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☆ Opinion | Why Authoritarians Like Saddam Hussein Confound U.S. Presidents
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Steve Coll | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

America committed its worst foreign policy mistake of the post-Cold War era when it invaded Iraq in 2003 to disarm Saddam Hussein of his supposed weapons of mass destruction. Another central question has rarely been examined: Why did Mr. Hussein sacrifice his long reign in power — and ultimately his life — by creating an impression that he held dangerous weapons when he did not? Mr. Hussein recorded his private leadership conversations as assiduously as Richard Nixon. He left behind about 2,000 hours of tape recordings as well as a vast archive of meeting minutes and presidential records. And they clarify the complicated matter of why he could not persuade U.N. inspectors, multiple spy agencies and many world leaders that he did not possess weapons of mass destruction.

Persons: America, Saddam Hussein, Biden, George W, Hussein, Richard Nixon, Bush Locations: Iraq, Iran, Washington, United States, China, Russia

☆ Satellite stray’s lonely orbit has a cash booster
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - SES and Intelsat are orbiting away from each other. After being locked in merger talks since March, the two satellite operators have decided instead to pursue their own turnaround plans independently. Both companies operate in the stagnant satellite-video market and so would have been doubling down on an old technology. And the combined company would have been burdened with a heavy initial net debt load of around 4 times combined EBITDA, according to Deutsche Bank analysts. It wants to broaden its business to new areas, like the medium earth orbit constellations, which provide quick internet connections in hard-to-reach places.

Persons: Steve Collar, Pamela Barbaglia, Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, SES, Intelsat, Deutsche Bank, Elon, SpaceX, U.S, Twitter, Intel, Thomson Locations: Luxembourg

☆ Intelsat ends merger talks with rival satellite communications giant SES
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. satellite communications giant Intelsat walked away from merger discussions with Luxembourg-based competitor SES on Wednesday, CNBC confirmed. Intelsat ended the discussions after differences arose with SES over business priorities, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC. It also wasn't clear whether the merger would lead to more value creation compared with Intelsat continuing on its own, the person said. The collapse of the merger talks comes shortly after SES announced CEO Steve Collar would step down at the end of this month. The move came as a surprise within the space industry, as Collar's career at SES spans more than 20 years.

Persons: Elon Musk's, Steve Collar Organizations: Intelsat, SES, Wednesday, CNBC, Elon, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Bloomberg Locations: Luxembourg, U.S

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) closed 0.2% higher, with the DAX (.GDAXI) up 0.9%. Luxury majors LVMH (LVMH.PA) and Hermes (HRMS.PA) climbed 1.8% and 3%, respectively, further supporting the STOXX 600. Meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are lined up for the week. The STOXX 600 started the year on a stronger footing compared to the S&P 500 index (.SPX) but lost steam during the second quarter due to a rise in preference for growth-oriented stocks as opposed to value stocks. Shares in SES tumbled 14.6% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after the satellite company announced its chief executive Steve Collar would step down.

Persons: BOJ, Bernstein, DAX, Lionel Messi's, Hermes, Daniela Hathorn, Sergio Ermotti, he’s, Michael Hewson, Silvio Berlusconi, Steve Collar, Shreyashi Sanyal, Bansari, Eileen Soreng Organizations: Fed, ECB, Adidas, UBS, CS, Inter Miami, U.S . Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Credit Suisse, CMC Markets, MEDIAFOREUROPE, Italian, Novartis, Seattle, Chinook Therapeutics, SES, BNP, Exane, Thomson Locations: Europe, Bengaluru

☆ SES's first-quarter results beat expectations as it progresses on projects
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 4 (Reuters) - Satellite firm SES (SESFg.LU) on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings above market expectations, and said it is on track to deliver on its full-year outlook. It also confirmed its schedule for both the O3b mPOWER and U.S. C-band projects. One of the world's biggest commercial satellite operators, the Luxembourg-based company said first-quarter adjusted core earnings (EBITDA) fell 3.2% year-on-year to 265 million euros ($293.57 million), but that still above 255 million euros seen in a company-compiled consensus. "Solid EBITDA performance underscores our continued focus on execution across the business," Chief Executive Steve Collar said in the earnings statement. SES' quarterly revenue grew 9.6% to 490 million euros, slightly above the 484 million euros expected by analysts, driven by contribution from its DRS GES acquisition.

☆ Everyone from the vet to the barber is hiking prices. And there’s no relief in sight
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And that’s exactly where inflation can get “sticky,” meaning once prices for services rise they tend to remain at those levels for some time. “When you have strong price pressures in the services sector, they’re likely to last longer,” Nicaj said. That’s the risk that you also take as a business raising prices, because you may lose clients.”To Ryczko, it’s a strategic balancing act. Courtesy Genora Boykins and Sharon Owens“I don’t know of any goods that we are utilizing that haven’t increased in cost,” Boykins said. “Even if it doesn’t necessarily turn around, at least you don’t want [prices] to continue to escalate month after month after month.”

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