leaves the humans to focus on more subjective - and more interesting - decisions, like whether a business is viable, or whether debts are likely to be paid. ""', 'Whilst AI can learn from data and make predictions, it can\'t yet replace the human judgement required to weigh up different variables and make an informed decision,"" he says.', 'So, AI is increasingly being used for routine and time-consuming tasks such as summarising documents, creating content, drafting documentation, advanced searching, analytics and insight and knowledge management - often work done by more junior accountancy staff. ""', 'When you look at some of the tasks that auditors were doing - some of the boring, mundane tasks around churning data and manipulating it into a format where you can then actually do something valuable with it - that\'s where artificial intelligence can play a really big part,"" says Matthew Campbell, audit chief technology officer for KPMG UK.', ""Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs."", 'According to a KPMG survey, four in 10 senior audit professionals expect that the increased efficiency that AI can bring will lead to a reduction in the size of auditing teams.', 'Already, many manual audit and reporting tasks have been outsourced to other countries, with most major banks in the UK now having taken on large numbers of qualified accountants in India, who perform a significant proportion of month-end financial reporting tasks.', 'This, says Alex King, founder and chartered accountant at finance platform Generation Money, means that junior accountants working in audit will need to focus more on client-facing skills. ""', 'Generally, the nature of a junior accountant\'s role is likely to change more towards systems management - overseeing AI powered software and databases - and relationship management, and away from the traditional reconciliations and ledgers work,"" he says.', 'As a result, training programmes are changing. ""', ""We're still recruiting a number of people, graduates, and we're also recruiting a number of apprentices."", 'I think what will change over time is the skillsets of some of those individuals,"" says Mr Campbell. ""', 'We\'re already starting to see that, so we\'ve invested in putting a number of our auditors through a master\'s degree in applied data science, so they can take that auditing and accounting knowledge with their data science skills knowledge, to really bring the best of those skills together.""', 'The accountancy industry has seen some high-profile failures in recent years.', 'In March, KPMG was fined £1.5m for failings in its 2019 audit of advertising agency M&C Saatchi.', ""And it's not alone in making errors."", 'Last summer, a report from the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) found that four in 10 audits conducted by global accounting firms had significant flaws, and that the proportion was rising rapidly.', ""Meanwhile, the UK's accountancy regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), carried out 19 investigations in the 2022-2023 financial year, slapping fines of £40.5 million on auditing firms and their clients for audit failings."", 'As a result, auditing firms are now under great scrutiny; and to tighten up their procedures, many are turning to AI. ""', 'As generative AI plays a more prominent role in contributing to first drafts of content, the human auditor role can be elevated to focus on areas of judgment and challenge,"" says Marc Bena, digital audit leader at PwC UK. ""', 'The ability to analyse data at a much larger scale also means we can perform better risk assessments and analysis.""', 'AI is particularly good at spotting anomalies in vast amounts of data, making it useful when examining what may amount to billions of transactions by a client.', 'KPMG itself uses AI for high-risk transactions to look for such anomalies, such as the posting of unusual amounts, postings made by somebody unusual or postings made at a weekend. ""', 'We get to a point where it\'s a truly data-driven audit, where we identify the risks from within a population of data and use that to help focus our audit efforts on the most complex, the high-risk, the most judgmental areas,"" says Mr Campbell.', 'More technology of business As for more high-level jobs, AI may help here too.', 'Auditing firms have been finding it hard to retain talent, with 90% of auditors telling Caseware last year that it is either somewhat or extremely difficult.', 'Overall, auditing job vacancies rose during the last year by a quarter, according to a survey from automation platform DataSnipper.', 'However, 86% of auditing staff agreed that AI helps cut down time on repetitive task - and 83% said they\'d be more inclined to stay at a company with AI initiatives in place. ""', 'They can get through some of the laborious, time-intensive tasks to actually get into the value of doing the analysis, the output and the interpretation,"" says Mr Campbell. ""', 'The bits of their role that it\'s taking away is stuff that they weren\'t enjoying.""']",0.1626808889918358,"AI is particularly good at spotting anomalies in vast amounts of data, making it useful when examining what may amount to billions of transactions by a client.","Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs.",0.3071962833404541,"Overall, auditing job vacancies rose during the last year by a quarter, according to a survey from automation platform DataSnipper.","Given that auditing is a relatively low-margin business, there's concern that the more widespread use of AI could lead to a loss of jobs.",2024-03-26
Amgen wants in on the booming weight loss drug market — and it's taking a different approach,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/24/amgen-aims-to-enter-weight-loss-drug-market-with-a-new-approach.html,2024-03-25T17:03:02+0000,"In this articleAmgen is taking a new approach as it tries to stand out in a crowded field of drugmakers racing to develop the next blockbuster weight loss drug.The biotech company is testing an injectable treatment that helps people lose weight differently from the existing injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, and other obesity medicines in development. Amgen's treatment, called MariTide, also appears to help patients keep weight off after they stop taking it.  The drugmaker is also testing its drug to be taken once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than the weekly medicines on the market. It's too early to say how competitive Amgen will be in the budding weight loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have so far dominated.Some analysts expect the market could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade, potentially leaving room for new competitors to enter. Goldman Sachs also projects that between 10 million and 70 million Americans will be taking weight loss drugs by 2028.The available data on Amgen's injectable drug is promising, but it's from a small, early-stage clinical trial. The Thousand Oaks, California-based company also is developing an oral medicine and other treatments for obesity, but has disclosed few details about them. Investors and health experts will likely get a better idea of Amgen's prospects later this year: The drugmaker expects to release initial data from an ongoing mid-stage trial on MariTide, along with phase one data on its obesity pill. It's also unclear whether Amgen's treatments will be cheaper than the existing weight loss drugs, which cost around $1,000 per month.Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Zepbound from Eli Lilly lead a new class of obesity treatments that has drawn unrelenting patient demand — and investor interest — despite their hefty price tags and limited insurance coverage. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.  Amgen's drug offers a new twist on weight loss. Much like Wegovy and Zepbound, one part of Amgen's treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help regulate a person's appetite. But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen's drug blocks it. Wegovy does not target GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.Amgen's decision to tamp down rather than boost GIP activity is based on genetics research suggesting that blocking the receptor is linked to lower fat mass and body weight, company executives have said. That appears to contradict how Zepbound works. Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial.But Amgen's MartiTide also was effective in a small, early-stage study. Patients given the highest dose of Amgen's drug — 420 milligrams — every month lost 14.5% of their body weight on average in just 12 weeks, according to data from the phase one trial published last month in the journal Nature Metabolism. There's a broader debate among researchers about why both approaches – blocking and activating GIP – are effective at promoting weight loss. One theory is that repeatedly activating the GIP receptor, as Zepbound does, ultimately causes the body to ""self-regulate"" itself and make sure there isn't too much GIP activity, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women's Hospital.That decreases GIP activity overall, which is thought to essentially mimic what Amgen's drug achieves when it blocks the GIP receptor. But Apovian cautioned that ""none of this is proven"" and more data is needed.Amgen's treatment may be better at helping people maintain weight loss than competitors, even though patients take it less frequently, early-stage trial data suggests.Amgen's study enrolled 110 patients with obesity but not diabetes. Patients in one group were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of the drug and were followed for 150 days, while a second group was given a dose every four weeks for three months. Patients who received a single shot of the highest dose of MariTide lost up to 8.2% of their body weight after 92 days. That suggests a single injection of the drug has a prolonged weight loss effect, according to the study authors. In the group that received multiple doses of the drug, patients appeared to maintain their maximum weight loss until around two months after their last dose. Their body weight started to slowly return after that. Still, their weight was as much as 11.2% lower five months after they received the last dose. ""We think meaningful weight loss is already 5%. If you take Amgen's drug, lose 14.5%, stop the drug and still have 11.2% weight loss after a few months, that's significant,"" said Dr. Holly Lofton, director of the Weight Management Program at NYU Langone Health and an obesity medicine physician. But she pointed out the need to study the treatment in a larger group of people. The sustained weight loss in Amgen's study appears to contrast with results seen in clinical trials on Zepbound and Wegovy. Patients in those studies saw their weight rebound sooner after stopping the injections. The frequency of Amgen's drug also sets it apart. Those on Wegovy or Zepbound have to take doses weekly, compared with the once-monthly MariTide. Amgen's trial used monthly dosing in part because patients saw sustained weight loss whether they had a single injection or multiple shots of the company's drug, according to the study authors. Amgen's treatment also can stay in the body for much longer than current therapies like Wegovy and Zepbound because it includes a monoclonal antibody, the authors added. Amgen's MariTide ""has that advantage where it's just going to last a lot longer. Even if you give a high dose, you're still going to have drug exposure in the body for a month or two months, so that clearly shows you don't need to take it every week,"" William Blair & Company analyst Matt Phipps told CNBC.Phipps said people typically don't want to get injections often, so some patients could prefer a monthly shot like Amgen's MariTide for a disease that will likely require chronic treatment. But he noted that a patient's choice may also depend on whether the level of weight loss and side effects of Amgen's drug end up being on par with those of the existing weekly injections. Amgen's ongoing phase two trial is exploring whether patients can take its drug even less frequently than once a month. Amgen's longer-term phase two study on nearly 600 patients will provide more clarity on how competitive MariTide will be against Wegovy and Zepbound. The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients. It expects to release initial trial results later this year. Some analysts have said the phase two trial could help address several questions, including how well patients tolerate the treatment at different dose regimens.The 52-week study is testing 11 different patient groups at a variety of dosing levels and regimens. That includes starting some patients at a lower dose of a drug and gradually increasing it until they reach a higher target dose. That dose escalation could help reduce side effects that some patients experienced after taking their first dose of MariTide in the phase one trial, according to Phipps.In that trial, the safety and side effects of Amgen's drug were similar to other GLP-1 medications. Nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported side effects, and typically lasted for about 72 hours. Four out of eight patients in a group receiving the highest dose of the treatment withdrew before getting a second shot after reporting mild gastrointestinal issues, according to the study. But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month. ""It's a little early to jump to the conclusion that the drug won't be tolerated by patients based on this phase one data,"" William Blair & Company's Phipps said.Another part of Amgen's phase two trial will also examine weight loss beyond 52 weeks, which will provide a clearer picture of how long the drug is effective.",CNBC,25/03/2024,"['In this articleAmgen is taking a new approach as it tries to stand out in a crowded field of drugmakers racing to develop the next blockbuster weight loss drug.', 'The biotech company is testing an injectable treatment that helps people lose weight differently from the existing injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, and other obesity medicines in development.', ""Amgen's treatment, called MariTide, also appears to help patients keep weight off after they stop taking it."", 'The drugmaker is also testing its drug to be taken once a month or even less frequently, which could offer more convenience than the weekly medicines on the market.', ""It's too early to say how competitive Amgen will be in the budding weight loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have so far dominated."", 'Some analysts expect the market could be worth $100 billion by the end of the decade, potentially leaving room for new competitors to enter.', ""Goldman Sachs also projects that between 10 million and 70 million Americans will be taking weight loss drugs by 2028.The available data on Amgen's injectable drug is promising, but it's from a small, early-stage clinical trial."", 'The Thousand Oaks, California-based company also is developing an oral medicine and other treatments for obesity, but has disclosed few details about them.', ""Investors and health experts will likely get a better idea of Amgen's prospects later this year: The drugmaker expects to release initial data from an ongoing mid-stage trial on MariTide, along with phase one data on its obesity pill."", ""It's also unclear whether Amgen's treatments will be cheaper than the existing weight loss drugs, which cost around $1,000 per month."", 'Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Zepbound from Eli Lilly lead a new class of obesity treatments that has drawn unrelenting patient demand — and investor interest — despite their hefty price tags and limited insurance coverage.', 'Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.', ""Amgen's drug offers a new twist on weight loss."", ""Much like Wegovy and Zepbound, one part of Amgen's treatment activates a gut hormone receptor called GLP-1 to help regulate a person's appetite."", ""But while Zepbound activates a second hormone receptor called GIP, Amgen's drug blocks it."", 'Wegovy does not target GIP, which suppresses appetite like GLP-1 but may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.', ""Amgen's decision to tamp down rather than boost GIP activity is based on genetics research suggesting that blocking the receptor is linked to lower fat mass and body weight, company executives have said."", 'That appears to contradict how Zepbound works.', ""Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial."", ""But Amgen's MartiTide also was effective in a small, early-stage study."", ""Patients given the highest dose of Amgen's drug — 420 milligrams — every month lost 14.5% of their body weight on average in just 12 weeks, according to data from the phase one trial published last month in the journal Nature Metabolism."", ""There's a broader debate among researchers about why both approaches – blocking and activating GIP – are effective at promoting weight loss."", 'One theory is that repeatedly activating the GIP receptor, as Zepbound does, ultimately causes the body to ""self-regulate"" itself and make sure there isn\'t too much GIP activity, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women\'s Hospital.', ""That decreases GIP activity overall, which is thought to essentially mimic what Amgen's drug achieves when it blocks the GIP receptor."", 'But Apovian cautioned that ""none of this is proven"" and more data is needed.', ""Amgen's treatment may be better at helping people maintain weight loss than competitors, even though patients take it less frequently, early-stage trial data suggests."", ""Amgen's study enrolled 110 patients with obesity but not diabetes."", 'Patients in one group were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of the drug and were followed for 150 days, while a second group was given a dose every four weeks for three months.', 'Patients who received a single shot of the highest dose of MariTide lost up to 8.2% of their body weight after 92 days.', 'That suggests a single injection of the drug has a prolonged weight loss effect, according to the study authors.', 'In the group that received multiple doses of the drug, patients appeared to maintain their maximum weight loss until around two months after their last dose.', 'Their body weight started to slowly return after that.', 'Still, their weight was as much as 11.2% lower five months after they received the last dose.', '""We think meaningful weight loss is already 5%.', 'If you take Amgen\'s drug, lose 14.5%, stop the drug and still have 11.2% weight loss after a few months, that\'s significant,"" said Dr. Holly Lofton, director of the Weight Management Program at NYU Langone Health and an obesity medicine physician.', 'But she pointed out the need to study the treatment in a larger group of people.', ""The sustained weight loss in Amgen's study appears to contrast with results seen in clinical trials on Zepbound and Wegovy."", 'Patients in those studies saw their weight rebound sooner after stopping the injections.', ""The frequency of Amgen's drug also sets it apart."", 'Those on Wegovy or Zepbound have to take doses weekly, compared with the once-monthly MariTide.', ""Amgen's trial used monthly dosing in part because patients saw sustained weight loss whether they had a single injection or multiple shots of the company's drug, according to the study authors."", ""Amgen's treatment also can stay in the body for much longer than current therapies like Wegovy and Zepbound because it includes a monoclonal antibody, the authors added."", 'Amgen\'s MariTide ""has that advantage where it\'s just going to last a lot longer.', 'Even if you give a high dose, you\'re still going to have drug exposure in the body for a month or two months, so that clearly shows you don\'t need to take it every week,"" William Blair & Company analyst Matt Phipps told CNBC.Phipps said people typically don\'t want to get injections often, so some patients could prefer a monthly shot like Amgen\'s MariTide for a disease that will likely require chronic treatment.', ""But he noted that a patient's choice may also depend on whether the level of weight loss and side effects of Amgen's drug end up being on par with those of the existing weekly injections."", ""Amgen's ongoing phase two trial is exploring whether patients can take its drug even less frequently than once a month."", ""Amgen's longer-term phase two study on nearly 600 patients will provide more clarity on how competitive MariTide will be against Wegovy and Zepbound."", 'The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients.', 'It expects to release initial trial results later this year.', 'Some analysts have said the phase two trial could help address several questions, including how well patients tolerate the treatment at different dose regimens.', 'The 52-week study is testing 11 different patient groups at a variety of dosing levels and regimens.', 'That includes starting some patients at a lower dose of a drug and gradually increasing it until they reach a higher target dose.', 'That dose escalation could help reduce side effects that some patients experienced after taking their first dose of MariTide in the phase one trial, according to Phipps.', ""In that trial, the safety and side effects of Amgen's drug were similar to other GLP-1 medications."", 'Nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported side effects, and typically lasted for about 72 hours.', 'Four out of eight patients in a group receiving the highest dose of the treatment withdrew before getting a second shot after reporting mild gastrointestinal issues, according to the study.', 'But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month.', '""It\'s a little early to jump to the conclusion that the drug won\'t be tolerated by patients based on this phase one data,"" William Blair & Company\'s Phipps said.', ""Another part of Amgen's phase two trial will also examine weight loss beyond 52 weeks, which will provide a clearer picture of how long the drug is effective.""]",0.0559512895439434,The company is exploring which dose strength and schedule is best for patients.,"But no other patients stopped taking the drug due to adverse events across any of the different dosing groups, Amgen Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton said during a conference earlier this month.",0.7454101455708345,Eli Lilly's approach has proven successful: The treatment helped patients with obesity lose up to 22.5% of their weight after 72 weeks in a late-stage trial.,"Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also struggled to offer enough supply of their treatments, which could give other companies a chance to win market share.",2024-03-26
"Canada Goose to cut 17% of its corporate workforce, following string of retail layoffs",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/canada-goose-to-cut-17percent-of-its-corporate-workforce.html,2024-03-26T20:31:34+0000,"In this articleCanada Goose said Tuesday that it will cut about 17% of its corporate workforce, following a string of other retailers that have laid off employees this year as consumers continue to pull back on discretionary spending. It is not clear how many employees will be laid off. The cuts will affect staff at Canada Goose's corporate headquarters, which had about 915 employees as of April 2023, according to a securities filing. Between April 2021 and April 2023, Canada Goose nearly doubled the number of employees at its corporate head offices from 544 to 915 to support its ""continued growth,"" the filing says.In a statement Tuesday, CEO Dani Reiss said, ""Today, we are realigning our teams to ensure that corporate resources are fit for purpose to fuel our next phase of growth across geographies, categories, and channels.""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.The cuts, part of the company's ongoing ""Transformation Program,"" come after what it called a ""comprehensive review"" of its organizational structure and the roles it needs to reach its goals. It expects the cuts will bring ""immediate"" cost savings and simplify its workforce, allowing it to make decisions more quickly and become more efficient. Shares of Canada Goose closed about 7% lower. In the three months that ended Dec. 31, Canada Goose saw sales grow 6% compared to the year-ago period, but the results fell short of analysts' expectations, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. When releasing its holiday-quarter results, Canada Goose noted that its wholesale revenues were particularly weak, an ongoing dynamic for the company that many other retailers have felt.Several retailers, including Under Armour and Nike, have said recently that wholesale orders have been sluggish as department stores look to keep inventories in check and contend with a slowdown in demand. The layoffs at Canada Goose come after Nike, Macy's, Wayfair, Hasbro and Etsy all announced widespread layoffs over the past few months. In many cases, the companies were looking to focus on what they can control by becoming more efficient and focusing on profits, even as shoppers pull back on discretionary items such as clothes, shoes and toys.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleCanada Goose said Tuesday that it will cut about 17% of its corporate workforce, following a string of other retailers that have laid off employees this year as consumers continue to pull back on discretionary spending.', 'It is not clear how many employees will be laid off.', ""The cuts will affect staff at Canada Goose's corporate headquarters, which had about 915 employees as of April 2023, according to a securities filing."", 'Between April 2021 and April 2023, Canada Goose nearly doubled the number of employees at its corporate head offices from 544 to 915 to support its ""continued growth,"" the filing says.', 'In a statement Tuesday, CEO Dani Reiss said, ""Today, we are realigning our teams to ensure that corporate resources are fit for purpose to fuel our next phase of growth across geographies, categories, and channels.', '""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.', 'The cuts, part of the company\'s ongoing ""Transformation Program,"" come after what it called a ""comprehensive review"" of its organizational structure and the roles it needs to reach its goals.', 'It expects the cuts will bring ""immediate"" cost savings and simplify its workforce, allowing it to make decisions more quickly and become more efficient.', 'Shares of Canada Goose closed about 7% lower.', ""In the three months that ended Dec. 31, Canada Goose saw sales grow 6% compared to the year-ago period, but the results fell short of analysts' expectations, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv."", 'When releasing its holiday-quarter results, Canada Goose noted that its wholesale revenues were particularly weak, an ongoing dynamic for the company that many other retailers have felt.', 'Several retailers, including Under Armour and Nike, have said recently that wholesale orders have been sluggish as department stores look to keep inventories in check and contend with a slowdown in demand.', ""The layoffs at Canada Goose come after Nike, Macy's, Wayfair, Hasbro and Etsy all announced widespread layoffs over the past few months."", 'In many cases, the companies were looking to focus on what they can control by becoming more efficient and focusing on profits, even as shoppers pull back on discretionary items such as clothes, shoes and toys.']",0.1798259420435697,"""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.","Several retailers, including Under Armour and Nike, have said recently that wholesale orders have been sluggish as department stores look to keep inventories in check and contend with a slowdown in demand.",0.0681341886520385,"""""We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives — brand, design and best-in-class operations — that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,"" Reiss said.","When releasing its holiday-quarter results, Canada Goose noted that its wholesale revenues were particularly weak, an ongoing dynamic for the company that many other retailers have felt.",2024-03-26
Vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso expands to lower-priced listings,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/vacation-home-co-ownership-site-pacaso-adds-lower-priced-listings.html,2024-03-26T12:32:23+0000,"Luxury vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso is attempting to appeal to the masses, as it grows its business during a pricey and competitive phase of the housing market.The company, which launched in 2020 with multimillion-dollar homes listed for co-ownership, is now introducing thousands more listings with share prices starting as low as $200,000. Previously, shares had been closer to half a million dollars, or higher.Pacaso lists shares of vacation homes, generally an eighth but sometimes larger shares, and then facilitates the purchase, including financing if necessary. It also furnishes and manages the home, divvying up the owners' time in the home through an app. It takes fees for both the purchase and the management.""You can afford a lot more home when you buy one eighth or one quarter of it when compared to purchasing the whole thing, and we're living in an environment right now where housing affordability is a problem,"" said Austin Allison, co-founder and CEO of Pacaso. ""Home prices are high, interest rates are high, so it's really difficult for people to afford the home of their dreams.""Unlike timeshares in resorts, where consumers buy the time, not the property, Pacaso owners can benefit from the home's value, which usually goes up over time.""Our owners who have resold have benefited from about 10% appreciation above and beyond what they paid for the underlying home previously. So the Pacaso shares generally track with the underlying real estate,"" said Allison.Wealthier buyers have been scooping up ski homes in Colorado and beach homes in Hawaii, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for their shares. Pacaso takes a hefty fee — between 10% and 15% of the value of the home on the front end — associated with aggregating the group of owners, facilitating the transaction, and setting up the co-ownership structure.Pacaso reached more than $1 billion in revenue last year, the company said.The company has, however, seen some backlash from communities that liken it to an Airbnb on steroids. There is even a website dedicated to fighting the company, called ""Stop Pacaso Now.""Residents of Sonoma, California, passed an ordinance prohibiting Pacaso from operating in that city. In St. Helena, California, which prohibits timeshares, Pacaso reached a settlement that protects its four homes already there, but the company is not allowed to expand to other properties.""We operate in more than 40 markets nationwide and in only a handful are we misunderstood,"" argued Allison. ""Our approach is to work with policymakers and educate them on the facts and benefits. Our belief is that over time this will prevail. It hasn't worked in Sonoma yet and a small handful of communities who have passed ordinances to resist the model.""Pacaso is also adding a new suite of services to help primary homebuyers access the home-sharing model. Roughly one-fifth of primary homebuyers last year purchased with either a friend or relative, according to real estate site Zillow.""People are now using co-ownership as a way to be able to afford houses that they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. So, it's not just happening in the vacation home space,"" said Allison.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['Luxury vacation home co-ownership platform Pacaso is attempting to appeal to the masses, as it grows its business during a pricey and competitive phase of the housing market.', 'The company, which launched in 2020 with multimillion-dollar homes listed for co-ownership, is now introducing thousands more listings with share prices starting as low as $200,000.', 'Previously, shares had been closer to half a million dollars, or higher.', 'Pacaso lists shares of vacation homes, generally an eighth but sometimes larger shares, and then facilitates the purchase, including financing if necessary.', ""It also furnishes and manages the home, divvying up the owners' time in the home through an app."", 'It takes fees for both the purchase and the management.', '""You can afford a lot more home when you buy one eighth or one quarter of it when compared to purchasing the whole thing, and we\'re living in an environment right now where housing affordability is a problem,"" said Austin Allison, co-founder and CEO of Pacaso. ""', ""Home prices are high, interest rates are high, so it's really difficult for people to afford the home of their dreams."", '""Unlike timeshares in resorts, where consumers buy the time, not the property, Pacaso owners can benefit from the home\'s value, which usually goes up over time.', '""Our owners who have resold have benefited from about 10% appreciation above and beyond what they paid for the underlying home previously.', 'So the Pacaso shares generally track with the underlying real estate,"" said Allison.', 'Wealthier buyers have been scooping up ski homes in Colorado and beach homes in Hawaii, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for their shares.', 'Pacaso takes a hefty fee — between 10% and 15% of the value of the home on the front end — associated with aggregating the group of owners, facilitating the transaction, and setting up the co-ownership structure.', 'Pacaso reached more than $1 billion in revenue last year, the company said.', 'The company has, however, seen some backlash from communities that liken it to an Airbnb on steroids.', 'There is even a website dedicated to fighting the company, called ""Stop Pacaso Now.', '""Residents of Sonoma, California, passed an ordinance prohibiting Pacaso from operating in that city.', 'In St. Helena, California, which prohibits timeshares, Pacaso reached a settlement that protects its four homes already there, but the company is not allowed to expand to other properties.', '""We operate in more than 40 markets nationwide and in only a handful are we misunderstood,"" argued Allison. ""', 'Our approach is to work with policymakers and educate them on the facts and benefits.', 'Our belief is that over time this will prevail.', ""It hasn't worked in Sonoma yet and a small handful of communities who have passed ordinances to resist the model."", '""Pacaso is also adding a new suite of services to help primary homebuyers access the home-sharing model.', 'Roughly one-fifth of primary homebuyers last year purchased with either a friend or relative, according to real estate site Zillow.', '""People are now using co-ownership as a way to be able to afford houses that they otherwise wouldn\'t be able to afford.', 'So, it\'s not just happening in the vacation home space,"" said Allison.']",0.1709373374093423,"""Pacaso is also adding a new suite of services to help primary homebuyers access the home-sharing model.","""We operate in more than 40 markets nationwide and in only a handful are we misunderstood,"" argued Allison. """,0.5203466150495741,"""Our owners who have resold have benefited from about 10% appreciation above and beyond what they paid for the underlying home previously.","Home prices are high, interest rates are high, so it's really difficult for people to afford the home of their dreams.",2024-03-26
ESPN’s model is eroding. Past and present execs are split on how it can protect its dominance,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/espn-executives-talk-streaming-plans-in-cnbc-documentary.html,2024-03-21T19:22:22+0000,"In this articleDisney's ESPN is at a crossroads.For more than 40 years, the world's largest all-sports network has grown annual revenue by increasing cable subscription fees. ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s. In 2023, ESPN's monthly carriage fee was $9.42 per subscriber, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.That business model is eroding. Since 2013, tens of millions of Americans have canceled their cable TV subscriptions, raising questions about ESPN's future in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. CNBC spoke with multiple current and former Disney and ESPN executives about the network's path ahead as part of the digital documentary ""ESPN's Fight for Dominance.""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter. The network can no longer rely on price increases to make up the difference as the number of cable customers declines.The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth. First, this fall, Disney will make ESPN available outside the traditional cable TV bundle for the first time as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. The service, which does not yet have a price, will target noncable customers who want to watch sports but don't want to pay $80 or $100 a month for a full bundle of networks.Second, in fall 2025 ESPN will launch its flagship streaming service that will include everything ESPN has to offer, both live and on demand. It will include unprecedented personalization and will interact with ESPN Bet, the company's licensed online sportsbook, and fantasy sports to cater to younger fans. The product will go well beyond ESPN+, which exists as a $10.99 streaming service that doesn't include ESPN's most expensive programming, such as all of ""Monday Night Football.""""The industry is in a transition phase right now,"" ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in an interview as part of CNBC's documentary.""We're seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. ""There's a transition to digital. That is by far the biggest component of our future.""Pitaro and head of programming Roz Durant defended ESPN's growth plan to CNBC, while former Disney and ESPN executives Bob Chapek, John Skipper and Mark Shapiro noted the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports faces multiple potential obstacles while it charts its path forward.Watch the documentary for the full story.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleDisney's ESPN is at a crossroads."", ""For more than 40 years, the world's largest all-sports network has grown annual revenue by increasing cable subscription fees."", 'ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s.', ""In 2023, ESPN's monthly carriage fee was $9.42 per subscriber, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence."", 'That business model is eroding.', ""Since 2013, tens of millions of Americans have canceled their cable TV subscriptions, raising questions about ESPN's future in an increasingly fragmented media landscape."", 'CNBC spoke with multiple current and former Disney and ESPN executives about the network\'s path ahead as part of the digital documentary ""ESPN\'s Fight for Dominance.', '""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter.', 'The network can no longer rely on price increases to make up the difference as the number of cable customers declines.', 'The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth.', 'First, this fall, Disney will make ESPN available outside the traditional cable TV bundle for the first time as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox.', ""The service, which does not yet have a price, will target noncable customers who want to watch sports but don't want to pay $80 or $100 a month for a full bundle of networks."", 'Second, in fall 2025 ESPN will launch its flagship streaming service that will include everything ESPN has to offer, both live and on demand.', ""It will include unprecedented personalization and will interact with ESPN Bet, the company's licensed online sportsbook, and fantasy sports to cater to younger fans."", 'The product will go well beyond ESPN+, which exists as a $10.99 streaming service that doesn\'t include ESPN\'s most expensive programming, such as all of ""Monday Night Football.', '""""The industry is in a transition phase right now,"" ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in an interview as part of CNBC\'s documentary.', '""We\'re seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. ""', ""There's a transition to digital."", 'That is by far the biggest component of our future.', '""Pitaro and head of programming Roz Durant defended ESPN\'s growth plan to CNBC, while former Disney and ESPN executives Bob Chapek, John Skipper and Mark Shapiro noted the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports faces multiple potential obstacles while it charts its path forward.', 'Watch the documentary for the full story.']",0.0337630750174359,The company has a new two-part streaming plan to reinvigorate growth.,ESPN first charged pay-TV distributors less than $1 per month per subscriber in the 1980s.,0.0013536512851715,"""ESPN reported domestic and international revenue grew just 1% to $4.4 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter.","""We're seeing declines in the traditional ecosystem, cable and satellite universe,"" Pitaro said. """,2024-03-26
‘I want to help people fly – and keep them safe’,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68489226,2024-03-22T00:15:02.000Z,"Student Pooja Umashankar clearly remembers when she first felt the roar of an aircraft taking off. She was 10 years old and travelling from Sri Lanka to the UK with her family. Through the window near her seat, she could see hundreds of tiny lights on the ground below.  ""It's just a piece of metal,"" she remembers marvelling, ""And it's flying now."" Today, a decade and a half later, Miss Umashankar has returned from Sri Lanka to study aircraft maintenance engineering at the University of South Wales. ""I knew that I wanted to do something that nobody had ever done in my town,"" she says. The aviation industry can't find enough people like Miss Umashankar. For years, airlines and engineering firms have struggled to hire maintenance engineers, and there is now a global shortage numbering in the tens of thousands.  This is a huge problem not least because aviation is expected to balloon in the coming decades. Industry estimates suggest that roughly 700,000 engineers will have to enter the profession between now and 2040 in order to satisfy demand.  Plus, after Boeing's recent 737 Max 9 door blowout - currently the subject of an investigation - engineers have been in especially high demand to perform increased checks on 737 Max aircraft of various models.  And trade association ADS says there are 10,000 vacancies in total across the UK's aerospace, defence, security and space industries. Miss Umashankar, who is now nearing the end of her three-year degree, says she wants to be a part of the solution. ""What motivates me is to… help people travel,"" she says. ""I want to help them fly - while being safe."" She says she has especially enjoyed working with electronics during her course but was not able to find an on-the-job training placement. However, Miss Umashankar has now started applying for full-time positions. She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.  Not many of her colleagues will be women, she knows. But that does not deter her: ""There's such a shortage of female engineers in this field, I just feel that maybe I should be one of them."" Redressing the severe gender imbalance in the industry could help tackle the shortage, some observers say. In the UK, fewer than 10% of aerospace and aviation engineers are women. The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University. Only 2.8% of US aircraft technicians are women. ""I don't think that there are enough women that are involved in the industry to act as mentors,"" she says. Multiple engineering firms contacted by the BBC declined to specify whether they were short of aviation technicians at present, or to what extent. AAR Corporation, however, says it has raised salaries and launched a programme to help US military veterans join the workforce. More than 60 such candidates have been hired since 2019, the firm notes. ST Engineering has started a mentorship programme in Singapore and is in talks to set up a training academy in the US. Meanwhile, Lufthansa Technik is working to attract more women into the industry. ""Large-scale recruitment of apprentices is still ongoing,"" a spokeswoman adds. The current focus on training is significant, says Daniel Olufisan, training director and principal consultant at Wing Engineering, which works in the aviation industry. It is partly down to the fact that fewer aircraft engineers these days are ex-military and, therefore, not as many people with hands-on experience are entering maintenance roles, he suggests. Another key reason for the shortage is that a high number of engineers in their 60s are now retiring from the profession. Aircraft maintenance is not as glamorous as it once was, suggests Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant at RW Mann & Company: ""Some of the benefits that then came with working for an airline, flying on staff passes for example, just aren't there anymore."" He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. ""This is not a test flying business, this is a consumer service,"" he says. Last year, manufacturer Airbus set a target of hiring 13,000 new employees, many of whom were engineers, though in Airbus's case most were destined to work on new aircraft designs rather than maintenance. A spokeswoman confirms that the company exceeded its target and also succeeded in hiring a large proportion of engineers (25% of the total). ""It does become harder and harder to source talented professional engineers,"" acknowledges Mark Crompton, global head of employment marketing. He adds that outreach to children of school age could help encourage them to consider the career. More technology of business Airbus, like many firms, is increasing apprenticeship and internship positions to help, too. The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023. But the industry as a whole is having to face up to the impact aviation is having on climate change and even more engineers are needed to develop cleaner aircraft, explains Mr Crompton. Nadeem Bandali is an aircraft maintenance engineer at Gatwick Airport. He says that when young people ask him about his job, he shows them videos of the kind of work he does to illustrate how practical it is. ""It's purely mechanical, fixing aircraft, troubleshooting aircraft systems,"" he explains.  As an example, just a few weeks ago, he and his colleagues were tasked with locating a fault in a long sensor wire that runs through the fuselage and wings of an A320. It took a few hours, but they found it and fixed it.  He is aware of the engineer shortage but says, ""I don't think safety is an issue at the moment."" Keeping planes in the air, without incident, is a worthwhile endeavour for Miss Umashankar. ""Aircraft,"" she says, ""connect the whole world into one."" ",BBC,22/03/2024,"['Student Pooja Umashankar clearly remembers when she first felt the roar of an aircraft taking off.', 'She was 10 years old and travelling from Sri Lanka to the UK with her family.', 'Through the window near her seat, she could see hundreds of tiny lights on the ground below. ""', 'It\'s just a piece of metal,"" she remembers marvelling, ""And it\'s flying now.""', 'Today, a decade and a half later, Miss Umashankar has returned from Sri Lanka to study aircraft maintenance engineering at the University of South Wales. ""', 'I knew that I wanted to do something that nobody had ever done in my town,"" she says.', ""The aviation industry can't find enough people like Miss Umashankar."", 'For years, airlines and engineering firms have struggled to hire maintenance engineers, and there is now a global shortage numbering in the tens of thousands.', 'This is a huge problem not least because aviation is expected to balloon in the coming decades.', 'Industry estimates suggest that roughly 700,000 engineers will have to enter the profession between now and 2040 in order to satisfy demand.', ""Plus, after Boeing's recent 737 Max 9 door blowout - currently the subject of an investigation - engineers have been in especially high demand to perform increased checks on 737 Max aircraft of various models."", ""And trade association ADS says there are 10,000 vacancies in total across the UK's aerospace, defence, security and space industries."", 'Miss Umashankar, who is now nearing the end of her three-year degree, says she wants to be a part of the solution. ""', 'What motivates me is to… help people travel,"" she says. ""', 'I want to help them fly - while being safe.""', 'She says she has especially enjoyed working with electronics during her course but was not able to find an on-the-job training placement.', 'However, Miss Umashankar has now started applying for full-time positions.', 'She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.', 'Not many of her colleagues will be women, she knows.', 'But that does not deter her: ""There\'s such a shortage of female engineers in this field, I just feel that maybe I should be one of them.""', 'Redressing the severe gender imbalance in the industry could help tackle the shortage, some observers say.', 'In the UK, fewer than 10% of aerospace and aviation engineers are women.', 'The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University.', 'Only 2.8% of US aircraft technicians are women. ""', 'I don\'t think that there are enough women that are involved in the industry to act as mentors,"" she says.', 'Multiple engineering firms contacted by the BBC declined to specify whether they were short of aviation technicians at present, or to what extent.', 'AAR Corporation, however, says it has raised salaries and launched a programme to help US military veterans join the workforce.', 'More than 60 such candidates have been hired since 2019, the firm notes.', 'ST Engineering has started a mentorship programme in Singapore and is in talks to set up a training academy in the US.', 'Meanwhile, Lufthansa Technik is working to attract more women into the industry. ""', 'Large-scale recruitment of apprentices is still ongoing,"" a spokeswoman adds.', 'The current focus on training is significant, says Daniel Olufisan, training director and principal consultant at Wing Engineering, which works in the aviation industry.', 'It is partly down to the fact that fewer aircraft engineers these days are ex-military and, therefore, not as many people with hands-on experience are entering maintenance roles, he suggests.', 'Another key reason for the shortage is that a high number of engineers in their 60s are now retiring from the profession.', 'Aircraft maintenance is not as glamorous as it once was, suggests Robert Mann, an industry analyst and consultant at RW Mann & Company: ""Some of the benefits that then came with working for an airline, flying on staff passes for example, just aren\'t there anymore.""', 'He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. ""', 'This is not a test flying business, this is a consumer service,"" he says.', ""Last year, manufacturer Airbus set a target of hiring 13,000 new employees, many of whom were engineers, though in Airbus's case most were destined to work on new aircraft designs rather than maintenance."", 'A spokeswoman confirms that the company exceeded its target and also succeeded in hiring a large proportion of engineers (25% of the total). ""', 'It does become harder and harder to source talented professional engineers,"" acknowledges Mark Crompton, global head of employment marketing.', 'He adds that outreach to children of school age could help encourage them to consider the career.', 'More technology of business Airbus, like many firms, is increasing apprenticeship and internship positions to help, too.', 'The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023.', 'But the industry as a whole is having to face up to the impact aviation is having on climate change and even more engineers are needed to develop cleaner aircraft, explains Mr Crompton.', 'Nadeem Bandali is an aircraft maintenance engineer at Gatwick Airport.', 'He says that when young people ask him about his job, he shows them videos of the kind of work he does to illustrate how practical it is. ""', 'It\'s purely mechanical, fixing aircraft, troubleshooting aircraft systems,"" he explains.', 'As an example, just a few weeks ago, he and his colleagues were tasked with locating a fault in a long sensor wire that runs through the fuselage and wings of an A320.', 'It took a few hours, but they found it and fixed it.', 'He is aware of the engineer shortage but says, ""I don\'t think safety is an issue at the moment.""', 'Keeping planes in the air, without incident, is a worthwhile endeavour for Miss Umashankar. ""', 'Aircraft,"" she says, ""connect the whole world into one.""']",0.1132175272645693,She hopes to work for an employer that will treat her with respect and provide further training.,"He stresses that a dearth of engineers is no excuse to cut corners on safety. """,0.1862073948508814,The number of such posts at Airbus climbed by 25% in 2023.,"The numbers are even worse across the Atlantic, says Gail Rouscher, a former aircraft maintenance engineer now at Western Michigan University.",2024-03-26
Fisker shares halted as EV company navigates uncertain future,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/cars/fisker-shares-halted-ev-company-uncertain-future/index.html,"
  Updated
        5:01 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Shares of Fisker, a California-based electric vehicle startup, were halted Monday. This comes after the company warned, in an earnings report in March, that it might not have enough cash to survive the year.
    
            Later in the day, the New York Stock Exchange announced it planned to delist Fisker’s stock due to “abnormally low” price levels. That delisting will mean the company must offer to buy back bonds that are currently due in 2026 and to immediately pay off other debts due in 2025, according to a filing the company made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
    
            “We do not currently have sufficient cash reserves or financing sources sufficient to satisfy all amounts due under the 2026 Notes or the 2025 Notes, and as a result, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition,” Fisker said in its filing.
    
            Fisker’s shares traded for as much as $28 in February of 2021, valuing the company at just under $8 billion, but its shares now currently trade for less than 10 cents per share, reducing the EV car maker’s total market capitalization to less than $50 million
    
            Fisker had also previously said it was in talks with a major, established automaker but, those talks have fallen apart without a deal, according to a regulatory filing Fisker made Monday. The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.
    
            Reuters had reported it was in talks with Nissan, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions. Those talks centered on Fisker’s planned electric pickup, the Alaska, according to the report.
    
            Fisker was founded by its chief executive officer, auto designer Henrik Fisker, in 2016. Its sole product, the Fisker Ocean electric SUV, was produced in Austria under contract by third-party manufacturer Magna Steyr. Last year, 10,000 SUVs were produced but, in its earnings report, the company said only about half had been delivered to customers.
    
            Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.
    
            Fisker had also announced plans to produce a small, affordable EV called the Pear. Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio. Those talks never came to fruition.
    
            And more bad news has been mounting for the company recently. The Ocean was the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube tech personality Marques Brownlee. The video was titled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”
    
            “Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description. Brownlee’s video has racked up more than 4.5 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.
    
            Consumer Reports also recently published its own review of the Ocean panning its ride quality and software although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.
    
            Henrik Fisker admitted, in an interview with the industry newspaper Automotive News, that the Ocean had quality problems. He blamed the issues on software from various suppliers that worked poorly together. He said the problems were being addressed through software updates.
    
            But, besides its own quality issues, Fisker had to deal with much greater competition from established automakers than had existed when the company was established. Now, besides Tesla, companies like Hyundai, Kia, Ford and General Motors offer electric SUVs that are substantially similar to the Ocean and without the risks of dealing with an unknown startup.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Shares of Fisker, a California-based electric vehicle startup, were halted Monday.', 'This comes after the company warned, in an earnings report in March, that it might not have enough cash to survive the year.', 'Later in the day, the New York Stock Exchange announced it planned to delist Fisker’s stock due to “abnormally low” price levels.', 'That delisting will mean the company must offer to buy back bonds that are currently due in 2026 and to immediately pay off other debts due in 2025, according to a filing the company made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.', '“We do not currently have sufficient cash reserves or financing sources sufficient to satisfy all amounts due under the 2026 Notes or the 2025 Notes, and as a result, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition,” Fisker said in its filing.', 'Fisker’s shares traded for as much as $28 in February of 2021, valuing the company at just under $8 billion, but its shares now currently trade for less than 10 cents per share, reducing the EV car maker’s total market capitalization to less than $50 million  Fisker had also previously said it was in talks with a major, established automaker but, those talks have fallen apart without a deal, according to a regulatory filing Fisker made Monday.', 'The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.', 'Reuters had reported it was in talks with Nissan, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions.', 'Those talks centered on Fisker’s planned electric pickup, the Alaska, according to the report.', 'Fisker was founded by its chief executive officer, auto designer Henrik Fisker, in 2016.', 'Its sole product, the Fisker Ocean electric SUV, was produced in Austria under contract by third-party manufacturer Magna Steyr.', 'Last year, 10,000 SUVs were produced but, in its earnings report, the company said only about half had been delivered to customers.', 'Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.', 'Fisker had also announced plans to produce a small, affordable EV called the Pear.', 'Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio.', 'Those talks never came to fruition.', 'And more bad news has been mounting for the company recently.', 'The Ocean was the subject of a scathing review by American YouTube tech personality Marques Brownlee.', 'The video wastitled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”', '“Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” reads the video’s description.', 'Brownlee’s video has racked up more than 4.5 million views so far, and it sent Fisker’s stock price plunging after its release.', 'Consumer Reports also recently published its own review of the Ocean panning its ride quality and software although the reviewers did like its cargo space, rear seat legroom and large glass moonroof.', 'Henrik Fisker admitted, in an interview with the industry newspaper Automotive News, that the Ocean had quality problems.', 'He blamed the issues on software from various suppliers that worked poorly together.', 'He said the problems were being addressed through software updates.', 'But, besides its own quality issues, Fisker had to deal with much greater competition from established automakers than had existed when the company was established.', 'Now, besides Tesla, companies like Hyundai, Kia, Ford and General Motors offer electric SUVs that are substantially similar to the Ocean and without the risks of dealing with an unknown startup.']",-0.030175502610655,"Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics company best known for manufacturing Apple’s iPhones, had been in discussions to produce the Pear at a Foxconn-owned factory in Ohio.","The video wastitled, “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed.”",-0.7807632522149519,"Henrik Fisker had expected that outsourcing manufacturing to Magna, a company that also builds cars for Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and others, would reduce the companies risks because it wouldn’t have to invest in its own manufacturing facilities.",The company’s troubles are another sign of the headwinds and speed bumps for the burgeoning EV industry.,2024-03-26
British Gas chief's pay package jumps to £8.2m,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68669446,2024-03-26T17:17:57.000Z,"The boss of Centrica, the energy giant which owns British Gas, has seen his pay package rise by almost £4m. Chris O'Shea's remuneration was £8.2m in 2023, up from £4.5m in 2022, according to the firm's annual report. The package consists of a salary of £810,000, a £1.4m annual bonus and £5.9m in long-term bonus, pension and benefits. In January, Mr O'Shea told the BBC his pay was ""impossible to justify"". Most of the increase, compared to 2022, comes from Mr O'Shea's long-term bonus, which mainly rose due to Centrica's soaring share price over the past three years. Carol Arrowsmith, the chair of Centrica's remuneration committee, said the company needed to attract and retain ""high performing executives who can lead this large and complex business"". She added that his pay was ""based on the terms he was appointed on"", and that ""the structure of the package was approved by our shareholders, and it is consistent with similar companies"". In 2023 British Gas announced profits had increased tenfold to £750m after regulator Ofgem allowed it to take a bigger slice of profits to recoup £500m it lost in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Centrica said its profits fell to a still-large £2.8bn after oil and gas prices dropped back to 2022 levels.  In January, Mr O'Shea described his combination of salary, bonus and shares as ""a huge amount of money"" and said he was ""incredibly fortunate"". During that interview Mr O'Shea pointed out that he did not set his pay and admitted that while energy customers were struggling with their bills ""you can't justify a salary of that size"". From April, the typical annual energy bill will fall to £1,690 to the lowest for two years under a new price cap set by Ofgem. It means a drop of £238 a year, or around £20 a month, for a household using a typical amount of energy. Energy prices are at their lowest level since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, even after April's drop, bills will remain well above pre-pandemic levels. The regulator's price cap affects 29 million households in England, Wales and Scotland. Rules are different in Northern Ireland, where prices are also falling. Ofgem sets the maximum amount suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity but not the total bill - so if you use more, you will pay more. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""The boss of Centrica, the energy giant which owns British Gas, has seen his pay package rise by almost £4m. Chris O'Shea's remuneration was £8.2m in 2023, up from £4.5m in 2022, according to the firm's annual report."", 'The package consists of a salary of £810,000, a £1.4m annual bonus and £5.9m in long-term bonus, pension and benefits.', 'In January, Mr O\'Shea told the BBC his pay was ""impossible to justify"".', ""Most of the increase, compared to 2022, comes from Mr O'Shea's long-term bonus, which mainly rose due to Centrica's soaring share price over the past three years."", 'Carol Arrowsmith, the chair of Centrica\'s remuneration committee, said the company needed to attract and retain ""high performing executives who can lead this large and complex business"".', 'She added that his pay was ""based on the terms he was appointed on"", and that ""the structure of the package was approved by our shareholders, and it is consistent with similar companies"".', ""In 2023 British Gas announced profits had increased tenfold to £750m after regulator Ofgem allowed it to take a bigger slice of profits to recoup £500m it lost in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine."", 'Centrica said its profits fell to a still-large £2.8bn after oil and gas prices dropped back to 2022 levels.', 'In January, Mr O\'Shea described his combination of salary, bonus and shares as ""a huge amount of money"" and said he was ""incredibly fortunate"".', 'During that interview Mr O\'Shea pointed out that he did not set his pay and admitted that while energy customers were struggling with their bills ""you can\'t justify a salary of that size"".', 'From April, the typical annual energy bill will fall to £1,690 to the lowest for two years under a new price cap set by Ofgem.', 'It means a drop of £238 a year, or around £20 a month, for a household using a typical amount of energy.', ""Energy prices are at their lowest level since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022."", ""However, even after April's drop, bills will remain well above pre-pandemic levels."", ""The regulator's price cap affects 29 million households in England, Wales and Scotland."", 'Rules are different in Northern Ireland, where prices are also falling.', 'Ofgem sets the maximum amount suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity but not the total bill - so if you use more, you will pay more.']",0.2275125553121911,"In January, Mr O'Shea described his combination of salary, bonus and shares as ""a huge amount of money"" and said he was ""incredibly fortunate"".","Ofgem sets the maximum amount suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity but not the total bill - so if you use more, you will pay more.",0.0006516218185424,"Most of the increase, compared to 2022, comes from Mr O'Shea's long-term bonus, which mainly rose due to Centrica's soaring share price over the past three years.",Centrica said its profits fell to a still-large £2.8bn after oil and gas prices dropped back to 2022 levels.,2024-03-26
"Britishvolt land will secure investment, say officials",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0v37nd2yvwo,2024-03-26T16:05:26.652Z,"Officials from a council's development company insist the site of a proposed gigafactory will attract investment in the future. Plans for a Britishvolt site, to produce electric car batteries at Cambois in Blyth, are currently stalled after the start-up company went into administration. A proposed £8.6m takeover by Australian firm Recharge Industries is yet to materialise, with the company missing several deadlines to pay an outstanding sum of cash. However, Advance Northumberland officials said they were confident the site would ""secure a significant investment at some point in time"". Advance Northumberland is a dedicated regeneration company wholly owned by Northumberland County Council. Speaking at Monday’s meeting of the council’s corporate services and economic growth scrutiny committee, officials gave an update on the current situation.  There was even praise for the work carried out by Britishvolt prior to its collapse. Advance Northumberland's director of economic growth, Michael Black, said Britishvolt had ""succeeded on a number of levels"". “They secured power and planning permission and carried out ground investigations,"" he said. ""We have a lot of knowledge about that site. “It will secure a significant investment at some point in time. It is about making sure it is the right thing at the right time.” Bedlington West councillor Malcolm Robinson, who is non-aligned, questioned whether any future project on the site would be the promised gigafactory.  Mr Robinson was concerned the site could be carved up with smaller “piecemeal” developments, replacing the previous proposals. Mr Black said: “It is a council-owned site. We’re working very closely with the council but it is a question mainly for the council. “We will support whatever the council wants to do. Fundamentally, it is one of the greatest opportunities that Northumberland has. “It is called the gigafatory site and everyone would like to see a gigafactory. The market will play a large role in that."" He added that Advance Northumberland had ""regular meetings"" with government because the site was ""deemed to be that important.” Follow BBC North East on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""Officials from a council's development company insist the site of a proposed gigafactory will attract investment in the future."", 'Plans for a Britishvolt site, to produce electric car batteries at Cambois in Blyth, are currently stalled after the start-up company went into administration.', 'A proposed £8.6m takeover by Australian firm Recharge Industries is yet to materialise, with the company missing several deadlines to pay an outstanding sum of cash.', 'However, Advance Northumberland officials said they were confident the site would ""secure a significant investment at some point in time"".', 'Advance Northumberland is a dedicated regeneration company wholly owned by Northumberland County Council.', 'Speaking at Monday’s meeting of the council’s corporate services and economic growth scrutiny committee, officials gave an update on the current situation.', 'There was even praise for the work carried out by Britishvolt prior to its collapse.', 'Advance Northumberland\'s director of economic growth, Michael Black, said Britishvolt had ""succeeded on a number of levels"". “', 'They secured power and planning permission and carried out ground investigations,"" he said. ""', 'We have a lot of knowledge about that site. “', 'It will secure a significant investment at some point in time.', 'It is about making sure it is the right thing at the right time.”', 'Bedlington West councillor Malcolm Robinson, who is non-aligned, questioned whether any future project on the site would be the promised gigafactory.', 'Mr Robinson was concerned the site could be carved up with smaller “piecemeal” developments, replacing the previous proposals.', 'Mr Black said: “It is a council-owned site.', 'We’re working very closely with the council but it is a question mainly for the council. “', 'We will support whatever the council wants to do.', 'Fundamentally, it is one of the greatest opportunities that Northumberland has. “', 'It is called the gigafatory site and everyone would like to see a gigafactory.', 'The market will play a large role in that.""', 'He added that Advance Northumberland had ""regular meetings"" with government because the site was ""deemed to be that important.”', 'Follow BBC North East on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.', 'Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk']",0.280627976037625,"Fundamentally, it is one of the greatest opportunities that Northumberland has. “","Plans for a Britishvolt site, to produce electric car batteries at Cambois in Blyth, are currently stalled after the start-up company went into administration.",0.7402050920895168,"Advance Northumberland's director of economic growth, Michael Black, said Britishvolt had ""succeeded on a number of levels"". “","Plans for a Britishvolt site, to produce electric car batteries at Cambois in Blyth, are currently stalled after the start-up company went into administration.",2024-03-26
"The last time Trump took a ‘DJT’ business public, it ended up in bankruptcy",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/investing/trump-stock/index.html,"
  Updated
        5:33 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Starting Tuesday, there’s a new company on the Nasdaq: Trump Media & Technology Group, which will trade under the stock ticker DJT.
    
            DJT, of course, stands for Donald John Trump, underscoring the company’s raison d’etre — giving a megaphone (and a serious cash infusion) to the presumptive Republican nominee. The company’s main product, Truth Social, was Trump’s quick and dirty solution to his ban on practically every mainstream social media app in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
    
            The social media app was never a blockbuster, though, and it’s unclear how the company will ever make money.
    
            If that all sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve been down this road before.
    
            While Trump Media may be new, its stock ticker is a throwback to Trump’s only other publicly traded company. Trump bestowed the same initials on his Atlantic City casino business, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, back when that company went public in 1995.
    
            It didn’t go great. At least, not for investors.
    
            Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts never turned a profit and ended up in bankruptcy in 2004, wiping out shareholders.
    
            Trump’s company lost money every single year of its existence, putting it more than $600 million in the red — despite owning premier Atlantic City casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal, a place so opulent Trump called it “the eighth wonder of the world.”
    
            The stock lost 90% its value in its first five years as a public company.
    
            Yet Trump himself made out fine. Between 1995 and 2004, Trump took home about $40 million in salary, bonuses and options — not unusual for a CEO. Then there were the less common moneymaking methods, including consulting contracts, licensing deals and reimbursements for the use of his personal jet and golf courses. Those atypical payments made up about half of the money Trump made during his tenure as the company’s leader.
    
            “The money I took out of there was incredible,” Trump told the New York Times in 2016.
    
            Trump’s stock holdings were wiped out in the bankruptcy. But he continued to make millions of dollars from the company after it came out of bankruptcy, pocketing $6.1 million from the re-named Trump Entertainment Resorts company, which traded under a new ticker — you guessed it! — TRMP.
    
            The new name and ticker didn’t help the company, though. It lost $2 billion over five years and filed for bankruptcy a second time in 2009.
    
            Like its predecessor, the new DJT is enjoying some market enthusiasm following the merger between Trump’s media entity and Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC surged 40% Monday and are up over 170% over the past six months.
    
            But a look at the fundamentals suggests the stock is wildly overvalued. Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to SEC filings. 
    
            “The stock price is clearly a bubble,” Yale law professor Jonathan Macey told my colleague Matt Egan last week. “No rational investor would take the stock at face value, especially if they had to hold it for any length of time.”
    
            Meanwhile, Truth Social’s user base is shrinking – more so than that of X, the company formerly known as Twitter.
    
            At current prices, Trump’s stake is valued at about $4 billion. In theory, he’s not allowed to sell that stock for several months after trading begins. But there could be workarounds to that so-called lock-up period, if the company’s board of directors allow it.
    
            And the board may be more amenable to green-lighting that now that Trump’s civil fraud bond obligation has shrunk by more than 60%. Trump would have to sell a much smaller sliver of his stake in Trump Media to cover his modified bond payment — $175 million, down from $454 million — to cover any shortfall.
    
