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☆ Rome foot-dragging can help EU kick bad aid habits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Rebecca Christie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is trying to pry out 19 billion euros in EU pandemic aid. Economic conditions have changed a lot since it launched its 800 billion euro pandemic recovery plan in 2020. With 191.5 billion euros requested in grants and loans, it is in line to receive more EU pandemic aid money than any of its peers, and 67 billion euros has already changed hands. EU member states approved public borrowing of about 800 billion euros to fund the aid programme. Total commitments come to only about 508 billion euros, according to a dataset maintained by the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank.

☆ I took a 6-month 'sabbatical' after months of cheap living while traveling. The best thing about the digital-nomad lifestyle is having options.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

She worked for two years in a remote job, while living in Greece, Portugal, Germany, and Argentina. I quit my job with no planI quit my job in July 2019 with nothing lined up. I got a remote job as the head of marketing for a recruitment-tech startup. I had savings from working in my marketing job. I quit my remote job in August 2021 and left Madeira.

☆ L'Oreal buys luxury brand Aesop from Brazil's Natura for $2.5 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Aesop products sit on display for sale at their store on Abbott Kinney Blvd. French cosmetics group L'Oreal struck a deal with Brazil's Natura & Co to buy Aesop, its Australian luxury brand, at an enterprise value of $2.53 billion, both firms said on Monday. The deal expands L'Oreal's presence in the luxury cosmetics market, while marking a financial relief for the Brazilian firm, burdened by shrinking margins and heavy debt. "Aesop taps into all of today's ascending currents and L'Oreal will contribute to unleash its massive growth potential, notably in China and travel retail," L'Oreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said in a statement. For Natura, the deal adds to a broader organizational shakeup that saw former chief executive and executive chairman Roberto Marques step down in June last year, handing over the reins to Fabio Barbosa.

☆ I'm an Air Force mechanic. It's a very stressful job, but I love it — here are the best and worst parts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Paul Krantz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Raymond Pendergraph has served all over the world as an E6 technical sergeant in the US Air Force. My dad was in the military, so moving around and living on Air Force bases was part of my life growing up. My first duty station was at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. International assignments brought me to South Korea, Japan, and ItalyI spent a year working on Osan Air Base in South Korea. In the military, working hours really depend on your positionPeople working in administration or finance have pretty standard, set schedules.

☆ The digital media rollup dream is dead for the moment — now it's all about core brand strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

What's happening in the digital media space echoes trends from the biggest media companies, including Netflix , Disney and Warner Bros. The rollup dream's rise and fallFrom late 2018 to early 2022, the digital media industry had a shared goal. First, digital media companies needed more scale to compete with Facebook and Google for digital advertising dollars. Large legacy media companies such as Disney and Comcast 's NBCUniversal invested hundreds of millions in digital media in the early and mid-2010s. "The digital media rollup has proven successful only when assets are thoughtfully combined with an eye toward consumers," Goldberg said.

☆ Why some Silicon Valley CEOs don't blame SVB for its crash: 'I still fundamentally believe' nothing was 'wrong with the bank'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

SVB was a great partner to all the innovation that's happened in Silicon Valley," Varun Badhwar, CEO and co-founder of Palo Alto, California-based security software startup Endor Labs, tells CNBC Make It. "I still fundamentally believe there was nothing foundationally wrong with the bank." Before the crash, SVB counted nearly half of the country's venture-backed startups as clients, according to its website. CNBC Make It spoke with a group of startup bosses across a variety of industries, all of whom lost access to some, or all, of their company's money during the crash. But as investors' and other founders' attitudes changed throughout the afternoon, he decided to get the company's money out.

☆ Joe Tacopina risks being disqualified as Trump's defense lawyer because Stormy Daniels considered hiring him 5 years ago, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Depending on what Daniels told Tacopina, he could be disqualified in the case, experts say. Tacopina didn't end up taking on Daniels as a client. And the communications from Daniels didn't create a conflict of representation, according to Tacopina. Even if Tacopina didn't take on Daniels as a client, lawyers still have obligations to prospective clients, legal experts say. That appears to be the position of Daniels' attorney.

☆ The Friendship Behind a $5 Million Barkley L. Hendricks Painting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Kelly Crow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Art history doesn’t know much about the unlikely friendship between Stanley Whitney and Barkley L. Hendricks. The artists were born a year apart in 1940s Philadelphia and met as art students at Yale University in the 1970s. They were both overlooked by the art market for decades but are now enjoying a revival—first Mr. Hendricks for his stylish portraits of Black people that have sold at auction for as much as $4 million apiece, and more recently Mr. Whitney for his colorful, gridded abstracts that made a splash during the last Venice Biennale.

