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☆ Having your shelves filled with Stanley tumblers is not the point of the cup
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

America's hottest reusable water container has a sustainability problem. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. On TikTok, influencers are showing off their shelves full of Stanley Tumblers, each in different colors. For one, as CBC News pointed out, Stanley does not offer any product recycling options. PMI Worldwide, the parent company of Stanley, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: Stanley tumblers —, Stanley Quencher H2.0, Stanley, Stanley Tumblers, Katie Notopoulos, Jessica Heiges, WSP, Heiges, Myra Hird, " Hird, Kathryn Coduto Organizations: Service, Business, CNBC, Wired, CBC, Queen's University, Boston University, PMI, Business Insider

☆ 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

A man walks past an AVIVA logo outside the company's head office in the city of London March 5, 2009. British life insurer Aviva on Thursday said it was maintaining its dividend, soothing concerns the payout could be cut to conserve capital, and reported annual profits that broadly met forecasts. REUTERS/Stephen Hird/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW DELHI, Nov 14 (Reuters) - India's tax inspectors searched the office of British insurance giant Aviva's (AV.L) life insurance unit near New Delhi last week and seized documents as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion, sources familiar with the matter said. In a statement, Aviva Life Insurance, India, told Reuters "we can confirm that GST officials visited our head office site, we are in full cooperation with them." UK's Aviva has a 74% stake in Aviva Life Insurance in India, with the rest owned by India's Dabur Invest Corp. Aviva's life insurance business has a less than 0.5% market share on the basis of first-year premium collections in India.

Persons: Stephen Hird, Asit Rath, Sonali Athalye, UK's, India's Dabur, Aditya Kalra, Sharon Singleton Organizations: AVIVA, Aviva, Goods, Services Tax, Intelligence, Aviva Life Insurance, Reuters, Indian, Companies, Insurance Corporation, Bajaj Allianz, UK's Aviva, India's, India's Dabur Invest Corp, Thomson Locations: London, DELHI, New Delhi, India

Russia is sending Ukrainian prisoners of war to the front lines of their homeland to fight on Moscow's side in the war, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported. The news agency said Tuesday the soldiers swore allegiance to Russia when they joined the battalion, which entered service last month. The Institute for the Study of War in Washington said there have been previous reports of Ukrainian POWs being asked to “volunteer” for the battalion. Earlier this year, Russian media reported about 70 Ukrainian POWs joined the battalion. Given the location of the unit, Hird said she expected the Ukrainian POWs would be deployed to the front lines in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Persons: ”, Yulia Gorbunova, Nick Reynolds, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Karolina Hird, ” Hird, Hird, Reynolds Organizations: RIA Novosti, Associated Press, Ukrainian, Russian Defense Ministry, AP, Human Rights Watch, Land Warfare, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Russian, Geneva, Ukraine, London, Washington, Moscow, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, russia, ukraine

☆ 'Cocaine sharks' may be consuming drugs dumped off the coast of Florida, sending them a little crazy, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sharks might be consuming drugs that are dumped off the Florida coast, scientists say. An upcoming Shark Week episode will investigate whether the drugs are impacting the animals. The scientists observed unusual behavior from some sharks, including one fixating on an imaginary object. If these cocaine bales are a point source of pollution, it's "very plausible" sharks can be affected by this chemical, Fanara said. The scientists created packages that resembled cocaine bales and dropped them into the water to see how the sharks would respond.

Persons: Tracy Fanara, Fanara, Tom Hird, Hird, Hind, LiveScience Organizations: Service, Privacy, Guardian . Studies, US Coast Guard, Guardian Locations: Florida, Wall, Silicon, British, felines

☆ Russian tourists need to cross active war zones in Ukraine to get to their summer vacations in occupied Crimea
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian tourists need to cross through occupied Ukraine to get to their summer holidays in Crimea. An expert told Insider that Russian tourism in Crimea is a priority for Putin and the Kremlin. "There's been a huge push on the part of Russian authorities to really sustain and even increase tourism in occupied Crimea for economic reasons, and for an integration of occupied Crimea into the larger Russian system," Hird said. Crimea is a legitimate military target for Kyiv and among the most important territories Ukraine hopes to reclaim in this war. Since the Kerch Bridge's shut down, Russian media released an instruction guide for Russian tourists traveling through occupied Ukrainian territories, Anton Gerashchenko, the advisor to the minister of internal affairs of Ukraine, tweeted.