            — CNN’s Matt Egan contributed reporting.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Starting Tuesday, there’s a new company on the Nasdaq:Trump Media & Technology Group, which will trade under the stock ticker DJT.', 'DJT, of course, stands for Donald John Trump, underscoring the company’s raison d’etre — giving a megaphone (and a serious cash infusion) to the presumptive Republican nominee.', 'The company’s main product, Truth Social, was Trump’s quick and dirty solution to his ban on practically every mainstream social media app in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.', 'The social media app was never a blockbuster, though, and it’s unclear how the company will ever make money.', 'If that all sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve been down this road before.', 'While Trump Media may be new, its stock ticker is a throwback to Trump’s only other publicly traded company.', 'Trump bestowed the same initials on his Atlantic City casino business, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, back when that company went public in 1995.', 'It didn’t go great.', 'At least, not for investors.', 'Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts never turned a profit and ended up in bankruptcy in 2004, wiping out shareholders.', 'Trump’s company lost money every single year of its existence, putting it more than $600 million inthe red — despite owning premier Atlantic City casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal, a place so opulent Trump called it “the eighth wonder of the world.”', 'The stock lost 90% its value in its first five years as a public company.', 'Yet Trump himself made out fine.', 'Between 1995 and 2004, Trump took home about $40 million in salary, bonuses and options — not unusual for a CEO.', 'Then there were the less common moneymaking methods, including consulting contracts, licensing deals and reimbursements for the use of his personal jet and golf courses.', 'Those atypical payments made up about half of the money Trump made during his tenure as the company’s leader.', '“The money I took out of there was incredible,” Trump told the New York Times in 2016.', 'Trump’s stock holdings were wiped out in the bankruptcy.', 'But he continued to make millions of dollars from the company after it came out of bankruptcy, pocketing $6.1 million from the re-named Trump Entertainment Resorts company, which traded under a new ticker — you guessed it! —', 'TRMP.', 'The new name and ticker didn’t help the company, though.', 'It lost $2 billion over five years and filed for bankruptcy a second time in 2009.', 'Like its predecessor, the new DJT is enjoying some market enthusiasm following the merger between Trump’s media entity and Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC surged 40% Monday and are up over 170% over the past six months.', 'But a look at the fundamentals suggests the stock is wildly overvalued.', 'Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according toSECfilings.', '“The stock price is clearly a bubble,” Yale law professor Jonathan Macey told my colleague Matt Egan last week. “', 'No rational investor would take the stock at face value, especially if they had to hold it for any length of time.”', 'Meanwhile, Truth Social’s user base is shrinking – more so than that of X, the company formerly known as Twitter.', 'At current prices, Trump’s stake is valued at about $4 billion.', 'In theory, he’s not allowed to sell that stock for several months after trading begins.', 'But there could be workarounds to that so-called lock-up period, if the company’s board of directors allow it.', 'And the board may be more amenable to green-lighting that now that Trump’s civil fraud bond obligation has shrunk by more than 60%.', 'Trump would have to sell a much smaller sliver of his stake in Trump Media to cover his modified bond payment — $175 million, down from $454 million — to cover any shortfall.', '— CNN’s Matt Egan contributed reporting.']",0.0647258032024685,"Like its predecessor, the new DJT is enjoying some market enthusiasm following the merger between Trump’s media entity and Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC surged 40% Monday and are up over 170% over the past six months.","The company’s main product, Truth Social, was Trump’s quick and dirty solution to his ban on practically every mainstream social media app in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.",-0.3509162505467733,"Like its predecessor, the new DJT is enjoying some market enthusiasm following the merger between Trump’s media entity and Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC surged 40% Monday and are up over 170% over the past six months.","Trump’s company lost money every single year of its existence, putting it more than $600 million inthe red — despite owning premier Atlantic City casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal, a place so opulent Trump called it “the eighth wonder of the world.”",2024-03-26
Opinion: The drama around Sam Altman is an urgent warning,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/21/opinions/sam-altman-openai-ouster-danger-filipovic/index.html,"
  Published
        9:50 AM EST, Tue November 21, 2023
    ","The biggest tech news this week is the ouster of Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI, a move that has shaken the company and the industry. Hundreds of OpenAI employees have threatened to resign. Altman has already moved on to a role at Microsoft. And OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on its third CEO in as many days.
    
            It’s all very juicy. But this drama should also be raising larger questions, far beyond one company’s internal hirings and firings, including: Who are the people making the decisions that will determine so much of our technological future? What guiding principles are they using to make those decisions? And how should other institutions – governments, non-tech industries, global alliances, regulatory bodies – reign in the worst excesses of potentially dangerous AI innovators?
    
            OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, with an explicit mission to harness what may soon be superhuman intelligence “to benefit humanity as a whole.” But that sensibility hasn’t lasted. The company now has a multi-billion-dollar for-profit arm. They have been developing new technologies at lightning speed, and sometimes sending them out to the public before some employees believed they were ready. The company has already reportedly invented an AI technology so dangerous they will never release it – but they also won’t tell reporters or the public exactly what it is.
    
            This dynamic – a potentially dangerous technology developed at extreme speed, largely behind closed doors – is partly to blame for Altman’s firing. The OpenAI board, according to CNN’s David Goldman, worried that “the company was making the technological equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and its caretaker, Sam Altman, was moving so fast that he risked a global catastrophe.” At particular issue seemed to be Altman’s efforts to make the tools behind ChatGPT available to anyone who wanted to make their own version of the chatbot. This could be widely disastrous, some board members worried.
    
            But then they fired him without warning, and apparently without involving Microsoft, the company’s largest shareholder. Now, Altman is at the new AI group at Microsoft, and one has to wonder if the oversight and caution there will be on par with that at OpenAI, or if he’ll be handed carte blanche to push as fast and hard as he wants. And for all the justified reticence of the OpenAI board, the company has carried out much of its work in secrecy – without the public really understanding what a handful of unaccountable technologists are building, and how it is nearly guaranteed to indelibly change their lives.
    
            AI is broadly understood to have the potential to reshape vast swaths of human existence. At the very least, it seems nearly guaranteed to change how we process information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work (and if we work). And the ramifications could be much more extreme. AI technologies have already demonstrated the ability to lie and to cover their tracks. They have already been able to suggest the design to make a virus spread more quickly. Many researchers acutely understand just how quickly these machines could develop the capacity to annihilate us, including Altman: He has a prepper’s paradise prepared in Big Sur, complete with guns and “gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force” in case AI goes off the rails and the robots go to war against humans, according to reporting in the New Yorker.
    
            But don’t worry, he told an Atlantic reporter: If AI is determined to wipe us out, “no gas mask is helping anyone.” (If you want an excellent and terrifying rundown of AI’s risks – at least those we understand right now, which are almost certainly a mere sliver of the looming perils – the Atlantic profile of Altman and his technology is worth a read).
    
            AI is very exciting technology. But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”
    
            Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed. And yet the development is being left to a handful of people (who seem to be largely men) in Silicon Valley, and other tech pockets around the globe. And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit.
    
            Do the interests of the public align with the interests of the shareholders to whom profit-driven, potentially tremendously lucrative-for-a-few companies are beholden? Or with the interests of tech entrepreneurs who are primarily excited about being at the forefront of the AI revolution, regardless of the potential human costs?
    
            One thing is clear: AI is coming. And how it is built and unleashed on the public matters more than perhaps any technology of the past century. It is, indeed, up there with the atom bomb in its destructive potential – except likely more difficult to regulate and control.
    
            “Regulation” does not begin to scratch the surface of what’s needed to make sure that the AI future is not a catastrophic one, especially since the development of AI is now a massive international arms race, with particularly horrific implications if bad actors develop this technology first. But regulation is, at minimum, a necessary step.
    
            So is transparency: In the US, companies have wide leverage to work behind a veil of secrecy, and much of what AI companies do is kept secret to stymy competition. But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.
    
            The Altman story is fascinating because Altman is the most powerful figure in AI technology, which in effect makes him one of the most powerful men in the world. But that should give us pause: Who is he, what power does he hold, what is he doing with it, who does he answer to, and are we comfortable with this much life-altering potential being held by a few unaccountable people?",CNN,21/11/2023,"['The biggest tech news this week is theousterof Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI, a move that has shaken the company and the industry.', 'Hundreds of OpenAI employees have threatened toresign.', 'Altman has alreadymoved onto a role at Microsoft.', 'And OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on itsthird CEOin as many days.', 'It’s all very juicy.', 'But this drama should also be raising larger questions, far beyond one company’s internal hirings and firings, including: Who are the people making the decisionsthat will determine so much of our technological future?', 'What guiding principles are they using to make those decisions?', 'And how should other institutions – governments, non-tech industries, global alliances, regulatory bodies – reign in the worst excesses of potentially dangerous AI innovators?', 'OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, with an explicit mission to harness what may soon be superhuman intelligence “to benefit humanity as a whole.”', 'But that sensibility hasn’t lasted.', 'The company now has a multi-billion-dollar for-profit arm.', 'They have been developing new technologies at lightning speed, and sometimes sending them out to the publicbefore some employees believed they were ready.', 'The company has already reportedly invented an AI technology so dangerous they will never release it – but they alsowon’t tellreporters or the public exactly what it is.', 'This dynamic – a potentially dangerous technology developed at extreme speed, largely behind closed doors – is partly to blame for Altman’s firing.', 'The OpenAI board, according toCNN’s David Goldman, worried that “the company was making the technological equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and its caretaker, Sam Altman, was moving so fast that he risked a global catastrophe.”', 'At particular issue seemed to be Altman’s efforts to make the tools behind ChatGPT available to anyone who wanted to make their own version of the chatbot.', 'This could be widely disastrous, some board members worried.', 'But then they fired him without warning, and apparently without involving Microsoft, the company’s largest shareholder.', 'Now, Altman is at the new AI group at Microsoft, and one has to wonder if the oversight and caution there will be on par with that at OpenAI, or if he’ll be handed carte blanche to push as fast and hard as he wants.', 'And for all the justified reticence of the OpenAI board, the company has carried out much of its work in secrecy – without the public really understanding what a handful of unaccountable technologists are building, and how it is nearly guaranteed to indelibly change their lives.', 'AI is broadly understood to have the potential to reshape vast swaths of human existence.', 'At the very least, it seems nearly guaranteed to change how we process information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work (and if we work).', 'And the ramifications could be much more extreme.', 'AI technologies have already demonstrated the abilityto lie and to cover their tracks.', 'They have already been able tosuggest the designto make a virus spread more quickly.', 'Many researchersacutely understandjust how quickly these machines could develop the capacity to annihilate us, including Altman: He has a prepper’s paradise prepared in Big Sur, complete with guns and “gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force” in case AI goes off the rails and the robots go to war against humans,according to reporting in the New Yorker.', 'But don’t worry, he told an Atlantic reporter: If AI is determined to wipe us out, “no gas mask is helping anyone.” (', 'If you want an excellent and terrifying rundown of AI’s risks – at least those we understand right now, which are almost certainly a mere sliver of the looming perils –the Atlantic profile of Altman and his technologyis worth a read).', 'AI is very exciting technology.', 'But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”', 'Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed.', 'And yet the development is being left to a handful of people (who seem to belargelymen) in Silicon Valley, and other tech pockets around the globe.', 'And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit.', 'Do the interests of the public align with the interests of the shareholders to whom profit-driven, potentially tremendously lucrative-for-a-few companies are beholden?', 'Or with the interests of tech entrepreneurs who are primarily excited about being at the forefront of the AI revolution, regardless of the potential human costs?', 'One thing is clear: AI is coming.', 'And how it is built and unleashed on the public matters more than perhaps any technology of the past century.', 'It is, indeed, up there with the atom bomb in its destructive potential – except likely more difficult to regulate and control.', '“Regulation” does not begin to scratch the surface of what’s needed to make sure that the AI future is not a catastrophic one, especially since the development of AI is now a massive international arms race, with particularly horrific implications if bad actors develop this technology first.', 'But regulation is, at minimum, a necessary step.', 'So is transparency: In the US, companies have wide leverage to work behind a veil of secrecy, and much of what AI companies do is kept secret to stymy competition.', 'But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.', 'The Altman story is fascinating because Altman is the most powerful figure in AI technology, which in effect makes him one of the most powerful men in the world.', 'But that should give us pause: Who is he, what power does he hold, what is he doing with it, who does he answer to, and are we comfortable with this much life-altering potential being held by a few unaccountable people?']",0.0034737194649936,"But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety.","But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”",-0.2999434590339661,AI technologies have already demonstrated the abilityto lie and to cover their tracks.,"But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.”",2024-03-26
Donald Trump media firm soars in stock market debut,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68667664,2024-03-26T14:16:15.000Z,"Shares in Donald Trump's media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market.  Shares surged past $70 in early trade, giving the firm a market value of more than $9bn. They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.  The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $4bn. Analysts say that is far more than the firm's performance warrants.  Trump Media's Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m.  It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active.  By comparison, the recently-listed Reddit currently has a market value of about $11bn. It boasts more than 70 million users and brought in $800m in revenue last year.  Kristi Marvin, chief executive of SPACInsider, compared Trump Media - which trades under the ticker DJT for Mr Trump's initials - to a meme stock, in which prices are untethered from the business prospects. Interest in Trump Media has also been fuelled by individual investors, as opposed to Wall Street firms, many of them apparently Trump supporters.  ""Everybody expected to trade a little bit crazy today, which it has,"" she said. ""The real question is how does it trade a week from now, two weeks from now and nobody really knows."" The deal to list Trump Media was first announced in 2021. The move was accomplished via what is known as a SPAC, a merger with a publicly listed shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, which was expressly created to buy a company and take it public. The deal was delayed by government investigations and other hurdles, but regulators cleared it earlier this year and Digital World shareholders voted in favour last week. Ahead of the listing on the Nasdaq exchange, Trump Media officials called it a ""pivotal moment"" for the firm - and the wider media landscape.  ""As a public company, we will passionately pursue our vision to build a movement to reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors,"" said Trump Media chief executive Devin Nunes, a former congressman.  ""We will continue to fulfil our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbour for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors."" The debut comes at a critical moment for Mr Trump, who has been scrambling for cash to pay legal penalties and owns more than half of the firm's shares. He is currently barred from selling his holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately. The company's board, which is stocked with allies including one of his sons, could potentially change that rule, but analysts have said they think that would be unlikely to happen immediately. If Mr Trump were to sell a significant chunk of his shares, it could hurt the share price.  Investors face other risks as well, tied to Mr Trump's political fortunes and his 2024 presidential campaign. A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University. However, Prof Ohlrogge said the current share price is ""far, far elevated above what anyone would consider its fundamental value"". ",BBC,26/03/2024,"[""Shares in Donald Trump's media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market."", 'Shares surged past $70 in early trade, giving the firm a market value of more than $9bn.', 'They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.', 'The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $4bn.', ""Analysts say that is far more than the firm's performance warrants."", ""Trump Media's Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m. It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active."", 'By comparison, the recently-listed Reddit currently has a market value of about $11bn.', 'It boasts more than 70 million users and brought in $800m in revenue last year.', ""Kristi Marvin, chief executive of SPACInsider, compared Trump Media - which trades under the ticker DJT for Mr Trump's initials - to a meme stock, in which prices are untethered from the business prospects."", 'Interest in Trump Media has also been fuelled by individual investors, as opposed to Wall Street firms, many of them apparently Trump supporters. ""', 'Everybody expected to trade a little bit crazy today, which it has,"" she said. ""', 'The real question is how does it trade a week from now, two weeks from now and nobody really knows.""', 'The deal to list Trump Media was first announced in 2021.', 'The move was accomplished via what is known as a SPAC, a merger with a publicly listed shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, which was expressly created to buy a company and take it public.', 'The deal was delayed by government investigations and other hurdles, but regulators cleared it earlier this year and Digital World shareholders voted in favour last week.', 'Ahead of the listing on the Nasdaq exchange, Trump Media officials called it a ""pivotal moment"" for the firm - and the wider media landscape. ""', 'As a public company, we will passionately pursue our vision to build a movement to reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors,"" said Trump Media chief executive Devin Nunes, a former congressman. ""', 'We will continue to fulfil our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbour for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors.""', ""The debut comes at a critical moment for Mr Trump, who has been scrambling for cash to pay legal penalties and owns more than half of the firm's shares."", 'He is currently barred from selling his holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately.', ""The company's board, which is stocked with allies including one of his sons, could potentially change that rule, but analysts have said they think that would be unlikely to happen immediately."", 'If Mr Trump were to sell a significant chunk of his shares, it could hurt the share price.', ""Investors face other risks as well, tied to Mr Trump's political fortunes and his 2024 presidential campaign."", 'A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University.', 'However, Prof Ohlrogge said the current share price is ""far, far elevated above what anyone would consider its fundamental value"".']",0.2659210338425756,"A loss might be expected to hurt the share price, but a win could have the opposite effect, especially if it generated further demand from buyers hoping to curry favour with Mr Trump, said Michael Ohlrogge, a law professor at New York University.","He is currently barred from selling his holdings for at least six months, making it difficult for him to tap the windfall immediately.",0.4114337888630954,"They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%.","Trump Media's Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine months of last year and lost nearly $50m. It says 8.9 million accounts have been created since the platform launched to the general public in 2022 as an alternative to mainstream sites such as Facebook, but it is not clear how many are active.",2024-03-26
George Lucas backs Disney CEO Bob Iger in proxy fight with Nelson Peltz,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/george-lucas-backs-disney-ceo-bob-iger-in-nelson-peltz-proxy-fight.html,2024-03-19T22:17:24+0000,"In this articleFilmmaker and Hollywood legend George Lucas is throwing his support behind Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger in the bitter proxy battle between the company and activist investor Nelson Peltz.Lucas, who received 37.1 million Disney shares as part of Disney's $4.05 billion purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, is currently the largest individual investor in the company, multiple sources confirmed to CNBC.In a statement provided to CNBC, Lucas wrote:""Creating magic is not for amateurs. When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my long-time admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger's leadership. When Bob recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved. No one knows Disney better. I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob's track record of driving long-term value. I have voted all of my shares for Disney's 12 directors and urge other shareholders to do the same.""Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements in its battle against Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.But the support from the Lucas endorsement is key, not only because of his role as Disney's largest individual shareholder, but also because of his standing in Hollywood. Lucas wrote and created the ""Star Wars"" and ""Indiana Jones"" franchises, some of the most popular films in history, and he helped pioneer tools such as digital film editing and computer-generated imagery.Peltz has asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3. Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he thinks have been a shrinking business.Iger, meanwhile, has been trying to streamline the sprawling media company to rein in spending and make its Disney+ streaming platform profitable. Iger has instituted broad restructuring, including thousands of layoffs.",CNBC,19/03/2024,"['In this articleFilmmaker and Hollywood legend George Lucas is throwing his support behind Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger in the bitter proxy battle between the company and activist investor Nelson Peltz.', 'Lucas, who received 37.1 million Disney shares as part of Disney\'s $4.05 billion purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, is currently the largest individual investor in the company, multiple sources confirmed to CNBC.In a statement provided to CNBC, Lucas wrote:""Creating magic is not for amateurs.', ""When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my long-time admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger's leadership."", 'When Bob recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved.', 'No one knows Disney better.', ""I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob's track record of driving long-term value."", ""I have voted all of my shares for Disney's 12 directors and urge other shareholders to do the same."", '""Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements in its battle against Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.', ""But the support from the Lucas endorsement is key, not only because of his role as Disney's largest individual shareholder, but also because of his standing in Hollywood."", 'Lucas wrote and created the ""Star Wars"" and ""Indiana Jones"" franchises, some of the most popular films in history, and he helped pioneer tools such as digital film editing and computer-generated imagery.', 'Peltz has asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3.', ""Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he thinks have been a shrinking business."", 'Iger, meanwhile, has been trying to streamline the sprawling media company to rein in spending and make its Disney+ streaming platform profitable.', 'Iger has instituted broad restructuring, including thousands of layoffs.']",0.2164459397978921,I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob's track record of driving long-term value.,In this articleFilmmaker and Hollywood legend George Lucas is throwing his support behind Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger in the bitter proxy battle between the company and activist investor Nelson Peltz.,0.6152708133061727,"Iger, meanwhile, has been trying to streamline the sprawling media company to rein in spending and make its Disney+ streaming platform profitable.","Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he thinks have been a shrinking business.",2024-03-26
Dragon Ball: First theme park to be built in Saudi Arabia,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68653311,2024-03-25T03:25:33.000Z,"Saudi Arabia has announced it will build a theme park based on the famed Japanese animated series Dragon Ball, sparking mixed reactions from fans. It will feature a 70m (229.6ft) dragon at its centre and at least 30 rides, the firm behind the project says. The park would be the world's first such attraction based on the popular media franchise. The announcement was met with some criticism from fans, citing Saudi Arabia's human rights record. The park will cover more than half a million square metres, according to Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) which is wholly owned by the Saudi Arabian government's investment fund. The plans are part of ""a long-term strategic partnership"" between the QIC and Toei Animation, the Japanese producer of Dragon Ball. According to the official Dragon Ball website, the park will include a roller coaster inside the dragon modelled after Shenron, a wish-giving dragon that features in the franchise. Qiddiya is a major entertainment and tourism project being built near Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh. It is part of the energy-rich nation's plans to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels. While some Dragon Ball fans have welcomed the plans for the theme park, others on social media have questioned the decision to locate the attraction in Saudi Arabia. The country has been criticised for its human rights record, treatment of women and lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ rights. The announcement comes just weeks after the death of Dragon Ball's creator, Akira Toriyama. Toriyama died on 1 March, aged 68. Only his family and very few friends attended his funeral, according to a statement on the Dragon Ball website. Fans around the world paid tribute to Toriyama for creating characters that have become a part of their lives. The Dragon Ball comic series debuted in 1984. It follows a boy named Son Goku in his quest to collect magical dragon balls that can give him super powers. It is one of the most influential and best-selling Japanese comics of all time. ",BBC,25/03/2024,"['Saudi Arabia has announced it will build a theme park based on the famed Japanese animated series Dragon Ball, sparking mixed reactions from fans.', 'It will feature a 70m (229.6ft) dragon at its centre and at least 30 rides, the firm behind the project says.', ""The park would be the world's first such attraction based on the popular media franchise."", ""The announcement was met with some criticism from fans, citing Saudi Arabia's human rights record."", ""The park will cover more than half a million square metres, according to Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) which is wholly owned by the Saudi Arabian government's investment fund."", 'The plans are part of ""a long-term strategic partnership"" between the QIC and Toei Animation, the Japanese producer of Dragon Ball.', 'According to the official Dragon Ball website, the park will include a roller coaster inside the dragon modelled after Shenron, a wish-giving dragon that features in the franchise.', ""Qiddiya is a major entertainment and tourism project being built near Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh."", ""It is part of the energy-rich nation's plans to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels."", 'While some Dragon Ball fans have welcomed the plans for the theme park, others on social media have questioned the decision to locate the attraction in Saudi Arabia.', 'The country has been criticised for its human rights record, treatment of women and lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ rights.', ""The announcement comes just weeks after the death of Dragon Ball's creator, Akira Toriyama."", 'Toriyama died on 1 March, aged 68.', 'Only his family and very few friends attended his funeral, according to a statement on the Dragon Ball website.', 'Fans around the world paid tribute to Toriyama for creating characters that have become a part of their lives.', 'The Dragon Ball comic series debuted in 1984.', 'It follows a boy named Son Goku in his quest to collect magical dragon balls that can give him super powers.', 'It is one of the most influential and best-selling Japanese comics of all time.']",0.1568545183713424,It is one of the most influential and best-selling Japanese comics of all time.,"The country has been criticised for its human rights record, treatment of women and lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ rights.",-0.4214251190423965,It is part of the energy-rich nation's plans to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels.,"The country has been criticised for its human rights record, treatment of women and lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ rights.",2024-03-26
Elon Musk's X anti-hate group case thrown out,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68657840,2024-03-25T21:21:53.000Z,"A US judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk's social media firm X against a group that had claimed that hate speech had risen on the platform since the tech tycoon took over.  X had accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) of taking ""unlawful"" steps to access its data. The US judge dismissed the case and said it was ""evident"" Mr Musk's X Corp did not like criticism.  X said it planned to appeal.  Imran Ahmed, founder and chief executive of CCDH, celebrated the win, saying Mr Musk had conducted a ""loud, hypocritical campaign"" of harassment and abuse against his organisation in an attempt to ""avoid taking responsibility for his own decisions"". ""The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies"" he said, adding that he hoped the ruling would ""embolden"" others to ""continue and even intensify"" similar work. It is a striking loss for the billionaire, a self-described ""free-speech absolutist"". The company, formerly known as Twitter, launched its lawsuit against CCDH in 2023, claiming its researchers had cherry-picked data to create misleading reports about X.  It accused the group of ""intentionally and unlawfully"" scraping data from X, in violation of its terms of service, in order to produce its research.  It said the non-profit group designed a ""scare campaign"" to drive away advertisers, and it demanded tens of millions of dollars in damages. But in his decision Judge Charles Breyer said Mr Musk was ""punishing the defendants for their speech"". Judge Breyer said X appeared ""far more concerned about CCDH's speech than it is its data collection methods"". He said the company had ""brought this case in order to punish CCDH for ... publications that criticised X Corp - and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism"". Mr Musk purchased the platform in 2022 for $44bn (£34bn) and swiftly embarked on a slew of controversial changes, sharply reducing its workforce with deep cuts to teams in charge of content moderation and other areas. His own posts have also drawn charges of anti-semitism, a claim he has denied.  ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""A US judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk's social media firm X against a group that had claimed that hate speech had risen on the platform since the tech tycoon took over."", 'X had accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) of taking ""unlawful"" steps to access its data.', 'The US judge dismissed the case and said it was ""evident"" Mr Musk\'s X Corp did not like criticism.', 'X said it planned to appeal.', 'Imran Ahmed, founder and chief executive of CCDH, celebrated the win, saying Mr Musk had conducted a ""loud, hypocritical campaign"" of harassment and abuse against his organisation in an attempt to ""avoid taking responsibility for his own decisions"". ""', 'The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies"" he said, adding that he hoped the ruling would ""embolden"" others to ""continue and even intensify"" similar work.', 'It is a striking loss for the billionaire, a self-described ""free-speech absolutist"".', 'The company, formerly known as Twitter, launched its lawsuit against CCDH in 2023, claiming its researchers had cherry-picked data to create misleading reports about X. It accused the group of ""intentionally and unlawfully"" scraping data from X, in violation of its terms of service, in order to produce its research.', 'It said the non-profit group designed a ""scare campaign"" to drive away advertisers, and it demanded tens of millions of dollars in damages.', 'But in his decision Judge Charles Breyer said Mr Musk was ""punishing the defendants for their speech"".', 'Judge Breyer said X appeared ""far more concerned about CCDH\'s speech than it is its data collection methods"".', 'He said the company had ""brought this case in order to punish CCDH for ... publications that criticised X Corp - and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism"".', 'Mr Musk purchased the platform in 2022 for $44bn (£34bn) and swiftly embarked on a slew of controversial changes, sharply reducing its workforce with deep cuts to teams in charge of content moderation and other areas.', 'His own posts have also drawn charges of anti-semitism, a claim he has denied.']",-0.3560621132186367,"The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies"" he said, adding that he hoped the ruling would ""embolden"" others to ""continue and even intensify"" similar work.","The company, formerly known as Twitter, launched its lawsuit against CCDH in 2023, claiming its researchers had cherry-picked data to create misleading reports about X. It accused the group of ""intentionally and unlawfully"" scraping data from X, in violation of its terms of service, in order to produce its research.",-0.0377290646235148,"The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies"" he said, adding that he hoped the ruling would ""embolden"" others to ""continue and even intensify"" similar work.","It is a striking loss for the billionaire, a self-described ""free-speech absolutist"".",2024-03-26
Advisory firm ISS tells Disney shareholders to side with Nelson Peltz in proxy fight,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/proxy-advisory-firm-iss-backs-nelson-peltz-in-disney-proxy-fight.html,2024-03-21T16:28:18+0000,"In this articleProxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services on Thursday recommended that Walt Disney shareholders elect activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board in his bitter fight against CEO Bob Iger.Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, have asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3. Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he claims have been a shrinking business and a drain on shareholder value.""Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around,"" the ISS report said.While siding with Peltz, ISS told shareholders not to back Rasulo in the fight, citing his previous positioning as a potential successor to Iger.""Though we do not have any concerns about his ability to serve as an objective director, we recognize that Rasulo's potential presence might create added friction on the board,"" ISS said.ISS slammed Disney's board for repeatedly failing to find a new CEO to take over for Iger, who left his role as CEO in 2020 only to return to the position years later.Trian heralded ISS' backing as a significant victory, pointing to the advisors' support for Peltz as an experienced director at other companies. The investment firm also highlighted that ISS recommended shareholders withhold their support for former JPMorgan Chase executive Maria Elena Lagomasino, a current Disney director whom Trian has targeted for replacement.In response, Disney said that the recommendation from ISS ""fails to acknowledge the diverse set of skills and experience on Disney's Board,"" and stressed that the proxy firm is endorsing 11 of its 12 nominees.ISS also said shareholders should withhold their votes from a separate slate of nominees, from activist Blackwells. The recommendation comes as Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and top Disney shareholder and filmmaker George Lucas.Another proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, earlier this week endorsed Disney's slate of board nominees. ISS was largely expected to follow suit.Securing the support of ISS and Glass Lewis is crucial in activist fights. Large institutional shareholders will often — but not always — vote based on the recommendation of either of the two proxy advisory firms. Activists and management each make their case to the advisory firms, which in turn issue their opinions based on meetings with either side and their own analysis.— CNBC's Rohan Goswami contributed to this report.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleProxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services on Thursday recommended that Walt Disney shareholders elect activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board in his bitter fight against CEO Bob Iger.', 'Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, have asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general meeting on April 3.', ""Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he claims have been a shrinking business and a drain on shareholder value."", '""Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around,"" the ISS report said.', 'While siding with Peltz, ISS told shareholders not to back Rasulo in the fight, citing his previous positioning as a potential successor to Iger.', '""Though we do not have any concerns about his ability to serve as an objective director, we recognize that Rasulo\'s potential presence might create added friction on the board,"" ISS said.', ""ISS slammed Disney's board for repeatedly failing to find a new CEO to take over for Iger, who left his role as CEO in 2020 only to return to the position years later."", ""Trian heralded ISS' backing as a significant victory, pointing to the advisors' support for Peltz as an experienced director at other companies."", 'The investment firm also highlighted that ISS recommended shareholders withhold their support for former JPMorgan Chase executive Maria Elena Lagomasino, a current Disney director whom Trian has targeted for replacement.', 'In response, Disney said that the recommendation from ISS ""fails to acknowledge the diverse set of skills and experience on Disney\'s Board,"" and stressed that the proxy firm is endorsing 11 of its 12 nominees.', 'ISS also said shareholders should withhold their votes from a separate slate of nominees, from activist Blackwells.', 'The recommendation comes as Disney has lined up a number of high-profile endorsements, from the heirs of Walt and Roy Disney toJPMorgan ChaseCEOJamie Dimon and top Disney shareholder and filmmaker George Lucas.', ""Another proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, earlier this week endorsed Disney's slate of board nominees."", 'ISS was largely expected to follow suit.', 'Securing the support of ISS and Glass Lewis is crucial in activist fights.', 'Large institutional shareholders will often — but not always — vote based on the recommendation of either of the two proxy advisory firms.', 'Activists and management each make their case to the advisory firms, which in turn issue their opinions based on meetings with either side and their own analysis.—', ""CNBC's Rohan Goswami contributed to this report.""]",0.0942646815043078,"""Dissident nominee Peltz, as a significant shareholder, could be additive to the succession process, providing assurance to other investors that the board is properly engaged this time around,"" the ISS report said.","In response, Disney said that the recommendation from ISS ""fails to acknowledge the diverse set of skills and experience on Disney's Board,"" and stressed that the proxy firm is endorsing 11 of its 12 nominees.",-0.435148434979575,"Trian heralded ISS' backing as a significant victory, pointing to the advisors' support for Peltz as an experienced director at other companies.","Among other things, Peltz wants to overhaul Disney's traditional TV channels, which he claims have been a shrinking business and a drain on shareholder value.",2024-03-26
Papa Johns pizza to shut nearly a tenth of UK sites,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68663844,2024-03-26T08:51:18.000Z,"Pizza chain Papa Johns has said it will close nearly a tenth of its UK restaurants - all of which it says are ""underperforming"". The closures follow a review of the business which identified sites that were ""no longer financially viable"". The chain, which has 450 restaurants plus others in service stations and holiday parks, will close 43 sites but has not said how many jobs will be hit. Separately, Revolution Bars has said it could sell ""all or part of the group"".   Its announcement followed reports that said Revolution could shut about 20 bars, or a roughly a quarter of its outlets.  Announcing the Papa Johns site closures, UK managing director Chris Phylactou said: ""Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process. ""Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available."" The closures are all in England and extend from Harrogate, North Yorkshire to St Helens, Merseyside, Billericay, Essex and Eastbourne, East Sussex.    All of them were ""underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable"", the company said. While other sectors of the hospitality industry have faced serious problems in recent years, takeaway outlets in general are booming, according to consultancy PwC. It said last year, a net 151 chain takeaway shops opened. ""It's a good sector to be in, albeit that there's a lot more competition as others open,"" said PwC senior retail adviser Kien Tan.  ""There's increasing consumer demand for takeaway and for takeaway outlets. If you're trading down from eating out or going out it's more affordable than going out for the evening."" Papa Johns had previously said it planned ""strategic closures"" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites. It plans to expand further into non-traditional sites like holiday parks and the chain said it would ""announce other large retail partners in the coming months"". US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was ""committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term"".  Revolution Bars, which also owns Revolucion de Cuba, said that following a period of ""external challenges"" which had hit trading it was ""actively exploring all the strategic options available to it to improve the future prospects of the group"".  This could include restructuring parts of the group or a sale of ""all or part of"" the group, it said. Revolution also said it was talking to ""key shareholders"" and other investors about raising extra funds. When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder. Earlier this month, figures showed there was a rise in new retail outlets opened last year, dominated by coffee drive-throughs, bubble tea shops and fast food restaurants, mostly located outside city centres. But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK. So far this year, the Body Shop and night club chain Pryzm have already run into difficulties, announcing the closure of sites. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Pizza chain Papa Johns has said it will close nearly a tenth of its UK restaurants - all of which it says are ""underperforming"".', 'The closures follow a review of the business which identified sites that were ""no longer financially viable"".', 'The chain, which has 450 restaurants plus others in service stations and holiday parks, will close 43 sites but has not said how many jobs will be hit.', 'Separately, Revolution Bars has said it could sell ""all or part of the group"".', 'Its announcement followed reports that said Revolution could shut about 20 bars, or a roughly a quarter of its outlets.', 'Announcing the Papa Johns site closures, UK managing director Chris Phylactou said: ""Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process. ""', 'Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available.""', 'The closures are all in England and extend from Harrogate, North Yorkshire to St Helens, Merseyside, Billericay, Essex and Eastbourne, East Sussex.', 'All of them were ""underperforming locations that are no longer financially viable"", the company said.', 'While other sectors of the hospitality industry have faced serious problems in recent years, takeaway outlets in general are booming, according to consultancy PwC. It said last year, a net 151 chain takeaway shops opened. ""', 'It\'s a good sector to be in, albeit that there\'s a lot more competition as others open,"" said PwC senior retail adviser Kien Tan. ""', ""There's increasing consumer demand for takeaway and for takeaway outlets."", 'If you\'re trading down from eating out or going out it\'s more affordable than going out for the evening.""', 'Papa Johns had previously said it planned ""strategic closures"" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.', 'It plans to expand further into non-traditional sites like holiday parks and the chain said it would ""announce other large retail partners in the coming months"".', 'US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was ""committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term"".', 'Revolution Bars, which also owns Revolucion de Cuba, said that following a period of ""external challenges"" which had hit trading it was ""actively exploring all the strategic options available to it to improve the future prospects of the group"".', 'This could include restructuring parts of the group or a sale of ""all or part of"" the group, it said.', 'Revolution also said it was talking to ""key shareholders"" and other investors about raising extra funds.', 'When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder.', 'Earlier this month, figures showed there was a rise in new retail outlets opened last year, dominated by coffee drive-throughs, bubble tea shops and fast food restaurants, mostly located outside city centres.', 'But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK.', 'So far this year, the Body Shop and night club chain Pryzm have already run into difficulties, announcing the closure of sites.']",0.1123842760171208,"Papa Johns had previously said it planned ""strategic closures"" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites.","When the company reported on trading in January, it said that the Revolution brand was underperforming because the cost of living crisis had hit younger people harder.",0.0878363966941833,"US-owned Papa Johns said the UK was its second biggest market and it was ""committed to driving growth in the UK and improving results over the long term"".","But according to PwC, which analysed data compiled by the Local Data Company, the openings were not enough to outweigh the places where chains, such as Wilko, shut up shop, and there was a net decrease of 5,000 stores across the UK.",2024-03-26
"Here's how much people are willing to spend on weight loss drugs, according to a new survey",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/23/weight-loss-drug-cost-how-much-people-are-willing-to-spend.html,2024-03-23T14:11:27+0000,"In this articleDemand for weight loss drugs is booming in the U.S. despite their limited insurance coverage and roughly $1,000 monthly price tags before discounts. But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.That's according to a recent survey from Evercore ISI focused on GLP-1s, a new class of medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, the firm surveyed more than 600 participants who are currently taking a GLP-1, considering the therapy or have taken it in the past but no longer do. The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.GLP-1s include Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, along with Eli Lilly's popular weight loss treatment Zepbound and diabetes injection Mounjaro. A monthly package of a GLP-1 costs between $900 and $1,350 before insurance and other rebates. Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have savings programs that aim to reduce out-of-pocket costs for weight loss drugs, regardless of whether a patient has commercial insurance coverage. The majority — nearly 60% — of people surveyed with annual incomes of more than $250,000 said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is more than $300 per month. Only about 4% of people with annual incomes of less than $75,000 said the same thing. Of that group, 64% said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is $50 per month or less. The maximum people currently on a GLP-1 said they are willing to pay out of pocket per month was roughly in line with what they actually paid for treatment, according to the survey. The highest price respondents would accept paying skewed lower among those who used to take a GLP-1 or are thinking of taking the drug. More than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket. Nearly 75% of those who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount. A small share of both groups paid more than $750 out of pocket per month for a GLP-1.The survey also asked respondents how long they stayed on the drugs.Notably, more than 80% of those who used to take a treatment were only on a therapy for 12 months or less. Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.That premature stoppage by some patients is one concern of certain insurers hesitant to cover them.Still, nearly half of people who are currently taking GLP-1s said they intend to stay on the drugs permanently. Only 10% of those thinking of taking a treatment said the same thing. Of that group, more than 70% said they intend to stay on a GLP-1 until they reach their weight loss goal.The survey also asked participants whether they would restart taking a GLP-1 if they regain weight after stopping the drug. The majority of patients across all groups — those currently on a GLP-1, thinking of it, or who used to take one — said ""yes."" Among those who used to take a GLP-1, 42% said they gained ""some"" weight back after stopping treatment. Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back. Another 23% said they remained at a lower weight after stopping the drug.That weight regain is consistent with what has been observed in some clinical trials on drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.Another part of the survey asked participants about whether taking a GLP-1 affected their eating and drinking habits. More than 70% of respondents reporting eating less when taking a GLP-1, regardless of whether they have pre-existing conditions. That refers to other health problems, such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.The survey finding is no surprise: GLP-1s work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and regulate blood sugar. Some treatments, such as Zepbound, mimic more than one gut hormone.More than half of those without preexisting conditions said they drank less alcohol when taking a GLP-1. Around 27% said the treatment had no effect on their alcohol consumption, while 22% said they abstain from drinking. A greater share — 51% — of those with preexisting conditions said they abstain from alcohol. The remainder said they consumed less alcohol when taking a GLP-1. Several studies have demonstrated that certain GLP-1s curb alcohol intake in rodents and monkeys. But more research is needed in humans.-- CNBC's Gabriel Cortés contributed to this report",CNBC,23/03/2024,"['In this articleDemand for weight loss drugs is booming in the U.S. despite their limited insurance coverage and roughly $1,000 monthly price tags before discounts.', 'But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.', ""That's according to a recent survey from Evercore ISI focused on GLP-1s, a new class of medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity."", 'Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, the firm surveyed more than 600 participants who are currently taking a GLP-1, considering the therapy or have taken it in the past but no longer do.', 'The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.', ""GLP-1s include Novo Nordisk's blockbuster weight loss injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, along with Eli Lilly's popular weight loss treatment Zepbound and diabetes injection Mounjaro."", 'A monthly package of a GLP-1 costs between $900 and $1,350 before insurance and other rebates.', 'Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have savings programs that aim to reduce out-of-pocket costs for weight loss drugs, regardless of whether a patient has commercial insurance coverage.', 'The majority — nearly 60% — of people surveyed with annual incomes of more than $250,000 said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is more than $300 per month.', 'Only about 4% of people with annual incomes of less than $75,000 said the same thing.', 'Of that group, 64% said the maximum price they are willing to pay out of pocket for a GLP-1 is $50 per month or less.', 'The maximum people currently on a GLP-1 said they are willing to pay out of pocket per month was roughly in line with what they actually paid for treatment, according to the survey.', 'The highest price respondents would accept paying skewed lower among those who used to take a GLP-1 or are thinking of taking the drug.', 'More than half of people currently taking a GLP-1 said they are paying a monthly price of $50 or less out of pocket.', 'Nearly 75% of those who used to take one of the drugs said they spent the same amount.', 'A small share of both groups paid more than $750 out of pocket per month for a GLP-1.The survey also asked respondents how long they stayed on the drugs.', 'Notably, more than 80% of those who used to take a treatment were only on a therapy for 12 months or less.', 'Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.', 'That premature stoppage by some patients is one concern of certain insurers hesitant to cover them.', 'Still, nearly half of people who are currently taking GLP-1s said they intend to stay on the drugs permanently.', 'Only 10% of those thinking of taking a treatment said the same thing.', 'Of that group, more than 70% said they intend to stay on a GLP-1 until they reach their weight loss goal.', 'The survey also asked participants whether they would restart taking a GLP-1 if they regain weight after stopping the drug.', 'The majority of patients across all groups — those currently on a GLP-1, thinking of it, or who used to take one — said ""yes.', '""Among those who used to take a GLP-1, 42% said they gained ""some"" weight back after stopping treatment.', 'Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back.', 'Another 23% said they remained at a lower weight after stopping the drug.', 'That weight regain is consistent with what has been observed in some clinical trials on drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.', 'Another part of the survey asked participants about whether taking a GLP-1 affected their eating and drinking habits.', 'More than 70% of respondents reporting eating less when taking a GLP-1, regardless of whether they have pre-existing conditions.', 'That refers to other health problems, such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.', ""The survey finding is no surprise: GLP-1s work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and regulate blood sugar."", 'Some treatments, such as Zepbound, mimic more than one gut hormone.', 'More than half of those without preexisting conditions said they drank less alcohol when taking a GLP-1.', 'Around 27% said the treatment had no effect on their alcohol consumption, while 22% said they abstain from drinking.', 'A greater share — 51% — of those with preexisting conditions said they abstain from alcohol.', 'The remainder said they consumed less alcohol when taking a GLP-1.Several studies have demonstrated that certain GLP-1s curb alcohol intake in rodents and monkeys.', ""But more research is needed in humans.-- CNBC's Gabriel Cortés contributed to this report""]",0.0154064542037785,But some patients are willing to pay more out of pocket for those treatments than others — and that desire is strongly correlated to their annual income.,"Some people stopped due to cost, while others stopped a treatment because they hit their weight loss goal or experienced side effects.",0.2664940953254699,"Around 13% said they gained most of it back, while 23% said they gained all of it back.",The findings on how much patients are willing to spend underscore concerns about equity in access to the breakthrough drugs while insurance coverage is sparse.,2024-03-26
How do smart meters work and how do I know if mine is broken?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68664200,2024-03-26T13:24:20.000Z,"Almost four million smart meters in Great Britain were not working at the end of 2023, according to government data. Faulty meters can mean customers rely on estimated bills, with some paying too much and struggling to get their money back. Smart meters measure how much gas and electricity you use. You get one meter for each energy supply. They can record half-hourly price and consumption data and automatically send readings to your energy supplier at least once a month. According to the Energy Saving Trust, this means you will be billed accurately for the energy you've used. Smart meters usually come with an in-home display, which can help you track how much energy you're using. Smart meters don't use your wifi. Instead, they include a communications hub which connects the smart meter to the in-home display as well as a secure national smart meter network. This lets smart meters talk to different energy suppliers, says Ofgem. Some earlier smart meters use the 3G network instead. In-home displays, which update every 30 minutes for gas and in near real-time for electricity, don't affect the readings supplied to your energy company. All smart meters have to be officially approved and their accuracy is monitored, the UK government says. Smart Energy GB, a government-backed non-profit organisation supporting the use of smart meter technology, says they are as accurate as traditional meters. According to government figures, there were almost 35 million smart meters in homes and businesses across Great Britain at the end of 2023.  Almost four million of those were not working properly, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This means they were not operating in ""smart mode"" and sending readings to suppliers. However, Martin Lewis, from MoneySavingExpert, told the BBC Radio 4 PM programme that meters with other problems - such as those sending the wrong readings, or a fault with the in-home display - should also be included in the government statistics.  This would mean that about one in five smart meters don't work, he said. Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, says suppliers must replace faulty meters.  Unusual bills, sometimes caused by connectivity issues, and a blank screen on the meter can be signs it is not working correctly. Your bill will also contain information that could help you find out. According to Which?, readings on your bill should be marked ""smart"".  If they are marked with an ""e"", they're estimated readings, says Citizens Advice. You can also use its smart checker tool to see if there is a problem between the meter and the central network. You should contact your supplier - it should help you fix your meter. If they fail to do so within eight weeks, Ofgem has a guide on how to complain to the Energy Ombudsman. It advises taking manual meter readings in the meantime.  Customers who are concerned about paying their bill should also talk to their energy provider. Suppliers are required to offer tailored repayment plans and, where appropriate, payment holidays, Ofgem said. You can also request an independent test of your meter, says Smart Energy GB. Although it is free, you may have to pay your supplier for organising it if your meter is found to be working correctly. The government says this was the case for the vast majority of meters tested in 2021.  Conventional energy meters need to be replaced every 10 to 20 years and most suppliers no longer install non-smart versions. However, it is not compulsory to have a smart meter unless your current meter is faulty or at the end of its working life, says Ofgem. You can therefore choose not to accept an offer to have one fitted.  However, if you refuse, you might find it hard to access all tariffs, according to Citizens Advice. In general, suppliers must install a smart meter if they are replacing a meter or installing a meter for the first time, such as in a new property, says Ofgem. ",BBC,26/03/2024,"['Almost four million smart meters in Great Britain were not working at the end of 2023, according to government data.', 'Faulty meters can mean customers rely on estimated bills, with some paying too much and struggling to get their money back.', 'Smart meters measure how much gas and electricity you use.', 'You get one meter for each energy supply.', 'They can record half-hourly price and consumption data and automatically send readings to your energy supplier at least once a month.', ""According to the Energy Saving Trust, this means you will be billed accurately for the energy you've used."", ""Smart meters usually come with an in-home display, which can help you track how much energy you're using."", ""Smart meters don't use your wifi."", 'Instead, they include a communications hub which connects the smart meter to the in-home display as well as a secure national smart meter network.', 'This lets smart meters talk to different energy suppliers, says Ofgem.', 'Some earlier smart meters use the 3G network instead.', ""In-home displays, which update every 30 minutes for gas and in near real-time for electricity, don't affect the readings supplied to your energy company."", 'All smart meters have to be officially approved and their accuracy is monitored, the UK government says.', 'Smart Energy GB, a government-backed non-profit organisation supporting the use of smart meter technology, says they are as accurate as traditional meters.', 'According to government figures, there were almost 35 million smart meters in homes and businesses across Great Britain at the end of 2023.', 'Almost four million of those were not working properly, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.', 'This means they were not operating in ""smart mode"" and sending readings to suppliers.', 'However, Martin Lewis, from MoneySavingExpert, told the BBC Radio 4 PM programme that meters with other problems - such as those sending the wrong readings, or a fault with the in-home display - should also be included in the government statistics.', ""This would mean that about one in five smart meters don't work, he said."", 'Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, says suppliers must replace faulty meters.', 'Unusual bills, sometimes caused by connectivity issues, and a blank screen on the meter can be signs it is not working correctly.', 'Your bill will also contain information that could help you find out.', 'According to Which?,', 'readings on your bill should be marked ""smart"".', 'If they are marked with an ""e"", they\'re estimated readings, says Citizens Advice.', 'You can also use its smart checker tool to see if there is a problem between the meter and the central network.', 'You should contact your supplier - it should help you fix your meter.', 'If they fail to do so within eight weeks, Ofgem has a guide on how to complain to the Energy Ombudsman.', 'It advises taking manual meter readings in the meantime.', 'Customers who are concerned about paying their bill should also talk to their energy provider.', 'Suppliers are required to offer tailored repayment plans and, where appropriate, payment holidays, Ofgem said.', 'You can also request an independent test of your meter, says Smart Energy GB.', 'Although it is free, you may have to pay your supplier for organising it if your meter is found to be working correctly.', 'The government says this was the case for the vast majority of meters tested in 2021.', 'Conventional energy meters need to be replaced every 10 to 20 years and most suppliers no longer install non-smart versions.', 'However, it is not compulsory to have a smart meter unless your current meter is faulty or at the end of its working life, says Ofgem.', 'You can therefore choose not to accept an offer to have one fitted.', 'However, if you refuse, you might find it hard to access all tariffs, according to Citizens Advice.', 'In general, suppliers must install a smart meter if they are replacing a meter or installing a meter for the first time, such as in a new property, says Ofgem.']",0.2731208567814571,"Smart Energy GB, a government-backed non-profit organisation supporting the use of smart meter technology, says they are as accurate as traditional meters.","However, Martin Lewis, from MoneySavingExpert, told the BBC Radio 4 PM programme that meters with other problems - such as those sending the wrong readings, or a fault with the in-home display - should also be included in the government statistics.",-0.9387089610099792,,"Faulty meters can mean customers rely on estimated bills, with some paying too much and struggling to get their money back.",2024-03-26
Viking Therapeutics stock jumps more than 15% on promising weight loss pill data,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/viking-therapeutics-weight-loss-pill-shows-positive-study-results.html,2024-03-26T20:27:20+0000,"In this articleViking Therapeutics shares closed more than 15% higher on Tuesday after the company said its experimental weight loss pill showed positive results in a small study and will enter the next stage of development later this year.The study results add to the excitement around the drugmaker's prospects in the budding weight loss drug market.Viking is one of several small biotech companies hoping to compete with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the space, which analysts say could grow into a $100 billion market by the end of the decade. Some analysts view Viking as a particularly strong potential player, or takeover target for a larger company. Based on Tuesday's results, Viking plans to start a phase two trial of its weight loss pill later this year. The once-a-day tablet is an oral version of the company's experimental weight loss injection, which showed encouraging results in a mid-stage trial last month. Optimism about Viking's potential in the market has sent its shares flying 345% higher this year.The phase one trial for the pill followed more than 40 patients with obesity for around a month. Those people took different dose sizes of the drug or received a placebo.Viking said patients who received the pill once a day lost up to 5.3% of their weight on average, or up to 3.3% more than those who took a placebo, at 28 days. Up to 57% of patients who received Viking's pill lost at least 5% of their body weight. Meanwhile, no people who took the placebo shed that much weight, the company said. Notably, those who received higher doses of the experimental pill appeared to maintain or add to their weight loss at 34 days in the study, six days after their last dose of the drug. Weight loss for those patients ranged up to 3.6% higher than those who received a placebo. Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it's unclear ""how durable"" the weight loss is. Still, he noted that the sustained weight loss seen in the trial may be encouraging to patients who might miss a dose because they are traveling or don't have access to their medication. ""I think that's an encouraging sign that you don't necessarily have to take it every day,"" he said.In a release, Viking said it believes that treating patients beyond 28 days may provide ""further reductions in body weight."" The company also said the trial suggested the pill is safe and tolerable to take. The majority of side effects that patients experienced after starting the oral drug were mild in severity. The majority of gastrointestinal events that patients experienced were mild. Gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, are commonly seen across all weight loss and diabetes treatments.But people who received Viking's pill did not report vomiting. Patients who took the placebo also reported diarrhea more frequently than those treated with the oral drug, the company said.Analysts have compared Viking's weight loss injection to Eli Lilly's injectable drug Zepbound because both drugs imitate two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP.GLP-1 helps reduce food intake and appetite. GIP, which also suppresses appetite, may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's weight loss injection Wegovy only targets GLP-1.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleViking Therapeutics shares closed more than 15% higher on Tuesday after the company said its experimental weight loss pill showed positive results in a small study and will enter the next stage of development later this year.', ""The study results add to the excitement around the drugmaker's prospects in the budding weight loss drug market."", 'Viking is one of several small biotech companies hoping to compete with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the space, which analysts say could grow into a $100 billion market by the end of the decade.', 'Some analysts view Viking as a particularly strong potential player, or takeover target for a larger company.', ""Based on Tuesday's results, Viking plans to start a phase two trial of its weight loss pill later this year."", ""The once-a-day tablet is an oral version of the company's experimental weight loss injection, which showed encouraging results in a mid-stage trial last month."", ""Optimism about Viking's potential in the market has sent its shares flying 345% higher this year."", 'The phase one trial for the pill followed more than 40 patients with obesity for around a month.', 'Those people took different dose sizes of the drug or received a placebo.', 'Viking said patients who received the pill once a day lost up to 5.3% of their weight on average, or up to 3.3% more than those who took a placebo, at 28 days.', ""Up to 57% of patients who received Viking's pill lost at least 5% of their body weight."", 'Meanwhile, no people who took the placebo shed that much weight, the company said.', 'Notably, those who received higher doses of the experimental pill appeared to maintain or add to their weight loss at 34 days in the study, six days after their last dose of the drug.', 'Weight loss for those patients ranged up to 3.6% higher than those who received a placebo.', 'Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it\'s unclear ""how durable"" the weight loss is.', ""Still, he noted that the sustained weight loss seen in the trial may be encouraging to patients who might miss a dose because they are traveling or don't have access to their medication."", '""I think that\'s an encouraging sign that you don\'t necessarily have to take it every day,"" he said.', 'In a release, Viking said it believes that treating patients beyond 28 days may provide ""further reductions in body weight.', '""The company also said the trial suggested the pill is safe and tolerable to take.', 'The majority of side effects that patients experienced after starting the oral drug were mild in severity.', 'The majority of gastrointestinal events that patients experienced were mild.', 'Gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, are commonly seen across all weight loss and diabetes treatments.', ""But people who received Viking's pill did not report vomiting."", 'Patients who took the placebo also reported diarrhea more frequently than those treated with the oral drug, the company said.', ""Analysts have compared Viking's weight loss injection to Eli Lilly's injectable drug Zepbound because both drugs imitate two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP.GLP-1 helps reduce food intake and appetite."", 'GIP, which also suppresses appetite, may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.', ""Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's weight loss injection Wegovy only targets GLP-1.""]",0.0570222720908987,Optimism about Viking's potential in the market has sent its shares flying 345% higher this year.,"Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it's unclear ""how durable"" the weight loss is.",0.6855462690194448,In this articleViking Therapeutics shares closed more than 15% higher on Tuesday after the company said its experimental weight loss pill showed positive results in a small study and will enter the next stage of development later this year.,Weight loss for those patients ranged up to 3.6% higher than those who received a placebo.,2024-03-26
Trump’s Truth Social is now a public company. Experts warn its multibillion-dollar valuation defies logic,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/markets/trump-media-stock-truth-social/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:26 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","For the first time in almost 30 years, part of Donald Trump’s business empire has gone public. Trading started with a bang, but the frenzy eased considerably by the closing bell, with shares ending well off their highs of the day.
    
            Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of struggling social media platform Truth Social, began its long-delayed journey as a public company at Tuesday’s opening bell under the ticker symbol “DJT.”
    
            The stock surged about 56% at the open, to $78, and trading was briefly halted for volatility. Trump Media shares stabilized around $70 before fizzling. By the closing bell, Trump Media ended at $57.99, up by a more modest 16% on the day.
    
            Despite the late-day slide, Wall Street is still assigning Trump Media an eye-popping valuation of nearly $11 billion — a price tag that experts warn is untethered to reality.
    
            Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the shell company that became Trump Media Tuesday morning, have spiked more than 200% so far this year. That includes a 35% surge Monday after the deal closed. Shares popped again at the start of trading Tuesday — investors’ first opportunity to trade the stock after the merger, under the new DJT ticker.
    
            The skyrocketing share price comes despite the fact that Trump Media is burning through cash; piling up losses; and its main product, Truth Social, is losing users.
    
            “This is a very unusual situation. The stock is pretty much divorced from fundamentals,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, who has been studying initial public offerings (IPOs) for over 40 years.
    
            Ritter said the closest parallel would be GameStop, AMC and other so-called meme stocks that skyrocketed during Covid-19 as an army of retail traders piled in. He said Trump Media is likely worth somewhere around $2 a share — nowhere near its closing stock price of $58. 
    
            “The underlying business doesn’t seem to be worth much. There is no evidence this is going to become a large, highly profitable company,” he said. “I’m reasonably confident the stock price will eventually drop to $2 a share and could even go below that if the company blows through the money it got from the merger.”
    
            The eye-popping valuation is a massive windfall for Trump, who owns a dominant stake of 79 million shares.
    
            At Tuesday’s opening price of nearly $78, that stake is worth nearly $6 billion, although lock-up restrictions likely prevent Trump from selling or even borrowing against those shares anytime soon. The value of Trump’s stake ended at $4.6 billion at the closing bell.
    
            Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to filings. The company lost $49 million over that span.
    
            And yet the market is valuing Trump Media at approximately $11 billion.
    
            For context, Reddit was only valued at $6.4 billion at its IPO last week — even though it generated 160 times more revenue than Trump Media. (Reddit hauled in $804 million in revenue in 2023, compared with Trump Media’s annualized revenue of about $5 million.)
    
            “At these levels, it appears untethered to its underlying business results,” said Matthew Kennedy, senior IPO strategist at Renaissance Capital. “Eventually, valuations tend to fall back on fundamentals. That means this stock is definitely at risk of plummeting back down to earth.”
    
            Michael Ohlrogge, an associate professor of law at the NYU School of Law, told CNN there is “no way to square the current stock price with anything that would be called a rational valuation for this company.”
    
            Truth Social faces real challenges and is still dwarfed by its rivals.
    
            Truth Social had just 494,000 monthly active US users on iOS and Android combined in February, according to Similarweb stats provided to CNN. That’s a small fraction of the 75 million on X (formerly known as Twitter) and 142 million on Facebook.
    
            Even Threads had more than 10 times the number of monthly active users that Truth Social had in February, according to Similarweb.
    
            Not only that, but Truth Social is shrinking. Its monthly active users plunged 51% year over year in February, Similarweb stats show. The number of unique visitors to Truth Social’s website was 648,000, down 20% year over year.
    
            Kennedy described Trump Media as a “meme-SPAC,” alluding to both its astronomical valuation and the fact it was formed through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.
    
            “Stocks that trade on momentum are subject to falling rapidly,” he said.
    
            Jonathan Macey, a law professor at Yale, told CNN last week that the Digital World stock price is “clearly a bubble.”
    
            Of course, history shows that bubbles can always inflate further, and it’s very difficult to pinpoint when they will pop.
    
            That means Trump Media’s share price could keep skyrocketing for now — even if those gains are not backed up by fundamentals. In theory, a rival company or wealthy group could swoop in and acquire Trump Media even at these price levels, although Ritter said that’s very unlikely.
    
            “We’ve already seen with other meme stocks that even if they eventually fall back to reflecting a fundamental value, the process can take quite a long time,” said Ohlrogge, the NYU professor. “There’s every reason to believe that this stock could remain at highly inflated prices much longer, due to the enthusiasm that Trump’s supporters have for it.”
    
            Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN that Trump Media is probably not worth anything close to what the market is valuing it at.
    
            “But it doesn’t really matter,” he said.
    
            Tuttle noted that there is a history of SPACs spiking on their first day of trading, and he placed options bets that stand to make money if the stock shoots up.
    
            “Because of what this is, and because it’s Trump — you’ve got people expecting this thing will take off [on Tuesday,]” he said.
    
            But Tuttle advised everyday investors to use extreme caution trading Trump Media, noting the implied volatility is “insane.”
    
