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I love writing about personal finance, but personal responsibility isn't the be-all and end-all. How disability shapes my family's finances »Demographic disparities persist through educationLike all areas of education, financial education suffers from disparities in school funding, which exacerbate racial inequality. As one instructor told the USBE auditors, "Financial literacy is critical to the financial wellbeing of our country. Financial education is under-resourced and undersupportedThe problems with financial education aren't surprising, given the lack of attention the subject receives from decision-makers. I'm glad I ignored mainstream financial advice »Financial literacy needs to include our history of inequalityPersonal finance media, gurus, and educators love to tout financial literacy as the missing puzzle piece to the American dream.

☆ Switzerland shuts embassy in Sudan for security reasons
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 24 (Reuters) - Switzerland has closed its embassy in Khartoum and evacuated staff and their families over the security situation in Sudan, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Twitter. "Our staff and their families have been evacuated and are safe," Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis tweeted late on Sunday. The Foreign Ministry said seven embassy staff and five accompanying people had been evacuated. Work was continuing to help Swiss nationals stuck in Sudan. The Swiss foreign ministry on Friday there were about 100 Swiss nationals registered in Sudan while others are thought to be visiting the Red Sea area as tourists.

☆ 'Lilo & Stitch' live-action remake raises concerns about colorism
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Harmeet Kaur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Disney’s animated hit “Lilo & Stitch” is getting the live-action treatment, but a reported casting decision has set off a new conversation about colorism in Hollywood. Why some feel Nani’s skin color is relevantThe new “Lilo & Stitch” is based on an animated film and Nani is a fictional, animated character. But unlike “The Little Mermaid,” which is rooted in mythology despite receiving racist backlash over Halle Bailey’s casting in the live-action remake, “Lilo & Stitch” draws from a very real culture and people. The live-action “Lilo & Stitch” is only the latest in a long line of projects that have faced accusations of colorism. Though Connor is disappointed, she hopes the “Lilo & Stitch” remake will otherwise stay true to the original, which she loved so much growing up.

☆ Susan Stroman Tells Stories Through Music
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Emily Bobrow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The pandemic hit Susan Stroman hard. The five-time Tony award-winning director and choreographer got seriously ill with Covid-19 days after New York’s theaters shut down in 2020. She then spent 70 days alone in her Manhattan apartment, too sick and then too afraid to leave. “Somehow the pandemic fueled us to work harder,” Ms. Stroman, 68, says. Because the show takes place in 1946, when New Yorkers were feeling newly hopeful after years of war, the timing felt profound.

☆ Germany appoints commission to re-appraise 1972 Munich Olympics attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 21 (Reuters) - Germany has appointed an eight-person commission to re-appraise the attack on Israeli athletes and team members at the 1972 Munich Olympics to answer unresolved questions, said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in a statement on Friday. "For too many years, there was a lack of understanding or reappraisal of the events, transparency about them or acceptance of responsibility for them," she said. Palestinians from the Black September militant group took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage on Sept. 5, 1972. Eleven Israelis, a German policeman and five of the Palestinian gunmen died after a stand-off at the Olympic village and the nearby Fuerstenfeldbruck airfield. ($1 = 0.9131 euros)Writing by Miranda Murray; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany: decisions on Patriots in Slovakia, Poland to be discussed with allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 21 (Reuters) - Germany's Defence Ministry said any decisions on its deployment of Patriot air-defence systems to Poland and Slovakia will be discussed with allies in Europe, after a report said Berlin planned to end the deployment by the end of the year. The planned end to the deployment was reported by the Funke media report, citing a defence ministry spokesperson. "The statements on deployment plans of our Patriot squadrons in Poland and Slovakia referred to original plans," the ministry later said in a statement. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius will discuss and coordinate the matter with partners at Friday's meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Ramstein, it added. Germany has also delivered a Patriot system to Ukraine to support the country in the war against Russia.

☆ Holcim shrugs off interest rate fears to raise guidance
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( John Revill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Other countries such as Britain have also seen downturns this year, as higher interest rates weigh on building projects. But Holcim was undeterred, raising its outlook after what it called a strong start to the year. Holcim's first-quarter sales fell to 5.73 billion Swiss francs ($6.41 billion) from 6.44 billion, but beating the 5.66 billion forecast by analysts in a consensus of estimates. Recurring operating profit fell to 493 million francs, but topped the 464 million which analysts had forecast. On a like-for-like basis, which cuts out the impact of divestments and currency swings, sales rose 8% and recurring operating profit increased by 12%.

