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☆ Burger king: Prince William serves up food to surprised diners
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William has served up a surprise to hungry members of the public when he dished out environmentally friendly burgers from a food truck in south London. In a video released on Sunday, the heir to the throne handed out "Earthshot Burgers" to highlight the work of last year's winners of his annual Earthshot Prize, which he set up to help develop solutions to major environmental problems. "Coming right up," the prince said as he served up the burgers to the stunned customers. The object for William, who had teamed up with the founders of YouTube channel Sorted Food which reviews kitchen gadgets and shares recipes, was to raise the profile and work of three previous Earthshot prize winners. Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Britain's Prince William, William, they've, Michael Holden, Susan Fenton Organizations: YouTube, Thomson Locations: London, India, Kenya

☆ Hunter Biden Is a Geopolitical Disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Holman W. Jenkins Jr. is a member of the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Jenkins joined the Journal in May 1992 as a writer for the editorial page in New York. In February 1994, he moved to Hong Kong as editor of The Asian Wall Street Journal's editorial page. Mr. Jenkins won a 1997 Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business and financial coverage. Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Jenkins received a bachelor's degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Persons: Holman W, Jenkins, Mr, Gerald Loeb, William Smith Organizations: Street, William, William Smith Colleges, Northwestern University, University of Michigan Locations: New York, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Hobart

☆ Why Gen Z, Millennials, Boomers, and Gen X Fight: Generational Conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Kelli María Korducki | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Gen Z is soft, millennials are embarrassing, boomers are evil, and no one has thought about Gen X in years. But late this spring, Pew announced it would no longer use generational labels such as millennial and Gen Z in its research. By and large, Cohen shares Duffy's view that generational labels make it tough for both experts and laypeople to distinguish between generational traits and universal, or multifactorial, occurrences. To its credit, Pew has been transparent in acknowledging how the use of generational labels may have tilted its analyses. Pew "does believe generational research can be a useful tool in the right context," Parker told me.

Persons: Gen X, Pew, Kim Parker, Parker, Obama, Millennials, boomers, Gen Zers, Xers, —, Karl Mannheim, Louis Menand, Menand, Andrew M, Lindner, Sophia Stelboum, Azizul Hakim, William Strauss, Neil Howe, Strauss, Howe's, Baby Boomer, Portia, Zers, Gen Xers, Philip N, Cohen, it's, Bobby Duffy, Duffy, Stelboum, Hakim, Michael Dimock, Kelli María Korducki Organizations: Pew Research Center, Pew, Skidmore College, University of Maryland, College, Washington, King's College London Locations: Mannheim, New York City

☆ Only Biden Can Elect Trump in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Shakespeare's works have inspired innovation for over 400 years. Now, 5G could make his plays even more immersive.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Sarah Sloat | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Royal Shakespeare Company has been using tech to transform The Bard's work for years. The Royal Shakespeare Company is a theater group based in Stratford-upon-Avon, England — Shakespeare's birthplace. The Royal Shakespeare Company hasn't used 5G in production yet, but the deployment is on "a very close horizon," Ellis said. In 2016, the Royal Shakespeare Company incorporated a digital avatar into a real-time performance of "The Tempest," Shakespeare's last play. A Royal Shakespeare Company actor performs in "Dream."

Persons: William Shakespeare, Sarah Ellis, Ellis, that's, Ellis —, it's, Ariel, Stuart Martin Organizations: Royal Shakespeare Company, Ericsson Locations: Stratford, Avon, England, Swedish

☆ The beauty and terror of Oppenheimer's first-ever nuclear test explosion, in the words of those who witnessed it
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Tom Porter | Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

On July 16, 1945, at 5:29 a.m., the world's first nuclear weapon test was conducted in New Mexico. A photo made by a US Army automatic newsreel camera showing the test explosion of the world's first atomic bomb. An aerial view of the aftermath of the explosion at Trinity Test Site, New Mexico, July 16, 1945. The massive explosion of Oppenheimer's Trinity test was first explained away as an ammo dump explosion. Asked to describe his reaction to seeing the explosion, Oppenheimer quoted a verse from the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu devotional text.

