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☆ Opinion | Why America Desperately Needed Ted Lasso
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Margaret Renkl | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

NASHVILLE — I didn’t watch the first season of “Ted Lasso” until the second season was already underway on Apple TV+. I wish I’d been watching from the very beginning, when it first began streaming in 2020. It is simply the story of a heartbroken but optimistic American football coach who accepts a job as manager of a British football team in the hands of a heartbroken and pessimistic owner who has just won it in a bitter divorce. Rebecca Welton knows almost nothing about running a sports franchise, and her imported coach knows almost nothing about the game that Brits call football. “You know what the happiest animal in the world is?” Ted asks a glum player just bested in a team scrimmage.

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☆ Britain is getting so desperate to tame inflation it’s talking about food price caps
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Food inflation dipped slightly to 15.4% in May, but that’s still the second-highest rate on record. But chocolate and coffee prices are rising as global commodity prices soar, British Retail Consortium CEO Helen Dickinson said. Price controls anyone? “The current food price shock does not warrant such an intervention,” he added. Brexit is responsible for about a third of UK food price inflation since 2019, according to researchers at the London School of Economics.

☆ A world in three islands on the Mediterranean
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Pavlo Fedykovych | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

CNN —In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea lies a small country made up of three inhabited islands and irresistible allure. Across its three inhabited islands – Malta, Gozo and Comino – you’ll find every sun-soaked aspect of the perfect vacation. The solution: Marsaskala, towards the southeastern tip of Malta island. Mellieħa Bay and St. Paul’s BayBugibba is a classic seaside resort town in St. Paul's Bay. The population is a modest two people, there are no cars, and no signs of globalization – just the untouched Mediterranean.

☆ Nina Gold on creating film stars, audition tapes, and why she'll never act
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

This is the same Nina Gold who’s made a successful career casting some of the defining films and TV shows of this century. “I still don’t really understand what it is that makes acting good,” she says. For “Bad Sisters’” smarmy, abusive antagonist John Paul, Gold cast Claes Bang. For Gold and her team – rising to six people, depending on projects – it’s a lot of logistics and audition tapes. Gold cast Taylor-Johnson in his breakout role as John Lennon in “Nowhere Boy” (2009) at age 18-20, she guesses, but had been auditioning him since about the age of nine.

☆ Gen Z Fast Fashion, Live Shopping, Clothes Addiction Destroying Planet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Eve Upton-Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The Gen Z paradoxGen Z's economic power is growing faster than other generations, according to Bank of America. In the US, fashion is the preferred category for entertainment spending among Gen Z, outranking dining out, video games, and music. A 2021 McKinsey survey found that 42% of American Gen Zers said they didn't even know what makes clothes sustainable. In addition to pushing people to buy more clothes, the buy-now, think-later model of live shopping also encourages people to buy clothes that are worse for the planet. To solve that problem, she founded Viviene New York in 2022, a Gen Z-led marketing agency that helps sustainable brands connect with Gen Z audiences through social media.

☆ Brits are being offered no-deposit 100% mortgage loans for the first time since 2008
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Renters in the U.K. will be able to borrow up to 100% of the value of a property in a new mortgage scheme introduced by Skipton Building Society. LONDON — Renters in the U.K. will be able to borrow up to 100% of the value of a property without a guarantor or deposit in a new mortgage plan introduced by Skipton Building Society. The average five-year rate was 5% in March, according to the Moneyfacts UK Mortgage Trends Treasury Report, across all loan-to-value ratios. Buyers typically get a 5.33% mortgage rate on 95% LTVs, according to the report, but the majority of buyers opt for a lower rate. The new Skipton deal is widely reported to be the first time a mortgage lender has offered 100% mortgage products since 2008, when some building societies offered rates of up to 125%.

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Liverpool fans have a history of booing the national anthem, most recently doing so before last season’s FA Cup final at Wembley – many also booed Prince William when he appeared on the pitch. So why exactly do Liverpool fans have a history of booing the monarchy? Booing of the national anthem at football matches when the team played at Wembley – which was frequent given Liverpool’s dominance of English football in this era – became widespread and remains so today. Liverpool fans have a history of booing the national anthem. And, in an article written on Friday, football journalist Dominic King suggested Liverpool fans might just sing the club’s own anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” instead of “God Save The King” on Saturday.

☆ If Charles wants a coronation, he should pay for it himself
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Opinion Ahmed Twaij | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

If Charles III wants the pomp and ceremony of a coronation, he should instead use a negligible portion of the vast sums of money he has accrued over the years thanks to his birth-given status as a royal. Spain’s last formal coronation was all the way back in 1555, while Belgium’s monarchy doesn’t even have a crown with which to conduct a coronation. It also found that a plurality of 45% believe Charles is “out of touch” with the experiences of the public. However, these tourist dollars might well continue whether or not the royal family does. Maybe if a tighter budget is applied to the British royal family, Charles rather than taxpayers will be paying the next time he opts to board a £32,000 ($40,200) charter flight to attend a James Bond premiere.

