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☆ Microsoft is bringing an A.I. chatbot to data analysis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Microsoft's cloud and artificial intelligence group, speaks at the Microsoft CIO Summit in Redmond, Washington, on Feb. 1, 2023. Microsoft 's hefty investment in artificial intelligence chatbots is finding its way into data analysis. For example, the data can be tapped in Synapse Data Science for collaborating on AI models and Power BI business intelligence software for building charts and dashboards. A single Copilot will be available for the tools in the Microsoft Fabric portfolio, which includes Data Factory, Synapse Data Engineering, Synapse Data Warehousing, Synapse Real-Time Analytics and a new monitoring tool called Data Activator, in addition to Power BI and Synapse Data Science, a Microsoft spokesperson said. He said that Copilot will be able to write formulas using Microsoft's Data Analysis Expressions language in Power BI.

☆ Nebraska legislature passes bill to restrict abortions at 12 weeks, gender-affirming care for those under 19
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Jack Forrest | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A Nebraska bill combining a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks and restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender Nebraskans under 19 is poised to become law after the state’s unicameral legislature voted for its passage Friday. It will also severely restrict most abortions at 12 weeks after legislators added a last-minute amendment to the bill on May 17. The bill makes it illegal for medical personnel to perform an abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy — with exceptions for sexual assault, incest and medical emergencies. The bill does not define “medical emergency.”The bill also bans a range of treatments that fall under the umbrella of gender affirming care. Others, like puberty blockers and other hormone treatments, are the standard of care for many trans and nonbinary youth.

☆ Inside PodCo, the startup cashing in on Nickelodeon and Disney nostalgia, drawing hundreds of thousands of listeners, and scoring brand deals with stars of shows like 'Wizards of Waverly Place'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

"Even Stevens" star Christy Carlson Romano and her husband, Brendan Rooney, founded the startup. Since their debut, several PodCo shows have ranked among the top 10 television and film podcasts on platforms like Apple Podcasts, according to Chartable. Along with the hosts, other big-name alums have made appearances on PodCo shows, which are also recorded on video and viewable on YouTube. So when he heard Carlson Romano and Rooney's idea, he leapt at the chance to bring the show back in a new form. Some have written into him personally to say the "Ned's" podcast is leaving them feeling less isolated in their own lives, he added.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Amazon, Netflix, Walmart, Nvidia, FedEx, Meta & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Citi names Meta top pick Citi said Meta is its new top pick pick based on the strength of its ad platforms. Jefferies reiterates Amazon as buy Jefferies said it sees a "strong AI opportunity" for the e-commerce giant. " "We believe upcoming results from FedEx next month can be a meaningful positive catalyst for shares. Citi reiterates Tesla as neutral Citi said its recent survey checks show Tesla has an "impressive loyalty lead." Jefferies reiterates Walmart as buy Jefferies said the big box giant is still a top pick after its robust earnings report on Thursday morning. "

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☆ Vice Media's bankruptcy has 'killed the ad pipeline' for the company, sources say, as questions about its future roil staffers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 15, leaving current and laid-off staffers anxious over what's next. One advertising source told Insider, "The bankruptcy has killed the ad pipeline." Employees who were laid off in recent weeks are demanding answers about how the company's bankruptcy will affect the terms of their departure. One of the former execs told Insider they were just keeping their fingers crossed that payments come through. A person close to the company said Vice Media intends to pay severance and COBRA, subject to court approval.

Walmart — Shares of the big box retailer rose slightly after the company reported an earnings and revenue beat for the fiscal first quarter. However, its adjusted earnings guidance for the fiscal second quarter came in lower than expectations. Bath & Body Works — The retailer's shares jumped more than 9% after its fiscal first quarter earnings topped expectations. Take-Two Interactive — Shares surged almost 13% and hit a new 52-week high following the company's earnings announcement Wednesday. To be sure, the company's guidance for bookings in the first-quarter and full-year fell below Wall Street's expectations.

