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☆ Banks’ profit picnic will attract ant invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

JPMorgan (JPM.N), Bank of America (BAC.N), Wells Fargo (WFC.N) and Citigroup (C.N) all report fourth-quarter earnings on Friday. The good news is that for the year ahead, rising interest rates twinned with growing loan books should more than make up for sliding investment banking fees. The CFPB squeezed a $3.7 billion settlement from serial miscreant Wells Fargo in December for wrongly levying charges on customers. CONTEXT NEWSJPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo will report fourth-quarter 2022 earnings on Jan. 13. The CFPB said that Wells Fargo will also allocate over $2 billion in redress to customers.

☆ UK parliament considers recalling Amazon exec after lawmaker "unhappy" with testimony
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

An Amazon spokesperson strongly denied the executive - European policy chief Brian Palmer - misled the committee. It cited legal filings related to U.S. court cases and testimony from workers at five warehouses in the UK. "We were extremely unhappy with his testimony," McDonald told Reuters. An Amazon spokesperson said that Amazon used CCTV cameras "to ensure the safety of employees and security of products". "To suggest that the use of these standard business practices amount to surveillance of employees is wrong," the Amazon spokesperson added.

☆ Trial of Sayfullo Saipov, accused of killing 8 people in truck terror attack on NYC bike path, begins
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Opening arguments kicked off Monday in the federal trial of Sayfullo Saipov, the Uzbek immigrant who in 2017 plowed a rented pickup truck on a New York City bike path, killing eight people in its path of destruction. The Oct. 31 attack was the deadliest terrorist attack in New York City since Sept. 11, 2001. Police said Saipov, then 29, was inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group, or ISIS, in launching the attack. How the attack unfoldedIn the attack, Saipov rented a white Home Depot pickup truck in Passaic, New Jersey, and drove it into Manhattan where the streets were filling up with Halloween festivities. Investigators later found a note that Saipov left in the truck, claiming the attack was in the name of ISIS.

☆ Rolls-Royce sees record sales in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Darren Geeter | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRolls-Royce sees record sales in 2022Rolls-Royce sold a record number cars in 2022 as demand for its $500,000 vehicles remained strong. The company said the average price of a Rolls Royce soared to $534,000 last year — thanks largely to its customization program known as Bespoke.

☆ Newcastle shocked by third-tier Sheffield Wednesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHEFFIELD, England, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Premier League high-flyers Newcastle United were shocked by third-tier Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday as they suffered a 2-1 away defeat to crash out of the FA Cup in the third round. Newcastle, who sit third in the top flight, fell two goals behind as League One side Sheffield Wednesday’s Josh Windass netted twice in the second half. "It's one of the proudest moments in my managerial career to date," Wednesday manager Darren Moore told the BBC. Newcastle manager Howe highlighted that he thought his team should've made the most of the chances they created. "We have to accept the defeat and Sheffield Wednesday battled for everything, as we did, but it wasn’t to be."

New York CNN —New York City public schools will ban students and teachers from using ChatGPT, a powerful new AI chatbot tool, on the district’s networks and devices, an official confirmed to CNN on Thursday. “Due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content, access to ChatGPT is restricted on New York City Public Schools’ networks and devices,” Jenna Lyle, the deputy press secretary for the New York public schools, said in a statement. New York City appears to be the first major school district to crack down on ChatGPT, barely a month after the tool first launched. While there are genuine concerns about how ChatGPT could be used, it’s unclear how widely adopted it is among students. But many educators fear students will use the tool to cheat on assignments.

☆ A 25-year-old traded $2 billion of crypto from his parents' suburban home in Australia, public records show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

25-year-old Darren Nguyen's crypto business is based at his parents' suburban home, per The Australian. Filings reported by The Australian show it managed to trade $2 billion worth of crypto in the fiscal year ending June 2021. The firm made an after-tax profit of $7 million as crypto boomed in 2021. Darren Nguyen's crypto trading business, PO Street Capital, is registered at his parents' house in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Although, since PO Street Capital first registered in June 2018, Bitcoin is still up around 118% as of Tuesday morning.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX collapse is a nightmare of shady finances - and these bizarre schemes emerged recently
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Recently, it emerged that FTX reportedly told customers to wire money to a little-known, fake electronics retailer website. One SEC complaint said FTX told customers to wire money to a subsidiary that was a little-known fake online electronics retailer. "FTX was an opaque company that was so centralized it relied entirely on one person," Andrew Yeoh, chief marketing officer of Web3 firm Nillion, told Insider. He has denied criminal liability and is due to appear in a New York federal court on January 3 for charges of wire fraud and conspiracy. "The point of crypto is that it's fully decentralized and trustless," he told Insider.