            “Stay away from it,” said Tuttle, who has sold his shares of Digital World but still owns options that would pay out if the stock rises sharply. “Normally, I wouldn’t touch this with a 10-foot pole. But I’m not playing with much money and I already made a lot on this. If I wake up tomorrow and it’s trading at $1, oh well.”
    
            Beyond the valuation concerns, there are other risks involved in Trump Media.
    
            For example, this company’s future is inextricably linked to that of one person: Trump.
    
            “There is a unique key man risk because Donald Trump is the chairman, top shareholder and the most popular user. He is one man, and he’s 77 years old,” said Kennedy.
    
            Not only that, but Trump is facing felony prosecution in multiple simultaneous cases.
    
            Trump Media noted that risk in SEC filings, saying: “Donald J. Trump is the subject of numerous legal proceedings, the scope and scale of which are unprecedented for a former President of the United States and current candidate for that office. An adverse outcome in one or more of the ongoing legal proceedings in which President Trump is involved could negatively impact TMTG and its Truth Social platform.”
    
            Not only does Trump himself face reputational issues, but his companies have a history of going bankrupt.
    
            The last Trump company to go public, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in 1995, used the same DJT ticker symbol. It went bankrupt in 2004 and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
    
            Trump Media even highlighted Trump’s history of bankruptcies as a risk in its SEC filing.
    
            “A number of companies that were associated with President Trump have filed for bankruptcy. There can be no assurances that TMTG will not also become bankrupt,” the company said.
    
            Another question is what happens when the lock-up restrictions on Trump and other key insiders lapse in the coming months.
    
            Trump’s legal troubles could give him a reason to sell his commanding stake, an outcome that would threaten Trump Media’s share price.
    
            Other insiders, including the sponsor of the SPAC, would also be able to sell.
    
            Like any social media business, Truth Social faces pressure to grow its user base, expand its advertising business and build a subscription service.
    
            Those tasks are complicated by the polarizing political backdrop where at least some portion of the country views the Trump movement skeptically.
    
            Kennedy said that in many ways, Trump Media going public amounts to a “multibillion-dollar bet” on a second Trump term, a return to the White House that could be lucrative for his social media network.
    
            “If he wins in November, Truth Social will probably be the primary means of presidential communication,” said Kennedy. “That’s the bet here.”
    
            Ohlrogge, the NYU professor, agrees that the election could prove to be a real turning point for this company.
    
            “If Trump were to lose the 2024 election, I’d imagine the stock price would crater quite quickly,” he said. “If he were to win, it could conceivably stay higher for longer, maybe much longer.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['For the first time in almost 30 years, part of Donald Trump’s business empire has gone public.', 'Trading started with a bang, but the frenzy eased considerably by the closing bell, with shares ending well off their highs of the day.', 'Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of struggling social media platform Truth Social, began its long-delayed journey as a public company at Tuesday’s opening bell under the ticker symbol “DJT.”', 'The stock surged about 56% at the open, to $78, and trading was briefly halted for volatility.', 'Trump Media shares stabilized around $70 before fizzling.', 'By the closing bell, Trump Media ended at $57.99, up by a more modest 16% on the day.', 'Despite the late-day slide, Wall Street is still assigning Trump Media an eye-popping valuation of nearly $11 billion — a price tag that experts warn is untethered to reality.', 'Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the shell company that became Trump Media Tuesday morning, have spiked more than 200% so far this year.', 'That includes a 35% surge Monday after the deal closed.', 'Shares popped again at the start of trading Tuesday — investors’ first opportunity to trade the stock after the merger, under the new DJT ticker.', 'The skyrocketing share price comes despite the fact that Trump Media is burning through cash; piling up losses; and its main product, Truth Social, is losing users.', '“This is a very unusual situation.', 'The stock is pretty much divorced from fundamentals,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, who has been studying initial public offerings (IPOs) for over 40 years.', 'Ritter said the closest parallel would be GameStop, AMC and other so-called meme stocks that skyrocketed during Covid-19 as an army of retail traders piled in.', 'He said Trump Media is likely worth somewhere around $2 a share — nowhere near its closing stock price of $58.', '“The underlying business doesn’t seem to be worth much.', 'There is no evidence this is going to become a large, highly profitable company,” he said. “', 'I’m reasonably confident the stock price will eventually drop to $2 a share and could even go below that if the company blows through the money it got from the merger.”', 'The eye-popping valuation is a massive windfall for Trump, who owns a dominant stake of 79 million shares.', 'At Tuesday’s opening price of nearly $78, that stake is worth nearly $6 billion, although lock-up restrictions likely prevent Trump from selling or even borrowing against those shares anytime soon.', 'The value of Trump’s stake ended at $4.6 billion at the closing bell.', 'Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to filings.', 'The company lost $49 million over that span.', 'And yet the market is valuing Trump Media at approximately $11 billion.', 'For context, Reddit was only valued at $6.4 billion at its IPO last week — even though it generated 160 times more revenue than Trump Media. (', 'Reddit hauled in $804 million in revenue in 2023, compared with Trump Media’s annualized revenue of about $5 million.)', '“At these levels, it appears untethered to its underlying business results,” said Matthew Kennedy, senior IPO strategist at Renaissance Capital. “', 'Eventually, valuations tend to fall back on fundamentals.', 'That means this stock is definitely at risk of plummeting back down to earth.”', 'Michael Ohlrogge, an associate professor of law at the NYU School of Law, told CNN there is “no way to square the current stock price with anything that would be called a rational valuation for this company.”', 'Truth Social faces real challenges and is still dwarfed by its rivals.', 'Truth Social had just 494,000 monthly active US users on iOS and Android combined in February, according to Similarweb stats provided to CNN.', 'That’s a small fraction of the 75 million on X (formerly known as Twitter) and 142 million on Facebook.', 'Even Threads had more than 10 times the number of monthly active users that Truth Social had in February, according to Similarweb.', 'Not only that, but Truth Social is shrinking.', 'Its monthly active users plunged 51% year over year in February, Similarweb stats show.', 'The number of unique visitors to Truth Social’s website was 648,000, down 20% year over year.', 'Kennedy described Trump Media as a “meme-SPAC,” alluding to both its astronomical valuation and the fact it was formed through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.', '“Stocks that trade on momentum are subject to falling rapidly,” he said.', 'Jonathan Macey, a law professor at Yale, told CNN last week that the Digital World stock price is “clearly a bubble.”', 'Of course, history shows that bubbles can always inflate further, and it’s very difficult to pinpoint when they will pop.', 'That means Trump Media’s share price could keep skyrocketing for now — even if those gains are not backed up by fundamentals.', 'In theory, a rival company or wealthy group could swoop in and acquire Trump Media even at these price levels, although Ritter said that’s very unlikely.', '“We’ve already seen with other meme stocks that even if they eventually fall back to reflecting a fundamental value, the process can take quite a long time,” said Ohlrogge, the NYU professor. “', 'There’s every reason to believe that this stock could remain at highly inflated prices much longer, due to the enthusiasm that Trump’s supporters have for it.”', 'Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN that Trump Media is probably not worth anything close to what the market is valuing it at.', '“But it doesn’t really matter,” he said.', 'Tuttle noted that there is a history of SPACs spiking on their first day of trading, and he placed options betsthat stand to make money if the stock shoots up.', '“Because of what this is, and because it’s Trump — you’ve got people expecting this thing will take off [on Tuesday,]” he said.', 'But Tuttle advised everyday investors to use extreme caution trading Trump Media, noting the implied volatility is “insane.”', '“Stay away from it,” said Tuttle, who has sold his shares of Digital World but still owns options that would pay out if the stock rises sharply. “', 'Normally, I wouldn’t touch this with a 10-foot pole.', 'But I’m not playing with much money and I already made a lot on this.', 'If I wake up tomorrow and it’s trading at $1, oh well.”', 'Beyond the valuation concerns, there are other risks involved in Trump Media.', 'For example, this company’s future is inextricably linked to that of one person: Trump.', '“There is a unique key man risk because Donald Trump is the chairman, top shareholder and the most popular user.', 'He is one man, and he’s 77 years old,” said Kennedy.', 'Not only that, but Trump is facing felony prosecution in multiple simultaneous cases.', 'Trump Media noted that risk in SEC filings, saying: “Donald J. Trump is the subject of numerous legal proceedings, the scope and scale of which are unprecedented for a former President of the United States and current candidate for that office.', 'An adverse outcome in one or more of the ongoing legal proceedings in which President Trump is involved could negatively impact TMTG and its Truth Social platform.”', 'Not only does Trump himself face reputational issues, but his companies have a history of going bankrupt.', 'The last Trump company to go public, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in 1995, used the same DJT ticker symbol.', 'It went bankrupt in 2004 and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.', 'Trump Media even highlighted Trump’s history of bankruptcies as a risk in its SEC filing.', '“A number of companies that were associated with President Trump have filed for bankruptcy.', 'There can be no assurances that TMTG will not also become bankrupt,” the company said.', 'Another question is what happens when the lock-up restrictions on Trump and other key insiders lapse in the coming months.', 'Trump’s legal troubles could give him a reason to sell his commanding stake, an outcome that would threaten Trump Media’s share price.', 'Other insiders, including the sponsor of the SPAC, would also be able to sell.', 'Like any social media business, Truth Social faces pressure to grow its user base, expand its advertising business and build a subscription service.', 'Those tasks are complicated by the polarizing political backdrop where at least some portion of the country views the Trump movement skeptically.', 'Kennedy said that in many ways, Trump Media going public amounts to a “multibillion-dollar bet” on a second Trump term, a return to the White House that could be lucrative for his social media network.', '“If he wins in November, Truth Social will probably be the primary means of presidential communication,” said Kennedy. “', 'That’s the bet here.”', 'Ohlrogge, the NYU professor, agrees that the election could prove to be a real turning point for this company.', '“If Trump were to lose the 2024 election, I’d imagine the stock price would crater quite quickly,” he said. “', 'If he were to win, it could conceivably stay higher for longer, maybe much longer.”']",0.1170921285233744,"“If he wins in November, Truth Social will probably be the primary means of presidential communication,” said Kennedy. “","Not only that, but Trump is facing felony prosecution in multiple simultaneous cases.",-0.0856393069028854,"By the closing bell, Trump Media ended at $57.99, up by a more modest 16% on the day.","Its monthly active users plunged 51% year over year in February, Similarweb stats show.",2024-03-26
More employers now say they’re willing to hire workers without a college degree. But is that playing out?,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/08/success/no-college-degree-options-better-jobs/index.html,"
  Published
        12:11 PM EST, Fri March 8, 2024
    ","For decades, not having a college degree has often been a barrier for workers seeking a higher-level, better-paying job. But more employers are now saying they’re willing to hire them.
    
            College degrees were used by companies as a proxy for skills and competence when evaluating potential hires — making it very difficult for lower-wage, non-degreed workers even to be considered.
    
            A majority of US workers have had to contend with that barrier. Only 37.7% of Americans ages 25 and up had a bachelor’s degree in 2022, according to the US Census Bureau.
    
            But employers are now — at least publicly — becoming more open to the idea of skills-based hiring, which focuses on a job candidates’ competencies and capacity to learn new skills rather than on their educational background.
    
            Why the change of heart? There are several factors. But lurking over all of them is a demographic reality: The falling US birth rate will produce fewer workers in the years ahead to replace the number of workers retiring.
    
            Additionally, employers are increasingly aware that the skills needed to do many jobs don’t necessarily require a four-year degree, and that competent workers can be trained in needed skills as they arise.
    
            President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union speech Thursday night, acknowledged the need for skills-based hiring more than once, noting that “private companies are now investing billions of dollars to build new chip factories here in America — creating tens of thousands of jobs, many of them paying over $100,000 a year, and don’t require a college degree.” He also said he is “connecting businesses and high schools so students get hands-on experience and a path to a good-paying job, whether or not they go to college.”
    
            At a Fortune conference in October last year, Ken Frazier, the former CEO of Merck, noted that roughly three-quarters of Black adults do not have college degrees, yet the vast majority of openings at leading US companies required college degrees “for almost any job.”
    
            What’s more, since George Floyd’s murder in 2020, there has been a push to improve diversity and equity in company workforces. That means the lack of college degrees can’t be ignored, since Blacks and Hispanics are least likely to have a bachelor’s degree. In 2022, only 27.6% of Black adults and 20.9% of Hispanics had one, compared to nearly 41.8% of non-Hispanic White population, according to Census data.
    
            After Floyd’s murder, Frazier co-founded the group OneTen. Its goal is to help non-degreed Black workers find better jobs with family-sustaining pay, as defined by the MIT Living Wage Calculator. OneTen’s mission has since grown to include all workers without four-year degrees, and the group has pulled together a coalition of more than 70 leading US corporations from Accenture to Yum! Brands and talent development firms that support OneTen’s mission of closing the opportunity gap for those without degrees.
    
            So far, the group has played a matchmaking role for employers in the hiring and promotion of 108,000 non-degreed workers, said OneTen CEO Debbie Dyson at the same Fortune event. She also noted its career marketplace platform has 23,000 profiles of non-degreed job seekers and those seeking training, which is a talent pool that employers can search.
    
            OneTen’s hand in more than 100,000 job advancements is notable, but it is still well below the group’s goal of 1 million hires and promotions of non-degreed workers within 10 years.
    
            That may reflect what one recent study found: Not all employers who talk about skills-based hiring and remove degree requirements from job ads are actually hiring candidates without degrees.
    
            “[F]or all its fanfare, the increased opportunity promised by skills-based hiring has borne out in not even 1 in 700 hires last year,” wrote the authors of a report from Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute.
    
            Directionally, however, the signs are encouraging. The report’s authors note that the 37% of companies in its sample that did follow through on their skills-based hiring commitment are already seeing benefits.
    
            “[D]espite the limited progress to date, our analysis shows that, for those who embrace it, skills-based hiring … yields tangible, measurable value. Skills-based hiring boosts retention among non-degreed workers hired into roles that formerly asked for degrees,” they said.
    
            Candidates hired into those roles received a 25% pay increase on average, the researchers added.
    
            “If the arc of corporate practice bends toward profitability, the win-win that skills-based hiring represents is an opportunity firms are remiss to ignore,” the authors wrote.
    
            In the meantime, the Federal Reserve banks of Philadelphia and Cleveland created an interactive tool called the Occupational Mobility Explorer that was released at the end of 2020.
    
            The tool is aimed at lower-wage workers without college degrees. It helps them identify better-paying occupations that have overlap with the skills required in their current positions.
    
            For example: A cashier in the Cincinnati metro area might consider a job first as a customer service representative, then move on to the role of police or fire station dispatcher and later transition to becoming a human resource specialist or legal assistant. The strong skills overlap between cashiers and customer service reps include customer service, communication skills and retail industry knowledge. From there, the skills commonly required of customer service reps and dispatchers include customer service, communication and problem solving. And so on. With each move, the former cashier’s pay could increase considerably. (The pay data in the tool still reflects 2020 pay levels, but it will be updated later this year, according to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Fed.)
    
            The tool can be an eye-opener not just for job seekers but also employers when it comes to seeing what skills non-degreed workers from various occupations bring to the table.
    
            “It’s a good illustration of how skills gained in prior jobs can be used to move up the career ladder,” said Keith Wardrip, senior community development research adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.",CNN,08/03/2024,"['For decades, not having a college degree has often been a barrier for workers seeking a higher-level, better-paying job.', 'But more employers are now saying they’re willing to hire them.', 'College degrees were used by companies as a proxy for skills and competence when evaluating potential hires — making it very difficult for lower-wage, non-degreed workers even to be considered.', 'A majority of US workers have had to contend with that barrier.', 'Only 37.7% of Americans ages 25 and up had a bachelor’s degree in 2022, according to the US Census Bureau.', 'But employers are now — at least publicly — becoming more open to the idea of skills-based hiring, which focuses on a job candidates’ competencies and capacity to learn new skills rather than on their educational background.', 'Why the change of heart?', 'There are several factors.', 'But lurking over all of them is a demographic reality: The falling US birth rate will produce fewer workers in the years ahead to replace the number of workers retiring.', 'Additionally, employers are increasingly aware that the skills needed to do many jobs don’t necessarily require a four-year degree, and that competent workers can be trained in needed skills as they arise.', 'President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union speech Thursday night, acknowledged the need for skills-based hiring more than once, noting that “private companies are now investing billions of dollars to build new chip factories here in America — creating tens of thousands of jobs, many of them paying over $100,000 a year, and don’t require a college degree.”', 'He also said he is “connectingbusinesses and high schoolsso students get hands-on experienceand a path to a good-paying job,whether or notthey go to college.”', 'At a Fortune conference in October last year, Ken Frazier, the former CEO of Merck, noted that roughly three-quarters of Black adults do not have college degrees, yet the vast majority of openings at leading US companies required college degrees “for almost any job.”', 'What’s more, since George Floyd’s murder in 2020, there has been a push to improve diversity and equity in company workforces.', 'That means the lack of college degrees can’t be ignored, since Blacks and Hispanics are least likely to have a bachelor’s degree.', 'In 2022, only 27.6% of Black adults and 20.9% of Hispanics had one, compared to nearly 41.8% of non-Hispanic White population, according to Census data.', 'After Floyd’s murder, Frazier co-founded the group OneTen.', 'Its goal is to help non-degreed Black workers find better jobs with family-sustaining pay, as defined by the MIT Living Wage Calculator.', 'OneTen’s mission has since grown to include all workers without four-year degrees, and the group has pulled together a coalition of more than 70 leading US corporations from Accenture to Yum!', 'Brands and talent development firms that support OneTen’s mission of closing the opportunity gap for those without degrees.', 'So far, the group has played a matchmaking role for employers in the hiring and promotion of 108,000 non-degreed workers, said OneTen CEO Debbie Dyson at the same Fortune event.', 'She also noted its career marketplace platform has 23,000 profiles of non-degreed job seekers and those seeking training, which is a talent pool that employers can search.', 'OneTen’s hand in more than 100,000 job advancements is notable, but it is still well below the group’s goal of 1 million hires and promotions of non-degreed workers within 10 years.', 'That may reflect what one recent study found: Not all employers who talk about skills-based hiring and remove degree requirements from job ads are actually hiring candidates without degrees.', '“[F]or all its fanfare, the increased opportunity promised by skills-based hiring has borne out in not even 1 in 700 hires last year,” wrote the authors of a report from Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute.', 'Directionally, however, the signs are encouraging.', 'The report’s authors note that the 37% of companies in its sample that did follow through on their skills-based hiring commitment are already seeing benefits.', '“[D]espite the limited progress to date, our analysis shows that, for those who embrace it, skills-based hiring … yields tangible, measurable value.', 'Skills-based hiring boosts retention among non-degreed workers hired into roles that formerly asked for degrees,” they said.', 'Candidates hired into those roles received a 25% pay increase on average, the researchers added.', '“If the arc of corporate practice bends toward profitability, the win-win that skills-based hiring represents is an opportunity firms are remiss to ignore,” the authors wrote.', 'In the meantime, the Federal Reserve banks of Philadelphia and Cleveland created an interactive tool called the Occupational Mobility Explorer that was released at the end of 2020.', 'The tool is aimed at lower-wage workers without college degrees.', 'It helps them identify better-paying occupations that have overlap with the skills required in their current positions.', 'For example: A cashier in the Cincinnati metro area might consider a job first as a customer service representative, then move on to the role of police or fire station dispatcher and later transition to becoming a human resource specialist or legal assistant.', 'The strong skills overlap between cashiers and customer service reps include customer service, communication skills and retail industry knowledge.', 'From there, the skills commonly required of customer service reps and dispatchers include customer service, communication and problem solving.', 'And so on.', 'With each move, the former cashier’s pay could increase considerably. (', 'The pay data in the tool still reflects 2020 pay levels, but it will be updated later this year, according to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Fed.)', 'The tool can be an eye-opener not just for job seekers but also employers when it comes to seeing what skills non-degreed workers from various occupations bring to the table.', '“It’s a good illustration of how skills gained in prior jobs can be used to move up the career ladder,” said Keith Wardrip, senior community development research adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.']",0.1698387786572772,"“If the arc of corporate practice bends toward profitability, the win-win that skills-based hiring represents is an opportunity firms are remiss to ignore,” the authors wrote.","After Floyd’s murder, Frazier co-founded the group OneTen.",0.685816365480423,"“[F]or all its fanfare, the increased opportunity promised by skills-based hiring has borne out in not even 1 in 700 hires last year,” wrote the authors of a report from Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute.",But lurking over all of them is a demographic reality: The falling US birth rate will produce fewer workers in the years ahead to replace the number of workers retiring.,2024-03-26
Sick people leaving workforce at record highs,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68639144,2024-03-23T02:54:36.000Z,"The number of people leaving the workforce due to long term sickness is at its highest since the 1990s, a report suggests. Adults economically inactive due to ill-health rose from 2.1m in July 2019 to a peak of 2.8m in October 2023, said the Resolution Foundation. It is the ""longest sustained rise"" since 1994-1998, when records began. The government said its recent Budget measures are estimated to boost the labour force by 300,000 workers.  The Foundation's report comes after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said more than a fifth of UK adults were not looking for work. People at either end of the age spectrum had the highest proportion of those out-of-work due to ongoing illness, the Foundation's report said. ""Younger and older people together account for nine-tenths of the rise in overall economic inactivity, which could have serious effects both on individual's living standards and career paths,"" said Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Foundation. The rise in long-term sickness leaves the UK as the only G7 economy not to have returned to its pre-pandemic employment rate, according to the Foundation. However, it did add that inactivity figures fell slightly to 2.7 million in December 2023. It said the upward trend in long-term sickness actually started before the pandemic in the summer of 2019, and has lasted for 54 months. The longest previous period of increasing economic inactivity due to ill-health was for 55 months, between 1994 and 1998, it added. As well as looking at ONS figures, the Foundation pointed to Department of Work and Pension (DWP) figures showing claims for disability benefits. It said the rise in claims for personal independence payment (Pip), the non-means tested benefit for those with health issues, were ""most striking"", with claims rising 68% from 2020 to 2024.  In the 16-17 age range, new Pip claims had increased by 138%. The Foundation said it would lead to ""wider strains on the NHS and welfare spending if we fail to improve the nation's health and reduce economic inactivity"". It also examined the DWP's data on medical conditions recorded on Work Capability Assessments and highlighted the fact that many benefit claimants cited mental health problems and musculoskeletal problems. It said 69% claimed for mental health disorders, and 48% had problems with connective or musculoskeletal pain. A spokesperson for the DWP said: ""Our plan for the economy is working. Inflation [the rate at which prices rise] is down to 3.4%, employment is up, the number of people on payrolls is at a record high, and inactivity is falling.  ""We've reduced the number of workless households by one million since 2010. Our £2.5 billion Back to Work plan will help break down barriers to work for over a million more people and our recent Budget measures are estimated to boost the labour force by an extra 300,000 workers."" In order to deal with long-term economic inactivity, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in November that reforms including stricter fit-to-work tests and jobseeker support would get 200,000 more people into work. Under those plans, the government also wants to scrap the controversial Work Capability Assessment. ""We will reform the work capability assessment to reflect greater flexibility and availability of home working after the pandemic,"" Mr Hunt said in November. ""And we will spend £1.3bn over the next five years to help nearly 700,000 people with health conditions find jobs."" The Foundation's latest report comes after it said in February that people in their early 20s are more likely to be not working due to ill health than those in their early 40s. Responding to the report, Shazia Ejaz at the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC), which represents the recruitment industry, said long NHS waiting lists ""are a big factor for why not enough people are well enough to work"". She added: ""Better infrastructure around transport, childcare and social care will all help tackle the inactivity challenge the UK faces"".  ",BBC,23/03/2024,"['The number of people leaving the workforce due to long term sickness is at its highest since the 1990s, a report suggests.', 'Adults economically inactive due to ill-health rose from 2.1m in July 2019 to a peak of 2.8m in October 2023, said the Resolution Foundation.', 'It is the ""longest sustained rise"" since 1994-1998, when records began.', 'The government said its recent Budget measures are estimated to boost the labour force by 300,000 workers.', ""The Foundation's report comes after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said more than a fifth of UK adults were not looking for work."", 'People at either end of the age spectrum had the highest proportion of those out-of-work due to ongoing illness, the Foundation\'s report said. ""', 'Younger and older people together account for nine-tenths of the rise in overall economic inactivity, which could have serious effects both on individual\'s living standards and career paths,"" said Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Foundation.', 'The rise in long-term sickness leaves the UK as the only G7 economy not to have returned to its pre-pandemic employment rate, according to the Foundation.', 'However, it did add that inactivity figures fell slightly to 2.7 million in December 2023.', 'It said the upward trend in long-term sickness actually started before the pandemic in the summer of 2019, and has lasted for 54 months.', 'The longest previous period of increasing economic inactivity due to ill-health was for 55 months, between 1994 and 1998, it added.', 'As well as looking at ONS figures, the Foundation pointed to Department of Work and Pension (DWP) figures showing claims for disability benefits.', 'It said the rise in claims for personal independence payment (Pip), the non-means tested benefit for those with health issues, were ""most striking"", with claims rising 68% from 2020 to 2024.', 'In the 16-17 age range, new Pip claims had increased by 138%.', 'The Foundation said it would lead to ""wider strains on the NHS and welfare spending if we fail to improve the nation\'s health and reduce economic inactivity"".', ""It also examined the DWP's data on medical conditions recorded on Work Capability Assessments and highlighted the fact that many benefit claimants cited mental health problems and musculoskeletal problems."", 'It said 69% claimed for mental health disorders, and 48% had problems with connective or musculoskeletal pain.', 'A spokesperson for the DWP said: ""Our plan for the economy is working.', 'Inflation [the rate at which prices rise] is down to 3.4%, employment is up, the number of people on payrolls is at a record high, and inactivity is falling. ""', ""We've reduced the number of workless households by one million since 2010."", 'Our £2.5 billion Back to Work plan will help break down barriers to work for over a million more people and our recent Budget measures are estimated to boost the labour force by an extra 300,000 workers.""', 'In order to deal with long-term economic inactivity, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in November that reforms including stricter fit-to-work tests and jobseeker support would get 200,000 more people into work.', 'Under those plans, the government also wants to scrap the controversial Work Capability Assessment. ""', 'We will reform the work capability assessment to reflect greater flexibility and availability of home working after the pandemic,"" Mr Hunt said in November. ""', 'And we will spend £1.3bn over the next five years to help nearly 700,000 people with health conditions find jobs.""', ""The Foundation's latest report comes after it said in February that people in their early 20s are more likely to be not working due to ill health than those in their early 40s."", 'Responding to the report, Shazia Ejaz at the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC), which represents the recruitment industry, said long NHS waiting lists ""are a big factor for why not enough people are well enough to work"".', 'She added: ""Better infrastructure around transport, childcare and social care will all help tackle the inactivity challenge the UK faces"".']",0.0633149136284909,"She added: ""Better infrastructure around transport, childcare and social care will all help tackle the inactivity challenge the UK faces"".","It said 69% claimed for mental health disorders, and 48% had problems with connective or musculoskeletal pain.",0.1448185812859308,"Adults economically inactive due to ill-health rose from 2.1m in July 2019 to a peak of 2.8m in October 2023, said the Resolution Foundation.","However, it did add that inactivity figures fell slightly to 2.7 million in December 2023.",2024-03-26
There’s more bad news for potential homebuyers: Prices just hit another record,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/economy/us-home-prices-january-case-shiller/index.html,"
  Updated
        11:46 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","US home prices rose at the fastest clip in months to a fresh record high in January, according to data released Tuesday, highlighting how a housing shortage combined with high mortgage rates continues to limit affordability.
    
            The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price index rose 6% in January from a year before, accelerating from a 5.6% annual increase in December. It’s the highest annual increase since late 2022.
    
            “For the second consecutive month, all cities reported increases in annual prices, with San Diego surging 11.2%,” wrote Brian Luke, head of commodities, real and digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement.
    
            “On a seasonal adjusted basis, home prices have continued to break through previous all-time highs set last year,” he noted.
    
            Housing prices have shot to new heights amid a confluence of factors; specifically, decades of underbuilding has led to a shortage of millions of homes. In recent years, efforts to boost that inventory were stymied by rising costs as well as sharply rising interest rates.
    
            The Federal Reserve’s series of rate hikes meant to curb demand and slow inflation resulted in average mortgage interest rates surging to nearly 8% last year. The higher rates stifled demand and kept homesellers on the sidelines, limiting supply further.
    
            The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87% in the week ending March 21, according to Freddie Mac data.
    
            Mortgage rates are expected to drop further this year — especially if the Fed starts cutting rates as planned — however, they might not fall by much: Economists at PNC Financial Services group expect them to be in the 6.5% realm by the fourth quarter.
    
            “That means housing affordability will still be low this year,” Ershang Liang, economist at PNC Financial Services Group, told CNN.
    
            In fact, a separate report released Tuesday showed that it’s actually more affordable to rent than to buy in America’s biggest cities.
    
            Realtor.com’s Rental Report for February found that monthly rent was cheaper than shelling out for a mortgage payment in the 50 largest US cities.
    
            In February, the cost of buying a starter home in those cities was $1,027 more than renting one. That’s up from a difference of $865 in February 2023.
    
            Austin, Texas; Seattle; Phoenix; San Francisco; and Los Angeles were the top five metros with the largest rent versus buy savings, according to the Realtor.com report.
    
            In California, it’s no surprise that cities facing the biggest housing shortages are seeing some of the sharpest home price gains, said Liang.
    
            “(In Los Angeles and San Diego), a new single-family permit is issued for every 11 new jobs, so we are seeing strong employment growth in those places, but the pace of single-family homes has not been able to keep up with the employment gains there,” she said.
    
            However, decades-high interest rates and borrowing costs weighed on some price growth — especially for homes sold in the nation’s largest metro areas, according to the report.
    
            On a month-over-month, seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.4%. The S&P CoreLogic’s 20-City Composite index inched up by 0.1%, the slowest pace since February last year.
    
            “The key number is the small month-over-month gain,” Robert Frick, Navy Federal Credit Union’s corporate economist, wrote Tuesday. “If the trend continues, we could see prices start to fall; though, unfortunately, we’re a year away from seeing home prices drop nationwide, in the best case.”
    
            When stripping out seasonal adjustments, 17 of the 20 metro areas recorded price declines from December to January. San Diego, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, registered positive gains. Minneapolis home prices have declined 2.4% during the three months ended in January, according to the report.
    
            Cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Denver that have been seeing slower price growth, or even falling prices on a monthly basis, are likely experiencing a correction after previous years of sharply rising prices, Liang said.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['US home prices rose at the fastest clip in months to a fresh record high in January, according to data released Tuesday, highlighting how a housing shortage combined with high mortgage rates continues to limit affordability.', 'The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price index rose 6% in January from a year before, accelerating from a 5.6% annual increase in December.', 'It’s the highest annual increase since late 2022.', '“For the second consecutive month, all cities reported increases in annual prices, with San Diego surging 11.2%,” wrote Brian Luke, head of commodities, real and digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement.', '“On a seasonal adjusted basis, home prices have continued to break through previous all-time highs set last year,” he noted.', 'Housing prices have shot to new heights amid a confluence of factors; specifically, decades of underbuilding has led to a shortage of millions of homes.', 'In recent years, efforts to boost that inventory were stymied by rising costs as well as sharply rising interest rates.', 'The Federal Reserve’s series of rate hikes meant to curb demand and slow inflation resulted in average mortgage interest rates surging to nearly 8% last year.', 'The higher rates stifled demand and kept homesellers on the sidelines, limiting supply further.', 'The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87% in the week ending March 21, according to Freddie Mac data.', 'Mortgage rates are expected to drop further this year — especially if the Fed starts cutting rates as planned — however, they might not fall by much: Economists at PNC Financial Services group expect them to be in the 6.5% realm by the fourth quarter.', '“That means housing affordability will still be low this year,” Ershang Liang, economist at PNC Financial Services Group, told CNN.', 'In fact, a separate report released Tuesday showed that it’s actually more affordable to rent than to buy in America’s biggest cities.', 'Realtor.com’s Rental Report for February found that monthly rent was cheaper than shelling out for a mortgage payment in the 50 largest US cities.', 'In February, the cost of buying a starter home in those cities was $1,027 more than renting one.', 'That’s up from a difference of $865 in February 2023.', 'Austin, Texas; Seattle; Phoenix; San Francisco; and Los Angeles were the top five metros with the largest rent versus buy savings, according to the Realtor.com report.', 'In California, it’s no surprise that cities facing the biggest housing shortages are seeing some of the sharpest home price gains, said Liang.', '“(In Los Angeles and San Diego), a new single-family permit is issued for every 11 new jobs, so we are seeing strong employment growth in those places, but the pace of single-family homes has not been able to keep up with the employment gains there,” she said.', 'However, decades-high interest rates and borrowing costs weighed on some price growth — especially for homes sold in the nation’s largest metro areas, according to the report.', 'On a month-over-month, seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.4%.', 'The S&P CoreLogic’s 20-City Composite index inched up by 0.1%, the slowest pace since February last year.', '“The key number is the small month-over-month gain,” Robert Frick, Navy Federal Credit Union’s corporate economist, wrote Tuesday. “', 'If the trend continues, we could see prices start to fall; though, unfortunately, we’re a year away from seeing home prices drop nationwide, in the best case.”', 'When stripping out seasonal adjustments, 17 of the 20 metro areas recorded price declines from December to January.', 'San Diego, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, registered positive gains.', 'Minneapolis home prices have declined 2.4% during the three months ended in January, according to the report.', 'Cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Denver that have been seeing slower price growth, or even falling prices on a monthly basis, are likely experiencing a correction after previous years of sharply rising prices, Liang said.']",0.1660996183369771,"In recent years, efforts to boost that inventory were stymied by rising costs as well as sharply rising interest rates.","The higher rates stifled demand and kept homesellers on the sidelines, limiting supply further.",0.3078980468786679,"On a month-over-month, seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.4%.","Minneapolis home prices have declined 2.4% during the three months ended in January, according to the report.",2024-03-26
Leo Varadkar: Five key moments for the Brexit Taoiseach,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6pj0j3le6no,2024-03-21T07:27:53.936Z,"Leo Varadkar was taoiseach during the most intense phase of Brexit, when the Irish border was central to negotiations. In January 2017, the then UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Brexit would mean the UK leaving the single market and the customs union. That had immediate implications for Ireland, raising the prospect that it would have to harden its border with Northern Ireland. The Irish government quickly decided that would be a bad idea for economic, political and security reasons. Its Brexit bottom line was that there could be no hard border and Ireland’s place in the EU should be undisturbed. It fell to Leo Varadkar to pursue that policy.  There is a perception among some Brexit supporters that Ireland’s approach hardened when Mr Varadkar became taoiseach and that his predecessor Enda Kenny would have been a friendlier, more accommodating partner for the UK. However Ireland’s key Brexit policy had been set months before Mr Varadkar took the top job. The EU’s negotiating guidelines of April 2017 had the avoidance of a hard border in Ireland as one of its three priorities. There was certainly a stylistic contrast between Mr Kenny and Mr Varadkar. The new taoiseach could be brusque, even blunt. A month after becoming taoiseach he made clear his exasperation with some of the ideas for the border coming from Brexit supporters. ""What we’re not going to do is to design a border for the Brexiteers because they’re the ones who want a border,"" he said. ""It’s up to them to say what it is, say how it would work and first of all convince their own people, their own voters that this is actually a good idea. ""As far as this government is concerned there shouldn’t be an economic border. We don’t want one."" This robust defence of Ireland’s interest set the tone for his approach over the next few years. Throughout the second half of 2017 EU and UK negotiators laboured to find a way to square Theresa May’s hard Brexit with a soft Irish border. An interim agreement called the Joint Report saw the UK implicitly concede that an Irish Sea border, between NI and GB, could be a solution. The Joint Report laid out three possibilities: • The border issue could be solved in the context of an overall trade deal • There could be technological and administrative solutions • Northern Ireland could continue to follow some rules of the EU internal market and the customs union - this was known as the backstop For Mr Varadkar this was effectively mission accomplished with the UK signing up to a text which ruled out a hard border. ‘We have achieved all we set out to achieve in phase one of these negotiations,’ he said. ‘We have the assurances and guarantees we need from the United Kingdom and support for them from the European Union.’ He went on to paraphrase Winston Churchill describing the agreement as ‘not the end, but it is the end of the beginning.’ Mr Varadkar was right to suggest that the Brexit negotiations would not be concluded quickly. Throughout 2018 it became clear that Theresa May had signed up to a deal that would not win majority support in the House of Commons. Most importantly the DUP, which was keeping her party in power, was opposed to the backstop. There was an interminable series of summits and negotiations in an attempt to finesse the deal. At a meeting of EU leaders in October 2018 Mr Varadkar sought to impress on his peers just how important it was to stand firm on the border issue. He showed them a story from that day’s Irish Times about the IRA bombing of a customs post in 1972 in which nine people were killed. This provoked outrage among unionists who suggested he was using the threat of violence to advance his political agenda. Mr Varadkar said this was never his intention later explaining: ‘I have never used a threat of violence in politics. ‘What I did was express concerns at the time that were held by the Chief Constable and the Garda Commissioner, that the reestablishment of border posts between north and south could lead to violence. ""But there’s a very big difference I think, between warning or expressing concern about violence, and threatening it, and I certainly didn’t do that.” But this episode became emblematic of the low opinion many unionists had of his approach to Brexit. Mr Varadkar had a new UK counterpart in July 2019 when Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May. He promised to ditch the backstop but by October, he was proposing an ""all-island regulatory zone"" which would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for agriculture, food and all manufactured goods. However, the Irish government and the EU were not convinced as the plan would have potentially meant a new customs border in Ireland. They were also concerned an up-front veto for the DUP could prevent the ""all-island regulatory zone"" from ever materialising. But then came a decisive meeting with Mr Varadkar at Thornton Manor on Merseyside. This would prove to be the engagement which unlocked a deal that would finally be approved by the UK Parliament. Mr Johnson accepted that there would be a border in the Irish Sea while Mr Varadkar conceded that Stormont would need to have some democratic oversight. A joint statement said: ""Both continue to believe that a deal is in everybody’s interest. They agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal."" Just a week later, the UK and EU had agreed the Northern Ireland protocol.  An amended version of the protocol, the Windsor Framework, now governs NI’s post-Brexit trading arrangements. As Mr Varadkar announced his resignation on Wednesday he counted his approach to Brexit among his key achievements. He referenced Ireland’s original objectives saying: ""We prevented a hard border between North and South and protected our place in Europe."" He also suggested that with the DUP’s return to government a period of difficult relations, east-west as well as north-south, was now beginning to heal. ""The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded. ",BBC,21/03/2024,"['Leo Varadkar was taoiseach during the most intense phase of Brexit, when the Irish border was central to negotiations.', 'In January 2017, the then UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Brexit would mean the UK leaving the single market and the customs union.', 'That had immediate implications for Ireland, raising the prospect that it would have to harden its border with Northern Ireland.', 'The Irish government quickly decided that would be a bad idea for economic, political and security reasons.', 'Its Brexit bottom line was that there could be no hard border and Ireland’s place in the EU should be undisturbed.', 'It fell to Leo Varadkar to pursue that policy.', 'There is a perception among some Brexit supporters that Ireland’s approach hardened when Mr Varadkar became taoiseach and that his predecessor Enda Kenny would have been a friendlier, more accommodating partner for the UK.', 'However Ireland’s key Brexit policy had been set months before Mr Varadkar took the top job.', 'The EU’s negotiating guidelines of April 2017 had the avoidance of a hard border in Ireland as one of its three priorities.', 'There was certainly a stylistic contrast between Mr Kenny and Mr Varadkar.', 'The new taoiseach could be brusque, even blunt.', 'A month after becoming taoiseach he made clear his exasperation with some of the ideas for the border coming from Brexit supporters. ""', 'What we’re not going to do is to design a border for the Brexiteers because they’re the ones who want a border,"" he said. ""', 'It’s up to them to say what it is, say how it would work and first of all convince their own people, their own voters that this is actually a good idea. ""', 'As far as this government is concerned there shouldn’t be an economic border.', 'We don’t want one.""', 'This robust defence of Ireland’s interest set the tone for his approach over the next few years.', 'Throughout the second half of 2017 EU and UK negotiators laboured to find a way to square Theresa May’s hard Brexit with a soft Irish border.', 'An interim agreement called the Joint Report saw the UK implicitly concede that an Irish Sea border, between NI and GB, could be a solution.', 'The Joint Report laid out three possibilities: • The border issue could be solved in the context of an overall trade deal • There could be technological and administrative solutions • Northern Ireland could continue to follow some rules of the EU internal market and the customs union - this was known as the backstop For Mr Varadkar this was effectively mission accomplished with the UK signing up to a text which ruled out a hard border. ‘', 'We have achieved all we set out to achieve in phase one of these negotiations,’ he said. ‘', 'We have the assurances and guarantees we need from the United Kingdom and support for them from the European Union.’', 'He went on to paraphrase Winston Churchill describing the agreement as ‘not the end, but it is the end of the beginning.’', 'Mr Varadkar was right to suggest that the Brexit negotiations would not be concluded quickly.', 'Throughout 2018 it became clear that Theresa May had signed up to a deal that would not win majority support in the House of Commons.', 'Most importantly the DUP, which was keeping her party in power, was opposed to the backstop.', 'There was an interminable series of summits and negotiations in an attempt to finesse the deal.', 'At a meeting of EU leaders in October 2018 Mr Varadkar sought to impress on his peers just how important it was to stand firm on the border issue.', 'He showed them a story from that day’s Irish Times about the IRA bombing of a customs post in 1972 in which nine people were killed.', 'This provoked outrage among unionists who suggested he was using the threat of violence to advance his political agenda.', 'Mr Varadkar said this was never his intention later explaining: ‘I have never used a threat of violence in politics. ‘', 'What I did was express concerns at the time that were held by the Chief Constable and the Garda Commissioner, that the reestablishment of border posts between north and south could lead to violence. ""', 'But there’s a very big difference I think, between warning or expressing concern about violence, and threatening it, and I certainly didn’t do that.”', 'But this episode became emblematic of the low opinion many unionists had of his approach to Brexit.', 'Mr Varadkar had a new UK counterpart in July 2019 when Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May.', 'He promised to ditch the backstop but by October, he was proposing an ""all-island regulatory zone"" which would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the EU\'s single market for agriculture, food and all manufactured goods.', 'However, the Irish government and the EU were not convinced as the plan would have potentially meant a new customs border in Ireland.', 'They were also concerned an up-front veto for the DUP could prevent the ""all-island regulatory zone"" from ever materialising.', 'But then came a decisive meeting with Mr Varadkar at Thornton Manor on Merseyside.', 'This would prove to be the engagement which unlocked a deal that would finally be approved by the UK Parliament.', 'Mr Johnson accepted that there would be a border in the Irish Sea while Mr Varadkar conceded that Stormont would need to have some democratic oversight.', 'A joint statement said: ""Both continue to believe that a deal is in everybody’s interest.', 'They agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal.""', 'Just a week later, the UK and EU had agreed the Northern Ireland protocol.', 'An amended version of the protocol, the Windsor Framework, now governs NI’s post-Brexit trading arrangements.', 'As Mr Varadkar announced his resignation on Wednesday he counted his approach to Brexit among his key achievements.', 'He referenced Ireland’s original objectives saying: ""We prevented a hard border between North and South and protected our place in Europe.""', 'He also suggested that with the DUP’s return to government a period of difficult relations, east-west as well as north-south, was now beginning to heal. ""', 'The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded.']",0.1193318062671613,"The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded.",This provoked outrage among unionists who suggested he was using the threat of violence to advance his political agenda.,0.1706676334142685,"The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are working again, and our trading relationship with the United Kingdom, in the post-Brexit era, is settled and stable,"" he concluded.",But this episode became emblematic of the low opinion many unionists had of his approach to Brexit.,2024-03-26
"Darden posts first same-store sales decline since pandemic, offset by Ruth's Chris acquisition",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/darden-restaurants-dri-q3-2024-earnings.html,2024-03-21T13:43:12+0000,"In this articleDarden Restaurants on Thursday reported mixed quarterly results as the Olive Garden owner's same-store sales shrank for the first time since the Covid pandemic.Sales slowed down in January due to bad weather, and underperformed expectations in February. CFO Raj Vennam said on the company's conference call that February's weak sales exposed ""some underlying consumer weakness.""Shares of the company fell more than 4% in morning trading.Here's what the company reported for the quarter ended Feb. 25 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:Darden reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $312.9 million, or $2.60 per share, up from $286.6 million, or $2.34 per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, the restaurant company earned $2.62 per share.Net sales rose 6.8% to $2.97 billion, fueled by Darden's acquisition of Ruth's Chris Steak House and 53 other new restaurant locations.But Darden's overall same-store sales fell 1% in the quarter as almost all of its restaurant segments reported same-store sales declines. Only LongHorn Steakhouse saw same-store sales growth. A year earlier, Darden reported same-store sales growth of 11.7%.Lower-income consumers pulled back their restaurant spending, according to executives. In particular, transactions from households making less than $50,000 fell at every one of Darden's brands. Sales from households making less than $75,000 also declined. Older customers are also being more careful about how much they spend while dining, Vennam said.But there were some bright spots. Darden gained more customers from households with incomes of at least $150,000. Executives also said the company's same-store sales and traffic outpaced that of the broader industry.Despite the slowdown, Darden isn't planning on changing its strategy by leaning into discounts like many of its peers. The company instead has been raising its menu prices slightly below the pace of inflation.Olive Garden, usually the crown jewel of Darden's portfolio, reported its same-store sales fell 1.8%. Analysts were expecting the chain's same-store sales to rise 1.3%, according to StreetAccount estimates.LongHorn Steakhouse's same-store sales rose 2.3%, but still fell short of StreetAccount estimates of 3.1%.Darden's fine dining business, which includes The Capital Grille, saw its same-store sales decline 2.3%. That division now includes Ruth's Chris, but those same-store results won't be included in the category total for several more quarters.Remaining chains, like Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, collectively saw same-store sales fall 2.6%.Darden also updated its outlook for fiscal 2024. The company now expects adjusted earnings per share of $8.80 to $8.90, narrowing its earnings forecast from a prior range of $8.75 to $8.90. Darden also lowered its revenue projection from $11.5 billion to $11.4 billion and changed its same-store sales outlook from a range of 2.5% to 3% growth to a range of 1.5% to 2%.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"[""In this articleDarden Restaurants on Thursday reported mixed quarterly results as the Olive Garden owner's same-store sales shrank for the first time since the Covid pandemic."", 'Sales slowed down in January due to bad weather, and underperformed expectations in February.', 'CFO Raj Vennam said on the company\'s conference call that February\'s weak sales exposed ""some underlying consumer weakness.', '""Shares of the company fell more than 4% in morning trading.', ""Here's what the company reported for the quarter ended Feb. 25 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:Darden reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $312.9 million, or $2.60 per share, up from $286.6 million, or $2.34 per share, a year earlier."", 'Excluding items, the restaurant company earned $2.62 per share.', ""Net salesrose 6.8% to $2.97 billion, fueled by Darden's acquisition of Ruth's Chris Steak House and 53 other new restaurant locations."", ""But Darden's overall same-store sales fell 1% in the quarter as almost all of its restaurant segments reported same-store sales declines."", 'Only LongHorn Steakhouse saw same-store sales growth.', 'A year earlier, Darden reported same-store sales growth of 11.7%.Lower-income consumers pulled back their restaurant spending, according to executives.', ""In particular, transactions from households making less than $50,000 fell at every one of Darden's brands."", 'Sales from households making less than $75,000 also declined.', 'Older customers are also being more careful about how much they spend while dining, Vennam said.', 'But there were some bright spots.', 'Darden gained more customers from households with incomes of at least $150,000.', ""Executives also said the company's same-store sales and traffic outpaced that of the broader industry."", ""Despite the slowdown, Darden isn't planning on changing its strategy by leaning into discounts like many of its peers."", 'The company instead has been raising its menu prices slightly below the pace of inflation.', ""Olive Garden, usually the crown jewel of Darden's portfolio, reported its same-store sales fell 1.8%."", ""Analysts were expecting the chain's same-store sales to rise 1.3%, according to StreetAccount estimates."", ""LongHorn Steakhouse's same-store sales rose 2.3%, but still fell short of StreetAccount estimates of 3.1%.Darden's fine dining business, which includes The Capital Grille, saw its same-store sales decline 2.3%."", ""That division now includes Ruth's Chris, but those same-store results won't be included in the category total for several more quarters."", ""Remaining chains, like Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, collectively saw same-store sales fall 2.6%.Darden also updated its outlook for fiscal 2024."", 'The company now expects adjusted earnings per share of $8.80 to $8.90, narrowing its earnings forecast from a prior range of $8.75 to $8.90.', 'Darden also lowered its revenue projection from $11.5 billion to $11.4 billion and changed its same-store sales outlook from a range of 2.5% to 3% growth to a range of 1.5% to 2%.']",0.1507734574247539,But there were some bright spots.,"CFO Raj Vennam said on the company's conference call that February's weak sales exposed ""some underlying consumer weakness.",-0.1535310603323437,"Analysts were expecting the chain's same-store sales to rise 1.3%, according to StreetAccount estimates.",In this articleDarden Restaurants on Thursday reported mixed quarterly results as the Olive Garden owner's same-store sales shrank for the first time since the Covid pandemic.,2024-03-26
"Hyundai’s Genesis reveals all-electric SUV concept, the Neolun",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/hyundais-genesis-previews-all-electric-suv-concept-the-neolun.html,2024-03-26T17:29:29+0000,"NEW YORK – Hyundai's Genesis is previewing the future of the growingly prominent luxury brand with a new large all-electric concept vehicle called the Neolun.The full-size SUV features a sleek exterior design illuminated by long horizontal headlights and taillights reminiscent of the brand's current EVs, though more modern.The interior of the Neolun – derived from the Greek ""neo,"" or new, and the Latin ""luna,"" which means moon – is minimalistic compared with many recent concepts that include door-to-door screens. The SUV features a large central screen with physical buttons below it and a control panel and knob to the right of the driver.The vehicle's front seats can swivel to face the rear passengers for lounge seating.""The Neolun Concept is a concept model that showcases the future vision of Genesis, as well as the overall direction in which the brand is headed in terms of product, design and technological advancement,"" Genesis said in an emailed statement.Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand. The vehicles are not meant to be sold to consumers.The company declined to disclose whether the vehicle is a preview of an upcoming large all-electric SUV for Genesis, which has been growing its lineup in the U.S.Genesis' U.S. sales increased 23% last year to a record of 69,175 units compared with 2022. Genesis, which became its own brand in 2015, outsold more established luxury rival Infiniti and expects sales to continue to grow this year.""Our standalone retail footprint is rapidly expanding, and the brand continues to achieve record-breaking sales results in the United States,"" Tedros Mengiste, vice president of sales operations for Genesis Motor America, said in a release last week.Genesis also revealed another concept called the GV60 Magma Concept, a high-performance variant of its compact EV crossover.The brand said it aims to develop a high-performance Magma model for each production vehicle in the existing lineup.The concept vehicles were revealed Monday night ahead of their public debuts this week at the New York International Auto Show.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"[""NEW YORK – Hyundai's Genesis is previewing the future of the growingly prominent luxury brand with a new large all-electric concept vehicle called the Neolun."", ""The full-size SUV features a sleek exterior design illuminated by long horizontal headlights and taillights reminiscent of the brand's current EVs, though more modern."", 'The interior of the Neolun – derived from the Greek ""neo,"" or new, and the Latin ""luna,"" which means moon – is minimalistic compared with many recent concepts that include door-to-door screens.', 'The SUV features a large central screen with physical buttons below it and a control panel and knob to the right of the driver.', ""The vehicle's front seats can swivel to face the rear passengers for lounge seating."", '""The Neolun Concept is a concept model that showcases the future vision of Genesis, as well as the overall direction in which the brand is headed in terms of product, design and technological advancement,"" Genesis said in an emailed statement.', 'Automakers routinely use concept vehicles to gauge customer interest or show the future direction of a vehicle or brand.', 'The vehicles are not meant to be sold to consumers.', ""The company declined to disclose whether the vehicle is a preview of an upcoming large all-electric SUV for Genesis, which has been growing its lineup in the U.S.Genesis' U.S. sales increased 23% last year to a record of 69,175 units compared with 2022."", 'Genesis, which became its own brand in 2015, outsold more established luxury rival Infiniti and expects sales to continue to grow this year.', '""Our standalone retail footprint is rapidly expanding, and the brand continues to achieve record-breaking sales results in the United States,"" Tedros Mengiste, vice president of sales operations for Genesis Motor America, said in a release last week.', 'Genesis also revealed another concept called the GV60 Magma Concept, a high-performance variant of its compact EV crossover.', 'The brand said itaims to develop a high-performance Magma model for each production vehicle in the existing lineup.', 'The concept vehicles were revealed Monday night ahead of their public debuts this week at the New York International Auto Show.']",0.1497590928936046,"""The Neolun Concept is a concept model that showcases the future vision of Genesis, as well as the overall direction in which the brand is headed in terms of product, design and technological advancement,"" Genesis said in an emailed statement.",,0.9996995329856871,"The company declined to disclose whether the vehicle is a preview of an upcoming large all-electric SUV for Genesis, which has been growing its lineup in the U.S.Genesis' U.S. sales increased 23% last year to a record of 69,175 units compared with 2022.",,2024-03-26
Labour targets floating wind farms to boost energy security,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68654098,2024-03-25T10:43:46.000Z,"Labour is planning to invest in building floating wind farms off Britain's coast to reduce the UK's reliance on foreign energy.  Sir Keir Starmer has announced Labour will set up a state-owned firm with a £8.3bn budget which it claims will help cut energy bills and create jobs. Labour has pledged to decarbonise the UK by 2030, while the Conservatives target 2035 for net zero energy supply. The Tories said Labour's plan was ""unfunded"" and would mean higher taxes. Ahead of a general election, Labour and the Conservatives have pledged to make the UK's energy supply more secure after the price shocks that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At a port in North Wales, Sir Keir announced on Monday that Great British Energy, a publicly-owned company, will fund the construction of floating offshore wind farms. ""In an increasingly insecure world, with tyrants using energy as an economic weapon, Britain must take back control of our national energy security."" he will say.   The most recent figures show that the UK imported nearly 40% of its energy in 2022.  Sir Keir said: ""Here in Wales, the potential for offshore wind is enormous, and the UK Tory government is squandering it. With public investment through Great British Energy we can unlock billions more in private investment to turbocharge jobs and growth for Wales.""   But Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, said ""Sir Keir Starmer can't say what he will do to protect our energy security because he does not have a plan - he set out a 2030 decarbonisation promise, which Labour themselves costed at £28bn without a plan to pay for it.""  Labour recently dropped a pledge to spend £28bn a year on environmental projects if it wins the general election, which must be held by 28 January, 2025. Sir Keir blamed the ""damage the Tories have done to the economy"" for the U-turn. But he promised to stick to other commitments including battery factories and wind farms with British-made turbines. He also stood by Labour's 2030 timeline, telling the BBC that while it was a ""difficult target"" it is ""important"", adding that it is key to have a deadline to work towards. Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party, described Labour's £8.3bn investment plan as ""a drop in the ocean"". ""Especially since it follows the Party ditching its £28bn a year green investment plan,"" he said. ""The Green Party would invest whatever is needed to turbocharge the move to renewables, ensuring wind provides around 70% of the UK's electricity by 2030.""  Floating wind farms are a relatively new means of generating renewable energy with very few in operation. The first was built off the coast of Peterhead in Scotland and consists of five wind turbines, led by Norwegian firm Equinor. Floating farms allow turbines to be placed further out at sea, where wind speeds may be greater, unlike traditional wind farms which are fixed to the seabed usually in waters less than 60 metres deep. The floating turbines off the coast of Aberdeen are kept in place using three suction anchors attached to each turbine.    As well as offshore wind, Labour said they would veto any new oil and gas licences in UK waters if elected.  The Conservatives plan to continue granting fossil fuel permits and have a 2035 target for net zero energy supplies. The government insists that rejecting future UK based oil and gas production will cost jobs and jeopardise UK energy security. Sir Keir said: ""So far as oil and gas licenses are concerned, we've been very clear we're not going to revoke or interfere with any existing licenses so they will be a part of the mix for decades to come. ""But clean power is the way to ensure we get lower bills for the long term, that we get the stability and security we need, so Putin can't put his boot on our throat, but crucially so we get the next generation of jobs.""  The Liberal Democrats also back a 2030 target for net zero energy supplies. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey told the BBC: ""We are super-committed to fast-tracking action on net zero, not least because it could both reduce people's energy bills and make the UK more energy independent.""  Plaid Cymru described Labour's plan as ""unambitious"" and ""re-hashed"". Labour first announced its plan to create the Great British Energy company in September 2022.  ",BBC,25/03/2024,"[""Labour is planning to invest in building floating wind farms off Britain's coast to reduce the UK's reliance on foreign energy."", 'Sir Keir Starmer has announced Labour will set up a state-owned firm with a £8.3bn budget which it claims will help cut energy bills and create jobs.', 'Labour has pledged to decarbonise the UK by 2030, while the Conservatives target 2035 for net zero energy supply.', 'The Tories said Labour\'s plan was ""unfunded"" and would mean higher taxes.', ""Ahead of a general election, Labour and the Conservatives have pledged to make the UK's energy supply more secure after the price shocks that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine."", 'At a port in North Wales, Sir Keir announced on Monday that Great British Energy, a publicly-owned company, will fund the construction of floating offshore wind farms. ""', 'In an increasingly insecure world, with tyrants using energy as an economic weapon, Britain must take back control of our national energy security.""', 'he will say.', 'The most recent figures show that the UK imported nearly 40% of its energy in 2022.', 'Sir Keir said: ""Here in Wales, the potential for offshore wind is enormous, and the UK Tory government is squandering it.', 'With public investment through Great British Energy we can unlock billions more in private investment to turbocharge jobs and growth for Wales.""', 'But Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, said ""Sir Keir Starmer can\'t say what he will do to protect our energy security because he does not have a plan - he set out a 2030 decarbonisation promise, which Labour themselves costed at £28bn without a plan to pay for it.""', 'Labour recently dropped a pledge to spend £28bn a year on environmental projects if it wins the general election, which must be held by 28 January, 2025.', 'Sir Keir blamed the ""damage the Tories have done to the economy"" for the U-turn.', 'But he promised to stick to other commitments including battery factories and wind farms with British-made turbines.', 'He also stood by Labour\'s 2030 timeline, telling the BBC that while it was a ""difficult target"" it is ""important"", adding that it is key to have a deadline to work towards.', 'Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party, described Labour\'s £8.3bn investment plan as ""a drop in the ocean"". ""', 'Especially since it follows the Party ditching its £28bn a year green investment plan,"" he said. ""', 'The Green Party would invest whatever is needed to turbocharge the move to renewables, ensuring wind provides around 70% of the UK\'s electricity by 2030.""', 'Floating wind farms are a relatively new means of generating renewable energy with very few in operation.', 'The first was built off the coast of Peterhead in Scotland and consists of five wind turbines, led by Norwegian firm Equinor.', 'Floating farms allow turbines to be placed further out at sea, where wind speeds may be greater, unlike traditional wind farms which are fixed to the seabed usually in waters less than 60 metres deep.', 'The floating turbines off the coast of Aberdeen are kept in place using three suction anchors attached to each turbine.', 'As well as offshore wind, Labour said they would veto any new oil and gas licences in UK waters if elected.', 'The Conservatives plan to continue granting fossil fuel permits and have a 2035 target for net zero energy supplies.', 'The government insists that rejecting future UK based oil and gas production will cost jobs and jeopardise UK energy security.', 'Sir Keir said: ""So far as oil and gas licenses are concerned, we\'ve been very clear we\'re not going to revoke or interfere with any existing licenses so they will be a part of the mix for decades to come. ""', 'But clean power is the way to ensure we get lower bills for the long term, that we get the stability and security we need, so Putin can\'t put his boot on our throat, but crucially so we get the next generation of jobs.""', 'The Liberal Democrats also back a 2030 target for net zero energy supplies.', 'Lib Dem leader Ed Davey told the BBC: ""We are super-committed to fast-tracking action on net zero, not least because it could both reduce people\'s energy bills and make the UK more energy independent.""', 'Plaid Cymru described Labour\'s plan as ""unambitious"" and ""re-hashed"".', 'Labour first announced its plan to create the Great British Energy company in September 2022.']",0.3330050137693183,"But Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, said ""Sir Keir Starmer can't say what he will do to protect our energy security because he does not have a plan - he set out a 2030 decarbonisation promise, which Labour themselves costed at £28bn without a plan to pay for it.""","Sir Keir blamed the ""damage the Tories have done to the economy"" for the U-turn.",0.0648311422421382,"Ahead of a general election, Labour and the Conservatives have pledged to make the UK's energy supply more secure after the price shocks that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine.","Sir Keir blamed the ""damage the Tories have done to the economy"" for the U-turn.",2024-03-26
The Chevrolet Corvette is officially going electric,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/25/business/electric-hybrid-corvette/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:22 PM EDT, Mon April 25, 2022
    ","General Motors will produce a fully electric Chevrolet Corvette, GM President Mark Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post Monday morning. 
    