☆ This CEO halved her personal savings to meet payroll after SVB collapse: 'I don't really know yet what the repercussions will be'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Flex Co. CEO Lauren Schulte Wang and her husband took out half of their personal savings to fund employees' paychecks after SVB crashed. They withdrew half of the money in their personal savings account, and deposited it into a brand-new account set up last Friday. Wang and her husband are The Flex Company's co-founders, and serve as CEO and CFO, respectively. When Wang tried to transfer her company's money, which she says represented 100% of its liquid capital, the bank's website crashed. On Monday, the last of The Flex Company's 30,000-plus retail locations finally switched over to the new account.

☆ Chinese tourists are traveling again — but not the way they used to
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

That could mark a significant change in the international travel market, to which Chinese tourists are outsized contributors. In the first half of that year alone, their outbound travel spend surpassed $127.5 billion, a study from Chinese travel booking site Ctrip.com found. Chinese outbound travel is forecast to recover around two-thirds of its pre-pandemic levels in 2023. Leopatrizi | E+ | Getty ImagesBecause of those shortcomings, countries that can accommodate Chinese travelers' shifting needs have emerged as clear winners. Thailand, for instance, offers visas-on-arrival to fully vaccinated Chinese tourists who have travel insurance.

☆ Brendan Fraser wins best actor Oscar for ‘The Whale’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The film was adapted from Samuel Hunter's 2012 play of the same name. The role marked his return to the big screen as a leading man after a nine-year absence from major roles. The film drew criticism from some reviewers who said its depiction of Charlie relied on tropes of depressed, obese people. Some spoke out against its use of prosthetics rather than casting an obese actor. (Writing by Ben Kellerman; editing by Jonathan Oatis)((benjamin.kellerman@thomsonreuters.com))Keywords: AWARDS OSCARS/ACTOROur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Why is Georgia in turmoil over a "foreign agents" law?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Jake Cordell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

TBILISI, March 9 (Reuters) - Ruling lawmakers in the South Caucasus country of Georgia on Thursday scrapped plans to introduce what critics called a Russian-inspired "foreign agents" law after two days of intense street protests in the capital Tbilisi. Here is a guide to what's going on:WHAT IS THE PROPOSED 'FOREIGN AGENTS' LAW? - Swathes of Georgian civil society, including election monitors, corruption watchdogs and independent media outlets would have been covered by the law. - Rights groups say the "foreign agent" tag is a designed to make it easier for the government to discredit its opponents. - It says it is modelled on the U.S. 1938 "Foreign Agents Registration Act", which primarily covers lobbyists and organisations directly working for or under the control of foreign governments.

☆ Venice Biennale to honour British musician Brian Eno
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, March 8 (Reuters) - Brian Eno, the renowned British musician and visual artist who has worked with Talking Heads, U2 and David Bowie, will receive the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement from the Venice Biennale 2023, the organiser said on Wednesday. Eno, 74, who describes himself as a 'non-musician', came to prominence in the early 1970s as a founding member of the band Roxy Music. He is best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop and electronica. The music department of the Venice Biennale decided to honour Eno "for his research into the quality, beauty and diffusion of digital sound and for his conception of the acoustic space as a compositional instrument," the statement said. Eno will be given the award at a ceremony on Oct.22 as part of Biennale Musica 2023 in Venice.

☆ A woman who stopped using screens for a month said it helped her define 'what I really like,' but her husband found living without Instagram to be 'too much'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

They were challenged to live without using any screen, including smartphones and TVs, for a month. Paris-based Chiekh, 28, said he found not having access to Instagram to be "too much." During the experiment, Cheikh realized that he wouldn't be able see what his relatives and friends were doing without access to their Instagram posts and stories. A fortnight into the experiment, Yaaba told a producer: "All this time without screens helped me define what I really like, what drives me, and thrills me." At the end of the experiment, Cheikh vowed not to download Instagram again – but it wasn't clear whether he would be able to maintain his resolve.