Persons: J, Robert Oppenheimer, Robert Oppenheimer —, Christopher Nolan's, —, Arthur Compton, Compton, Oppenheimer, Nolan, It's, Elsie McMillan, Edwin McMillan, Gadget, John Donne, Eddie Adams, Sam Allison, Marvin Wilkening, Brig, Thomas F, Farrell, William Spindel, I'm, Roger Rasmussen, Trinity Organizations: Manhattan Project, Service, Scientific, Manhattan, Hollywood, Atomic Heritage Foundation, Trinity, Institute for, Study, AP, US Army, Clovis, National Security Research Locations: New Mexico, Wall, Silicon, Socorro , New Mexico, Princeton , New Jersey, Gen

☆ Hollywood Strike’s Big Risk Is a ‘Nanny’ Without a Plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ UK borrows less than thought but Hunt pledges budget discipline
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Although borrowing remains high after the shocks of the coronavirus pandemic and last year's energy price surge, the budget deficit in June stood at 18.5 billion pounds ($23.8 billion), down by 0.4 billion pounds from June 2022. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to higher borrowing of 22 billion pounds last month. "Now more than ever we need to maintain discipline with the public finances," Hunt said after Friday's borrowing figures. As this week's fall in inflation showed, we will start to see results if we stick to our plan to halve inflation, grow the economy and get debt falling." However, a measure of consumer confidence fell in July for the first time since January as households felt the hit from higher inflation, borrowing costs and taxes.

Persons: Hunt, Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak, Samuel Tombs, Tombs, Martin Beck, Beck, David Milliken, Angus MacSwan Organizations: LONDON, Conservative Party, National Statistics, Conservatives, Pantheon, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Britain

☆ 'Reality bites': High inflation and rates hit UK consumer confidence
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Market research firm GfK's headline gauge of consumer confidence fell to -30 this month from -24 in June, the first decline since January, and below the -26 forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. The fall was the biggest month-on-month drop in GfK's confidence measure since March to April 2022 when inflation accelerated after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Staton said the recent slowdown in inflation will do little to improve consumer confidence. The Bank of England has increased interest rates at 13 meetings in a row since the end of 2021, raising its Bank Rate to 5% in June. The resilience of consumer confidence in the first half of this year was helped by low levels of unemployment and separate data published on Friday showed employers still seeking to hire.

Persons: Joe Staton, Staton, " Staton, Neil Carberry, Suban Abdulla, William Schomberg Organizations: Bank of, Confederation, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Bank of England

☆ Why Tesla investors should care about Elon Musk's multiplying ventures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's multiple ventures and the relationships between them are facing increased scrutiny as the Tesla CEO continues to add more to his plate. Can you talk about how xAI might overlap, might perhaps compete with Tesla or in other ways perhaps it enhances the value of what Tesla does?" Musk previously enlisted Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Co. employees to assist him with his Twitter takeover, as CNBC reported. At least one senior Tesla employee has jumped ship to Musk's X Corp., the parent company of Twitter. Among these, Tesla revealed that "Twitter is party to certain commercial and support agreements with Tesla.

Persons: Elon, William Stein, Musk, Google Bard, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Stein, Tesla, Charles Kuehmann, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, He's, funder, Batura Organizations: Google, Tesla, Apple, SpaceX, Securities and Exchange Commission, Twitter, Co, CNBC, X Corp Locations: Nevada

☆ Judge blasts 'QAnon Shaman' for recanting his apology and refuses to toss out his plea agreement
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A federal judge refused to toss "QAnon Shaman" Jacob Chansley's guilty plea. The judge pointed to "miles of footage" showing Chansley rioting at the Capitol. "Such an about-face casts serious doubt on the veracity of any of Mr. Chansley's claims, here or elsewhere." In media interviews after his release, he expressed regret for his guilty plea and tried to get it reversed. Carlson, the judge wrote, included "inflammatory characterizations of cherry-picked videos stripped of their proper context" that undermined faith in the criminal justice system.

