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☆ Adam Brace, Director of Ambitious One-Person Shows, Dies at 43
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“He looked after so much more than the jokes and the laughs,” said the American comedian Alex Edelman, whose show “Just for Us” is scheduled to begin performances at the Hudson Theater on June 22, after an Obie Award-winning run Off Broadway. It was also staged in London and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the annual performing arts extravaganza. He’d take these personal stories and translate them into accessible shows.”“Just for Us” tells the story of how Mr. Edelman, after drawing the attention of white nationalists online, decided to infiltrate a group of them in Queens. It was nominated for an Olivier Award for best entertainment or comedy play and will open Off Broadway, at the Greenwich House Theater, next month. “With my show, he changed everything,” Ms. Kingsman, an Australian-born actor and writer, said by phone.

☆ Threat of TikTok ban has creators scrambling to build followings on Instagram, YouTube
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Politicians have been threatening a nationwide TikTok ban unless ByteDance sells its stake in the app, a move China said it "strongly" opposed. "That's the power of TikTok," Spangler said, adding that the app drives the majority of sales for his business, The Good Chad. Olivier Douliery | Afp | Getty ImagesIn April, Montana legislators approved a bill that would ban TikTok from being offered in the state starting next year. Creators are turning to other platformsVivian Tu, who lives in Miami, has been preparing for a possible TikTok ban by working to build her audience and diversify her content across multiple platforms. With the looming threat of a TikTok ban, Foster said she's been sharing content across Instagram, YouTube and Twitter to try to expand her following.

☆ US debt ceiling: How to trade off it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BlackRock says (BLK.N) it's been buying Treasuries in anticipation of an economic slowdown and a protracted debt ceiling fight. 2/ RAINY DAY DEFAULT PROTECTIONCredit default swaps (CDS), which work like insurance against a debt default, are seeing strong demand. "If debt ceiling concerns grow we think markets will price in more Fed rate cut expectations, which means 5-year yields would fall," said Miyairi. 5/ ALL THAT GLITTERSDeutsche Bank strategist Robin Winkler says a good hedge may be buying gold against the dollar, as it has the tightest relationship with newsflow around the debt ceiling. In August 2011, as a debt ceiling crisis prompted a U.S. credit rating downgrade, gold rose 11% that month alone.

☆ PDD, Shein, Binance: These hugely successful companies were born in China. They don't want you to know that
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Hong Kong CNN —Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, doesn’t want to be called a Chinese company. “Our opposition in the West bends over backward to paint us as a ‘Chinese company,’” he wrote in a blog post last September. Zhao has been vocal about how he feels his firm is misrepresented as a "Chinese company." The same concern could, in theory, apply to any Chinese company. TikTok CEO Shou Chew testifying before US Congress in March.

☆ With Fed Set to Raise Rates, Executives Watch Consumers for Signs of Stress
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Fed is on track to increase rates a quarter point while deliberating if that will be enough to pause the fastest rate-raising cycle in decades. Photo: olivier douliery/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesExecutives are watching the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting for clues on its inflation-fighting campaign and the potential for a so-called hard landing that could cramp consumer spending on everything from airline tickets and cars to furniture and snacks. The Fed this week is on track to increase interest rates by a quarter percentage point while deliberating whether that will be enough to then pause the fastest rate-raising cycle in four decades. The central bank’s benchmark rate stands at a range between 4.75% and 5%, and another quarter-point increase at the meeting that concludes Wednesday would lift it to a 16-year high.

☆ Here's what to expect from today's Federal Reserve announcement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on March 22, 2023. None of those figures are satisfactory for Fed officials. "Most Fed officials don't seem comfortable that the rate hike cycle is over," Citigroup economist Andrew Hollenhorst said in a note. The next Fed policy meeting comes in six weeks, on June 13-14, and April's consumer price report is due in one week, on May 10. This Fed meeting is crucial."

