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☆ Airbus tells shareholders Europe needs to 'get its act together' on autonomy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The chairman of Europe's largest aerospace group, Rene Obermann, told investors last year's invasion of Ukraine by Russia had been a wake-up call. "It has highlighted the essential role that defence plays in society and that European nations need to get their act together for higher levels of strategic autonomy. "We are committed to playing a role of enabler for more co-operation in defence, which we believe is one of the key prerequisites to make sure that Europe maintains its strategic autonomy, Obermann said. He also cited sovereign capabilities for which Europe does not want to depend on the United States. DEFENCE DIVIDENDFrench President Emmanuel Macron is pursing an agenda to beef up Europe's "strategic autonomy" separate from the U.S.-led NATO umbrella, with eastern allies trusting the United States more for their defence.

☆ Legislation or lawsuits? The spot bitcoin ETF debate forges ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kevin Schmidt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"However, I don't think that means that we all of a sudden get a bitcoin ETF," he added. "I suspect that even if Grayscale wins, Gensler is going to back even further away from crypto," Nadig said. "Put some constraints around the futures-based products while we wait for comprehensive crypto regulation and legislation someday." "The point is, we need legislation," Nadig said. "I think we have to have legislation that realizes digital assets are different and need different sets of rules."

Many other hospitals were also reported to have come under attack on Monday, the third day of fighting in Sudan. Russia has also been trying to make inroads in Sudan, and members of the Kremlin-affiliated Wagner private military company are posted there. Leaders from around the world called for a cease-fire, but it was not clear who, if anyone, was in control of Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country, by area. “Everyone is afraid,” said Ahmed Abuhurira, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer who went out to try to charge his cellphone. “The humanitarian situation in Sudan was already precarious and is now catastrophic,” he said.

☆ Hong Kong activist Wong jailed for 3 months over information breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, April 17 (Reuters) - One of the most prominent democracy activists in Hong Kong over recent years, Joshua Wong, was sentenced on Monday to three months in prison over an information breach involving a police officer, according to a post on Wong's Facebook account. Wong attended the hearing but did not speak, a witness in the court said. Wong galvanized international support for the former British colony's pro-democracy movement, meeting politicians from the United States, Europe and elsewhere, and drawing the wrath of Beijing, which says he is a “black hand” of foreign forces. Western governments have criticized the law as a tool to crush dissent but Chinese and Hong Kong authorities say it has brought stability the semi-autonomous financial hub after months of sometimes violent protests in 2019. Reporting by Farah Master and Jessie Pang; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Apple offers 4.15% high-yield savings to its Apple Card holders
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Apple on Monday announced that it is now offering its Apple Card holders a 4.15% high-yield savings account with Goldman Sachs. They may park both the 3% cash back they receive from using the Apple Card on select purchases plus other savings they may wish to deposit. For instance, you can only get an Apple Card if you use an Apple phone. Bankrate gives the Apple Card high marks as a no-fee rewards credit card, and the convenience of having a high-yield savings account for a cardholder’s cash rewards may be appealing. A high-yield savings account rate, by contrast — including Apple’s new offering — can move up or down without notice at any time.

☆ An emotional Joe Biden was moved to tears after meeting a priest in Ireland who gave his son Beau the last rites
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Biden was moved to tears after meeting the priest who gave his late son the last rites. The president was touring Knock Shrine, a Catholic pilgrimage site. The priest who accompanied Biden on a tour of the Knock Shrine pilgrimage site said the reunion brought the president to tears. President Joe Biden touches part of the original stonework from the apparition gable at the Knock Shrine as Father Richard Gibbons, parish priest of Knock Shrine, holds an umbrella in Knock, Ireland, Friday, April 14, 2023. During the trip with his son Hunter and sister Valerie, Biden touched the remaining part of the stone wall of Knock Shrine.

[1/4] Law enforcement officers investigate the scene following an attack on bank ATMs in Ratingen, Germany, March 15, 2023. Courtesy of Achim Blazy/Handout via REUTERSRATINGEN, Germany, April 14 (Reuters) - In the German town of Ratingen, exploding cash machines are a hot-button topic. But in Germany, thieves are blowing ATMs up at the rate of more than one a day. Europe's largest economy has 53,000 ATM machines, a disproportionately high number that reflects Germans' preference for cash rather than bank cards. Germany is also working with officials in Belgium and France and at Europol to combat the cash machine crime wave.

