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☆ Was Sydney Sweeney’s Oscars after-party look a subversive nod to Marilyn Monroe?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Leah Dolan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —There was something uncanny about Sydney Sweeney’s look at the Vanity Fair Oscars party last night. Last week, Sweeney made her “Saturday Night Live” hosting debut with a string of jokes centered around her sexualized typecasting, rumors of affairs with co-stars and the size of her chest. Were Sweeney’s breasts, as one writer for Canada’s National Post put it, “double-D harbingers of the death of woke”? “(But) with Sweeney, what it really comes down to is this: Sex sells.”Since then, it’s been open season for Sydney Sweeney boob jokes, especially in comments under the actor’s Instagram posts. “Leave Sydney Sweeney’s boobs out of this,” wrote The Cut.

Persons: Marilyn Monroe, Sweeney isn’t, — Anna Nicole Smith, Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé, James Franco, Sweeney, Danny Moloshok, ”, “ We’ve, Amy Hamm, it’s, Sydney Sweeney boob, Sweeney’s, Sydney Sweeney, Barbie, Marc Bouwer, Angelina Jolie, Carlo Allegri, —, biopics, Monroe, Billy Wilder's, Emily Ratajkowski, I’ve, she’s Organizations: CNN, YouTube, Canada’s, SNL, Sydney, United, “ Locations: ogling, “

☆ Margaret Zhang, Australian-born editor of Vogue China to step down
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Christy Choi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Vogue China editorial director Margaret Zhang has announced that she is stepping down just three years after becoming the youngest person to lead any of the fashion bible’s 28 editions. Zhang’s appointment as Vogue China’s editorial director in 2021 came as something of a surprise. But she also won praise for modernizing Vogue China and championing diversity at the title. In her resignation announcement, Zhang said the publication had enjoyed “record growth in video” and the “highest engagement events in the history of Vogue China” during her editorship. The Ghanaian-born fashion editor unexpectedly stepped down last June after more than six years at the helm.

Persons: Margaret Zhang, ”, Zhang, —, Condé, — Anna Wintour, ” Zhang, Ik, “, Anna Sui, Edward Enninful, Condé Nast, Roger Lynch Organizations: CNN — Vogue China, Vogue, Vogue China, US, Milan, Condé Locations: China, Australian, Sydney —, Mulberry, Vogue China, Ghanaian

☆ They survived life in the murderous LeBaron cult. Figuring out how to move on was just as difficult.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Julie Gerstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Celia and Anna LeBaron are the children of murderous cult leader Ervil LeBaron. AdvertisementTo look at them, you would never know that Celia and Anna LeBaron grew up in a violent cult. AdvertisementCelia and Anna say they barely knew their father — Anna only recalls meeting him twice. They were just two of more than 50 children Ervil fathered with his 13 wives. A yearslong killing spreeAnna and Celia's father Ervil LeBaron.

Persons: Celia, Anna LeBaron, Ervil LeBaron, LeBaron, —, Anna, Lamb, God, — Anna, Ervil, Celia's, Alma Dayer LeBaron, Alma, Ervil's, Joel, Rulon Allred, Heber, Aaron, Heber LeBaron, Aaron LeBaron, Joseph Smith . Heber, Patricia, Richard, couldn't, Mae LeBaron, Anna parented, Celia LeBaron, Anna each, Isaac, I'm, That's Organizations: ABC, Service, ABC News Studios, Mexico —, LeBaron —, Times, of Locations: Dallas, polygamist, Mexico, Anna

First of all, there's no such thing as a “game clock” in tennis, in general, and no such thing as “too late” at the Australian Open and U.S. Open, in particular. … I haven’t been able to sit through one,” two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka said. The women's and men's professional tours announced just before the start of the Australian Open that they're instituting new rules this month to try to cut back on play after midnight. One problem: Those rules apply only to events run by the WTA and ATP — not Grand Slam tournaments. WHEN DOES MEDVEDEV PLAY NEXT?