☆ France pension protests explained: France is still mad -- but can the protests last?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Joseph Ataman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In 1995, weeks-long mass protests forced the government of the day to abandon plans to reform public sector pensions. For many in France, the pensions system, as with social support more generally, is viewed as the bedrock of the state’s responsibilities and relationship with its citizens. Nathan Laine/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesIn contrast, during the Yellow Vest protests, started in opposition to hikes in fuel prices, violence gradually soured public support. That these pensions protests continue to hold such popular goodwill is an ominous sign for Macron’s future plans. The size and violence of pensions protests spiked when Macron forced the legislation past the country’s lower legislative house without a vote.

☆ What John Blake discovered when he met the White mother he never knew
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +25 min

It’s a story about my mother, and the White relatives who shunned me at birth—and still somehow became family. I now know one of the reasons my family didn’t tell me about my mom’s illness is because they didn’t know how. I vividly recall thinking as I looked at my mom: I didn’t know a White person could suffer like this. I saw White, Black, and brown people hug and call each other “brother” and “sister” after worship service. John Blake is a Senior Writer at CNN and the author of “More Than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew.”

☆ Roma and Milan share spoils with late goals in top-four battle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Milan remain fourth in the standings, level on 57 points with Roma in fifth, with both sides two points behind third-placed Juventus who travel to Bologna on Sunday. Roma's back luck, however, did not end there and Mourinho was forced to make an early change when defender Marash Kumbulla clashed inside the box with Milan forward Olivier Giroud. They had a decent chance just after the half-hour mark but forward Leao fired wide. Milan defenders Davide Calabria and Fikayo Tomori had two more chances before halftime but both missed the target. Milan host second-bottom Cremonese on Wednesday when Roma travel to ninth-placed Monza.

☆ Courtney Dauwalter: The fun-fuelled ultra-marathon star defying science
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Matt Foster | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Most people’s idea of fun wouldn’t involve running for hours on end through brutal, undulating terrain – but ultra-marathon sensation Courtney Dauwalter is no ordinary person. Dauwalter, a four-time ‘Ultra Running Magazine Ultrarunner of the year,’ holds multiple course records for the obscenely long races around the US and abroad. Pizza and pints"There is no right or wrong path to completing a 100 or 200-mile race," says Dauwalter. Joe Amon/Denver Post/Denver PostTrue to character, Dauwalter has a positive and novel method of coping with the unexpected visions. “For me, training, racing and exploring what’s possible with these ultra-races, the really long trail ones, is fun,” Dauwalter says.

☆ Biden set to address White House Correspondents Dinner
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Maegan Vazquez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But undoubtedly, a White House official told CNN, his speech will address the issue of wrongfully detained Americans abroad. US President George W. Bush, left, waves with impressionist Steve Bridges at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2006. Roger L. Wollenberg/Pool/Getty Images The White House Correspondents' Dinner is held in 1923. It was started two years earlier by the White House Correspondents' Association, the organization of journalists who cover the president. Roosevelt was congratulating Brandt for winning the first Raymond Clapper Memorial Award, which was given by the White House Correspondents' Association for distinguished reporting.

☆ Kirsten Neuschäfer becomes first woman to win historic Golden Globe Race
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Thomas Schlachter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Kirsten Neuschäfer has become the first woman to win the Golden Globe Race. Entrants race solo, non-stop, and in boats that are reminiscent of the ‘Golden Age’ of solo sailing – the yachts have to be designed before 1988 and are without electronic instruments or autopilots. The race is based on the 1968-69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race which saw Sir Robin Knox-Johnston become the first person to circumnavigate the globe, sailing solo on his boat Suhaili without stopping. By the time the South African Neuschäfer crossed the line Thursday, only two other sailors were on course to complete the race without stopping. Neuschäfer became the first women to ever win the race.

☆ A Glamorous Masked Ball, and 100 People to Know
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Katie Van Syckle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Met Gala, which will be held next week, serves as the unofficial birthday party for Vogue magazine. The outfits at Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World gala, held last night at Jazz at Lincoln Center, generally don’t involve as much forethought, but it is nevertheless an opulent affair. Tiffany Haddish wore a red and black sequined gown and Natasha Lyonne was in a black Area dress with a bedazzled oyster bodice. The storied masquerade party and annual gala dinner raises money to preserve the artworks of the flood-threatened Italian city. The event raised $1.2 million and transformed the Plaza into an arms-in-the-air dance party with the D.J.