Persons: Jacob Chansley's, Chansley, Tucker Carlson, Jacob Chansley, Royce C, Lamberth, Chansley's, Joe Biden's, Donald Trump, Gandhi, Kevin McCarthy, Carlson, William Shipley Organizations: Capitol, Service, Fox News, Republican, Senate, Former Fox News, Fox, Twitter Locations: Wall, Silicon, Chansley's

☆ UK two-year fixed mortgage rates fall for first time since May
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Phil Noble/File PhotoLONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - A key British mortgage rate fell on Thursday for the first time in nearly two months, coming off the previous day's 15-year high as concerns about the outlook for inflation and Bank of England interest rates eased. The average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate - the most common form of home finance - fell to 6.79%, its first drop since May 27, from 6.81% on Wednesday, figures from financial data provider Moneyfacts showed. Those concerns in turn pushed two-year fixed-rate mortgages above the peak they hit last October, when then Prime Minister Liz Truss' budget plans caused turmoil in Britain's bond market. However, a lower-than-expected consumer price inflation reading on Wednesday caused BoE rate rise expectations to weaken and pushed down two-year swap rates which underpin mortgage borrowing costs. The average interest rate for a mortgage with a five-year fixed-rate period also fell on Thursday, edging down to 6.31% from 6.33% on Wednesday, Moneyfacts said.

Persons: Phil Noble, BoE, Liz Truss, Moneyfacts, Suban Abdulla, William Schomberg Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of, Moneyfacts, Investors, Thomson Locations: Manchester, Britain, Bank of England, BoE's

Sterling weakened against the U.S. dollar and the euro as the Office for National Statistics said the consumer price inflation growth rate was its lowest since March 2022 but stayed above the pace of price growth in other big, rich economies. The BoE said in May it expected June inflation would fall to 7.9%. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the core measure of price growth to hold at 7.1%. Reuters GraphicsFood price and non-alcoholic drinks price inflation slowed to 17.3% - still a major strain on the finances of many households - from 18.3% in May. Services prices, also monitored closely by the BoE, rose by 7.2% in annual terms, slowing from 7.4% in the 12 months to May.

Persons: Sterling, BoE, Paul Dales, Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt, Hunt, William Schomberg, Andy Bruce, Kate Holton, Catherine Evans Organizations: Reuters, Bank of, Bank of England, U.S ., National Statistics, Capital Economics, Investors, Reuters Graphics, Labour Party, Sunak's Conservative Party of, Manufacturers, Thomson Locations: Bank of England, Britain

The BoE said in May it expected June inflation would fall to 7.9%, moving further away from October's 41-year high of 11.1% but still way above its 2% target. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the core measure of price growth to hold at 7.1%. Despite June's drop, Britain's inflation rate remains the highest among the world's top seven rich economies. In Western Europe, only Iceland had a higher rate of inflation in June. Suren Thiru, Economics Director at ICAEW, an accountancy body, said July's inflation rate was likely to slow to below 7%.

Persons: Sterling, BoE, James Smith ,, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey, Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt, Hunt, William Schomberg, William James, Sarah Young, Catherine Evans Organizations: Reuters, Bank of, Bank of England, U.S ., Reuters Graphics, National Statistics, Labour Party, Sunak's Conservative Party of, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Manufacturers, Thomson Locations: Bank of England, May's, Western Europe, Iceland, Britain

☆ Of EVs and Heat Waves
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - King Charles will mark 400 years since William Shakespeare's plays were published in collective form on Tuesday, bringing actors and directors together to celebrate his love for the bard and a book hailed as one of the most important in English literature. Compiled by Shakespeare's friends seven years after his death, the Folio contained plays which had never before been published. Now he is sovereign, Charles, 74, wants to shape a monarchy fit for the future. He has been president of the Royal Shakespeare Company since 1991. At the Windsor Castle reception on Tuesday, actors will perform including Simon Russell Beale and Harriet Walter, two of Britain's greatest stage actors.