Persons: Daniil Medvedev's, Rod Laver, Zero, Medvedev, “, let’s, Emil Ruusuvuori, That's, ”, John Isner, Isner, — Medvedev, Ruusuvuori, Anna Blinkova's, Elena Rybakina —, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, ” Djokovic, Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis —, Carlos Alcaraz, haven’t, Victoria Azarenka, “ It’s, Andy Murray, ” Murray, you’re, Coco Gauff, Felix Auger, ” Medvedev, John Pye, ___ Howard Fendrich, howard, fendrich Organizations: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park, Wimbledon, Australian, England, U.S ., U.S, WTA, ATP, Tennis Australia, NEXT Locations: Melbourne, New York, Australia

☆ Anna Indiana is the world's first all-AI singer-songwriter. She's deeply mediocre.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Kieran Press-Reynolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The new completely AI-generated musician Anna Indiana was met with fierce backlash online. She's Anna Indiana, the first musician whose entire existence — from the image and singing to the music's chord progression, key, tempo, and lyrics — is claimed to have been generated by artificial intelligence, without human involvement. I’m Anna Indiana and I’m an AI singer-songwriter. Everything from the key, tempo, chord progression, melody notes, rhythm, lyrics, and my image and singing, is auto-generated using AI. Indiana's music is middling, but it's not egregiously unlistenable.

Persons: Anna Indiana, —, Indiana, Here’s, ines, ong, lew, egan, ike, ould, witter Organizations: Service Locations: uman

☆ These authors interviewed 18 Harvard startup founders: Here’s the No. 1 trait that made them successful
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The only founders who do it successfully share one trait in common: the resilience to navigate a rocky path filled with unforeseen twists and turns. That's a key lesson that Catalina Daniels and James Sherman took from researching for their new book, "Smart Startups: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know — Advice from 18 Harvard Business School Founders." "Having resilience is absolutely essential [for] the emotional makeup of a person in terms of becoming an entrepreneur," Sherman tells CNBC Make It. "If they don't have that type of resilience, they need to learn how to build it up." In fact, every founder the authors spoke to agreed that resilience was the biggest key to their success, even more than prior experience or a winning business idea.

Persons: That's, Catalina Daniels, James Sherman, Daniels, Sherman, Harvard alums, Josh Hix, Nick Taranto, Kevin O'Leary, — Anna Auerbach, Auerbach, …, they're, Hix, Warren Buffett Organizations: Smart, Harvard Business School, Harvard, Groupe, CNBC, Werk, American Psychological Association

☆ Airbnb: Italy threatens to seize more than $800 million over unpaid taxes
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rome CNN —Italian tax authorities are poised to seize some €779 million ($836 million) from Airbnb as a result of its alleged failure to pay taxes owed by landlords using the platform. Prosecutor Marcello Viola told Italian reporters Monday that three people who were administrators for Airbnb in Italy also face unpaid tax charges. A spokesperson for Airbnb told CNN Tuesday: “Airbnb Ireland has been in active discussions with the Italian tax agency since June 2023 to resolve this matter. In 2017, Google, owned by Alphabet (GOOGL), agreed to pay Italy €306 million ($327 million) to cover taxes for the years 2009 to 2015. And in 2015, the country worked out a similar unpaid tax deal with Apple (AAPL) worth €318 million ($340 million).

Persons: Rome, Airbnb, Marcello Viola, “, won’t, Giorgia Meloni, Airbnb —, Antonio Tajani, — Anna Cooban Organizations: Rome CNN, Union, Airbnb, CNN, ”, Google, Italy €, Apple Locations: Airbnb, Europe, United States, Milan, Ireland, €, Italy, Italian, New York City, Italy’s

That’s almost three times what Russia spent on defense in 2021, before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Those figures are likely to underestimate the total spent on Russia’s war effort. He said that before the war Russia would typically splash around 3-4% of its annual gross domestic product on defense but now it could be anywhere between 8% and 10%. Russia’s exports are still greater than the value of its imports, despite a boost to the latter from the hefty military spending. Rising military spending is, on the other hand, boosting Russia’s industrial output and, with it, GDP.