☆ Explainer: Ecuador's Lasso dissolved the legislature. What comes next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Police stand outside the National Assembly after it was dissolved in a decree by Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso, bringing forward legislative and presidential elections, a day after he... Read moreQUITO, May 17 (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree on Wednesday, bringing forward legislative and presidential elections, a day after he defended himself in an impeachment hearing. WHAT IS PRESIDENT LASSO ACCUSED OF? Lasso, a former banker who took power in 2021, has denied the charges and says they are politically motivated. Ecuador's National Assembly began an impeachment hearing against Lasso on Tuesday, following a vote on May 9 to move forward in the process against him, which was passed with 88 votes from the 116 legislators present. Lasso invoked the "two-way death" on Wednesday, citing Ecuador's grave political crisis.

☆ At Hiroshima G7, bomb survivors grapple with a disarmament dream deferred
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Sakura Murakami | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/6] U.S. President Barack Obama (L) hugs atomic bomb survivor Shigeaki Mori as he visits Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan May 27, 2016. Kishida, who represents Hiroshima, said he chose it for the summit to focus attention on nuclear weapons. "I want to see the leaders commit to getting rid of nuclear weapons," Mori, 86, said in an interview. Senior German government sources did not list nuclear disarmament as a high priority, saying at the G7 it was "important mainly for Japan". "We recognise that the current international landscape is very challenging given Russia's threat to use nuclear weapons," one Japanese government official said.

☆ Journalist Resigns From Board After PEN America Cancels Russian Writers Panel
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Boycotts of Russian artists and culture have been a topic of debate across the cultural world since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. But Nossel, who has spoken out against such boycotts, said the question had yet to fully reach PEN until now. But there were no Russian writers in the festival, which was smaller than usual due to Covid concerns. Ukrainian writers’ concerns about appearing with Russians had been raised earlier this year, Nossel said, when discussions about the festival began. Reached by email, Chapeye said he believed that “a Ukrainian soldier cannot be seen under the same ‘umbrella’ with Russian participants for political / public image reasons.”

☆ Spring Dressing Isn’t Impossible
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Simbarashe Cha | Photographs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Thanks to a popular saying, most people in New York expect April showers. Almost just as predictable: the confusion over how to dress in the transitional weeks of spring, when the temperature can go from cold to warm to hot, sometimes in a single day. The style on the streets over the past few weeks has been all over the place. The most telling sign of spring might have been that, with many outfits, there was an umbrella. Beige and white became more ubiquitous shades than gray and black.

☆ Opinion | Dooce and Other ‘Mommy Blogs’ Deserve Credit for Shaping the Internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In the past few months, several internet giants have fallen. BuzzFeed News folded. Vice is headed for bankruptcy. And with the recent publication of Ben Smith’s “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral,” there’s been a resurgence of chatter about Gawker Media, which went kaput in 2016. (I worked at Jezebel, which was under the Gawker Media umbrella, from 2007 to 2008.)

☆ Ukrainian vigilantes are tearing down Russian statues and landmarks in the night to 'decolonize' their cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian vigilantes are tearing down Russian statues and landmarks in their cities. Activists told The Washington Post they want to "de-Russify" and "decolonize" Ukraine. Zelenskyy signed two laws last month to promote Ukrainian language and culture over that of Russia. The activists — operating under umbrella organizations such as Decolonize Ukraine — are recording the locations of Russian iconography across big cities and small towns, according to The Washington Post. The Post reported that these efforts range from Russian language on street signs and public art to Soviet symbols and statues dedicated to Russian soldiers.