Lawyers for Kroger said in a filing in California federal court that the grocery store shoppers who sued over the deal have failed to define the relevant market necessary to evaluate grocery store competition and to identify how the acquisition would hurt consumers. The attorneys said the lawsuit was lacking "real-world facts." U.S. competition law "does not turn every grocery store consumer in the country into a roving antitrust enforcer," lawyers for Kroger told U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria. State antitrust enforcers also are looking at the deal. The case is Whalen v The Kroger Co, Albertsons Companies Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

☆ 18 states require personal finance education in schools—here's what they're teaching kids about money
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As of this year, 18 states guarantee some form of personal finance education before students graduate, according to Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), a nonprofit that provides educational resources and advocates for financial literacy in schools. Personal finance is a huge umbrella. Setting the standardsWhen it comes to mandating personal finance education, it's not as simple as legislators or school boards agreeing that there need to be courses available. The National Council for Economic Education identifies six critical topic areas in their personal finance standards: Earning incomeSpendingSavingInvestingManaging creditManaging risk Developing the local standards can come down to "whoever's in the room," according to Chris Cannon, chief program officer at the Georgia Council on Economic Education, who worked on Georgia's personal finance education standards. NGPF also works on the policy side to help ensure when states are mandating personal finance education, they're doing so effectively.

[1/5] A woman works inside a cannabis shop, at Khaosan Road, one of the favourite tourist spots in Bangkok, Thailand, March 29, 2023. Thousands of cannabis shops and businesses have sprung up, especially in Bangkok and tourist spots, since Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to decriminalise the drug. A deluge of marijuana smuggled in from abroad has swamped Thailand, driving down wholesale prices and hurting growers, the industry members said. He did not comment on the scale of smuggled cannabis in the market or its impact on farmers. "A lot of cannabis that's coming in from the U.S. is going to dispensaries in Bangkok or Phuket or Pattaya," she said.

"It cannot be that financial institutions are doing well because they treat their customers badly," Chan-Jae Yoo, a BaFin official, said in an interview. Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft, an umbrella organisation that lobbies for German finance, said German banks are "extremely stable and robust" and confidence remains "high" and "unaffected" by recent turmoil stemming from the collapse of lenders in the United States and Switzerland. "The mere fact that consumers are increasingly asking us and seeking our advice is proof enough that they do not fully trust financial institutions," he said. Protections and rights for customers of financial institutions have come under increased scrutiny from regulators and the German courts. "We want services to establish themselves in the marketplace that meet consumer needs, not feed the financial industry," he said.

☆ Fact Check-Nashville school shooter was armed with two assault-style weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WEAPONS IDENTIFIEDHale was armed with three weapons and fatally shot six people at a private Christian school (here). WEAPONS USED IN NASHVILLE ARE ASSAULT-STYLEBoth the AR-15 pistol and the Kel-Tec Sub2000 carbine pistol would be considered assault-style weapons “based on definitions of assault weapons used by many states that ban them,” Webster said. On July 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation banning assault-style weapons (here), (here). It says “all AR types,” specifically the AR-15, and the Kel-Tec Sub-2000, are among the firearms considered semiautomatic assault-style weapons. The suspect in the Nashville school shooting was armed with three firearms, two of which are considered assault-style weapons.

☆ At Least 10,000 Foreign Companies to Be Hit by EU Sustainability Rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

The estimates exclude foreign companies that are subject to the reporting requirements due to other conditions, such as having an EU bond listing. Foreign companies with EU listings will need to start reporting these disclosures in 2025 if they have more than 500 employees in the EU. Businesses based in the EU that reported under the bloc’s previous sustainability rules must follow the new requirements from 2025. The EU rules call for limited-assurance audits to start, with a goal of eventually moving to reasonable assurance. Other sustainability reporting regulations are also set to go into effect in the next few years.

☆ Savvy Games to acquire gaming company Scopely for $4.9 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 5 (Reuters) - Savvy Games Group, wholly owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), has agreed to acquire Scopely, a maker of mobile games based in Culver City, California, for $4.9 billion, the companies said on Wednesday. Scopely, founded in 2011, will become an autonomous operation under the Savvy umbrella, they said in a statement, noting the deal will "strengthen Savvy's global position" and enable Scopely to accelerate growth. Last year, state news agency SPA said Savvy would invest 142 billion riyals ($37.85 billion) in initiatives aimed at making the kingdom a global hub for gaming. In February, Savvy bought a $265 million stake in the Chinese E-sports company VSPO backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK). ($1 = 3.7513 riyals)Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Canada unveils revised C$23 bln compensation deal for Indigenous children
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The tribunal ruled in 2016 that the federal government allocated fewer funds for child and family services of Indigenous people than for others, pushing more Indigenous children into foster care. The federal government is responsible for funding child welfare services for children on First Nations reserves. Individual provinces fund child welfare services for non-native children and native children who do not live on reserves, creating a two-tiered system. Canada's Indigenous people have higher levels of poverty and a lower life expectancy than other Canadians, and are more often the victims of violent crime, addiction and incarceration. "This agreement represents real work towards Canada's commitment to First Nations children past, present and future," Canada's Justice Minister David Lametti said in the statement.

☆ L’Oréal buys Aesop in $2.5 billion deal, its biggest acquisition ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —L’Oréal is buying Australian brand Aesop in a deal that values it at $2.5 billion, in the biggest brand acquisition ever made by the French beauty giant. The sale was announced Monday by Aesop’s parent, Brazilian firm Natura & Co, which also owns The Body Shop and Avon. It brings Aesop, which is known for its luxury skin and body care products, under the same umbrella as brands such as Garnier and Maybelline. The deal would be L’Oréal’s largest acquisition of another brand on record, followed by its $1.7 billion purchase of YSL Beauté in 2008, according to data from Dealogic. “Aesop taps into all of today’s ascending currents,” L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said in the statement.

