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☆ Sick and family leave are top union demands post-Covid-pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Eli M. Rosenberg | Eli Rosenberg Is An Investigative Tech Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Rail workers nearly went on strike over paid sick leave. Glen Stubbe / Star Tribune via AP fileMore than 100,000 rail workers were days away from a likely strike after the rail companies refused demands for five paid sick days. Labor experts and organizers say the pandemic aimed a floodlight at the public health ramifications of in-person work, elevating for workers the importance of paid leave in contract disputes. “This was the sticking point for the railroads.”Following Congress’ resolution of the impasse, activist investors have put forth proposals to get two of the biggest rail companies, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, to offer their workers paid sick leave next year. “We appreciate the work of the negotiating teams and the mediator in reaching this agreement in principle.”Other unions are paying attention to these fights — and gearing up to make sick leave a major part of their negotiations.

☆ What recession? Luxury homes have never been more expensive — see the 30 priciest ZIP codes in America
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Property Shark has released its annual ranking of the most expensive ZIP codes in the US. Property Shark has released its annual list of the country's most expensive ZIP codes based on their median sold home price. The report found that of the 128 ZIP codes included in the top 100 in 2022 — the extra 28 ZIP codes are ties — 86% were even pricier than last year. A whopping 14 ZIP codes on the list now have a median sold home price of $4 million or more. Read on for this year's top 30 ZIP codes, and see how it's changed since 2020 while you're at it.

☆ They’re Taking Jigsaws to Infinity and Beyond
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Siobhan Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There was a fine line, however, between psychedelic finery and “letting the color stretch and warp too far,” Ms. Ghassaei said. The journal Science featured their 3D-printed organ research with Jordan Miller, a bioengineer at Rice University. The route from one project to the next is marked with mathematical concepts like Laplacian growth, Voronoi structures and the Turing pattern. These concepts, which loosely speaking govern how shapes and forms emerge and evolve in nature, “cultivate the algorithms,” Ms. Rosenkrantz has written. The same algorithms can be applied to very different media, from the twisty maze pieces to the intricate components of 3D-printed organs.

☆ Grenada's 'golden passport' comes with tax benefits and makes travel easier — but only if you invest $150,000 in the country first
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Grenada's citizenship-by-investment, or CBI, program has accepted 1,500 residents yearly since 2013. Gaining Grenada citizenship takes about three months and is less costly than other CBI programs. To be a Grenadian tax resident, the country requires 183 days of residence on the island a year. Jafri added that with a Grenadian passport, a traveler doesn't need a visa to travel to China. The investment in hotel and resort projects costs less than other kinds of real-estate development to help drive tourism to the country, Hallam explained.

An experimental treatment for advanced melanoma is poised to be the next major advance in cancer treatment, experts say. Those who got TIL therapy had a 50% reduction in disease progression and death, compared to those who were treated with ipilimumab, the study found. Bruce Hawley and his wife, Laurie, celebrated their third wedding anniversary in 2021 in Vancouver, several years after his TIL therapy. "The chemotherapy knocks down the immune cells to make space for the TIL cells going in," Hwu said. The hope is that TIL therapy will also be used for other solid cancers, not just melanoma, Rosenberg said.

☆ GSK, Sanofi shares brighten as thousands of Zantac lawsuits are dismissed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - Shares of GSK and Sanofi surged in early trading on Wednesday, following the dismissal of thousands of U.S. lawsuits claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer. Zantac, first approved in 1983, became the world’s best selling medicine in 1988 and one of the first-ever drugs to top $1 billion in annual sales. The decision bodes well for state cases too, they wrote in a note. Shares of Haleon, which comprises consumer health assets once owned by GSK and Pfizer and spun out as an independent company in July, also rose 5%. Barclays analysts said they viewed Zantac as substantially derisked, “leaving Haleon investible again for those without the appetite for pharma litigation risk.”

☆ Big Pharma’s heartburn win is a valuation salve
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The equity value of GSK (GSK.L), Sanofi (SASY.PA) and Haleon (HLN.L) crashed in August, after analysts warned of a massive thwack linked to claims that heartburn medication Zantac caused cancer. On Tuesday, a Florida judge broadly agreed and threw out roughly 50,000 claims in federal court. Morgan Stanley analysts had estimated the overall Zantac litigation hit could have been as high as $45 billion. The Zantac judge has just proved that courts can be a help as well as a hindrance. Shares in GSK were up 9% to 15.08 pounds as of 0958 GMT on Dec. 7, while Sanofi rose 5% to 90.03 euros.

☆ Biden appeals to keep COVID restrictions in place for migrants at U.S.-Mexico border
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The administration also said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working on a regulation to formalize the border restrictions. Biden, a Democrat who took office in 2021, pledged to undo Trump asylum restrictions. But his administration initially kept the order in place for more than a year amid record migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. officials have been preparing for a possible increase in illegal border crossings if Title 42 ends. The appeal comes as a coalition of states with Republican attorneys general are seeking to intervene in the lawsuit to keep Title 42 in place.