DETROIT, May 10 (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) will consolidate North American sales operations for commercial vehicles, parts and telematics services under a new brand umbrella, GM Envolve, that will compete with Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Ford Pro unit and others for revenue from business vehicle fleets. GM executives said the reorganization is aimed at making it easier for commercial fleet customers to negotiate electric and combustion vehicle purchases and sign up for services and software offerings that GM is developing to generate revenue after the vehicle sale. GM is battling with Ford and Stellantis NV for a bigger share of the commercial fleet market. Ford created its Ford Pro commercial fleet unit in May 2021, and is aiming to increase its annual revenue to $45 billion by 2025, driven in part by software-enabled services. Both Ford and GM say they are leaders in commercial fleet sales, using different definitions of the market.

Companies National Indigenous Australians Agency FollowSYDNEY, May 11 (Reuters) - Two key Australian Indigenous leaders opposed to a proposal to constitutionally recognise the country's Aboriginal and Torres Island people joined forces on Thursday in an effort to strengthen their campaign ahead of a referendum later this year. A YouGov poll out last month showed 83% of Indigenous Australians support the referendum, while a wider poll by the Guardian said 60% of Australians will vote for it. Any constitutional alterations in Australia require a national referendum. To succeed, a referendum requires a national majority of votes as well as a majority of votes in at least four of the six states. The conservative Liberal-National opposition coalition will oppose the national vote.

[1/3] Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG and Dr. Ing. He did not mention the company's Xinjiang plant in China, a joint venture with SAIC Motor (600104.SS), which has become a sore point for human rights activists as well as some shareholders, including top-20 investors Deka Investment and Union Investment. "Volkswagen must be certain that its supply chains are clean," said Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka. Volkswagen's China chief visited the plant in Xinjiang earlier this year and said he saw no evidence of forced labour. Shareholders flagged rising competition from Chinese EV competitors in China, with BYD (002594.SZ) outselling Volkswagen as the top passenger car brand earlier this year.

☆ Chinese competition, Xinjiang plant loom large for Volkswagen investors at AGM
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, May 10 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) investors will demand answers from the carmakers' executives at its annual general meeting on Wednesday on its competitiveness in China and its contested plant in Xinjiang, advance copies of their speeches showed. "Volkswagen must be certain that its supply chains are clean," said Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka. Volkswagen's China chief visited the plant in Xinjiang, jointly owned with SAIC (600104.SS) earlier this year and said he saw no evidence of forced labour. Shareholders will also flag the rising competition from Chinese electric vehicle competitors in China, with BYD outselling the Volkswagen brand to be the bestselling passenger car brand earlier this year. Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Jan Schwartz; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The chief investment strategist of JPMorgan Global Wealth explains why the worst thing investors can do right now is sit on cash — and shares 5 other high-conviction investment ideas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But his highest-conviction idea is that investors should rotate out of cash into fixed income. But despite these factors, risk assets are currently fully valued and fully priced into the market. While most investors have some equity exposure, they've also raised a lot of cash in the past two years. 5 other high-conviction investment ideasWithin equities, at the sector level Kennedy currently favors industrial and reasonably-priced technology stocks. Finally, Kennedy also listed China A-shares as an attractive investment, pointing to the economic reopening, a surge in consumption, supportive monetary policies, and increased exports and investment growth as catalysts.

☆ Crypto firms call for global consensus instead of "fire hose" of rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Apart from compliance with rules to stop money laundering and terrorist financing, crypto firms are largely unregulated in many parts of the world. "If we built a good regulatory regime, people would come. We are shooting ourselves in the foot by not having a regulatory regime in the U.S.," Peirce said. U.S. Congress needed to decide which regulatory body has authority over crypto, Peirce added. Global standards and harmonisation as much as possible are key, said Sarah Pritchard, executive director for supervision at Britain's Financial Conduct Authority.

In 2020, Bain Capital set up a previous global fund after securing $3.2 billion in commitments. The program was previously called Bain Capital Distressed and Special Situations Fund and used to sit within Bain Capital's credit business. Bain Capital's special situations strategy is now a standalone business, after being carved out with an independent team outside the umbrella of the credit unit. Globally, Bain Capital currently has $16 billion of assets under management as part of its special situations strategy. Last year, Bain Capital closed a $2 billion "special situations fund" for Asia Pacific to cover a range of asset types, which included a focus on real estate.