☆ Universal Music reiterates AI concerns as quarterly profit slumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Universal Music Group (UMG.AS), the label representing Drake and Taylor Swift, on Wednesday posted a slump in first-quarter core profit due to compensation expenses, and reiterated concerns over AI-made music. Core profit, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), slumped 43.4% in constant currency to 261 million euros ($288.04 million), due to non-cash, share-based compensation expenses, part of an equity compensation plan announced last year. Excluding these expenses, adjusted EBITDA was 522 million euros, up 13.0% on the same basis, and beating a consensus cited by Credit Suisse which had expected 513 million euros. UMG's CEO, Lucian Grainge, has come under shareholder pressure over an "excessive" $100 million pay deal, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Labels now face challenges like slowing global revenue growth in recorded music, particularly in established markets like the U.S, while the emergence of AI-generated music adds to their concerns, as many laws do not currently deem the replication of artists' voices as strictly illegal.

☆ Universal Music profit slumps due to compensation expenses
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Universal Music Group (UMG.AS), the label representing Drake and Taylor Swift, on Wednesday posted a significant drop in core profit due to compensation expenses, even as sales edged up in the first quarter. Core profit (EBITDA) for the first quarter fell 43.4% at constant currency to 261 million euros ($288.07 million), with the metric's margin also dropping to 10.6% from 20.6% in the same quarter a year earlier. The drop was due to non-cash, share-based compensation expenses of 261 million euros during the quarter, part of a global equity compensation plan announced in the fourth quarter of last year, UMG said. UMG's CEO Lucian Grainge has come under shareholder pressure over an "excessive" $100 million pay deal, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The group nonetheless posted higher first quarter sales, helped by growth in recorded music and music publishing.

☆ Safran posts strong sales but sees supply chain risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The (pandemic) demand crisis is well and truly behind us," Chief Executive Olivier Andries said after reporting first-quarter revenues that rose 24.7% on an underlying basis to 5.266 billion euros ($5.78 billion). Safran's core propulsion revenues rose by 34.9%, on an organic basis, to 2.714 billion euros. Safran reaffirmed its 2023 full-year forecasts for revenues of at least 23 billion euros, recurring operating income around 3 billion euros and free cashflow of at least 2.5 billion. But the engine maker said the main risk factor remained supply chains, led by shortages of materials and labour. Andries said all metals were on the company's watch list for possible supply disruptions, notably steel.

☆ French company Safran keeps 2023 outlook as Q1 sales rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, April 26 (Reuters) - France's Safran (SAF.PA) kept its 2023 financial outlook unchanged as it reported sharp growth in quarterly revenues, buoyed by a swift recovery in air traffic demand. Safran, which provides engines for Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA) narrow-body jets through its CFM International joint venture with General Electric (GE.N), said first-quarter revenues rose 24.7% on an organic basis to 5.266 billion euros ($5.78 billion). Core propulsion revenues rose by 34.9%, on an organic basis, to 2.714 billion euros, the company said on Wednesday. Safran reaffirmed its 2023 full-year financial outlook, namely for revenues of at least 23 billion euros, recurring operating income of around 3 billion euros and a free cash flow of at least 2.5 billion euros. The engine industry and other parts of the aerospace supply chain have, however, been hit by labour and parts shortages.

☆ Iran diplomat jailed in Belgium to be freed in swap - Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, April 26 (Reuters) - An Iranian diplomat jailed for 20 years in Belgium will soon be released in a prisoner swap, Iran's judiciary spokesperson said on Wednesday. "Belgium has requested an exchange and so have we for our diplomat Asadollah Assadi. In March, Belgium's Constitutional Court upheld a prisoner exchange treaty with Iran that could lead to Assadi being swapped for a jailed Belgian aid worker. Last week, Belgium submitted a request to Iran that the jailed aid worker, Olivier Vandecasteele, be sent back to his country in accordance with the prisoner transfer treaty. Assadi was jailed for 20-years in 2021 over a 2018 foiled bomb plot targeting an Iranian opposition group in Paris.