Persons: London CNN —, Vladimir Putin, Putin, That’s, Richard Connolly, Janis Kluge, Irina Okladnikova, Liam Peach, it’s, Peach, Kluge, “, ”, —, Maksim Konstantinov, Alexandra Suslina, Suslina, Alexandra Prokopenko, Prokopenko, — Anna Cooban, Tim Lister, Olesya Dmitracova Organizations: London CNN, Reuters, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Royal United Services Institute for Defence, Security Studies, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Capital Economics, CNN, “, ZUMA, International Monetary Fund, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, International Energy Agency, West Locations: “, Ukraine, Russia, Stockholm, Moscow, “ Russia, Russian, Saint Petersburg, Soviet, Berlin

Competition for buy-side jobs, including at private equity firms and hedge funds, can be fierce. Insider identified the 13 recruiting firms aspiring dealmakers and traders should know for a buy-side job. The buy-side hiring spree is expected to continue despite a slowdown in mergers and acquisitions — a cornerstone of private equity investing. BellCast Partners works with mega funds, middle market funds, infrastructure funds, impact funds, real estate private equity funds, sector-focused funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and credit funds. Today it does searches in private equity, growth equity, distressed, credit, venture capital, hedge funds, family offices, and select investment banks.

Persons: headhunting, Brain O'Callaghan, John Arbolino, Arbolino, Amity, Pamela Esterson, Susanna Nichols, Nichols, Esterson, Danielle Caston Strazzini, Alison Bellino Johnson, BellCast, Caston Strazzini, Jill Pierce, Spencer Stuart, Pierce, —, Brian O'Callaghan, it's, Renee Hylton, Keith Mann, Josh Grauer, Grauer, Mann, Adam Zoia, Annette Krassner, Katie Cunningham, Sarah Armstrong, Cunningham, Armstrong, Anna Brady, Janelle Matthews, Beth Grossman, Brady, they've, Morgan Stanley Eleni Henkel, Henkel, Leah Trabich, HSP, Carlyle, Warburg Pincus, Adam Kahn, Kahn, Anthony Keizner, Keizner, Nina Swift, Marty Brady, Vedica Qalbani, Qalbani, Lindsey Mead, Jessica Wu, Michael Garmisa, SearchOne, Sheri Gellman, Gellman Organizations: Citadel, nab, Boothroyd, Co, Wall, Amity Search Partners, Palm Beach Staff, SG Partners, Bain Capital, Centerbridge Partners, Trian Partners, BellCast, Charlotte Staff, CPI, BellCast Partners, Investor Relations, Nashville, San Francisco, Wharton, Harvard, Stanford, New York Staff, Partners, San Francisco Staff, Los Angeles Staff, TPG, Thoma Bravo, Bessemer Venture Partners, EQT, Elliott, Equity, KKR, ICONIQ, Spectrum Equity, Henkel Search, Search Partners, New York, Oxbridge, Nashville Staff, Time Warner, Indiana University, SG Locations: New York, San Francisco, Austin, San Diego, Chicago, Los Angeles , New York, Phoenix, West Coast, Los Angeles, NYC, California, United States, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Columbia, Latin America, Asia, Europe, San Francisco , New York, Bay, Gold, Los Angeles , Greenwich, Nashville, Amity, South Florida

☆ UK employment hits record high but the economy is still short 1 million workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —The number of people in work in the United Kingdom has climbed above its pre-pandemic level for the first time, reaching a record high. Employment hit a record 33.1 million between February and April, with increases in both the number of employees and self-employed workers, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. Employment in the United Kingdom has recovered more slowly than in any other major economy since the pandemic, according to the UK Institute for Employment Studies. This is the fastest rise on record, apart from the period when the figures were distorted by the pandemic, Morgan noted. Food inflation remained above 19% — near a 45-year high — hitting poor households the hardest because they spend more of their available income on food.

Persons: Darren Morgan, Morgan, Liz Truss, Jeremy Hunt, ”, Ashley Webb, Anna Cooban Organizations: London CNN, National Statistics, Employment, UK Institute for Employment Studies, Bank of, “, Capital Economics, Bank, Ill Locations: United Kingdom, Europe, United States

☆ 'Nobody is above the law': The world reacts to Trump being indicted for the second time
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jake Swearingen | Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Trump's allies and enemies took to Twitter en masse to weigh in on his second indictment. The common refrain from Democrats and Trump's opponents within the GOP was that nobody was above the law. God Bless President Trump. I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump… — Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) June 9, 2023Sen. Josh Hawley worried about the state of the republic. Every "Republican" running for President should suspend their campaign and go to Miami as a show of support.