HELSINKI/BRUSSELS, April 4 (Reuters) - Finland will become a member of NATO on Tuesday, completing a historic security policy shift triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while neighbour Sweden is kept in the waiting room. "It will be a good day for Finland's security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday. Sweden underwent a similar transformation in defence thinking and Stockholm and Helsinki applied together last year to join NATO. Moscow said on Monday it would strengthen its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions in response to Finland joining NATO. Stoltenberg said he was "absolutely confident" that Sweden will become a NATO member.

☆ Keep Credit Suisse-UBS separate entities under same umbrella, professor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailKeep Credit Suisse-UBS separate entities under same umbrella, professor saysDirector of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, Arturo Bris, lays out his vision for the Swiss financial landscape after the UBS takeover of Credit Suisse.

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - Environmental groups on Monday petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require companies to disclose the chemicals discharged from waste incinerators and plants that claim to recycle plastic waste into fuel. The groups said the agency did not respond to a letter they sent last October, raising concerns about the health impacts of incineration. The petition also asks the agency to include discharges from advanced recycling plants, which are classified as incinerators, in the TRI. Advanced recycling is an umbrella term for processes that use heat or chemicals to turn plastic waste into fuel or reclaimed resin to make new plastic. These plants, backed by major oil and petrochemical companies, claim to turn plastic waste to a "clean" fuel.

☆ 'People want to do the right thing': Why 79% of hotel guests say you should tip — but only 30% do
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

They want to do the right thing," says Diane Gottsman, an etiquette expert and owner of the Protocol School of Texas. Run your credit card at a restaurant, and your server will hand you a receipt with a "tip" line. In a recent survey from hotel software firm Canary Technologies, 79% of hotel guests said they think workers should get tips. But hotel workers in the survey said only about 30% of guests typically tip. As for a tip, you don't need to break out your wallet for directions to a nearby coffee shop, says Gottsman.

☆ Fact Check-Majority of US mass shooters are cis men, not transgender or non-binary people
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Data collection on mass shootings varies by methodology, but experts told Reuters data shows the majority of mass shootings are carried out by cisgender men. One tweet said: “The Colorado Springs shooter identified as non binary. NOT THE MAJORITYCalculating exact percentages when it comes to mass shooting statistics in the U.S. varies by way of counting, as organizations define mass shootings in different ways. Its definition of mass shooting is four or more people shot resulting in injury or death (excluding the perpetrator). Most mass shootings or violent gun attacks in the U.S. carried are out by cisgender men.

☆ When Every Win Means Water, Water Everywhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Andrew Keh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

When Every Win Means Water EverywherePicture yourself at work. Teleport this scene into a sports locker room, though, and suddenly the dousing is perfectly in bounds. But like many coaches, he eventually accepted his fate, removing his shoes before entering the locker room. The athletes were unwinding in the locker room when Coach Mark Few and his assistants charged in and began sousing them with ice-cold water. Isaiah Wong, the team’s star shooting guard, said they would only consider spraying water now if they won the championship.

☆ Apple's own execs are split on whether the company should make smart goggles. Experts say if Apple can't make smart glasses happen, no one can.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Apple is reportedly introducing its Reality Pro smart goggles in June. Experts say the goggles may not be a smash success, but if anyone can make it work, it's Apple. Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that a rare wave of dissent made its way into the team behind Apple's mixed-reality smart goggles, called Apple Reality Pro. Apple Reality Pro will have a wow-factor to it because it's had time to improve upon the foundations laid by its competitors. The virtual reality headset market was worth $7.7 billion in 2022, according to a report by Grandview Research.

☆ How to talk to your aging parents about safe driving
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Chris Taylor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

One person may represent a danger on the roads at age 65, while another may be perfectly fine at age 85. Upgrades can help them stay safe, including technologies to keep drivers from drifting out a lane, backup cameras and various other detection systems. Special licensing requirements for elderly drivers can help screen out problems with vision and cognition. Some states require more frequent renewal for older drivers, or demand regular vision checks, or prohibit online renewals altogether. For a few hundred dollars a year, you could get a $1 million policy that should let everyone sleep better at night – both you, and your parents.

☆ The digital media rollup dream is dead for the moment — now it's all about core brand strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

What's happening in the digital media space echoes trends from the biggest media companies, including Netflix , Disney and Warner Bros. The rollup dream's rise and fallFrom late 2018 to early 2022, the digital media industry had a shared goal. First, digital media companies needed more scale to compete with Facebook and Google for digital advertising dollars. Large legacy media companies such as Disney and Comcast 's NBCUniversal invested hundreds of millions in digital media in the early and mid-2010s. "The digital media rollup has proven successful only when assets are thoughtfully combined with an eye toward consumers," Goldberg said.

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