☆ Opinion: Why Britain is so weirded out by pledging allegiance to Charles
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Opinion Laura Beers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

In a break with tradition, the public will be invited to pledge allegiance to King Charles III during the coronation ceremony on Saturday May 6. While many Brits I’ve spoken to are simply indifferent to the proposed pledge, there has also been an unprecedent degree of public vitriol over the scheme. Yet, objections to the proposed pledge are as much about its content as its form. The proposed coronation pledge, in contrast, invites Britons to pledge their loyalty to the King, and to his “heirs and successors” – a positively undemocratic pronouncement. That complexity cannot simply be smoothed away by inviting people to pledge allegiance to the crown.

☆ What King Charles' coronation means for the UK economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

But the UK economy as a whole could suffer as workers take an extra day’s holiday. John Lewis' Coronation Lewis Bear. John Lewis & PartnersDepartment store John Lewis has had to limit in-store purchases of its Coronation Lewis Bear to two per household, and the teddy is out of stock online. For the coronation, UK luxury brands “have procured unique merchandise at all levels of the economy and we’re seeing people buying it, particularly Americans and EU customers,” she added. (The coronation holiday will be the third holiday Monday this month.)

☆ As cost of living crisis bites, some Brits are questioning spending money on glitzy coronation As cost of living crisis bites, some Brits are questioning spending money on glitzy coronation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

The church operates the cafe alongside a food bank which offers free food, clothes, household items and other necessities to locals who are struggling. When it first opened before the pandemic, the food bank was serving mostly homeless people. Liz Coopey, left, a volunteer at the Given Freely Freely Given food bank in Doncaster, helps local resident Angela Davis with her shopping bags. The Given Freely Freely Given food bank in Doncaster offers its clients other items than just food, including household goods and clothing. Liz Coopey, one of the volunteers there, said she understands the idea of having to rely on a food bank might be scary to many.

☆ Ending the retailers’ crisis has a high price tag
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BARCELONA, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - High-street retailers are facing a heavy bill to weather the cost-of-living crisis. The cost of heating stores and staff requests for pay rises are squeezing operating margins at top players like H&M (HMb.ST) and Next (NXT.L). Shrinking disposable income is making it hard for these retailers to boost sales to protect margins. Most bricks-and-mortar retailers trade on higher multiples than they did before the war in Ukraine sparked soaring inflation. But that leaves a squeezed middle of retailers like H&M exposed to the brunt of the retail crisis.

☆ Coronation travel guide: Transport advice, London hotels and where to watch
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

Take the Conrad London St. James, for example, which sits between the Mall and Westminster Abbey. Most of the roads around Westminster Abbey and St. James’s Park Underground station will be blocked off. How to see the coronationCharles and Camilla will ride in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach to Westminster Abbey for the ceremony. Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty ImagesThe coronation itself will take place on the morning of Saturday May 6 at Westminster Abbey. Royal Windsor Racecourse, near Windsor Castle, and on the bank of the River Thames, is having a race night to celebrate the day’s public holiday.

☆ Take Five: Rate hike vs bank stress
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Fed is expected to deliver another 25-basis point interest rate increase on Wednesday and signal a pause in its most aggressive rate-hiking cycle since the 1980s. Futures markets show investors pricing an nearly 90% chance of a rate increase. But confidence in a 25 bps rate hike has wavered in recent days after problems at lender First Republic reignited concerns over the U.S. banking sector. Yet, key inflation and bank lending data releases in the days ahead could sway that outcome. Tuesday's flash April inflation data is likely to confirm underlying price pressures - running above 5% - remains uncomfortably high.

☆ Brits need to accept they are now poorer, Bank of England chief economist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — Companies and workers are trying to pass the impact of inflation onto each other — and that risks persistent inflation, according to Huw Pill, the Bank of England's chief economist. "What we're facing now is that reluctance to accept that yes we're all worse off, we all have to take our share," Pill said on an episode of Columbia Law School and the Millstein Center's "Beyond Unprecedented" podcast, released on Tuesday. That has been followed by adverse weather and an outbreak of avian flu driving up food prices. The U.K. imports nearly half its food. "If what you're buying has gone up a lot relative to what you're selling, you're going to be worse off," Pill said.

☆ Royal castles to luxury getaways: How to spend King Charles III's coronation weekend
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | Rob Goss | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The king has pledged a more scaled-back affair than that celebrated by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. Here's CNBC Travel's top picks for how to spend the coronation weekend. Watch the ceremonial processionThe coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey on May 6 in a service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Buckingham Palace, London residence of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, is open for tours outside of the coronation weekend. Picnic in the Royal ParksLondon's Royal Parks offer a more low-key way to absorb the royal atmosphere over the coronation weekend.

