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☆ We retired abroad to Cuenca, Ecuador, once the US got too expensive. We still love the expat hot spot 14 years later.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-31 | by ( Edd Staton | Cynthia Staton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

We retired early 14 years ago and moved abroad because the US was too expensive. We set our sights on Cuenca, Ecuador, which has moderate weather and is super walkable. Our cost of living is much lower now and we love living here. We can walk everywhereWalkability was huge on our retirement wish list, and Cuenca has been a dream. Cuenca's weather is fantasticAnother feature high on our retirement wish list was a temperate climate.

Persons: —, Cynthia Staton, We've Organizations: Service, Social Locations: Cuenca, Ecuador, Las Vegas

☆ Kansas cult leaders convicted of forcing children to work 16-hour days without pay
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-18 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

After a 26-day trial, jurors convicted all six defendants of conspiracy to commit forced labor. One of the six, Kaaba Majeed, 50, also was convicted of five counts of forced labor. Prosecutors said the group, which was labeled a cult by a federal judge in 2018, beat children and imposed severe dietary restrictions. Jenkins, who died in 2021, had been a member of the Nation of Islam until 1978, when he founded the separate United Nation of Islam. Two other co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit forced labor.

Persons: Royall Jenkins, Majeed, Stephen Cyrus, Prosecutors, Jenkins, Judge Daniel Crabtree, Yunus Rassoul, James Staton, Randolph Rodney Hadley, Daniel Aubrey Jenkins, Dana Peach Organizations: KANSAS CITY, Kan, United, of, U.S . Department of Justice, “, of Islam, University of Arts and Logistics of Locations: KANSAS, Kansas, Kansas City , Kansas, Kansas City, New Jersey , New York , Ohio, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina

Simpson was behind the play with 14.7 seconds left Thursday night when Samford's A.J. Replays from a number of angles showed no contact on the play that sent Timberlake crashing to the floor. “We're talking about last plays that are deciding games, not an incorrect travel call or something like that,” Clougherty said. “The mindset is always, when I blow the whistle, I want to be able to justify the contact,” he said. “These NCAA games, as close as they are, you better not miss a critical play, or they'll find someone else to referee the games,” Clougherty said.

Persons: Lamar Simpson, Simpson, Samford's A.J . Staton, McCray, Nicolas Timberlake, Timberlake, John Clougherty, it's, ” Clougherty, “, Clougherty, ”, —, Greg McDermott, Brad Underwood, Tommy Lloyd, we’ve, Staton, Casper, lifer, Kenny Anderson's, Will Graves, Eric Olson Organizations: LAKE CITY, Samford, NCAA, KU, AP, NBA, ”, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, AP Sports Locations: Kansas, Salt Lake City, Atlantic, — Illinois

LONDON (AP) — Climate activist Greta Thunberg was acquitted Friday of refusing to follow a police order to leave a protest blocking the entrance to a major oil and gas industry conference in London last year. “The conditions imposed on the protest were unclear, uncertain and unlawful,” defense lawyer Raj Chada said outside court. Thunberg and other climate protesters have accused fossil fuel companies of deliberately slowing the global energy transition to renewables in order to make more profit. Thunberg rose to prominence after staging weekly protests outside the Swedish Parliament starting in 2018. Last summer, she was fined by a Swedish court for disobeying police and blocking traffic during an environmental protest at an oil facility.

Persons: Greta Thunberg, John Law, Thunberg, Law, Raj Chada's, Raj Chada, Matthew Cox, ” Cox, “, ” Thunberg, Luke Staton Organizations: —, ’, Energy Intelligence Forum, Metropolitan Police, Swedish Locations: London, Swedish, Westminster, North, Scotland, Sweden

LONDON (AP) — Climate activist Greta Thunberg went on trial Thursday for refusing to leave a protest that blocked the entrance to a major oil and gas industry conference in London last year. She and four Fossil Free London protesters have pleaded not guilty. Thunberg and other climate protesters have accused fossil fuel companies of deliberately slowing the global energy transition to renewables in order to make more profit. They also oppose the U.K. government’s recent approval of drilling for oil in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland. Last summer, she was fined by a Swedish court for disobeying police and blocking traffic during an environmental protest at an oil facility.