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Drugmakers GSK Plc (GSK.L), Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday were spared thousands of U.S. lawsuits claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, as a judge found the claims were not backed by sound science. A spokesperson for GSK said the company welcomed the decision and Pfizer said it was pleased by the outcome. Originally marketed by a forerunner of GSK, it was later sold successively to Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim and finally Sanofi. Lawsuits began piling up soon after the recalls began from people who said they developed cancer after taking Zantac. State court judges will also have to rule on whether to allow plaintiffs' experts on Zantac's alleged cancer risks before state cases can go to trial.

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Drugmakers GSK Plc (GSK.L), Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday defeated thousands of lawsuits in U.S. federal court claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, as a judge found the claims were not backed by sound science. Zantac, first approved in 1983, became the world's best selling medicine in 1988 and one of the first-ever drugs to top $1 billion in annual sales. Originally marketed by a forerunner of GSK, it was later sold successively to Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim and finally Sanofi. Numerous generic drugmakers also launched versions of the medicine, but are not part of the federal mass tort litigation. Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The 5 best leadership books I read this year — and what they taught me about running a company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( David Siegel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For a roadmap for effective, kind leadership and smart decision-making, he shares 5 book recommendations. Publishing a leadership book gave me a newfound perspective on the genre. Here are the top five leadership books I read in 2022 and why I found each one particularly enriching. After reading The Promise of a Pencil, I learned how seemingly small acts can make a world of difference in communities. For anyone considering executive coaching or looking to find a coach, this book is a must-read.

The price cap was imposed on Monday by the G7 industrial democracies and Australia at a level above the current price for Urals crude from Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter. The cap aims to both cut Russian revenues from oil price spikes caused by its war on Ukraine, and ensure that Russian oil continues to flow to buyers including China and India, keeping global market prices under control. The official added that G7 countries and Australia would be busy in coming weeks determining two more price cap levels on Russian refined oil products slated to be in place by Feb. 5. Treasury is "skeptical" that Russia would be able to sell all of its oil exports above the price cap to countries including India and China, the official said. Analysts say that as the oil price cap plan evolved, its emphasis shifted from a mechanism to squeeze Russia's revenues, to one that ensures ample oil supply and locks in market discounts.

WASHINGTON — If it’s Monday ... It’s the last day of campaigning before tomorrow’s Georgia Senate runoff. ... NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard covers the closing messages by Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker. And just looking at the campaigns, which get the biggest bang per advertising buck, it’s Warnock at $25.2 million, versus Walker at $10.1 million. But now it’s $11.8 million — behind Warnock’s $25 million and the $20.3 million from Georgia Honor, a Democratic Super PAC. Runoff watch: Walker accuser speaks to NBC NewsDays after she first revealed an allegation of domestic abuse against Georgia Republican Senate hopeful Herschel Walker, a former girlfriend of his sat down with NBC News to detail those allegations.

☆ Canada's deep yield curve inversion adds to BoC rate hike dilemma
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Fergal Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Canada's central bank says that the economy needs to slow from overheated levels in order to ease inflation. The yield on the Canadian 10-year government bond has fallen nearly 100 basis points below the 2-year yield, marking the biggest inversion of Canada's yield curve in Refinitiv data going back to 1994 and deeper than the U.S. Treasury yield curve inversion. The depth of Canada's curve inversion is signaling a "bad recession" not a mild one, said David Rosenberg, chief economist & strategist at Rosenberg Research. Still, 3-month measures of underlying inflation that are closely watched by the BoC - CPI-median and CPI-trim - show price pressures easing. "The yield curve would not invert to this extent unless investors also believed that inflation will drop back down toward the Bank's target," said Brown.

☆ I bought a second home in Spain for $250,000 because I don't want to live in the US anymore. It's half the cost of living in Manhattan.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Michael Steven Grant and his partner bought a second home in Sitges, a town near Barcelona, Spain. Grant worked in nonprofit fundraising before starting in July with VistaFutura, a company that helps Americans purchase and maintain property in Spain. After many years on the west coast I ended up on the east coast again, in Manhattan, eight or nine years ago. A year ago my partner and I were thinking of where we wanted to buy a second place with the hopes of, down the road, retiring to and living full-time. We went back to Spain in March of this year and saw maybe a dozen places, none of which we liked.

Now Biden faces a backlash from a core of rail workers and allied groups, as some of them see a betrayal in the bill he pushed to avert a rail strike. The standoff between rail workers and the profitable companies that employ them posed an awkward dilemma for Biden, forcing him to find an elusive middle ground between dueling campaign pledges. A rail strike threatened to unravel the job gains that no doubt will be central to any Biden re-election campaign. He said he is not giving up on paid sick leave for rail workers and other Americans who don’t receive such benefits. …”Still, the president could have used more leverage to reach a deal that included paid sick leave, union officials and allies contend.