            Reuss didn’t say when the electric Corvette would come, but he hinted that a hybrid model could come relatively soon. “We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year,” he wrote. An accompanying video the company posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be a hybrid Corvette, and in another first, showed the front wheels spinning and throwing snow as if being powered. All Corvettes produced by the company previously have been rear-wheel-drive only.
    
            While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.
    
            “Electrified” is an auto industry term encompassing everything from hybrid to fully electric vehicles, and anything with an electric motor can count as “electrified.” It has long been rumored that the current generation of the Corvette, the first with its gasoline engine mounted behind the seats instead of in the front, could be built with a hybrid system. Reuss has also previously hinted there would be electrified variants of the car.
    
            Various companies are working on electric sports cars. Most all-electric vehicles in production so far have been four-door sedans and SUVs, as the need for batteries lends itself to larger and heavier vehicles. Tesla’s first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, was an electric sports car, but the second-generation of Tesla Roadster, originally unveiled as a prototype in 2017, has yet to go into production.
    
            Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle. Lamborghini has been working on plug-in hybrid sports cars, though.
    
            To date, the Corvette is only available in the base Stingray version with 6.2-liter V8 engine producing up to 495 horsepower. A 670 horsepower Corvette Z06 with a 5.5-liter V8 was unveiled last fall. The previous generation of the Corvette included included a 755-horsepower ZR1 version. Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.
    
            Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines. Ferrari’s most powerful sports cars are hybrids, for instance.  
    
            GM has said it plans to produce only zero-emission vehicles, meaning fully electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells, by 2035.",CNN,25/04/2022,"['General Motors will produce a fully electric Chevrolet Corvette, GM President Mark Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post Monday morning.', 'Reuss didn’t say when the electric Corvette would come, but he hinted that a hybrid model could come relatively soon. “', 'We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year,” he wrote.', 'An accompanying video the company posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be a hybrid Corvette, and in another first, showed the front wheels spinning and throwing snow as if being powered.', 'All Corvettes produced by the company previously have been rear-wheel-drive only.', 'While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.', '“Electrified” is an auto industry term encompassing everything from hybrid to fully electric vehicles, and anything with an electric motor can count as “electrified.”', 'It has long been rumored that the current generation of the Corvette, the first with its gasoline engine mounted behind the seats instead of in the front, could be built with a hybrid system.', 'Reuss has also previously hinted there would be electrified variants of the car.', 'Various companies are working on electric sports cars.', 'Most all-electric vehicles in production so far have been four-door sedans and SUVs, as the need for batteries lends itself to larger and heavier vehicles.', 'Tesla’s first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, was an electric sports car, but the second-generation of Tesla Roadster, originally unveiled as a prototype in 2017, has yet to go into production.', 'Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle.', 'Lamborghini has been working on plug-in hybrid sports cars, though.', 'To date, the Corvette is only available in the base Stingray version with 6.2-liter V8 engine producing up to 495 horsepower.', 'A 670 horsepower Corvette Z06 with a 5.5-liter V8 was unveiled last fall.', 'The previous generation of the Corvette included included a 755-horsepower ZR1 version.', 'Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.', 'Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines.', 'Ferrari’s most powerful sports cars are hybrids, for instance.', 'GM has said it plans to produce only zero-emission vehicles, meaning fully electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells, by 2035.']",0.0521320736918344,Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels.,"While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model.",0.3646015524864197,"Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines.","Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle.",2024-03-26
Boeing CEO to step down in broad management shake-up as 737 Max crisis weighs on aerospace giant,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/boeing-ceo-board-chair-commercial-head-out-737-max-crisis.html,2024-03-26T11:44:51+0000,"In this articleBoeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant.Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for reelection at Boeing's annual meeting in May, Boeing said Monday. He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and is a former CEO of Qualcomm. Mollenkopf will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said.And Stan Deal, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, is leaving the company effective immediately. Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services.The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes. Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.""As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing,"" Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. ""We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years,"" he wrote.Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday that the decision to resign was ""100%"" his own.""We have another mountain to climb,"" Calhoun said. ""Let's not avoid the call for action. Let's not avoid the changes that we have to make in our factory. Let's not avoid the need to slow down a bit and let the supply chain catch up.""Calhoun, a more than decade-long board member at Boeing, took the top job in January 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes. In 2021, Boeing's board extended the CEO's mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70, a vote of confidence in Calhoun, who turns 67 next month.For months Calhoun has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad quality struggles under control. The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing, and agency Administrator Mike Whitaker after the Alaska Airlines accident said Boeing will be barred from increasing 737 production until the FAA is satisfied with the company's quality control.Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans. CEOs of some of the company's largest customers, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have publicly complained about the delays.Ryanair, Boeing's largest airline customer in Europe, said in a statement Monday it welcomes the management changes.""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years, but he's not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that's where most of the problems have been in recent years,"" Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said in a video posted to social media platform X.United's CEO, Scott Kirby, earlier this month said he urged Boeing to stop making yet-to-be-certified Max 10 planes for the company because it wasn't clear when the FAA would clear those aircraft to fly.Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes. The meetings were to include Kellner and one or more other board members. Those meetings will go ahead with Mollenkopf, according to people familiar with the matter.Also last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at an industry conference that Boeing would burn more cash than expected because of limited 737 Max production.Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements. Its shares are down more than 26% so far this year.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleBoeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant.', ""Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for reelection at Boeing's annual meeting in May, Boeing said Monday."", 'He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and is a former CEO of Qualcomm.', 'Mollenkopf will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said.', ""And Stan Deal, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, is leaving the company effective immediately."", ""Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services."", 'The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes.', 'Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.', '""As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing,"" Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. ""', 'We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency.', 'We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.', '""The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years,"" he wrote.', 'Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday that the decision to resign was ""100%"" his own.', '""We have another mountain to climb,"" Calhoun said. ""', ""Let's not avoid the call for action."", ""Let's not avoid the changes that we have to make in our factory."", ""Let's not avoid the need to slow down a bit and let the supply chain catch up."", '""Calhoun, a more than decade-long board member at Boeing, took the top job in January 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes.', ""In 2021, Boeing's board extended the CEO's mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70, a vote of confidence in Calhoun, who turns 67 next month."", 'For months Calhoun has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad quality struggles under control.', ""The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up oversight of Boeing, and agency Administrator Mike Whitaker after the Alaska Airlines accident said Boeing will be barred from increasing 737 production until the FAA is satisfied with the company's quality control."", ""Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans."", ""CEOs of some of the company's largest customers, including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have publicly complained about the delays."", ""Ryanair, Boeing's largest airline customer in Europe, said in a statement Monday it welcomes the management changes."", '""Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years, but he\'s not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that\'s where most of the problems have been in recent years,"" Ryanair CEO Michael O\'Leary said in a video posted to social media platform X.United\'s CEO, Scott Kirby, earlier this month said he urged Boeing to stop making yet-to-be-certified Max 10 planes for the company because it wasn\'t clear when the FAA would clear those aircraft to fly.', 'Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes.', 'The meetings were to include Kellner and one or more other board members.', 'Those meetings will go ahead with Mollenkopf, according to people familiar with the matter.', 'Also last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at an industry conference that Boeing would burn more cash than expected because of limited 737 Max production.', ""Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements."", 'Its shares are down more than 26% so far this year.']",0.0524294792326706,We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.,"Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower-than-expected production of 737 Max planes.",-0.1909587581952413,Boeing's stock added 1.4% on Monday after the announcements.,Boeing's production problems have delayed deliveries of new planes to customers and hampered growth plans.,2024-03-26
"Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek breaks silence, says there's no strategic need for ESPN partners",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/ex-disney-ceo-bob-chapek-says-espn-doesnt-need-strategic-partners.html,2024-03-21T17:11:47+0000,"In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.""Strategically, I don't really see a benefit in bringing on yet another minority partner into ESPN,"" Chapek said as part of the CNBC documentary ""ESPN's Fight for Dominance,"" which chronicles the network's digital strategy, published Thursday.Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's David Faber in July that he'd consider selling a minority stake in ESPN to strengthen the sports network's content or technology as it plans a new direct-to-consumer offering, which he later said would launch by fall 2025.The company hasn't yet announced a deal to sell a stake in ESPN. CNBC reported in August that the network had held talks with the major American professional sports leagues, including the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, about potential partnerships or investments.Disney owns 80% of ESPN and Hearst owns the other 20%, a structure that's been in place since 1996. By searching for a partner, Disney wants to enhance the content, distribution and marketing of the direct-to-consumer ESPN, which hasn't yet been priced, Iger said during Disney's August quarterly earnings call.Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games. Bringing on a technology or telecommunications company such as Verizon or Apple could give ESPN broader distribution options by reaching larger customer bases.Still, it's unclear selling equity in ESPN is needed to strike an arrangement. ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, who also spoke with CNBC as part of the documentary, downplayed the need for the sports network to sell a stake in its business to build a partnership with a league or another company.""It's not about equity,"" Pitaro said. ""It's not about these partners taking an ownership interest in ESPN. That is something, as Bob [Iger] has said, that we are very much open to, but this is about partnership and accelerating the launch or the adoption of ESPN flagship.""Chapek's remarks are his first public statements since Disney's board fired him and brought back Iger as CEO about 16 months ago. He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September. Chapek declined to comment on anything other than ESPN's future for the CNBC documentary.While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion.""There's already one minority strategic partner in Hearst. So this would be bringing on a second minority strategic partner,"" Chapek said. ""Obviously, the benefit of doing that is that you make available some cash. And given some of the conversation that's been happening between Comcast and Disney in terms of needing to buy the final share of Hulu to make it wholly owned by the Disney company, it's possible that maybe that cash itself is what they're after.""Chapek also discussed the vision he had as CEO of turning ESPN into a centralized hub to direct consumers to where a game is streaming, no matter which company owns the rights to air it — a concept CNBC first reported in March 2023.""If I'm on my Apple TV and I want to watch a movie, I have no idea whether it's on Prime or Netflix or Disney+ or Hulu or wherever it's at,"" Chapek said. ""The way I find out is I go to Apple TV, I plug in the movie that I'm looking to watch, and they direct me exactly to where that movie is. And then they connect me seamlessly without me then having to exit and go to another app to go find the show on that app. I think ESPN should be that source for a central clearinghouse.""Adding one-stop navigation can help ESPN become the first place sports fans go to when they want to watch a game, even if Disney doesn't own the rights to certain sports, Chapek said.""How do you make yourself indispensable to the sports viewer so that they stay on with you as you evolve over to a streaming world? I think solving that problem would be one big way to do it,"" Chapek said.WATCH: Bob Chapek discusses ESPN's future",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.', '""Strategically, I don\'t really see a benefit in bringing on yet another minority partner into ESPN,"" Chapek said as part of the CNBC documentary ""ESPN\'s Fight for Dominance,"" which chronicles the network\'s digital strategy, published Thursday.', ""Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's David Faber in July that he'd consider selling a minority stake in ESPN to strengthen the sports network's content or technology as it plans a new direct-to-consumer offering, which he later said would launch by fall 2025.The company hasn't yet announced a deal to sell a stake in ESPN."", 'CNBC reported in August that the network had held talks with the major American professional sports leagues, including the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, about potential partnerships or investments.', ""Disney owns 80% of ESPN and Hearst owns the other 20%, a structure that's been in place since 1996."", ""By searching for a partner, Disney wants to enhance the content, distribution and marketing of the direct-to-consumer ESPN, which hasn't yet been priced, Iger said during Disney's August quarterly earnings call."", 'Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games.', 'Bringing on a technology or telecommunications company such as Verizon or Apple could give ESPN broader distribution options by reaching larger customer bases.', ""Still, it's unclear selling equity in ESPN is needed to strike an arrangement."", 'ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro, who also spoke with CNBC as part of the documentary, downplayed the need for the sports network to sell a stake in its business to build a partnership with a league or another company.', '""It\'s not about equity,"" Pitaro said. ""', ""It's not about these partners taking an ownership interest in ESPN."", 'That is something, as Bob [Iger] has said, that we are very much open to, but this is about partnership and accelerating the launch or the adoption of ESPN flagship.', '""Chapek\'s remarks are his first public statements since Disney\'s board fired him and brought back Iger as CEO about 16 months ago.', ""He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September."", ""Chapek declined to comment on anything other than ESPN's future for the CNBC documentary."", ""While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion."", '""There\'s already one minority strategic partner in Hearst.', 'So this would be bringing on a second minority strategic partner,"" Chapek said. ""', 'Obviously, the benefit of doing that is that you make available some cash.', ""And given some of the conversation that's been happening between Comcast and Disney in terms of needing to buy the final share of Hulu to make it wholly owned by the Disney company, it's possible that maybe that cash itself is what they're after."", '""Chapek also discussed the vision he had as CEO of turning ESPN into a centralized hub to direct consumers to where a game is streaming, no matter which company owns the rights to air it — a concept CNBC first reported in March 2023.""If I\'m on my Apple TV and I want to watch a movie, I have no idea whether it\'s on Prime or Netflix or Disney+ or Hulu or wherever it\'s at,"" Chapek said. ""', ""The way I find out is I go to Apple TV, I plug in the movie that I'm looking to watch, and they direct me exactly to where that movie is."", 'And then they connect me seamlessly without me then having to exit and go to another app to go find the show on that app.', 'I think ESPN should be that source for a central clearinghouse.', '""Adding one-stop navigation can help ESPN become the first place sports fans go to when they want to watch a game, even if Disney doesn\'t own the rights to certain sports, Chapek said.', '""How do you make yourself indispensable to the sports viewer so that they stay on with you as you evolve over to a streaming world?', 'I think solving that problem would be one big way to do it,"" Chapek said.', ""WATCH: Bob Chapek discusses ESPN's future""]",0.0292013742260279,"While Chapek said he didn't agree with the need to bring on a partner for strategic reasons, he did acknowledge Disney might do it to bring in cash to pay for Comcast's one-third stake in Hulu, which Disney has committed to buy for at least $8.6 billion.","In this articleIn his first public comments since Disney fired him as CEO in November 2022, Bob Chapek told CNBC he sees no reason for Disney-owned ESPN to add minority partners.",0.6626346806685129,"Striking a partnership with one of the professional sports leagues could help secure future live rights, though it may irritate other media companies that bid against Disney for packages of games.","He and Iger, who had stayed on as Disney's executive chairman, had a strained relationship that got progressively worse through Chapek's tenure as CEO, which ran nearly three years from 2020 to 2022, as documented by CNBC in September.",2024-03-26
'We need someone to fix Boeing.' Here's who could replace Calhoun as the troubled plane maker's CEO,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/boeing-ceo-who-could-replace-calhoun.html,2024-03-26T14:28:20+0000,"In this articleHelp wanted at Boeing.CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday announced he is stepping down from the aerospace giant's top post at year's end as the company struggles with a safety and production quality crisis tied to its bestselling airplane, the 737 Max. Boeing said it will begin a search for Calhoun's replacement.Boeing also announced Monday it's replacing board Chair Larry Kellner and the chief executive of its all-important commercial airplanes unit, Stan Deal.Calhoun told CNBC on Monday that the decision to retire was ""100%"" his own and that he would be involved in finding his successor. His departure isn't much of a surprise given the struggles of the last few months.Boeing's customers had grown frustrated under Calhoun's watch as they faced the fallout from recurring quality issues that span programs like the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the two 747s that will serve as Air Force One aircraft.""We need someone to fix Boeing,"" one major airline executive, who wasn't authorized to speak to the media, told CNBC after Boeing announced the management shake-up Monday. ""They unequivocally needed a change.""With supply chain issues, quality lapses and more regulator scrutiny in the wake of a panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, airplane deliveries are arriving late, and airline executives say the problems have forced them to change their growth and fleet plans.Executives at Boeing's customers told CNBC they want the company's new leader to have manufacturing acumen, expertise in the highly regulated and technical world of aviation, and, perhaps most difficult of all, the ability to rally Boeing's employees and ensure a culture of safety, consistency and innovation.""This is going to be a challenging role to fill. You're going to need someone with a huge amount of energy and commitment,"" said John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease, a major buyer of Boeing planes that leases them to airlines. ""You don't want somebody for two years. You want someone at the head of the ship for as long as possible.""The next boss at Boeing will have to contend not just with the company's internal struggles but lost market share to rival Airbus. Meanwhile, China has been pushing ahead with building its own commercial aircraft.""I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long-cycled business like ours,"" Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday while announcing his departure. ""It's not just the production of the airplane. It's the development of the next airplane. Our next lead is going to develop ... the next airplane for the Boeing company.""Financial analysts applauded the amount of time Boeing is giving itself to find Calhoun's replacement. Four-year Boeing board member Steve Mollenkopf, an ex-Qualcomm CEO who will take over as independent chairman of the board, will lead the search.""It provides leadership continuity, which a knee-jerk change would not, and CEO Dave Calhoun clearly is on board with the need to bolster safety,"" said TD Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr, in a note Monday.While Boeing didn't comment on its top candidates, here's who some aviation experts say could potentially lead Boeing:General Electric CEO Larry Culp is ""probably at the top of the list for a Boeing CEO,"" said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, an aviation consulting firm.Culp is set to head the aviation unit of GE that is about to spin off, a company that makes and overhauls engines that power both Boeing and rival Airbus planes. Culp has led a turnaround for the conglomerate and oversaw the split of the company.""The relationship with Boeing has never been stronger,"" Culp told reporters earlier this month at an investor event. ""Clearly, 2024 hasn't played out the way they would have liked let alone the way we would have liked. We're trying to support them in every possible way.""But Culp is focusing on GE's aerospace unit as a stand-alone company, a GE spokesperson said in response to questions about a potential future for him at Boeing.Pat Shanahan, the interim CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, is another possibility, Aboulafia said.A three-decade Boeing veteran, Shanahan was appointed last October to head the Boeing supplier, which makes fuselages for the company's 737 Max and other parts, as Spirit dealt with its own quality problems that have spilled over to Boeing.Boeing is in talks to buy Spirit, bringing the fuselage manufacturer back in-house after spinning it off almost two decades ago. A reunion could naturally slot Shanahan in as chief executive of the merged company.""Mr. Shanahan remains solely focused on driving a zero-defects culture across all aspects of Spirit AeroSystems,"" Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino told CNBC on Monday.Aboulafia also mentioned Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin, who serves on Boeing's board.Gitlin has experience in aviation, previously working as president and chief operating officer at Collins Aerospace. Aviation experts have said said someone with a strong background in manufacturing and operations would be needed.Carrier did not respond to a request for comment.Stephanie Pope, who was recently promoted to chief operating officer after serving as head of Boeing's global services unit, is the most obvious internal option to succeed Calhoun. (Former Boeing CFO Greg Smith retired from the company in 2021. He was also seen as a possible successor.)But Pope will take over from Deal, who is retiring from his post as head of Boeing's commercial airplane division. And one aviation executive questioned why Boeing wouldn't have announced her appointment on Monday if she were the choice.The ""management changes are geared to institutionalize a priority on safety throughout the company by bringing in new blood,"" TD Cowen's von Rumohr wrote.— CNBC's Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleHelp wanted at Boeing.', ""CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday announced he is stepping down from the aerospace giant's top post at year's end as the company struggles with a safety and production quality crisis tied to its bestselling airplane, the 737 Max."", ""Boeing said it will begin a search for Calhoun's replacement."", ""Boeing also announced Monday it's replacing board Chair Larry Kellner and the chief executive of its all-important commercial airplanes unit, Stan Deal."", 'Calhoun told CNBC on Monday that the decision to retire was ""100%"" his own and that he would be involved in finding his successor.', ""His departure isn't much of a surprise given the struggles of the last few months."", ""Boeing's customers had grown frustrated under Calhoun's watch as they faced the fallout from recurring quality issues that span programs like the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the two 747s that will serve as Air Force One aircraft."", '""We need someone to fix Boeing,"" one major airline executive, whowasn\'tauthorized to speak to the media, told CNBC after Boeing announced the management shake-up Monday. ""', 'They unequivocally needed a change.', '""With supply chain issues, quality lapses and more regulator scrutiny in the wake of a panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, airplane deliveries are arriving late, and airline executives say the problems have forced them to change their growth and fleet plans.', ""Executives at Boeing's customers told CNBC they want the company's new leader to have manufacturing acumen, expertise in the highly regulated and technical world of aviation, and, perhaps most difficult of all, the ability to rally Boeing's employees and ensure a culture of safety, consistency and innovation."", '""This is going to be a challenging role to fill.', 'You\'re going to need someone with a huge amount of energy and commitment,"" said John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease, a major buyer of Boeing planes that leases them to airlines. ""', ""You don't want somebody for two years."", 'You want someone at the head of the ship for as long as possible.', '""The next boss at Boeing will have to contend not just with the company\'s internal struggles but lost market share to rival Airbus.', 'Meanwhile, China has been pushing ahead with building its own commercial aircraft.', '""I want somebody who knows how to handle a big, long-cycled business like ours,"" Calhoun told CNBC in an interview Monday while announcing his departure. ""', ""It's not just the production of the airplane."", ""It's the development of the next airplane."", 'Our next lead is going to develop ... the next airplane for the Boeing company.', '""Financial analysts applauded the amount of time Boeing is giving itself to find Calhoun\'s replacement.', 'Four-year Boeing board member Steve Mollenkopf, an ex-QualcommCEO who will take over as independent chairman of the board, will lead the search.', '""It provides leadership continuity, which a knee-jerk change would not, and CEO Dave Calhoun clearly is on board with the need to bolster safety,"" said TD Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr, in a note Monday.', 'While Boeing didn\'t comment on its top candidates,here\'s who some aviation experts say could potentially lead Boeing:General Electric CEO Larry Culp is ""probably at the top of the list for a Boeing CEO,"" said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, an aviation consulting firm.', 'Culp is set to head the aviation unit of GE that is about to spin off, a company that makes and overhauls engines that power both Boeing and rival Airbus planes.', 'Culp has led a turnaround for the conglomerate and oversaw the split of the company.', '""The relationship with Boeing has never been stronger,"" Culp told reporters earlier this month at an investor event. ""', ""Clearly, 2024 hasn't played out the way they would have liked let alone the way we would have liked."", ""We're trying to support them in every possible way."", '""But Culp is focusing on GE\'s aerospace unit as a stand-alone company, a GE spokesperson said in response to questions about a potential future for him at Boeing.', 'Pat Shanahan, the interim CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, is another possibility, Aboulafia said.', ""A three-decade Boeing veteran, Shanahan was appointed last October to head the Boeing supplier, which makes fuselages for the company's 737 Max and other parts, as Spirit dealt with its own quality problems that have spilled over to Boeing."", 'Boeing is in talks to buy Spirit, bringing the fuselage manufacturer back in-house after spinning it off almost two decades ago.', 'A reunion could naturally slot Shanahan in as chief executive of the merged company.', '""Mr.', 'Shanahan remains solely focused on driving a zero-defects culture across all aspects of Spirit AeroSystems,"" Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino told CNBC on Monday.', ""Aboulafia also mentioned Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin, who serves on Boeing's board."", 'Gitlin has experience in aviation, previously working as president and chief operating officer at Collins Aerospace.', 'Aviation experts have said said someone with a strong background in manufacturing and operations would be needed.', 'Carrier did not respond to a request for comment.', ""Stephanie Pope, who was recently promoted to chief operating officer after serving as head of Boeing's global services unit, is the most obvious internal option to succeed Calhoun. ("", 'Former Boeing CFO Greg Smith retired from the company in 2021.', ""He was also seen as a possible successor.)But Pope will take over from Deal, who is retiring from his post as head of Boeing's commercial airplane division."", ""And one aviation executive questioned why Boeing wouldn't have announced her appointment on Monday if she were the choice."", 'The ""management changes are geared to institutionalize a priority on safety throughout the company by bringing in new blood,"" TD Cowen\'s von Rumohr wrote.—', ""CNBC's Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.""]",0.1067049956915602,"Clearly, 2024 hasn't played out the way they would have liked let alone the way we would have liked.","""With supply chain issues, quality lapses and more regulator scrutiny in the wake of a panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 in January, airplane deliveries are arriving late, and airline executives say the problems have forced them to change their growth and fleet plans.",0.0447759303179654,"""The relationship with Boeing has never been stronger,"" Culp told reporters earlier this month at an investor event. ""","Boeing's customers had grown frustrated under Calhoun's watch as they faced the fallout from recurring quality issues that span programs like the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the two 747s that will serve as Air Force One aircraft.",2024-03-26
Why a small China-made EV has global auto execs and politicians on edge,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/byd-seagull-ev-puts-global-auto-execs-politicians-on-edge.html,2024-03-26T18:44:16+0000,"In this articleLIVONIA, Mich. – A small electric vehicle is having a big impact on the global automotive industry.It's not the EV itself that's making waves but its price — and its potential to disrupt domestic auto industries around the world.The China-built BYD Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000), and reportedly banks a profit for the increasingly influential Chinese automaker.That latter point — EV profits where U.S. automakers have mostly failed to turn any — combined with the expansion of Chinese automakers into Europe, Latin America and elsewhere has automotive executives and politicians, from Detroit and Texas to Germany and Japan, on edge.The Seagull could be a ""clarion call for the rest of the auto industry,"" said Terry Woychowski, a former General Motors executive who now serves as president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global. ""It's a significant event.""Though the Seagull isn't yet sold on U.S. soil, BYD is expanding its vehicles globally, and some believe it's only a matter of time before more China-made vehicles arrive in the U.S.There's fear among global automakers that Chinese rivals like the Warren Buffett-backed BYD could flood their markets, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices to the detriment of their own auto industries.""The introduction of cheap Chinese autos — which are so inexpensive because they are backed with the power and funding of the Chinese government — to the American market could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector,"" the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a U.S. manufacturing advocacy group, said in a report last month.BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020. That sales growth was enough to surpass Tesla to become the world's largest producer of electric vehicles in late 2023.The rise of BYD and other Chinese automakers led Tesla CEO Elon Musk in January to warn that Chinese automakers will ""demolish"" global rivals without trade barriers.Bernstein reports BYD's growth, including sales of non-EVs, has come by shipping more vehicles outside China: Overseas markets accounted for about 10% of BYD's more than 3 million sales last year, doubling that share from the beginning of the year.BYD did not respond for a request for comment.Driving the Seagull is no different than driving the Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf or BMW i3. It accelerates quickly. It's quiet. It has nice-looking screens and a mix of plastic and soft touch points, including sporty and comfortable seats.The Seagull, also known as the BYD Dolphin Mini in Latin America, is slightly smaller than GM's now-discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV.Its reported range of up to roughly 190 miles on a single charge (or 250 miles for certain models), is below that of many EVs on sale today in the U.S. but in line with many first-generation all-electric vehicles. The vehicle's top speed of about 80 mph and just 74 horsepower dwindle in comparison with most EVs currently on sale in the U.S.But its primary differences come in the construction, batteries and sourcing of parts, according to Caresoft.The consulting firm tore apart the BYD Seagull piece by piece to benchmark the small EV against vehicles from other startups and traditional automakers. The Livonia, Michigan-based company, with several offices across the globe, has torn down and benchmarked more than 30 China-built EVs from the likes of BYD, Nio, XPENG and others.Caresoft digitally and physically analyzes every part of a vehicle, from bolts and latches to seats, motors and battery casings. It then determines how its clients – mainly automakers and suppliers – can improve efficiencies and cut costs in their products.Its initial study of the BYD Seagull found it to be efficiently and simplistically designed, engineered and executed, but with unexpected quality and anticipated reliability.""What they did do is done very well,"" Woychowski said. ""It's efficiently done.""For the price it's a well-equipped vehicle. (BYD even lowered the starting price of the vehicle by 5% earlier this month, down from a roughly $11,000 price earlier this year.)Despite the cheap price, the company still makes ""some money"" on the Seagull or at a minimum breaks even, Caresoft CEO Mathew Vachaparampil said during an automotive conference hosted by the Chicago Federal Reserve in January.For BYD to sell the Seagull in the U.S., it would have to meet U.S. federal vehicle requirements that would add additional costs to the car. But the EV could likely still arrive on U.S. shores for tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than the current average price of an EV in the U.S., which Cox Automotive reports is more than $52,000.BYD last month announced it would begin selling the Seagull/Dolphin Mini EV in Mexico for 358,800 pesos (or about $20,990).BYD has found success in its battery technology; internal sourcing, also known as vertical integration; and production of parts, according to Caresoft. Most notable is BYD's development of lower-cost battery technologies that are far cheaper to manufacture than lithium-ion batteries commonly used in U.S. EVs.BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, first pioneered its ""Blade"" battery technologies in smartphones and has since grown into one of China's most well-known automakers.Its focus on vehicle efficiencies is reminiscent of U.S. EV leader Tesla, which has likewise been able to drive down the cost of its vehicles over the years.Traditional automakers are only now attempting to emulate some of Tesla's processes such as its gigacasting manufacturing process and vertical integration of crucial parts such as motors, batteries and other components. Tesla is also quick to adapt.The Tesla Model 3, for example, no longer has a floor. Instead, the car's highly protected battery case takes the place of a traditional vehicle body at the base. That type of change, enacted at Tesla over the last several years, wouldn't typically take place at a traditional automaker until a full redesign of a vehicle.BYD is similarly quick to adapt. The company has quickly rolled out new and updated products. It's also rapidly established manufacturing, as it has its eyes set on factories in Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan and, potentially, Mexico.Add in other advantages such as government support, lower labor costs and rising production capacity, and the company poses a growing threat to global counterparts.BYD's rise comes at a precarious time for global auto industry dynamics.While China's automakers expand, America's traditional automakers have shrunk in both their domestic market and China.Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.Politicians in the U.S., concerned about their local auto industries, have taken aim at Chinese imports and lawmakers in Europe have launched a probe into the rise of China-made EVs.""We are very concerned about China bigfooting our industry in the United States even as we are building up now this incredible backbone of manufacturing,"" Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said March 6 during a discussion panel at an Axios event.Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has proposed sharply boosting tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports by $20,000 per vehicle to stop the country ""from flooding U.S. auto markets.""Currently, Chinese-built EVs are subject to a 27.5% tariff when imported into the U.S. That includes a 2.5% tariff that generally applies to imported cars plus an additional 25% tariff introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 on China-made vehicles.Chinese automakers could still build in Mexico, though, and import vehicles to the U.S. from there through the USMCA, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.However, former President Donald Trump – the front-runner among Republicans in the 2024 presidential race – on Saturday suggested instituting a 100% tariff on cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies, should he be elected to a second term.""What we've seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,"" said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford's EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.Gjaja said while Ford can't control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can ""get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want"" and get more efficient to win customers.To compete with Chinese brands such as BYD, Woychowski contends traditional automakers must learn, unlearn and change quickly.He said companies such as the Detroit automakers each have a century of procedures, standards and other workflows that they must rethink to better compete against Chinese automakers before vehicles such as the BYD Seagull land on U.S. shores.""You have to learn. You have to unlearn and you have to do it quickly,"" he said. ""Because you've been doing something for 100 years, doesn't mean you should keep doing it. It's no longer appropriate.""– CNBC's Evelyn Cheng and Dylan Butts contributed to this report.",CNBC,26/03/2024,"['In this articleLIVONIA, Mich. – A small electric vehicle is having a big impact on the global automotive industry.', ""It's not the EV itself that's making waves but its price — and its potential to disrupt domestic auto industries around the world."", 'The China-built BYD Seagull, a small all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000), and reportedly banks a profit for the increasingly influential Chinese automaker.', 'That latter point — EV profits where U.S. automakers have mostly failed to turn any — combined with the expansion of Chinese automakers into Europe, Latin America and elsewhere has automotive executives and politicians, from Detroit and Texas to Germany and Japan, on edge.', 'The Seagull could be a ""clarion call for the rest of the auto industry,"" said Terry Woychowski, a former General Motors executive who now serves as president of automotive at engineering consulting firm Caresoft Global. ""', ""It's a significant event."", '""Though the Seagull isn\'t yet sold on U.S. soil, BYD is expanding its vehicles globally, and some believe it\'s only a matter of time before more China-made vehicles arrive in the U.S.There\'s fear among global automakers that Chinese rivals like the Warren Buffett-backed BYD could flood their markets, undercutting domestic production and vehicle prices to the detriment of their own auto industries.', '""The introduction of cheap Chinese autos — which are so inexpensive because they are backed with the power and funding of the Chinese government — to the American market could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector,"" the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a U.S. manufacturing advocacy group, said in a report last month.', 'BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020.', 'That sales growth was enough to surpass Tesla to become the world\'s largest producer of electric vehicles in late 2023.The rise of BYD and other Chinese automakers led Tesla CEO Elon Musk in January to warn that Chinese automakers will ""demolish"" global rivals without trade barriers.', ""Bernstein reports BYD's growth, including sales of non-EVs, has come by shipping more vehicles outside China: Overseas markets accounted for about 10% of BYD's more than 3 million sales last year, doubling that share from the beginning of the year."", 'BYD did not respond for a request for comment.', 'Driving the Seagull is no different than driving the Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf or BMW i3.', 'It accelerates quickly.', ""It's quiet."", 'It has nice-looking screens and a mix of plastic and soft touch points, including sporty and comfortable seats.', ""The Seagull, also known as the BYD Dolphin Mini in Latin America, is slightly smaller than GM's now-discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV.Its reported range of up to roughly 190 miles on a single charge (or 250 miles for certain models), is below that of many EVs on sale today in the U.S. but in line with many first-generation all-electric vehicles."", ""The vehicle's top speed of about 80 mph and just 74 horsepower dwindle in comparison with most EVs currently on sale in the U.S.But its primary differences come in the construction, batteries and sourcing of parts, according to Caresoft."", 'The consulting firm tore apart the BYD Seagull piece by piece to benchmark the small EV against vehicles from other startups and traditional automakers.', 'The Livonia, Michigan-based company, with several offices across the globe, has torn down and benchmarked more than 30 China-built EVs from the likes of BYD, Nio, XPENG and others.', 'Caresoft digitally and physically analyzes every part of a vehicle, from bolts and latches to seats, motors and battery casings.', 'It then determines how its clients – mainly automakers and suppliers – can improve efficiencies and cut costs in their products.', 'Its initial study of the BYD Seagull found it to be efficiently and simplistically designed, engineered and executed, but with unexpected quality and anticipated reliability.', '""What they did do is done very well,"" Woychowski said. ""', ""It's efficiently done."", '""For the price it\'s a well-equipped vehicle. (', 'BYD even lowered the starting price of the vehicle by 5% earlier this month, down from a roughly $11,000 price earlier this year.)Despite the cheap price, the company still makes ""some money"" on the Seagull or at a minimum breaks even, Caresoft CEO Mathew Vachaparampil said during an automotive conference hosted by the Chicago Federal Reserve in January.', 'For BYD to sell the Seagull in the U.S., it would have to meet U.S. federal vehicle requirements that would add additional costs to the car.', 'But the EV could likely still arrive on U.S. shores for tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than the current average price of an EV in the U.S., which Cox Automotive reports is more than $52,000.BYD last month announced it would begin selling the Seagull/Dolphin Mini EV in Mexico for 358,800 pesos (or about $20,990).BYD has found success in its battery technology; internal sourcing, also known as vertical integration; and production of parts, according to Caresoft.', ""Most notable is BYD's development of lower-cost battery technologies that are far cheaper to manufacture than lithium-ion batteries commonly used in U.S. EVs."", 'BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, first pioneered its ""Blade"" battery technologies in smartphones and has since grown into one of China\'s most well-known automakers.', 'Its focus on vehicle efficiencies is reminiscent of U.S. EV leader Tesla, which has likewise been able to drive down the cost of its vehicles over the years.', ""Traditional automakers are only now attempting to emulate some of Tesla's processes such as its gigacasting manufacturing process and vertical integration of crucial parts such as motors, batteries and other components."", 'Tesla is also quick to adapt.', 'The Tesla Model 3, for example, no longer has a floor.', ""Instead, the car's highly protected battery case takes the place of a traditional vehicle body at the base."", ""That type of change, enacted at Tesla over the last several years, wouldn't typically take place at a traditional automaker until a full redesign of a vehicle."", 'BYD is similarly quick to adapt.', 'The company has quickly rolled out new and updated products.', ""It's also rapidly established manufacturing, as it has its eyes set on factories in Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan and, potentially, Mexico."", 'Add in other advantages such as government support, lower labor costs and rising production capacity, and the company poses a growing threat to global counterparts.', ""BYD's rise comes at a precarious time for global auto industry dynamics."", ""While China's automakers expand, America's traditional automakers have shrunk in both their domestic market and China."", 'Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.', 'The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.', 'Politicians in the U.S., concerned about their local auto industries, have taken aim at Chinese imports and lawmakers in Europe have launched a probe into the rise of China-made EVs.', '""We are very concerned about China bigfooting our industry in the United States even as we are building up now this incredible backbone of manufacturing,"" Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said March 6 during a discussion panel at an Axios event.', 'Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has proposed sharply boosting tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports by $20,000 per vehicle to stop the country ""from flooding U.S. auto markets.', '""Currently, Chinese-built EVs are subject to a 27.5% tariff when imported into the U.S. That includes a 2.5% tariff that generally applies to imported cars plus an additional 25% tariff introduced by the Trump administration in 2018 on China-made vehicles.', 'Chinese automakers could still build in Mexico, though, and import vehicles to the U.S. from there through the USMCA, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.However, former President Donald Trump – the front-runner among Republicans in the 2024 presidential race – on Saturday suggested instituting a 100% tariff on cars made in Mexicoby Chinese companies,should he be elected to a second term.', '""What we\'ve seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,"" said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford\'s EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.Gjaja said while Ford can\'t control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can ""get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want"" and get more efficient to win customers.', 'To compete with Chinese brands such as BYD, Woychowski contends traditional automakers must learn, unlearn and change quickly.', 'He said companies such as the Detroit automakers each have a century of procedures, standards and other workflows that they must rethink to better compete against Chinese automakers before vehicles such as the BYD Seagull land on U.S. shores.', '""You have to learn.', 'You have to unlearn and you have to do it quickly,"" he said. ""', ""Because you've been doing something for 100 years, doesn't mean you should keep doing it."", 'It\'s no longer appropriate.""–', ""CNBC's Evelyn Cheng and Dylan Butts contributed to this report.""]",0.1525936062031991,"""What we've seen over time is automotive manufacturers eventually enter all the markets that matter … Ultimately the Chinese will come to the U.S.,"" said Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer for Ford's EV unit, during a recent interview with CNBC.Gjaja said while Ford can't control regulations or Chinese expansion, it can ""get really, really competitive on the technologies that customers want"" and get more efficient to win customers.","Their decline in the U.S. has come with the arrival of Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, as well as, more recently, South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor and its Kia unit.",0.2553900833483095,"BYD sold 1.57 million battery EVs last year, up from just 130,970 all-electric vehicles in 2020.","The so-called Big Three U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis — have watched their U.S. market share deteriorate from 75% in 1984 to about 40% in 2023, according to industry data.",2024-03-26
Medicare can now cover certain weight loss drugs in a big step for patients,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/medicare-can-cover-weight-loss-drugs-if-used-for-added-health-benefit.html,2024-03-21T19:51:11+0000,"In this articleMedicare can start covering certain weight loss drugs for the first time — as long as they are approved for an added health benefit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday.That opens the door for broader coverage of some highly popular weight loss medications such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which is now approved in the U.S. for heart health. Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit. Medicare prescription drug plans administered by private insurers, known as Part D, currently cannot cover those drugs for weight loss alone.The agency's guidance means Medicare patients could soon get coverage for Wegovy, as long as they have obesity and a history of heart disease and are prescribed the treatment to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose.The guidance also will open the door to future coverage of other weight loss medications, many of which are being tested for additional health conditions.Drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk, which also makes the diabetes drug Ozempic, and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more. To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s which mimic a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and help regulate blood sugar. Coverage for those treatments when used for weight loss is a mixed bag. Roughly 110 million American adults are living with obesity and approximately 50 million of them have insurance coverage for weight loss drugs, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement last week.Some of the nation's largest insurers, such as CVS Health's Aetna, also cover the treatments.But many employers don't. An October survey of more than 200 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP, found only 27% provided coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss, compared with the 76% that covered those drugs for diabetes. Notably, 13% of employers indicated they were considering coverage for weight loss.A provision of a 2003 law established that Medicare Part D plans can't cover drugs used for weight loss, but the program does cover obesity screening, behavioral counseling and bariatric surgery. A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introduced legislation that would eliminate the provision, but its fate in Congress is far from certain.A CMS spokesperson told CNBC last week that Medicaid programs would be required to cover Wegovy specifically for its new cardiovascular use. By law, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage. Around 1 in 5 state Medicaid programs currently cover GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.",CNBC,21/03/2024,"['In this articleMedicare can start covering certain weight loss drugs for the first time — as long as they are approved for an added health benefit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday.', ""That opens the door for broader coverage of some highly popular weight loss medications such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which is now approved in the U.S. for heart health."", 'Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.', 'Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit.', 'Medicare prescription drug plans administered by private insurers, known as Part D, currently cannot cover those drugs for weight loss alone.', ""The agency's guidance means Medicare patients could soon get coverage for Wegovy, as long as they have obesity and a history of heart disease and are prescribed the treatment to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes."", 'Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose.', 'The guidance also will open the door to future coverage of other weight loss medications, many of which are being tested for additional health conditions.', 'Drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk, which also makes the diabetes drug Ozempic, and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more.', 'To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.', ""Wegovy is part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s which mimic a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite and help regulate blood sugar."", 'Coverage for those treatments when used for weight loss is a mixed bag.', 'Roughly 110 million American adults are living with obesity and approximately 50 million of them have insurance coverage for weight loss drugs, a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement last week.', ""Some of the nation's largest insurers, such asCVS Health'sAetna, also cover the treatments."", ""But many employers don't."", 'An Octobersurveyof more than 200 companies by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, or IFEBP, found only 27% provided coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss, compared with the 76% that covered those drugs for diabetes.', 'Notably, 13% of employers indicated they were considering coverage for weight loss.', ""A provision of a2003 lawestablished that Medicare Part D plans can't cover drugs used for weight loss, but the program does cover obesity screening, behavioral counseling and bariatric surgery."", 'A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introducedlegislationthat would eliminate the provision, but its fate in Congress is far from certain.', 'A CMS spokesperson told CNBC last week that Medicaid programs would be required to cover Wegovy specifically for its new cardiovascular use.', 'Bylaw, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage.', 'Around 1 in 5 state Medicaid programscurrently coverGLP-1 drugs for weight loss.']",-0.0074441399614407,"Under the new CMS guidance, Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity treatments that receive Food and Drug Administration approval for an additional health benefit.","Bylaw, Medicaid must cover nearly all FDA-approved medications, but weight loss treatments are among a small group of drugs that can be excluded from coverage.",0.9951892097791036,Those treatments have skyrocketed in demand over the past year despite their hefty price tags and spotty insurance coverage.,,2024-03-26
Bilt’s March Rent Day promotion: Vote for your favorite benefit with the Bilt Bracket,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/bilt-rent-day-promotion,"
  Updated
        10:57 AM EST, Mon February 26, 2024
    ","The relatively new Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees) has been incredibly popular since its inception. With a top-notch loyalty program and the opportunity to earn points on rent with absolutely no transaction fees (up to 100,000 points per calendar year), it’s no surprise to see the card flourish over the past few years.
    
            And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards — the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard — also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.
    
            With Bilt’s Rent Day promotion — which runs the first of every month — all card members have the opportunity to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent) as well as take advantage of their unique offer for the month. Bilt typically announces their promotions just a few days prior to Rent Day, and it’s something you’ll want to pay attention to.
    
            Bilt Rewards just released the March 1st edition of its monthly Rent Day promotion, and it is a unique one. Instead of Bilt announcing a single offer, all members will have the opportunity to have a say in the winning pick.
    
            A play off the March Madness bracket, the Bilt Bracket will run between now and Feb. 29, during which you can vote daily to help decide the Rent Day benefit. Various offers will go head-to-head, and like all brackets, the winner will proceed to the next round. The last standing offer will then be the Rent Day benefit on March 1.
    
            And similar to most other Rent Day promotions, the winning offer is only valid on the first day of the month (March 1, 2024, in this case).
    
            Let’s take a closer look at how this bracket will work and the Rent Day offer options.
    
            For four days straight — between Feb. 26 and Feb. 29 — Bilt members can vote for their favorite Rent Day benefit within the Bilt app or BiltRewards.com. There are 16 total offers to start with and the winners from each day will then proceed to the next round of the bracket.
    
            The last standing offer after the Feb. 29th vote will end up being the Rent Day benefit for all members to take advantage of on March 1.
    
            However, those with Gold or Platinum status with Bilt, will also receive the runner-up offer, giving select members two bonus opportunities on Rent Day.
    
            With 16 different offers, some are significantly better than others. Although, the best offer for you might truly depend on how you engage in the Bilt program. Check the Bilt app or website to see the full list of promotions you can vote on.
    
            For me, the offers that allow me to earn bonus points on specific purchases — such as bonus points at Bilt Dining restaurants — will be my top pick, but others might prefer the opportunity get bonus points by redeeming their Bilt points on rent, for example.
    
            Voting is incredible quick and can easily be completed alongside your morning coffee. Once you vote, you’ll also be given some insight on the winners with the percentage of members that picked each option thus far.
    
            On March 1st, Bilt members will also have the opportunity to redeem Bilt points for an exclusive game ticket and experience to the NCAA Men’s Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games. Tickets start at 15,000 Bilt points each for games taking place in Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles and Phoenix.
    
            You’ll be able to snag a ticket starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 1, but those with higher Bilt status will receive priority. This is because those with Platinum status will have first access at 12 p.m. EST, Gold status members at 12:30 p.m. EST, Silver status members at 1 p.m. and everyone else at 1:30 p.m.
    
            Every month on Rent Day, Bilt also gives members with the Bilt Mastercard a chance to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent).
    
            So, if you have a new restaurant you want to check out, flights to book or any other purchases to make, it could be worth waiting until March 1 to earn more points on your purchase. And if you’re dining at a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining, you can increase your earnings up to a whopping 11 points per dollar. But remember, to earn Bilt points, you must use the card five times each statement period (see Rewards & Benefits).
    
            Bilt’s monthly Rent Day promotions are a great opportunity to maximize your points as well as jump on unique promotions. Let’s see which bonus offer wins this month.
    
            Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.
    
            Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best credit cards currently available.",CNN,26/02/2024,"['The relatively new Bilt Mastercard® (seerates and fees) has been incredibly popular since its inception.', 'With a top-notch loyalty program and the opportunity to earn points on rent with absolutely no transaction fees (up to 100,000 points per calendar year), it’s no surprise to see the card flourish over the past few years.', 'And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.', 'With Bilt’s Rent Day promotion —which runs the first of every month — all card members have the opportunity to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent) as well as take advantage of their unique offer for the month.', 'Bilt typically announces their promotions just a few days prior to Rent Day, and it’s something you’ll want to pay attention to.', 'Bilt Rewards just released the March 1st edition of its monthly Rent Day promotion, and it is a unique one.', 'Instead of Bilt announcing a single offer, all members will have the opportunity to have a say in the winning pick.', 'A play off the March Madness bracket, the Bilt Bracket will run between now and Feb. 29, during which you can vote daily to help decide the Rent Day benefit.', 'Various offers will go head-to-head, and like all brackets, the winner will proceed to the next round.', 'The last standing offer will then be the Rent Day benefit on March 1.', 'And similar to most other Rent Day promotions, the winning offer is only valid on the first day of the month (March 1, 2024, in this case).', 'Let’s take a closer look at how this bracket will work and the Rent Day offer options.', 'For four days straight —between Feb. 26 and Feb. 29 —Bilt members can vote for their favorite Rent Day benefit within the Bilt app or BiltRewards.com.', 'There are 16 total offers to start with and the winners from each day will then proceed to the next round of the bracket.', 'The last standing offer after the Feb. 29th vote will end up being the Rent Day benefit for all members to take advantage of on March 1.', 'However, those with Gold or Platinum status with Bilt, will also receive the runner-up offer,giving select members two bonus opportunities on Rent Day.', 'With 16 different offers, some are significantly better than others.', 'Although, the best offer for you might truly depend on how you engage in the Bilt program.', 'Check the Bilt app or website to see the full list of promotions you can vote on.', 'For me, the offers that allow me to earn bonus points on specific purchases —such as bonus points at Bilt Dining restaurants —will be my top pick, but others might prefer the opportunity get bonus points by redeeming their Bilt points on rent, for example.', 'Voting is incredible quick and can easily be completed alongside your morning coffee.', 'Once you vote, you’ll also be given some insight on the winners with the percentage of members that picked each option thus far.', 'On March 1st, Bilt members will also have the opportunity to redeem Bilt points for an exclusive game ticket and experience to the NCAA Men’s Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games.', 'Tickets start at 15,000 Bilt points each for games taking place in Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles and Phoenix.', 'You’ll be able to snag a ticket starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 1, but those with higher Bilt status will receive priority.', 'This is because those with Platinum status will have first access at 12 p.m. EST, Gold status members at 12:30 p.m. EST, Silver status members at 1 p.m. and everyone else at 1:30 p.m.  Every month on Rent Day, Bilt also gives members with the Bilt Mastercard a chance to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent).', 'So, if you have a new restaurant you want to check out, flights to book or any other purchases to make, it could be worth waiting until March 1 to earn more points on your purchase.', 'And if you’re dining at a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining, you can increase your earnings up to a whopping 11 points per dollar.', 'But remember, to earn Bilt points, you must use the card five times each statement period (see Rewards & Benefits).', 'Bilt’s monthly Rent Day promotions are a great opportunity to maximize your points as well as jump on unique promotions.', 'Let’s see which bonus offer wins this month.', 'Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard.', 'Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best credit cardscurrently available.']",0.5132379666371525,"And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.",,0.9566513225436212,"And in addition to their strong program, Bilt Rewards —the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard —also offers some favorable promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day.",,2024-03-26
Why lab-grown diamond sales are surging,https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/27/business/diamonds-manmade-demand/index.html,"
  Published
        7:49 AM EDT, Wed April 27, 2022
    ","It’s proposal season, and engagements are on the rise. So are factory-made diamond sales.
    
            Not that you’d know the difference. Man-made diamonds look the same as naturally occurring ones. The only noticeable difference is the price tag.
    
            “The result is really stunning,” said Edahn Golan, an independent diamond industry analyst.
    
            He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.
    
            Going back by another month, to February, the data showed the number of rings sold with lab diamonds that month surged even more, to 80% compared to a year earlier while the number fell by 13% for natural diamond engagement rings. 
    
            “The big fear in the natural diamonds industry is that consumers will start accepting lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings,” he said. Too late. “It’s actually happening.” 
    
            Why are consumers flocking to man-made diamonds? Cost is the most obvious reason. The average retail price of the most popular one carat round man-made diamond for an engagement ring in March was $2,318, Golan said.
    
            “This is substantially less – as much as 73% cheaper – than a natural diamond of the same size, cut and clarity as the man-made diamond, which would cost $8,740,” he said. Plus, the lower cost allows couples to buy a bigger stone.
    
            “A lab diamond is a real diamond, but maybe it took a few weeks to make it,” said Golan. “Natural diamonds were formed over 800 million to three billion years and there isn’t an infinite supply of them.” 
    
            This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.
    
            The sanctions directly target Alrosa, partly owned by the Russian government, which the US government identified as the world’s largest diamond mining company, accounting for 28% of global diamond output.
    
            Man-made diamonds are also becoming popular as consumers are more aware and educated about them, said Dan Moran, a third-generation diamond expert and owner of LA-based fine jeweler Concierge Diamonds. Moran said the typical buyer of man-made diamonds is typically younger than 40 and very budget conscious.
    
            Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.
    
            Among Millennials and Gen Z, their eco-conscious mindset and ethical concerns about natural diamond sourcing is another factor influencing their preference for non-traditional engagement rings, according to a report from wedding planning website The Knot.
    
            Although its slice is growing, the market share for man-made diamonds remains relatively small.
    
            Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan. 
    
            Some major jewelry retailers are driving the effort to take man-made diamonds mainstream. In 2021, the world’s largest jewelry company, Pandora
            
                (PANDY), made a major shift by announcing it would stop using mined diamonds and would swap to lab-created diamonds in its jewelry. 
    
            Pandora said it’s instituting the change as part of an effort to sell sustainable jewelry, and also because consumers increasingly are asking for it.
    
            Signet,
            
                (SIG) the largest jewelry company in the United States (which owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared chains) called out the popularity of lab diamond jewelry in its March earnings call with analysts.
    
            Calling it a “fast-growing category” in its jewelry portfolio, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos told analysts that lab-created diamonds are among the big jewelry trends she expects this year. 
    
            The company said it has expanded its man-made bridal jewelry selection in both its Zales and Kay Jewelers stores in response to the increased demand. 
    
            Fine jewelry brand Charles and Colvard, which makes lab-created diamonds, said consumers don’t just want to look good with the jewelry they are wearing, they also want to feel good about it.
    
            “As the momentum for conscious consumerism grows, the surge towards lab grown diamonds isn’t surprising,” said Don O’Connell, president and CEO of Charles & Colvard. “[Consumers] want to know the origins of their stones and be reassured they’re conflict-free. They’re embracing the choice to purchase a piece of fine jewelry that aligns with their values.”
    
            Lab-grown diamond brand VRAI said the pandemic, too, has sparked attention and action toward social and environmental issues. It said consumers are being more thoughtful and reassessing their purchasing habits, as well as the companies and industries they are supporting.
    
            There is, however, one important consideration for anyone buying lab-created diamonds: Man-made diamonds have little resale value. 
    
            So while you may not be able to tell a natural diamond from a factory made variety, someone with a trained eye can, said Golan. Once a stone is identified as a factory diamond, even though you paid a lot less for it, you also won’t get much for it. 
    
            But the value of a ring isn’t just monetary.
    
            “As a professional in the industry, I am asked all the time by people about what I think about a ring they have,” said Moran, of Concierge Jewelers. “I always say, if you love it, be happy with it. An engagement ring is a symbol of commitment and enduring love.”",CNN,27/04/2022,"['It’s proposal season, and engagements are on the rise.', 'So are factory-made diamond sales.', 'Not that you’d know the difference.', 'Man-made diamonds look the same as naturally occurring ones.', 'The only noticeable difference is the price tag.', '“The result is really stunning,” said Edahn Golan, an independent diamond industry analyst.', 'He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.', 'Going back by another month, to February, the data showed the number of rings sold with lab diamonds that month surged even more, to 80% compared to a year earlier while the number fell by 13% for natural diamond engagement rings.', '“The big fear in the natural diamonds industry is that consumers will start accepting lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings,” he said.', 'Too late. “', 'It’s actually happening.”', 'Why are consumers flocking to man-made diamonds?', 'Cost is the most obvious reason.', 'The average retail price of the most popular one carat round man-made diamond for an engagement ring in March was $2,318, Golan said.', '“This is substantially less – as much as 73% cheaper – than a natural diamond of the same size, cut and clarity as the man-made diamond, which would cost $8,740,” he said.', 'Plus, the lower cost allows couples to buy a bigger stone.', '“A lab diamond is a real diamond, but maybe it took a few weeks to make it,” said Golan. “', 'Natural diamonds were formed over 800 million to three billion years and there isn’t an infinite supply of them.”', 'This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.', 'The sanctions directly target Alrosa, partly owned by the Russian government, which the US government identified as the world’s largest diamond mining company, accounting for 28% of global diamond output.', 'Man-made diamonds are also becoming popular as consumers are more aware and educated about them, said Dan Moran, a third-generation diamond expert and owner of LA-based fine jeweler Concierge Diamonds.', 'Moran said the typical buyer of man-made diamonds is typically younger than 40 and very budget conscious.', 'Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.', 'Among Millennials and Gen Z, their eco-conscious mindset and ethical concerns about natural diamond sourcing is another factor influencing their preference for non-traditional engagement rings, according to a report from wedding planning website The Knot.', 'Although its slice is growing, the market share for man-made diamonds remains relatively small.', 'Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan.', 'Some major jewelry retailers are driving the effort to take man-made diamonds mainstream.', 'In 2021, the world’s largest jewelry company, Pandora  (PANDY), made a major shift by announcing it would stop using mined diamonds and would swap to lab-created diamonds in its jewelry.', 'Pandora said it’s instituting the change as part of an effort to sell sustainable jewelry, and also because consumers increasingly are asking for it.', 'Signet,  (SIG) the largest jewelry company in the United States (which owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared chains) called out the popularity of lab diamond jewelry in its March earnings call with analysts.', 'Calling it a “fast-growing category” in its jewelry portfolio, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos told analysts that lab-created diamonds are among the big jewelry trends she expects this year.', 'The company said it has expanded its man-made bridal jewelry selection in both its Zales and Kay Jewelers stores in response to the increased demand.', 'Fine jewelry brand Charles and Colvard, which makes lab-created diamonds, said consumers don’t just want to look good with the jewelry they are wearing, they also want to feel good about it.', '“As the momentum for conscious consumerism grows, the surge towards lab grown diamonds isn’t surprising,” said Don O’Connell, president and CEO of Charles & Colvard. “[', 'Consumers] want to know the origins of their stones and be reassured they’re conflict-free.', 'They’re embracing the choice to purchase a piece of fine jewelry that aligns with their values.”', 'Lab-grown diamond brand VRAI said the pandemic, too, has sparked attention and action toward social and environmental issues.', 'It said consumers are being more thoughtful and reassessing their purchasing habits, as well as the companies and industries they are supporting.', 'There is, however, one important consideration for anyone buying lab-created diamonds: Man-made diamonds have little resale value.', 'So while you may not be able to tell a natural diamond from a factory made variety, someone with a trained eye can, said Golan.', 'Once a stone is identified as a factory diamond, even though you paid a lot less for it, you also won’t get much for it.', 'But the value of a ring isn’t just monetary.', '“As a professional in the industry, I am asked all the time by people about what I think about a ring they have,” said Moran, of Concierge Jewelers. “', 'I always say, if you love it, be happy with it.', 'An engagement ring is a symbol of commitment and enduring love.”']",0.3714494325159568,"He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period.",Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas.,0.8542834222316742,"Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan.","This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds.",2024-03-26
Top soccer clubs are using an AI-powered app to scout future stars,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/tech/aiscout-app-soccer-scouting-spc-intl/index.html,"
  Published
        7:14 AM EST, Fri March 1, 2024
    ","A London-based technology company is looking to “democratize” talent-identification and scouting in soccer using a mobile app.
    
