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☆ Mali in meltdown as militants advance and U.N. withdraws
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Edward Mcallister | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] A man walks toward Sankore mosque, also known as the former University of Sankore, in Timbuktu, Mali September 25, 2023. "This conflict is escalating fast," said Ulf Laessing, the Bamako-based head of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer foundation. Back in 2012, French forces and the U.N. intervened to halt the advance in Mali. In Mali, fighting began in August between the army and an ethnic Tuareg group called the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) around a base vacated by the U.N. "The problem is Mali has too few troops and too little mobility," said Michael Shurkin, director of global programs at 14 North Strategies consultancy.

Persons: Stringer, Sory Touré, jihadists, Ulf Laessing, Konrad Adenauer, Russia's Wagner, Jama'at Nusrat al, Michael Shurkin, Iyad Ag, Shurkin, Mohamed Massaya, Salaha, Aicha Sababou, Edward McAllister, Alexandra Zavis, Edmund Blair Organizations: University of Sankore, REUTERS, U.N, United Nations, Islamic, Reuters Graphics, CMA, Ghali, Transitional Council, Reuters, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Sankore, Timbuktu, Mali, DAKAR, jihadists, al Qaeda, Islamic State, West, Burkina Faso, Niger, Bamako, France, U.S, Sahara, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, Al Qaeda, Gao, Dakar

☆ Maldives opposition candidate Muizzu wins presidential vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Mohamed Junayd | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Mohamed Muizzu, Maldives presidential candidate of the opposition party, People's National Congress gestures after casting his vote at a polling station during the Maldives presidential election day in Male, Maldives September 9, 2023. REUTERS/Dhahau Naseem/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMALE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu has won the Maldives presidential election, beating incumbent President Ibrahim Solih in a second-round runoff that could herald a pro-China shift for the Indian Ocean archipelago, from traditional partner India. With nearly all votes counted, the Elections Commission of the Maldives said on its website that Muizzu had received 54% of the ballots in Saturday's vote, with 46% for Solih. "Today the people made a strong decision to win back Maldives independence," Muizzu told reporters in the capital, Male. Muizzu also called on President Solih to release Yameen to house arrest.

Persons: Mohamed Muizzu, Dhahau Naseem, Ibrahim Solih, Muizzu, Solih, Abdulla Yameen, Insha Allah, Yameen, Narendra Modi, Modi, Mohamed Junayd, Uditha Jayasinghe, Edmund Klamann Organizations: People's, REUTERS, India, Solih, Maldives, Indian, Thomson Locations: Maldives, Male, China, India, Colombo

☆ Maldives Opposition Candidate Muizzu Wins Presidential Vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Corrects dateline to MALE, not COLOMBO)By Mohamed JunaydMALE (Reuters) -Opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu has won the Maldives presidential election, beating incumbent President Ibrahim Solih in a second-round runoff that could herald a pro-China shift for the Indian Ocean archipelago, from traditional partner India. About 85% of 282,000 eligible voters in the Maldives, known for its pristine beaches and high-end resorts, turned up at more than 586 polling stations across 187 islands. "Today the people made a strong decision to win back Maldives independence," Muizzu told reporters in the capital, Male. Muizzu also called on President Solih to release Yameen to house arrest. "India remains committed to strengthening the time-tested India-Maldives bilateral relationship and enhancing our overall cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region," Modi said on X.

Persons: Mohamed Junayd MALE, Mohamed Muizzu, Ibrahim Solih, Muizzu, Solih, Abdulla Yameen, Insha Allah, Yameen, Narendra Modi, Modi, Mohamed Junayd, Uditha Jayasinghe, Edmund Klamann Organizations: India, Solih, Maldives, Indian Locations: COLOMBO, China, Maldives, India

☆ Best High-Yield Savings Accounts for October 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Martha C. White | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +18 min

With the Federal Reserve steadily raising interest rates to fight inflation, high-yield savings account payouts have steadily risen, too. After years of near-zero returns, the average savings account rate has risen to 0.45%, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Their new High-Yield Savings account offers a 3.5% APY, but you need a hefty $5,000 deposit to open the account. Unlike some high-yield online savings accounts, you earn a high APY—currently 5%—on every dollar in your account. You can conduct immediate electronic transfers between your brokerage account and savings account, and manage both savings and investment activities on a single platform.