CNN —Iran smuggled weapons and military equipment into Syria using humanitarian aid shipments as a cover following a devastating earthquake there in February, two sources familiar with US intelligence and an Israeli defense official told CNN. Intelligence officials believe the weapons were destined for Iranian proxy groups in Syria, who have repeatedly attacked US military personnel stationed there as part of the anti-ISIS coalition. “The humanitarian assistance of Iran to Syria was used as an umbrella of moving weapons capabilities into the region,” the Israeli defense official said. Reuters earlier reported that regional and western officials believed Iran was smuggling the weapons under the guise of earthquake relief. Foreign aid poured into Syria and Turkey after February’s earthquake, which killed more than 50,000 people.

☆ First Republic Bank Will Be Missed…For Its Free Umbrellas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Annamaria Andriotis | Ben Eisen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ed Beardsworth got a tall box in the mail about two years ago. Inside was a sturdy umbrella with a First Republic Bank logo on it. The gift, showered upon him for opening his accounts, put a pep in his step. Carrying it around “makes me feel like a proper Englishman,” said Mr. Beardsworth, who lives in Palo Alto, Calif.

☆ Meet the urban investor combining real estate, venture capital, and private equity to spend $5.5 billion making cities more liveable
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Urban Partners will combine real estate, venture capital, private equity, and credit under one company. "We started thinking about what real estate investing can do beyond just a piece of investment," Claus Mathisen, CEO of Urban Partners, told Insider. "You start thinking about servicing customers – the stakeholders who actually use the real estate – and you design around them." Urban Partners is working with mayors to figure out what they need to make their cities more livable. Cobe ArchitectsInstead of focusing on financial return on investment, Urban Partners is also using environmental impact as a KPI.

But with flights remaining limited after China's border reopening in January, European luxury stores will need to wait longer for the return of masses of tourists they once depended on for growth. The average transaction value by Chinese travellers in Europe in March was 28% above 2019 levels, UBS said, citing data from VAT refund provider Planet. Cartier-owner Richemont (CFR.S), Hermes (HRMS.PA) and LVMH were best placed to benefit from wealthy Chinese shoppers, UBS added. As wealthy Chinese return to Europe and other foreign destinations, the appeal of China's Hainan Island, a duty free shopping hotspot, appears to be waning among top luxury spenders. China's "higher income, top luxury spenders (are) already travelling abroad again," she said, leading to an observable lower per-capita spend in Hainan.

☆ Russia's National Bank Trust sues commodity traders for over $1 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 5 (Reuters) - Russian bank National Bank Trust said it had filed a lawsuit in the British Virgin Islands against a number of major commodity traders and was seeking over $1 billion in relation to what it said was fraud. The case is linked to the central bank's 2017 bailout of two private banks - Rost Bank and B&N Bank (Binbank). National Bank Trust is the legal successor to Rost Bank, which it says was defrauded by employees working for the commodity traders. A Bank Trust spokesperson said its international legal teams had carried out a large-scale investigation and it had extensive evidence to support its case. The central bank aims to liquidate Bank Trust in 2027.

☆ The trans soccer team that’s making history
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Hannah Ryan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

On the rainy evening of March 31, 2023, he captained what he says is the first ever all trans masculine soccer team in Europe in a match. “I was quite nervous before the match,” Webber told CNN. They now also aim to make soccer a more inclusive sport and connect the trans community. “After the all trans feminine team played their game and once I’d played with the all-gender team, she took me aside and said she’d been thinking about what we could do next and asked if I’d be interested in captaining an all trans masc team,” Webber said. “One day, there’ll be hundreds of trans people playing football all over the country at all levels.”

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