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☆ The key to solving loneliness and pollution might be giving up cars and hanging out in the street. It's working in Barcelona.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Barcelona is a decade into transforming many of its streets into green, car-light public spaces. Earlier this year, the city announced yet another major expansion of the project, with a goal of making a third of city streets green by 2030. And as Americans experience an epidemic of loneliness, a built environment that fosters social connection might be crucial for public health. Making a neighborhood more attractive with more walkable, green streets could mean triggering or speeding up gentrification. More walkable communities with high-quality public spaces are much more expensive to live in, indicating high demand.

Persons: —, Sven Eggimann, Tayana Panova, Jonathan Cohn, who's, Eggimann, pyi2lKhNzc, Billy Fields Organizations: Service, ZHAW School of Architecture, Residents, Urban, Smart Growth Locations: Barcelona, Spanish, Switzerland, New York City, Barcelona's, Vitoria, Europe, Valencia, Manhattan, Francisco, Superblocks

☆ The Fed was very late on raising rates: Gary Cohn
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | 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 EmailThe Fed was very late on raising rates: Gary CohnGary Cohn, IBM vice chairman and former NEC director, says the first half of 2024 we will see no rate activity from the Fed.

Persons: Gary Cohn Gary Cohn Organizations: IBM, NEC

☆ Red Sea attacks on ships spark safety concerns for sailors
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Jonathan Saul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Galaxy Leader cargo ship is escorted by Houthi boats in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. The International Chamber of Shipping association said the "attacks must stop immediately, and the innocent seafarers released". "In light of the threat to safe transit of global trade in the Arabian and Red Seas, ZIM is taking temporary proactive measures to ensure the safety of its crews, vessels, and customers' cargo by re-routing some of its vessels," ZIM said. U.S. maritime administration MARAD said in an advisory on Sunday that vessels faced multiple threats after the attacks. Insurance industry sources said they expected war risk premiums to rise in the area, especially for Israel-linked shipping.

Persons: Houthis, ZIM, MARAD, Jonathan Saul, Carolyn Cohn Organizations: Galaxy Leader, Houthi Military, REUTERS, Yemeni, Pentagon, Hamas, Chamber of Shipping, ICS, Insurance, Thomson Locations: Red, Yemen, Gulf, Aden, Somali, Israel, Palestinian, Hodeidah

☆ Former Trump advisor says the U.S. economy is 'back to normal,' but markets may be jumping the gun on rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The U.S. economy is "back to normal" for the first time in two decades, but the market is getting ahead of the likely pace of interest rate cuts, according to IBM Vice Chairman Gary Cohn. The central bank in September paused its historically aggressive monetary tightening cycle with the Fed funds rate target range at 5.25-5.5%, up from just 0.25-0.5% in March 2022. "You don't want to be early to leave when you're the last one to come to the party. "The economy will clearly turn down before the Fed had starts to cut interest rates, so I strongly believe that for the first half of '24, we will see no rate activity in the Fed. Maybe [in the third quarter], we'll start hearing rumblings of some forward guidance of lower rates."

Persons: Gary Cohn, Cohn —, Donald Trump, Cohn, CNBC's Dan Murphy Organizations: IBM, Federal Reserve, National Economic, Abu, Abu Dhabi Finance, Fed Locations: U.S, Abu Dhabi

REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - M&G Real Estate (MNG.L) forecasts it is "a matter of time" before global property markets face greater volumes of forced selling, with banks increasingly reluctant to refinance troubled or lower quality assets at current interest rates. "We are in a new period of real estate investment that will require a new mindset," he told Reuters before the publication of the firm's Global Real Estate Outlook on Tuesday. Nearly 40% of outstanding British commercial real estate loans are due to mature in 2024 and 2025, where average real estate values have fallen by over 20% since mid-2022, the report said, citing data from Bayes Business School. "Real estate debt is becoming an increasingly attractive investment proposition," Pellicer said. U.S. office-based working is at only 50% of pre-pandemic levels, the report cited real estate services firm JLL (JLL.N) as estimating, while numbers in Europe have recovered to 75%.

Persons: Aly, Jose Pellicer, Pellicer, G, Carolyn Cohn, Sinead Cruise, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, G, Reuters, Bayes Business, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Germany, Sweden, Europe, United States, Asia

☆ Why Biden’s Weakness Among Young Voters Should Be Taken Seriously
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Nate Cohn | More About Nate Cohn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

For whatever reason, they fail to reach the Democratic-leaning young voters who propelled Mr. Biden to victory in 2020. They’re reaching the young voters who backed Mr. Biden. In the states with party registration, for instance, the Times/Siena young voters were registered Democrats by a 13-point margin, 35 percent to 22 percent. It’s important to emphasize that just because the polls “look” right doesn’t mean they are right. Mr. Biden has just a 76-20 lead among young voters either registered as Democrats or who have previously voted in a Democratic primary.