Persons: Martha C, it’s, JPMorgan Chase, Wells, Wells Fargo, Ally, Synchrony, UFB, —, Achilles, We’ve, Foster, Alliant, Morgan Stanley, Marcus, Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, Charles Schwab Bank Charles Schwab Organizations: Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Capital, National, One’s, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase &, Chase Savings, Ally, Synchrony, CIT, First Citizens, Bank, Axos Bank, Webster Bank, National Bank, Zelle, Alliance Data Systems, Comenity Capital Bank, FDIC, Foster Care, Navy, Navy Federal, Savings, Morgan Stanley Private, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, Bloomberg, Trade, Charles, Charles Schwab Bank, Best Bank, National Credit Union Administration, dateline Locations: Chase, Zelle, Ally’s, Utah, Chicago, U.S, .

☆ Wild horses prosper on Serbia's Mt. Stolovi
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Slavljub Nikolic is seen with a wild horse on the mountain Stolovi in Serbia, August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Zorana Jevtic Acquire Licensing RightsSTOLOVI, Serbia, Sept 1 (Reuters) - A herd of about 40 mares, stallions and foals graze lazily on dry grass over the rugged Stolovi mountain in Serbia's southwest, one out of three such bands of wild horses in the Balkan country. The horses, mainly from the sturdy Bosnian Mountain Horse breed used as pack animals and in agriculture, were brought to Mt. Away from humans, the animals gradually became feral, reverting to behaviour more closely resembling that of wild horses, 73-year-old farmer Slavoljub Nikolic said on Thursday. The Stolovi herd is the second biggest in Serbia.

Persons: Slavljub Nikolic, Zorana, Slavoljub Nikolic, " Nikolic, Nikolic, Aleksandar Vasovic, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Serbia, Serbia's, Balkan, Mt, Stolovi, Suva Planina

☆ Shares in Swiss bank UBS hit highest since late 2008
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of Swiss bank UBS is seen at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland February 28, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Shares in UBS (UBSG.S) hit their highest level since October 2008 on Thursday, extending a strong run that has put the Swiss bank well ahead of its European rivals following the takeover in March of its struggling rival Credit Suisse. UBS rallied more than 6% early in Zurich, set for its biggest one-day gain since March, after the group said it would fully absorb Credit Suisse's domestic bank and that it was increasing its ambitions for cost savings to over $10 billion. The stock has risen 36% so far in 2023 against a 13.5% gain for the broader European banking index (.SX7P). (This story has been refiled to change the dateline to Aug. 31, and not Aug. 30)Reporting by Danilo Masoni Editing by Amanda Cooper and David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Arnd, Danilo Masoni, Amanda Cooper, David Goodman Organizations: Swiss, UBS, REUTERS, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Thomson Locations: Zurich, Switzerland, Swiss

☆ Best High-Yield Savings Accounts of September 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Martha C. White | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +18 min

With the Federal Reserve steadily raising interest rates to fight inflation, high-yield savings account payouts have steadily risen, too. After years of near-zero returns, the average savings account rate has risen to 0.43%, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Unlike some high-yield online savings accounts, you earn a high APY—currently 5%—on every dollar in your account. You can conduct immediate electronic transfers between your brokerage account and savings account, and manage both savings and investment activities on a single platform. How we pickedTo pick Buy Side from WSJ’s Best Savings Accounts, we looked for accounts that offered the best APY on deposited funds without restrictions.

Persons: Martha C, it’s, JPMorgan Chase, Wells, Wells Fargo, Ally, Synchrony, Foster, Alliant, —, Ivy, Achilles, We’ve, Morgan Stanley, Marcus, Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, Charles Schwab Bank Charles Schwab Organizations: Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Capital, National, One’s, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase &, Chase Savings, Ally, Synchrony, CIT, First Citizens, Bank, Foster Care, Navy, Navy Federal, Bask Bank, Texas Capital Bank, Savings, LendingClub, Alliance Data Systems, Comenity Capital Bank, FDIC, Morgan Stanley Private, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, Bloomberg, Trade, Charles, Charles Schwab Bank, Best Bank, National Credit Union Administration, dateline Locations: Chase, Zelle, Ally’s, Chicago, U.S, Utah, .