Persons: King Charles, William Shakespeare's, Shakespeare, Charles, Queen Elizabeth, Camilla, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Shakespeare's, Henry IV, Simon Russell Beale, Harriet Walter, Sarah Young, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: ROYAL, Royal Shakespeare Company, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Windsor, Britain

☆ For markets, BoE communication is bottom of the class
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Yoruk Bahceli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank expectations have meanwhile risen only marginally. For investors, clear communication from central bankers is crucial as they transmit their policy to borrowing costs through markets. The BoE was the first major central bank to start hiking rates. In contrast, they have long bet on more hikes than the BoE's main forecasts have implied are needed to tame inflation, rates futures show. BoE messaging, suggesting a reluctance to hike, has made it "very difficult" to own gilts recently, he said.

Persons: BoE, Toby Melville, Shamik Dhar, Andrew Bailey, Bailey, Schroders, Azad Zangana, Zangana, Liz Truss, Myles Bradshaw, Chris Jeffery, Jerome, Powell, Christine, Lagarde, it's, Craig, Yoruk, Dhara Ranasinghe, William Schomberg, John Stonestreet Organizations: Bank of England, REUTERS, Fed, ECB, of England, Traders, . Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, BNY Mellon Investment Management, Bank of England's, Investors, Graphics, of England's, Reuters, Asset Management, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, U.S, Dhar

☆ Rates surge hits UK wealth, but young people might gain - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But the Resolution Foundation think-tank said younger people could benefit from the partial reversal of the decades-long climb in the value of household wealth. "The future path of interest rates is very uncertain," Ian Mulheirn, Research Associate at the Resolution Foundation, said. "The current surge could be a blip, or herald a new era for the UK. The Resolution Foundation said 2.1 trillion pounds ($2.75 trillion) had been lost in terms of household wealth over the last year after an unprecedented surge in recent decades which took wealth to 17.5 trillion pounds in 2021. Younger people could also feel the benefit of higher rates on their pension savings, the foundation said.

Persons: Ian Mulheirn, Mubin Haq, William Schomberg Organizations: Bank of England, Seven, abrdn, Trust, Thomson Locations: Britain

☆ After a Great Flood, a Struggle Between Faith and Reason
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Dwight Garner | More About Dwight Garner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Translated by Leri Price. The Syrian writer Khaled Khalifa’s novels have cruel titles, of the sort Jean Genet might have composed for William S. Burroughs, or Verlaine for Rimbaud. Khalifa, who was born near Aleppo in 1964, has published six novels in Arabic. He can also resemble Chaucer, for whom smell was indicative of a person’s moral state. This sense, so intimately linked to memory and desire, matters in fiction as it does in life.

Persons: Khaled Khalifa, Leri Price, Khaled Khalifa’s, Jean Genet, William S, Burroughs, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Khalifa, ”, antic, Philip Roth, Dickens, Chaucer Locations: Syrian, Aleppo, Syria

☆ Britain lagging in delivery of new hospitals, watchdog says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The National Audit Office (NAO) said only 32 of 40 hospitals promised by former PM Boris Johnson were due to be completed on schedule by 2030. "Delivery so far has been slower than expected," said Gareth Davies, the head of the non-partisan NAO. The promise of 40 new hospitals in England by 2030 has been criticised as some of the proposals were for renovations of existing hospitals. Including those projects, there would be 40 new hospitals by the end of the decade, a health ministry spokesperson said. "Patients and clinicians are going to have to wait much longer than they expected before their new hospitals are completed."