Persons: Greta Thunberg, Thunberg, Matthew Cox, ” Cox, Cox, Luke Staton, ” Organizations: —, Energy Intelligence Forum, ’, Free, InterContinental, Swedish Locations: London, Swedish, Westminster, North, Scotland, Sweden

NEW YORK (AP) — A poetry collection, a coming-of-age novel and a history of deep sea exploration are unlikely to be found in the same section of your favorite bookstore. But they all have enough in common to be this year's winners of Science + Literature awards, $10,000 prizes administered by the National Book Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. While ““The Bathysphere Book” is the only winner you could officially classify as science, all three works draw upon science and the natural world. In “Digging Stars,” the protagonist is an astronomer from Zimbabwe who emulates her father's profession. Sze, a National Book Award winner for poetry in 2019, has written often about nature and the cosmos.

Persons: Alfred P, Arthur Sze's “, Rosa, Brad Fox’s, ”, “, Sze, Brad Fox, Arthur Sze, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, Ruth Dickey, Doron Weber, Kai Bird, Martin J, Sherwin's “ Oppenheimer, Margot Lee Shetterly's, Weber, Sloan, ” Weber, Shane Campbell, Staton, Brian Teare, Ricardo Nuila Organizations: National Book Foundation, Sloan Foundation, Book Foundation, Sloan, People’s, Medicine Locations: Zimbabwe, Manhattan, Japan

☆ UK consumer confidence jumps despite lingering inflation pain
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Despite lingering cost-of-living pressures, GfK's headline consumer confidence index was stronger than anticipated in November, increasing to -24 from October's three-month low of -30. November's reading was above the -28 forecast in a Reuters poll of economists, and follows a sharp fall the month before. While British consumer price inflation fell significantly from a 41-year high of 11.1% just over a year ago to 4.6% in October, households are still grappling with the highest inflation rate among major rich economies. Official data published last week showed shoppers spent less in October as finances remain stretched. GfK conducted its poll of 2,000 people from Nov. 1 to Nov. 14.

Persons: GfK, Joe Staton, Andrew Bailey, Jeremy Hunt's, Staton, Suban Abdulla, David Milliken Organizations: Bank of England, Thomson

☆ UK consumer confidence tumbles in October as inflation still weighs: GfK
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The GfK consumer confidence index, Britain's longest-running survey of its type, dropped to a three-month low of -30 in October from September's reading of -21. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a modest improvement to -20, and the nine-point drop was the largest since a one-off survey GfK did at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. "This sharp fall underlines that the cost-of-living crisis, and simply not having enough money to make-ends-meet, are still exerting acute pressure for many consumers," Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK, said. Households' willingness to make major purchases recorded an especially sharp monthly fall, which GfK said would worry retailers in the run-up to Christmas, although the level of the index remained above where it was in October 2022. The poll of 2,000 individuals aged 16 and over took place from Oct. 2 and Oct. 13.

Persons: Joe Staton, Staton, GfK, David Milliken Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: British

☆ Israel-Hamas War Unsettles British Consumers
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An early-October survey of consumer confidence in the U.K. published Thursday recorded the sharpest decline in a single month since April 2020, when the country was locked down to limit the spread of Covid-19. While Britons have paid more for their housing, car and other loans in recent months, Joe Staton at polling firm GfK said the slump was also due to “the uncertainties posed by conflict in the Middle East.” GfK questioned 2,000 Britons between Oct. 2 and Oct. 13.

Persons: Joe Staton, GfK, ” GfK Locations: Covid

Wells Fargo Bank branch is seen in New York City, U.S., March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Wells Fargo & Co FollowSept 15 (Reuters) - The former head of Wells Fargo's (WFC.N) retail bank on Friday avoided prison time after pleading guilty to an obstruction charge related to the bank's sweeping fake-accounts scandal. Prosecutors had sought a one-year prison term for Tolstedt, but the judge said it would unfairly make Tolstedt appear solely responsible for Wells Fargo's misconduct. That cap remains in place, though Wells Fargo remains the fourth-largest U.S. bank. Wells Fargo has also clawed back tens of millions of dollars of her pay.