☆ Officials seeking surveillance video after 4 Washington substations were vandalized
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Phil-Helsel-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Phil Helsel | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Authorities in Washington state were asking for surveillance or other video Tuesday as they investigate what has been called deliberate damage to power substations. The vandalism at four substations south and southeast of Tacoma on Christmas Day left more than 14,000 customers without power, officials said. The sheriff’s department has said a reason for the burglaries and vandalism incidents, one of which caused a fire, was unknown. Sheriff's department spokesman Sgt. The sheriff’s department asked Tuesday on social media that anyone with surveillance video at their home or business review the video.

☆ Electric vehicle sales hit a tipping point in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Bloomberg includes plug-in hybrids in its count of “electric vehicles,” but a large majority are purely battery-powered models. It’s unclear exactly why 5% seems to mark the point where EV sales really take off. The Mustang Mach-E, which hit the market in in 2021, was the first electric vehicle to take a notable chunk of Tesla’s still-dominant EV market share. The act, passed this year, changes the rules around which electric vehicles are eligible for consumer tax credits. Given their popularity and already high sales, incentive rules could help push EV sales significantly higher.

☆ ‘Emily in Paris’ Creator Darren Star Wasn’t Going for a Millennial Stereotype
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Lane Florsheim | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Darren Star is one of TV’s greatest romantics. From “Sex and the City” to “Emily in Paris,” the showmaker’s signatures include love triangles, lavish parties, grand gestures and, of course, over-the-top outfits. While filming the third season of his Netflix comedy starring Lily Collins, which is now streaming, he found plenty of opportunities to feel the magic himself—such as shooting a scene at the top of the Eiffel Tower late at night. “You can’t get up there until after 1 a.m. to film,” says Mr. Star, 61. “When you write things, it’s sort of a dream of what you’d like things to be, and in this case, what we dreamed, we were able to get on the screen.”

He voted against the Puerto Rico Status Act on the floor last week, calling for "letting a full and robust legislative process take place." One of the bill’s main negotiators, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress, is confident about more congressional hearings on Puerto Rico's territorial status in the new year. That’s intentional, said Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican nonvoting member of Congress representing Puerto Rico who favors statehood and helped negotiate the Puerto Rico Status Act. What’s next for Puerto Rico’s territorial status? Excluding Puerto Rico’s territorial status also gives Wicker and others pause.

☆ Who really pays for NFL stadiums?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Darren Geeter | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWho really pays for NFL stadiums? In 2022, the Tennessee Titans of the NFL unveiled their plan to build a new stadium in the heart of Nashville. The 1.7-million-square-foot stadium will house 60,000 fans and cost $2.1 billion. Public funds diverted to help build professional sports stadiums and arenas have cost taxpayers $4.3 billion since 2000. While the NFL and team owners contend that stadiums provide economic benefit to a city, researchers claim it's otherwise.

☆ Taxpayers are paying billions for the renovations and construction of NFL stadiums. Here's how
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Darren Geeter | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

These tax exemptions help lower the burden of high debt through low-interest municipal bonds used by cities and teams to pay for stadiums. Since 1913, municipal bonds have been a popular financing option for airports, roads, hospitals and schools. The loophole works by creating an artificial financing structure through tax-exempt municipal bonds. To gain access to those bonds, private companies must fail one of two tests stipulated by the Tax Reform Bill of 1986. The Las Vegas Stadium Authority financed nearly 40% of the stadium through $750 million in bonds backed by its hotel taxes.

The third season of "Emily in Paris" is now available to watch on Netflix . Check out the trailer for 'Emily in Paris' season 3Star Lily Collins returns for season three, along with Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Ashley Park, Lucas Bravo, Samuel Arnold, and Bruno Gouery. How to watch 'Emily in Paris'You can watch "Emily in Paris" exclusively on Netflix. The first season of "Emily in Paris" debuted on Netflix in October 2020, to mixed but mostly positive reviews. Will there be a season 4 of 'Emily in Paris'?

☆ Creator economy insiders share the 5 trends that could change the industry in 2023, from a flood of Gen X and millennial creators to a startup reckoning
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Sydney Bradley | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Insider asked creator economy industry professionals to share their predictions for 2023. We spoke with investors, influencer marketers, and industry experts, who shared their best predictions for the creator economy in 2023. Live shopping could finally have its moment in the USIndustry insiders may have been premature in declaring 2022 the year of social and live shopping. Some creator economy startups might close their doorsThis past year, layoffs have been rampant in the creator economy, as companies like Patreon and Jellysmack reacted to the economic slowdown by letting employees go. "Venture capitalists think this isn't the time to be betting on the creator economy, so the next nine months will be really tough."

