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☆ Rail strike potential grows, threatening to worsen supply chain backlogs, inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Eli M. Rosenberg | Eli Rosenberg Is An Investigative Tech Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

That’s how much paid sick leave some freight rail workers are demanding from the rail companies before they sign new contracts. Rail workers say years of grievances about workforce cuts, coupled with new scheduling requirements, have pushed them to the brink of exhaustion. But if any of the unions decides to strike, all rail unions will honor the work stoppage. Kennedy said the union had never agreed to higher wages at the expense of a benefit like paid sick leave. “A rail strike, even one of short duration, would be catastrophic,” said John Drake, a vice president at the Chamber of Commerce.

☆ Russia Agrees to Renew Ukraine Grain Deal, U.N. Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( William Mauldin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The agreement allowed Ukraine to resume shipping grain through three Black Sea ports after a monthslong blockade. Moscow agreed to renew an arrangement with Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations that allows for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products through the war-torn Black Sea region, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said. “I welcome the agreement by all parties to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” Mr. Guterres said in a statement.

☆ Iran’s Shopkeepers Strike in Support of Protest Movement
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iranian shopkeepers across the country closed their stores and went on a planned three-day strike starting Tuesday in solidarity with a monthslong protest movement demanding the ouster of the clerical leadership. The strikes this week are also meant to mark the three-year anniversary of a violent crackdown on protesters in 2019, the last time Iranians seriously challenged the ruling establishment.

☆ Biogen Names Christopher Viehbacher New CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Joseph Walker | Colin Kellaher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Biogen Inc. named veteran pharmaceutical executive Christopher Viehbacher president and chief executive on Thursday, capping a monthslong search for a new leader after the failed launch of its once-promising Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm. Mr. Viehbacher, who will also join the board, succeeds Michel Vounatsos , who has led Biogen since 2017 and in May said he would resign.

Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Andy Jassy is leading a cost-cutting review of the tech giant and paring back on businesses at the company that haven’t been profitable, according to people familiar with the matter. As part of the monthslong cost-cutting review, Amazon’s leadership is closely evaluating its Alexa business, according to some of the people. The business has more than 10,000 employees and is a major recipient of investment capital, some of the people said. Internal documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal show that in some recent years Amazon’s devices unit, which includes Alexa, had an operating loss of more than $5 billion a year.

☆ New missions in the high north are taking US and British aircraft carriers closer to a frigid frontline with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Throughout the war in Ukraine, US destroyers have continued "operating with allies and partners in the high north to put pressure on Russia, to make sure that they know that we're there with capable platforms," Gilday added. The British Royal Navy followed suit this spring, sending HMS Prince of Wales into the Arctic for seven weeks — the first Arctic deployment for the UK's new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers. By sending the carrier that far north, the Royal Navy sought "to push the boundaries of UK carrier operations in the cold, harsh environment," the ship's commanding officer said. British Royal NavyHMS Prince of Wales' deployment reflects the British navy's increasing investment in Arctic operations. In 2020, the British navy "recommenced" routine operations in the Arctic, according to the UK's updated Arctic strategy, released in March.

☆ Iran’s President Slams Biden for Supporting Protest Movement
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Aresu Eqbali | Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday criticized President Biden for backing a monthslong rights movement that has engulfed the country, as he addressed a pro-regime rally to mark the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Iran holds state-sponsored rallies every year to commemorate the day when radical students stormed the embassy after the fall of the Shah, who was backed by the U.S., holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The two countries have had no diplomatic ties since then.

☆ Iran Unrest Grows as Mourners Mark Deaths of Protest Victims
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Aresu Eqbali | Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Several mourning ceremonies for Iranians who died in recent protests snowballed into large demonstrations on Thursday, adding fresh momentum to a monthslong antigovernment movement that has swept across the Islamic Republic. Security forces have responded with lethal force against the protests, which were ignited by the death on Sept. 16 of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police, who had detained her for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code. More than 200 people have died since the protests began and hundreds more injured, rights groups say.

☆ Iran’s Supreme Leader Strikes Conciliatory Tone With Protesters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( David S. Cloud | Aresu Eqbali | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pictured last month in Tehran, accused foreign powers of conducting a form of unconventional warfare against the country. Iran’s Supreme Leader took a conciliatory stance toward protesters on Wednesday, saying the government had no dispute with young people on the streets, as he sharpened his assertion that the U.S. and other foreign powers were orchestrating the monthslong unrest. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei provided no evidence for his claim of foreign involvement, but he accused the U.S. and others of conducting a form of unconventional warfare against Iran, an escalation in Tehran’s rhetoric as sit-ins and other protests continued in multiple cities.