Those figures are now 20% at Berkeley Law and 15% at Michigan Law. The Association of American Law Schools on July 10 is convening a virtual conference focused on admissions in a post-affirmative action landscape, chaired by Berkeley Law dean Erwin Chemerinsky. Alongside strategies to recruit and admit diverse students, Zearfoss said the changing demographics of the law school applicant pool have helped Michigan Law bolster student diversity—good news for law schools now facing an affirmative action ban. The law school also prioritizes recruiting at events geared toward minority applicants and at college and universities with significant minority enrollment, Zearfoss added. Michigan Law and Berkeley Law both voluntarily withhold information about each applicant's race to ensure they comply with their state laws, admissions officials said.

Persons: Sarah Zearfoss, Erwin Chemerinsky, Edward Blum, ”, Michigan’s Zearfoss, Zearfoss, Chemerinsky, “, ” Chemerinsky, Karen Sloan, Leigh Jones Organizations: U.S, Supreme, University of Michigan Law School, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Berkeley Law, American Bar Association, Michigan Law's, ABA, Michigan Law, Association of American Law Schools, Berkeley, Fair Admissions, Harvard University, University of North, Asian, Fair, Association of American Medical Colleges, American Dental Association, Law, Thomson Locations: Michigan, California, American, Sarah Zearfoss , Michigan, University of North Carolina, U.S

☆ Russian soldiers' corpses line road into liberated Ukrainian village
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Vitalii Hnidyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A view shows the newly liberated village Storozheve near the front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine, June 14, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr RatushniakSTOROZHEVE, Ukraine, June 14 (Reuters) - The road into the newly liberated Ukrainian village of Storozheve is lined with the corpses of Russian soldiers and burnt-out armoured vehicles. Some of the dead Russian soldiers lay on the dusty ground beside the husks of their vehicles when Reuters journalists reached the village on Wednesday. A photograph posted online on Monday showed Ukrainian soldiers holding up the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag in front of a damaged home in Storozheve. The soldiers said about 50 Russian soldiers were killed in a "mopping-up operation" and four were taken prisoner.

Persons: Oleksandr Ratushniak STOROZHEVE, Artem, Vitlii Hnyidyi, Timothy Heritage, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Donetsk region, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Storozheve, Neskuchne

☆ FACTBOX Wall Street banks expect 'hawkish pause' from Fed in June
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 12 (Reuters) - Most big Wall Street banks expect the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, while sticking to its hawkish tone due to a strong job market and elevated inflation. Several economists say that it is a toss-up between a skip and a hike in the June meeting. Most banks expect the central bank to prepare markets for a hike in July. Money markets are currently pricing in a more than 70% chance of a pause this month, with rate cut expectations pushed out to next year. Following are forecasts from some big U.S. banks and their global counterparts:(This story has been corrected to change the dateline to June 12)Compiled by Broker Research team in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Organizations: Federal Reserve, Research, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

The decision is likely to force companies to toe a more careful line when making commercial products that mimic other brands for the sake of parody, legal experts said. The Rogers test is "not appropriate when the accused infringer has used a trademark to designate the source of its own goods - in other words, has used a trademark as a trademark," Justice Elena Kagan wrote. Other experts said the decision leaves space for the First Amendment to apply to parody products. "The likelihood of confusion analysis will still take the challenged product's funny message into account," Brannen said. (This story has been refiled to change dateline to June 12)Reporting by Blake Brittain in WashingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brown, Forman, Jack Daniel's, Rogers, infringer, Elena Kagan, Kagan, Megan Bannigan, Plimpton, Bannigan, VIP, Doug Masters, Loeb & Loeb, Masters, Alexandra Roberts, Roberts, Elizabeth Brannen, Maher, Brannen, Blake Brittain Organizations: U.S, Supreme Court, Constitution, VIP Products, MCA Records, Mattel, Debevoise, Loeb &, Northeastern University, Stris, Thomson Locations: Danish, Washington

