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☆ Wanted: new owner to run The Crooked House, Britain's 'wonkiest pub' that's been serving pints for almost 200 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ambitious buyers have the chance to own what's been dubbed the "wonkiest pub" in Britain. The Crooked House near Dudley has gone on the market at a guide price of just over $800,000. If you don't mind tilting your head a bit, The Crooked House could be the one for you. "This is a chance to own what has been called Britain's wonkiest pub and Britain's drunkest pub. A Marston's representative told The Times that The Crooked House was expected to remain as a pub under a new owner.

☆ China's pig farms battle new surge in African swine fever
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Dominique Patton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Data from swine fever virus testing companies show that the number of positive detections exploded after the new year holiday. "We guess that the current swine fever infection area in northern production areas may be reaching 50%," it added. We feel it hasn't ended yet, that's the problem," he said, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of disease outbreaks in China. HARD TO ASSESSChinese farms typically do not report disease outbreaks to the government, making it challenging to get an accurate picture of the extent of the infections. Though not as serious as in 2019, the disease could reduce production by more than 10%, Huachuang analyst Xiao Lin told Reuters.

HONG KONG, March 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - European financial centres are rolling out the red carpet for Chinese companies. Its free-float market capitalisation of $1.9 trillion is just a tenth of the New York Stock Exchange, January data from the World Federation of Exchanges show. Yet as tensions between Washington and Beijing rise and Chinese companies in New York face the threat of delisting, traditionally neutral Zurich has become an attractive alternative. That removes the risk that overseas regulators will demand access to mainland companies’ books - the source of a lengthy spat between the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and Beijing. Deutsche Börse (DB1Gn.DE), which operates Frankfurt’s stock exchange, is technically ready to launch the China-Germany Stock Connect, board representative Niels Tomm said in November.

☆ Global asset managers in China grapple with fraudulent investor schemes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Such scams have become so widespread that China's securities regulator issued a rare statement on Thursday cautioning investors against fund-raising schemes purporting to be from foreign asset managers. The online rackets add reputational risks for global asset managers already suffering from trademark disputes, geopolitical worries, and cut-throat competition in China. "Swindlers mushroom when the economy is bad," said an executive at a consultancy that serves global asset managers in China. "Cheaters and life-long learners ... some tech-savvy ones would even copy the programming of a foreign money manager's website," he said. Scams using Van Eck's brands first emerged in China's southern Guangdong and Southwestern Guangxi provinces, and later sprung up in central Sichuan province, the source said.

It’s a sunny day in early January, and Steven Yeun is happy to be out of the house. He’s wearing trail sneakers, brown pants, a shaggy mohair cardigan and sunglasses. With some actors, sunglasses serve as armor when they’re out in public, but Yeun, 39, shows no such guardedness. It’s a sunny day in early January, and Steven Yeun is happy to be out of the house. He’s wearing trail sneakers, brown pants, a shaggy mohair cardigan and sunglasses.

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The global nickel market flipped from deficit to surplus over the course of 2022, according to the International Nickel Study Group (INSG). Indonesia's mined nickel production expanded by 48% to 1.58 million tonnes in 2022, according to the INSG. However, as Indonesian production of Class II nickel rises, the Class I market shrinks. Around 70% of the physical nickel supply chain is now priced at a discount to the LME benchmark. LME nickel volumes slumped by 28% last year and January's activity was 60% lower than that of January 2022.

☆ Videos show Ohio politicians gingerly sipping tap water near chemical train crash, hoping to convince locals to start drinking it again
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Videos show several Ohio politicians gingerly sipping on tap water near a toxic train derailment. "I'll tell you, we believe in science, so we don't feel like we're being your guinea pig," Regan told Carolyn Brown, whose house they were in. "But we don't mind proving to you that we believe the water is safe," Regan continued. "That's pretty good water," Regan said after drinking from a red plastic cup. "You just saw us all drink a glass of water, our municipal water system here in East Palestine is safe.

☆ Canadian 'super pigs' set to spread disease and damage the environment in the US, expert warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The expert called for a campaign to cut down the size of the feral pig population. These pigs are a cross between wild boars and domestic pigs, and were bred in Canada in the 1980s to diversify agriculture. The size and intelligence of the Canadian pigs has helped them survive the tough Canadian winters, and they can burrow tunnel ls into the snow, evading predators and freezing conditions, according to report. An expert told Fox News that the pigs can carry diseases transferable to humans, such as E. coli and hepatitis, and can devastate the environment. Brook called for a campaign to cut down the size of the Canadian pig population before they cause damage in the US.

☆ The new Bing is acting all weird and creepy — but the human response is way scarier
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

It's a profit-making move designed to leverage our very human tendency to see human traits in nonhuman things. Look, I don't think we don't need to treat chatbots with respect because they ask us to. Making chatbots seem as if they're human isn't just incidental. So the real issue involving the current incarnation of chatbots isn't whether we treat them as people — it's how we decide to treat them as property. The robots don't care."

