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☆ West Ham players clash with AZ Alkmaar fans in bid to protect families inside stadium
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —West Ham players confronted a group of AZ Alkmaar fans at the end of the teams’ match on Thursday after the section of the stadium containing the Premier League side’s friends and families came under attack. Videos also showed a number of West Ham players leaping over the hoardings in an attempt to intervene before security arrived to calm the situation. “I was really concerned about how the family of my teammates and the West Ham family are,” he told Sky Sports. CNN has reached out to West Ham and AZ Alkmaar for comment but had not received a response at time of publication. According to Reuters, there was a similar incident after the first leg in London last week when AZ supporters were accosted by West Ham fans.

☆ Elon Musk told a Twitter advisor at 4 a.m. that the company would only pay rent over his 'dead body,' lawsuit says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It alleges Musk told an advisor at 4 a.m. that "he would only pay rent over his dead body." In a 4 a.m. conversation, Elon Musk allegedly told one of this his investors that the company would only pay rent on its offices "over his dead body," per a new lawsuit. Over the last few months, Twitter's landlords in London, New York, and San Francisco have all sued the company for failing to pay rent. Mendoza allegedly responded: "Elon told me he would only pay rent over his dead body." Musk told CNBC on Tuesday that he sleeps around six hours a night, and previously told the BBC he's "shot myself in the foot" by tweeting after 3 a.m.

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Planisware is working with investment bankers on strategic options, including a stock market listing of the French software group, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Rothschild (ROTH.PA) is acting as financial adviser to Planisware, two of the people, who declined to be named, said. BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Citigroup (C.N) have been lined up to arrange a possible initial public offering (IPO), one person added. Private equity group Ardian, which holds an undisclosed stake in Planisware through its growth capital arm, declined to comment. In France, IPO volumes plunged in 2022 to levels similar to the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

☆ MLB roundup: Astros score four in ninth, stun Cubs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

Jake Meyers ripped a two-run homer that cut the deficit to 6-5, and when pinch hitter Mauricio Dubon followed with a walk, Brandon Hughes (0-2) entered in relief of Thompson. Mark Vientos, recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Syracuse, hit a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh for the Mets. Cardinals 3, Brewers 0Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer and Nolan Arenado delivered his 1,000th career RBI as St. Louis defeated visiting Milwaukee. Boston tied its season high with 16 hits, including six in a six-run second inning. Justin Turner went 3-for-4 with his second homer in as many games.

☆ Can You Spot the Dog Hidden in This Picasso Painting?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jesus Jiménez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In Pablo Picasso’s 1900 painting “Le Moulin de la Galette,” revelers sporting dresses or top hats appear to be drinking, dancing and chatting. Beneath the partyers, under layers of paint, there is a hidden dog that the artist seems to have hastily painted over. But recent research and extensive restoration of the painting for an exhibition revealed an auburn-coated King Charles spaniel with a red bow. The treatment revealed subtleties — such as the brushwork, color palette and spatial definition — that had previously gone unnoticed in the painting. Then, technical imaging unveiled an earlier version of the painting that included the lap dog in the foreground.

CNN —Conservators at the Guggenheim Museum in New York have uncovered a small dog hidden beneath the surface of a Pablo Picasso painting. The image of a charming lapdog wearing a red bow was revealed by museum experts during a technical analysis of the Spanish artist’s painting “Le Moulin de la Galette” ahead of an exhibition of his early works. “Le Moulin de la Galette” depicts a lively scene at the titular venue — a famous Parisian dance hall that was painted by other artists including Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Modifying paintings later became part of Picasso’s regular practice, Barten said, adding that “Le Moulin de la Galette” is now considered one of the earliest examples of this. “Le Moulin de la Galette” is the “centerpiece” of the Guggenheim’s show, said Barten, whose team of conservators also restored the artwork’s surface by removing decades of dirt and non-original varnish.