☆ Families, rescuers search for victims of India's worst train crash in decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Jatindra Dash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] A drone view shows derailed coaches after trains collided in Balasore district in the eastern state of Odisha, India, June 3, 2023. REUTERS/StringerBAHANAGA, India, June 4 (Reuters) - Rescuers and families searched through mangled train carriages on Sunday for more victims of India's worst rail crash in more than two decades with signal failure emerging as the likely cause. At least 288 people were killed on Friday when a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one near the district of Balasore in the eastern state of Odisha. The South Eastern Railway has said a preliminary report indicated that the accident was the result of signal failure. "The target is by Wednesday morning the entire restoration work is complete and tracks should be working," said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Persons: Stringer BAHANAGA, Narendra Modi, Baisakhi Dhar, Nikhil Dhar, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Kanchan Choudhury, Vaishnaw, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Rishi Sunak, Emmanuel Macron, Jathindra Dash, Jayshree Upadhyay, Ira Dugal, Robert Birsel, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Railways, Eastern Railway, Workers, Railway Ministry, Twitter, Wednesday, Reuters, . U.S, Canadian, British, Thomson Locations: Balasore district, Odisha, India, Balasore, West Bengal, .

☆ India's forex reserves edge towards $600 billion, hit near 1-year high
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Changes in forex reserves also stem from valuation gains or losses. For the week to which the forex reserves data pertains, the rupee fell by 0.4%, dragged down by a broader strength in the dollar index. The local unit had traded in a range of 81.6900 to 82.2250. The rupee fell further by 0.6% this week, its worst fall in two months. The local unit ended at 82.66 against the dollar on Friday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to Israel's calculations at work in dealing with Hamas in Gaza. "The gap between Hamas and Islamic Jihad is rooted in the fact that Hamas has a political programme and governing authority, whereas the Jihad has neither," he said. However, Israeli officials say Islamic Jihad would not be able to fire rockets without approval from Hamas. An Islamic Jihad official offered a similar line. "That's why they (Hamas) focus their attacks in the West Bank," the regional diplomat said.

NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) - The cost of insuring against further losses in regional U.S. bank stocks stood near a one-month high in options markets on Wednesday, even as shares of lenders saw a reprieve from their recent sell-off. Skew on the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF - a gauge of relative demand for puts versus calls - remained elevated, hovering near the highest level since the COVID-19 market slump, data from OptionMetrics showed. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF rose about 1.9% to 39.64 in afternoon trade, though it is down 33% on the year and fell on Monday and Tuesday. "The fact that you didn't see the follow-through from some of these other regional banks, with what would appear to be such great news, really didn't inspire a lot of confidence in some of these regional banks," said Seth Hickle, a derivatives portfolio manager at Innovative Portfolios, referring to JPMorgan’s rescue of First Republic. "The problem with regionals are going to be rising interest rates,” said Matt Amberson, principal at options analytics firm ORATS.

Pool via REUTERSApril 8 (Reuters) - The federal judge who on Friday suspended approval of the abortion pill mifepristone is a former Christian legal activist whose small courthouse in Amarillo, Texas, has become a go-to destination for conservatives challenging Biden administration policies. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump, had a long track record of opposing abortion and LGBTQ rights before the U.S. Senate confirmed him in 2019 to a life-tenured position as a federal judge. When anti-abortion groups in November filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's more than two-decade old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, they filed in Amarillo, guaranteeing the case would be heard by Kacsmaryk. FAVORED VENUESince then, his courthouse has become a favored venue for conservative legal activists and Republican state attorneys general pursuing lawsuits seeking to halt aspects of Democratic President Joe Biden's agenda - often with success. While the district's chief judge could order cases be reallocated, he has not.

It exceeds in being a smart alarm clock, and it can you give control of your smart devices. It's meant to function as a very smart alarm clock while giving you the ability to control your smart home, video chat, see pictures of cute animals, and stream video. Lowest Price Amazon Echo Show 5 The second-gen Echo Show 5 is a compact smart display that's perfect for use as a smart alarm clock on your bedside table. And while it works as a decent smart alarm clock, it won't blow you away as anything beyond that. The Amazon Echo Show 8 offers a much larger screen and better speakers than the Amazon Echo Show 5.

☆ Explainer: What is Generative AI, the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WHAT IS GENERATIVE AI? Like other forms of artificial intelligence, generative AI learns how to take actions from past data. The most famous generative AI application is ChatGPT, a chatbot that Microsoft-backed OpenAI released late last year. Generative AI likewise can take notes during a virtual meeting. Cybersecurity researchers have also expressed concern that generative AI could allow bad actors, even governments, to produce far more disinformation than before.