☆ Credit Suisse mess leaves scattered Swiss debris
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

ZURICH, April 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Swiss government intervention to save Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) from collapse last month may have avoided a financial market storm. SWISS “TRINITY” QUESTIONThe rescue of Credit Suisse has other consequences. The Swiss Bankers Association has called for an independent inquiry, and lawmakers gave a symbolic thumbs-down to the rescue of Credit Suisse on April 12. A Senate Finance Committee report found last month Credit Suisse had violated a 2014 deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities by continuing to help rich Americans dodge taxes. Switzerland’s parliament on April 12 rejected a Credit Suisse rescue package that included 109 billion Swiss francs in financial guarantees.

Saatcioglu, the coordinator of Limak International Hotels & Resorts, is one of many in hospitality expecting to see Turkey's economically vital tourism sector recover from a quake that dragged down bookings and hotel stays. The quake has caused tourists to think twice before booking a trip to Turkey, a major Mediterranean holiday destination. "After months of excellent performance, when the country was leading the travel recovery in Europe (after the COVID pandemic), international tourism to Turkey is clearly taking a nosedive," he told Reuters. Despite strong bookings recently across the travel sector in Europe as a whole, Turkey has not been able to regain momentum. On the back of these auspicious March figures, the Turkish government expects to generate $56 billion in tourism revenues this year.

☆ Dame Edna Everage creator Barry Humphries dies aged 89 in Sydney
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Australian comedian Barry Humphries died aged 89 after suffering complications from hip surgery. Humphries was best known for his outrageous character Dame Edna Everage. Australian PM Anthony Albanese said he was "a great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind." The Australian actor and comedian was best known for his Melbourne housewife character, Dame Edna Everage, which he debuted in 1955. Dame Edna was well known for appearing on as well as hosting television chat shows, often reducing other guests to tears of laughter.

☆ French trade minister: Attracting investment into country despite pension protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | 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 EmailFrench trade minister: Attracting investment into country despite pension protestsFrance's Trade Minister Olivier Becht exclusively tells CNBC the country remains an attractive investment destination, despite continued demonstrations after the government forced through its controversial pension reform.

☆ Economists and policymakers were fretting about a wage-price spiral. Not any more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The experts were worried about a so-called wage-price spiral. Businesses' revenues "have risen faster than costs, and so margins have room to absorb rising labor costs." "It's not that a wage-price spiral couldn't happen, but it's low on the list of concerns versus the factors we know are problematic," she said. A key mechanism that would fuel a wage-price spiral, workers' bargaining power, has been weakened because unions have less power than in the 1970s, Makszin added. "But if you let interest rates go down against inflation and in effect weaken, you have an inflation spiral.

☆ French trade minister: Relaunching relationship with UK amid Inflation Reduction Act, concerns with China
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | 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 EmailFrench trade minister: Relaunching relationship with UK amid Inflation Reduction Act, concerns with ChinaFrench Trade Minister Olivier Becht tells CNBC relations are improving between France and the U.K., hailing increased cooperation on economic and geopolitical issues, and weighs in on the country's relationship with China.

Charles de Gaulle airport is negatively affected, both as a destination and as a hub," said Olivier Ponti, VP of Insights at travel data firm ForwardKeys. Some 33,300 flights were cancelled this year over Easter, compared with 7,800 last year, while 9,000 flights were delayed by more than three hours, compared to 6,800 last year. Around 73% of flights were on time, compared with 76% in 2022 and 81% in 2019. There were 33,700 flights cancelled, compared with 26,600 last year, while 10,800 flights, which made up 1% of all total flights, were delayed by more than three hours, up from 9,500 last year. Air traffic authority Eurocontrol previously warned that delays could continue into the northern hemisphere summer, especially if strikes keep going.

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