            Free to download and available globally, the aiScout app allows aspiring soccer stars to enter virtual trials for professional clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills. It offers 75 exercises, designed to test a range of skills, with videos showing users how to complete them.
    
            Performances are automatically scored by artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The data can then be accessed by clubs, allowing their scouts to peruse scores for viable talent, honing their search with a variety of filters; from age and gender to position on the pitch.
    
            The app currently has two English Premier League (EPL) partners, Chelsea and Burnley, and clubs can tailor their in-app trials to meet specific needs and set their own benchmarks by having their academy players complete the same drills.
    
            “We’re putting that data up front to make better use of [the scouts’] time,” said Richard Felton-Thomas, chief operating officer of ai.io, the company behind the app.
    
            “To say [to scouts], ‘Go over to this place today because there’s three players in that game that are all actually beating your Chelsea standard’ — that’s going to be the best use of your time.’”
    
            It already appears to be working for some. Ben Greenwood had never had a trial with a professional club until he downloaded the app in 2019. After uploading footage of himself, the 17-year-old landed a trial with Chelsea, becoming the first user of the app to get a trial with a pro club. He signed a contract with EPL team Bournemouth in 2021.
    
            Having beta-tested in with players spanning 125 countries, Greenwood among them, 135 players have been trialed or signed by pro clubs or national teams through the app — which fully launched in September 2023 — according to Felton-Thomas.
    
            Just over 100,000 players make up the current database, but with over 100 clubs lined up to join Chelsea and Burnley, as well as a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer in the US announced last May, Felton-Thomas projects user numbers to surge into the millions as the operation ramps up this year.
    
            Felton-Thomas said the “lion’s share” of its income comes from charging clubs a license fee to run the platform. Annual fees vary depending on the size of the club and the tools they require, ranging from six figures for “tier one” sides like Chelsea, to thousands of pounds for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid.
    
            The use of smart technology in sport continues to expand, including AI commentary tools and wearable tech for elite athletes. The global market for sports analytics, valued at $2.7 billion in 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.
    
            Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry? For Felton-Thomas, new technologies can co-exist with traditional methods.
    
            “It’s more about evolution than revolution,” Felton-Thomas explained.
    
            “We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity? What happens when he’s 2-0 down? What happens when someone’s shouting at him? What happens when he’s just made a massive mistake?”
    
            “We’ve got the ability to just augment real people to do their jobs better and faster, which then gives an opportunity to the player through the AI, but you’re still actually just connecting them to the human on the other side, which is the club and the scout.”
    
            While football remains ai.io’s primary focus, the company is looking into opportunities in other sports to launch in the coming years. Further ahead, it may branch out beyond sports.
    
            “You think about the notion that you can be at home and analyze your movements, and how this could spin into health care, physical assessments for military disciplines and emergency services,” Felton-Thomas told CNN.",CNN,01/03/2024,"['A London-based technology company is looking to “democratize” talent-identification and scouting in soccer using a mobile app.', 'Free to download and available globally, the aiScout app allows aspiring soccer stars to enter virtual trials for professional clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills.', 'It offers 75 exercises, designed to test a range of skills, with videos showing users how to complete them.', 'Performances are automatically scored by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.', 'The data can then be accessed by clubs, allowing their scouts to peruse scores for viable talent, honing their search with a variety of filters; from age and gender to position on the pitch.', 'The app currently has two English Premier League (EPL) partners, Chelsea and Burnley, and clubs can tailor their in-app trials to meet specific needs and set their own benchmarks by having their academy players complete the same drills.', '“We’re putting that data up front to make better use of [the scouts’] time,” said Richard Felton-Thomas, chief operating officer of ai.io, the company behind the app.', '“To say [to scouts], ‘Go over to this place today because there’s three players in that game that are all actually beating your Chelsea standard’ — that’s going to be the best use of your time.’”', 'It already appears to be working for some.', 'Ben Greenwood had never had a trial with a professional club until he downloaded the app in 2019.', 'After uploading footage of himself, the 17-year-old landed a trial with Chelsea, becoming the first user of the app to get a trial with a pro club.', 'He signed a contractwith EPL team Bournemouthin 2021.', 'Having beta-tested in with players spanning 125 countries, Greenwood among them, 135 players have been trialed or signed by pro clubs or national teams through the app — which fully launched in September 2023 — according to Felton-Thomas.', 'Just over 100,000 players make up the current database, but with over 100 clubs lined up to join Chelsea and Burnley, as well as a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer in the US announced last May, Felton-Thomas projects user numbers to surge into the millions as the operation ramps up this year.', 'Felton-Thomas said the “lion’s share” of its income comes from charging clubs a license fee to run the platform.', 'Annual fees vary depending on the size of the club and the tools they require, ranging from six figures for “tier one” sides like Chelsea, to thousands of pounds for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid.', 'The use of smart technology in sport continues to expand, includingAI commentary tools and wearable tech for elite athletes.', 'The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.', 'Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry?', 'For Felton-Thomas, new technologies can co-exist with traditional methods.', '“It’s more about evolution than revolution,” Felton-Thomas explained.', '“We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity?', 'What happens when he’s 2-0 down?', 'What happens when someone’s shouting at him?', 'What happens when he’s just made a massive mistake?”', '“We’ve got the ability to just augment real people to do their jobs better and faster, which then gives an opportunity to the player through the AI, but you’re still actually just connecting them to the human on the other side, which is the club and the scout.”', 'While football remains ai.io’s primary focus, the company is looking into opportunities in other sports to launch in the coming years.', 'Further ahead, it may branch out beyond sports.', '“You think about the notion that you can be at home and analyze your movements, and how this could spin into health care, physical assessments for military disciplines and emergency services,” Felton-Thomas told CNN.']",0.2022322827681825,"The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.","“We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity?",0.6922526104109628,"The global market for sports analytics, valued at$2.7 billionin 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research.",Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry?,2024-03-26
BYD’s profit soared 80% in the year the Chinese EV giant overtook Tesla,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/business/byd-profit-soar-after-beats-tesla/index.html,"
  Published
        12:46 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","BYD reported a jump of more than 80% in profit in its first set of annual earnings since it stole Tesla’s crown as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles.
    
            Net profit almost doubled to 30 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) last year, from 16.6 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) in 2022, the Shenzhen-based company said Tuesday.
    
            That’s despite BYD operating in a “complex external environment,” it noted, citing high levels of inflation globally, and a slowdown in growth in most major economies.
    
            BYD overtook Tesla (TSLA) as the top seller of EVs worldwide in the last three months of last year, capping an extraordinary rise for the Warren Buffett-backed Chinese carmaker. BYD sold 525,409 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) during that period, compared with Tesla’s 484,507.
    
            In 2023 as a whole, BYD sold a record 3.02 million vehicles globally, up 62% from 2022. That figure includes 1.44 million plug-in hybrids, which Tesla does not sell. Elon Musk’s carmaker still sold more BEVs last year: 1.8 million to BYD’s 1.57 million.
    
            Compared with Tesla, BYD’s cars are more affordable, which has helped it attract a wider range of buyers. Its entry-level model sells in China for the equivalent of just over $10,000; the cheapest Tesla car, a Model 3, costs almost $39,000.
    
            But intensifying competition and a brutal price war last year have impacted the profit margins of many Chinese car makers, including BYD.
    
            The country’s car industry recorded a profit margin of 5% for the first 11 months of 2023, compared with 5.7% in 2022 and 6.1% in 2021, according to figures from the Chinese Passenger Car Association.
    
            Despite slim margins, the price war doesn’t appear to be abating. Earlier this month, BYD lowered the starting price of its most affordable EV, the Seagull hatchback, by 5% to 69,800 yuan ($9,670.) Other Chinese carmakers have also announced price reductions in the past few weeks, including Geely, Chery, and XPeng Motors.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['BYD reported a jump of more than 80% in profit in its first set of annual earnings since it stole Tesla’s crown as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles.', 'Net profit almost doubled to 30 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) last year, from 16.6 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) in 2022, the Shenzhen-based company said Tuesday.', 'That’s despite BYD operating in a “complex external environment,” it noted, citing high levels of inflation globally, and a slowdown in growth in most major economies.', 'BYD overtookTesla(TSLA) as the top seller of EVs worldwide in the last three months of last year, capping an extraordinary rise for the Warren Buffett-backed Chinese carmaker.', 'BYD sold 525,409 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) during that period, compared with Tesla’s 484,507.', 'In 2023 as a whole, BYD sold a record 3.02 million vehicles globally, up 62% from 2022.', 'That figure includes 1.44 million plug-in hybrids, which Tesla does not sell.', 'Elon Musk’s carmaker still sold more BEVs last year: 1.8 million to BYD’s 1.57 million.', 'Compared with Tesla, BYD’s cars are more affordable, which has helped it attract a wider range of buyers.', 'Its entry-level model sells in China for the equivalent of just over $10,000; the cheapest Tesla car, a Model 3, costs almost $39,000.', 'But intensifying competition and a brutal price war last year have impacted the profit margins of many Chinese car makers, including BYD.', 'The country’s car industry recorded a profit margin of 5% for the first 11 months of 2023,compared with 5.7% in 2022 and 6.1% in 2021, according to figures from the Chinese Passenger Car Association.', 'Despite slim margins, the price war doesn’t appear to be abating.', 'Earlier this month, BYD lowered the starting price of its most affordable EV, the Seagull hatchback, by 5% to 69,800 yuan ($9,670.)', 'Other Chinese carmakers have also announced price reductions in the past few weeks, including Geely, Chery, and XPeng Motors.']",0.0565654131615824,BYD reported a jump of more than 80% in profit in its first set of annual earnings since it stole Tesla’s crown as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles.,"But intensifying competition and a brutal price war last year have impacted the profit margins of many Chinese car makers, including BYD.",0.510515476266543,"In 2023 as a whole, BYD sold a record 3.02 million vehicles globally, up 62% from 2022.","That’s despite BYD operating in a “complex external environment,” it noted, citing high levels of inflation globally, and a slowdown in growth in most major economies.",2024-03-26
Your complete guide to earning and redeeming points in the Citi ThankYou Rewards program,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/citi-thankyou-points-rewards,"
  Updated
        12:10 PM EST, Wed January 10, 2024
    ","The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has evolved over the past decade and is now a formidable competitor with established programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Citi’s got a relatively small portfolio of quality credit cards and a rewarding program to boot. In fact, its credit cards offer some of the most generous category bonuses in exchange for reasonable annual fees.
    
            When it comes to redeeming your hard-earned points, Citi has an impressive transfer partner list that makes it possible to maximize your rewards for travel bookings. And if you don’t want to learn the ins and outs of various loyalty programs, Citi also gives you the option to use points for statement credits and direct travel bookings.
    
            If you’re curious about how the Citi ThankYou program works, here’s everything you need to know about how to get the most out of the program for travel.
    
            You can earn Citi ThankYou points in numerous ways. The easiest is through credit card sign-up bonuses, which range depending on the card. But that’s not the only way to earn points in this program. Between checking account bonuses and authorized user incentives, there are many ways to earn ThankYou points beyond credit cards.
    
            Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards. The issuer’s credit cards are generally split into two categories: traditional ThankYou points-earning cards and cash back cards. However, recently, Citi made a change to its program that now sees its cash back credit cards earning ThankYou Rewards points, which can also be redeemed for traditional cash back.
    
            Citi has two cards that earn ThankYou points directly. These cards are ideal for maximizing rewards on everyday purchases, with the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Rewards+® Card specifically offering significant bonuses in those everyday categories.
    
            As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditional cash back credit cards in the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings. They can be incredibly valuable, considering the Citi® Double Cash Card earns 2% on everything. By adding this card to your wallet, you’ll earn a minimum of 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent on all purchases that aren’t eligible for the bonus categories on the Citi Premier or Rewards+ cards.
    
            Considering Citi’s cash back cards have no annual fees, adding one to your wallet could make a lot of sense. You’ll enhance your point earning across the board without additional annual fees.
    
            By combining the Citi cards you have in your wallet, you can maximize your earnings and ensure you continue to work your way toward your next redemption.
    
            Adding an authorized user can help you earn more Citi points in two ways: bonus points for adding someone and for all of their purchases. First, you’ll sometimes get bonus points just for adding someone to your account. Citi frequently sends out authorized user bonuses to targeted card holders. These bonuses are typically around 2,500 bonus points but can vary.
    
            Secondly, you’ll earn Citi ThankYou points based on all the spending your authorized user puts on their card. Of course, you’ll only want to consider adding a member of your household or someone you trust to pay you back as an authorized user on your account. Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.
    
            If you’d like to earn even more ThankYou points, you can do so with a checking account. That’s because Citi offers several checking accounts that earn ThankYou points as a benefit: The Citigold, Citi Priority, Citi Private Bank and Citibank Account. With these accounts, you can earn up to 1,600 points per month on everyday banking activities. The exact number of ThankYou points you’ll earn depends on your account type and qualifying activities. Generally, Citigold, Citi Priority and Citi Private Bank accounts earn the most points.
    
            Sharing points is a great way to consolidate existing points with a significant other or family member. Citi ThankYou is one of the few programs that allows members to share points free of charge. The only stipulation is that you can only share points with someone who has a Citi ThankYou card, and Citi Custom Cash card holders are not eligible.
    
            It’s worth noting that shared points expire 90 days after receipt. So you shouldn’t transfer points unless you or the person you’re sending them to has an immediate use for them. Also, note that you can’t send or receive more than 100,000 points per calendar year.
    
            Once you’ve earned a slew of Citi ThankYou points comes the fun part of redeeming them. And thankfully, Citi offers many different ways for you to redeem your ThankYou points. You’ll get the most bang for your buck by redeeming points for travel, though that’s certainly not the only option.
    
            Here’s a look at your Citi ThankYou travel redemption options and how they work.
    
            Transferring points will get you the most value from your Citi ThankYou points. Citi has 18 airline and hotel partners, most of which you can transfer points to at a 1-to-1 ratio — however, that ratio can vary. You can redeem them for stays at all-inclusive resorts, international business-class tickets, domestic award flights and more. But keep in mind that not all airline and hotel loyalty programs are equal.
    
            Ultimately, you’ll want to research which program will offer you the most in return, depending on what your travel plans are. Like with the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, Capital One miles and American Express Membership Rewards program, you’ll need to link your accounts with each of the transfer partners, and you’ll also need to search for award availability with the airline of your choice before transferring any points.
    
            If you’re interested in transferring your Citi ThankYou points to a travel partner, these are your 18 options as well as the transfer rate.
    
            By transferring Citi ThankYou points to partner airlines, you unlock the ability to travel for next to nothing — in most cases when redeeming travel rewards, you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees on a ticket. As a result, points and miles open up the door for flying experiences that would otherwise be out of reach.
    
            Keep in mind that the most obvious airline choice may not always be your best option. Airlines typically have extensive alliance networks, allowing you to redeem points for partner airlines through their respective programs. For example, Delta Air Lines and Air France/KLM are both members of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue and redeem for flights operated by Delta Air Lines.
    
            Citi’s airline partners will get you the most value for your points, especially if you redeem them for business- and first-class travel. That being said, Citi’s airline partners offer several sweet spot awards. These heavily discounted awards will save you points on travel and make earning ThankYou points worthwhile. Some of these sweet spots awards that will get you maximum value for your ThankYou points include the following:
    
            Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points by transferring them to airline or hotel partners. But that may not always make sense for all card holders — and it’s not your only option.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each when you use them to book travel through the Citi ThankYou portal. That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions. While transferring points is the best way to maximize your ThankYou points, doing so isn’t always possible. If that’s the case — or if you’re not interested in researching award availability — redeeming at a fixed value for travel via the ThankYou portal is a decent option.
    
            Citi offers several fixed redemption options where you’ll redeem your points at 1 cent per point. This is ideal for folks who would rather leverage points for daily expenses than travel bookings. While redeeming points this way isn’t advisable, as you won’t get as much value out of each point, you should use them however they suit you best.
    
            For example, if you have no travel plans in the foreseeable future but mounting expenses at home, then redeeming your ThankYou points for mortgage or student loan payments might make sense. Here are some additional ways you can redeem your ThankYou points:
    
            Generally speaking, if you’re looking to get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points, your worst option is when redeeming for a fixed value. However, if you’re willing to sacrifice the value of your points and instead want to save some cash, it could be a solid option. Ultimately, every card holder’s goals for their points will be different, but it’s good that you have options with ThankYou points.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are worth about 1.7 cents each when you redeem them for travel through transfer partners, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy. The exact amount varies depending on the cabin and destination you’re flying to. Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value by redeeming points for international business- and first-class flights. While 1.7 cents per point isn’t guaranteed for all redemptions, it’s a number you should aim for if you want to redeem ThankYou points for maximum value.
    
            Aside from travel redemptions, you can use ThankYou points for mortgage payments, student loans, statement credits or charitable contributions, and they’re worth 1 cent apiece.
    
            Citi ThankYou points are an incredibly valuable currency and can help you meet your most aspirational travel goals. Whether you’re using points for domestic or international travel, Citi’s wide selection of transfer partners offers terrific redemption value. Between a good credit card selection, top-notch travel partners and flexibility in use, Citi ThankYou points are definitely worth adding to your points portfolio.
    
            Looking for a new travel credit card? Check out CNN Underscored’s list of the best credit cards currently available.
    
            Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
    
            Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.",CNN,10/01/2024,"['The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has evolved over the past decade and is now a formidable competitor with established programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards.', 'Citi’s got a relatively small portfolio of quality credit cards and a rewarding program to boot.', 'In fact, its credit cards offer some of the most generous category bonuses in exchange for reasonable annual fees.', 'When it comes to redeeming your hard-earned points, Citi has an impressive transfer partner list that makes it possible to maximize your rewards for travel bookings.', 'And if you don’t want to learn the ins and outs of various loyalty programs, Citi also gives you the option to use points for statement credits and direct travel bookings.', 'If you’re curious about how the Citi ThankYou program works, here’s everything you need to know about how to get the most out of the program for travel.', 'You can earn Citi ThankYou points in numerous ways.', 'The easiest is through credit card sign-up bonuses, which range depending on the card.', 'But that’s not the only way to earn points in this program.', 'Between checking account bonuses and authorized user incentives, there are many ways to earn ThankYou points beyond credit cards.', 'Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards.', 'The issuer’s credit cards are generally split into two categories: traditional ThankYou points-earning cards andcash back cards.', 'However, recently, Citi made a change to its program that now sees its cash back credit cards earning ThankYou Rewards points, which can also be redeemed for traditional cash back.', 'Citi has two cards that earn ThankYou points directly.', 'These cards are ideal for maximizing rewards on everyday purchases, with the Citi Premier® Card and Citi Rewards+® Card specifically offering significant bonuses in those everyday categories.', 'As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditionalcash back credit cardsin the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings.', 'They can be incredibly valuable, considering the Citi® Double Cash Card earns 2% on everything.', 'By adding this card to your wallet, you’ll earn a minimum of 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent on all purchases that aren’t eligible for the bonus categories on the Citi Premier or Rewards+ cards.', 'Considering Citi’s cash back cards have no annual fees, adding one to your wallet could make a lot of sense.', 'You’ll enhance your point earning across the board without additional annual fees.', 'By combining the Citi cards you have in your wallet, you can maximize your earnings and ensure you continue to work your way toward your next redemption.', 'Adding an authorized user can help you earn more Citi points in two ways: bonus points for adding someone and for all of their purchases.', 'First, you’ll sometimes get bonus points just for adding someone to your account.', 'Citi frequently sends out authorized user bonuses to targeted card holders.', 'These bonuses are typically around 2,500 bonus points but can vary.', 'Secondly, you’ll earn Citi ThankYou points based on all the spending your authorized user puts on their card.', 'Of course, you’ll only want to consider adding a member of your household or someone you trust to pay you back as anauthorized useron your account.', 'Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.', 'If you’d like to earn even more ThankYou points, you can do so with a checking account.', 'That’s because Citi offers several checking accounts that earn ThankYou points as a benefit: The Citigold, Citi Priority, Citi Private Bank and Citibank Account.', 'With these accounts, you can earn up to 1,600 points per month on everyday banking activities.', 'The exact number of ThankYou points you’ll earn depends on your account type and qualifying activities.', 'Generally, Citigold, Citi Priority and Citi Private Bank accounts earn the most points.', 'Sharing points is a great way to consolidate existing points with a significant other or family member.', 'Citi ThankYou is one of the few programs that allows members to share points free of charge.', 'The only stipulation is that you can only share points with someone who has a Citi ThankYou card, and Citi Custom Cash card holders are not eligible.', 'It’s worth noting that shared points expire 90 days after receipt.', 'So you shouldn’t transfer points unless you or the person you’re sending them to has an immediate use for them.', 'Also, note that you can’t send or receive more than 100,000 points per calendar year.', 'Once you’ve earned a slew of Citi ThankYou points comes the fun part of redeeming them.', 'And thankfully, Citi offers many different ways for you to redeem your ThankYou points.', 'You’ll get the most bang for your buck by redeeming points for travel, though that’s certainly not the only option.', 'Here’s a look at your Citi ThankYou travel redemption options and how they work.', 'Transferring points will get you the most value from your Citi ThankYou points.', 'Citi has 18 airline and hotel partners, most of which you can transfer points to at a 1-to-1 ratio — however, that ratio can vary.', 'You can redeem them for stays atall-inclusive resorts,international business-class tickets, domestic award flights and more.', 'But keep in mind that not all airline and hotel loyalty programs are equal.', 'Ultimately, you’ll want to research which program will offer you the most in return, depending on what your travel plans are.', 'Like with the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, Capital One miles andAmerican Express Membership Rewards program, you’ll need to link your accounts with each of the transfer partners, and you’ll also need to search for award availability with the airline of your choice before transferring any points.', 'If you’re interested in transferring your Citi ThankYou points to a travel partner, these are your 18 options as well as the transfer rate.', 'By transferring Citi ThankYou points to partner airlines, you unlock the ability to travel for next to nothing — in most cases when redeeming travel rewards, you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees on a ticket.', 'As a result, points and miles open up the door for flying experiences that would otherwise be out of reach.', 'Keep in mind that the most obvious airline choice may not always be your best option.', 'Airlines typically have extensive alliance networks, allowing you to redeem points for partner airlines through their respective programs.', 'For example, Delta Air Lines and Air France/KLM are both members of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue and redeem for flights operated by Delta Air Lines.', 'Citi’s airline partners will get you the most value for your points, especially if you redeem them for business- and first-class travel.', 'That being said, Citi’s airline partners offer several sweet spot awards.', 'These heavily discounted awards will save you points on travel and make earning ThankYou points worthwhile.', 'Some of these sweet spots awards that will get you maximum value for your ThankYou points include the following:  Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points by transferring them to airline or hotel partners.', 'But that may not always make sense for all card holders — and it’s not your only option.', 'Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each when you use them to book travel through the Citi ThankYou portal.', 'That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions.', 'While transferring points is the best way to maximize your ThankYou points, doing so isn’t always possible.', 'If that’s the case — or if you’re not interested in researching award availability — redeeming at a fixed value for travel via the ThankYou portal is a decent option.', 'Citi offers several fixed redemption options where you’ll redeem your points at 1 cent per point.', 'This is ideal for folks who would rather leverage points for daily expenses than travel bookings.', 'While redeeming points this way isn’t advisable, as you won’t get as much value out of each point, you should use them however they suit you best.', 'For example, if you have no travel plans in the foreseeable future but mounting expenses at home, then redeeming your ThankYou points for mortgage or student loan payments might make sense.', 'Here are some additional ways you can redeem your ThankYou points:  Generally speaking, if you’re looking to get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou points, your worst option is when redeeming for a fixed value.', 'However, if you’re willing to sacrifice the value of your points and instead want to save some cash, it could be a solid option.', 'Ultimately, every card holder’s goals for their points will be different, but it’s good that you have options with ThankYou points.', 'Citi ThankYou points are worth about 1.7 cents each when you redeem them for travel through transfer partners, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy.', 'The exact amount varies depending on the cabin and destination you’re flying to.', 'Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value by redeeming points for international business- and first-class flights.', 'While 1.7 cents per point isn’t guaranteed for all redemptions, it’s a number you should aim for if you want to redeem ThankYou points for maximum value.', 'Aside from travel redemptions, you can use ThankYou points for mortgage payments, student loans, statement credits or charitable contributions, and they’re worth 1 cent apiece.', 'Citi ThankYou points are an incredibly valuable currency and can help you meet your most aspirational travel goals.', 'Whether you’re using points for domestic or international travel, Citi’s wide selection of transfer partners offers terrific redemption value.', 'Between a good credit card selection, top-notch travel partners and flexibility in use, Citi ThankYou points are definitely worth adding to your points portfolio.', 'Looking for a new travel credit card?', 'Check out CNN Underscored’s list of thebest credit cardscurrently available.', 'Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.', 'Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.']",0.419572580688158,"Citi has a small but mighty credit card lineup, offering generous welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards.","Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder.",0.8711563621958097,"As mentioned, there are also a number of other traditionalcash back credit cardsin the Citi portfolio that allow you to boost your earnings.",That’s significantly less than the value you’ll get from transfer partner redemptions.,2024-03-26
"Shipping CEO Angela Chao, Mitch McConnell’s sister-in-law, was intoxicated when she drove into lake, sheriff’s office says",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/20/business/angela-chao-fatal-car-accident/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:11 PM EDT, Thu March 21, 2024
    ","Angela Chao, the shipping company CEO and sister-in-law of outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was intoxicated when she drove her Tesla into a lake at a Texas ranch in a fatal crash last month, according to the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office.
    
            A 62-page incident report offers a harrowing account of the night of February 10, when, after partying with friends, Chao mistakenly reversed into a lake and became trapped in her car. 
    
            She called her friend for help and, as the water level in the car grew higher and higher, “said her good byes,” the report states. The friends frantically tried but failed to get her out of the car in time, and emergency responders ultimately pulled her lifeless body from the car.
    
            Toxicology found that Chao’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.233, or about three times more than the legal limit. The Cleveland Clinic says a level of between 0.15 to 0.3 could cause someone to “experience confusion, vomiting and drowsiness.”
    
            The report determined her death was an “unfortunate accident.”
    
            Chao’s death has taken on particular significance given her proximity to power. She was the CEO of shipping company Foremost Group and the sister of Elaine Chao, the former Trump administration secretary of transportation who is married to McConnell. The Republican senator, 82, noted his sister-in-law’s death last month when he announced his plan to step down as GOP leader.
    
            “As some of you may know, this has been a particularly difficult time for my family. We tragically lost Elaine’s younger sister, Angela, just a few weeks ago,” he said. “When you lose a loved one, particularly at a young age, there’s a certain introspection that accompanies the grieving process. Perhaps it is God’s way of reminding you of your own life’s journey to reprioritize the impact of the world that we will all inevitably leave behind.”
    
            Chao, a Harvard graduate who lived in Austin, gathered with a group of friends for the weekend and attended a Pitbull concert on Friday, February 9, according to the report. The next day, the group spent the day touring her family ranch in Johnson City, the report states.
    
            The group had dinner and drinks at the guest lodge, and at around 11:30 p.m., everyone began returning to their bedrooms or going home.
    
            A video of the exterior of the south side camera captures Chao at 11:37 p.m. walking “unsteadily to her vehicle while continuing to hold her cellular phone in her right hand,” according to the report.
    
            Chao is later seen entering her Tesla. The report stated that the camera then captured the car lurching toward a wooden barrier, reversing, turning to the left without stopping, and over the top of the limestone block wall. Afterward, the vehicle entered the water. A minute later, the vehicle’s lights were no longer visible.
    
            While inside, Chao called a friend for help, and others came to try to rescue her.
    
            At 11:42 p.m., a friend received a call from Chao telling her that “she had driven her vehicle into the pond,” the report states. The friend told Chao to leave the car, but she said she couldn’t, the friend later told law enforcement.
    
            The friend stayed on the phone with Chao for eight minutes, as she described water coming into the vehicle, officials said in the report. The friend also got into a kayak and paddled toward the vehicle, and another friend swam to the car, climbing on top of it and trying to reach Chao, officials stated in the report.
    
            Just after midnight, deputies arrived at the ranch.
    
            The ranch manager told the deputies that the back door of the Tesla was open, after which they “attempted multiple times to locate the occupant of the vehicle through the back passenger door but were unable to.”
    
            They unsuccessfully attempted to break the front windshield, and eventually broke the driver-side window, the report said.
    
            Once the window was broken, the deputy stated they swam down and felt a hand, and with a medic helped pulled Chao out of the submerged vehicle. The vehicle had been in the water for approximately 21 minutes.
    
            “The medics then swam back to the shore with the body and started performing CPR,” according to the report.
    
            The report said first responders pronounced Chao dead at 1:40 a.m. An autopsy was not performed due to the family citing religious reasons.
    
            CNN’s Rebekah Riess and Eric Levenson contributed to this story.",CNN,21/03/2024,"['Angela Chao, the shipping company CEO and sister-in-law of outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was intoxicated when she drove her Tesla into a lake at a Texas ranch in a fatal crash last month, according to the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office.', 'A 62-page incident report offers a harrowing account of the night of February 10, when, after partying with friends, Chao mistakenly reversed into a lake and became trapped in her car.', 'She called her friend for help and, as the water level in the car grew higher and higher, “said her good byes,” the report states.', 'The friends frantically tried but failed to get her out of the car in time, and emergency responders ultimately pulled her lifeless body from the car.', 'Toxicology found that Chao’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.233, or about three times more than the legal limit.', 'TheCleveland Clinic says a level of between 0.15 to 0.3 could cause someone to “experience confusion, vomitingand drowsiness.”', 'The report determined her death was an “unfortunate accident.”', 'Chao’s death has taken on particular significance given her proximity to power.', 'She was the CEO of shipping company Foremost Group and the sister of Elaine Chao, the former Trump administration secretary of transportation who is married to McConnell.', 'The Republican senator, 82, noted his sister-in-law’s death last month when he announced his plan to step down as GOP leader.', '“As some of you may know, this has been a particularly difficult time for my family.', 'We tragically lost Elaine’s younger sister, Angela, just a few weeks ago,” he said. “', 'When you lose a loved one, particularly at a young age, there’s a certain introspection that accompanies the grieving process.', 'Perhaps it is God’s way of reminding you of your own life’s journey to reprioritize the impact of the world that we will all inevitably leave behind.”', 'Chao, a Harvard graduate who lived in Austin, gathered with a group of friends for the weekend and attended a Pitbull concert on Friday, February 9, according to the report.', 'The next day, the group spent the day touring her family ranch in Johnson City, the report states.', 'The group had dinner and drinks at the guest lodge, and at around 11:30 p.m., everyone began returning to their bedrooms or going home.', 'A video of the exterior of the south side camera captures Chao at 11:37 p.m. walking “unsteadily to her vehicle while continuing to hold her cellular phone in her right hand,” according to the report.', 'Chao is later seen entering her Tesla.', 'The report stated that the camera then captured the car lurching toward a wooden barrier, reversing, turning to the left without stopping, and over the top of the limestone block wall.', 'Afterward, the vehicle enteredthe water.', 'A minute later, the vehicle’s lights were no longer visible.', 'While inside, Chao called a friend for help, and others came to try to rescue her.', 'At 11:42 p.m., a friend received a call from Chao telling her that “she had driven her vehicle into the pond,” the report states.', 'The friend told Chao to leave the car, but she said she couldn’t, the friend later told law enforcement.', 'The friend stayed on the phone with Chao for eight minutes, as she described water coming into the vehicle, officials said in the report.', 'The friend also gotinto a kayak and paddled toward the vehicle, and another friend swam to the car, climbing on top of it and trying to reach Chao, officials stated in the report.', 'Just after midnight, deputies arrived at the ranch.', 'The ranch manager told the deputies that the back door of the Tesla was open, after which they “attempted multiple times to locate the occupant of the vehicle through the back passenger door but were unable to.”', 'They unsuccessfully attempted to break the front windshield, and eventually broke the driver-side window, the report said.', 'Once the window was broken, the deputy stated they swam down and felt a hand, and with a medic helped pulled Chao out of the submerged vehicle.', 'The vehicle had been in the water for approximately 21 minutes.', '“The medics then swam back to the shore with the body and started performing CPR,” according to the report.', 'The report said first responders pronounced Chao dead at 1:40 a.m. An autopsy was not performed due to the family citing religious reasons.', 'CNN’s Rebekah Riess and Eric Levenson contributed to this story.']",-0.0271076874621717,"While inside, Chao called a friend for help, and others came to try to rescue her.",The report determined her death was an “unfortunate accident.”,-0.5347368568181992,"She called her friend for help and, as the water level in the car grew higher and higher, “said her good byes,” the report states.","TheCleveland Clinic says a level of between 0.15 to 0.3 could cause someone to “experience confusion, vomitingand drowsiness.”",2024-03-26
Condé Nast’s parent made a $2 billion windfall from Reddit’s IPO. Now come the uncomfortable questions,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/media/conde-nasts-parent-reddit-ipo-union/index.html,"
  Published
        7:02 AM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.
    
            Executives at Advance Publications are likely popping champagne bottles. But as they sip on their celebratory bubbly they are now being confronted with some uncomfortable questions.
    
            The S.I. Newhouse-founded media company, which owns the Condé Nast suite of prestigious magazines and local news outlets across the country, netted approximately $2.1 billion on Thursday when Reddit went public on the New York Stock Exchange in a long-awaited blockbuster IPO.
    
            The social media company, which priced its offering at $34 a share, rocketed 48% on its first day, closing above $50 in an impressive public debut for the 20-year-old message board platform.
    
            It’s quite a return on an investment for Advance, which acquired the “front page of the internet” for a mere $10 million in 2006, before spinning it off in 2011 and allowing others to invest in the digital forum.
    
            The windfall, however, comes at a notable time for the company. Like other media giants facing existential headwinds, Advance’s publications have endured a sustained downturn in digital advertising and seen traffic from social media platforms decline, prompting uncomfortable belt-tightening and scaled-back ambitions.
    
            Condé Nast has for months been engaged in a standoff with its union. The company announced in November that it planned to lay off 94 staffers, or roughly 5% of its workforce. (It has said it will keep operating costs consistent with the last three years, but that it wants to invest in different areas, necessitating the layoffs.)
    
            Tensions have only escalated since then. Condé Nast boss Roger Lynch told Axios’ Sara Fischer earlier this month that, while it missed its revenue target, there were no plans for further layoffs. But the Condé Union said this week that management had effectively gone back on its word and added another five staffers to its layoff list, inflaming already high emotions and prompting renewed protests Wednesday outside Lynch’s office.
    
            While Advance cannot sell its shares for six months, laying off staffers as it reaps billions of dollars from Reddit’s IPO would present, at minimum, an optics problem for Condé Nast, which has been bruised in recent months during union negotiations. The earnings also offer a few uncomfortable questions for the company. Will Advance go through with such cuts while it rains cash over at company headquarters? How can Advance expect Condé Nast management to push through with painful layoffs while the parent company experiences a gold rush?
    
            I asked representatives for Advance on Thursday if the $2 billion+ windfall it stood to reap had given it any second thoughts on allowing Condé Nast to move forward with the layoffs. As you might expect, representatives for the company were not too keen on answering such questions. My multiple emails went unreturned.
    
            But the IPO bonanza has certainly secured the attention of employees at Condé Nast. And it is sure to be a factor as the union continues contract negotiations with management. While Advance is remaining mum about the massive sum it has made on its Reddit bet, the union is already speaking out.
    
            “The fact that billions of dollars in wealth poured into Advance as we continue to fight for jobs illustrates where Condé Nast’s priorities are,” Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York, told me. “Management needs to stop investing in threats and start investing in the concerns of the workers who power the company’s success.”",CNN,22/03/2024,"['Editor’s Note:A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter.', 'Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.', 'Executives at Advance Publications are likely popping champagne bottles.', 'But as they sip on their celebratory bubbly they are now being confronted with some uncomfortable questions.', 'The S.I. Newhouse-founded media company, which owns the Condé Nast suite of prestigious magazines and local news outlets across the country, netted approximately $2.1billion on Thursday when Reddit went public on the New York Stock Exchange in a long-awaited blockbuster IPO.', 'The social media company, which priced its offering at $34 a share, rocketed 48% on its first day, closing above $50 in an impressive public debut for the 20-year-old message board platform.', 'It’s quite a return on an investment for Advance, which acquired the “front page of the internet” for a mere $10 million in 2006, before spinning it off in 2011 and allowing others to invest in the digital forum.', 'The windfall, however, comes at a notable time for the company.', 'Like other media giants facing existential headwinds, Advance’s publications have endured a sustained downturn in digital advertising and seen traffic from social media platforms decline, prompting uncomfortable belt-tightening and scaled-back ambitions.', 'Condé Nast has for months been engaged in a standoff with its union.', 'The company announced in November that it planned to lay off 94 staffers, or roughly 5% of its workforce. (', 'It has said it will keep operating costs consistent with the last three years, but that it wants to invest in different areas, necessitating the layoffs.)', 'Tensions have only escalated since then.', 'Condé Nast boss Roger Lynch told Axios’ Sara Fischer earlier this month that, while it missed its revenue target, there were no plans for further layoffs.', 'But the Condé Union said this week that management had effectively gone back on its word and added another five staffers to its layoff list, inflaming already high emotions and prompting renewed protests Wednesday outside Lynch’s office.', 'While Advance cannot sell its shares for six months, laying off staffers as it reaps billions of dollars from Reddit’s IPO would present, at minimum, an optics problem for Condé Nast, which has been bruised in recent months during union negotiations.', 'The earnings also offer a few uncomfortable questions for the company.', 'Will Advance go through with such cuts while it rains cash over at company headquarters?', 'How can Advance expect Condé Nast management to push through with painful layoffs while the parent company experiences a gold rush?', 'I asked representatives for Advance on Thursday if the $2 billion+ windfall it stood to reap had given it any second thoughts on allowing Condé Nast to move forward with the layoffs.', 'As you might expect, representatives for the company were not too keen on answering such questions.', 'My multiple emails went unreturned.', 'But the IPO bonanza has certainly secured the attention of employees at Condé Nast.', 'And it is sure to be a factor as the union continues contract negotiations with management.', 'While Advance is remaining mum about the massive sum it has made on its Reddit bet, the union is already speaking out.', '“The fact that billions of dollars in wealth poured into Advance as we continue to fight for jobs illustrates where Condé Nast’s priorities are,” Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York, told me. “', 'Management needs to stop investing in threats and start investing in the concerns of the workers who power the company’s success.”']",-0.0039537635651827,But the IPO bonanza has certainly secured the attention of employees at Condé Nast.,But as they sip on their celebratory bubbly they are now being confronted with some uncomfortable questions.,0.0884665342477651,But the IPO bonanza has certainly secured the attention of employees at Condé Nast.,"Like other media giants facing existential headwinds, Advance’s publications have endured a sustained downturn in digital advertising and seen traffic from social media platforms decline, prompting uncomfortable belt-tightening and scaled-back ambitions.",2024-03-26
Apple announces its annual developers conference is set for June 10,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/apple-annual-developers-conference-june-10/index.html,"
  Updated
        2:20 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Apple announced its annual Worldwide Developer Conference will kick off on June 10, when the company is expected to show off its latest AI advancements.
    
            The conference, which is widely anticipated each year as a major showcase for Apple software news, will run Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14.
    
            Although last year’s WWDC focused on the unveiling of the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which launched in stores in February, this year is expected to turn to Apple’s AI efforts. The company is reportedly interested in licensing and building Google’s Gemini AI engine, which includes chatbots and other AI tools, into upcoming iPhones and its iOS 18 features.
    
            As more tech companies pour billions of dollars into the development and rollout of artificial intelligence, Apple has largely been left out of the conversation, with many other tech companies making big strides in the space. A partnership with Google would catapult Apple into the growing AI arms race.
    
            Apple researchers also recently said they’ve developed a family of multimodal models — which refers to an AI system that can interpret and generate different types of data, such as text and images at the same time — called MM1. A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.
    
            In a press release on Tuesday, the company said WWDC 2024 will also share software updates coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro headset.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Apple announced its annual Worldwide Developer Conference will kick off on June 10, when the company is expected to show off its latest AI advancements.', 'The conference, which is widely anticipated each year as a major showcase for Apple software news, will run Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14.', 'Although last year’s WWDC focused on the unveiling of the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which launched in stores in February, this year is expected to turn to Apple’s AI efforts.', 'The company is reportedly interested in licensing and building Google’s Gemini AI engine, which includes chatbots and other AI tools, into upcoming iPhones and its iOS 18 features.', 'As more tech companies pour billions of dollars into the development and rollout of artificial intelligence, Apple has largely been left out of the conversation, with many other tech companies making big strides in the space.', 'A partnership with Google would catapult Apple into the growing AI arms race.', 'Apple researchers also recently said they’ve developed a family of multimodal models — which refers to an AI system that can interpret and generate different types of data, such as text and images at the same time — called MM1.', 'A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.', 'In a press release on Tuesday, the company said WWDC 2024 will also share software updates coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro headset.']",0.3259092919755588,A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.,,0.9975101351737976,A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images.,,2024-03-26
Fed officials are now considering fewer rate cuts this year,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/economy/fed-officials-fewer-rate-cuts-this-year/index.html,"
  Published
        6:00 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Americans hamstrung by high borrowing costs on car loans, mortgages and credit cards shouldn’t expect much of a break this year.
    
            That’s because some Federal Reserve officials are reconsidering forecasts they made three months ago that called for three rate cuts this year.
    
            Currently, the Fed’s target interest rate is between 5.25% and 5.5%, a 23-year high. Four of the 19 officials on the rate-setting committee now see rates staying above 5% this year, implying one or no rate cuts, according to new economic projections from last week’s meeting. Meanwhile, in December, three officials saw rates staying above 5%. On the opposite end, just one official — compared to five previously — sees rates dipping below 4.5%, implying four cuts.
    
            The stakes are high because there are consequences if the Fed cuts rates soon or if it leaves rates where they’ve been for the past eight months.
    
            If the central bank cuts prematurely, it could risk losing its grip on inflation, which hasn’t yet returned to its 2% target. But if the Fed waits too long to cut, high interest rates could further punish Americans and the economy by potentially triggering a recession.
    
            Beyond their official projections, various officials have also been making their case in public speeches and media appearances on how the Fed should approach the difficult task of when to begin cutting interest rates.
    
            Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, currently a voting member on the Fed’s rate-setting committee, went as far as to suggest that the central bank should only cut rates once this year.
    
            “The economy continues to deliver surprises and it continues to be more resilient and more energized than I had forecast or projected,” Bostic said last week. That’s why he said he revised his belief that the central bank should cut rates twice this year to once.
    
            In February, Bostic told CNN that the first rate cut could come “sometime in the summertime.” That’s also Wall Street’s current expectation.
    
            Powell hasn’t publicly shared his timeline for cutting rates but has repeatedly explained that the timing of that first rate cut will ultimately be determined by what inflation gauges and other key economic data show. That’s precisely what gave some investors who were previously estimating several cuts in 2024 a reality check.
    
            Inflation readings for the first two months of the year came in hotter than expected, reflecting some persistent price pressures in services and housing.
    
            Rising shelter costs and climbing gas prices contributed to 60% of the monthly rise in consumer prices in February, according to the latest Consumer Price Index. Consumer prices were up 3.2% in February from a year earlier, higher than the 3.1% annual rise economists were expecting. The Producer Price Index, another closely watched inflation gauge, rose in February at its fastest pace in months.
    
            The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, also reflected stubborn prices in January.
    
            “I don’t think inflation has stalled, because I expect some of the softening in consumer spending and in the labor market to feed through into services and shelter inflation over the coming months,” David Page, head of macroeonomic research at investment management firm AXA IM, told CNN.
    
            Inflation no longer slowing, which would prevent any rate cuts, is one of Wall Street’s biggest concerns about the economy. But economists still widely expect inflation to gradually drift lower — perhaps just not as much as giddy investors were expecting a few months ago.
    
            Powell said last week that January’s monthly jump in prices might have been skewed by “seasonal factors” and that it doesn’t necessarily mean inflation’s cooldown has halted.
    
            He hasn’t specified — and is unlikely to signal — the number of rate cuts he believes are appropriate for this year. Rather, he said at last week’s meeting he and other Fed officials “want more confidence that inflation is coming down sustainably toward 2%.”
    
            That means rates will stay where they are as Fed officials await more data to know if inflation is indeed headed toward 2%.
    
            “The path of disinflation, as expected, has been bumpy and uneven, but a careful approach to further policy adjustments can ensure that inflation will return sustainably to 2% while striving to maintain the strong labor market,” Fed Governor Lisa Cook said Monday during a lecture at Harvard University.
    
            Translation: There’s no need to rush into cutting rates, even if some recent inflation readings haven’t been ideal.
    
            But Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said three cuts this year are “in line with my thinking.”
    
            “We’re in an uncertain state, but it doesn’t feel to me like we’ve changed fundamentally the story that we’re getting back to target,” Goolsbee, who is not voting on interest rate decisions this year, said in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Monday.
    
            However, Powell said at December’s meeting that central bankers would not want to wait until inflation returns to the Fed’s target to begin cutting interest rates because “it would be too late.”
    
            His rationale is that it can take a while for the full effect of a given level of interest rates to work its way through the economy. The so-called “long and variable lags” of monetary policy is one key factor officials are considering when it comes to approaching rate cuts and why some may still be considering three cuts this year despite some undesirable inflation data.
    
            Fed Governor Christopher Waller, seen as a key messenger of the Fed’s guidance on policy, is delivering a speech on the economy Wednesday in New York. He has cheered inflation’s descent and said further improvement could open the door to rate cuts — if that actually bears out.
    
            Later in the week, Powell will participate in a discussion on monetary policy hosted by the San Francisco Fed.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Americans hamstrung by high borrowing costs on car loans, mortgages and credit cards shouldn’t expect much of a break this year.', 'That’s because some Federal Reserve officials are reconsidering forecasts they made three months ago that called for three rate cuts this year.', 'Currently, the Fed’s target interest rate is between 5.25% and 5.5%, a 23-year high.', 'Four of the 19 officials on the rate-setting committee now see rates staying above 5% this year, implying one or no rate cuts, according to new economic projections from last week’s meeting.', 'Meanwhile, in December, three officials saw rates staying above 5%.', 'On the opposite end, just one official — compared to five previously — sees rates dipping below 4.5%, implying four cuts.', 'The stakes are high because there are consequences if the Fed cuts rates soon or if it leaves rates where they’ve been for the past eight months.', 'If the central bank cuts prematurely, it could risk losing its grip on inflation, which hasn’t yet returned to its 2% target.', 'But if the Fed waits too long to cut, high interest rates could further punish Americans and the economy by potentially triggering a recession.', 'Beyond their official projections, various officials have also been making their case in public speeches and media appearances on how the Fed should approach the difficult task of when to begin cutting interest rates.', 'Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, currently a voting member on the Fed’s rate-setting committee, went as far as to suggest that the central bank should only cut rates once this year.', '“The economy continues to deliver surprises and it continues to be more resilient and more energized than I had forecast or projected,” Bostic said last week.', 'That’s why he said he revised his belief that the central bank should cut rates twice this year to once.', 'In February, Bostic told CNN that the first rate cut could come “sometime in the summertime.”', 'That’s also Wall Street’s current expectation.', 'Powell hasn’t publicly shared his timeline for cutting rates but has repeatedly explained that the timing of that first rate cut will ultimately be determined by what inflation gauges and other key economic data show.', 'That’s precisely what gave some investors who were previously estimating several cuts in 2024 a reality check.', 'Inflation readings for the first two months of the year came in hotter than expected, reflecting some persistent price pressures in services and housing.', 'Rising shelter costs and climbing gas prices contributed to 60% of the monthly rise in consumer prices in February, according to the latest Consumer Price Index.', 'Consumer prices were up 3.2% in February from a year earlier, higher than the 3.1% annual rise economists were expecting.', 'The Producer Price Index, another closely watched inflation gauge, rose in February at its fastest pace in months.', 'The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, also reflected stubborn prices in January.', '“I don’t think inflation has stalled, because I expect some of the softening in consumer spending and in the labor market to feed through into services and shelter inflation over the coming months,” David Page, head of macroeonomic research at investment management firm AXA IM, told CNN.', 'Inflation no longer slowing, which would prevent any rate cuts, is one of Wall Street’s biggest concerns about the economy.', 'But economists still widely expect inflation to gradually drift lower — perhaps just not as much as giddy investors were expecting a few months ago.', 'Powell said last week that January’s monthly jump in prices might have been skewed by “seasonal factors” and that it doesn’t necessarily mean inflation’s cooldown has halted.', 'He hasn’t specified — and is unlikely to signal —the number of rate cuts he believes are appropriate for this year.', 'Rather, he said at last week’s meeting he and other Fed officials “want more confidence that inflation is coming down sustainably toward 2%.”', 'That means rates will stay where they are as Fed officials await more data to know if inflation is indeed headed toward 2%.', '“The path of disinflation, as expected, has been bumpy and uneven, but a careful approach to further policy adjustments can ensure that inflation will return sustainably to 2% while striving to maintain the strong labor market,” Fed Governor Lisa Cook said Monday during a lecture at Harvard University.', 'Translation: There’s no need to rush into cutting rates, even if some recent inflation readings haven’t been ideal.', 'But Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said three cuts this year are “in line with my thinking.”', '“We’re in an uncertain state, but it doesn’t feel to me like we’ve changed fundamentally the story that we’re getting back to target,” Goolsbee, who is not voting on interest rate decisions this year, said in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Monday.', 'However, Powell said at December’s meeting that central bankers would not want to wait until inflation returns to the Fed’s target to begin cutting interest rates because “it would be too late.”', 'His rationale is that it can take a while for the full effect of a given level of interest rates to work its way through the economy.', 'The so-called “long and variable lags” of monetary policy is one key factor officials are considering when it comes to approaching rate cuts and why some may still be considering three cuts this year despite some undesirable inflation data.', 'Fed Governor Christopher Waller, seen as a key messenger of the Fed’s guidance on policy, is delivering a speech on the economy Wednesday in New York.', 'He has cheered inflation’s descent and said further improvement could open the door to rate cuts — if that actually bears out.', 'Later in the week, Powell will participate in a discussion on monetary policy hosted by the San Francisco Fed.']",-0.0637658049366241,"“The path of disinflation, as expected, has been bumpy and uneven, but a careful approach to further policy adjustments can ensure that inflation will return sustainably to 2% while striving to maintain the strong labor market,” Fed Governor Lisa Cook said Monday during a lecture at Harvard University.","But if the Fed waits too long to cut, high interest rates could further punish Americans and the economy by potentially triggering a recession.",0.0396270212673005,"“The economy continues to deliver surprises and it continues to be more resilient and more energized than I had forecast or projected,” Bostic said last week.","If the central bank cuts prematurely, it could risk losing its grip on inflation, which hasn’t yet returned to its 2% target.",2024-03-26
Visa and Mastercard agree to $30 billion settlement that will lower merchant fees,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/economy/visa-mastercard-swipe-fee-settlement/index.html,"
  Updated
        1:49 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","Two of the world’s largest credit card networks, Visa and Mastercard, as well as the banks that issue cards with them, have agreed to settle a decadeslong antitrust case brought upon by merchants.
    
            The settlement is set to lower swipe fees merchants pay when customers make purchases using their Visa or Mastercard by $30 billion over five years, according to a press release announcing the settlement Tuesday morning.
    
            The settlement, which only applies to US merchants, is the result of a lawsuit filed in 2005. However, nothing is considered finalized until it receives approval from the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Even then, the case can also be appealed in what could be a lengthy battle.
    
            Typically, swipe fees cost merchants 2% of the total transaction a customer makes — but can be as much as 4% for some premium rewards cards, according to the National Retail Federation. The settlement would lower those fees by at least 0.04 percentage point for a minimum of three years.
    
            Additionally, the settlement would require Visa and Mastercard to maintain the swipe fee rates that existed as of December 31, 2023 for five years.
    
            NRF, a trade group representing retailers, told CNN it has “some very real concerns” with the settlement.
    
            The reduced swipe fees that could come from the settlement aren’t much of a game-changer for merchants, NRF’s chief administrative officer and general counsel, Stephanie Martz, said in a statement to CNN. The saving would amount “to pennies on the dollar,” Martz added.
    
            “The fact remains that these fees are an unfair business practice that harms merchants and consumers and benefits banks,” she added.
    
            Although merchants have long argued that swipe fees force them to charge higher prices, the settlement would not necessarily save consumers any money.
    
            That’s because the settlement gives merchants the ability to impose surcharges on customers, depending on what kind of Visa or Mastercard card they use. Those surcharges would likely hit cardholders who get rewards such as cash back and airline miles, since those can carry higher swipe fees.
    
            On the other hand, some cardholders could get discounts on goods and services, since merchants would be able to make deals with banks to get them to use what they consider to be a preferred card.
    
            Currently, merchants who accept Visa or Mastercard have to accept all forms of the companies’ cards. 
    
            The rewards that Visa cardholders currently receive won’t be impacted, Kim Lawrence, Visa’s North America president, said in a statement Tuesday morning. Additionally, Americans’ access to credit won’t be more restricted as a result of the settlement, she said.
    
            Seth Eisen, a spokesman for Mastercard, told CNN that rewards and credit access also would not be impacted by the settlement.
    
            However, Jaret Seiberg, a TD Cowen analyst, said in a Tuesday note that the settlement “will represent a threat to credit card rewards and small banks.” That’s because he believes merchants will “steer customers to preferred credit cards.”
    
            Small banks and credit unions are likely to fight the settlement since it could put them at a major disadvantage to larger banks that have an easier time making deals with some of the nation’s largest retailers, like Walmart, Seiberg added.
    
            Separate from the settlement, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate are pushing for a set of new laws aimed at curbing Visa’s and Mastercard’s dominance.
    
            If the proposal passes, the largest credit card issuers, which includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank, would have to work with two credit card processors instead of one. And the two processors they work with can’t be both Visa and Mastercard.
    
            NRF and other trade organizations representing merchants continue to support these laws even if the settlement is finalized.
    
            But Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, applauded the settlement, saying it’s “welcome news.”
    
            “Legislation isn’t always as practical as commercial or private sector solutions,” he said in a post on X Tuesday morning.
    
            Tuesday’s news comes just one month after Discover (DFS) and Capital One (COF) announced a merger that — if approved by financial regulators and shareholders — would create the nation’s largest credit card company. Seiberg said the settlement could hurt the chances of the merger getting approved. 
    
            Capital One, which currently issues cards with Visa and Mastercard, would likely try to grow its credit card customer base even more now by locking in more deals with merchants, he said.
    