Persons: Wells Fargo's, Carrie Tolstedt, Josephine Staton, Wells, Tolstedt, Martin Estrada, Wells Fargo, John Stumpf, Stumpf, Chris Prentice, Jonathan Stempel, Jaiveer Singh, Shounak Dasgupta, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Companies Wells, U.S, San, Wells, Prosecutors, Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission, Thomson Locations: Wells Fargo Bank, New York City, U.S, Los Angeles, San Francisco, America, Wells, New York, Bengaluru

☆ Lower inflation boosts UK consumer mood: GfK
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO-Shoppers walk past sale signs on Oxford Street, as Britain struggles with the highest inflation rate among the world's big rich economies, London, Britain, 17 July 2023. The GfK consumer sentiment indicator rose to -25 in August from a three-month low of -30 in July, its biggest rise since April although still below the average of -10 for the survey, which has been running since 1974. Consumer price inflation dropped to 6.8% in July, down from a 41-year high of 11.1% reached in October 2022, although still higher than in all other major economies. The improvement in the GfK survey contrasts with other recent downbeat data on consumer spending. The GfK data was based on a survey of 2,001 people conducted between Aug. 1 and Aug. 10.

Persons: Rachel Adams, Joe Staton, David Milliken, Andy Bruce Organizations: Oxford, REUTERS, Reuters, of England, NIQ, Office, National Statistics, Thomson Locations: Britain, London

☆ Political violence in polarized U.S. at its worst since 1970s
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +26 min

Three academics who reviewed the cases say they add to growing evidence that America is grappling with the biggest and most sustained increase in political violence since the 1970s. Political violence surged for nearly a decade starting in the late-1960s – 1970 alone saw more than 450 cases, LaFree said. In contrast, much of today’s political violence is aimed at people – and most of the deadly outbursts tracked by Reuters have come from the right. “Political warfare”There’s no official tally of how many Americans die each year from political violence. Most of the fatal political violence identified by Reuters was carried out by people who embraced far-right views.

Persons: Kristen King’s, King, “, Austin Combs, ”, “ He’s, wailed, Anthony King, Donald Trump, Gary LaFree, LaFree, Rachel Kleinfeld, Carnegie’s Kleinfeld, Trump, Christopher Wray’s, Combs, Let’s, Joe Biden, Dave Spurrier, ” Combs, Wayne Staton, gaunt, Bri Smith, “ honk, Bubba, Ross, Cody Lee Harbaum, ” Harbaum, Edgar, Floyd Rockwell, Terry B’s, “ Hillary, Kim Jenkins, Patti Betz, “ Austin, Betz, Miss Patti, ‘, ” Betz, Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi, Paul, Nancy Pelosi’s, Katie Pridemore, Shawn Popp, Popp, Donald Henry, Henry, ’, Craig Greenberg, Quintez Brown, Greenberg, Brown, ” Brown, Robert Telles, Telles, Benjamin Smith, Dajah Beck, Beck, Smith, Allie Bradley, “ You’re, Bradley, Kristine Christenson, Ben Smiths, rightwing hecklers, ” Bradley, Knightly’s, Katherine Knapp, King’s, Kristen, Pridemore Organizations: Democrat, Reuters, U.S . Capitol, University of Maryland criminologist, Oklahoma, Federal Bureau of, Carnegie Endowment, International, Democratic, Trump, U.S . Department of Homeland Security, Republican, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Miss, . House, San, U.S, Capitol, Media, Attorney’s Office, Judicial, Las, Veterans, Pridemore Locations: OKEANA, Ohio, Okeana, America, Florida, Portland, Buffalo, Washington, Butler County, Brandon, Butler, Hamilton, San Francisco, Wisconsin, New Mexico, U.S, Louisville , Kentucky, China, Taiwan, California, Clark County , Nevada, Las Vegas, Normandale, Portland , Oregon, ”

☆ 'Reality bites': High inflation and rates hit UK consumer confidence
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Market research firm GfK's headline gauge of consumer confidence fell to -30 this month from -24 in June, the first decline since January, and below the -26 forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. The fall was the biggest month-on-month drop in GfK's confidence measure since March to April 2022 when inflation accelerated after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Staton said the recent slowdown in inflation will do little to improve consumer confidence. The Bank of England has increased interest rates at 13 meetings in a row since the end of 2021, raising its Bank Rate to 5% in June. The resilience of consumer confidence in the first half of this year was helped by low levels of unemployment and separate data published on Friday showed employers still seeking to hire.