☆ Another Stock Market Crash Coming, Wall Street's Top Investors Warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

This elation has lulled Wall Street into a false sense of security, according to the investing world's elite who I've spoken with over the past few weeks. It's like all the good little boys and girls on Wall Street asked for a rally for Christmas and got it. He added that nonprofessional retail investors' strong return to the market indicated an unsustainable rally. Anytime Wall Street has forgotten that over the past year, it has gotten punished. And that means Wall Street will eventually have to open its eyes, take its fingers out of its ears, and watch this bear-market rally fall apart.

☆ UK supermarkets Tesco, Aldi and Asda are rationing fruit and salad vegetables
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Asda told CNN that it was temporarily limiting purchases of some items to three packs per customer. These include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce. Morrisons told CNN that it had imposed a cap of two packs per customer on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce. Sainsbury’s (JSAIY), the United Kingdom’s second-largest food retailer, told CNN it had no plans to ration the sale of fruit and vegetables. The high-end supermarket chain told CNN that it was “monitoring the situation” but had no plans to introduce rationing.

☆ Hasbro keeps expectations low for the start of 2023, but sees turnaround coming
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Hasbro said it expects revenue for the year to decline in the low-single digits, percentage-wise, which missed Wall Street's expectations. But despite its confidence, the company underperformed in consumer product sales for its fourth quarter. The company announced on Thursday that Magic: The Gathering is on track to be its first billion-dollar brand. Pandemic disruption to its film productions also meant delaying a key revenue stream that had helped buoy sagging product sales. This is the first full quarter since Hasbro announced its three-year turnaround plan in October.

☆ Hasbro 2023 profit forecast disappoints as toy demand drops sharply
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The Hasbro, Inc. logo is seen on the Star Wars Galactic Snackin Grogu toy in the FAO Schwarz toy store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 24, 2021. Toy demand has typically remained resistant to economic uncertainties, but it fell sharply in the holiday season, with Hasbro rival Mattel Inc (MAT.O) earlier this month projecting 2023 profit below expectations. For Hasbro, Walmart accounted for around 13% of sales, while Target made up for roughly 8% of sales in 2021. The toymaker said it will take a nearly $300 million hit to 2023 revenue from the licenses and brands that it exited. Hasbro said it expects 2023 adjusted earnings in the range of $4.45 to $4.55 per share, well below analysts' average estimate of $4.88 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ U.S. woman detained in Russia after walking calf on Red Square
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. woman was detained and fined by a Russian court on Wednesday for walking a calf on Moscow's Red Square that she said she had bought to save from slaughter, Russian state media reported. Alicia Day, 34, was fined 20,000 roubles ($285) for obstructing pedestrians in an unauthorised protest and sentenced to 13 days of "administrative arrest" on a separate charge of disobeying police orders. "I bought the calf so that it wouldn't be eaten," TASS news agency quoted her as saying. Video shared by state media showed Day explaining that she had got a driver to bring the calf to Red Square by car. ($1 = 70.15 roubles)Reporting by Caleb Davis Editing by Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Arena Football League relaunches with first Black commissioner of a professional sports league in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( John Lynch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Arena Football League (AFL) is relaunching under new leadership and plans to resume play in 2024, Insider has learned. Lee A. Hutton III, the new AFL commissioner, will become the first Black commissioner of a professional sports league in the US. In assuming his role as the new AFL commissioner, Hutton will become the first Black commissioner to lead a professional sports league in the United States. AFL commissioner Lee A. Hutton III. We believe we have assembled a world-class, operational team made up of C-Suite executives, expert sports trainers, football personnel, performance facilities, legal partners, professional team owners and former athletes."

☆ Grace Young Wants to Keep Chinatown Restaurants in Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Emily Bobrow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Growing up in San Francisco, Grace Young watched her father shop daily in Chinatown for whatever he needed to make traditional Cantonese meals at home. As an award-winning cookbook author and culinary historian, Ms. Young, 66, has spent decades shopping the same way in New York’s Chinatown, going to one store for meats, another for produce. When Ms. Young saw these familiar streets empty out at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, she sensed that a way of life she had taken for granted was suddenly under threat. Misinformation about Asian-Americans carrying the virus hit Chinese businesses especially hard. “I realized I hadn’t truly appreciated how much Chinatown means to me.”

☆ In Beijing's backyard, U.S. demonstrates its military might
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Joseph Campbell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

We're going to do that safely and we're going to be resolute about that," Sweeney told Reuters on Friday. China claims historic jurisdiction over almost the entire South China Sea, which includes the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group 11 includes the guided-missile cruiser Bunker Hill and the guided-missile destroyers Decatur, Wayne E. Meyer and Chung-Hoon. Sweeney said it was crucial for international rules to be followed and said the U.S. presence in the South China Sea demonstrated its commitment to its regional allies. "We're going to sail, fly and operate wherever international waters allow us to, so we're not going anywhere."