            Shares of Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) moved slightly higher after the deal was announced.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['Two of the world’s largest credit card networks, Visa and Mastercard, as well as the banks that issue cards with them, have agreed to settle a decadeslong antitrust case brought upon by merchants.', 'The settlement is set to lower swipe fees merchants pay when customers make purchases using their Visa or Mastercard by $30 billion over five years, according to a press release announcing the settlement Tuesday morning.', 'The settlement, which only applies to US merchants, is the result of a lawsuit filed in 2005.', 'However, nothing is considered finalized until it receives approval from the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.', 'Even then, the case can also be appealed in what could be a lengthy battle.', 'Typically, swipe fees cost merchants 2% of the total transaction a customer makes — but can be as much as 4% for some premium rewards cards, according to the National Retail Federation.', 'The settlement would lower those fees by at least 0.04 percentage point for a minimum of three years.', 'Additionally, the settlement would require Visa and Mastercard to maintain the swipe fee rates that existed as of December 31, 2023 for five years.', 'NRF, a trade group representing retailers, told CNN it has “some very real concerns” with the settlement.', 'The reduced swipe fees that could come from the settlement aren’t much of a game-changer for merchants, NRF’s chief administrative officer and general counsel, Stephanie Martz, said in a statement to CNN.', 'The saving would amount “to pennies on the dollar,” Martz added.', '“The fact remains that these fees are an unfair business practice that harms merchants and consumers and benefits banks,” she added.', 'Although merchants have long argued that swipe fees force them to charge higher prices, the settlement would not necessarily save consumers any money.', 'That’s because the settlement gives merchants the ability to impose surcharges on customers, depending on what kind of Visa or Mastercard card they use.', 'Those surcharges would likely hit cardholders who get rewards such as cash back and airline miles, since those can carry higher swipe fees.', 'On the other hand, some cardholders could get discounts on goods and services, since merchants would be able to make deals with banks to get them to use what they consider to be a preferred card.', 'Currently, merchants who accept Visa or Mastercard have to accept all forms of the companies’ cards.', 'The rewards that Visa cardholders currently receive won’t be impacted, Kim Lawrence, Visa’s North America president, said in a statement Tuesday morning.', 'Additionally, Americans’ access to credit won’t be more restricted as a result of the settlement, she said.', 'Seth Eisen, a spokesman for Mastercard, told CNN that rewards and credit access also would not be impacted by the settlement.', 'However, Jaret Seiberg, a TD Cowen analyst, said in a Tuesday note that the settlement “will represent a threat to credit card rewards and small banks.”', 'That’s because he believes merchants will “steer customers to preferred credit cards.”', 'Small banks and credit unions are likely to fight the settlement since it could put them at a major disadvantage to larger banks that have an easier time making deals with some of the nation’s largest retailers, like Walmart, Seiberg added.', 'Separate from the settlement, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate are pushing for a set of new laws aimed at curbing Visa’s and Mastercard’s dominance.', 'If the proposal passes, the largest credit card issuers, which includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank, would have to work with two credit card processors instead of one.', 'And the two processors they work with can’t be both Visa and Mastercard.', 'NRF and other trade organizations representing merchants continue to support these laws even if the settlement is finalized.', 'But Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, applauded the settlement, saying it’s “welcome news.”', '“Legislation isn’t always as practical as commercial or private sector solutions,” he said in a post on X Tuesday morning.', 'Tuesday’s news comes just one month after Discover (DFS) and Capital One (COF) announced a merger that — if approved by financial regulators and shareholders — would create the nation’s largest credit card company.', 'Seiberg said the settlement could hurt the chances of the merger getting approved.', 'Capital One, which currently issues cards with Visa and Mastercard, would likely try to grow its credit card customer base even more now by locking in more deals with merchants, he said.', 'Shares of Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) moved slightly higher after the deal was announced.']",0.2203719382766506,"But Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, applauded the settlement, saying it’s “welcome news.”","Although merchants have long argued that swipe fees force them to charge higher prices, the settlement would not necessarily save consumers any money.",0.2982347958228167,"Capital One, which currently issues cards with Visa and Mastercard, would likely try to grow its credit card customer base even more now by locking in more deals with merchants, he said.","Small banks and credit unions are likely to fight the settlement since it could put them at a major disadvantage to larger banks that have an easier time making deals with some of the nation’s largest retailers, like Walmart, Seiberg added.",2024-03-26
Trader Joe’s just increased the price of a banana for the first time in more than 20 years,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/trader-joes-banana-price-increase/index.html,"
  Published
        4:11 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Food prices have gone a bit bananas — and that includes a famously priced 19-cent fruit at Trader Joe’s.
    
            The snack-heavy grocer told CNN on Monday that it recently increased the price of the banana to 23 cents, a more than 20% increase.
    
            “We only change our prices when our costs change, and after holding our price for Bananas at 19¢ each for more than two decades, we’ve now reached a point where this change is necessary,” a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said to CNN.
    
            Stores have carved out loyal fanbases and distinguished themselves from competition by sticking to low-cost deals that become synonymous to the brand (think Costco’s $1.50 hot dog). Though overall food inflation hasn’t been rising as fast as it has been, Americans are still seeing the effects in the grocery store.
    
            The 19-cent banana is a well-known deal at Trader Joe’s — so much so that it’s ranked as the favorite piece of produce by the company’s customers.
    
            Bananas have managed to remain affordable for most Americans. Demand in recent years for bananas in the US has been driven primarily by the fruit’s affordability, according to a 2023 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The report also noted that prices at the retail level remained mostly unchanged in 2023. That’s because of fierce grocery store competition and bananas’ role as a loss leader, or an item that is purposefully priced lower to attract customers and encourage them to buy more expensive products.
    
            The average price of bananas in the US has remained steady from February 2023 to February 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at 62 to 64 cents a pound throughout the year.
    
            However, CBS News reported that experts from the World Banana Forum in March warned that climate change and rising temperatures can drive up banana prices.
    
            Trader Joe’s noted it has been able to lower prices for some of its other produce, such as raw almonds, romaine hearts, organic tri-color bell peppers, and green onions.
    
            In the first episode of the “Inside Trader Joe’s” podcast, former CEO Dan Bane said when the stores used to sell them by the pound, he asked an older customer why she didn’t take a bag of bananas after browsing through them.
    
            “She says to me, ‘Sonny… I may not live to that fourth banana.’ And so we decided the next day we were going to sell individual bananas. And they’ve been 19 cents ever since,” Bane said.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Food prices have gone a bit bananas — and that includes a famously priced 19-cent fruit at Trader Joe’s.', 'The snack-heavy grocer told CNN on Monday that it recently increased the price of the banana to 23 cents, a more than 20% increase.', '“We only change our prices when our costs change, and after holding our price for Bananas at 19¢ each for more than two decades, we’ve now reached a point where this change is necessary,” a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said to CNN.', 'Stores have carved out loyal fanbases and distinguished themselves from competition by sticking to low-cost deals that become synonymous to the brand (think Costco’s $1.50 hot dog).', 'Though overall food inflation hasn’t been rising as fast as it has been, Americans are still seeing the effects in the grocery store.', 'The 19-cent banana is a well-known deal at Trader Joe’s — so much so that it’s ranked as the favorite piece of produce by the company’s customers.', 'Bananas have managed to remain affordable for most Americans.', 'Demand in recent years for bananas in the US has been driven primarily by the fruit’s affordability, according to a 2023 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.', 'The report also noted that prices at the retail level remained mostly unchanged in 2023.', 'That’s because of fierce grocery store competition and bananas’ role as a loss leader, or an item that is purposefully priced lower to attract customers and encourage them to buy more expensive products.', 'The average price of bananas in the US has remained steady from February 2023 to February 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at 62 to 64 cents a pound throughout the year.', 'However, CBS News reported that experts from the World Banana Forum in March warned that climate change and rising temperatures can drive up banana prices.', 'Trader Joe’s noted it has been able to lower prices for some of its other produce, such as raw almonds, romaine hearts, organic tri-color bell peppers, and green onions.', 'In the first episode of the “Inside Trader Joe’s” podcast, former CEO Dan Bane said when the stores used to sell them by the pound, he asked an older customer why she didn’t take a bag of bananas after browsing through them.', '“She says to me, ‘Sonny… I may not live to that fourth banana.’', 'And so we decided the next day we were going to sell individual bananas.', 'And they’ve been 19 cents ever since,” Bane said.']",0.0924481704671553,The 19-cent banana is a well-known deal at Trader Joe’s — so much so that it’s ranked as the favorite piece of produce by the company’s customers.,"Trader Joe’s noted it has been able to lower prices for some of its other produce, such as raw almonds, romaine hearts, organic tri-color bell peppers, and green onions.",0.4031878818165172,"Trader Joe’s noted it has been able to lower prices for some of its other produce, such as raw almonds, romaine hearts, organic tri-color bell peppers, and green onions.","However, CBS News reported that experts from the World Banana Forum in March warned that climate change and rising temperatures can drive up banana prices.",2024-03-26
"Self-proclaimed bitcoin inventor is not ‘Satoshi Nakamoto,’ UK judge rules",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/14/tech/uk-bitcoin-not-satoshi-nakamoto-hnk-intl/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:34 AM EDT, Fri March 15, 2024
    ","London — An Australian computer scientist who claims he invented bitcoin is not “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonymous inventor of the cryptocurrency, a judge at London’s High Court ruled on Thursday.
    
            Craig Wright has long claimed to have been the author of a 2008 white paper, the foundational text of bitcoin, published under the pseudonym.
    
            The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) took Wright to court to stop him suing bitcoin developers, asking for a ruling that Wright was not Satoshi.
    
            Judge James Mellor said at the end of closing arguments on Thursday that the evidence Wright was not Satoshi was “overwhelming.”
    
            “Dr Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper,” Mellor said. “Dr Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011.”
    
            COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block (SQ), said the ruling was “a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth.”
    
            “For over eight years, Dr Wright and his financial backers have lied about his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto and used that lie to bully and intimidate developers in the bitcoin community,” a COPA spokesperson said in a statement.
    
            “That ends today with the court’s ruling that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto.”
    
            A spokesperson for Wright said he was “not prepared to speak to anyone at this time.”
    
            COPA had accused Wright of repeatedly forging documents to substantiate his claim, including during the trial itself, which Wright denied when he gave evidence.
    
            Its lawyer, Jonathan Hough, said at the start of the trial in February that Wright’s claim was “a brazen lie, an elaborate false narrative supported by forgery on an industrial scale.”
    
            Hough said that “there are elements of Dr Wright’s conduct that stray into farce,” citing his alleged use of ChatGPT to produce forgeries.
    
            But he added: “Dr Wright’s conduct is also deadly serious. On the basis of his dishonest claim to be Satoshi, he has pursued claims he puts at hundreds of billions of dollars, including against numerous private individuals.”
    
            Wright’s lawyers, however, argued in court filings that he had produced “clear evidence demonstrating his authorship of the white paper and creation of bitcoin.”
    
            In their closing arguments, COPA’s lawyers asked Mellor to refer the case to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service “for consideration of prosecution for the offenses of perjury and perverting the course of justice.”
    
            Mellor did not indicate whether or not he would do so.",CNN,15/03/2024,"['London — An Australian computer scientist who claims he invented bitcoin is not “SatoshiNakamoto,” the pseudonymous inventor of the cryptocurrency, a judge at London’s High Court ruled on Thursday.', 'Craig Wright has long claimed to have been the author of a 2008 white paper, the foundational text of bitcoin, published under the pseudonym.', 'The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA)took Wright to courtto stop him suing bitcoin developers, asking for a ruling that Wright was notSatoshi.', 'Judge James Mellor said at the end of closing arguments on Thursday that the evidence Wright was notSatoshiwas “overwhelming.”', '“Dr Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper,” Mellor said. “', 'Dr Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonymSatoshiNakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011.”', 'COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block(SQ), said the ruling was “a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth.”', '“For over eight years, Dr Wright and his financial backers have lied about his identity asSatoshiNakamoto and used that lie to bully and intimidate developers in the bitcoin community,” a COPA spokesperson said in a statement.', '“That ends today with the court’s ruling that Craig Wright is notSatoshiNakamoto.”', 'A spokesperson for Wright said he was “not prepared to speak to anyone at this time.”', 'COPA had accused Wright of repeatedly forging documents to substantiate his claim, including during the trial itself, which Wright denied whenhe gave evidence.', 'Its lawyer, Jonathan Hough, said at the start of the trial in February that Wright’s claim was “a brazen lie, an elaborate false narrative supported by forgery on an industrial scale.”', 'Hough said that “there are elements of Dr Wright’s conduct that stray into farce,” citing his alleged use of ChatGPT to produce forgeries.', 'But he added: “Dr Wright’s conduct is also deadly serious.', 'On the basis of his dishonest claim to beSatoshi, he has pursued claims he puts at hundreds of billions of dollars, including against numerous private individuals.”', 'Wright’s lawyers, however, argued in court filings that he had produced “clear evidence demonstrating his authorship of the white paper and creation of bitcoin.”', 'In their closing arguments, COPA’s lawyers asked Mellor to refer the case to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service “for consideration of prosecution for the offenses of perjury and perverting the course of justice.”', 'Mellor did not indicate whether or not he would do so.']",-0.1734526306101531,"COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block(SQ), said the ruling was “a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth.”","In their closing arguments, COPA’s lawyers asked Mellor to refer the case to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service “for consideration of prosecution for the offenses of perjury and perverting the course of justice.”",-0.2548577586809794,"COPA, whose members include Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block(SQ), said the ruling was “a win for developers, for the entire open source community and for the truth.”",Judge James Mellor said at the end of closing arguments on Thursday that the evidence Wright was notSatoshiwas “overwhelming.”,2024-03-26
Florida governor signs law restricting social media access for children,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/tech/florida-social-media-law-age/index.html,"
  Published
        1:53 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law banning children under age 14 from having their own social media accounts on Monday, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
    
            Fourteen and 15-year-olds will be allowed to have accounts with parental consent.
    
            In addition to restricting social media accounts for children, the legislation also places restrictions on pornographic websites.
    
            The bill, known as HB 3, requires age verification for those who visit sexually explicit websites. HB 3 goes into effect on January 1, 2025.
    
            The legislation makes Florida the latest in a string of states to pass laws that restrict young Americans from accessing social media, and is likely to invite legal challenges similar to those already filed in other parts of the country.
    
            States including Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Ohio and Utah have pushed similar bills to regulate tech platforms. In February, a federal judge temporarily blocked Ohio’s law over concerns about its breadth and the likelihood that it could infringe on teens’ First Amendment rights to access information online. And last year, another federal judge temporarily blocked Arkansas’ law.
    
            DeSantis vetoed a prior version of the Florida law after saying he wanted to ensure that any legislation provides parents with enough of an opportunity to be involved in decisions about their kids’ social media use.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law banning children under age 14 from having their own social media accounts on Monday, according to anews releasefrom the governor’s office.', 'Fourteen and 15-year-olds will be allowed to have accounts with parental consent.', 'In addition to restricting social media accounts for children, the legislation also places restrictions on pornographic websites.', 'The bill, known as HB 3, requires age verification for those who visit sexually explicit websites.', 'HB 3 goes into effect on January 1, 2025.', 'The legislation makes Florida the latest in a string of states to pass laws that restrict young Americans from accessing social media, and is likely to invite legal challenges similar to those already filed in other parts of the country.', 'States including Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Ohio and Utah have pushed similar bills to regulate tech platforms.', 'In February, a federal judge temporarily blocked Ohio’s law over concerns about its breadth and the likelihood that it could infringe on teens’ First Amendment rights to access information online.', 'And last year, another federal judge temporarily blocked Arkansas’ law.', 'DeSantis vetoed a prior version of the Florida law after saying he wanted to ensure that any legislation provides parents with enough of an opportunity to be involved in decisions about their kids’ social media use.']",-0.0093740099301647,DeSantis vetoed a prior version of the Florida law after saying he wanted to ensure that any legislation provides parents with enough of an opportunity to be involved in decisions about their kids’ social media use.,"In addition to restricting social media accounts for children, the legislation also places restrictions on pornographic websites.",-0.9662858247756958,,"And last year, another federal judge temporarily blocked Arkansas’ law.",2024-03-26
"US home sales surged last month, despite highest February prices on record",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/economy/existing-home-sales-february/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:13 PM EDT, Thu March 21, 2024
    ","Sales of previously owned homes in the US unexpectedly soared in February to the highest level in a year, in a sign that buyers are returning to the market.
    
            Meanwhile, mortgage rates edged higher this week, according to a separate report released Thursday from Freddie Mac.
    
            Existing home sales — which make up most of the housing market and include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — rose 9.5% in February from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.38 million units, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. That was the second straight month of rising sales and the largest monthly increase since February 2023, according to a release.
    
            Home sales have rebounded since dropping to the lowest levels in decades last fall as mortgage rates shot up.
    
            Meanwhile, the median national price of an existing home rose 5.7% in February from a year earlier, to $384,500, a bigger annual rise than in the prior month. It was the highest median home price for any February on record.
    
            “Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a release. “Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.”
    
            A major driver for last month’s jump in sales was a sharp increase in the number of homes that came to market.
    
            Total housing inventory rose 5.9% in February from the prior month, to 1.07 million units. From a year ago, inventory was up 10.3% last month, giving buyers more choice and easing the pressure of a historically tight market.
    
            A rebound in inventory has long been overdue, Yun said in a conference call with reporters, as some Americans finally begin to give up their coveted low mortgage rates.
    
            “What happened in the past two years when we had a historically low inventory level is that many people who would have moved in normal circumstances just delayed,” Yun said. “They said ‘I have my 3% mortgage rate, I don’t want to give it up,’ so many people simply delayed. But they can no longer delay.”
    
            Homeowners who want or need to move for various reasons such as a marriage, divorce or new children are contending with the reality that mortgage rates are not likely to fall to the ultra-low levels that existed before the Federal Reserve began to raise interest rates in 2022, Yun said.
    
            The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87% in the week ending March 21, according to Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates ticked back up to levels seen a few weeks ago, after tumbling in the beginning of the month.
    
            Mortgage rates track the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, which slipped Wednesday after Federal Reserve officials reflected in their latest economic projections that they still expect three rates cuts this year. The Fed doesn’t directly set mortgage rates, but its action do influence them.
    
            “Despite elevated rates, homebuilders are displaying renewed confidence in the housing market, focusing on the fact that there is a good amount of pent-up demand, an ongoing supply shortage and expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates later in the year,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a release.
    
            Rates are down from 7.79% in late October, the highest in two decades, but above anything seen from 2008 to 2022.
    
            Economists don’t expect mortgage rates to fall below 6% this year.",CNN,21/03/2024,"['Sales of previously owned homes in the US unexpectedly soared in February to the highest level in a year, in a sign that buyers are returning to the market.', 'Meanwhile, mortgage rates edged higher this week, according to a separate report released Thursday from Freddie Mac.', 'Existing home sales — which make up most of the housing market and include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — rose 9.5% in February from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.38 million units, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.', 'That was the second straight month of rising sales and the largest monthly increase since February 2023, according to a release.', 'Home sales have rebounded since dropping to the lowest levels in decades last fall as mortgage rates shot up.', 'Meanwhile, the median national price of an existing home rose 5.7% in February from a year earlier, to $384,500, a bigger annual rise than in the prior month.', 'It was the highest median home price for any February on record.', '“Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a release. “', 'Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.”', 'A major driver for last month’s jump in sales was a sharp increase in the number of homes that came to market.', 'Total housing inventory rose 5.9% in February from the prior month, to 1.07 million units.', 'From a year ago, inventory was up 10.3% last month, giving buyers more choice and easing the pressure of a historically tight market.', 'A rebound in inventory has long been overdue, Yun said in a conference call with reporters, as some Americans finally begin to give up their coveted low mortgage rates.', '“What happened in the past two years when we had a historically low inventory level is that many people who would have moved in normal circumstances just delayed,” Yun said. “', 'They said ‘I have my 3% mortgage rate, I don’t want to give it up,’ so many people simply delayed.', 'But they can no longer delay.”', 'Homeowners who want or need to move for various reasons such as a marriage, divorce or new children are contending with the reality that mortgage rates are not likely to fall to the ultra-low levels that existed before the Federal Reserve began to raise interest rates in 2022, Yun said.', 'The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87% in the week ending March 21, according to Freddie Mac.', 'Mortgage rates ticked back up to levels seen a few weeks ago, after tumbling in the beginning of the month.', 'Mortgage rates track the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, which slipped Wednesday after Federal Reserve officials reflected in their latest economic projections that they still expect three rates cuts this year.', 'The Fed doesn’t directly set mortgage rates, but its action do influence them.', '“Despite elevated rates, homebuilders are displaying renewed confidence in the housing market, focusing on the fact that there is a good amount of pent-up demand, an ongoing supply shortage and expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates later in the year,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a release.', 'Rates are down from 7.79% in late October, the highest in two decades, but above anything seen from 2008 to 2022.', 'Economists don’t expect mortgage rates to fall below 6% this year.']",0.0222700935869274,"“Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a release. “",But they can no longer delay.”,0.4413081577845982,"Total housing inventory rose 5.9% in February from the prior month, to 1.07 million units.","Rates are down from 7.79% in late October, the highest in two decades, but above anything seen from 2008 to 2022.",2024-03-26
Is America at risk of a bond market meltdown? This watchdog thinks so,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/business/us-debt-cbo-warning/index.html,"
  Published
        8:37 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","The United States risks a bond market crisis of the kind that engulfed the United Kingdom 18 months ago, sending yields soaring and sparking a run on the pound, according to Congress’s independent fiscal watchdog.
    
            The stark warning from the Congressional Budget Office comes as US government debt continues to break records, fuelling concerns about the burden that places on the economy and taking a toll on America’s credit rating.
    
            In an interview with the Financial Times, CBO director Phillip Swagel said US government debt — which the Treasury Department puts at nearly $35 trillion — is on an “unprecedented” trajectory.
    
            “The danger, of course, is what the UK faced with former Prime Minister (Liz) Truss, where policymakers tried to take an action, and then there’s a market reaction to that action,” he told the newspaper, referring to the investor backlash against plans for unfunded tax cuts that forced Truss to resign after just 45 days in office.
    
            The US was “not there yet,” Swagel said. But as higher interest rates raise the cost of paying its creditors, on track to reach $1 trillion per year in 2026, bond markets could “snap back,” Swagel added. CNN has contacted the CBO for comment.
    
            Britain’s bond market rout in September 2022 offered a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when investors reject a government’s plan to borrow more.
    
            UK government bonds, or gilts, and the pound sold off sharply, partly in response to plans by Truss to issue more debt in order to pay for tax cuts. Mortgage rates and other borrowing costs soared as investors demanded much higher premiums for owning UK debt.
    
            The Bank of England was ultimately forced to intervene, pledging to buy gilts on “whatever scale is necessary.”
    
            “Were dysfunction in this market to continue or worsen, there would be a material risk to UK financial stability,” Dave Ramsden, a senior official at the central bank, said at the time. “This would lead to … a reduction of the flow of credit to the real economy.”
    
            US government debt has soared under both Republicans and Democrats in recent years, swelled by former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts in 2017 and pandemic stimulus under President Joe Biden.
    
            Economists have been warning for years that the debt pile is reaching dangerously high levels and in August Fitch stripped the United States of its immaculate triple-A credit rating, citing “a high and growing general government debt burden.”
    
            There could be more borrowing to come if Trump is re-elected president in November. He has promised to extend his 2017 tax cuts and has also spoken about reducing the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 15%.
    
            “I will make the Trump tax cuts the largest tax cut in history,” he said last month at the Black Conservative Federation’s Honors Gala in South Carolina.
    
            In the UK, tax reductions planned by Truss amounted to the biggest cuts in 50 years and included slashing the top rate of income tax to 40% from 45%.
    
            Even in the absence of Truss-style dysfunction in the US Treasury market, the increased cost of servicing debt after a recent rapid run-up in official interest rates is siphoning ever greater amounts of money away from US public services.
    
            Interest costs on a common measure soared to $659 billion in fiscal year 2023, which ended on September 30, according to the Treasury Department. That’s up 39% from the previous year and nearly double what it was in fiscal year 2020.
    
            In fiscal year 2023, the government spent more to service its debt than it did on each of housing, transport and higher education, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-profit.
    
            According to the CBO, US government debt is set to keep rising. “Such large and growing debt would slow economic growth, push up interest payments to foreign holders of US debt, and pose significant risks to the fiscal and economic outlook,” it said in a report last week. “It could also cause lawmakers to feel more constrained in their policy choices.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['The United States risks a bond market crisis of the kind that engulfed the United Kingdom 18 months ago, sending yields soaring and sparking a run on the pound, according to Congress’s independent fiscal watchdog.', 'The stark warning from the Congressional Budget Office comes as US government debt continues to break records, fuelling concerns about the burden that places on the economy and taking a toll on America’s credit rating.', 'In an interview with the Financial Times, CBO director Phillip Swagel said US government debt — which the Treasury Department puts at nearly $35 trillion —is on an “unprecedented” trajectory.', '“The danger, of course, is what the UK faced with former Prime Minister (Liz) Truss, where policymakers tried to take an action, and then there’s a market reaction to that action,” he told the newspaper, referring to the investor backlash against plans for unfunded tax cuts that forced Truss to resign after just 45 days in office.', 'The US was “not there yet,” Swagel said.', 'But as higher interest rates raise the cost of paying its creditors, on track to reach $1 trillion per year in 2026, bond markets could “snap back,” Swagel added.', 'CNN has contacted the CBO for comment.', 'Britain’s bond market rout in September 2022 offered a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when investors reject a government’s plan to borrow more.', 'UK government bonds, or gilts, and the pound sold off sharply, partly in response to plans by Truss to issue more debt in order to pay for tax cuts.', 'Mortgage rates and other borrowing costs soared as investors demanded much higher premiums for owning UK debt.', 'The Bank of England was ultimately forced to intervene, pledging to buy gilts on “whatever scale is necessary.”', '“Were dysfunction in this market to continue or worsen, there would be a material risk to UK financial stability,” Dave Ramsden, a senior official at the central bank, said at the time. “', 'This would lead to … a reduction of the flow of credit to the real economy.”', 'US government debt has soared under both Republicans and Democrats in recent years, swelled by former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts in 2017 and pandemic stimulus under President Joe Biden.', 'Economists have been warning for years that the debt pile is reaching dangerously high levels and in August Fitch stripped the United States of its immaculate triple-A credit rating, citing “a high and growing general government debt burden.”', 'There could be more borrowing to come if Trump is re-elected president in November.', 'He has promised to extend his 2017 tax cuts and has also spoken about reducing the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 15%.', '“I will make the Trump tax cuts the largest tax cut in history,” he said last month at the Black Conservative Federation’s Honors Gala in South Carolina.', 'In the UK, tax reductions planned by Truss amounted to the biggest cuts in 50 years and included slashing the top rate of income tax to 40% from 45%.', 'Even in the absence of Truss-style dysfunction in the US Treasury market, the increased cost of servicing debt after a recent rapid run-up in official interest rates is siphoning ever greater amounts of money away from US public services.', 'Interest costs on a common measure soared to $659 billion in fiscal year 2023, which ended on September 30, according to the Treasury Department.', 'That’s up 39% from the previous year and nearly double what it was in fiscal year 2020.', 'In fiscal year 2023, the government spent more to service its debt than it did on each of housing, transport and higher education, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-profit.', 'According to the CBO, US government debt is set to keep rising. “', 'Such large and growing debt would slow economic growth, push up interest payments to foreign holders of US debt, and pose significant risks to the fiscal and economic outlook,” it said in a report last week. “', 'It could also cause lawmakers to feel more constrained in their policy choices.”']",-0.137231654068634,"But as higher interest rates raise the cost of paying its creditors, on track to reach $1 trillion per year in 2026, bond markets could “snap back,” Swagel added.","“The danger, of course, is what the UK faced with former Prime Minister (Liz) Truss, where policymakers tried to take an action, and then there’s a market reaction to that action,” he told the newspaper, referring to the investor backlash against plans for unfunded tax cuts that forced Truss to resign after just 45 days in office.",-0.4990898162126541,That’s up 39% from the previous year and nearly double what it was in fiscal year 2020.,"UK government bonds, or gilts, and the pound sold off sharply, partly in response to plans by Truss to issue more debt in order to pay for tax cuts.",2024-03-26
FCC cracks down on cable ‘junk fees’,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/14/tech/americans-high-speed-internet-access-fcc/index.html,"
  Published
        2:31 PM EDT, Thu March 14, 2024
    ","The US government is cracking down on cable TV “junk fees,” forcing providers to publish a single, comprehensive price — so consumers know up front exactly how much they’ll pay for services inclusive of all extra costs.
    
            The junk fees crackdown is part of a series of moves the Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday. During its monthly open meeting, the agency addressed other consumer issues, including finalizing a new cybersecurity product label for hack-resistant tech gadgets and releasing a report finding that 24 million Americans still lack high speed internet access.
    
            The new junk fees rule requires cable and satellite TV companies to list “all-in” prices to consumers in their billing and marketing materials — including any miscellaneous fees, such as those related to sports programming or local broadcast channels.
    
            Between 24% and 33% of the typical consumer’s bill can be attributed to fees, consumer advocates told the FCC.
    
            The new rule aims to help consumers comparison shop among different providers. The move could simplify what is currently a difficult process of comparing apples to oranges, the FCC said.
    
            “No one likes surprises on their bill,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The advertised price for service should be the price you pay when your bill arrives. It shouldn’t include a bunch of unexpected junk fees that are separate from the top line price you were told when you signed up.”
    
            In a report released Thursday alongside the agency’s 3-2 vote, the FCC cited a filing that Consumer Reports submitted to the agency, alleging that cable companies publicly advertise “relatively low base rates” to lure customers in before imposing “a dizzying array of other charges.”
    
            The cable industry has pushed back, saying “all-in” pricing is unnecessary and that the current practice of breaking out fees into separate line items is a more transparent approach that helps consumers.
    
            “Our members clearly disclose the specific amounts of the fees that will apply and the total amount customers will pay for service, thereby ensuring that customers are not ‘surprised by unexpected fees,’” said NCTA, a trade association representing some of the nation’s largest cable companies, in a filing to the FCC.
    
            In a separate move last year, the FCC proposed banning certain cable fees altogether, including early termination fees that the agency says hinder competition and prevent customers from easily switching providers. That proposal would also require companies to provide consumer refunds if a subscriber cancels their plan mid-month.
    
            In addition to cable, the FCC also addressed internet availability during its Thursday meeting. Tens of millions of Americans still don’t have access to high-speed home internet, the FCC added Thursday in a new report highlighting the digital divide.
    
            The problem affects more than 1 in 4 Americans, or 28%, who live in rural areas, the FCC said, and the same is true for 23% of people living on tribal lands. Overall, 7% of the country, or 24 million Americans, lack high-speed access.
    
            “It was four years ago this week that so many of us were told to go home,” said Rosenworcel, referring to the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020. “The pandemic exposed our digital divide in living color.”
    
            The new report is based on 2022 data and first-time insights from a massive, years-long revamp of FCC coverage maps — which officials say provide radically more accurate service estimates. Previously, entire census blocks were considered served by broadband if just one household within a census block had high-speed internet, dramatically overstating the number of connected Americans.
    
            The report also reflects newly adopted revisions in how the country defines high-speed internet, which the FCC voted to approve on Thursday.
    
            The definition of high-speed home internet has not been updated since 2015, when the FCC set the threshold at a minimum download speed of 25 megabits per second and a minimum upload speed of 3 megabits per second.
    
            Thursday’s revisions set the new standard at 100 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads, reflecting advances in technology and how faster internet speeds have become an absolute necessity for everyday life, supporting everything from telehealth visits to remote work.
    
            The definition of broadband is more than academic; it has far-reaching implications for how the country allocates billions in federal funding for infrastructure and government aid programs.
    
            The FCC moves follow Congress’ decision to spend billions of dollars in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to build out internet service to hard-to-reach and underserved areas. It also comes as more than 23 million low-income households are at risk of losing their internet service, or could face potential bill shock, due to the expiration this spring of a critical benefit program popular with both parties known as the Affordable Connectivity Program.
    
            Thursday’s FCC report sets a long-term goal to serve Americans everywhere with download speeds of at least 1,000 Mbps, also known as gigabit speeds, and download speeds of 500 Mbps or more.
    
            Republican members of the FCC criticized the report on connectivity and the vote to increase the definition of broadband, saying the moves appear intended to justify more regulation of internet service providers and taxpayer spending.
    
            A Biden administration plan to protect consumer electronics from hackers also received final approval on Thursday as the FCC voted unanimously to greenlight a product label that will soon appear on smart home devices, baby monitors and other common gadgets.
    
            The label, which resembles a shield and that officials compare to the Energy Star certification program that denotes energy-efficient products, is intended to help buyers pick out connected appliances that voluntarily meet rigorous cybersecurity standards.
    
            A wide range of products will be eligible for the label, including internet-connected refrigerators, washing machines, doorbell cameras and smart speakers — provided that they meet criteria published by the National Institute for Standards and Technology.
    
            Some of the participating electronics makers and retailers in the program include giants such as Logitech, LG, Samsung, Best Buy and Amazon.
    
            “You want to know that when you bring that monitor into your house to watch your newborn, that connection is secure and is not going to invite any malware or malicious activity into your home,” said Rosenworcel, the chairwoman. “I think parents everywhere feel that way.”
    
            US officials have said that consumers have their own role to play in protecting the nation from cyberattacks — and that is by making informed decisions about what tech products to buy.
    
            “Imagine you’re a mom, and you’re worried about someone taking pictures of your infant lying in a crib and posting them on the dark web,” US deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger said during an onstage appearance this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “Think about your home alarm system, somebody hacking into it and unlocking digital locks. Those are examples we see today.”
    
            The “US Cyber Trust Mark” label will improve the country’s baseline cybersecurity by ensuring that the most widely used tech products in America are those that have been specifically hardened against hacking, the Biden administration has said. It could also encourage competition among electronics manufacturers to offer the most secure devices on the market.
    
            Thursday’s action by the FCC establishes the Cyber Trust Mark program, plus a publicly available database that will list all the trusted products that have received the label.
    
            Neuberger has said the Biden administration is working with overseas counterparts to extend the labeling program to the European Union, and that the partnership will make US products more attractive and competitive in the EU. She has also said consumers could begin seeing the label on store shelves by the end of the year.",CNN,14/03/2024,"['The US government is cracking down on cable TV “junk fees,” forcing providers to publish a single, comprehensive price — so consumers know up front exactly how much they’ll pay for services inclusive of all extra costs.', 'The junk fees crackdown is part of a series of moves the Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday.', 'During its monthly open meeting, the agency addressed other consumer issues, including finalizing a new cybersecurity product label for hack-resistant tech gadgets and releasing a report finding that 24 million Americans still lack high speed internet access.', 'The new junk fees rule requires cable and satellite TV companies to list “all-in” prices to consumers in their billing and marketing materials — including any miscellaneous fees, such as those related to sports programming or local broadcast channels.', 'Between 24% and 33% of the typical consumer’s bill can be attributed to fees, consumer advocates told the FCC.', 'The new rule aims to help consumers comparison shop among different providers.', 'The move could simplify what is currently a difficult process of comparing apples to oranges, the FCC said.', '“No one likes surprises on their bill,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “', 'The advertised price for service should be the price you pay when your bill arrives.', 'It shouldn’t include a bunch of unexpected junk fees that are separate from the top line price you were told when you signed up.”', 'In a report released Thursday alongside the agency’s 3-2 vote, the FCC cited a filing that Consumer Reports submitted to the agency, alleging that cable companies publicly advertise “relatively low base rates” to lure customers in before imposing “a dizzying array of other charges.”', 'The cable industry has pushed back, saying “all-in” pricing is unnecessary and that the current practice of breaking out fees into separate line items is a more transparent approach that helps consumers.', '“Our members clearly disclose the specific amounts of the fees that will apply and the total amount customers will pay for service, thereby ensuring that customers are not ‘surprised by unexpected fees,’” said NCTA, a trade association representing some of the nation’s largest cable companies, in a filing to the FCC.', 'In a separate move last year, the FCC proposed banning certain cable fees altogether, including early termination fees that the agency says hinder competition and prevent customers from easily switching providers.', 'That proposal would also require companies to provide consumer refunds if a subscriber cancels their plan mid-month.', 'In addition to cable, the FCC also addressed internet availability during its Thursday meeting.', 'Tens of millions of Americans still don’t have access to high-speed home internet, the FCC added Thursday in a new report highlighting thedigital divide.', 'The problem affects more than 1 in 4 Americans, or 28%, who live in rural areas, the FCC said, and the same is true for 23% of people living on tribal lands.', 'Overall, 7% of the country, or 24 million Americans, lack high-speed access.', '“It was four years ago this week that so many of us were told to go home,” said Rosenworcel, referring to the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020. “', 'The pandemic exposed our digital divide in living color.”', 'The new report is based on 2022 data and first-time insights from a massive, years-long revamp of FCC coverage maps — which officials say provide radically more accurate service estimates.', 'Previously, entire census blocks were considered served by broadband if just one household within a census block had high-speed internet, dramatically overstating the number of connected Americans.', 'The report also reflects newly adopted revisions in how the country defines high-speed internet, which the FCC voted to approve on Thursday.', 'The definition of high-speed home internet has not been updated since 2015, when the FCC set the threshold at a minimum download speed of 25 megabits per second and a minimum upload speed of 3 megabits per second.', 'Thursday’s revisions set the new standard at 100 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads, reflecting advances in technology and how faster internet speeds have become an absolute necessity for everyday life, supporting everything from telehealth visits to remote work.', 'The definition of broadband is more than academic; it has far-reaching implications for how the country allocates billions in federal funding for infrastructure and government aid programs.', 'The FCC moves follow Congress’ decision to spend billions of dollars in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to build out internet service to hard-to-reach and underserved areas.', 'It also comes as more than 23 million low-income households are at risk of losing their internet service, or could face potential bill shock, due to the expiration this spring of a critical benefit program popular with both parties known as the Affordable Connectivity Program.', 'Thursday’s FCC report sets a long-term goal to serve Americans everywhere with download speeds of at least 1,000 Mbps, also known asgigabit speeds, and download speeds of 500 Mbps or more.', 'Republican members of the FCC criticized the report on connectivity and the vote to increase the definition of broadband, saying the moves appearintended to justify more regulation of internet service providers and taxpayer spending.', 'A Biden administration plan to protect consumer electronics from hackers also received final approval on Thursday as the FCC voted unanimously to greenlight a product label that will soon appear on smart home devices, baby monitors and other common gadgets.', 'The label, which resembles a shield and that officials compare to the Energy Star certification program that denotes energy-efficient products, is intended to help buyers pick out connected appliances that voluntarily meet rigorous cybersecurity standards.', 'A wide range of products will be eligible for the label, including internet-connected refrigerators, washing machines, doorbell cameras and smart speakers — provided that they meet criteria published by the National Institute for Standards and Technology.', 'Some of the participating electronics makers and retailers in the program include giants such as Logitech, LG, Samsung, Best Buy and Amazon.', '“You want to know that when you bring that monitor into your house to watch your newborn, that connection is secure and is not going to invite any malware or malicious activity into your home,” said Rosenworcel, the chairwoman. “', 'I think parents everywhere feel that way.”', 'US officials have said that consumers have their own role to play in protecting the nation from cyberattacks — and that is by making informed decisions about what tech products to buy.', '“Imagine you’re a mom, and you’re worried about someone taking pictures of your infant lying in a crib and posting them on the dark web,” US deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger said during an onstage appearance this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “', 'Think about your home alarm system, somebody hacking into it and unlocking digital locks.', 'Those are examples we see today.”', 'The “US Cyber Trust Mark” label will improve the country’s baseline cybersecurity by ensuring that the most widely used tech products in America are those that have been specifically hardened against hacking, the Biden administration has said.', 'It could also encourage competition among electronics manufacturers to offer the most secure devices on the market.', 'Thursday’s action by the FCC establishes the Cyber Trust Mark program, plus a publicly available database that will list all the trusted products that have received the label.', 'Neuberger has said the Biden administration is working with overseas counterparts to extend the labeling program to the European Union, and that the partnership will make US products more attractive and competitive in the EU.', 'She has also said consumers could begin seeing the label on store shelves by the end of the year.']",0.1237294487049655,"A Biden administration plan to protect consumer electronics from hackers also received final approval on Thursday as the FCC voted unanimously to greenlight a product label that will soon appear on smart home devices, baby monitors and other common gadgets.","In a report released Thursday alongside the agency’s 3-2 vote, the FCC cited a filing that Consumer Reports submitted to the agency, alleging that cable companies publicly advertise “relatively low base rates” to lure customers in before imposing “a dizzying array of other charges.”",0.2868253805420615,"Neuberger has said the Biden administration is working with overseas counterparts to extend the labeling program to the European Union, and that the partnership will make US products more attractive and competitive in the EU.","It also comes as more than 23 million low-income households are at risk of losing their internet service, or could face potential bill shock, due to the expiration this spring of a critical benefit program popular with both parties known as the Affordable Connectivity Program.",2024-03-26
FBI tells Alaska Airlines passengers they may be ‘victim of a crime’,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/business/alaska-airlines-fbi-passengers-crime-victims/index.html,"
  Updated
        7:35 AM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","Passengers on board the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 that suffered a terrifying midair blowout in January have received a letter from the FBI saying they may be victims “of a crime.”
    
            Attorney Mark Lindquist, who represents multiple passengers that were on Alaska Airlines flight 1282, shared with CNN the letter that the FBI office in Seattle sent to passengers on Tuesday.
    
            “I’m contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime,” the letter reads in part. It also notes that the FBI is currently investigating the case.
    
            “My clients and I welcome the DOJ investigation,” Lindquist told CNN, “We want accountability. We want answers. We want safer Boeing planes. And a DOJ investigation helps advance our goals.”
    
            Attorney Robert Clifford, who represents many family members of the 2019 crash victims of a Boeing 737 Max jet flown by Ethiopian Air as well as some of the recent Alaska Air passengers, said some of his clients on Alaska Air also got the letter notifying them that they could be crime victims.
    
            “I’m certain everyone on the plane will be getting this letter,” he told CNN. “The families of the Ethiopian Air victims should have also been considered crime victims.”
    
            In addition to the letters that went out to passengers, flight attendants aboard Alaska Air Flight 1282 have been interviewed by investigators from the Justice Department, according to people familiar with the situation.
    
            The letters were first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month.
    
            “The FBI does not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation,” FBI Seattle’s Public Affairs Office wrote in an email to CNN, citing Department of Justice policy.
    
            But Justice opened a probe into the incident and Boeing in February, CNN has previously reported. That investigation carries the potential to upend a controversial deferred prosecution agreement that Boeing reached with the Justice Department in the final month of the Trump administration.
    
            Tha settlement, which was criticized by families of crash victims and members of Congress, was over charges that Boeing defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration during the original certification process for the 737 Max jets. Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion as part of that settlement, but most of that was money Boeing had already agreed to pay to the airlines that had purchased the Max jets grounded for 20 months following the Ethiopian Air crash and an earlier crash in Indonesia.
    
            The deferred prosecution agreement could have ended the threat of Boeing facing criminal liability for those earlier fraud charges. But the Alaska Air incident came just days before a three-year probation-like period was due to end, so the criminal probe could expose Boeing to charges not just for the Alaska Air incident but also the earlier allegations of criminal wrongdoing.
    
            Boeing declined to comment.
    
            On January 5, 171 passengers and six crew members boarded the flight in Portland, Oregon, bound for Ontario, California. Abruptly after take off, a panel of the fuselage called the “door plug” blew off, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing.
    
            A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the jet, which was delivered to Alaska by Boeing in October, had left Boeing’s factory without the four bolts needed to keep the door plug in place.
    
            While the NTSB has yet to assess blame for the missing bolts, it has criticized Boeing for not having the documentation available showing who worked on the door plug when the plane was at Boeing’s factory.
    
            The FAA has also found multiple problems with production practices of both Boeing and its major supplier Spirit AeroSystems following a six-week audit of Boeing triggered by the January 5 door plug blowout.
    
            Subpoenas from the Justice Department were also recently sent seeking documents and information that may be related to Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems and mentions the “door plug” that is used in the Boeing 737 Max 9s, according to a report from Bloomberg.
    
            Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told investors last month that “We caused the problem, and we understand that. Whatever conclusions are reached, Boeing is accountable for what happened.”
    
            The development comes the same week Boeing said it will report massive losses in the first quarter stemming from the Alaska Airlines incident.
    
            The losses will be in part because of compensation to airlines that owned the Max 9, which was grounded for three weeks after the incident. Alaska Air CEO Ben Minicucci told investors last month that the incident cost his airline about $150 million, and that it expected to be compensated for those losses by Boeing.
    
            The other contributors to losses will be “all the things we’re doing around the factory,” Chief Financial Officer Brian West said on Wednesday, leading to slower production at its 737 Max plant in Renton Washington.",CNN,22/03/2024,"['Passengers on board the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 that suffered a terrifying midair blowout in January have received a letter from the FBI saying they may be victims “of a crime.”', 'Attorney Mark Lindquist, who represents multiple passengers that were on Alaska Airlines flight 1282, shared with CNN the letter that the FBI office in Seattle sent to passengers on Tuesday.', '“I’m contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime,” the letter reads in part.', 'It also notes that the FBI is currently investigating the case.', '“My clients and I welcome the DOJ investigation,” Lindquist told CNN, “We want accountability.', 'We want answers.', 'We want safer Boeing planes.', 'And a DOJ investigation helps advance our goals.”', 'Attorney Robert Clifford, who represents many family members of the 2019 crash victims of a Boeing 737 Max jet flown by Ethiopian Air as well as some of the recent Alaska Air passengers, said some of his clients on Alaska Air also got the letter notifying them that they could be crime victims.', '“I’m certain everyone on the plane will be getting this letter,” he told CNN. “', 'The families of the Ethiopian Air victims should have also been considered crime victims.”', 'In addition to the letters that went out to passengers, flight attendants aboard Alaska Air Flight 1282 have been interviewed by investigators from the Justice Department, according to people familiar with the situation.', 'The letters were first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month.', '“The FBI does not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation,” FBI Seattle’s Public Affairs Office wrote in an email to CNN, citing Department of Justice policy.', 'But Justice opened a probe into the incident and Boeing in February,CNN has previously reported.', 'That investigation carries the potential to upend a controversial deferred prosecution agreement that Boeing reached with the Justice Department in the final month of the Trump administration.', 'Tha settlement, which was criticized by families of crash victims and members of Congress, was over charges that Boeing defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration during the original certification process for the 737 Max jets.', 'Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion as part of that settlement, but most of that was money Boeing had already agreed to pay to the airlines that had purchased the Max jets grounded for 20 months following the Ethiopian Air crash and an earlier crash in Indonesia.', 'The deferred prosecution agreement could have ended the threat of Boeing facing criminal liability for those earlier fraud charges.', 'But the Alaska Air incident came just days before a three-year probation-like period was due to end, so the criminal probe could expose Boeing to charges not just for the Alaska Air incident but also the earlier allegations of criminal wrongdoing.', 'Boeing declined to comment.', 'On January 5, 171 passengers and six crew members boarded the flight in Portland, Oregon, bound for Ontario, California.', 'Abruptly after take off, a panel of the fuselage called the “door plug” blew off, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing.', 'A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the jet, which was delivered to Alaska by Boeing in October, had left Boeing’s factory without the four bolts needed to keep the door plug in place.', 'While the NTSB has yet to assess blame for the missing bolts, it has criticized Boeing for not having the documentation available showing who worked on the door plug when the plane was at Boeing’s factory.', 'The FAA has also found multiple problems with production practices of both Boeing and its major supplier Spirit AeroSystems following a six-week audit of Boeing triggered by the January 5 door plug blowout.', 'Subpoenas from the Justice Department were also recently sent seeking documents and information that may be related to Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems and mentions the “door plug” that is used in the Boeing 737 Max 9s, according to areport from Bloomberg.', 'Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told investors last month that “We caused the problem, and we understand that.', 'Whatever conclusions are reached, Boeing is accountable for what happened.”', 'The development comes the same week Boeing said it will report massive losses in the first quarter stemming from the Alaska Airlines incident.', 'The losses will be in part because of compensation to airlines that owned the Max 9, which wasgrounded for three weeksafter the incident.', 'Alaska Air CEO Ben Minicucci told investors last month that the incident cost hisairline about $150 million, and that it expected to be compensated for those losses by Boeing.', 'The other contributors to losses will be “all the things we’re doing around the factory,” Chief Financial Officer Brian West said on Wednesday, leading to slower production at its 737 Max plant in Renton Washington.']",-0.1279811607143364,"But Justice opened a probe into the incident and Boeing in February,CNN has previously reported.",The deferred prosecution agreement could have ended the threat of Boeing facing criminal liability for those earlier fraud charges.,-0.2882502211464776,And a DOJ investigation helps advance our goals.”,The development comes the same week Boeing said it will report massive losses in the first quarter stemming from the Alaska Airlines incident.,2024-03-26
CNBC invited Trump on its air. The network didn’t even try to stop his lies,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/12/media/cnbc-trump-interview-lies/index.html,"
  Published
        8:22 AM EDT, Tue March 12, 2024
    ","Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.
    
            Suffice to say, this was no perfect call.
    
            CNBC on Monday made the curious decision to welcome Donald Trump onto its airwaves for an extended live telephone chat, in which the business news network allowed the twice-impeached, four-time indicted, insurrection-inciting former president a safe harbor to make a number of outrageous and false comments without scrutiny.
    
            “I believe on the ‘Squawk’ news line, we are joined by former President Donald J. Trump, DJT 45. It is good to welcome you. It’s been a while, Mr. President,” Joe Kernen, co-host of “Squawk Box,” greeted Trump on the air.
    
            Almost immediately after commencing the interview, Trump launched into one of his trademark, fact-free rants. Kernen asked the Republican candidate to outline his “vision for the country” following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, to which Trump unleashed a stream of deceit-laced drivel. Most notably, he alleged Biden has weaponized the government and that the US legal system under the “very angry and confused man” is now comparable to that of “third-world countries.”
    
            Kernen let it all fly. Rather than fact-checking Trump, or at least providing context about the serious allegations he leveled to viewers, the CNBC host brushed the insidious comments aside and attempted to move the interview along. Kernen, trying to conduct a serious interview with a very unserious man, proceeded to asked Trump about his view toward entitlements.
    
            But Trump didn’t answer. Instead, he said he disagreed with the premise of the question (that “something has to be done” to rein in entitlement programs) and pivoted to other topics, infusing his rambling response with more lies. The former president, for example, claimed that when he was in office, the country was producing oil at a “much higher level oil” than now.
    
            “We were drill, baby, drill,” Trump boasted.
    
            But, as those paying attention to the issue know well, Trump’s claim was false. US gas and crude oil production has soared to a record under Biden, surpassing Trump’s term in office. In fact, coincidentally, the US Energy Information Administration put out a press release on Monday noting that in 2023, the US broke all previous records for oil production. Unfortunately, Kernen failed to challenge Trump on the matter.
    
            Instead, throughout the interview, the “Squawk” host effectively surrendered the channel’s air to Trump, allowing the dishonest GOP candidate to abuse the platform and mislead its audience of influential viewers — all by phone.
    
            To be fair to the “Squawk” crew, it was not only Kernen who had the opportunity to ask Trump questions during the Trump chat. Co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin attempted at times to press Trump on various issues, such as his reversal on whether the US should ban TikTok. While Kernen showed no interest in holding Trump accountable, Sorkin at least tried to compel Trump to include some substance in his responses, though it was largely to no avail.
    
            Watching the CNBC interview felt like being transported in time to 2015, back when news outlets allowed Trump to phone in to news shows and deliver a drive-by of lies to their audiences. Even after the interview aired, CNBC waited hours to do the bare minimum and publish digital stories fact-checking some of Trump’s claims. Instead, the outlet quickly spliced Trump’s comments into a handful of clips and posted them online, amplifying his comments further.
    
            It is hard to see how any responsible news executive would defend CNBC’s actions as beneficial, nevermind smart. Asked why the network allowed Trump to repeatedly lie on its air without scrutiny, a CNBC spokesperson told me: “We asked former President Trump questions that are important to our audience such as social security and entitlement spending, and challenged him throughout the discussion on business issues like tariffs and their impact on the nation’s relationship with China. Additionally, the CNBC digital team has followed up with reporting throughout the day pointing out areas of inaccuracies and including comments from others questioning his statements.”
    
            Regardless of how debatable that characterization is, it is remarkable that after nearly a decade of covering Trump as a politician, prominent news outlets, having witnessed the democracy-threatening effects of Trump’s lies, have reverted to lowering their guardrails, allowing him to once again poison the public discourse with false claims. It’s even more striking given the stakes.
    
            Trump has publicly confessed he would like to rule as a strongman and exact revenge on his political opponents, should he win in November. He has even explicitly threatened NBCU News Group parent Comcast over the media giant’s political coverage, calling its chairman Brian Roberts in November a “slime ball” and declaring “our so-called ‘government’ should come down hard on them.” (Trump was notably never asked about these overt threats during his Monday interview on CNBC.)
    
            Instead of recognizing the threat Trump poses and assuming a more cautious stance, NBC News Group appears to be moving in the opposite direction. MSNBC has recently started taking Trump’s public remarks live (to the vocal objection of star host Rachel Maddow) and CNBC is now welcoming Trump to its air for friendly chats.
    
            At the end of Monday’s “Squawk” interview, Trump claimed his legal problems “aren’t legal issues” but “Biden issues;” falsely claimed Biden installed Fani Willis as the Fulton County district attorney; alleged without evidence Biden has “weaponized government” to target him; raged against E. Jean Carroll and again called her accusation of sexual assault “false,” prompting her attorney to suggest maybe she will sue him again; and ominously warned about the “fragile” state of the country and how “people are rejecting” the government for supposedly targeting him.
    
             Kernen, a purported newsman, apparently didn’t find any of those issues worth confronting Trump on. Instead, he thanked Trump for appearing on the program and immediately moved to invite him on again for more interviews.
    
             “We appreciate all the time you’ve given us this morning, Mr. President,” Kernen said. “I look forward to another conversation in the not-too-distant future.”",CNN,12/03/2024,"['Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter.', 'Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.', 'Suffice to say, this was no perfect call.', 'CNBC on Monday made the curious decision to welcome Donald Trump onto its airwaves for an extended live telephone chat, in which the business news network allowed the twice-impeached, four-time indicted, insurrection-inciting former president a safe harbor to make a number of outrageous and false comments without scrutiny.', '“I believe on the ‘Squawk’ news line, we are joined by former President Donald J. Trump, DJT 45.', 'It is good to welcome you.', 'It’s been a while, Mr. President,” Joe Kernen, co-host of “Squawk Box,” greeted Trump on the air.', 'Almost immediately after commencing the interview, Trump launched into one of his trademark, fact-free rants.', 'Kernen asked the Republican candidate to outline his “vision for the country” following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, to which Trump unleashed a stream of deceit-laced drivel.', 'Most notably, he alleged Biden has weaponized the government and that the US legal system under the “very angry and confused man” is now comparable to that of “third-world countries.”', 'Kernen let it all fly.', 'Rather than fact-checking Trump, or at least providing context about the serious allegations he leveled to viewers, the CNBC host brushed the insidious comments aside and attempted to move the interview along.', 'Kernen, trying to conduct a serious interview with a very unserious man, proceeded to asked Trump about his view toward entitlements.', 'But Trump didn’t answer.', 'Instead, he said he disagreed with the premise of the question (that “something has to be done” to rein in entitlement programs) and pivoted to other topics, infusing his rambling response with more lies.', 'The former president, for example, claimed that when he was in office, the country was producing oil at a “much higher level oil” than now.', '“We were drill, baby, drill,” Trump boasted.', 'But, as those paying attention to the issue know well, Trump’s claim was false.', 'US gas and crude oil production has soared to a record under Biden, surpassing Trump’s term in office.', 'In fact, coincidentally, the US Energy Information Administration put out a press release on Monday noting that in 2023, the US broke all previous records for oil production.', 'Unfortunately, Kernen failed to challenge Trump on the matter.', 'Instead, throughout the interview, the “Squawk” host effectively surrendered the channel’s air to Trump, allowing the dishonest GOP candidate to abuse the platform and mislead its audience of influential viewers — all by phone.', 'To be fair to the “Squawk” crew, it was not only Kernen who had the opportunity to ask Trump questions during the Trump chat.', 'Co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin attempted at times to press Trump on various issues, such as his reversal on whether the US should ban TikTok.', 'While Kernen showed no interest in holding Trump accountable, Sorkin at least tried to compel Trump to include some substance in his responses, though it was largely to no avail.', 'Watching the CNBC interview felt like being transported in time to 2015, back when news outlets allowed Trump to phone in to news shows and deliver a drive-by of lies to their audiences.', 'Even after the interview aired, CNBC waited hours to do the bare minimum and publish digital stories fact-checking some of Trump’s claims.', 'Instead, the outlet quickly spliced Trump’s comments into a handful of clips and posted them online, amplifying his comments further.', 'It is hard to see how any responsible news executive would defend CNBC’s actions as beneficial, nevermind smart.', 'Asked why the network allowed Trump to repeatedly lie on its air without scrutiny, a CNBC spokesperson told me: “We asked former President Trump questions that are important to our audience such as social security and entitlement spending, and challenged him throughout the discussion on business issues like tariffs and their impact on the nation’s relationship with China.', 'Additionally, the CNBC digital team has followed up with reporting throughout the day pointing out areas of inaccuracies and including comments from others questioning his statements.”', 'Regardless of how debatable that characterization is, it is remarkable that after nearly a decade of covering Trump as a politician, prominent news outlets, having witnessed the democracy-threatening effects of Trump’s lies, have reverted to lowering their guardrails, allowing him to once again poison the public discourse with false claims.', 'It’s even more striking given the stakes.', 'Trump has publicly confessed he would like to rule as a strongman and exact revenge on his political opponents, should he win in November.', 'He has even explicitly threatened NBCU News Group parent Comcast over the media giant’s political coverage, calling its chairman Brian Roberts in November a “slime ball” and declaring “our so-called ‘government’ should come down hard on them.” (', 'Trump was notably never asked about these overt threats during his Monday interview on CNBC.)', 'Instead of recognizing the threat Trump poses and assuming a more cautious stance, NBC News Group appears to be moving in the opposite direction.', 'MSNBC has recently started taking Trump’s public remarks live (to the vocal objection of star host Rachel Maddow) and CNBC is now welcoming Trump to its air for friendly chats.', 'At the end of Monday’s “Squawk” interview, Trump claimed his legal problems “aren’t legal issues” but “Biden issues;” falsely claimed Biden installed Fani Willis as the Fulton County district attorney; alleged without evidence Biden has “weaponized government” to target him; raged against E. Jean Carroll and again called her accusation of sexual assault “false,” prompting her attorney to suggest maybe she will sue him again; and ominously warned about the “fragile” state of the country and how “people are rejecting” the government for supposedly targeting him.', 'Kernen, a purported newsman, apparently didn’t find any of those issues worth confronting Trump on.', 'Instead, he thanked Trump for appearing on the program and immediately moved to invite him on again for more interviews.', '“We appreciate all the time you’ve given us this morning, Mr. President,” Kernen said. “', 'I look forward to another conversation in the not-too-distant future.”']",-0.0138403378389578,"It is hard to see how any responsible news executive would defend CNBC’s actions as beneficial, nevermind smart.","At the end of Monday’s “Squawk” interview, Trump claimed his legal problems “aren’t legal issues” but “Biden issues;” falsely claimed Biden installed Fani Willis as the Fulton County district attorney; alleged without evidence Biden has “weaponized government” to target him; raged against E. Jean Carroll and again called her accusation of sexual assault “false,” prompting her attorney to suggest maybe she will sue him again; and ominously warned about the “fragile” state of the country and how “people are rejecting” the government for supposedly targeting him.",-0.327125350634257,"US gas and crude oil production has soared to a record under Biden, surpassing Trump’s term in office.","Instead of recognizing the threat Trump poses and assuming a more cautious stance, NBC News Group appears to be moving in the opposite direction.",2024-03-26
It’s back: Targeted Amex card holders can get up to 30% off at Amazon,https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/deals/amazon-amex-discount-promotion,"
  
        11:21 AM EST, Wed February 14, 2024
    ","Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities. While that’s true, there’s another lesser-known use for them — redeeming them for purchases at Amazon. Right now, you may be eligible for an Amazon promotion where you can save big on Amazon purchases by redeeming as little as one Amex point.
    
            Targeted American Express card members can save as much as 30% on their next Amazon purchase, for up to $30 in savings when you use Amex points to pay for at least a portion of your purchase at checkout. However, your offer may be higher or lower.
    