Persons: Trumpworld, —, Donald Trump, — Adam Kinzinger, Gerry Connolly, Michael Cohen, Trump's, fixer, Trump, izsOqf04yc — Michael Cohen, Biden, DOJ indicts Trump, YdmbbAo6fX — Anna Paulina Luna, Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, Trump … — Kevin McCarthy, Sen, Josh Hawley, Marjorie Taylor Greene, W8GallYAeH —, Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 ( Organizations: Twitter, Trump, Service, GOP, —, DOJ, America Locations: America, United States of America

☆ After Russia-Ukraine grain deal extended, global wheat prices fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Global wheat prices fell Thursday after Ukraine and Russia agreed to extend a deal allowing grain to be exported from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea. “These agreements matter for global food security,” António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, told journalists Wednesday. “Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world.”The grain deal, first signed in July, was due to expire on Thursday, but Turkish and Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that it would be extended for another two months. Ukraine and Russia together account for nearly a third of global wheat exports, according to Gro Intelligence, an agricultural data firm. In the days after the invasion, global wheat prices skyrocketed, with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization warning that as many as 47 million people could be pushed into “acute food insecurity” because of the war.

London CNN —Europe’s banks are not yet in the clear, a top EU regulator said Monday, two weeks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the United States unleashed turmoil in the global banking sector. José Manuel Campa, the head of the European Banking Authority (EBA), told a German newspaper that European lenders remained vulnerable following the demise of SVB and the subsequent emergency rescue of Credit Suisse by UBS. The regulator is currently finalizing a study of the effects of interest rate risks on European banks, which it started working on in the fall. “The investigation is not yet concluded, but I can say already today that we don’t expect to find major institutions with significant solvency risks arising from unrealized losses,” Campa said. Meanwhile, years of mismanagement and scandal at Credit Suisse left it particularly exposed to a broad sense of unease about banks.

☆ Credit Suisse faces fateful weekend. Will UBS step up with a rescue bid?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Mark Thompson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The fate of Credit Suisse could be decided in the next 36 hours after a torrid week for Switzerland’s second biggest bank. But by Friday, analysts were speculating that a full-blown rescue would be needed, and reports began to swirl of a possible takeover by its biggest Swiss rival, UBS (UBS). The FT said the boards of UBS and Credit Suisse were expected to meet separately over the weekend. Credit Suisse and UBS both declined to comment to Reuters. “BlackRock is not participating in any plans to acquire all or any part of Credit Suisse, and has no interest in doing so,” a BlackRock spokesperson told CNN.

☆ What caused the global banking crisis this week and will it lead to a recession?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Mark Thompson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Silicon Valley Bank’s customers were frantically pulling their money from the California-based lender before US regulators intervened to take control. Thursday, March 16 — First Republic Bank was teetering on the brink as customers withdrew their deposits. In guaranteeing all deposits at Silicon Valley Bank and Republic Bank, the US Federal Reserve is on the hook for $140 billion. Then there’s the $54 billion the Swiss National Bank offered Credit Suisse in the form of an emergency loan. The $318 billion the Fed has loaned in total to the financial system is about half what was extended during the global financial crisis.

☆ Russia may run out of money in 2024, says oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Russia could find itself with no money as soon as next year and needs foreign investment, outspoken Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska has said. Putin praised the resilience of the country’s economy in the face of unprecedented Western sanctions imposed in the past year. Russia’s economic output shrank 2.1% last year, according to a preliminary estimate from the government. But cracks are starting to show — Russia is cutting oil production this month — and Western sanctions could escalate further. Ultimately, Russia’s economic prospects are contingent on what happens in Ukraine.

☆ How companies are trying to help victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —Companies around the world are racing to provide help to the victims of the devastating earthquake straddling Turkey and Syria, by donating food, medicines, services and cash. Hamdi Ulukaya has donated $1 million to an earthquake relief fund set up by Turkish Philanthropy Funds, the US-based donor organization has said. please donate to @tphilanthropy earthquake relief and recovery efforts. The aid organization is working to help people in Turkey and Syria affected by the quake. Aid agencies are particularly worried about victims in northwestern Syria, where more than 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance.