☆ Elon Musk Buys Twitter: A Timeline of the $44 Billion Battle
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

10/28/2022 5:30AMElon Musk has purchased Twitter, ending a monthslong saga over whether or not he would go through with his offer to acquire the social media platform. WSJ takes an inside look at the tweets, texts and filings to see exactly how the battle played out. Illustration: Jordan Kranse

☆ Dogecoin surges 35% as Elon Musk's Twitter deal approaches close
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Tesla CEO Elon Musk photographed in Austin, Texas, on April 7, 2022. Suzanne Cordeiro | AFP | Getty ImagesDogecoin , the cryptocurrency branded after a viral dog meme from 2013, is up 35% since Monday as Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter approaches a close. Host Elon Musk during the monologue on Saturday, May 8, 2021. Will Heath | NBCUniversalThe Elon Musk effectIt isn't totally clear when or why dogecoin captured the heart of Elon Musk. Dogecoin isn't really a reliable store of wealth either, given that this typically requires a certain degree of long-term faith in the coin and the blockchain upon which it's been built.

☆ Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | Photographs Devin Oktar Yalkin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +53 min

Beyond Catastrophe A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View By David Wallace-WellsYou can never really see the future, only imagine it, then try to make sense of the new world when it arrives. (A United Nations report released this week ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, confirmed that range.) A little lower is possible, with much more concerted action; a little higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. There were climate-change skeptics in some very conspicuous positions of global power. New emissions peaks are expected both this year and next, which means that more damage is being done to the future climate of the planet right now than at any previous point in history.

☆ Elon Musk Could Buy Twitter This Week. Here’s What to Know Ahead of a Key Deadline.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Alexa Corse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tesla CEO Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter in April, then later moved to get out of the deal, triggering litigation. The monthslong saga over Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter could come to a close this week with a deadline looming for the parties to complete the $44 billion takeover. Mr. Musk’s on-and-off pursuit of Twitter has taken different turns in recent months. Here’s what you need to know as the deal by the Tesla chief executive may be reaching the finish line.

☆ Scott Peterson moved off California’s death row
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Scott Peterson has been moved off death row more than two years after the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence for killing his pregnant wife two decades ago, corrections officials said Monday. Peterson was moved last week from San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco to Mule Creek State Prison east of Sacramento. A new mug shot taken Friday shows Peterson, 50, with salt-and-pepper stubble compared to his previous clean-shaven look. Jurors imposed the death penalty after convicting Peterson of the first-degree murder of Laci Peterson, 27, and second-degree murder of the unborn son they were going to name Conner, dumping them into San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002. Peterson was mainly kept at San Quentin during that monthslong hearing process in part so he would have better access to his attorneys.

☆ Corporate economists say recession odds are greater than 50-50
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Minneapolis CNN Business —Almost two-thirds of corporate economists believe the United States is already in a recession or will be within the next 12 months, according to the latest survey from the National Association for Business Economics. The survey also showed that sales growth is slowing, wages are rising and capital spending is dropping. The Federal Reserve has stepped up its efforts to tamp down high prices via a series of blockbuster interest rate hikes. A total of 9% of respondents indicated prices were falling, the largest share reported since January 2021. Shortages of raw materials and labor continue to hinder businesses’ operations, according to the survey.

☆ The US Coast Guard's biggest ship made a rare trip to the North Pole amid warnings about Russian and Chinese moves in the Arctic
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

US Coast Guard icebreaker Healy made a rare trip to the North Pole at the end of September. Healy is one of only two icebreakers operated by the Coast Guard, and both of them are aging. Kenneth Boda, said in a release, calling it a "rare opportunity" and "a highlight of our Coast Guard careers." "This includes expanding the US Coast Guard icebreaker fleet to support persistent presence in the US Arctic and additional presence as needed in the European Arctic," the document adds. (The icebreaker Polar Sea, built alongside Polar Star, has been nonoperational since 2010 and is used for spare parts.)

☆ The US never banned asbestos. These workers are paying the price.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Kathleen Mcgrory | Neil Bedi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +39 min

But protocols failed to match reality at the Niagara Falls plant, according to more than a dozen workers. In addition to those signature diseases, which are rare even among asbestos workers, the tiny strands can harm the body in other ways. In the 15 years that followed, congressional attempts to ban asbestos would continue to fall short. OSHA declined to make an official available for an on-the-record interview or comment on ProPublica's findings at the Niagara Falls plant. At the OxyChem plant in Wichita, union president Keith Peacock said he was comfortable with the way asbestos was handled.