Persons: Biden, Mr, we’ve, Trump, Biden isn’t, don’t, It’s, leaners Organizations: Democratic, Times, Mr, Democrats, Biden ’ Locations: Siena

Nov 27 (Reuters) - Activist investor Elliott Investment Management on Monday said it was ready to nominate directors at Crown Castle International and push for the ouster of the wireless tower owner's executives and board members, whom it blames for years of underperformance. The hedge fund in a letter released on Monday said the company needs "comprehensive leadership change." It said it was ready to appeal to other shareholders to make changes to the 12-member board, signaling a possible proxy fight next year. Elliott sharply criticized management and the board saying a "lack of oversight ... contributed to its irresponsible stewardship and flawed financial policy." The hedge fund said the company "disregarded our data-driven analysis" and added that "our recommended changes were neither made nor taken seriously."

Persons: Elliott, Jesse Cohn, Jason Genrich, Jay Brown, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Pooja Desai, Mark Porter Organizations: Investment Management, Crown Castle International, SBA Communications, Intelligence, Svea, Thomson Locations: Houston, Providence, Bengaluru

☆ ICBC’s Entree Onto Wall Street Looked Like a Bargain—Until Hackers Crippled Its U.S. Unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Justin Baer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After ICBC FS was hacked, it was forced to unplug from the U.S. Treasury market and begin to clear trades manually. Photo: Alexander Cohn/The Wall Street JournalIndustrial & Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank, paid $1 for its place on Wall Street. It got more than it bargained for. The Chinese lender acquired a small New York broker-dealer in 2010, a move that extended its presence into the U.S. securities industry. It is now dealing with the fallout from a cyberattack this month that crippled that business and briefly triggered widespread concerns about the fragility of the largest cash market in the world.

Persons: Alexander Cohn Organizations: ICBC FS, U.S . Treasury, Street, Commercial Bank of China Locations: New York

☆ A Thanksgiving Tradition and More
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Alexander Cohn | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Thanksgiving Tradition and MoreA train through the forest, army training in Benin and other images from around the world selected by WSJ photo editors

Locations: Benin

☆ British investment managers get green light for tokenised funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Kevin Coombs/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - British investment managers have got the go-ahead to develop tokenised funds, in which assets are split into smaller tokens backed by blockchain technology, the industry's trade body said on Friday. Tokenisation, or fractionalisation, of funds will enable a fund's assets to trade more cheaply and transparently and investors to buy into a wider range of assets, industry proponents say. Funds authorised by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority can take the first steps towards offering tokenised funds, provided the investments are in mainstream assets and valuation and settlement arrangements don't change, the Investment Association said in a statement. Scrimgeour is chair of a working group which is working with the FCA and Britain's finance ministry to open up opportunities for tokenised funds. Investment managers and exchanges in the United States, Europe and Asia have already taken tentative steps in offering tokenised funds.

Persons: Kevin Coombs, tokenisation, Michelle Scrimgeour, Scrimgeour, Carolyn Cohn, Elizabeth Howcroft, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Britain's Financial, Investment Association, Legal, General Investment Management, FCA, BlackRock, Investment, Thomson Locations: Canary Wharf, London, Britain, United States, Europe, Asia

Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube Listen and follow ‘Hard Fork’Kevin Roose and Daniel Ramirez andIn yet another head-spinning twist at OpenAI, Sam Altman was reinstated as the company’s chief executive on Tuesday night, a mere five days after the OpenAI board had fired him. The board will be overhauled and a new set of directors, including Bret Taylor and Lawrence Summers, will join. Today, we discuss how Altman returned to the top seat — and whether the OpenAI news will ever slow down.

Persons: Kevin Roose, Daniel Ramirez, Sam Altman, Bret Taylor, Lawrence Summers, Altman Organizations: Apple, Spotify, YouTube

☆ We Did an Experiment to See How Much Democracy and Abortion Matter to Voters
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Nate Cohn | More About Nate Cohn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Do abortion and democracy matter to voters? Only around a quarter said that issues like democracy and abortion were more important to their vote than the economy. It raises the possibility that the usual poll questions simply failed to reveal the importance of abortion, democracy and perhaps other issues as well. With that in mind, we tried an experiment in our latest Times/Siena poll. We gave each group a set of two hypothetical Republican candidates based on views on abortion and democracy.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, — Organizations: New York Times, Siena College Locations: Siena

☆ The Crisis in Issue Polling, and What We’re Doing About It
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Nate Cohn | More About Nate Cohn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

If you do this exercise for previous elections, issue polling failures look more like the norm than the exception. With such a poor track record, there’s a case that “issue” polling faces a far graver crisis than “horse race” polling. The crisis facing issue polling is almost entirely non-falsifiable — just like the issue polling itself. Most pollsters probably assume they’re good at issue polling; after all, unlike with horse race polls, they’re almost never demonstrably wrong. These causal questions are beyond what a single poll with “issue” questions can realistically be expected to answer.