☆ Man who threatened to kill CDC head pleads guilty to charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

— A Mississippi man who threatened to kill Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky has pleaded guilty to making threats in interstate commerce, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Robert Wiser Bates, 39, of Ridgeland, threatened to kill Walensky in voicemails left in July 2021 at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, court records said. He also said he would kill Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to the president. In August, a West Virginia man was sentenced to three years in federal prison after he sent emails threatening Fauci and another federal health official for talking about the coronavirus and efforts to prevent its spread. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

Exxon has yet to set any 2030 Scope 3 target. Shell said it believed its targets are aligned with the U.N. climate targets. We remain committed to constructive engagement with our investors," a Shell spokesperson said in a statement. The group of investors co-filing the resolutions includes Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, Degroof Petercam Asset Management and Achmea Asset Management. Exxon and Chevron have in the past successfully blocked attempts to file climate resolutions with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The House voted Thursday in favor of the Puerto Rico Status Act, which seeks to resolve the U.S. territory's status and its relationship to the United States through a binding plebiscite. The Puerto Rico Status Act also lays out terms for a November 2023 binding plebiscite including all three nonterritorial status options. Lawmakers from both sides debated the merits of the Puerto Rico Status Act on the House floor Thursday. While Democrats insisted the legislation is a significant step toward Puerto Rico's decolonization, Republicans worried over the economic implications of changing Puerto Rico's status. Venator- Santiago, who has been tracking Puerto Rico legislation in Congress for years, said this is the first time since 2010 that the House votes in favor of legislation dealing with changes to Puerto Rico’s territorial status.

☆ Netflix's 'Emily in Paris' embraces French life in new season
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Cultural frictions give way to personality clashes in Netflix's (NFLX.O) "Emily in Paris," according to creator Darren Star who recently joined the show's cast members in the French capital for the global premiere of the third season. The new season of the television comedy starring Lily Collins as Emily Cooper, an American who moves to Paris from Chicago for a marketing job, will be released on Dec. 21. Kate Walsh, William Abadie, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Samuel Arnold, Lily Collins, Ashley Park, Lucien Laviscount, Camille Razat, Bruno Gouery and Lucas Bravo attend the world premiere of the third season of the Netflix series "Emily in Paris" at the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, France, December 6, 2022. In the third season, actors Paul Forman and Melia Kreiling join as new cast members. “New characters come in and add a lot of new texture and complications for the entire ensemble,” said Star.

☆ DOJ says judge doesn’t need to hire historian to understand Supreme Court gun ruling
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Ariane De Vogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Washington CNN —The Department of Justice is advising a federal judge in Mississippi that he does not need to hire a historian to determine whether a contested gun law complies with the Supreme Court’s most recent Second Amendment opinion. “The court is not a trained historian,” Reeves wrote. It outraged supporters of gun restrictions and was welcomed by those who support gun rights. In the new filing, the Biden administration defended a federal statute barring felons from possessing firearms and urged the court not to hire an historian, arguing that the government should win the case without such an intervention. “Our legal tradition rests in large part on the responsibility of the parties to present materials necessary to support their legal positions,” a government lawyer said in the new brief.

☆ Ford F-150 Lightning named MotorTrend Truck of the Year, the second electric pickup in a row
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The Ford F-150 Lightning was named MotorTrend’s 2023 Truck of the Year on Tuesday, making it the second electric pickup in a row to win that award. MotorTrend’s panel of judges lauded the F-150 Lightning as “the best-riding, best-handling, and best-driving F-150 yet.” Unlike other versions of the F-150, the Lightning has independent rear suspension instead of a solid axle connecting the back wheels. It’s also another sign that electric power is making its mark among America’s most popular type of vehicle. The Ford F-150 Lightning has a large storage area under the hood instead of a gas engine. The F-150 Lightning was a unanimous winner among the MotorTrend’s seven jurists.

☆ 'The Whale' reaches the big screen after a decadelong journey from the stage
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Rendy Jones | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“‘The Whale’ was seminal for me, both in my career but also, kind of, for me personally. It was the first time that I had … really personal stuff from my own history and put it into a play,” Hunter said. The story is set in Moscow, Idaho, where Hunter grew up, and, like Charlie, Hunter said he, too, had a fraught relationship with religious fundamentalism and self-medicated his depression with food. “I’m out of the closet, I’m fine now, but that masks a lot of stuff that I just had not processed. I think it’s worth talking about.”While “The Whale” deals with heavy subject matter, Hunter said it’s still a hopeful film.

☆ ‘The Whale’ Review: Brendan Fraser for Best Actor? Fat Chance
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Kyle Smith | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

If any movie released this season can be counted upon to reduce your pizza consumption, it’s “The Whale,” in which the title figure is an unfortunate 600-pound writing instructor brought to the edge of death by his own eating habits. He consumes candy by the bag and chicken by the bucket. He is on first-name terms with his pizza-delivery guy. And he’s portrayed by Brendan Fraser , whose triumphant comeback this film is meant to be, in a bid for one of those acting Oscars that really should go to the makeup and prosthetics department. Lots of screen time is spent on voyeuristic fascination with how Charlie manages; he has a handle over his bed to allow him to pull up and out of it, and he takes his shirt off so we can see the sores on his back.

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