Persons: Joe Staton, Staton, " Staton, Neil Carberry, Suban Abdulla, William Schomberg Organizations: Bank of, Confederation, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Bank of England

☆ ‘Human Footprint: Strangers in Paradise’ Review: When Man Meddles
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Shane Campbell-Staton and Dan Lewis Photo: Nathan Dappen/Days Edge ProductionsBy most reports, not including a firsthand inspection by this reviewer, there is no congregation of alligators currently infesting the New York sewer system. It is a resilient urban myth. What’s not a myth at all are the abandoned Burmese pythons (and their offspring) currently depleting the mammal population of the Florida Everglades and representing one of the more disastrous examples of people introducing animals where they don’t belong.

Persons: Shane Campbell, Staton, Dan Lewis, Nathan Dappen, What’s Organizations: Edge Locations: York, Florida

☆ UK consumer morale touches 17-month high despite inflation pain - GfK
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - British consumer sentiment hit its highest level since January 2022 as households turn more optimistic about their finance and economy, despite stubborn inflation and rising interest rates, market research firm GfK said on Friday. While British consumer price inflation has eased from the 41-year high of 11.1%, households are still grappling with the highest inflation rate among major rich economies, running at 8.7% in May, unchanged from April. "If consumers continue to weather the current economic storm, then this will provide a firm foundation for getting back to growth," Staton said. GfK said three measures of consumer sentiment edged up in June compared to the previous month when all five indicators pushed up. Reporting by Suban Abdulla; editing by David MillikenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: GfK, Liz Truss's, Joe Staton, Staton, BoE, Andrew Bailey, Suban Abdulla, David Milliken Organizations: Bank of England, Thomson

CNN —North Carolina’s Republican-led General Assembly moved Tuesday to ban most abortions after 12 weeks, voting to override a veto from Democratic Gov. The state House voted 72-48 along party lines hours after the state Senate voted 30-20 to do the same. A three-fifths vote in both chambers, where Republicans hold supermajorities, was needed to override the governor’s previous rejection of the measure. “We are going to have to kick it into an even higher gear when that veto stamp comes down. Cotham, who had campaigned in favor of abortion rights as a Democrat and sponsored legislation earlier in the legislative session to codify Roe v. Wade, was one of the Republicans who voted for the abortion ban.

☆ UK consumer confidence highest since Feb 2022 as 'green shoots' emerge: GfK
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April's reading was also above the -35 reading forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. While the country's economy is expected to avoid a recession this year, the broader picture remains weak with double-digit inflation proving harder to tame. However, Joe Staton, GfK's client strategy director, said there had been a "sudden flowering of optimism" among households. "The brighter views on what the general economy has in store for us ... could even be seen as the proverbial 'green shoots of recovery'," Staton said. GfK's gauge of savings intentions fell marginally but was still positive and nine points higher than the same month last year.

The PMI was driven by the services sector as consumer spending on travel, leisure and entertainment showed strength while manufacturing remained weak. S&P Global's input price index - a good guide to future inflation pressures - showed the slowest growth in costs for firms since March 2021, although overall cost pressures remained high by historical standards. There were also signs of recovery in Friday's consumer confidence survey by polling firm GfK which rose to its highest since February last year, albeit to weak levels. There was a reminder of the problems facing many consumers in official retail sales data also published on Friday. "A strong performance from retailers in January and February means the three-month picture shows positive growth for the first time since August 2021," he said.