☆ Brits warned they are not saving enough for retirement and face a 'risky' future
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Richard Baker / Contributor / Getty ImagesLONDON — Workers in the U.K face a "risky" future when it comes to their pensions, according to a report released by think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Almost 90% of Brits aren't putting an appropriate amount of money into their pension pots — generally considered to be around 15% of earnings, according to the IFS report. Including self-employed savers within that framework would also boost their pension pots and reduce their dependence on the state pension later in life, Savova added. Most people in the U.K. are automatically entitled to a state pension, which is currently £203.85 ($253) per week. "Increasing the State Pension Age will only escalate pensioner poverty which falls disproportionately on those who have lower incomes and retire early due to ill-health," Peaple told CNBC via email.

☆ Premarket stocks: These are the only stocks that matter right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Leading the way in growth are tech stocks like Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Tesla (TSLA) and Meta (FB). That’s been a boon to large cap tech stocks that are more sensitive to interest rates because they tend to borrow more than established companies and rely more on the prospect of future earnings. But it also means that the current market rally is thin, as the major indexes outperform the average stock. Strong outperformance from the largest stocks often power indexes to rise, said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Schwab, in a note Tuesday. But healthy markets should be characterized by greater participation of the “soldiers” — the rest of the stocks, she said.

☆ Why sex workers are protesting in Amsterdam
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Jessie Gretener | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The reduced hours come amid an ongoing campaign by the city council to move sex workers into an “erotic center” outside the heart of the city. She also spoke about welfare concerns for all sex workers, explaining how it could impact their ability to get home safely. A protest organized by sex workers interrupted a city council meeting on Thursday that was discussing location options for the proposed erotic center. Sex workers disagree, with Red Light United arguing that the erotic center could create an environment for more crime and “shady” behavior. Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty ImagesRestrictions for sex workers is just one bullet point on Amsterdam’s re-branding attempt.

☆ BBC engulfed in an impartiality storm of its own making
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“There is a long-established precedent in the BBC that if you’re an entertainment presenter or you’re a football presenter, then you are not bound by those same rules” on impartiality, former director-general Greg Dyke told BBC Radio 4 over the weekend. BBC Director General Tim Davie has made protecting impartiality one of his major priorities. Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty ImagesMore problematic still is that the same thorny questions about impartiality extend to the BBC’s leadership. “It’s a mess, isn’t it?” former BBC executive Peter Salmon told the cooperation’s flagship political presenter Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday. “He’s got views, he’s got passions … it may be that Gary has outgrown the job, and his role in the BBC.”

☆ Premarket stocks: The Fed wants to limit wage growth. That's particularly bad for women
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

What’s happening: Never-married women earned just 92% of what never-married men did last year, according to the Wells Fargo report. Those wage gaps are “persistently disappointing,” ADP’s Chief Economist Nela Richardson told CNN on Thursday. Markets suffer: Companies with smaller gender pay gaps tend to be rewarded by their shareholders. “The gender pay gap is informing investment strategies,” wrote Refinitiv analysts in a recent report. “Our recent analysis shows that [shares of] companies with no gender pay gap outperform companies with pay gaps between male and female employees,” wrote Refinitiv.

☆ 'Bregret'? Many Brits are suffering from Brexit regret
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Polling suggests that a majority of Brits now think that the U.K. was wrong to leave the European Union. NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty ImagesLONDON — Almost seven years and four prime ministers since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, polling suggests public sentiment has turned against Brexit. "The second thing is the increasing number of leave and other voters who are coming to see Brexit as having had negative economic impacts." But longer-term factors played a role, and he suggested that a lengthy stagnation in living standards, partly caused by the austerity policies introduced by David Cameron's government, contributed to the anger unleashed across working-class communities in the Brexit vote. Brexit being 'redefined' Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a landslide election victory in 2019 with a promise to "get Brexit done," touting an "oven-ready" withdrawal agreement he had negotiated with the European Union.

☆ What the historic Northern Ireland deal really means: podcast
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

What the historic Northern Ireland deal really means: podcast, article with imagePodcasts category · February 28, 2023 · 11:09 AM UTCWhat Rishi Sunak’s high-stakes gamble means for Northern Ireland. Brits in search of better teeth hit by cost of living crunch. End of the Mouse House’s special status.

☆ ‘Liaison’ Review: A Spy Thriller in Brexit’s Shadow
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Global intrigue and international coproductions can go together like socks and sandals, but “Liaison” is a rather delicious thriller and one that’s reality-based—meaning there’s respect for real physics as well as for realpolitik. They’ve all trusted the wrong people, made decisions that endanger national security and committed romantic miscues that have worldwide consequences. But what sets off the bilateral contretemps in “Liaison” isn’t the U.K.’s departure from the European Union, exactly, but a consequent lack of cybersecurity agreements with its continental neighbors. Terrorism is a transnational enterprise after all, and per this story the appropriate treaties have to be renegotiated. And the Brits find themselves at a disadvantage when their vaunted national security apparatus proves to be a bit tatty.

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