Persons: Joe Biden, pollsters, Donald J, they’re, It’s Organizations: Republican, Voters, The Times, CBS, Pew Research, ABC, Washington Locations: Siena

Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube Listen and follow ‘Hard Fork’Read the transcript from our interview with Sam Altman. Last week, we interviewed Sam Altman. The board of OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, fired Altman as chief executive on Friday. On Sunday night, Microsoft hired Altman to lead a new A.I. Today, an update on a crazy weekend in tech, and our interview with Sam Altman.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman Organizations: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Microsoft

☆ See the best evening gowns at the 2023 Miss Universe competition
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Alex Rees | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Benjamin Askinas/Courtesy Miss Universe Miss Bolivia, Estefany Rivero. Benjamin Askinas/Courtesy Miss Universe Miss Brazil, Maria Brechane. Benjamin Askinas/Courtesy Miss Universe Miss Bulgaria, Yuliia Pavlikova. Benjamin Askinas/Courtesy Miss Universe Miss Slovakia, Kinga Puhová Benjamin Askinas/Courtesy Miss Universe Miss South Africa, Bryoni Govender. The 2023 Miss Universe pageant also marks longtime Miss Universe Organization President Paula Shugart’s last year.

Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube Listen and follow ‘Hard Fork’Sam Altman, the chief executive of Open AI, was pushed out of the company by its board of directors on Friday. The news was a complete shock to much of the company’s employee base and to its largest corporate partner, Microsoft. Silicon Valley insiders are scrambling to get answers on exactly what happened and why the board’s decision seemed so abrupt. We rundown what we know and the many things we still don’t.

Persons: Sam Altman Organizations: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Microsoft, Silicon

Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube Listen to and follow ‘Hard Fork’The tech start-up Humane launched a new device, an A.I. pin meant to be worn on our clothing. The pin allows users to take phone calls, catch up on messages and get answers to questions, all without ever looking at a screen. Then, why YouTube is bucking the trend on deepfakes. Plus: We eat a Thanksgiving meal made with meat that was grown in a lab.

Organizations: Apple, Spotify, YouTube

Some said he was too old, or they didn’t think he’d done much as president. Black voters in particular said they didn’t believe he was doing enough to help Black Americans. Though many said they’d probably vote for Mr. Trump, nearly all said that they weren’t excited about either option, and that Mr. Trump had personally offended them. A telephone call with a New York Times reporter is not the same as a conversation with friends or family. But it was an opportunity for a group of voters, some of them relatively disengaged, to think about the candidates, issues and campaigns.

Persons: Biden, they’d, Trump, hadn’t, It’s, Harris, Bridgette Miro, ” Organizations: Mr, New York Times Locations: Glendale, Ariz

☆ UK insurer Aviva posts 13% rise in nine-month premiums
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A man walks past an AVIVA logo outside the company's head office in the city of London March 5, 2009. REUTERS/Stephen Hird (BRITAIN)/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - British insurer Aviva (AV.L) on Thursday posted a 13% rise in its general insurance gross written premiums for the first nine months of the year, saying it would continue to return surplus capital to shareholders. Insurers have dealt with issues such as rising inflation and the higher cost of claims by increasing premiums. The life and general insurer, whose main markets are Britain, Canada and Ireland, reported premiums of 8 billion pounds ($9.91 billion), up from 7.2 billion a year earlier. "We see significant opportunities to generate further higher return, capital-light growth in the future as we prioritise these segments."

Persons: Stephen Hird, Amanda Blanc, Blanc, Eva Mathews, Carolyn Cohn, Huw Jones, Sherry Jacob, Phillips, Jason Neely Organizations: AVIVA, REUTERS, Aviva, RSA, Reuters, Thomson Locations: London, BRITAIN, British, Britain, Canada, Ireland, Bengaluru

Maryanne Trump Barry, a former federal judge who was an older sister of Donald J. Trump and served as both his protector and critic throughout their lives, has died. Ms. Barry died at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, according to two people familiar with the matter. Ms. Barry, the widow of John Barry, a veteran trial and appellate lawyer, had been a federal judge in New Jersey, a position that Mr. Trump’s fixer, the lawyer Roy M. Cohn, was credited with helping her attain during President Ronald Reagan’s tenure. She retired from the bench in 2019, at a time when inquiries were brewing after a New York Times investigation into the family’s tax practices. Mr. Trump seemed to heed the words of few people as much as he did his sister’s, according to confidants.