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Dan Kitwood, Rishi, Boris Johnson, Gareth Davies, NAO, Sunak, Johnson, Meg Hillier, Alistair Smout, William Schomberg Organizations: British, Hospital, REUTERS LONDON, Audit, New, Labour Party, of Health, Social, Thomson Locations: Cambridge, United Kingdom, England

☆ UK CFOs turn wary as inflation and borrowing costs bite: Deloitte
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The burst of business optimism seen in the spring has faded under the weight of inflation and rising interest rates," Deloitte's chief economist, Ian Stewart, said. The survey showed early signs of cooling in the labour market with CFOs signalling a further easing in recruitment difficulties and a slowdown in wage growth. The survey of 69 CFOs - 13 of them from FTSE 100 firms and 21 from FTSE 250 companies - was conducted between June 15 and June 27. The CBI called on the government to deliver a clear and stable policy environment and offer incentives for investment, among other measures. ($1 = 0.7625 pounds)Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David MillikenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ian Stewart, Corporates, Rain Newton, Smith, William Schomberg, David Milliken Organizations: Finance, Deloitte, Bank of England, of British Industry, CBI, Thomson

☆ Writers Where They Work
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Erica Ackerberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

William S. Burroughs smoking and writing in Paris, 1962. As Burroughs recounted, his pal Jack Kerouac typed part of the original manuscript of “Naked Lunch” in 1957. “He started and he was a marvelous typist and he typed … about….. well, I don’t know, 40 or 50 pages, quite a bit.”Erica Ackerberg is the photo editor at the Book Review.

Persons: William S, Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, “, Erica Ackerberg Locations: Paris

☆ Prosecutors are 'sending a message' by asking for harsher sentences for Oath Keepers defendants: DOJ official
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The DOJ wants harsher sentences for eight Oath Keepers members convicted over the Capitol riot. One department official told Insider the DOJ is "really sending a message" by appealing the 8 defendants' sentences. "It's very unusual for DOJ to appeal, but these are unusual cases and unusual times," said the Justice Department official, who requested anonymity to speak about the cases. The DOJ appeal filing didn't include details laying out prosecutors' reasoning; the department official told Insider those details will be laid out in court later. "Typical DOJ, they got their pound of flesh and still want more," Moerschel's lawyer Scott Weinberg told Insider.

Persons: it's, Andrew Weissmann, Robert Mueller's, Weissmann, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, Amit Mehta, Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, Edward Vallejo, David Moerschel, It's, Moerschel, Scott Weinberg, Elsa, Weinberg, William Shipley, Minuta, Meggs, Harrelson, Watkins, Hackett, Vallejo Organizations: DOJ, Capitol, Service, Department, Justice Department, Organization Locations: Wall, Silicon, Robert Mueller's Russia

Economic output fell 0.1% in May from April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, after growth of 0.2% in the previous month. All sectors of the economy contracted with the exception of services, which showed no growth. Finance minister Jeremy Hunt said high inflation continued to hamper the economy and he called for patience in bringing it down. Some companies in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector said they had benefited from the extra bank holiday, as well as hotels and restaurants, the ONS said. Britain's economy often shows some rebound in subsequent months when output is temporarily dented by extra bank holidays.

Persons: Maja Smiejkowska, King Charles, Paul Dales, Dales, BoE, Jeremy Hunt, Andy Bruce, William Schomberg, Kate Holton, Peter Graff, Toby Chopra Organizations: Charing Cross, REUTERS, National Statistics, Bank of England, Capital Economics, Reuters, ONS, European Union, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Germany

☆ UK economy shows strains and gains, complicating Bank of England's job
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

But the BoE is also aware that the economic impact of its 18-month campaign of rate hikes has yet to be felt fully. Below is a summary of key measures of the economy that the BoE will be watching before its next announcement on interest rates on Aug. 3. INFLATION THREATBritish consumer price inflation held at 8.7% in annual terms in May, down from a peak of 11.1% last October but the highest among the Group of Seven advanced economies. Reuters GraphicsINSOLVENCIESThere are signs that companies, especially smaller ones, are struggling as borrowing costs rise and the economy barely grows. Reuters GraphicsGraphics by Sumanta Sen, Kripa Jayaram and Vincent Flasseur; Editing by Paul SimaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: BoE, GfK, Sumanta Sen, Kripa Jayaram, Vincent Flasseur, Paul Simao Organizations: Bank of England's, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Nationwide, Halifax, Reuters, insolvencies, Wales, Reuters Graphics LABOUR, Thomson Locations: BoE's, Britain, England, Germany

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