☆ Ecuador assembly begins impeachment hearing against President Lasso
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

QUITO, May 16 (Reuters) - Ecuador's National Assembly on Tuesday began an impeachment hearing against President Guillermo Lasso, who could be removed from his post, though the process increases the likelihood he will dissolve the legislature to avoid a final vote. The opposition, including members of the party of ex-President Rafael Correa - himself accused of corruption - has been invigorated following the re-election of Virgilio Saquicela as president of the National Assembly on Sunday. "The Ecuadorean people want Guillermo Lasso (...) to go home," said opposition lawmaker Viviana Veloz while presenting a motion to vote on the censure and dismissal of the president. CONAIE, Ecuador's largest indigenous organization, backed the measure to remove Lasso in a statement, saying that "with Guillermo Lasso Ecuador doesn't have a future, only fear and uncertainty." The assembly voted to continue with the impeachment process last Tuesday with 88 votes in favor out of 116 legislators present.

☆ MLB roundup: Cardinals blitz Brewers 18-1
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Jack Flaherty (3-4) fanned a season-high 10 while blanking the Brewers on three hits in seven innings as the Cardinals won for the seventh time in eight games. Freddy Peralta (4-3) allowed six runs on six hits and five walks in 5 1/3 innings for the Brewers, whose three-game winning streak ended. Adam Frazier and Anthony Santander each hit a two-run homer and Cedric Mullins added a solo shot for the Orioles. Raleigh, who went 3-for-5, hit two-run shots in the fifth and sixth innings, logging his second multi-homer game of the season. Eugenio Suarez also blasted a two-run homer as part of Seattle's 15-hit attack.

☆ Blackstone, Thomson Reuters consortium looks to sell further $3 bln in LSEG shares
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The accelerated stock offering, unveiled after the market close, includes some 28 million shares representing a voting interest of approximately 5.5% in the market infrastructure group. The news follows an earlier sale of more than $2 billion shares in March by Blackstone and Thomson Reuters, which became LSEG shareholders when they sold financial data firm Refinitiv to the bourse operator in 2021. As of April 30, Thomson Reuters owned 47.4 million shares of LSEG, worth $5 billion, which it had indicated it would begin selling in tranches this year. It also follows the publication of LSEG's first-quarter earnings at the end of April, which showed an almost 14% jump in gross profit to 1.8 billion pounds ($2.27 billion) from a year ago. LSEG has separately committed to buy up to 750 billion pounds of shares from the consortium through a targeted buy-back programme expected to be completed by April 2024.

☆ ‘Antigone in the Amazon’ Review: The Drama Is Brazil’s Land War
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Laura Cappelle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Arriving after so much political action, the play feels like an afterthought. In “Antigone in the Amazon,” two Flemish actors from NTGent, Sara De Bosschere and Arne De Tremerie, address the audience at regular intervals, explaining the tricky process of making the show and the ethical issues it raised. At one point, they are shown onscreen performing a scene from “Antigone” for the residents of a remote Amazonian village, who sit in a circle around them. I occasionally wondered the same thing about “Antigone in the Amazon.” Still, it is a more balanced, effective production than “Orestes.” Two Brazilian performers, Frederico Araujo and Pablo Casella, join the Flemish cast onstage. A third, the Indigenous activist Kay Sara, was supposed to join them and play Antigone, but we are told early in the show that she had “decided to go back home, with her people.”

☆ FC Barcelona: How Xavi's defensive revolution brought La Liga title back to Catalunya
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Such has been the Blaugrana’s dominance this season, Xavi’s side clinched the trophy with four games still remaining and his iteration will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest defensive teams in La Liga history. With only 13 goals conceded so far this season, Xavi’s Barcelona is set to obliterate that record. “Not only for me, but for the club and for all Barcelona fans it’s very important to win La Liga,” Barça striker Robert Lewandowski told CNN Sport ahead of the match against Espanyol. I think the first round [of fixtures] was very important, we proved that we can think about winning La Liga. Barcelona fans celebrate Sunday's La Liga success -- the club's first league title since the 2018-19 season.