Persons: Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald J, Trump, Barry, John Barry, Roy M, Cohn, Ronald Reagan’s, Mary L Organizations: New York Times Locations: Manhattan, New Jersey

☆ Maryanne Trump Barry, sister of Donald Trump, dead at 86
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Tycoon Donald Trump with sister Maryanne Trump Barry, at a press conference after visiting the house in Tong, on the Isle of Lewis, where his mother was brought up before she emigrated to the United States. Maryanne Trump Barry, a federal appellate judge and the older sister of former President Donald Trump, has died at age 86. In 2020, Maryanne's niece, Mary Trump, revealed she had secretly recorded audio of Barry criticizing her brother Donald for his "lying" and "cruelty" as president. Donald Trump, who is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and middle sister Elizabeth Trump Grau are Maryanne's only surviving siblings. Robert Trump, Donald's younger brother, died in 2020 at age 71.

Persons: Donald Trump, Maryanne Trump Barry, Barry, Bill Clinton, Maryanne's, Mary Trump, Donald, Roy Cohn, Reagan, Mary, Elizabeth Trump Grau, Fred Trump Jr, Robert Trump Organizations: New York Police Department, CNBC, U.S ., Appeals, Third Circuit, New York Times, The Washington Post Locations: Tong, Lewis, United States, Manhattan, Philadelphia

Apple | Spotify | Amazon Listen and follow ‘Hard Fork’Warning: this episode contains some explicit language. OpenAI has unveiled a new way to build custom chatbots. Kevin shows off a few that he has built — including a custom “Hard Fork” bot and a bot that gives investment advice inspired by his late grandfather. Then, we talk to Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, about the agency’s approach to regulating A.I. That, and Sam Bankman-Fried’s recent fraud conviction, have us asking, How much damage hath the crypto world wrought?

Persons: OpenAI, Kevin, Lina Khan, Sam Bankman Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Federal Trade Commission

Many organisers choose to buy that cover through an add-on political violence and terrorism policy. Insurers cannot change policy wordings of existing policies, so any event organisers who bought political violence cover and cancelled after the conflict started on Oct 7 should be covered. Insurers are also considering restricting cover for event cancellations outside the region, the sources added. Ryan at Marsh said some political violence insurers were proposing wordings which would allow them to break or review policies due to "conditions relating to armed involvement in the 2023 Israel war". Specialist political violence policies are typically offered by firms operating in the Lloyd's of London (SOLYD.UL) insurance market, as well as by U.S. insurers.

Persons: Evelyn Hockstein, Edel Ryan, Marsh, Ryan, Sinead Cruise, Alexander Smith Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, European Aquatics, MTV, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Paris, Washington, Gaza City, London

☆ Tuesday Was Great for Democrats. It Doesn’t Change the Outlook for 2024.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Nate Cohn | More About Nate Cohn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Put simply: Tuesday’s results don’t change the picture for President Biden heading into 2024. The surveys show millions of voters who dislike Mr. Biden but remain receptive to other Democrats and support liberal causes. As a result, the same data showing Mr. Biden in jeopardy is entirely consistent with Democratic strength Tuesday. The crossover voteThe polls showed the Democrat winning Kentucky. They also show that voters disapprove of Mr. Biden and that Mr. Trump leads in the battleground states.

Persons: There’s, Biden, Mr, Trump Organizations: Democratic, Democrat, Kentucky Locations: Ohio

☆ Lloyd's of London to invest $65 million following slavery report
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Carolyn Cohn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Signage is seen inside the Lloyd's of London building in the City of London financial district in London, Britain, April 16, 2019. The 335-year old insurance market apologised in 2020 for its role in the 18th and 19th century slave trade. The Lloyd's market is made up of nearly 50,000 people, and Lloyd's wants one in three new hires to come from ethnic minorities. Historians estimate between one and two-thirds of the British marine insurance market was based on the slave trade in the 18th century. The research also showed that Joseph Marryat, Lloyd's of London chairman from 1811 to 1824, had enslaved people, White added.

Persons: Hannah McKay, Lloyd's, We've, Bruce Carnegie, Brown, Alexandre White, Joseph Marryat, White, Garba, Carolyn Cohn, Sinead Cruise, Jan Harvey, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: REUTERS, London, Black, Johns Hopkins University, Mellon Foundation, Reuters, Central Fund, African Development Bank, Inter, American Development Bank, UN, Equity, of, United Nations, European Union, U.S, Thomson Locations: London, City, Britain, Liverpool, Lloyd’s

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