☆ Exclusive: German govt to slightly raise 2023 GDP forecast - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Holger Hansen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - The German government is set to slightly raise its economic growth forecast for this year to 0.4% from its previously predicted 0.2%, two sources told Reuters on Thursday. For 2024, the government will slightly lower its prediction, to 1.6% from the 1.8% foreseen in January, the sources said. An Economy Ministry spokesperson did not comment and said Economy Minister Robert Habeck would present the spring economic projections next Wednesday. With the new projections, the government is slightly more optimistic than the five economic institutes that prepare the Joint Economic Forecasts, which foresee 2023 economic growth of 0.3%. In the Joint Economic Forecasts, which are incorporated into the ministry's forecasts, the institutes predict inflation of 6.0% in 2023, before slowing to 2.4% in 2024.

☆ Deutsche Bank plans to cut jobs, shrink board
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The headquarters of Germany's Deutsche Bank are pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, September 21, 2020. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File PhotoBERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) plans to reduce its executive board to nine members from 10 and to cut some jobs in infrastructure and in its private banking business to save costs, a source close to the bank told Reuters on Thursday. Germany's largest bank, which is due to present first-quarter results on April 27, declined to comment on the plans. Deutsche Chief Executive Christian Sewing said in February that he could not rule out job cuts. The bank completed its transformation phase at the end of 2022 with an improved cost-to-income ratio, but Sewing still needs to reduce costs.

☆ Volkswagen: US-made ID.4 models eligible for full tax credit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) U.S.-assembled ID.4 models will be eligible for a $7,500 tax credit this year, according to the German carmaker, after new U.S. Treasury requirements on battery sourcing came into effect this week. Volkswagen added that it was the only international carmaker to have a full battery-electric vehicle eligible for the full credit. The US Treasury said on Monday that numerous automakers including VW did not qualify for the credit, but the German carmaker said at the time it was optimistic the documentation it had submitted to prove the ID.4's eligibility would be approved. Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Friederike HeineOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Pink Door Is Deemed Too Bright for Edinburgh
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Miranda Dickson returned to Edinburgh in 2021 after several years abroad, she began renovating a three-story Georgian townhouse in the Scottish city’s New Town district. Ms. Dickson painted the front door pink. In early 2022, the new paint job was brought to the attention of the City of Edinburgh Council, which asked her to repaint the door white. Ms. Dickson was issued an enforcement notice ordering her to “remove the unauthorized bright pink paint” from the door and “to restore the previous colour scheme.” Failure to comply, it said, could lead to a fine of up to 20,000 pounds, or nearly $25,000. Finally, having exhausted her appeals, Ms. Dickson relented and repainted the door this week, ahead of the Thursday deadline she said that the city had given her.

☆ Swiss government reiterates financial commitment to Credit Suisse deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A view shows the logo of Credit Suisse on a building near the Hallenstadion where Credit Suisse Annual General Meeting took place, two weeks after being bought by rival UBS in a government-brokered rescue, in Zurich, Switzerland, April 4, 2023. REUTERS/Pierre AlbouyBERLIN, April 19 (Reuters) - The Swiss government said commitments to the Swiss National Bank and UBS to ease the takeover of Credit Suisse will not be affected by parliament's rejection of 109 billion Swiss francs ($121 billion) in emergency credits and guarantees. Switzerland's tradition of consensus politics has taken a battering after the government used an emergency law to push through a state-backed takeover of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) by UBS (UBSG.S), side-lining parliament. "On the one hand, this applies to the negotiations with UBS on the guarantee contract," it said, adding: "But only to the extent that this does not jeopardise the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS". ($1 = 0.8998 Swiss francs)Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Friederike HeineOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Three German airports empty as transport strikes begin
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - Airports in Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Cologne Bonn were virtually empty on Thursday in the first of another round of strikes called by Germany's Verdi trade union over the cost of living crisis. Nearly 100,000 people will be affected by aviation security worker strikes on Thursday and Friday at the three airports, airport association ADV said, with around 700 departing flights to be cancelled. "The situation in the terminals today is the same as previous Verdi strikes this year: departure terminals are empty, the situation is calm," a Hamburg airport spokesperson said in a statement. Germany's EVG union has also called for a nationwide transport strike on Friday, with national rail operator Deutsche Bahn among the companies impacted. The strike will affect 50 companies and run from 3 a.m. until 11 a.m. (0100 GMT-0900 GMT), with significant disruption expected, the railway and transport union said.