☆ Recycling 'end-of-life' solar panels, wind turbines, is about to be climate tech's big waste business
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Bob Woods | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

watch nowIndeed, the market for recycled solar panel materials is expected to grow exponentially over the next several years. One recipient of this federal funding is First Solar, the largest solar panel manufacturer in the U.S. Massive wind turbines, blades are almost all recyclableRetired wind turbines present another recycling challenge, as well as business opportunities. How the circular renewable energy economy worksPlayers in the circular economy are determined not to let all that waste go to waste. Vestas Wind Systems has committed to producing zero-waste wind turbines by 2040, though it has not yet introduced such a version.

☆ A fleet of aging tankers is transporting sanctioned oil around the globe — and it's becoming an insurance nightmare because nobody knows who owns them
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's throwing up concerns about a fleet of secretive tankers transporting sanctioned oil globally. Authorities still don't know who to approach for damages, per various media reports. It has delivered an oil cargo to the eastern China province of Shandong before making its way to the shipyard, Bloomberg reported, citing ship-tracking data. The fire has been put out, but authorities don't know who to approach for damages according to various media reports. Russia itself has also put together a "shadow fleet" of more than 100 oil tankers in a bid to skirt Western sanctions, the Financial Times reported in December.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema, eyeing GOP voters, knocks 'both political parties' when asked about election deniers in Arizona
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In 2024, Sinema would likely need support from conservative voters who doubt the 2020 election. "Well, we're currently living in a climate where it's okay to say things that aren't true," Sinema said. "What I think we're facing in our country today is this situation where people don't know what's true and what's not true," said Sinema. Sinema again blamed "the two political parties" for becoming "more extreme." Lake says she's "seriously considering" a Senate campaign, and Sheriff Mark Lamb, already running in the GOP primary, has also cast doubt on the validity of the 2020 election.

☆ Google, Meta executives push back against Canada online news bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Sam Jabri-Pickett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Google logo is displayed at the entrance to the internet based company's offices in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 9, 2018. REUTERS/Chris HelgrenTORONTO, May 3 (Reuters) - Google and Meta would withdraw access to news articles in Canada if legislation compelling internet companies to pay news publishers is passed, company executives told Canadian lawmakers on Wednesday. Meta would also end the availability of news content in Canada if the bill is passed as currently drafted, said Rachel Curran, head of public policy for Meta in Canada. Curran said Facebook feeds sent Canadian publishers more than 1.9 billion clicks in the 12 months ending April 2022, worth an estimated $230 million in free marketing. The bill introduced in April 2022 by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is the latest legislation aiming to make digital media platforms pay for linking news content.

The future of Credit Suisse's business in Switzerland is being closely watched as one of UBS's key strategic decisions. Credit Suisse's Swiss bank is one of the lender's four operating units and is seen as the jewel in the crown. In January, Credit Suisse had moved the business from its broader investment banking division into the Swiss unit, according to Credit Suisse's 2022 annual report. On a possible sale, Ermotti has said all options for the Swiss business are on the table. On Sunday, NZZ am Sonntag newspaper reported that UBS was working towards spinning off Credit Suisse's domestic unit.

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Blackstone (BX.N) is weighing options for Spanish gambling company Cirsa, including an initial public offering (IPO), people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The U.S. buyout group recently invited proposals from investment banks to manage a possible share sale and refinancing of Cirsa's debt, said the people, speaking on condition of anonymity. An IPO would follow a public share sale by Italian peer Lottomatica (LTMC.MI), backed by Apollo Global Management (APO.N), whose shares began trading in Milan on Wednesday. Cirsa, a casino operator, posted 552.5 million euros ($609.24 million) in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2022. Based on Lottomatica's valuation, Cirsa could be worth several billions of euros, including debt.

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. buyout house Blackstone (BX.N) is weighing options for Dutch merchant bank NIBC, including a possible sale, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Blackstone has also been considering potential acquisitions in the absence of a sale, one person added. The Hague-based NIBC offers financing for industries such as automotive, commercial real estate, infrastructure and shipping, as well as retail mortgages. It has been exiting non-core businesses, including deal advisory and leveraged finance, in a bid to streamline its operations. The group had 22.8 billion euros of assets on its balance sheet at the end of last year and an equity value of around 2 billion euros ($2.21 billion), according to its 2022 annual accounts, which showed a profit of 179 million euros excluding non-recurring expenses.