☆ Fact Check-CNBC did not publish article linking U.S. movie theatre group AMC to Silicon Valley Bank collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Social media users are sharing a screenshot of a purported CNBC report that links U.S. movie theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc to the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse, but the CNBC report is fabricated. There is no record of the alleged article on the CNBC website and a spokesperson for CNBC told Reuters that it had never published such a report. Differences between the alleged article shared on social media and a real article by Macheel can be seen in this comparison, with the fake article on the left and the authentic one on the right (imgur.com/a/QYUbddc). There is no record of the fabricated article on the CNBC website and a CNBC spokesperson outlet told Reuters that it had never published such a report. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts (here).

Snap said its direct response business geared towards driving product sales or website visits rose 4% in October-December. That could "be viewed as a healthy sign for Meta and Google," whose businesses are tuned to direct response advertisers, said Mark Shmulik, senior analyst at research firm Bernstein. Similarly, Meta has said in previous quarters that the bulk of its revenue comes from direct response advertising. Headwinds for Meta and Google could be notably less severe, he added. The weak outlook pulled down the shares of rivals Meta, Google, and Pinterest (PINS.N), which also earns revenue by selling digital advertising, on Tuesday.

☆ Rapper Meek Mill says he was pardoned by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf for 2008 charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Mirna-Alsharif-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Mirna Alsharif | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Rapper Meek Mill says he was pardoned by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf for 2008 drugs and firearms charges that he served prison time for in 2017, according to a post on his Instagram account. One other charge is mentioned in the document as "possession of" with the rest redacted from the picture posted by the rapper. The office of Governor Tom Wolf did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but a news release published Thursday announced that Wolf issued 369 pardons this week. This brings the total pardons Wolf has issued during his time as governor to 2,540, according to the news release. His high-profile case has become a focal point for critics, including the rapper himself, calling for criminal justice reform.

Kristi and Steve Goncalves told Dateline that their daughter, 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves, was due to graduate college early and had lined up a job with an IT firm in Austin, Texas. Kaylee Goncalves had just moved out of the house she shared with her longtime best friend, 21-year-old Madison "Maddie" Mogen. “These girls were best friends since sixth grade, like inseparable,” Kristi Goncalves said. “Maddie had been a huge part of our life.”Steve and Kristi Goncalves during an interview with Dateline on NBC. “I hope that maybe in a struggle, she pulled it off of him,” Kristi Goncalves said.

☆ Noah Oppenheim Steps Down as NBC News President in Leadership Reorganization
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Talal Ansari | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Noah Oppenheim was named president of NBC News in February 2017. NBC News President Noah Oppenheim is stepping down as part of a restructuring which splits up leadership of key programs in the network’s news division. Rebecca Blumenstein , a top New York Times editor, will become president of editorial at NBC News, a new role overseeing all editorial, newsgathering, “Meet the Press,” “Dateline” and NBC News Studios, said NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde.

NBC News’ longtime president, Noah Oppenheim, is stepping down but will stay with NBCUniversal to produce movies and scripted television shows, the company announced Wednesday. Rebecca Blumenstein, a deputy managing editor of The New York Times since 2017, will step into the new role of president of editorial, Conde said. “We are excited for his new chapter and that he will continue to work closely with NBCUniversal in this new role,” Conde said of Oppenheim. In addition, Janelle Rodriguez, who helped develop NBC News’ highly successful and profitable news streaming service, is joining the leadership team as executive vice president of NBC News NOW. “Under her leadership, NBC News NOW has been the largest and fasted growing streaming news network and provides more live programming than any other streaming news service,” the company said in a statement.

☆ The Best Banks for Small Business
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +15 min

To find the best business banks, we evaluated two dozen of the biggest institutions, looking for accounts that are easy to use, with low or no fees, and that don’t require large balances. Amex is one of relatively few banks that offers a competitive interest rate on its business checking account, with a current APY of 1.3% on balances up to $500,000. If you’re on the lookout for a new business credit card, the American Express Business Gold Card is Buy Side’s pick for Best Business Credit Card. How we pickedTo pick Buy Side from WSJ’s Best Banks for Small Business, we evaluated small-business checking accounts offered by two dozen traditional and digital banking institutions. We looked for business checking accounts that offered the best combination of convenience, low fees and features that make running a business easier, like integration with other business technology platforms and the availability of (or ability to connect with) payment processing systems.

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