☆ Michael Burry, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg are raising the alarm on the US economy. Here are 8 recession warnings from top commentators this week.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Michael Burry and Elon Musk this week flagged the risk of a severe US recession. Experts have flagged inflation, rising interest rates, and global growth headwinds as major worries. Several of these experts blame the Federal Reserve, which has rapidly raised interest rates to curb soaring prices this year, leaving consumers facing both higher living expenses and borrowing costs. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, Twitter, and SpaceX"Fed needs to cut interest rates immediately. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta"We thought that the economy and the business were going to go in a certain direction, and obviously it hasn't turned out that way.

☆ Biden weighs reviving Trump-era immigration restrictions, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Since Biden took office in January 2021, his administration has struggled both operationally and politically with record numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Another U.S. official said the Biden administration is also considering other Trump-era deterrents that include having Border Patrol agents conduct accelerated asylum screenings. The policies under consideration, if adopted, would sharply backtrack on those pledges and have already drawn concern from immigration advocates. Similar Trump policies were challenged in court and overturned. Republicans, who take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January, have assailed Biden's handling of the border and threatened to impeach his top border official, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

☆ The U.S. wants the EU to be strict with China. But Europe can't afford it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The United States has stepped up its heavy rhetoric against China, and wants Europe to follow suit. Reports suggested that American officials had told European counterparts to consider using export control restrictions on China. "While the U.S. is trying to pull the EU into its direction to distance itself from China, the EU is keen to maintain economic ties to China. This comes at a time when the relationship between the EU and U.S. is turning a little sour. The EU said this challenges international trade rules and is a threat to European companies.

☆ The Power of Mattering at Work
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Jennifer Breheny Wallace | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Feeling unappreciated at work? Among the “essentials” for well-being at work, the report states, is “mattering,” the belief that you are valued and important to others. “People want to know that they matter to those around them, and that their work makes a difference in the lives of others,” the report notes. The social psychologist Morris Rosenberg first conceived the idea of mattering in the 1980s, while studying self-esteem among adolescents. Recent research has shown that a focus on mattering can be a powerful tool for responding to the rise in loneliness, anxiety, depression and social division among Americans.

☆ An interior designer to New York City's elite shares the 3 fresh trends that are all the rage and 2 that are out of style
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NYC interior designer Bennett Leifer outlined what's in and what's out right now. He spoke with Insider about what his clients are seeking in their homes now, and the tired trends they're ready to leave behind. John Keeble/Getty ImagesLeifer said his clients aren't using white as a fallback anymore, but rather an intentional decision. "It has to finish a space to a certain degree," Leifer said, but clients aren't falling back on the old rulebook. Instead they're curious to experiment with new touches, like the project where Leifer's using bronze casings around windows.

☆ Some U.S. air marshals plan to refuse deployment to U.S.-Mexico border
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - More than a dozen U.S. air marshals plan to refuse deployment to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a group representing them, a sign of challenges facing U.S. President Joe Biden's administration as it grapples with record migrant crossings. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sought volunteers from the Federal Air Marshal Service to travel to the southwest border, but when fewer than 150 signed up in October, some were assigned, said Sonya LaBosco, executive director of the Air Marshal National Council. The air marshals are part of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a DHS subagency, and ride on U.S. airlines to guard against security threats. A lawyer for the air marshal group wrote in a Nov. 4 letter to the agency that the deployments are illegal because they involve duties outside the scope of the job. A DHS spokesperson defended the deployments, saying that marshals have had previous assignments to assist hurricane relief and that some were temporarily deployed to the border in 2019.

☆ Fed minutes show most policymakers want to slow the pace of interest rate rises 'soon'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fed minutes showed a majority of officials are in favour of easing the pace of interest rate rises. The Fed has been lifting rates at a record pace to combat US inflation running at a 40-year high. The Fed has been aggressively lifting interest rates to combat US inflation running at 40-year highs. It's raised the benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points four consecutive times, lifting the fed funds rate from near zero to 4% as it aims to bring inflation down to its 2% target. But more important than easing the pace of interest rate hikes is the size needed to tame inflation, officials noted.

But now the states' motion sets the stage for a protracted legal battle that throws the future of the policy in doubt. A record number of migrants have been apprehended at the border since Biden took office in January 2021 and Republicans say ending Title 42 will draw even more crossers. After Sullivan's ruling, the Biden administration said it was making plans to manage the border without the order. The states said in their motion to intervene in the case that border states like Arizona and Texas would face "increased migrant flows" and that wherever migrants end up, "they will impose financial burdens on the states involuntarily hosting them." The states could also take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, where there is a majority of conservative justices.

Nov 23 (Reuters) - The United States is in talks with Mexico and other countries to facilitate the return of Venezuelan migrants to their homeland, a senior U.S. official said in a call with reporters on Tuesday. "We're in discussion with Mexico and other countries to see what can be done in that sense," said Blas Nunez-Neto, the acting assistant secretary for U.S. border and immigration policy. Nunez-Neto declined to provide details when asked which other countries were in talks with the United States. A U.S. federal judge invalidated Title 42 last week but then a Republican-led legal challenge was filed seeking to keep it in place. Return flights of Venezuelans from Mexico began last month, Mexican officials told Reuters.

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