☆ UK consumer mood hits one-year high, but financial gloom persists
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 24 (Reuters) - British consumer confidence rose this month to its highest level in a year, helped by improving sentiment around the economy and despite persistent gloom over personal finances, a survey showed on Friday. Market research firm GfK's consumer confidence index rose to -36 in March, in line with the consensus in a Reuters poll of economists and up from -38 in February and its highest since March 2022. Still, the GfK survey showed no improvement in its gauges of personal finances, which are linked most strongly to household expenditure. "Wages are not keeping up with rising prices and the cost-of-living crisis remains a stark reality for most," he added. "Just having enough money to live right and pay the bills remains the number one concern for consumers across the UK," Staton said.

☆ UK consumers turn more confident but inflation challenges remain - GfK
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

After some other recent signs of improvement in the economy, GfK's headline consumer confidence index rose by more than expected in February, increasing by seven points to -38, climbing further away from September's -49 record low. Joe Staton, GfK's client strategy director, said consumers were suddenly more optimistic about their personal finances and the general economic situation, especially for the coming year, despite the continued hit to their incomes from high inflation. The GfK survey's measure of how consumers view the economy over the next 12 months jumped to -43 from -54 in January, while households' feelings about their personal finances increased by nine points, GfK said. Linda Ellett, UK head of consumer markets at KPMG, said consumers were turning to savings and debt as higher prices squeezed household budgets. The survey of 2,000 people was conducted between Feb. 1 and Feb. 13.

☆ A couple that retired early abroad share 4 strategies that allow them to live and travel on a $2,500-a-month budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Edd and Cynthia Staton manage to travel the world on their Social Security income. When the Great Recession of 2008 wiped Edd and Cynthia Staton out financially, their retirement plan "disappeared," the couple told Insider. At the time, Edd was 61 and months away from being able to take early Social Security, while Cynthia was 58. "It costs us more every year to go to the States than it does anywhere else in the world," noted Cynthia. Here are four strategies they use to live and travel internationally on a budget.

☆ A couple's retirement plan was derailed in 2008, so they moved abroad for a lower cost of living. They explain how they live comfortably on Social Security and spend just $2,000 a month.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Edd and Cynthia Staton's retirement plan was derailed when the Great Recession wiped them out. They took what savings they had and moved to Ecuador, where the cost of living was lower. They've been living comfortably abroad for over a decade on a budget of $2,000 a month. Edd and Cynthia Staton met as teenagers when Cynthia's family moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia in 1967. Living stress-free on $2,000 a month in Ecuador for 10 yearsTheir immediate hurdle was finding a place to live.

☆ UK consumer mood slides back to near 50-year low - GfK
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Market research firm GfK said its measure of confidence declined 3 points to -45, the third lowest reading since records started in 1974. Energy bills and food prices in have escalated rapidly in recent months, eating away at households' disposable incomes. Food prices jumped 16.8% year-on-year in December - the sharpest increase since September 1977, according to the Office for National Statistics. The cost of an average household energy bill in Britain is set to rise to 3,000 pounds ($3,697.50) a year from April. The survey of 2,000 people was conducted between Jan. 3 and Jan. 12.

☆ A Seattle Home Renovation That Restored Lost Charm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Barbara Sgroi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

LONG BEFORE Akash Niranjan and his wife, Marissa, bought their 1936 house, it had been remodeled to within an inch of its original character. Theirs was one of the many Tudor Revival homes built in downtown Seattle in the 1930s, but unlike many of those, it was “missing the sense of charm that traditional Tudor style homes have,” said Mr. Niranjan. Period details such as leaded glass windows, wood paneling, exposed ceiling beams, crown moldings and fireplaces had disappeared from the 2,500 square-foot house. TIP 1: Give a Light-Challenged Room a Rosy ComplexionThe east side of the home, which houses the kitchen, faces a large, light-blocking condo. To compensate, Ms. Staton had the cabinets painted an unexpected pink with a sunny disposition (Benjamin Moore’s Salmon Mousse).

☆ UK consumer confidence edges up but still close to record low
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - British consumer confidence crept up this month but is still close to all-time low levels as households see their incomes eroded by high inflation, market research firm GfK said on Friday. GfK's monthly consumer confidence index, which dates back to 1974, rose in December to -42 from November's -44. It touched a record low -49 in September. December's reading was the highest since July and the third consecutive monthly improvement in the index. Reporting by William Schomberg; editing by David MillikenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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