☆ Spirit Airlines Investors Sign Off on JetBlue Merger
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Spirit Airlines shareholders voted to approve the airline’s merger with JetBlue Airways at a meeting Wednesday, a step toward creating the fifth-largest U.S. airline following a monthslong battle over the budget carrier. Spirit agreed in July to sell itself to JetBlue in a $3.8 billion deal that the airlines have said would reshape the industry and help fulfill JetBlue’s long-held growth ambitions. But the deal is likely to face scrutiny from antitrust authorities who have been pushing back on corporate mergers.

☆ Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz spared death penalty. Victims' families might be better off.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Emilia Benton | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Though many were shocked he didn’t receive the death penalty, and many victims’ family members were visibly upset by the decision, it’s wrong to assume this would have automatically brought them solace. The lengthy proceedings stirred up decades-old memories of waiting to find out whether my own mother’s murderer would receive the death penalty. It’s the prime example people use when they’re surprised to learn I’m not fervently in favor of the death penalty. Sometimes family members of victims do have clear-cut feelings that the death penalty is needed. It’s time for everyone in this country, from lawmakers to the general public, to prioritize the effect of the death penalty on a victim’s survivors over their own political ideologies.

☆ Elizabeth Holmes’s Ex-Colleague Disputes Account in Her Bid for New Trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Meghan Bobrowsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elizabeth Holmes, center, is asking for a new trial after she was convicted in January on four counts of fraud. Lawyers for Adam Rosendorff, the former Theranos Inc. lab director who testified against founder Elizabeth Holmes in her criminal-fraud trial, asked a judge Wednesday to reject a subpoena from Ms. Holmes as she seeks a new trial. Dr. Rosendorff emerged as a central witness for the prosecution in a monthslong trial of Ms. Holmes, who was convicted in January on four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy for misleading investors about the blood-testing startup’s technology.

☆ Digital World Acquisition Corp prepares merger-delay vote as Trump Media exec warns company will fail
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Jack Stebbins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The former US President announced his intention to create a new social media platform after he was banned from Facebook and Twitter last year. The company is also dealing with the fallout from a Trump Media executive's whistleblower complaint to federal regulators. A senior vice president at Trump Media, William Wilkerson, filed a whistleblower complaint alleging securities violations in August. Trump Media recently announced that the company was exploring legal action against the SEC for delaying the deal. "If they don't come with the financing I'll have it private," Trump said to supporters in an early-October rally in Michigan.

☆ Pennsylvania school district created culture of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, complaint alleges
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a federal complaint Thursday alleging one of the largest school districts in the state has created a widespread culture of discrimination toward LGBTQ students, particularly those who are transgender and nonbinary. The lawyers interviewed dozens of LGBTQ students and their parents, as well as current and former teachers and staff. The bullying forced some of them to miss school, and in 2019, a former transgender student attempted suicide, according to the complaint. Serving more than 18,000 students, Central Bucks drew national attention in 2021 as debates over pandemic policies gave way to larger culture-war clashes in the community. Amid a surge in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy in school boards across the country, Walczak said, the alleged circumstances at Central Bucks are not an isolated situation.

☆ Unemployment rate falls to 3.5% in September, payrolls rise by 263,000 as job market stays strong
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The unemployment rate was 3.5% versus the forecast of 3.7% as the labor force participation rate edged lower to 62.3% and the size of the labor force decreased by 57,000. "Obviously, the market is not happy, but the market is not happy in general these days." "This puts the nail in the coffin for another 75 [basis point rate increase] in November," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Hiring at the state and local level is highly seasonal, so the decline points to a report that otherwise was largely in line with expectations and shows a resilient jobs market.

☆ Hiking rates too quickly could trigger a ‘prolonged recession,’ IMF head warns
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“This is the size of the German economy — a massive setback for the world economy,” she said. Those will be lowered again when the IMF releases its latest World Economic Outlook report next week, Georgieva said. “In less than three years, we lived through shock, after shock, after shock,” the Bulgarian economist said. She urged policymakers to stay the course on fighting inflation but cautioned that tightening monetary policy too much could hurl the globe into a prolonged recessionary period. “Uncertainty remains extremely high in the context of war and pandemic.

The deal will move forward if the Delaware court currently hearing Twitter's lawsuit against Musk puts an immediate stop to the case, Musk said in his proposal to Twitter on Monday. Twitter said in a statement: "We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC. The proposal could end a monthslong saga between the two sides that included a lawsuit scheduled to be argued at trial in a Delaware court month. Unable to address the impasse, Twitter sued Musk in Delaware court — the primary U.S. venue for deciding corporate disputes — on July 12 to enforce the transaction. An additional complexity was added when a whistleblower came forward to accuse Twitter of security lapses — an accusation Musk subsequently sought to include in his evidence against the company.

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