☆ Air fares will have to rise to clean up aviation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

He said that financiers and energy suppliers should invest in SAF production, including in emerging markets. The wealthy people in this room and wealthy nations should be funding the energy transition in aviation to help support developing countries,” he added. Holland-Kaye said that companies can play a major role accelerating the adoption of SAF because business travel accounts for about 30% of fuel used in aviation. In 2021, the industry pledged to replaced 10% of global jet fuel supply with SAF by 2030. Clean energy investments need a major boost if the world is to meet its climate goals, according to Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency.

☆ Rivian halts plans to build electric vans with Mercedes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Rivian said Monday it would no longer pursue a deal with Mercedes to build electric vans for businesses in Europe. “At this point in time, we believe focusing on our consumer business, as well as our existing commercial business, represent the most attractive near-term opportunities to maximize value for Rivian,” Scaringe said. A memorandum between Rivian and Mercedes was agreed just three months ago. They had planned to produce two large vans — one based on Mercedes’ engineering and another with “second-generation” Rivian engineering. Rivian, which is known for its electric trucks, generated huge hype when it made its public market debut in 2021.

☆ UK tries to shore up energy supply with US deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN Business —Britain has agreed a new energy partnership with the United States that aims to end its reliance on Russia and lower soaring energy costs. He said the aim was to double the amount of liquified natural gas (LNG) the United States exports to Britain compared to 2021 levels. The initiative with the United Kingdom comes nine months after the United States agreed a deal with the European Union to increase LNG shipments to Europe. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the United States became the world’s largest exporter of LNG in the first half of this year. Under the new partnership, the United States will aim to export “at least” 9-10 billion cubic meters of LNG via UK terminals.

☆ The West just scrambled the oil market. What happens next is up to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The European Union now prohibits Russian crude oil imports by sea, setting up the bloc to have phased out 90% of oil imports from Russia. It’s a huge move given that Europe received roughly a third of its oil imports from Russia in 2021. In 2021, the EU imported €48 billion ($50.7 billion) worth of crude oil and €23 billion ($24.3 billion) of refined oil products from Russia. Countries like Poland and Estonia wanted a lower price cap, emphasizing that $60 is too close to the current market price for Russian oil. “Today’s oil price cap agreement is a step in right direction, but this is not enough,” Estonian foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu tweeted Friday.

☆ Mercedes CEO says Europe’s gas crisis will accelerate its shift to renewables
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —Europe’s gas crisis will be “a catalyst” for Mercedes-Benz to push deeper into clean energy, says its CEO. The German government had already set in motion a crisis management plan that could see rationing gas to businesses if that happened. The group has also signed on to use a wind energy facility in the Baltic Sea that will “add another 25%” of capacity, said Källenius. “We’re going to diversify, we’re going to make ourselves more resilient, and of course we’re going to go carbon-free,” he added. The company unveiled the electric vehicle Sunday at the Paris Motor Show, as part of efforts to further diversify its lineup.

Berlin/London (CNN Business) Germany is nationalizing Uniper , its biggest importer of natural gas, as part of an €8 billion ($7.9 billion) plan to prevent an energy shortage this winter. Uniper provides 40% of the country's gas supply and is crucial for large companies and private consumers in Europe's biggest economy. But Habeck said the situation had "worsened dramatically" since Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline indefinitely on September 1, citing an oil leak. Although gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 are suspended, Germany's gas reserves are filled at more than 90% capacity, European Storage provider GIE AGSI+ said on its website. UK details subsidies for businessGermany is not alone in paying a very heavy price to overcome gas supply shortages.

Berlin/London CNN Business —Germany is nationalizing Uniper, its biggest importer of natural gas, as part of an €8 billion ($7.9 billion) plan to prevent an energy shortage this winter. The German government will hold around 99% of Uniper after injecting new capital and buying out its Finnish parent company Fortum (FOJCF), German Economy Minister Robert Habeck told journalists in Berlin on Wednesday. Uniper provides 40% of the country’s gas supply and is crucial for large companies and private consumers in Europe’s biggest economy. Under the rescue deal, the government committed to provide €7.7 billion ($7.8 billion) to cover potential future losses, while state-run bank KfW agreed to increase its credit facility by €7 billion ($7.1 billion). UK details subsidies for businessGermany is not alone in paying a very heavy price to overcome gas supply shortages.

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