            This offer is set to expire on June 30, 2024, so even if you aren’t in the market to shop at Amazon right now, you have some time to take advantage of the savings. That said, Amazon also states it will deactivate the offer after 24,167 customers have redeemed it.
    
            With many Amazon discounted offers, scoring the deal can be a little complicated. But we’re going to take you through it step by step to make sure you’re getting as much of a discount as possible when you’re shopping at Amazon.
    
            To start, you must have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points. Amex cards that earn other types of rewards, such as cash back or airline miles, won’t work. But there are plenty of Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points — a small sampling of them is at the end of this story.
    
            Next, you’ll need to link your Amazon and American Express accounts. Add your American Express card as a payment method in your Amazon account, if you haven’t already. Then look for the option to enroll in “Shop with Points” under the “Your Account” tab, and click the “Enroll” button for the Amex card you just added.
    
            Once your accounts are connected, you’ll need to activate the offer by clicking on this link. Remember, this is a targeted promotion, so not everyone will be eligible for it — you could be targeted for any one of the offers or none of them. When you click on the link, if you see a message that you’re not eligible, then you’re unfortunately not targeted for this particular promotion.
    
            But even if you’re not targeted, don’t give up hope. If you just enrolled in “Shop with Points,” you may need to wait 24 hours for Amazon’s records to refresh before knowing if you’re targeted, so check back in a day or so.
    
            If you’re eligible, activate the offer by clicking on the “Activate now” button — the enrollment page will indicate your particular discount. You can then shop at Amazon as you normally would, though only products sold and shipped by Amazon are eligible for these discounts. Additionally, Amazon gift cards are excluded, though other third-party retailer gift cards sold by Amazon might be eligible.
    
            But wait! There’s one more step. When you’re ready to check out, you’ll want to make sure to select your linked American Express card as your payment method. Then you’ll need to use at least 1 point to pay for your purchase for the discount to apply.
    
            When paying with Amex Membership Rewards points at Amazon, 1 point equals 0.7 cents. That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points. Frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Membership Rewards points as high as 2 cents each when redeemed for travel.
    
            However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to pay for your entire Amazon purchase with points to get these discounts. In fact, you can use just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Amex card, and you’ll still see the discount applied to your order. However, some accounts might see that you need to redeem slightly more points — 714 to be exact — to receive the savings, so make sure to check the terms of your exact offer.
    
            To pay with the minimum number of points required, enter $0.01 in the points section at checkout, which will apply just 1 point to your payment, You can use any number of points you want, but if you don’t make this change, Amazon may automatically apply the maximum number of points to cover the entire purchase, so you’ll want to make sure to update the amount before you place the order.
    
            Once you’ve applied at least 1 point to your payment, you’ll see the discount added to your order. The discount will apply on every order you place through June 30 until you hit the total maximum in savings — which will depend on your particular offer.
    
            Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can apply this discount to your upcoming Amazon purchases, even if you don’t need anything from Amazon right at the moment.
    
            With airlines having regular delays and cancellations over the last year, placing an Apple AirTag on your luggage can be a great way to track the location of your belongings. An Apple AirTag 4 Pack is currently priced at $78.99 before taxes and shipping, but if you’re targeted for the 30% off American Express offer, that’ll bring the pack down to $55.30, or around $13.83 per AirTag before tax.
    
            Or, if you’re hoping to pick up a set of new Apple AirPods Pro 2, right now Amazon is selling them for $189.99. But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.
    
            Even if you aren’t eligible for any of these particular Amex promotions, offers like this typically resurface many times throughout the year, so keep on checking back.
    
            Amazon often runs similar promotions for other credit cards, so check out our guides to discounts for Chase and Discover card holders to see what’s available. You might also find that even if you aren’t eligible now for one of these offers, you could magically become targeted in a few weeks, so keep on checking the link to see if you’ve been granted access.
    
            Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, so keep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.
    
            Also, make sure you read our guide to the best credit cards for Amazon to be sure you’re using the right card when you buy at Amazon.
    
            Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best travel credit cards currently available.",CNN,14/02/2024,"['Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities.', 'While that’s true, there’s another lesser-known use for them — redeeming them for purchases at Amazon.', 'Right now, you may be eligible for anAmazonpromotion where you can save big on Amazon purchases by redeeming as little as one Amex point.', 'Targeted American Express card members cansave as much as 30% on their next Amazon purchase, for up to $30 in savings when you use Amex points to pay for at least a portion of your purchase at checkout.', 'However, your offer may be higher or lower.', 'This offer is set to expire on June 30, 2024, so even if you aren’t in the market to shop at Amazon right now, you have some time to take advantage of the savings.', 'That said, Amazon also states it will deactivate the offer after 24,167 customers have redeemed it.', 'With many Amazon discounted offers, scoring the deal can be a little complicated.', 'But we’re going to take you through it step by step to make sure you’re getting as much of a discount as possible when you’re shopping atAmazon.', 'To start, you must have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points.', 'Amex cards that earn other types of rewards, such as cash back or airline miles, won’t work.', 'But there are plenty of Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points — a small sampling of them is at the end of this story.', 'Next, you’ll need tolink your Amazon and American Express accounts.', 'Add your American Express card as a payment method in your Amazon account, if you haven’t already.', 'Then look for the option toenroll in “Shop with Points”under the “Your Account” tab, and click the “Enroll” button for the Amex card you just added.', 'Once your accounts are connected, you’ll need to activate the offer byclicking on this link.', 'Remember, this is a targeted promotion, so not everyone will be eligible for it — you could be targeted for any one of the offers or none of them.', 'When you click on the link, if you see a message that you’re not eligible, then you’re unfortunately not targeted for this particular promotion.', 'But even if you’re not targeted, don’t give up hope.', 'If you just enrolled in “Shop with Points,” you may need to wait 24 hours for Amazon’s records to refresh before knowing if you’re targeted, so check back in a day or so.', 'If you’re eligible, activate the offer byclicking on the “Activate now” button— the enrollment page will indicate your particular discount.', 'You can thenshop at Amazonas you normally would, though only products sold and shipped by Amazon are eligible for these discounts.', 'Additionally, Amazon gift cards are excluded, though otherthird-party retailer gift cardssold by Amazon might be eligible.', 'But wait!', 'There’s one more step.', 'When you’re ready to check out, you’ll want to make sure to select your linked American Express card as your payment method.', 'Then you’ll need to use at least 1 point to pay for your purchase for the discount to apply.', 'When paying with Amex Membership Rewards points at Amazon, 1 point equals 0.7 cents.', 'That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points.', 'Frequent flyer websiteThe Points Guyvalues Membership Rewards points as high as 2 cents each when redeemed for travel.', 'However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to pay for your entireAmazonpurchase with points to get these discounts.', 'In fact,you can use just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Amex card, and you’ll still see the discount applied to your order.', 'However, some accounts might see that you need to redeem slightly more points —714 to be exact —to receive the savings, so make sure to check the terms of your exact offer.', 'To pay with the minimum number of points required, enter $0.01 in the points section at checkout, which will apply just 1 point to your payment, You can use any number of points you want, but if you don’t make this change,Amazonmay automatically apply the maximum number of points to cover the entire purchase, so you’ll want to make sure to update the amount before you place the order.', 'Once you’ve applied at least 1 point to your payment, you’ll see the discount added to your order.', 'The discount will apply on every order you place through June 30 until you hit the total maximum in savings —which will depend on your particular offer.', 'Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can apply this discount to your upcomingAmazonpurchases, even if you don’t need anything from Amazon right at the moment.', 'With airlines having regular delays and cancellations over the last year, placing an Apple AirTag on your luggage can be a great way to track the location of your belongings.', 'An Apple AirTag 4 Pack is currently priced at $78.99 before taxes and shipping, but if you’re targeted for the 30% off American Express offer, that’ll bring the pack down to $55.30, or around $13.83 per AirTag before tax.', 'Or, if you’re hoping to pick up a set of new Apple AirPods Pro 2, right now Amazon is selling them for $189.99.', 'But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.', 'Even if you aren’t eligible for any of these particular Amex promotions, offers like this typically resurface many times throughout the year, so keep on checking back.', 'Amazon often runs similar promotions for other credit cards, so check out our guides to discounts for Chase and Discover card holders to see what’s available.', 'You might also find that even if you aren’t eligible now for one of these offers, you could magically become targeted in a few weeks, so keep on checking the link to see if you’ve been granted access.', 'Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, sokeep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.', 'Also, make sure you read our guide to thebest credit cards for Amazonto be sure you’re using the right card when you buy at Amazon.', 'Looking for a travel credit card?', 'Find out which cardsCNN Underscored Moneychose as thebest travel credit cardscurrently available.']",0.2766683229921542,Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities.,That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points.,-0.0578338623046875,"Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, sokeep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year.",But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer.,2024-03-26
Donald Trump’s estimated net worth just doubled as Truth Social owner closes deal to go public,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/investing/trump-media-stock-trading/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:46 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group has finalized its deal to go public, creating a massive windfall for former President Donald Trump that doubles his net worth.
    
            After Trump Media announced it will make its stock market debut on Tuesday, Trump for the first time joined the list of the world’s 500 wealthiest people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
    
            Bloomberg estimated Trump’s net worth spiked by $4 billion on Monday alone, giving him a fortune of $6.5 billion.
    
            The closing of the merger between Trump Media and Digital World Acquisition Corp. amounts to a multi-billion dollar windfall for Trump, who is the chairman and dominant shareholder of the new company.
    
            News of the merger’s completion propelled shares of Digital World up 21%. Buying continued Monday afternoon, boosting Digital World 39% higher on the day to around $51. At current prices, Trump’s stake is valued at about $4 billion. However, there are lock-up restrictions that would likely prevent Trump from selling or even borrowing against the value of that stock for months.
    
            Trading of the new company under the ticker symbol “DJT” on the Nasdaq Stock Market is set to begin on Tuesday, the companies said.
    
            Devin Nunes, the CEO of the combined company, said in a statement that the business will move to “reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors.”
    
            “We will continue to fulfill our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbor for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors,” Nunes said.
    
            Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), the shell company that now owns Truth Social, surged more than 20% on Monday. The stock is up over 170% over the past six months.
    
            Experts warn that the market is overvaluing Trump Media given the company’s fundamentals.
    
            Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to SEC filings. The company posted a net loss of $49 million over that span.
    
            Meanwhile, Truth Social’s user base is shrinking – more so than that of X, the company formerly known as Twitter.
    
            The number of Truth Social’s US monthly active users on iOS and Android is down 39% year-over-year, according to Similarweb data shared with CNN earlier this month.
    
            In anticipation of its merger with Trump Media, trading of DWAC shares had embodied the same kind of frenzy shown in Tupperware’s stock surge last July, or that of meme stocks AMC Entertainment and GameStop during the height of the pandemic. On Truth Social, there are more than 8,000 members in a chat group titled “The DWAC Shareholder Group,” where users discuss the shareholder vote to approve the merger and post memes and supportive messages.
    
            Contributing: CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald and Krystal Hur.
    
            This story has been updated with additional context.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group has finalized its deal to go public, creating a massive windfall for former President Donald Trump that doubles his net worth.', 'After Trump Media announced it will make its stock market debut on Tuesday, Trump for the first time joined the list of the world’s 500 wealthiest people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.', 'Bloomberg estimated Trump’s net worth spiked by $4 billion on Monday alone, giving him a fortune of $6.5 billion.', 'The closing of the merger between Trump Media and Digital World Acquisition Corp. amounts to a multi-billion dollar windfall for Trump, who is the chairman and dominant shareholder of the new company.', 'News of the merger’s completion propelled shares of Digital World up 21%.', 'Buying continued Monday afternoon, boosting Digital World 39% higher on the day to around $51.', 'At current prices, Trump’s stake is valued at about $4 billion.', 'However, there are lock-up restrictions that would likely prevent Trump from selling or even borrowing against the value of that stock for months.', 'Trading of the new company under the ticker symbol “DJT” on the Nasdaq Stock Market is set to begin on Tuesday, the companies said.', 'Devin Nunes, the CEO of the combined company, said in a statement that the business will move to “reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors.”', '“We will continue to fulfill our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbor for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors,” Nunes said.', 'Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp(DWAC), the shell company thatnowowns Truth Social, surged more than 20% on Monday.', 'The stock is up over 170% over the past six months.', 'Experts warn that the market is overvaluing Trump Media given the company’s fundamentals.', 'Trump Media generated just $3.4 million of revenue through the first nine months of last year, according to SEC filings.', 'The company posted a net loss of $49 million over that span.', 'Meanwhile, Truth Social’s user base is shrinking – more so than that of X, the company formerly known as Twitter.', 'The number of Truth Social’s US monthly active users on iOS and Android is down 39% year-over-year, according to Similarweb data shared with CNN earlier this month.', 'In anticipation of its merger with Trump Media, trading of DWAC shares had embodied the same kind of frenzy shown inTupperware’s stock surgelast July, or that of meme stocks AMC Entertainment and GameStop during the height of the pandemic.', 'On Truth Social, there are more than 8,000 members in a chat group titled “The DWAC Shareholder Group,” where users discuss theshareholdervoteto approve the mergerand post memes and supportive messages.', 'Contributing: CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald and Krystal Hur.', 'This story has been updated with additional context.']",0.2742322368608994,"“We will continue to fulfill our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbor for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors,” Nunes said.",The company posted a net loss of $49 million over that span.,0.2731929204680703,News of the merger’s completion propelled shares of Digital World up 21%.,"The number of Truth Social’s US monthly active users on iOS and Android is down 39% year-over-year, according to Similarweb data shared with CNN earlier this month.",2024-03-26
Searches for VPNs spike in Texas after Pornhub pulls out of the state,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/15/tech/vpn-searches-spike-texas-pornhub/index.html,"
  Updated
        11:57 AM EDT, Fri March 15, 2024
    ","Searches for virtual private networking (VPN) software briefly spiked in Texas this week after Pornhub suspended service in the state over a law forcing adult websites to verify the age or identities of their users.
    
            The four-fold rise in Google searches for tools that can circumvent the state-level blocking suggests the law may already be having unintended side effects, days after a federal appeals court upheld the legislation and said it could remain in effect.
    
            Visitors with Texas IP addresses who visit Pornhub’s website are now presented with a full-page message calling the Texas law “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.”
    
            “Until the real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Texas,” the message reads. “In doing so, we are complying with the law, as we always do, but hope that governments around the world will implement laws that actually protect the safety and security of users.”
    
            Search interest in VPNs began disproportionately rising in Texas Thursday compared to the rest of the country, according to a CNN analysis of Google Trends data — quadrupling in the hours following Pornhub’s announcement before retreating slightly by early Friday morning.
    
            While Google Trends merely shows correlations between events and is only useful as a gauge of relative search interest for a given snapshot of time, the immediacy of the search spike, coupled with its concentration from within Texas, highlights the potential connection between the law and Pornhub’s users.
    
            A link “seems pretty likely,” said Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, a digital rights advocacy group.
    
            “The apparent spike in VPN searches in Texas shows that these types of age verification laws aren’t just unconstitutional, they’re also silly and ineffective,” Greer said. “Just like millions of people in countries like China, Russia and Turkey evade their government’s draconian online censorship regimes using simple tools like VPNs, now we see Texans doing the same to get around their own state government’s invasive rules.”
    
            The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), another digital rights group, said Texas is not the only state to see such searches rise in response to age verification laws.
    
            “Similar search spikes have been reported after other states passed age verification laws, which EFF opposes,” said Hudson Hongo, a spokesperson for the group. “No one should have to hand over their driver’s license just to access free websites.”
    
            Pornhub has pulled out of multiple states in response to a wave of age verification laws sweeping the country, including in Montana, Utah, Virginia and others. It also highlights the running debate in statehouses nationwide about how and whether governments can require websites to perform age verification.
    
            The law in question in Texas is known as HB 1181. It requires adult websites to implement “reasonable age verification” methods to ensure that pornography is not being distributed to minors. Those methods include either requiring users to submit “proof of identity” such as a government-issued ID to the adult website or to a third-party contractor, or by submitting other personal data to a third-party contractor, such as biometric information, that enables the vendor to check a user’s age.
    
            Last summer, a US district judge temporarily blocked the law, finding that it was overly broad, likely violated the First Amendment and threatened marginalized communities.
    
            “It runs the risk that the state can monitor when an adult views sexually explicit materials and what kind of websites they visit,” wrote Judge David Alan Ezra in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas. “Given Texas’s ongoing criminalization of homosexual intercourse, it is apparent that people who wish to view homosexual material will be profoundly chilled from doing so if they must first affirmatively identify themselves to the state.”
    
            Later, however, in response to an emergency appeal by Texas officials, the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled Ezra with an order that allowed the law to take effect.
    
            And last week, a three-judge panel of the same appeals court found that Ezra applied too tough a standard in reviewing the law.
    
            The 5th Circuit court’s latest decision formally lifts the injunction against the Texas law.
    
            Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posted on X Thursday celebrating Pornhub’s decision to withdraw from the state.
    
            “Sites like PornHub are on the run,” he wrote, adding: “In Texas, companies cannot get away with showing porn to children. If they don’t want to comply, good riddance.”
    
            Pornhub said in a blog post that it supports age verification but that forcing individual websites and third-party providers to handle users’ most sensitive personal information creates unreasonable privacy and security risks. Pornhub has proposed, and reiterated on Thursday, that age verification checks should be performed exclusively on a user’s device, without requiring them to send data over the internet to third parties.",CNN,15/03/2024,"['Searches for virtual private networking (VPN) software briefly spiked in Texas this week after Pornhub suspended service in the state over a law forcing adult websites to verify the age or identities of their users.', 'The four-fold rise in Google searches for tools that can circumvent the state-level blocking suggests the law may already be having unintended side effects, days after a federal appeals court upheld the legislation and said it could remain in effect.', 'Visitors with Texas IP addresses who visit Pornhub’s website are now presented with a full-page message calling the Texas law “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.”', '“Until the real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Texas,” the message reads. “', 'In doing so, we are complying with the law, as we always do, but hope that governments around the world will implement laws that actually protect the safety and security of users.”', 'Search interest in VPNs began disproportionately rising in Texas Thursday compared to the rest of the country, according to a CNN analysis of Google Trends data — quadrupling in the hours following Pornhub’s announcement before retreating slightly by early Friday morning.', 'While Google Trends merely shows correlations between events and is only useful as a gauge of relative search interest for a given snapshot of time, the immediacy of the search spike, coupled with its concentration from within Texas, highlights the potential connection between the law and Pornhub’s users.', 'A link “seems pretty likely,” said Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, a digital rights advocacy group.', '“The apparent spike in VPN searches in Texas shows that these types of age verification laws aren’t just unconstitutional, they’re also silly and ineffective,” Greer said. “', 'Just like millions of people in countries like China, Russia and Turkey evade their government’s draconian online censorship regimes using simple tools like VPNs, now we see Texans doing the same to get around their own state government’s invasive rules.”', 'The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), another digital rights group, said Texas is not the only state to see such searches rise in response to age verification laws.', '“Similar search spikes have been reported after other states passed age verification laws, which EFF opposes,” said Hudson Hongo, a spokesperson for the group. “', 'No one should have to hand over their driver’s license just to access free websites.”', 'Pornhub has pulled out of multiple states in response to a wave of age verification laws sweeping the country, including in Montana, Utah, Virginia and others.', 'It also highlights the running debate in statehouses nationwide about how and whether governments can require websites to perform age verification.', 'The law in question in Texas is known as HB 1181.', 'It requires adult websites to implement “reasonable age verification” methods to ensure that pornography is not being distributed to minors.', 'Those methods include either requiring users to submit “proof of identity” such as a government-issued ID to the adult website or to a third-party contractor, or by submitting other personal data to a third-party contractor, such as biometric information, that enables the vendor to check a user’s age.', 'Last summer, a US district judge temporarily blocked the law, finding that it was overly broad, likely violated the First Amendment and threatened marginalized communities.', '“It runs the risk that the state can monitor when an adult views sexually explicit materials and what kind of websites they visit,” wrote Judge David Alan Ezra in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas. “', 'Given Texas’s ongoing criminalization of homosexual intercourse, it is apparent that people who wish to view homosexual material will be profoundly chilled from doing so if they must first affirmatively identify themselves to the state.”', 'Later, however, in response to an emergency appeal by Texas officials, the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled Ezra with an order that allowed the law to take effect.', 'And last week, a three-judge panel of the same appeals court found that Ezra applied too tough a standard in reviewing the law.', 'The 5th Circuit court’s latest decision formally lifts the injunction against the Texas law.', 'Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posted on X Thursday celebrating Pornhub’s decision to withdraw from the state.', '“Sites like PornHub are on the run,” he wrote, adding: “In Texas, companies cannot get away with showing porn to children.', 'If they don’t want to comply, good riddance.”', 'Pornhub said in a blog post that it supports age verification but that forcing individual websites and third-party providers to handle users’ most sensitive personal information creates unreasonable privacy and security risks.', 'Pornhub has proposed, and reiterated on Thursday, that age verification checks should be performed exclusively on a user’s device, without requiring them to send data over the internet to third parties.']",0.1781594366727325,"In doing so, we are complying with the law, as we always do, but hope that governments around the world will implement laws that actually protect the safety and security of users.”","Last summer, a US district judge temporarily blocked the law, finding that it was overly broad, likely violated the First Amendment and threatened marginalized communities.",-0.4006589949131012,"Search interest in VPNs began disproportionately rising in Texas Thursday compared to the rest of the country, according to a CNN analysis of Google Trends data — quadrupling in the hours following Pornhub’s announcement before retreating slightly by early Friday morning.","“The apparent spike in VPN searches in Texas shows that these types of age verification laws aren’t just unconstitutional, they’re also silly and ineffective,” Greer said. “",2024-03-26
Krispy Kreme doughnuts are coming to McDonald’s,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/business/krispy-kreme-mcdonalds/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:09 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","McDonald’s customers can soon pair Krispy Kreme doughnuts with their morning McCafe, in a new food partnership that seeks to expand both brands but that could wind up weakening them instead.
    
            Three types of Krispy Kreme doughnuts — original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced “kreme” filled — will go on sale at McDonald’s restaurants starting later this year, the companies told CNN on Monday.
    
            Krispy Kreme shares jumped more than 39% on Tuesday. McDonald’s shares were flat.
    
            It’s not the first time two competitors have teamed up. For example, Wendy’s brought in Cinnabon to its breakfast lineup earlier this year. Some research suggests brand partnerships open possibilities for new customers, brand expansions and innovation. But some retail experts suggest partnerships can also be a risky move, and one that can weaken the respective brand names.
    
            Truist analysts said the Krispy Kreme doughnut delivery model will have to figure out a way to successfully service rural McDonald’s locations more than 20 miles outside of an urban center.
    
            McDonald’s has also faced pushback from customers as prices on its other menu items rise. Ian Borden, McDonald’s chief financial officer, said earlier this month that some lower-income Americans are opting to cook at home instead of dining at its restaurants. In February, CEO Chris Kempczinski addressed McDonald’s “affordability” problem and indicated the chain would cut prices on some menu items.
    
            Krispy Kreme is giving away a free glazed doughnut to guests who visit a Krispy Kreme location between 5 and 9 pm on Tuesday to celebrate the partnership.
    
            The addition of a Krispy Kreme doughnut to the McDonald’s customer’s breakfast order began as a test at 160 restaurants in Kentucky. The doughnuts will be available nationwide at participating restaurants by the end of 2026, after a phased rollout beginning later this year. Truist analysts said the long testing period reduces the risk for both parties.
    
            The doughnut will be available to purchase individually or in a pack of six, starting at breakfast, and will continue selling until they run out.
    
            There are far fewer Krispy Kreme locations than McDonald’s, which had almost 13,500 US locations in 2022. But customers can buy Krispy Kreme doughnut in other places, such as Walmart and other grocery stores. The partnership could increase the scope of Krispy Kreme, which said it has been scaling its supply chain to keep up with its promise to deliver fresh daily.
    
            “By making Kreme Krispy (sic) accessible to fans nationwide through this partnership, we expect to more than double our points of access by the end of 2026,” said Krispy Kreme President and CEO Josh Charlesworth in a statement.
    
            Krispy Kreme has been focusing its business operations on its doughnuts. The Charlotte-based company also owns Insomnia Cookies, though said in 2023 it is exploring other options such as selling the cookie brand.
    
            The company returned to the market in 2021 through an IPO. However, its stock is still trading below its IPO price of $17.
    
            “What does this mean for the company’s previous plans to expand locations? How will it impact an existing point of access which is located down the street from a McDonald’s?” Truist analysts said.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['McDonald’s customers cansoonpair Krispy Kreme doughnuts with their morning McCafe, in a new food partnership that seeks to expand both brands but that could wind up weakening them instead.', 'Three types of Krispy Kreme doughnuts — original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced “kreme” filled— will go on sale at McDonald’s restaurants starting later this year, the companies told CNN on Monday.', 'Krispy Kreme shares jumped more than 39% on Tuesday.', 'McDonald’s shares were flat.', 'It’s not the first time two competitors have teamed up.', 'For example, Wendy’s brought in Cinnabon to its breakfast lineup earlier this year.', 'Some research suggests brand partnerships open possibilities for new customers, brand expansions and innovation.', 'But some retail experts suggest partnerships can also be a risky move, and one that can weaken the respective brand names.', 'Truist analysts said the Krispy Kreme doughnut delivery model will have to figure out a way to successfully service rural McDonald’s locations more than 20 miles outside of an urban center.', 'McDonald’s has also faced pushback from customers as prices on its other menu items rise.', 'Ian Borden, McDonald’s chief financial officer, said earlier this month that some lower-income Americans are opting to cook at home instead of dining at its restaurants.', 'In February, CEO Chris Kempczinski addressed McDonald’s “affordability” problem and indicated the chain would cut prices on some menu items.', 'Krispy Kreme is giving away a free glazed doughnut to guests who visit a Krispy Kreme location between 5 and 9 pm on Tuesday to celebrate the partnership.', 'The addition of a Krispy Kreme doughnut to the McDonald’s customer’s breakfast order began as a test at 160 restaurants in Kentucky.', 'The doughnuts will be available nationwide at participating restaurants by the end of 2026, after a phased rollout beginning later this year.', 'Truist analysts said the long testing period reduces the risk for both parties.', 'The doughnut will be available to purchase individually or in a pack of six, starting at breakfast, and will continue selling until they run out.', 'There are far fewer Krispy Kreme locations than McDonald’s, which had almost 13,500 US locations in 2022.', 'But customers can buy Krispy Kreme doughnut in other places, such as Walmart and other grocery stores.', 'The partnership could increase the scope of Krispy Kreme, which said it has been scaling its supply chain to keep up with its promise to deliver fresh daily.', '“By makingKreme Krispy (sic) accessible to fans nationwide through this partnership, we expect to more than double our points of access by the end of 2026,” said Krispy Kreme President and CEO Josh Charlesworth in a statement.', 'Krispy Kreme has been focusing its business operations on its doughnuts.', 'The Charlotte-based company also owns Insomnia Cookies, though said in 2023 it is exploring other options such as selling the cookie brand.', 'The company returned to the market in 2021 through an IPO.', 'However, its stock is still trading below its IPO price of $17.', '“What does this mean for the company’s previous plans to expand locations?', 'How will it impact an existing point of access which is located down the street from a McDonald’s?”', 'Truist analysts said.']",0.083080637964168,Krispy Kreme is giving away a free glazed doughnut to guests who visit a Krispy Kreme location between 5 and 9 pm on Tuesday to celebrate the partnership.,"In February, CEO Chris Kempczinski addressed McDonald’s “affordability” problem and indicated the chain would cut prices on some menu items.",0.0961536602540449,Krispy Kreme shares jumped more than 39% on Tuesday.,"McDonald’s customers cansoonpair Krispy Kreme doughnuts with their morning McCafe, in a new food partnership that seeks to expand both brands but that could wind up weakening them instead.",2024-03-26
Apple customers love Apple. The Biden administration thinks they could do better,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/tech/apple-monopoly/index.html,"
  Published
        8:15 AM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024
    ","The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Apple wants to break the company’s notoriously tight grip on the iPhone, the device that’s made it one of the biggest and most profitable companies on the planet.
    
            But regardless of what happens in court, the case is already shining a light on the two faces of Apple: the cool, high-end tech brand that customers adore; and the ruthless, unavoidable behemoth that developers loathe.
    
            Here’s the deal: The Feds say Apple is maintaining a monopoly that stifles competition, deprives consumers of choice and ultimately forces them to pay more.
    
            Apple’s response to the allegations is, more or less, a) no we don’t, and b) good luck proving customer harm when everybody loves us.
    
            And that’s where this Goliath versus Goliath battle gets interesting.
    
            Customers really like Apple. We love the phones, the watches, the laptops and the AirPods that ensure we never have to be alone with our thoughts (unless, heaven help you, you forgot to charge them). Heck, I’m typing this article on an Apple keyboard connected to a MacBook connected to iCloud, and I would throw a fit if I had to switch to a PC.
    
            Apple even nodded to this in its widely circulated statement to the media Thursday:
    
            “We innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users.”
    
            Magical!  
    
            The company added: “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.”
    
            And it’s true — the gods saw fit to get Steve Jobs and Jony Ive (the revered product designer behind Apple’s biggest hits) in the same room at the same time, and the world was never the same.
    
            Their products married good design and good software. They were never cheap, but they were shiny, user-friendly, simply beautiful. With help from the best marketing team in Silicon Valley history, Apple became a tech icon with a billion devotees.
    
            But on the business side, Apple is not so beloved.
    
            The company has a reputation for quashing competition and squeezing developers with exorbitant fees. Many smaller tech companies hate Apple as much as they live in fear of its lawyers.
    
            “Apple has this practice of seeing what others innovate for the phone, copying it, and then making it so that those others can’t compete,” Adam Wolfson, an antitrust lawyer with the firm Quinn Emanuel, told me. (There’s even an industry term for when Apple appropriates a third party’s tech, called “Sherlocking” — a nod to one of Apple’s search products that rendered its non-Apple rival, Watson, redundant.)
    
            “They very much have an approach to being about as sharp-elbowed as you can possibly get,” said Wolfson, who has represented clients in Apple disputes. “Apple is extraordinarily litigious, and will fight to the very last breath, because it can.”
    
            The DOJ lawsuit argues Apple has illegally monopolized smartphone markets by blocking innovative new apps and services.
    
            If you’re an iPhone user and you’ve ever been in a text thread with someone using an Android device, you know the green-bubble problem and how annoying it is. It’s not as if Apple can’t make that experience better, according to the DOJ — it just doesn’t want to, because it’s better for Apple if its users see Android as a social faux pas. It’s tech tribalism, and Apple is a master at cultivating loyalty.
    
            The green bubble issue is just one of several ways Apple is abusing its dominant position, according to the lawsuit. (My colleague David Goldman has more on that here.)
    
            If it succeeds, the Justice Department could force Apple to loosen some of the restrictions it has placed on its “walled garden” approach, which Apple says is meant to create a seamless experience for users and keep them relatively safe from viruses.
    
            That is a concern for investors, says Gene Muster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, because the lawsuit goes after “the juiciest part of their business.”
    
            But Muster doesn’t expect the lawsuit to be a body blow for the company, and believes “people will still gravitate to Apple products.”
    
            Indeed, customer satisfaction is, paradoxically, a tricky issue for the DOJ as well. People are pretty content with their iPhones. Could we be more content with more competition? Maybe. The DOJ will have their work cut out for them trying to prove it.
    
            Ultimately, Wolfson said, “the law wants to make sure that consumers are getting the absolute best, not just what Apple decides we want.”",CNN,22/03/2024,"['The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Apple wants to break the company’s notoriously tight grip on the iPhone, the device that’s made it one of the biggest and most profitable companies on the planet.', 'But regardless of what happens in court, the case is already shining a light on the two faces of Apple: the cool, high-end tech brand that customers adore; and the ruthless, unavoidable behemoth that developers loathe.', 'Here’s the deal: The Feds say Apple is maintaining a monopoly that stifles competition, deprives consumers of choice and ultimately forces them to pay more.', 'Apple’s response to the allegations is, more or less, a) no we don’t, and b) good luck proving customer harm when everybody loves us.', 'And that’s where this Goliath versus Goliath battle gets interesting.', 'Customers really like Apple.', 'We love the phones, the watches, the laptops and the AirPods that ensure we never have to be alone with our thoughts (unless, heaven help you, you forgot to charge them).Heck, I’m typing this article on an Apple keyboard connected to a MacBook connected to iCloud, and I would throw a fit if I had to switch to a PC.', 'Apple even nodded to this in its widely circulated statement to the media Thursday:  “We innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users.”', 'Magical!', 'The company added: “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.”', 'And it’s true — the gods saw fit to get Steve Jobs and Jony Ive (the revered product designer behind Apple’s biggest hits) in the same room at the same time, and the world was never the same.', 'Their products married good design and good software.', 'They were never cheap, but they were shiny, user-friendly, simply beautiful.', 'With help from the best marketing team in Silicon Valley history, Apple became a tech icon with a billion devotees.', 'But on the business side, Apple is not so beloved.', 'The company has a reputation for quashing competition and squeezing developers with exorbitant fees.', 'Many smaller tech companies hate Apple as much as they live in fear of its lawyers.', '“Apple has this practice of seeing what others innovate for the phone, copying it, and then making it so that those others can’t compete,” Adam Wolfson, an antitrust lawyer with the firm Quinn Emanuel, told me. (', 'There’s even an industry term for when Apple appropriates a third party’s tech, called “Sherlocking” — a nod to one of Apple’s search products that rendered its non-Apple rival, Watson, redundant.)', '“They very much have an approach to being about as sharp-elbowed as you can possibly get,” said Wolfson, who has represented clients in Apple disputes. “', 'Apple is extraordinarily litigious, and will fight to the very last breath, because it can.”', 'The DOJ lawsuit argues Apple has illegally monopolized smartphone markets by blocking innovative new apps and services.', 'If you’re an iPhone user and you’ve ever been in a text thread with someone using an Android device, you know the green-bubble problem and how annoying it is.', 'It’s not as if Apple can’t make that experience better, according to the DOJ — it just doesn’t want to, because it’s better for Apple if its users see Android as a social faux pas.', 'It’s tech tribalism, and Apple is a master at cultivating loyalty.', 'The green bubble issue is just one of several ways Apple is abusing its dominant position, according to the lawsuit. (', 'My colleague David Goldman has more on that here.)', 'If it succeeds, the Justice Departmentcould force Apple to loosen some of the restrictions it has placed on its “walled garden” approach, which Apple says is meant to create a seamless experience for users and keep them relatively safe from viruses.', 'That is a concern for investors, says Gene Muster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, because the lawsuit goes after “the juiciest part of their business.”', 'But Muster doesn’t expect the lawsuit to be a body blow for the company, and believes “people will still gravitate to Apple products.”', 'Indeed, customer satisfaction is, paradoxically, a tricky issue for the DOJ as well.', 'People are pretty content with their iPhones.', 'Could we be more content with more competition?', 'Maybe.', 'The DOJ will have their work cut out for them trying to prove it.', 'Ultimately, Wolfson said, “the law wants to make sure that consumers are getting the absolute best, not just what Apple decides we want.”']",0.1890196327641951,"Apple even nodded to this in its widely circulated statement to the media Thursday:  “We innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users.”",Many smaller tech companies hate Apple as much as they live in fear of its lawyers.,0.0858245372772216,"Apple’s response to the allegations is, more or less, a) no we don’t, and b) good luck proving customer harm when everybody loves us.","Indeed, customer satisfaction is, paradoxically, a tricky issue for the DOJ as well.",2024-03-26
What happened when the world’s most populous nation turned off TikTok,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/14/tech/india-us-tiktok-ban-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        9:59 AM EDT, Fri March 15, 2024
    ","As TikTok fans in the United States worry about losing access to the wildly-popular social media app, there are lessons they can learn from a country on the other side of the world.
    
            On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban. While the Chinese-owned app is not disappearing from Americans’ phones anytime soon, many of its 170 million users in the country are deeply rattled.
    
            But here is what they need to know: It is possible to survive and thrive in a TikTok-less world. Just ask the planet’s most populous nation.
    
            In June 2020, after a violent clash on the India-China border that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, the government in New Delhi suddenly banned TikTok and several other well-known Chinese apps.
    
            “It’s important to remember that when India banned TikTok and multiple Chinese apps, the US was the first to praise the decision,” said Nikhil Pahwa, the Delhi-based founder of tech website MediaNama. “[Former] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had welcomed the ban, saying it ‘will boost India’s sovereignty.’”
    
            While India’s abrupt decision shocked the country’s 200 million TikTok users, in the four years since, many have found other suitable alternatives.
    
            “The ban on Tiktok led to the creation of a multibillion dollar opportunity … A 200 million user base needed somewhere to go,” said Pahwa, adding that it was ultimately American tech companies that seized the moment with their new offerings.
    
            The ban was not without pain. Indian TikTokkers had to grapple with confusion and even anguish in the days and months that followed.
    
            By 2020, TikTok had become hugely popular among Indians looking for relief from the pressures of strict Covid-related lockdowns.
    
            “Everyone in India wants to be a Bollywood star, and TikTok made that dream possible by making people, including those in small towns, overnight stars,” said Saptarshi Ray, head of product at Viralo, a Bengaluru-based influencer marketing platform.
    
            But it didn’t take long before other avenues for their creativity and commercial ventures sprang up.
    
            A ferocious fight ensued between US tech giants and domestic startups to fill the gap. Within a week of the ban, Meta-owned Instagram cashed in by launching its TikTok copycat, Instagram Reels, in India. Google introduced its own short video offering, YouTube Shorts.
    
            Homegrown alternatives such as MX Taka Tak and Moj also began seeing a rise in popularity and an infux in funding.
    
            Those local startups soon fizzled out, however, unable to match the reach and financial firepower of the American firms, which are flourishing.
    
            Citing independent findings from consulting firm Oxford Economics, a Google spokesperson said that “the YouTube creative ecosystem” contributed roughly $2 billion to the Indian economy in 2022.
    
            According to Ray, Indian content creators swiftly moved all the old content they had shot for TikTok to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. “Some Influencers were uploading seven Reels a day and gaining four to five million subscribers a year,” he said.
    
            But not everyone was able to build a significant following on these platforms.
    
            “Many users and creators slipped into a deep, dark space after the ban, and some have still not emerged from that space,” said Clyde Fernandes, executive director— artist management at Opraahfx, an influencer marketing and management firm.
    
            “The way one was gaining reach and followers on TikTok is [still] incomparable to any other platform out there at the moment,” he added.
    
            US officials and lawmakers have long voiced concerns that the Chinese government could compel TikTok’s parent ByteDance to hand over data collected from American users.
    
            Cybersecurity experts say that the national security concerns surrounding TikTok remain largely hypothetical. Indian experts, however, say its purge from national digital life hasn’t resulted in a safer space.
    
            “I am not so sure removal of TikTok makes a dent in the cybersecurity threat landscape. Unless there is a step change in user awareness about the software on their phones, or what they download from the open internet, this is unlikely to change,” said Vivan Sharan, partner at Delhi-based tech policy consulting firm Koan Advisory Group.
    
            US lawmakers also fear that the app could serve as a tool for Beijing to spread propaganda, misinformation or influence Americans. The removal of TikTok hasn’t insulated Indians from those threats.
    
            “In terms of content and disinformation environment, it is plain to see we still have to grapple with serious issues like deepfakes, etc, with or without TikTok,” Sharan said. “So overall, it is hard to see which part of the risk-landscape changes significantly, assuming TikTok was certifiably problematic.”",CNN,15/03/2024,"['As TikTok fans in the United States worry about losing access to the wildly-popular social media app, there are lessons they can learn from a country on the other side of the world.', 'On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban.', 'While the Chinese-owned app is not disappearing from Americans’ phones anytime soon, many of its 170 million users in the country are deeply rattled.', 'But here is what they need to know: It is possible to survive and thrive in a TikTok-less world.', 'Just ask the planet’s most populous nation.', 'In June 2020, after a violent clash on the India-China border that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, the government in New Delhi suddenly bannedTikTokand several other well-known Chinese apps.', '“It’s important to remember that when India banned TikTok and multiple Chinese apps, the US was the first to praise the decision,” said Nikhil Pahwa, the Delhi-based founder of tech website MediaNama. “[', 'Former] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had welcomed the ban, saying it ‘will boost India’s sovereignty.’”', 'While India’s abrupt decision shocked the country’s 200 million TikTok users, in the four years since, many have found other suitable alternatives.', '“The ban on Tiktok led to the creation of a multibillion dollar opportunity … A 200 million user base needed somewhere to go,” said Pahwa, adding that it was ultimately American tech companies that seized the moment with their new offerings.', 'The ban was not without pain.', 'Indian TikTokkers had to grapple with confusion and even anguish in the days and months that followed.', 'By 2020, TikTok had become hugely popular among Indians looking for relief from the pressures of strict Covid-related lockdowns.', '“Everyone in India wants to be a Bollywood star, and TikTok made that dream possible by making people, including those in small towns, overnight stars,” said Saptarshi Ray, head of product at Viralo, a Bengaluru-based influencer marketing platform.', 'But it didn’t take long before other avenues for their creativity and commercial ventures sprang up.', 'A ferocious fight ensued between US tech giants and domestic startups to fill the gap.', 'Within a week of the ban, Meta-owned Instagram cashed in bylaunching its TikTok copycat, Instagram Reels, in India.', 'Google introduced its own short video offering, YouTube Shorts.', 'Homegrown alternatives such asMX Taka TakandMoj also began seeing a rise in popularity and an infux in funding.', 'Those local startups soon fizzled out, however, unable to match the reach and financial firepower of the American firms, which are flourishing.', 'Citing independent findings from consulting firm Oxford Economics, a Google spokesperson said that “the YouTube creative ecosystem” contributed roughly $2 billion to the Indian economy in 2022.', 'According to Ray, Indian content creators swiftly moved all the old content they had shot for TikTok to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. “', 'Some Influencers were uploading seven Reels a day and gaining four to five million subscribers a year,” he said.', 'But not everyone was able to build a significant following on these platforms.', '“Many users and creators slipped into a deep, dark space after the ban, and some have still not emerged from that space,” said Clyde Fernandes, executive director— artist management at Opraahfx, an influencer marketing and management firm.', '“The way one was gaining reach and followers on TikTok is [still] incomparable to any other platform out there at the moment,” he added.', 'US officials and lawmakers have longvoiced concernsthat the Chinese government could compel TikTok’s parent ByteDance to hand over data collected from American users.', 'Cybersecurity experts say that the national security concerns surrounding TikTok remain largely hypothetical.', 'Indian experts, however, say its purge from national digital life hasn’t resulted in a safer space.', '“I am not so sure removal of TikTok makes a dent in the cybersecurity threat landscape.', 'Unless there is a step change in user awareness about the software on their phones, or what they download from the open internet, this is unlikely to change,” said Vivan Sharan, partner at Delhi-based tech policyconsultingfirmKoan AdvisoryGroup.', 'US lawmakers also fear that the app could serve as a tool for Beijing to spread propaganda, misinformation or influence Americans.', 'The removal of TikTok hasn’t insulated Indians from those threats.', '“In terms of content and disinformation environment, it is plain to see we still have to grapple with serious issues like deepfakes, etc, with or without TikTok,” Sharan said. “', 'So overall, it is hard to see which part of the risk-landscape changes significantly, assuming TikTok was certifiably problematic.”']",-0.0234839102980259,"By 2020, TikTok had become hugely popular among Indians looking for relief from the pressures of strict Covid-related lockdowns.","In June 2020, after a violent clash on the India-China border that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, the government in New Delhi suddenly bannedTikTokand several other well-known Chinese apps.",0.2692508180936178,Homegrown alternatives such asMX Taka TakandMoj also began seeing a rise in popularity and an infux in funding.,"Those local startups soon fizzled out, however, unable to match the reach and financial firepower of the American firms, which are flourishing.",2024-03-26
NBC News ousts Ronna McDaniel after network’s anchors launch unprecedented on-air rebellion,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/media/nbc-news-ousts-ronna-mcdaniel/index.html,"
  Updated
        6:12 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","NBC News on Tuesday ousted former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, just days after her hiring as a paid political analyst sparked intense backlash from the network’s top television anchors over McDaniel’s role in subverting the 2020 election and attacks on the press.
    
            “There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for the News Group,” NBCUniversal News Group President Cesar Conde said in a memo to staff. “After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor.”
    
            “I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” Conde continued. “While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.”
    
            Ahead of the network’s decision, McDaniel spent the day Tuesday interviewing attorneys in preparation for a potential legal battle with NBC, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that brokered McDaniel’s deal with NBC, also parted ways with her, the person said.
    
            The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network.
    
            McDaniel, who recently stepped down from the RNC under pressure from former President Donald Trump, was involved in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
    
            As head of the RNC, she was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead. McDaniel told the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.”
    
            In the years since, McDaniel continued to claim that the election had “problems” and that Biden did not legitimately win the election, fanning the flames of election denialism.
    
            NBC’s announcement Friday that it had hired McDaniel was quickly met with alarm by the network’s journalists. The revolt spilled into public view on Sunday when McDaniel appeared on “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker in her first interview since she was hired by the network. Welker disclosed that the interview had been scheduled to take place prior to NBC announcing McDaniel would become a paid contributor for the network, stating that she had no involvement in her hiring.
    
            Following the interview, Chuck Todd, NBC News’ chief political analyst, delivered a stinging on-air criticism of NBC executives for their decision to hire McDaniel, telling Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.”
    
            “There’s a reason a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” Todd said, explaining that under McDaniel, the RNC engaged in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” when dealing with the news media.
    
            The following day, MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough joined Todd in protesting the decision on their program “Morning Joe.”
    
            “To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier,” Brzezinski said. “We hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on ‘Morning Joe’ in her capacity as a paid contributor.”
    
            Nicolle Wallace, host of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” later joined in the rebuke, saying on her program that the network’s decision to hire McDaniel was nothing short of a potential threat to democracy.
    
            “NBC News is, either wittingly or unwittingly, teaching election deniers that what they can do stretches well beyond appearing on our air and interviews to peddle lies about the sanctity and integrity of our elections,” Wallace told viewers.
    
            Rachel Maddow — the network’s biggest star — later devoted the first half-hour of her prime-time program to the controversy, saying the decision to hire McDaniel was “inexplicable.”
    
            Maddow took issue with McDaniel’s long track record of demonizing the news media, including launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.
    
            “We do not take it personally when we get attacked, when they say they want to put us on trial and execute us for treason,” she said.
    
            “And so I want to associate myself with all my colleagues at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company for putting on the payroll someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government,” she said of McDaniel. “Someone who is still trying to convince Americans that this election stuff doesn’t really work. That this last election wasn’t a real result. That American elections are fraudulent.“
    
            The on-air revolt ensnared NBC’s top leaders, including NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde, NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown, who were responsible for McDaniel’s hiring. MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to her hire at the time.
    
            “Mistakes will be made,” Maddow said. “But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions. Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it, and correcting course. Not digging in. Not blaming others. Take a minute. Acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call.”
    
            During her time as RNC chair, McDaniel repeatedly assailed the press, which has become increasingly popular in Republican circles over the last several years as Trump demonizes journalists and news institutions.
    
            McDaniel echoed many such attacks, labeling the press as “fake news” and calling the media “corrupt.” At times, she even targeted NBC News and MSNBC with dishonest attacks.",CNN,26/03/2024,"['NBC News on Tuesday ousted former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, just days after her hiring as a paid political analyst sparked intense backlash from the network’s top television anchors over McDaniel’s role in subverting the 2020 election and attacks on the press.', '“There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for the News Group,” NBCUniversal News Group President Cesar Conde said in a memo to staff. “', 'After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor.”', '“I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” Conde continued. “', 'While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.”', 'Ahead of the network’s decision, McDaniel spent the day Tuesday interviewing attorneys in preparation for a potential legal battle with NBC, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.', 'Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that brokered McDaniel’s deal with NBC, also parted ways with her, the person said.', 'The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network.', 'McDaniel, who recently stepped down from the RNC under pressure from former President Donald Trump, was involved in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.', 'As head of the RNC, she was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead.', 'McDanieltold the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. …', 'We will get you attorneys.”', 'In the years since, McDaniel continued to claim that the election had “problems” and that Biden did not legitimately win the election, fanning the flames of election denialism.', 'NBC’s announcement Friday that it had hired McDaniel was quickly met with alarm by the network’s journalists.', 'The revolt spilled into public view on Sunday when McDaniel appeared on “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker in her first interview since she was hired by the network.', 'Welker disclosed that the interview had been scheduled to take place prior to NBC announcing McDaniel would become a paid contributor for the network, stating that she had no involvement in her hiring.', 'Following the interview, Chuck Todd, NBC News’ chief political analyst, delivered a stinging on-air criticism of NBC executives for their decision to hire McDaniel, telling Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.”', '“There’s a reason a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” Todd said, explaining that under McDaniel, the RNC engaged in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” when dealing with the news media.', 'The following day, MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough joined Todd in protesting the decision on their program “Morning Joe.”', '“To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier,”Brzezinski said. “', 'We hope NBC will reconsider its decision.', 'It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on ‘Morning Joe’ in her capacity as a paid contributor.”', 'Nicolle Wallace, host of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” later joined in the rebuke, saying on her program that the network’s decision to hire McDaniel was nothing short of a potential threat to democracy.', '“NBC News is, either wittingly or unwittingly, teaching election deniers that what they can do stretches well beyond appearing on our air and interviews to peddle lies about the sanctity and integrity of our elections,” Wallace told viewers.', 'Rachel Maddow — the network’s biggest star — later devoted the first half-hour of her prime-time program to the controversy, saying the decision to hire McDaniel was “inexplicable.”', 'Maddow took issue with McDaniel’s long track record of demonizing the news media, including launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts.', '“We do not take it personally when we get attacked, when they say they want to put us on trial and execute us for treason,” she said.', '“And so I want to associate myself with all my colleagues at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company for putting on the payroll someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government,” she said of McDaniel. “', 'Someone who is still trying to convince Americans that this election stuff doesn’t really work.', 'That this last election wasn’t a real result.', 'That American elections are fraudulent.“', 'The on-air revolt ensnared NBC’s top leaders, including NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde, NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown, who were responsible for McDaniel’s hiring.', 'MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to her hire at the time.', '“Mistakes will be made,” Maddow said. “', 'But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions.', 'Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it, and correcting course.', 'Not digging in.', 'Not blaming others.', 'Take a minute.', 'Acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call.”', 'During her time as RNC chair, McDaniel repeatedly assailed the press, which has become increasingly popular in Republican circles over the last several years as Trump demonizes journalists and news institutions.', 'McDaniel echoed many such attacks, labeling the press as “fake news” and calling the media “corrupt.”', 'At times, she even targeted NBC Newsand MSNBCwith dishonest attacks.']",-0.1617490706239656,"Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that brokered McDaniel’s deal with NBC, also parted ways with her, the person said.",But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions.,-0.8910926514201694,,The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network.,2024-03-26
Microsoft stock hits all-time high after hiring former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/20/investing/microsoft-stock-record-high-altman-openai/index.html,"
  Updated
        4:19 PM EST, Mon November 20, 2023
    ","Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg.
    
            Shares of the tech behemoth rose 2.1% to an all-time high close of $377.44 on Monday, beating the previous record of $376.17.
    
            That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup. Microsoft is the artificial intelligence firm’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the company.
    
            Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.
    
            Altman’s hiring ended days of speculation that the former chief executive could return to the firm after his dramatic firing. Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, will replace OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim chief executive.
    
            Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year. The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.
    
            Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, reiterated his $425 price target for Microsoft’s stock following Altman’s and Brockman’s hires.
    
            “We view Microsoft now even in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman” at the company, Ives wrote in a note on Monday.
    
            Other members of the “Magnificent Seven” saw a boost on Monday. Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to end the trading session at $504.20 ahead of its earnings due on Tuesday, notching a record-high close for the chipmaker.",CNN,20/11/2023,"['Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg.', 'Shares of the tech behemoth rose 2.1% to an all-time high close of $377.44 on Monday, beating the previous record of $376.17.', 'That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup.', 'Microsoft is the artificial intelligence firm’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the company.', 'Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.', 'Altman’s hiring ended days of speculation that the former chief executive could return to the firm after his dramatic firing.', 'Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, will replace OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim chief executive.', 'Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year.', 'The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.', 'Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, reiterated his $425 price target for Microsoft’s stock following Altman’s and Brockman’s hires.', '“We view Microsoft now even in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman” at the company, Ives wrote in a note on Monday.', 'Other members of the “Magnificent Seven” saw a boost on Monday.', 'Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to end the trading session at $504.20 ahead of its earnings due on Tuesday, notching a record-high close for the chipmaker.']",0.3148943375907157,"The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech.","Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft.",0.768821742799547,Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year.,"That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup.",2024-03-26
The winning numbers for an $800 million Powerball jackpot have been drawn - and a bigger Mega Millions prize is up Tuesday,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/25/business/powerball-jackpot-800-million-monday/index.html,"
  Updated
        11:21 PM EDT, Mon March 25, 2024
    ","The winning numbers for Monday’s estimated $800 million Powerball jackpot – which would be one of the largest prizes in the lottery’s history – have been drawn.
    
            The numbers are 7, 11, 19, 53 and 68 with a red Powerball of 23.
    
            This was the first of two opportunities lottery players have to potentially strike it rich this week as Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot tops $1 billion.
    
            If the Powerball prize is won it would be the sixth-largest in the game’s history. A winner would have the option of receiving an estimated $800 million in annual payments or a lump sum payment of $384.8 million – both before taxes, according to Powerball.
    
            The Powerball jackpot was last won on January 1 by a ticket in Michigan with an estimated $842.4 million prize.
    
            There have been 35 consecutive Powerball drawings with no grand prize winner. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9, but the odds of snagging the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.
    
            If the odds weren’t in your favor during Monday’s Powerball drawing, you can try again with Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, when $1.1 billion will be up for grabs.
    
            The lottery crossed the billion-dollar mark after there were no grand prize winners in Friday’s drawing.
    
            If the jackpot is won Tuesday, it would be the fifth largest prize in the history of the game, according to Mega Millions.
    
            Tuesday’s drawing will happen at 11 p.m. ET.",CNN,25/03/2024,"['The winning numbers for Monday’s estimated $800 million Powerball jackpot – which would be one of the largest prizes in the lottery’s history – have been drawn.', 'The numbers are 7, 11, 19, 53 and 68 with a red Powerball of 23.', 'This was the first of two opportunities lottery players have to potentially strike it rich this week as Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot tops $1 billion.', 'If the Powerball prize is won it would be the sixth-largestin the game’s history.', 'A winner would have the option of receiving an estimated $800 million in annual payments or a lump sum payment of $384.8 million – both before taxes, according to Powerball.', 'The Powerball jackpot was last won on January 1 by a ticket in Michigan with an estimated $842.4 million prize.', 'There have been 35 consecutive Powerball drawings with no grand prize winner.', 'The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9, but the odds of snagging the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.', 'If the odds weren’t in your favor during Monday’s Powerball drawing, you can try again with Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, when $1.1 billion will be up for grabs.', 'The lottery crossed the billion-dollar mark after there were no grand prize winners in Friday’s drawing.', 'If the jackpot is won Tuesday, it would be the fifth largest prize in the history of the game, according to Mega Millions.', 'Tuesday’s drawing will happen at 11 p.m. ET.']",0.5922522708028444,This was the first of two opportunities lottery players have to potentially strike it rich this week as Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot tops $1 billion.,,0.900397777557373,This was the first of two opportunities lottery players have to potentially strike it rich this week as Tuesday’s Mega Millions jackpot tops $1 billion.,,2024-03-26
Don Lemon says Elon Musk canceled his deal with X after ‘tense’ interview,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/13/media/don-lemon-says-elon-deal-canceled/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:55 PM EDT, Wed March 13, 2024
    ","Don Lemon said Wednesday that his partnership with Elon Musk went down in flames, hours after the former CNN anchor conducted an interview last week with the erratic billionaire for the debut episode of his new independent web-based show.
    
            “Elon publicly encouraged me to join X with a new show, saying I would have his ‘full support,’” Lemon said in a statement, adding that he took Musk at his word that he was “interested in working directly with diverse voices.”
    
            In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday night, Lemon spoke about his exchange with Musk and shared video excerpts from the 90 minute sit-down, in which Lemon asked Musk questions on an array of topics.
    
            Lemon said he pressed Musk about the rise in hate speech on X since the billionaire took over the social media platform last year, asking him if he believed that he and the company had a responsibility to moderate hateful content.
    
            “I don’t have to answer questions from reporters, Don,” Musk replied. “The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not do this interview.”
    
            Lemon also asked Musk about a recent meeting he held with former President Donald Trump. CNN previously confirmed the meeting with Musk, one of several Trump held with donors in Palm Beach in recent weeks as he seeks to raise more money for his financially strained campaign.
    
            “I was at a breakfast at a friend’s place and Donald Trump came by. That’s it,” Musk said, adding that Trump did “most of the talking.”
    
            Musk said Trump, who is facing more than a half a billion dollars in civil judgments and multiple criminal cases playing out in the courts, did not ask him for money. Musk said he was “not paying his legal bills in any way shape or form.”
    
            Lemon also brought up Musk’s open use of the drug ketamine, asking the SpaceX founder if he believed it posed a problem for his government security clearance. Musk, Lemon said, answered no because he has a prescription for the drug.
    
            In his statement on social media, Lemon said the sit-down he conducted with Musk for the first episode of “The Don Lemon Show,” which will be released Monday on social media platforms including X and YouTube, was “respectful and wide ranging” and that “there were no restrictions on the interview that he willingly agreed to.”
    
            “His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me,” Lemon added.
    
            In a video posted on his social media Wednesday, Lemon took further aim at Musk’s claim to be a “free speech absolutist.”
    
            “Throughout our conversation I kept reiterating to him, although it was tense at times, I thought it was good for people to see our exchange,” Lemon said. “But apparently free speech absolutism doesn’t apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me.”
    
            While the interview is not yet public, a person familiar with the matter said Musk was miffed when Lemon questioned him on his use of the drug ketamine, his government security clearance, and the issue of antisemitism.
    
            In a statement, X defended Musk’s decision to pull the plug on its agreement with Lemon.
    
            “The Don Lemon Show is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities,” the company said in a statement. “However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”
    
            Asked by a user on X what led to the decision, Musk attacked Lemon and CNN, which is not involved in Lemon’s new venture.
    
            “His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk wrote. “And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just [former CNN chief] Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”
    
            But a spokesperson for Lemon told CNN that the media personality expects Musk to honor the financial terms of the agreement.
    
            “Don has a deal with X and expects to be paid for it,” the spokesperson said. “If we have to go to court we will.”
    