☆ Ukraine's battlefields look like World War I but with a new and terrifying addition that leaves troops with almost nowhere to hide
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The conflict in Ukraine has emerged as the first major war involving drone use on both sides. By the late 1990s, Predator drones were being used by the US and NATO for reconnaissance missions in the Kosovo War. Ukraine has in many ways emerged as a guinea pig for drone warfare. Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesLater in the war, Russia began launching swarms of Iranian-made Shahed-136 "kamikaze" drones, striking targets across Ukraine. Drones have significantly shortened the so-called kill chain, Cancian explained, helping troops swiftly locate targets and provide coordinates for artillery.

☆ I used mind games to make a 'pay pig' send me cash, but I ended up feeling sorry for him and gave it back.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I moonlighted as a financial dominatrix on Twitter to see if I could make money from a "pay pig." A pay pig is told by a findomme to send them cash in return for nothing other than the humiliation of doing so. Sensing the opportunity, I replied: "Is this a pathetic attempt to be my pay pig?" He said what he liked most about being a pay pig was how easily a findomme could take his money. But I'll admit, I did feel a little sorry for my pay pig.

☆ Animal sanctuary rescues 'abandoned' pet pig that once belonged to Logan Paul
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Morgan Sung | Morgan Sung Is A Trends Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A California animal sanctuary is going viral after sharing how it saved an abandoned pig that it said once belonged to YouTuber Logan Paul. “From what we’ve been told, it’s believed she was purchased originally from a breeder by an influencer,” Gentle Barn said in the video’s caption. On Feb. 26, 2020, Paul tweeted an image of him and a pig. He wrote that he “was told she was a mini pig,” and included a photo with the fully grown pig. Teacup pigs, mini pigs, nano pigs and other “breeds” marketed as pet pigs “are a myth,” according to the Best Friends Animal Society.

☆ Biden's mishandling of classified records isn't as legally perilous as Trump's, but may pose serious national security risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Trump's former White House lawyer told Insider that AG Garland should appoint a special counsel to investigate Biden. A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Lausch has finished the initial part of his investigation and presented his preliminary findings to Garland. Still, he criticized the White House for waiting more than two months to disclose the existence of the inquiry. "It appears that at least two of the aggravating factors, obstruction and willfulness, are present in the Trump case, but absent in the Biden case." Cobb, Trump's former White House counsel, went further, saying that drawing a distinction between the two cases is akin to "putting lipstick on a pig."

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) said on Tuesday it will set out by the end of the first quarter how it will deliver on the recommendations of an independent report into the nickel crisis last year. Months after turbulence highlighted shortcomings in LME oversight, the nickel contract remains broken. It appointed management consultants Oliver Wyman to carry out a review of the nickel trading debacle last June. Part of the problem is that only about 21% of global production or 650,000 tonnes can be delivered against the LME nickel contract. "The LME Nickel Committee will continue to explore whether any changes to the LME Nickel contract ... may be beneficial to the market," the LME said.

☆ IPO market remains frozen, but could rebound later this year, tech analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Riley De León | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In total, IPO deal proceeds plummeted 94% in 2022 — from $155.8 billion to $8.6 billion — according to Ernst & Young's IPO report published in mid-December. As of the report's publication date, the fourth quarter was on pace to be the weakest of the year. The collapse of the IPO market has caused the pipeline of anticipated public listings to swell. MKM's Rohit Kulkarni is among the few optimists who think the IPO market could rebound later this year, spurred in part by the volume of private companies waiting in the wings to go public when capital becomes more accessible. According to Carta, 22% of companies, both private and public, reduced their valuations in Q3, nearly tripling year-over-year.

☆ It might be possible to fight a traffic ticket with an AI 'robot lawyer' secretly feeding you lines to your AirPods, but it could go off the rails
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

DoNotPay wants to put AI to the courtroom test, and plans to use it to advise defendants in traffic cases. Judges could alert bar associations to a rogue "robot lawyer" on the loose, legal experts said. But DoNotPay's founder Joshua Browder plans to put his app's AI "robot lawyer" to just such a test in an upcoming traffic court case in February, according to a report in the New Scientist that heralds the first AI-powered defense in court. "The traffic court judge might have questions about who's really doing the talking here." As Browder courted headlines with the bold move to take DoNotPay's "robot lawyer" to court, he also tweeted an incredible offer on Sunday.

Pot RoastWhen Pot Roast became fatally ill last month, heartbroken fans took their grief out on her owner. She added that Pot Roast died in her arms. In the wake of Pot Roast's death in February, Pot Roast's mom was harassed and criticized for using jokes and dark humor to cope with the loss of her pet. Since Pot Roast's passing, Pot Roast's Mom has adopted two new cats: Soup and Coupon. I do be missing her voice rn.”As of December, it appeared Tylers’ account was no longer available on TikTok.

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