☆ Finding Love in a Fake World
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Julia May Jonas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A lightly varied collection of conventionally attractive heterosexual humans compete to marry a single conventionally attractive human of the opposite sex. Argy’s heroine did not submit an application for the reality TV show “The One,” the novel’s stand-in for the “Bachelor” franchise. Instead, she was plucked off the streets by Miranda, a producer who has devoted her adulthood to working her way up the ranks. Each producer is responsible for a group of girls on “The One,” and the more prominently their girls feature, the more the producer is rewarded. The win will provide Miranda with job security, remuneration and confirmation of her own excellence.

☆ Freyr Battery teams up with Siemens on gigafactories
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 17 (Reuters) - Luxembourg-based Freyr Battery (7XN.F) sealed its partnership with Siemens (SIEGn.DE) at the Hannover Messe conference on Monday, making the German technology company its preferred supplier in automation and digitalization technology. Freyr plans to equip its planned gigafactories in Norway and the United States with Siemens technology, and the two companies will join forces along the entire battery design and manufacturing process, the firms said in a statement. "This relationship is much broader than the usual customer-supplier relationship and is strategic in nature," Freyr chief executive Tom Einar Jensen told Reuters. Instead of the conventional 18 production steps, Freyr wants to make do with eight, he said, adding: "With Siemens, we can ramp up production faster and better, and with a much lower reject rate. Reporting by Alexander Huebner, writing by Miranda Murray, editing by Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Spree of Country Music Divorce Albums
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In February, Kelsea Ballerini released a surprise EP, “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat,” a set of songs inspired by her recent divorce from another country singer, Morgan Evans. It was her freshest recent work, thematically and musically, and also a reminder that for the past few years, several female country singers have found freedom in divorce-inspired music. In 2021, Carly Pearce put out “29,” an EP, and later “29: Written in Stone,” a full-length project, inspired by her divorce from the singer Michael Ray. That same year, Kacey Musgraves released “Star-Crossed,” which followed her split from the singer Ruston Kelly. (Men have traveled this path as well — Kelly has just released an album of his own, and in 2016, both Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert reacted to their divorce with new albums.)

☆ German economy expected to skirt recession - economy ministry report
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, April 14 (Reuters) - Germany is expected to narrowly escape recession and post modest growth in the first quarter of the year, according to an economy ministry report published on Friday. "A technical recession of two negative quarters in a row appears to have been averted," the ministry said. "Consumer sentiment is expected to continue its recovery in the coming months, although inflation-related losses in purchasing power continue to weigh on the economy," the report said. Inflation rates are expected to continue to ease in the coming months, although remaining at a high level. The economy ministry sees risks to its economic outlook, such as weak private consumption, a deterioration of conditions in construction, recent problems in financial institutions and geopolitical uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine.

☆ 10 ways Tasers and stun guns can damage your body and brain, from twisted testicles to temporary memory loss
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Kelly Burch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Tasers, AKA stun guns, cause your muscles to seize up, which can make them sore for days after. Police and law enforcement have been using Tasers, known generally as stun guns, since 1974 as a safer alternative to guns. Put another way, all Tasers are stun guns, but not all stun guns are Tasers. Stun guns make your muscles seize up like a Charley horseA police officer's painful reaction to being tasered during a training course on stun guns. Rarely, stun guns can severely harm kidney functionVery rarely, stun guns can cause a serious condition called rhabdomyolysis, AKA rhabdo, which can be fatal.

☆ MLB roundup: Rays beat A's to stay undefeated
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Stroman has allowed two runs and 17 hits over 32 innings while winning each of his last five home starts. Ji Hwan Bae, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Connor Joe each had an RBI double, and Oneil Cruz and Jason Delay hit RBI singles for the Pirates. Pittsburgh starter Rich Hill allowed seven runs and eight hits in four innings. Alex Cobb (0-1) was the hard-luck loser for the Giants after holding the Royals to two runs on seven hits in seven innings. Kershaw (1-1) took the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits in six innings.