            Lemon technically had not inked a contract with X, people familiar with the matter told CNN. But contracts do not necessarily have to be signed to be legally binding, particularly if it is clear each side had arrived at a mutual understanding. And according to the people close to the matter, Lemon’s camp is confident that a deal had effectively been struck, as evidenced by the fact that X had touted the deal in public announcements earlier this year. Moreover, Musk himself appeared to acknowledge that there had been a deal, texting Jay Sures, the UTA power agent who represents Lemon, “contract is canceled,” according to people familiar with the matter.
    
            The deal’s implosion comes after Musk urged Lemon to launch a show on his platform, writing last year on X: “It’d be great to have [MSNBC host] Rachel Maddow, Don Lemon & others on the left put their shows on this platform. No exclusivity or legal docs required! You will receive our full support. The digital town square is for all.”
    
            In another post, Musk directly appealed to Lemon: “Have you considered doing your show on this platform? Maybe worth a try. Audience is much bigger.”
    
            Musk has claimed to believe in free speech absolutism, but he has repeatedly taken steps to limit the speech of critics. The billionaire has at times suspended journalists from his platform and filed lawsuits against watchdogs for publishing reports critical of X.
    
            While Musk frequently launches ugly attacks on journalists and traditional news organizations, he has simultaneously elevated conspiracy theories and extremist rhetoric.
    
            Last year, Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory, which resulted in droves of advertisers fleeing X. Only then, days afterward, did Musk publicly express remorse for his actions.
    
            Lemon was ousted from CNN last year, in a decision that the longtime anchor said left him “stunned.” No specific reason was given by CNN for Lemon’s dismissal, but it came after he was widely criticized for making sexist comments about then-GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Lemon apologized for the remarks at the time, saying, “When I make a mistake, I own it. And I own this one as well.”
    
            This story has been updated with statements posted on X and additional context.",CNN,13/03/2024,"['Don Lemon said Wednesday that his partnership with Elon Musk went down in flames, hours after the former CNN anchor conducted an interview last week with the erratic billionaire for the debut episode of his new independent web-based show.', '“Elon publicly encouraged me to join X with a new show, saying I would have his ‘full support,’” Lemon said in a statement, adding that he took Musk at his word that he was “interested in working directly with diverse voices.”', 'In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday night, Lemon spoke about his exchange with Musk and shared video excerpts from the 90 minute sit-down, in which Lemon asked Musk questions on an array of topics.', 'Lemon said he pressed Musk about the rise in hate speech on X since the billionaire took over the social media platform last year, asking him if he believed that he and the company had a responsibility to moderate hateful content.', '“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters, Don,” Musk replied. “', 'The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it.', 'Otherwise, I would not do this interview.”', 'Lemon also asked Musk about a recent meeting he held with former President Donald Trump.', 'CNN previouslyconfirmedthe meeting with Musk, one of several Trump held with donors in Palm Beach in recent weeks as he seeks to raise more money for his financially strained campaign.', '“I was at a breakfast at a friend’s place and Donald Trump came by.', 'That’s it,” Musk said, adding that Trump did “most of the talking.”', 'Musk said Trump, who is facing more than a half a billion dollars in civil judgments and multiple criminal cases playing out in the courts, did not ask him for money.', 'Musk said he was “not paying his legal bills in any way shape or form.”', 'Lemon also brought up Musk’s open use of the drug ketamine, asking the SpaceX founder if he believed it posed a problem for his government security clearance.', 'Musk, Lemon said, answered no because he has a prescription for the drug.', 'In his statement on social media, Lemon said the sit-down he conducted with Musk for the first episode of “The Don Lemon Show,” which will be released Monday on social media platforms including X and YouTube, was “respectful and wide ranging” and that “there were no restrictions on the interview that he willingly agreed to.”', '“His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me,” Lemon added.', 'In avideo postedon his social media Wednesday, Lemon took further aim at Musk’s claim to be a “free speech absolutist.”', '“Throughout our conversation I kept reiterating to him, although it was tense at times, I thought it was good for people to see our exchange,” Lemon said. “', 'But apparently free speech absolutism doesn’t apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me.”', 'While the interview is not yet public, a person familiar with the matter said Musk was miffed when Lemon questioned him on his use of the drug ketamine, his government security clearance, and the issue of antisemitism.', 'In a statement, X defended Musk’s decision to pull the plug on its agreement with Lemon.', '“The Don Lemon Show is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities,” the company said in a statement. “', 'However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”', 'Asked by a user on X what led to the decision, Musk attacked Lemon and CNN, which is not involved in Lemon’s new venture.', '“His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk wrote. “', 'And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just [former CNN chief] Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”', 'But a spokesperson for Lemon told CNN that the media personality expects Musk to honor the financial terms of the agreement.', '“Don has a deal with X and expects to be paid for it,” the spokesperson said. “', 'If we have to go to court we will.”', 'Lemon technically had not inked a contract with X, people familiar with the matter told CNN.But contracts do not necessarily have to be signed to be legally binding, particularly if it is clear each side had arrived at a mutual understanding.', 'And according to the people close to the matter,Lemon’s camp is confident that a deal had effectively been struck, as evidenced by the fact that X had touted the deal in public announcements earlier this year.', 'Moreover, Musk himself appeared to acknowledge that there had been a deal, texting Jay Sures, the UTA power agent who represents Lemon, “contract is canceled,” according to people familiar with the matter.', 'The deal’s implosion comes after Musk urged Lemon to launch a show on his platform, writing last year on X: “It’d be great to have [MSNBC host] Rachel Maddow, Don Lemon & others on the left put their shows on this platform.', 'No exclusivity or legal docs required!', 'You will receive our full support.', 'The digital town square is for all.”', 'In another post, Musk directly appealed to Lemon: “Have you considered doing your show on this platform?', 'Maybe worth a try.', 'Audience is much bigger.”', 'Musk has claimed to believe in free speech absolutism, but he has repeatedly taken steps to limit the speech of critics.', 'The billionaire has at times suspended journalists from his platform and filed lawsuits against watchdogs for publishing reports critical of X.  While Musk frequently launches ugly attacks on journalists and traditional news organizations, he has simultaneously elevated conspiracy theories and extremist rhetoric.', 'Last year, Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory, which resulted in droves of advertisers fleeing X. Only then, days afterward, did Musk publicly express remorse for his actions.', 'Lemon was ousted from CNN last year, in a decision that the longtime anchor said left him “stunned.”', 'No specific reason was given by CNN for Lemon’s dismissal, but it came after he was widely criticized for making sexist comments about then-GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley.', 'Lemon apologized for the remarks at the time, saying, “When I make a mistake, I own it.', 'And I own this one as well.”', 'This story has been updated with statements posted on X and additional context.']",0.092430696653778,But a spokesperson for Lemon told CNN that the media personality expects Musk to honor the financial terms of the agreement.,"The billionaire has at times suspended journalists from his platform and filed lawsuits against watchdogs for publishing reports critical of X.  While Musk frequently launches ugly attacks on journalists and traditional news organizations, he has simultaneously elevated conspiracy theories and extremist rhetoric.",-0.4351293444633484,"And according to the people close to the matter,Lemon’s camp is confident that a deal had effectively been struck, as evidenced by the fact that X had touted the deal in public announcements earlier this year.","Lemon was ousted from CNN last year, in a decision that the longtime anchor said left him “stunned.”",2024-03-26
Judge’s stern rebuke of Elon Musk’s X gives researchers fresh hope,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/judges-stern-rebuke-of-elon-musks-x-gives-researchers-fresh-hope/index.html,"
  Published
        1:17 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024
    ","A federal judge’s decision this week reprimanding Elon Musk’s X will have reverberating effects on efforts to hold influential online platforms accountable, legal experts and advocacy groups say.
    
            On Monday, District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed and excoriated a lawsuit by X against online watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate as an attempt to silence the non-profit group for sounding alarms about hate speech on the platform.
    
            Breyer wrote in Monday’s order that the lawsuit was “unabashedly” about “punishing” reports written by CCDH, which X had accused of campaigning to drive away its advertisers. Breyer held that the reports were “unquestionably” protected by the group’s free speech rights.
    
            Now, that decision could embolden other research groups and Musk critics who have faced legal threats from the billionaire.
    
            The CCDH case — in the US District Court for the Northern District of California — has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X, where Musk has restored the accounts of previously banned White supremacists and spreaders of misinformation and where Musk himself has amplified various conspiracy theories.
    
            And CCDH is not the only organization that has faced attacks by self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Musk after criticizing or raising concerns about his platform.
    
            “This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism.
    
            “Society needs reliable and ethical research into social media platforms, and often that research relies on being able to study publicly available posts,” Abdo said.
    
            X said it plans to appeal Breyer’s decision.
    
            In his first year as owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk threatened legal action against the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, as well as against Microsoft and Meta for allegedly improper data and trade secret access, respectively. None of those threats ever amounted to real lawsuits.
    
            He did, however, sue the progressive media watchdog Media Matters over its analysis highlighting antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X, alleging that the group’s testing methodology was not representative of how real users experience the site and that the report was designed to drive away advertisers. Legal experts have described that case as “weak” on the merits and as a “bogus” attempt to chill criticism of X.
    
            This week’s court decision may be only a temporary setback in Musk’s wider plan to stifle criticism, said Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone. Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings.
    
            The states of Texas and Missouri each announced probes into Media Matters following X’s lawsuit against the group, to which Musk responded, “Great!”
    
            As recently as Monday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a petition in state court seeking to compel Media Matters’ cooperation with his investigation. The filing came a week after he appeared with Musk in a live event on X — which Carusone said shows how Musk hopes to deputize the power of government to silence his critics.
    
            “They have every reason to do it,” Carusone said of the AGs’ investigations. “They get the political benefits, they get the attention. There doesn’t seem to be any cost to them yet. And if they are successful at developing this new playbook, this new terrain, legally, then it’s going to pave the way for them to just use this tool and tactic over and over and over again.”
    
            A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Carusone’s claims.
    
            Researchers from non-profits and academic institutions have had a harder time studying X since Musk’s takeover in 2022. Academics need large samples of posts, shares, likes and other data to study social media trends in mis- and disinformation, public health, elections and other key topics. But one of Musk’s first changes at X was to put access to platform data behind a steep paywall.
    
            Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year — were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform.
    
            The change may have forced some researchers to rely more heavily on first-person observational data to draw conclusions about user behavior on X. Groups like CCDH have also used automated “scraping” of publicly viewable content from X rather than paying the company for data directly, a tactic that helped give rise to X’s initial lawsuit.
    
            Efforts by X and other social media companies to limit research transparency makes them less accountable to the public at best and, at worst, could mask malicious behavior, said David Karpf, an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.
    
            “We need independent research to have any real measure of what’s going on at X/Twitter. Musk is only ever going to release data that makes his company look good,” Karpf said. “These platforms are too big and too vital to the spread of information to be left unmonitored.”
    
            “This is an election year,” Karpf added, “and the platforms are taking steps to make it harder to monitor how their services are used for malignant ends.”
    
            Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face.
    
            “The guardrails for democracy are hanging by a thread and we have dwindling insights into platform practices as researchers face lawsuits, congressional subpoenas and other scare tactics,” said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel and director of digital rights at Free Press.
    
            Ultimately, Benavidez called the ruling “a reminder that platform accountability is essential and will inevitably prevail when up against bullies like Musk who try to silence us.”",CNN,26/03/2024,"['A federal judge’s decision this week reprimanding Elon Musk’s X will have reverberating effects on efforts to hold influential online platforms accountable, legal experts and advocacy groups say.', 'On Monday, District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed and excoriated a lawsuit by X against online watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate as an attempt to silence the non-profit group for sounding alarms about hate speech on the platform.', 'Breyer wrote in Monday’s order that the lawsuit was “unabashedly” about “punishing” reports written by CCDH, which X had accused of campaigning to drive away its advertisers.', 'Breyer held that the reports were “unquestionably” protected by the group’s free speech rights.', 'Now, that decision could embolden other research groups and Musk critics who have faced legal threats from the billionaire.', 'The CCDH case — in the US District Court for the Northern District of California —has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X, where Musk has restored the accounts of previously banned White supremacists and spreaders of misinformation and where Musk himself has amplified various conspiracy theories.', 'And CCDH is not the only organization that has faced attacks by self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Musk after criticizing or raising concerns about his platform.', '“This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism.', '“Society needs reliable and ethical research into social media platforms, and often that research relies on being able to study publicly available posts,” Abdo said.', 'X said it plans to appeal Breyer’s decision.', 'In his first year as owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk threatened legal action against the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, as well as against Microsoft and Meta for allegedly improper data and trade secret access, respectively.', 'None of those threats ever amounted to real lawsuits.', 'He did, however, sue the progressive media watchdog Media Matters over itsanalysishighlighting antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X, alleging that the group’s testing methodology was not representative of how real users experience the site and that the report was designed to drive away advertisers.', 'Legal experts have described that case as “weak” on the merits and as a “bogus” attempt to chill criticism of X.  This week’s court decision may be only a temporary setback in Musk’s wider plan to stifle criticism, said Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone.', 'Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings.', 'The states of Texas and Missouri each announced probes into Media Matters following X’s lawsuit against the group, to which Musk responded, “Great!”', 'As recently as Monday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a petition in state court seeking to compel Media Matters’ cooperation with his investigation.', 'The filing came a week after he appeared with Musk in a live event on X — which Carusone said shows how Musk hopes to deputize the power of government to silence his critics.', '“They have every reason to do it,” Carusone said of the AGs’ investigations. “', 'They get the political benefits, they get the attention.', 'There doesn’t seem to be any cost to them yet.', 'And if they are successful at developing this new playbook, this new terrain, legally, then it’s going to pave the way for them to just use this tool and tactic over and over and over again.”', 'A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Carusone’s claims.', 'Researchers from non-profits and academic institutions have had a harder time studying X since Musk’s takeover in 2022.', 'Academics need large samples of posts, shares, likes and other data to study social media trends in mis- and disinformation, public health, elections and other key topics.', 'But one of Musk’s first changes at X was to put access to platform data behind a steep paywall.', 'Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year —were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform.', 'The change may have forced some researchers to rely more heavily on first-person observational data to draw conclusions about user behavior on X. Groups like CCDH have also used automated “scraping” of publicly viewable content from X rather than paying the company for data directly, a tactic that helped give rise to X’s initial lawsuit.', 'Efforts by X and other social media companies to limit research transparency makes them less accountable to the public at best and, at worst, could mask malicious behavior, said David Karpf, an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.', '“We need independent research to have any real measure of what’s going on at X/Twitter.', 'Musk is only ever going to release data that makes his company look good,” Karpf said. “', 'These platforms are too big and too vital to the spread of information to be left unmonitored.”', '“This is an election year,” Karpf added, “and the platforms are taking steps to make it harder to monitor how their services are used for malignant ends.”', 'Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face.', '“The guardrails for democracy are hanging by a thread and we have dwindling insights into platform practices as researchers face lawsuits, congressional subpoenas and other scare tactics,” said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel and director of digital rights at Free Press.', 'Ultimately, Benavidez called the ruling “a reminder that platform accountability is essential and will inevitably prevail when up against bullies like Musk who try to silence us.”']",0.0427064270235155,"Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings.","“This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism.",-0.3806278450148446,"Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face.","Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year —were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform.",2024-03-26
Apple sued in a landmark iPhone monopoly lawsuit,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/21/tech/apple-sued-antitrust-doj/index.html,"
  Updated
        12:12 PM EDT, Thu March 21, 2024
    ","The US Justice Department and more than a dozen states filed a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, accusing the giant company of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market.
    
            It’s the largest in a recent string of Big Tech companies to face antitrust complaints from the US government, which is cracking down on the massive industry, whose power has gone largely unchecked over the past several decades.
    
            The complaint, said Attorney General Merrick Garland at a news conference, alleges that ”Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits but by violating federal antitrust law.”
    
            “Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law,” he added.
    
            The long-anticipated lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, comes after years of allegations by critics that Apple has harmed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach to its hardware and software: Apple famously makes its tech easy to use, but it achieves that by tightly controlling – and in some cases, restricting – how third-party companies can interact with the tech behemoth’s products and services. In some cases, Apple may give its own products better access and features than its competitors.
    
            The company said it denied the lawsuit’s allegations and would fight them and added that the lawsuit could empower government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”
    
            But Garland on Thursday said Apple’s actions have wide-ranging effects.
    
            “Monopolies like Apple’s threaten the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based. They stifle innovation. They hurt producers and workers and increase cost for consumers,” Garland said Thursday.
    
            “If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly. But there’s a law for that,” he added.
    
            For example, Apple allows iPhone customers to send high-quality photos and videos seamlessly to one another, but multimedia texts to Android phones are slower and grainy. The company late last year relented and agreed to improve the quality standard it uses to interact with Android phones via text message – but it still maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue.
    
            The company also gives its own products the ability to access certain parts of its hardware that it restricts other companies from using. That unleashes an almost magical experience for how iPhones interact with AirTags, when competitors’ products are far more limited in their capabilities.
    
            “Apple creates barriers that make it extremely difficult and expensive for both users and developers to venture outside the Apple ecosystem,” Garland said on Thursday.
    
            This year, European regulations forced Apple to give other companies access to the iPhone’s tap-to-pay hardware chip, enabling the creation of competing digital wallets. But those rules are limited to the European Union.
    
            And Apple maintains a 30% commission on most sales through its app store – a frequent complaint from companies that try to sell subscriptions, saying Apple’s enormous share of the smartphone market forces them to pay what they argue is an unnecessarily high commission.
    
            “We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it,” Apple said in a statement.
    
            Thursday’s suit claims Apple has illegally monopolized smartphone markets by using a complex web of contractual terms that harm everything from text messaging to mobile payments. Among other things, the DOJ says, Apple has used its control over iOS, the iPhone operating system, to block innovative new apps and cloud streaming services from the public; degrade how Android messages appear on iPhones; restricted how competing smartwatches can work with iPhones; and hindered rival payment solutions.
    
            Apple, in a statement, said the lawsuit would set a “dangerous precedent” and hinder its ability to make the compelling and consumer-friendly technology that have made the company one of the most valuable in the world.
    
            “At Apple, we innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users,” the company said in its statement. “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.”
    
            Thursday’s lawsuit against Apple seeks three specific remedies that could dramatically change the company’s business model.
    
            The Justice Department wants a court order barring Apple from using its app store to block innovative new apps. It also wants the court to block Apple-imposed restrictions that prevent other messaging apps, smartwatches, digital wallets and other technologies from integrating with the iPhone.
    
            It also called for the court to prevent Apple from using its contractual terms to “obtain, maintain, extend, or entrench” the company’s alleged monopoly.
    
            The complaint, a copy of which was reviewed by CNN, does not explicitly call for a breakup of Apple. But it did not rule out the possibility, and asks for “relief as needed to cure any competitive harm.”
    
            According to the complaint, the list of participating states or districts in the suit include New Jersey, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
    
            Apple has shrugged off legal challenges and criticism for years that its practices are anticompetitive. Its sterling consumer reputation and a disciplined public relations and legal strategy mirror the precision with which Apple manufactures and oversees its products.
    
            But the Justice Department’s landmark suit challenges a broad range of Apple’s practices.
    
            The case represents the Biden administration’s latest effort to hold a Big Tech giant accountable under US antitrust law.
    
            Apple was named in a sprawling House report in 2020 finding that the iPhone maker, along with Meta, Google and Amazon, hold “monopoly power.” Until Thursday, Apple was the only one of those tech companies the federal government had not yet sued for alleged antitrust violations.
    
            The legal action could weigh on Apple’s stock price, which currently values the company at just under $3 trillion, and could force changes to policies, business strategies, products and applications by the tech giant. Even divestment of some assets is not out of the question for Apple, the tech company founded by Steve Jobs in the 1970s.
    
            Apple’s (AAPL) stock fell 3% Thursday. The lawsuit was widely anticipated.
    
            Along with a pair of ongoing antitrust cases against Google, the DOJ lawsuit against Apple is likely to become a symbol of the Biden administration’s commitment to competition and lowering prices. It will also be a test of how far courts are willing to go to apply decades-old antitrust law to the modern digital economy.
    
            The Apple case may be one of the most closely watched lawsuits brought by Jonathan Kanter, Biden’s top DOJ antitrust official. Kanter, who in private practice once represented rivals to Google including Microsoft and Yelp, is viewed as part of a fresh generation of regulators.
    
            Along with his counterpart at the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, Kanter has argued that the United States has for decades allowed a wave of corporate consolidation and anticompetitive practices that ultimately harmed the public through higher prices, fewer choices or reduced innovation.
    
            To solve Android phone customers’ “green bubble” issue, Eric Migicovsky, a tech entrepreneur, says an app he created, dubbed Beeper Mini, to help Android users message iPhone users without those limitations was quickly shut down by Apple.
    
            “It lasted for a total of three days before Apple started to take swings at us,” Migicovsky said. “Technologically, they worked very hard to take actions to penalize Beeper Mini users by knocking the connection offline or by making it progressively more unreliable.”
    
            Those kind of interactions have made Apple’s app store a focus of antitrust complaints.
    
            Beginning in 2020, Apple fought a highly public court battle against Epic Games, maker of the video game “Fortnite.”
    
            Apple isn’t an illegal monopolist in distributing iOS apps, federal courts have decided in that case, highlighting the difficulty of pinning Apple down on federal antitrust charges. Apple did, however, get penalized for violating a California competition law and altered some of its app store practices in response to a court order.
    
            Those rulings highlight the challenges ahead for the Justice Department, which will need to bring a strong legal theory about how Apple has allegedly harmed competition, legal experts say. The DOJ would also need to prove that the benefits Apple has delivered to consumers don’t outweigh its alleged antitrust violations.
    
            The US government isn’t the only one to pressure Apple to change its business practices. In March, a new European Union law took effect that forces Apple to make significant adjustments.
    
            In a seismic move to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple said for the first time it would allow users in the trading bloc to download apps from third-party app stores.
    
            But critics including Epic are already accusing Apple of violating the EU law. Just before the DMA took effect, Epic complained to competition authorities that Apple blocked it from launching its own app store on iOS. The European Commission is investigating.
    
            Since its early days, Apple has pursued a reputation as an elite, high-design brand. It’s often focused on a premium user experience and design aesthetic, setting its products apart from rivals such as Microsoft and Google. That limited approach worked for years, until a wave of complaints by app developers and consumers drew more attention to the potential downsides of Apple’s restrictiveness.
    
            In the era led by founder Steve Jobs, “Apple was a cultural phenomenon that pitted wingtips against sandals; suits against t-shirts,” said James Bailey, a professor of leadership development at the George Washington University School of Business. “Apple relentlessly innovated. They were always steps ahead of the competition.”
    
            Now, however, Apple’s advances are more “incremental” than earth-shattering, Bailey added. “[CEO Tim] Cook has been focused on financial management and expanding market share.”
    
            “Apple’s financially healthy,” Bailey said, but their reputation for innovation is “dimming.”
    
            This story has been updated with additional context and developments.",CNN,21/03/2024,"['The US Justice Department and more than a dozen states filed a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, accusing the giant company of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market.', 'It’s the largest in a recent string of Big Tech companies to face antitrust complaints from the US government, which is cracking down on the massive industry, whose power has gone largely unchecked over the past several decades.', 'The complaint, said Attorney General Merrick Garland at a news conference, alleges that ”Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits but by violating federal antitrust law.”', '“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law,” he added.', 'The long-anticipated lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, comes after years of allegations by critics that Apple has harmed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach to its hardware and software: Apple famously makes its tech easy to use, but it achieves that by tightly controlling – and in some cases, restricting – how third-party companies can interact with the tech behemoth’s products and services.', 'In some cases, Apple may give its own products better access and features than its competitors.', 'The company said it denied the lawsuit’s allegations and would fight them and added that the lawsuit could empower government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”', 'But Garland on Thursday said Apple’s actions have wide-ranging effects.', '“Monopolies like Apple’s threaten the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based.', 'They stifle innovation.', 'They hurt producers and workers and increase cost for consumers,” Garland said Thursday.', '“If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.', 'But there’s a law for that,” he added.', 'For example, Apple allows iPhone customers to send high-quality photos and videos seamlessly to one another, but multimedia texts to Android phones are slower and grainy.', 'The company late last year relented and agreed to improve the quality standard it uses to interact with Android phones via text message – but it still maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue.', 'The company also gives its own products the ability to access certain parts of its hardware that it restricts other companies from using.', 'That unleashes an almost magical experience for how iPhones interact with AirTags, when competitors’ products are far more limited in their capabilities.', '“Apple creates barriers that make it extremely difficult and expensive for both users and developers to venture outside the Apple ecosystem,” Garland said on Thursday.', 'This year, European regulations forced Apple to give other companies access to the iPhone’s tap-to-pay hardware chip, enabling the creation of competing digital wallets.', 'But those rules are limited to the European Union.', 'And Apple maintains a 30% commission on most sales through its app store – a frequent complaint from companies that try to sell subscriptions, saying Apple’s enormous share of the smartphone market forces them to pay what they argue is an unnecessarily high commission.', '“We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it,” Apple said in a statement.', 'Thursday’s suit claims Apple has illegally monopolized smartphone markets by using a complex web of contractual terms that harm everything from text messaging to mobile payments.', 'Among other things, the DOJ says, Apple has used its control over iOS, the iPhone operating system, to block innovative new apps and cloud streaming services from the public; degrade how Android messages appear on iPhones; restricted how competing smartwatches can work with iPhones; and hindered rival payment solutions.', 'Apple, in a statement, said the lawsuit would set a “dangerousprecedent” and hinder its ability to make the compelling and consumer-friendly technology that have made the company one of the most valuable in the world.', '“At Apple, we innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users,” the company said in its statement. “', 'This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.”', 'Thursday’s lawsuit against Apple seeks three specific remedies that could dramatically change the company’s business model.', 'The Justice Department wants a court order barring Apple from using its app store to block innovative new apps.', 'It also wants the court to block Apple-imposed restrictions that prevent other messaging apps, smartwatches, digital wallets and other technologies from integrating with the iPhone.', 'It also called for the court to prevent Apple from using its contractual terms to “obtain, maintain, extend, or entrench” the company’s alleged monopoly.', 'The complaint, a copy of which was reviewed by CNN, does not explicitly call for a breakup of Apple.', 'But it did not rule out the possibility, and asks for “relief as needed to cure any competitive harm.”', 'According to the complaint, the list of participating states or districts in the suit include New Jersey, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.', 'Apple has shrugged off legal challenges and criticism for years that its practices are anticompetitive.', 'Its sterling consumer reputation and a disciplined public relations and legal strategy mirror the precision with which Apple manufactures and oversees its products.', 'But the Justice Department’s landmark suit challenges a broad range of Apple’s practices.', 'The case represents the Biden administration’s latest effort to hold a Big Tech giant accountable under US antitrust law.', 'Apple was named ina sprawling House reportin 2020 finding that the iPhone maker, along with Meta, Google and Amazon, hold “monopoly power.”', 'Until Thursday, Apple was the only one of those tech companies the federal government had not yet sued for alleged antitrust violations.', 'The legal action could weigh on Apple’s stock price, which currently values the company at just under $3 trillion, and could force changes to policies, business strategies, products and applications by the tech giant.', 'Even divestment of some assets is not out of the question for Apple, the tech company founded by Steve Jobs in the 1970s.', 'Apple’s (AAPL) stock fell 3% Thursday.', 'The lawsuit was widely anticipated.', 'Along with a pair of ongoing antitrust cases against Google, the DOJ lawsuit against Apple is likely to become a symbol of the Biden administration’s commitment to competition and lowering prices.', 'It will also be a test of how far courts are willing to go to apply decades-old antitrust law to the modern digital economy.', 'The Apple case may be one of the most closely watched lawsuits brought by Jonathan Kanter, Biden’s top DOJ antitrust official.', 'Kanter, who in private practice once represented rivals to Google including Microsoft and Yelp, is viewed as part of a fresh generation of regulators.', 'Along with his counterpart at the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, Kanter has argued that the United States has for decades allowed a wave of corporate consolidation and anticompetitive practices that ultimately harmed the public through higher prices, fewer choices or reduced innovation.', 'To solve Android phone customers’ “green bubble” issue, Eric Migicovsky, a tech entrepreneur, says an app he created, dubbed Beeper Mini, to help Android users message iPhone users without those limitations was quickly shut down by Apple.', '“It lasted for a total of three days before Apple started to take swings at us,” Migicovsky said. “', 'Technologically, they worked very hard to take actions to penalize Beeper Mini users by knocking the connection offline or by making it progressively more unreliable.”', 'Those kind of interactions have made Apple’s app store a focus of antitrust complaints.', 'Beginning in 2020, Apple fought a highly public court battle against Epic Games, maker of the video game “Fortnite.”', 'Apple isn’t an illegal monopolist in distributing iOS apps, federal courts have decided in that case, highlighting the difficulty of pinning Apple down on federal antitrust charges.', 'Apple did, however, get penalized for violating a California competition law and altered some of its app store practices in response to a court order.', 'Those rulings highlight the challenges ahead for the Justice Department, which will need to bring a strong legal theory about how Apple has allegedly harmed competition, legal experts say.', 'The DOJ would also need to prove that the benefits Apple has delivered to consumers don’t outweigh its alleged antitrust violations.', 'The US government isn’t the only one to pressure Apple to change its business practices.', 'In March, a new European Union law took effect that forces Apple to make significant adjustments.', 'In a seismic move to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple said for the first time it would allow users in the trading bloc to download apps from third-party app stores.', 'But critics including Epic are already accusing Apple of violating the EU law.', 'Just before the DMA took effect, Epic complained to competition authorities that Apple blocked it from launching its own app store on iOS.', 'The European Commission is investigating.', 'Since its early days, Apple has pursued a reputation as an elite, high-design brand.', 'It’s often focused on a premium user experience and design aesthetic, setting its products apart from rivals such as Microsoft and Google.', 'That limited approach worked for years, until a wave of complaints by app developers and consumers drew more attention to the potential downsides of Apple’s restrictiveness.', 'In the era led by founder Steve Jobs, “Apple was a cultural phenomenon that pitted wingtips against sandals; suits against t-shirts,” said James Bailey, a professor of leadership development at the George Washington University School of Business. “', 'Apple relentlessly innovated.', 'They were always steps ahead of the competition.”', 'Now, however, Apple’s advances are more “incremental” than earth-shattering, Bailey added. “[', 'CEO Tim] Cook has been focused on financial management and expanding market share.”', '“Apple’s financially healthy,” Bailey said, but their reputation for innovation is “dimming.”', 'This story has been updated with additional context and developments.']",-0.0142032461928575,"“At Apple, we innovate every day to make technology people love – designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users,” the company said in its statement. “",But critics including Epic are already accusing Apple of violating the EU law.,-0.2537487363815308,CEO Tim] Cook has been focused on financial management and expanding market share.”,Apple’s (AAPL) stock fell 3% Thursday.,2024-03-26
Fox News sued by family of Ukrainian journalist killed while covering war over ‘reckless and negligent conduct’,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/14/media/fox-news-sued-photojournalist-deaths/index.html,"
  Updated
        8:51 PM EDT, Thu March 14, 2024
    ","Fox News is the subject of yet another explosive lawsuit.
    
            On the two-year anniversary of the attack in Ukraine that claimed the lives of Fox News photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and contractor Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, the network was accused Thursday of being culpable for the fatal incident by engaging in “reckless and negligent conduct” that put the crew in harm’s way. The network was also accused of launching “a campaign of material misrepresentations and omissions to hide its own accountability for the disaster and shift blame” to then-security contractor Shane Thomson, who allegedly warned against the crew entering the dangerous zone near Kyiv where they were killed.
    
            The lawsuit, filed by Kuvshynova’s parents and Thomson in New York State court, not only named Fox News as a defendant, but also Fox Corporation Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch, Fox News Chief Executive Suzanne Scott, and correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was severely injured in the attack, but survived.
    
            Both deaths were announced at the time by Scott, who said the team’s vehicle came under fire as they were reporting. Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian interior minister, blamed artillery shelling by Russian forces.
    
            But the circumstances that led to the 2022 tragedy, the lawsuit stated, were uncovered as part of a sweeping investigation conducted by lawyers for Thomson and Kuvshynova’s parents to get to the bottom of what happened on March 14, 2022.
    
            Their probe found that the circumstances that led to the attack were set into motion when the Fox News team disregarded warnings to avoid the Irpin-Hostomel area near Kyiv. The mayor of Irpin had barred journalists from the city and Thomson, the security contractor, had vetoed the idea of reporting from the area, according to the lawsuit. Disregarding such security warnings would be unusual in a war zone and Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, who was also reporting from the area at the time, had indicated days prior to the incident that the network’s journalists were following protocol. Heading to the area was considered so dangerous, the lawsuit said, that the Ukrainian driver who had been working with the Fox News team “refused” to take them there, forcing the crew to “find a different driver.”
    
            Eventually, when the crew arrived in the region, they rendezvoused with a few Ukrainian soldiers, who had previously escorted The New York Times reporters into the area. That’s when they realized the vehicle the soldiers were driving was “not large enough to carry all” of them, the lawsuit said. The team decided to leave their security consultant behind, the lawsuit explained.
    
            “The absence of the security contractor was vital, as the crew made fatal mistakes,” the lawsuit said.
    
            The Fox News crew ultimately stopped at an abandoned checkpoint where they were attacked. According to the lawsuit, the “car caught fire and Sasha was burned to ashes inside it, causing her death.” Zakrzewski, the lawsuit said, “managed to escape the car but bled to death at the side of the road from a small puncture wound in his leg.” The lawsuit alleged that “the bleeding could easily have been stemmed to save his life if the security contractor trained in battlefield first aid had been present.” Hall survived the attack and was “later found grievously injured” before being taken for emergency medical care.
    
            In the aftermath of the tragedy, the lawsuit alleged that Fox News has tried to cover up its failures and hide them from the public.
    
            Fox News took “all electronic gear … that survived the attack” and “withheld any record of any evaluation or re-evaluation of the crew’s assignment,” the lawsuit said. The account of the attack that Hall later recounted in his book published by HarperCollins, the lawsuit added, was “misleading.” And, the lawsuit said, Fox News “has attempted to impose non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements on all the surviving family members.”
    
            The lawsuit also alleged that after the fatal incident, Fox News tasked Thomson with transporting Zakrzewski’s body across the Polish border to his widow. The lawsuit said that Thomson objected to the assignment, but was told he had to complete it, and was later “let go from his employment without explanation.”
    
            “He was severely traumatized by the combined experience of his colleagues being killed, transporting the dead body of his friend, and then being dismissed,” the lawsuit said. “Shane reached out to Fox repeatedly for assistance with the trauma. Fox never responded, even after Shane attempted suicide by hanging.”
    
            The lawsuit alleged that Thomson has had trouble finding work because he is “frequently associated with the Fox News disaster of being security advisor for the crew that was killed in Irpin the day after journalists were banned from the area.” The lawsuit also alleged that Fox News employees spread a bogus story that he had a “drinking problem in Kyiv at the time of the fatal incident, insinuating that this was the cause of the disastrous assignment in which Pierre and Sasha were killed.”
    
            Kuvshynova’s parents and Thomson are seeking unspecified punitive damages.
    
            “Sasha Kuvshynova’s final text message — responding to her parents, who were highly alarmed by the dangerousness of the situation unfolding on March 14, with Russian forces closing in on Kyiv — was not to worry,” the lawsuit said, “because Fox was a professional news organization that knew what it was doing and would not expose her to unnecessary danger.”",CNN,14/03/2024,"['Fox Newsis the subject of yet another explosive lawsuit.', 'On the two-year anniversary of the attack inUkrainethat claimed the lives of Fox News photojournalistPierre Zakrzewskiand contractorOleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, the network was accused Thursday of being culpable for the fatal incident by engaging in “reckless and negligent conduct” that put the crew in harm’s way.', 'The network was also accused of launching “a campaign of material misrepresentations and omissions to hide its own accountability for the disaster and shift blame” to then-security contractorShane Thomson, who allegedly warned against the crew entering the dangerous zone near Kyiv where they were killed.', 'The lawsuit, filed by Kuvshynova’s parents and Thomson in New York State court, not only named Fox News as a defendant, but alsoFox CorporationChairman EmeritusRupert Murdoch, Fox News Chief ExecutiveSuzanne Scott, and correspondentBenjamin Hall, who was severely injured in the attack, but survived.', 'Both deaths wereannounced at the timeby Scott, who said the team’s vehicle came under fire as they were reporting.', 'Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian interior minister, blamed artillery shelling by Russian forces.', 'But the circumstances that led to the 2022 tragedy, the lawsuit stated, were uncovered as part of a sweeping investigation conducted by lawyers for Thomson and Kuvshynova’s parents to get to the bottom of what happened on March 14, 2022.', 'Their probe found that the circumstances that led to the attack were set into motion when the Fox News team disregarded warnings to avoid the Irpin-Hostomel area near Kyiv.', 'The mayor of Irpin had barred journalists from the city and Thomson, the security contractor, had vetoed the idea of reporting from the area, according to the lawsuit.', 'Disregarding such security warnings would be unusual in a war zone and Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, who was also reporting from the area at the time, had indicated days prior to the incident that the network’s journalists were following protocol.', 'Heading to the area was considered so dangerous, the lawsuit said, that the Ukrainian driver who had been working with the Fox News team “refused” to take them there, forcing the crew to “find a different driver.”', 'Eventually, when the crew arrived in the region, they rendezvoused with a few Ukrainian soldiers, who had previously escortedTheNew York Timesreporters into the area.', 'That’s when they realized the vehicle the soldiers were driving was “not large enough to carry all” of them, the lawsuit said.', 'The team decided to leave their security consultant behind, the lawsuit explained.', '“The absence of the security contractor was vital, as the crew made fatal mistakes,” the lawsuit said.', 'The Fox News crew ultimately stopped at an abandoned checkpoint where they were attacked.', 'According to the lawsuit, the “car caught fire and Sasha was burned to ashes inside it, causing her death.”', 'Zakrzewski, the lawsuit said, “managed to escape the car but bled to death at the side of the road from a small puncture wound in his leg.”', 'The lawsuit alleged that “the bleeding could easily have been stemmed to save his life if the security contractor trained in battlefield first aid had been present.”', 'Hall survived the attack and was “later found grievously injured” before being taken for emergency medical care.', 'In the aftermath of the tragedy, the lawsuit alleged that Fox News has tried to cover up its failures and hide them from the public.', 'Fox News took “all electronic gear … that survived the attack” and “withheld any record of any evaluation or re-evaluation of the crew’s assignment,” the lawsuit said.', 'The account of the attack that Hall later recounted in his book published byHarperCollins, the lawsuit added, was “misleading.”', 'And, the lawsuit said, Fox News “has attempted to impose non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements on all the surviving family members.”', 'The lawsuit also alleged that after the fatal incident, Fox News tasked Thomson with transporting Zakrzewski’s body across the Polish border to his widow.', 'The lawsuit said that Thomson objected to the assignment, but was told he had to complete it, and was later “let go from his employment without explanation.”', '“He was severely traumatized by the combined experience of his colleagues being killed, transporting the dead body of his friend, and then being dismissed,” the lawsuit said. “', 'Shane reached out to Fox repeatedly for assistance with the trauma.', 'Fox never responded, even after Shane attempted suicide by hanging.”', 'The lawsuit alleged that Thomson has had trouble finding work because he is “frequently associated with the Fox News disaster of being security advisor for the crew that was killed in Irpin the day after journalists were banned from the area.”', 'The lawsuit also alleged that Fox News employees spread a bogus story that he had a “drinking problem in Kyiv at the time of the fatal incident, insinuating that this was the cause of the disastrous assignment in which Pierre and Sasha were killed.”', 'Kuvshynova’s parents and Thomson are seeking unspecified punitive damages.', '“Sasha Kuvshynova’s final text message — responding to her parents, who were highly alarmed by the dangerousness of the situation unfolding on March 14, with Russian forces closing in on Kyiv — was not to worry,” the lawsuit said, “because Fox was a professional news organization that knew what it was doing and would not expose her to unnecessary danger.”']",-0.5348643881666391,The lawsuit alleged that “the bleeding could easily have been stemmed to save his life if the security contractor trained in battlefield first aid had been present.”,"The network was also accused of launching “a campaign of material misrepresentations and omissions to hide its own accountability for the disaster and shift blame” to then-security contractorShane Thomson, who allegedly warned against the crew entering the dangerous zone near Kyiv where they were killed.",-0.7740745743115743,,The lawsuit alleged that Thomson has had trouble finding work because he is “frequently associated with the Fox News disaster of being security advisor for the crew that was killed in Irpin the day after journalists were banned from the area.”,2024-03-26
OpenAI’s wild week. How the Sam Altman story unfolded,https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/22/tech/openai-sam-altman-chaos-explained-intl-hnk/index.html,"
  Updated
        3:32 PM EST, Wed November 22, 2023
    ","In a year of wild tech stories that has seen Elon Musk transform Twitter, cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapse and Silicon Valley Bank implode, this week’s whiplash-inducing turmoil at OpenAI is among the most captivating.
    
            Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps the most visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move. Less than five days later, he’s back as the company’s CEO, now with a board that is, in theory, more supportive of his vision.
    
            The series of extraordinary events unfolded just days after OpenAI held its first-ever developer conference, where it laid out new, commercialized versions of its technology, including the option to customize its ChatGPT AI chatbot.
    
            If you’re just catching up, here’s what you missed from a week so incredible you’d be forgiven for thinking the script could have been written by an early version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
    
            Around 3 p.m. ET, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board that had been convened by fellow co-founder and OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, during which Altman was fired and told that the news would soon be made public.
    
            Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI president, that he would be removed from the board.
    
            Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board. The board said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would become interim CEO.
    
            OpenAI’s strategic partners, including its biggest financial backer Microsoft, were also reportedly informed of Altman’s ouster just minutes before the board’s announcement.
    
            Hours after being fired, Altman posted on X that he “loved working with such talented people” and that he would have “more to say about what’s next later.”
    
            Brockman promptly quit. “Please don’t spend any time being concerned. We will be fine,” Brockman said in a Friday post on X. “Greater things coming soon.”
    
            A key factor in the CEO’s firing was tension between Altman, who favored developing AI more aggressively, and members of the OpenAI board, who wanted to move more cautiously, according to CNN contributor Kara Swisher, who spoke to sources knowledgeable about the unfolding events.
    
            Within 24 hours of Altman being fired, reports emerged that he and other ex-OpenAI loyalists were mulling plans for their own venture.
    
            OpenAI’s board was also reportedly having second thoughts and considering asking the ousted CEO to return.
    
            By Sunday afternoon, Altman was back at OpenAI’s headquarters — this time with a guest badge — to negotiate his potential return. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly mediated the discussion. A 5 p.m. PT deadline was reportedly set for the board to agree to Altman’s demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft, and reinstating him as CEO.
    
            But those talks broke down.
    
            As Sunday turned into Monday, Nadella tweeted that Altman, along with Brockman, would join Microsoft to run a new AI research group. At OpenAI, the group found a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service, Twitch. Murati would return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.
    
            In a post on X early Monday, Shear, who left his role at Twitch in March, described the chance to join OpenAI as “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened in the lead-up to Altman’s firing.
    
            But OpenAI employees were not convinced. More than 500 staffers signed an open letter calling on the company’s board to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman. They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met.
    
            Altman posted on X, saying, “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before. we are all going to work together some way or other, and i’m so excited. one team, one mission.”
    
            The drama was far from over. The Verge reported Monday afternoon that Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members who fired him resign.
    
            And Nadella, speaking to CNBC, said he was “open to both options” when asked whether Altman would actually join Microsoft.
    
            “Look, that is for the OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose,” Nadella said. “We chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously, that depends on the people of OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft.”
    
            Altman was reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s CEO, the company said on X.
    
            “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will also join the board, alongside existing director, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.
    
            “We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said.
    
            In his own post on X, formerly Twitter, Altman wrote that he is “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI and building on the firm’s “strong partnership” with Microsoft.
    
            It’s unclear how Shear will be affected by Altman’s return. Posting on X, Shear wrote: “I am deeply pleased by this result, after (some) 72 very intense hours of work … I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”
    
            Brockman is also returning to OpenAI, according to his post on X.
    
            Ultimately, Microsoft and Altman appear to be the big winners from the dust-up: Altman will continue leading the firm he helped to found. And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.
    
            “We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadella said on X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”",CNN,22/11/2023,"['In a year of wild tech stories that has seen Elon Musk transform Twitter, cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapse and Silicon Valley Bank implode, this week’s whiplash-inducing turmoil at OpenAI is among the most captivating.', 'Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps themost visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move.', 'Less than five days later, he’s back as the company’s CEO, now with a board that is, in theory, more supportive of his vision.', 'The series of extraordinary events unfolded just days after OpenAI held itsfirst-ever developer conference, where it laid out new, commercialized versions of its technology, including the option to customize its ChatGPT AI chatbot.', 'If you’re just catching up, here’s what you missed from a week so incredible you’d be forgiven for thinking the script could have been written by an early version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.', 'Around 3 p.m. ET, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board that had been convened by fellow co-founder and OpenAI chief scientistIlya Sutskever, during which Altman was fired and told that the news would soon be made public.', 'Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI president, that he would be removed from the board.', 'Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board.', 'The board said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would become interim CEO.', 'OpenAI’s strategic partners, including its biggest financial backer Microsoft, were also reportedly informed of Altman’s ouster just minutes before the board’s announcement.', 'Hours after being fired, Altman posted on X that he “loved working with such talented people” and that he would have “more to say about what’s next later.”', 'Brockman promptly quit. “', 'Please don’t spend any time being concerned.', 'We will be fine,” Brockmansaid in a Friday poston X. “Greater things coming soon.”', 'A key factor in the CEO’s firing wastension between Altman, who favored developing AImore aggressively, and members of the OpenAI board, who wanted to move more cautiously,according to CNN contributor Kara Swisher,who spoke to sources knowledgeable about the unfolding events.', 'Within 24 hours of Altman being fired, reports emerged that he and other ex-OpenAI loyalists were mulling plans for their own venture.', 'OpenAI’s board was also reportedly having second thoughts and considering asking the ousted CEO to return.', 'By Sunday afternoon, Altman wasback at OpenAI’s headquarters— this time with a guest badge — to negotiate his potential return.', 'Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly mediated the discussion.', 'A 5 p.m. PT deadline was reportedly set for the board to agree to Altman’s demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft, and reinstating him as CEO.', 'But those talks broke down.', 'As Sunday turned into Monday, Nadella tweeted that Altman, along with Brockman, would join Microsoft to run a new AI research group.', 'At OpenAI, the group found a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service, Twitch.', 'Murati would return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.', 'In a post on X early Monday, Shear, who left his role at Twitch in March, described the chance to join OpenAI as “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.', 'He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened in the lead-up to Altman’s firing.', 'But OpenAI employees were not convinced.', 'More than 500 staffers signed an open letter calling on the company’s board to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman.', 'They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met.', 'Altman posted on X, saying, “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before.', 'we are all going to work together some way or other, and i’m so excited.', 'one team, one mission.”', 'The drama was far from over.', 'The Verge reported Monday afternoonthat Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members who fired him resign.', 'And Nadella, speaking to CNBC, said he was “open to both options” when asked whether Altman would actually join Microsoft.', '“Look, that is for the OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose,” Nadella said. “', 'We chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously, that depends on the people of OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft.”', 'Altmanwas reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s CEO, the company said on X.  “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce.', 'Former Treasury SecretaryLarry Summers will also join the board, alongside existing director, Quora CEOAdam D’Angelo.', '“We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said.', 'In his own post on X, formerly Twitter, Altmanwrotethat he is “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI and building on the firm’s “strong partnership” with Microsoft.', 'It’s unclear how Shear will be affected by Altman’s return.', 'Posting on X, Shear wrote:“I am deeply pleased by this result, after (some) 72 very intense hours of work … I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”', 'Brockman is also returning to OpenAI, according to hispost on X.  Ultimately, Microsoft and Altman appear to be the big winners from the dust-up: Altman will continue leading the firm he helped to found.', 'And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.', '“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadellasaidon X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”']",0.062777217389235,"“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadellasaidon X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”","Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board.",0.5494540418897357,And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI.,"Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps themost visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move.",2024-03-26
Emergency expenses will happen. Try these strategies if you don’t have the cash on hand,https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/11/success/lack-of-emergency-savings/index.html,"
  Published
        6:00 AM EDT, Mon March 11, 2024
    ","Whether it’s an unexpected car repair or an emergency room visit, life happens. And it’s expensive. For those without any kind of safety net, paying for unanticipated expenses can mean borrowing money at astronomical interest rates, as well as forking over late fees if you can’t make payments on time.
    
            And while surveys indicate that there are plenty of people in just such a situation, there are some inexpensive and safe ways to access emergency funds.
    
            In a May 2023 report on the economic well-being of US households, the Federal Reserve reported that only 63% of Americans said they would pay an unexpected $400 expense with their own cash or cash equivalent (e.g. putting it on a credit card but paying that bill in full when it comes due). Of the remaining 37%, most indicated they would borrow the money (using everything from credit cards to payday loans to friends or family). Some said they would sell something to foot the bill. And 13% indicated they simply would not be able to pay it.
    
            Another survey, released by Bankrate.com in January, found that only 44% of US adults said they could pay a $1,000 emergency expense from their savings, while 35% indicated they would have to borrow the money. In that latter group, 21% said they would finance it with a credit card; 10% would borrow the money from family or friends, and 4% say they would take out a personal loan. Another 16% say they would have to reduce their spending on other things.
    
            An earlier survey by Bankrate, meanwhile, found that two-thirds of US adults worried they don’t have enough emergency savings to cover them if they lost their primary source of income. Typically, that would mean at least three months’ worth of living expenses.
    
            Credit card interest rates remain sky-high — the average at the end of February was 20.75%, according to Bankrate.com, with average penalty rates pushing 30%. So simply charging an emergency expense to a high-rate card should be your last resort.
    
            You might, however, look for a new credit card with a 0% introductory rate that will be in effect for a year or more, said Noah Damsky, founder of Marina Wealth Advisors. “This will provide you with the short-term cash you need, and provide you potentially with 18 months to pay it back, without interest.”
    
            Just be sure to pay it all back before the 0% introductory period ends, otherwise a high rate will kick in for the remaining balance.
    
            If your emergency is medical or dental in nature, ask the health provider if they offer a payment plan. “Many providers offer plans without interest, allowing you to spread the cost over several months,” said Marcel Miu, lead wealth planner at Simplify Wealth Planning.
    
            For some people, another low-cost option might be to borrow from a close relative or friend, but only if doing so would not jeopardize your relationship — which is a very personal decision. “While this option requires careful consideration and clear communication about repayment terms, it can be a way to cover expenses without the formalities and costs associated with traditional loans,” Miu said.
    
            In recent years, alternative ways to access cash have also been created outside of the traditional financial system, which has proven expensive for many families.
    
            Daisy Martini, a 29-year-old working for New York City’s Department of Education, felt she didn’t have many good options after she’d been temporarily laid off during the pandemic. Her bills were piling up and she had already accrued high credit card balances from her years in school.
    
            So to get small, short-term loans to tide her over, she turned to SoLo Funds, a community financing platform that puts borrowers in the driver seat: They decide how much they need to borrow, when they can pay it back and how much they’re willing to pay a lender as a “tip” for providing the loan. That tip can never exceed 15% of the loan. Borrowers may offer a much smaller tip, or even nothing. It’s up to lenders to decide if they will accept the borrowers’ terms. Loan amounts can’t exceed $575 and the average is $248, according to SoLo cofounder Rodney Williams. Once borrowers repay in full, they can then borrow again.
    
            Besides using SoLo for small emergency expenses, such as fixing a leak in the roof, Martini said she sometimes uses it for expenses she has a week ahead of when she knows she will be paid. She likes the platform better than the more anonymous interactions with a credit card company. Knowing who is lending to her gives her even more incentive to pay what she owes on time.
    
            “I knew if I borrowed from someone in the community who cared, I would … pay them back. You’re paying someone back who empathizes with your story,” she said.
    
            While getting a low-cost loan to tide you over in a pinch may be a relief, not having to borrow at all is optimal.
    
            To make the next emergency expense less stressful and costly, you can build emergency savings with small amounts consistently over time.
    
            Damsky recommends setting up automatic daily transfers from your checking account to a savings account. For example, he said, if you want to save roughly $150 a month, you could set up a transfer of just $5 a day or $35 a week. At the end of a year, you will have built up more than $1,800, plus whatever interest you earn on those savings. To maximize that interest, try to transfer your money into a high-yielding online savings account, which currently pay between 4% and 5%, according to Bankrate.com.
    
            The same pattern applies if your goal is to have at least three months of living expenses to protect you in case you lose your job. “Even small amounts, if consistent, can accumulate over time,” Miu said.
    
            He also recommends redirecting at least a portion of one-time annual windfalls — such as a tax refund or bonus — to a high-yield savings account.
    
            Two other proven ways to bolster emergency savings are increasing your income (e.g., taking on a side gig,) or cutting back on spending that you do not consider essential to your life, said Linda Grizely, a fee-only planner at Visions Financial Planning. But, she cautioned, ”It’s important to strike a balance and avoid excessive cuts. A plan that can be adhered to is the key to success.”",CNN,11/03/2024,"['Whether it’s an unexpected car repair or an emergency room visit, life happens.', 'And it’s expensive.', 'For those without any kind of safety net, paying for unanticipated expenses can mean borrowing money at astronomical interest rates, as well as forking over late fees if you can’t make payments on time.', 'And while surveys indicate that there are plenty of people in just such a situation, there are some inexpensive and safe ways to access emergency funds.', 'In a May 2023 report on the economic well-being of US households, the Federal Reserve reported that only 63% of Americans said they would pay an unexpected $400 expense with their own cash or cash equivalent (e.g. putting it on a credit card but paying that bill in full when it comes due).', 'Of the remaining 37%, most indicated they would borrow the money (using everything from credit cards to payday loans to friends or family).', 'Some said they would sell something to foot the bill.', 'And 13% indicated they simply would not be able to pay it.', 'Another survey, released by Bankrate.com in January, found that only 44% of US adults said they could pay a $1,000 emergency expense from their savings, while 35% indicated they would have to borrow the money.', 'In that latter group, 21% said they would finance it with a credit card; 10% would borrow the money from family or friends, and 4% say they would take out a personal loan.', 'Another 16% say they would have to reduce their spending on other things.', 'An earlier survey by Bankrate, meanwhile, found that two-thirds of US adults worried they don’t have enough emergency savings to cover them if they lost their primary source of income.', 'Typically, that would mean at least three months’ worth of living expenses.', 'Credit card interest rates remain sky-high — the average at the end of February was 20.75%, according to Bankrate.com, with average penalty rates pushing 30%.', 'So simply charging an emergency expense to a high-rate card should be your last resort.', 'You might, however, look for a new credit card with a 0% introductory rate that will be in effect for a year or more, said Noah Damsky, founder of Marina Wealth Advisors. “', 'This will provide you with the short-term cash you need, and provide you potentially with 18 months to pay it back, without interest.”', 'Just be sure to pay it all back before the 0% introductory period ends, otherwise a high rate will kick in for the remaining balance.', 'If your emergency is medical or dental in nature, ask the health provider if they offer a payment plan. “', 'Many providers offer plans without interest, allowing you to spread the cost over several months,” said Marcel Miu, lead wealth planner at Simplify Wealth Planning.', 'For some people, another low-cost option might be to borrow from a close relative or friend, but only if doing so would not jeopardize your relationship — which is a very personal decision. “', 'While this option requires careful consideration and clear communication about repayment terms, it can be a way to cover expenses without the formalities and costs associated with traditional loans,” Miu said.', 'In recent years, alternative ways to access cash have also been created outside of the traditional financial system, which has proven expensive for many families.', 'Daisy Martini, a 29-year-old working for New York City’s Department of Education, felt she didn’t have many good options after she’d been temporarily laid off during the pandemic.', 'Her bills were piling up and she had already accrued high credit card balances from her years in school.', 'So to get small, short-term loans to tide her over, she turned to SoLo Funds, a community financing platform that puts borrowers in the driver seat: They decide how much they need to borrow, when they can pay it back and how much they’re willing to pay a lender as a “tip” for providing the loan.', 'That tip can never exceed 15% of the loan.', 'Borrowers may offer a much smaller tip, or even nothing.', 'It’s up to lenders to decide if they will accept the borrowers’ terms.', 'Loan amounts can’t exceed $575 and the average is $248, according to SoLo cofounder Rodney Williams.', 'Once borrowers repay in full, they can then borrow again.', 'Besides using SoLo for small emergency expenses, such as fixing a leak in the roof, Martini said she sometimes uses it for expenses she has a week ahead of when she knows she will be paid.', 'She likes the platform better than the more anonymous interactions with a credit card company.', 'Knowing who is lending to her gives her even more incentive to pay what she owes on time.', '“I knew if I borrowed from someone in the community who cared, I would … pay them back.', 'You’re paying someone back who empathizes with your story,” she said.', 'While getting a low-cost loan to tide you over in a pinch may be a relief, not having to borrow at all is optimal.', 'To make the next emergency expense less stressful and costly, you can build emergency savings with small amounts consistently over time.', 'Damsky recommends setting up automatic daily transfers from your checking account to a savings account.', 'For example, he said, if you want to save roughly $150 a month, you could set up a transfer of just $5 a day or $35 a week.', 'At the end of a year, you will have built up more than $1,800, plus whatever interest you earn on those savings.', 'To maximize that interest, try to transfer your money into a high-yielding online savings account, which currently pay between 4% and 5%, according to Bankrate.com.', 'The same pattern applies if your goal is to have at least three months of living expenses to protect you in case you lose your job. “', 'Even small amounts, if consistent, can accumulate over time,” Miu said.', 'He also recommends redirecting at least a portion of one-time annual windfalls — such as a tax refund or bonus — to a high-yield savings account.', 'Two other proven ways to bolster emergency savings are increasing your income (e.g., taking on a side gig,) or cutting back on spending that you do not consider essential to your life, said Linda Grizely, a fee-only planner at Visions Financial Planning.', 'But, she cautioned, ”It’s important to strike a balance and avoid excessive cuts.', 'A plan that can be adhered to is the key to success.”']",0.1241565409970314,She likes the platform better than the more anonymous interactions with a credit card company.,"To make the next emergency expense less stressful and costly, you can build emergency savings with small amounts consistently over time.",-0.0698940799786494,"At the end of a year, you will have built up more than $1,800, plus whatever interest you earn on those savings.","Credit card interest rates remain sky-high — the average at the end of February was 20.75%, according to Bankrate.com, with average penalty rates pushing 30%.",2024-03-26