☆ ‘Chile ’76’ Review: Domestic Unease That Twists Into Intrigue
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Teo Bugbee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 1973, the socialist government of Chile was overthrown by a military junta led by Gen‌‌. Thousands were killed, and hundreds of thousands fled the country under Pinochet’s dictatorship, which lasted for 17 years and was maintained through violence. The protagonist of “Chile ’76” is Carmen (Aline Küppenheim), a regal woman of middle age. She’s a grandmother and a career flight attendant who now lives a comfortably bourgeois lifestyle with her husband in Santiago. Carmen occupies her time alone with charitable work, guided by the sanguine priest of the town, Father Sánchez (Hugo Medina).

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Summit Partners is looking to sell a stake in Swiss wealth manager Cinerius Financial Partners amid increasing consolidation in the sector, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Summit intends to bring in another private equity fund to help fund Cinerius' growth, particularly through acquisitions, one of the people said. Asset manager BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) provides debt financing for Cinerius' acquisitions through its private credit arm, the person added. BlackRock, Cinerius and Summit Partners did not respond to requests for comment. Belgian private bank Degroof Petercam is reviewing strategic options after drawing interest from rivals, Reuters reported last Friday.

It may explore a private sale alongside a stock market listing, they added. An IPO might not take place until next year, as market conditions remain challenging for new listings, one person said. LimaCorporate, which designs orthopedic implants, posted revenue of 248.6 million euros ($274.5 million) for 2022, and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 66.2 million euros. It also reported a yearly loss of 27.9 million euros after taxes. EQT was reported in 2020 to be working with advisers on a possible IPO or sale of the business, but a transaction never materialised.

CNN —Search efforts are underway for three missing crew members after a Gabon-registered oil tanker caught fire off the coast of southern Malaysia, Malaysian maritime authorities said in a statement. The tanker was sailing from China to Singapore with 28 crew members when it caught fire, MMEA said. “Fortunately, 23 crew members were rescued by two ships in the vicinity,” MMEA director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said. “While we managed to rescue two crew members, three are still missing,” he added. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore identified the tanker as the MT Pablo.

ASUNCION, April 30 (Reuters) - Paraguayans are readying to head to the polls on Sunday in what could be the biggest electoral challenge to the ruling conservative Colorado Party in over a decade and with the country's near 70-year ties with Taiwan potentially at stake. In the streets and news debates, the political build-up has been dominated by the economy, corruption allegations and the candidates' views on Taiwan. Paraguay is one of only 13 nations to maintain formal diplomatic ties with the democratically-governed island that China claims as its own. Pena has said he would maintain ties with Taiwan. In final campaign events, Alegre took aim at corruption charges that have dogged Colorado Party leader Horacio Cartes, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury this year.

Things are calmer now, but seven traders who spoke to Reuters, some heading rates desks at big global banks, said March's mayhem continues to reverberate, with fears of further volatility in traditionally stable bond markets muting activity. Investors rely on government bond markets to translate central bank interest rates into a stable benchmark for borrowing costs, from corporate loans to household mortgages. Yield shifts in government bond markets have become bigger - occasionally hitting 20 bps a day - since central banks started ramping up rate hikes last year to tame surging inflation. For some, March's turmoil is the latest sign of how post-2008 regulations constraining dealer balance sheets are affecting bond market functioning. Others noted markets were leaving behind an era of low volatility for good as rates rise.

In March, depositors fled Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O), withdrawing $42 billion in 24 hours, some via their mobile phones. Information about the bank's difficulties spread fast online, creating a social media-driven bank run. Officials said the bank turbulence added urgency to discussions of a European Commission proposal to broaden the EU's bank resolution framework, now applied to just over 100 of the biggest European banks, to smaller and medium-sized lenders. The proposal, called Crisis Management and Deposit Insurance (CMDI) was requested by EU finance ministers in mid-2022. It would ensure that the resolution of smaller banks could be paid for from the EU's resolution fund, financed by banks, rather than by taxpayers.

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