☆ German business group wants Berlin to offer more protection in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, April 7 (Reuters) - German companies active in eastern European have called on the government in Berlin to take on more risk and provide increased security for business in Ukraine, particularly for transport. "The federal government has to take on more risk than usual," Harms said, and it "shouldn't relieve companies of business risk but should help with creative instruments." The association's demand follows German Economy Minister Robert Habeck's promise during a visit to Kyiv this week to provide German companies investment guarantees in Ukraine as part of reconstruction efforts. "Company representatives say that these investment guarantees are necessary in order to get investment decisions through the board of directors," said Harms, who travelled with Habeck to Kyiv. More than 20 applications for such investment guarantees are in the pipeline, ministry sources said.

Uwe Oppitz of Rhenus Ports, who speaks for Energy Hub Port Wilhelmshaven, said that Wintershall Dea (WINT.UL) (BASFn.DE), Uniper (UN01.DE) and Tree Energy Solutions (TES) plan to spend a total of more than 5 billion euros at Wilhelmshaven. Energy Hub Port Wilhelmshaven comprises 30 companies, which include E.ON (EONGn.DE), RWE (RWEG.DE) and Orsted (ORSTED.CO), as well as Wilhelmshaven's home state of Lower Saxony. "Wintershall Dea plans to invest around 1 billion euros in the Wilhelmshaven site together with its partners," it said. And steelmaker Salzgitter (SZGG.DE) has already struck a deal with Uniper to receive green hydrogen for its steel mill processes, replacing essential fossil-fuel produced hydrogen. "We don't want to push green hydrogen to the side.

☆ Switzerland cuts bonus payouts for top Credit Suisse management
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, April 5 (Reuters) - Switzerland has instructed Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) to cancel or reduce all outstanding bonus payments for the top three levels of management and examine whether those already paid can be recovered, the Federal Council said on Wednesday. Under Swiss banking law, the Federal Council can impose bonus-related measures on a systemically important bank if it received state aid from federal funds, according to a statement. Bonus payments up to the end of 2022 will be cancelled for the Executive Board, and then halved for management one level below the board and reduced by 25% for those two levels below. The 2022 bonus pool for the Swiss bank's close to 50,000 employees had already gone down to 635 million Swiss francs from 2.76 billion, because of the drop in the bank's share price. At Credit Suisse's final annual general meeting held on Tuesday, shareholders took to the stage to voice their opposition to the pay Credit Suisse executives and board of directors received in the lead up to its demise.

REUTERS/Tom KaeckenhoffLEVERKUSEN, Germany, April 5 (Reuters) - Incoming Bayer (BAYGn.DE) chief executive Bill Anderson says he is keeping an open mind on whether to break up the company into smaller pieces, as some fidgety investors want. "That's why I said I am going to have an open mind," he said. On the stock market Bayer, once the most valuable company on Germany's DAX blue-chip index, is now worth only about the same as it paid for Monsanto. At Bayer, he said he did not have his own desk and made use of the company's meeting rooms as needed. Professing a love of American football, hiking and snowboarding, he was also effusive about Bayer as a company and its heritage of medicines such as Aspirin.

FRANKFURT, April 5 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) may pick June to list its hydrogen business Nucera, provided equity markets are robust, three people familiar with the matter said, in what could be a multi-billion euro initial public offering. Plans to list Nucera, a 66%-34% joint venture between Thyssenkrupp and Italy's De Nora (DNR.MI), were put on the backburner last year due to unfavourable market conditions following the war in Ukraine and subsequent energy crisis. Nucera makes the electrolysers that are needed to produce green hydrogen - a sector that is currently benefiting from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and European Union initiatives to support the green energy transition. Thyssenkrupp Chief Executive Martina Merz, under pressure to deliver on her pledge to turn the sprawling conglomerate into a leaner and more focused holding, said last month that the group would make a new effort to list Nucera, without elaborating. When plans for a listing of the business were first communicated in 2021, analysts valued Nucera at between 3 billion and 6 billion euros.

☆ Germany starts fine proceedings against Twitter over user complaints
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 4 (Reuters) - Germany's federal office of justice has started proceedings to fine Twitter (TWTR.MX), accusing the social media company of mishandling user complaints over "illegal" content, a statement said on Tuesday. Several instances of content published on Twitter were reported to the office, "which the authority considers illegal and, despite user complaints, was not deleted or blocked by the provider within the legally stipulated periods," the statement said. The German authority did not specify which examples of illegal content it was referring to, or the size of a possible fine. In December, a senior German official called for the company to be put under direct supervision of the European Commission. Reporting by Rachel More; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Friederike Heine and Miranda MurrayOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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