Persons: Putin, Ukraine didn't, Karolina Hird, Evans Hanson, Vladimir Putin, There's, " Hird, We've, Hird, Anton Gerashchenko Organizations: Service, Ukrainian Security, CNN, Institute for, Russian Locations: Ukraine, Crimea, Kerch, Wall, Silicon, Russia, It's, Moscow, Kherson, Melitopol, Donetsk Oblast, Russian

☆ This 12-mile-bridge in Crimea is a lifeline for Russia's occupation, but attacks and damages are making it a headache for Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Kerch Bridge connecting Russia and Crimea was damaged by explosions on Monday morning. An attack on the Kerch Bridge is far from "an extraordinary event," as Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of Crimea, said, according to The Kyiv Post. The damage was so severe, Kerch Bridge was closed for normal vehicle traffic until February 2023 and railway traffic until May 2023. "There's been a huge push on the part of Russian authorities to really sustain and even increase tourism in occupied Crimea for economic reasons, and for an integration of occupied Crimea into the larger Russian system." But defending the Kerch Bridge is a logistical nightmare for Russia, prompting a hoard of questions.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Karolina Hird, Evans Hanson, Sergey Aksyonov, Putin's, Samuel Bendett, ISW's Hird, There's, " Hird, who's, it's, Bendett, we've, Hird, that's Organizations: Service, Institute for, AP, Ukrainian Security, CNN, Center for Naval, International Affairs Group, Russia, Black, Fleet, Putin Locations: Kerch, Russia, Crimea, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Ukraine, Kyiv

☆ Zaporizhzhia: Ukraine warns Russia might blow up nuclear power plant. How worried should we be?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Russian troops have placed “objects resembling explosives” on roofs at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address Tuesday that instantly sparked concerns around the world. That is, Russia may claim that any explosion at the power plant was the result of reckless Ukrainian shelling, rather than its own explosives. Grossi points on a map of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, March 2022. “The whole thing was saying: Russia’s basically going to have to kill me, in order for me not to make this nuclear power plant more safe. The Zaporizhzhia plant seen from the banks of the Dnipro on June 16, after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapse.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, Zaporizhzhia, “, Kyrylo Budanov, ”, ” Karolina Hird, Dmitry Peskov, ” Peskov, –, Rafael Grossi, Petro Kotin, Joe Klamar, William Alberque, ” Alberque, Russia’s, Alberque, Alina Smutko, ” Cheryl Rofer, Stringer, Xi Jinping, Putin Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Institute for, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, United Nations, Russian, Grossi, Getty, Technology, International Institute for Strategy Studies, CAN, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Rescuers, Reuters, Russia, Financial Times Locations: Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia oblast, Kyiv, Europe –, Dnipro, Enerhodar, Russian, AFP, Nova, Moscow, ZNPP, Pennsylvania, India, Pakistan

☆ These creators wanted a gentler hiking experience. Now 'soft hiking' has 10 billion views on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Living a soft life has inspired other buzzy campaigns like #quietluxury — buying simplistic, good-quality items with a high price tag, including clothing and home décor — and most recently soft hiking. Soft hiking.'" They eventually amassed thousands of followers, and now the term soft hiking has 10 billion views on the app. "Soft hiking is being soft with yourself, so it's not necessarily about walking for less time or [going] on a softer route," Hird says. Here's what the dynamic duo suggests doing on a soft hike to truly enjoy the journey.

Persons: Lucy Hird, Emily Thornton, Thornton, Hird Organizations: CNBC Locations: Manchester

☆ Russian attack helicopters showed up in force on the front lines and have been putting dents in Ukraine's armored assaults
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

These activities are a detriment to the Ukrainian counteroffensive, but Kyiv's forces appear to be adapting. In this situation, "Russian forces deployed aviation in a way they haven't recently, to front-line positions, and were able to use it more successfully than they have in the past," he said. Russian Air Force Mil Mi-8 and Kamov Ka-52 "Alligator" attack helicopter Leonid Faerberg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images"We haven't seen Russian forces really use aviation super extensively on the front line," Bailey said, adding "they have been concerned about having aviation losses." "Ukrainian forces are having to adapt to how Russian forces are employing these in southern Ukraine," he said, noting that they are seeing signs of that as the Ukrainians set the stage for their main attack. Ukraine hasn't committed the bulk of its dedicated counteroffensive forces to a major assault operation, and, as ISW's George Barros said recently, "big fireworks are still to come."

Persons: —, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Riley Bailey, Bailey, Kamov, Leonid Faerberg, it's, VITALY TIMKIV, Wagner, Karolina Hird, It's, Ukraine hasn't, George Barros Organizations: Service, Senior Ukrainian, BBC Wednesday, Institute for, Russian Air Force, Getty, Operations, Ukraine, Bakhmut, CNN, Fox News Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russian, Russia's Krasnodar, AFP, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Oblast

☆ Russia has spent 9 months bleeding troops to try to capture a city with limited strategic value, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia has spent nine months trying to capture Bakhmut in a slow and brutal campaign. Experts say the city does not even have that much strategic value. Ukrainians fighting in the city say it has been a "living hell" for months, while commanders on both sides have called the battle a "meat grinder." But ultimately, experts say, the city may not be important enough to justify the effort and expense Russia has put into it. A map showing the location of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

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