☆ Video shows the moment dozens of frantic sharks in the middle of a feeding frenzy surrounded a fishing boat off the coast of Louisiana: 'Never seen anything like it'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A TikTok video showed a fishing boat off the coast of Louisiana surrounded by feasting sharks. One of the fisherman told Storyful he'd "never seen anything like it." The frantic sharks appeared to be eating a pod of small fish that could be seen in the water. At some points in the video, small fish can be seen frantically swimming below the surface in the midst of the sharks, which were even causing water to splash up onto the boat. Some of the sharks most commonly found along the coastlines include bull, thresher, hammerhead, nurse, and blacktip, among others.

Gondolas are docked along a canal with a low water level during a low tide in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. Some of Venice's smaller canals are running dry amid unusually low tides and a lack of rainfall, making it difficult for gondolas, water taxis and ambulance boats to navigate the Italian city. Dwindling water levels in the canals are linked to a combination of issues, including a prolonged spell of low tides and a lingering high-pressure weather system over much of Italy. The situation in Venice, which is historically known for its regular flooding, comes after weeks of dry winter conditions in Italy that have prompted fears of another drought emergency after the dry summer last year. Take a look at some photos from the past couple weeks of docked gondolas in Venice's canals:

☆ I asked ChatGPT to help me plan a vacation. Here’s what happened next
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

So the idea that artificial intelligence chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Bing, can research travel destinations and create itineraries is intriguing. I went to the developer's website, clicked on the word "ChatGPT," registered for an account — and started chatting. "All of the places I recommended have great online reviews," ChatGPT replied, providing ratings from Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Google for each hotel. But ChatGPT couldn't show photographs of the hotels or help book them — although it did provide ample instructions on how to do both. Every city I asked ChatGPT about resulted in the bot praising the local food scene.

☆ Gondolas left stranded as Venice's canals run dry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Claudio Lavanga | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Gondolas are pictured in the Grand Canal during a severe low tide in the lagoon city of Venice, Italy, March 17, 2022. "I have been a gondolier for 28 years, and I have never seen so many low tides at once," he added. "Low water levels in Venice are unheard of, especially at this time of the year," said Giovanni Cecconi, the president of the Venice Resilience Lab. "During low tides we could use the barriers to stop the water from getting out of the lagoon," he said. However, Claudio Scarpa, the director general of the Venetian Hoteliers Association, said the low tides did bring some benefits.

☆ 'Extinction Beckons' at artist Mike Nelson's London exhibition
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - From an abandoned wooden structure in the desert to old tyres found on a motorway, an exhibition of installations made with scavenged materials by British artist Mike Nelson goes on show at London's Hayward Gallery this week. With its slightly ominous title “Extinction Beckons”, the exhibition takes visitors through immersive and sculptural works made with items Nelson has found or acquired in junk yards and shops, flea markets and auctions. "There are things here that hint at disaster, decay, violence perhaps sometimes," Ralph Rugoff, director of the Hayward Gallery, told Reuters at a press preview on Tuesday. “Every time you walk into one of those rooms you feel like the people who were there have just left," Rugoff said. Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Strong pricing helps to drive sales growth for Campari
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] General view at a Campari inauguration of a new brand house for Aperol, its best-selling beverage, in Venice Italy, August 30, 2021. REUTERS/Manuel SilvestriMILAN, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Italian spirits group Campari (CPRI.MI) reported on Tuesday a 9.6% increase in fourth quarter like-for-like sales, thanks to strong pricing and despite supply constraints. The maker of Aperol and Campari bitters said net sales reached 2.7 billion euros ($2.9 billion) in 2022 as a whole, up organically 16.4% compared with the previous year. Adjusted operating profit in the last quarter was up 7.6% on a like-for-like basis, with input cost inflation almost fully offset by positive pricing initiatives. Campari is proposing a full year dividend of 0.06 euros per share, unchanged compared with the previous year.

☆ See packages delivered by boat, plane, drone, and donkey as e-commerce reaches every corner of the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

In Venice, Italy, boats are the fastest way to get around by far — and that includes package delivery. Traveling by boat is essential to avoid the tourist-jammed streets. A loaded DHL delivery boat sits dockside in Venice, Italy. Gisela Schober/Getty Images

☆ Tuesday Morning says it wants to close 265 stores as part of its bankruptcy filing. See if your local store is on the list.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +30 min

Camarillo: Camarillo Village Square, 2450 Las Posas Road, Ste HCamarillo Village Square, 2450 Las Posas Road, Ste H Roseville: Fairway Commons Shopping Center, 5771A Five Star Blvd. San Diego: Pacific Plaza Shopping Center, 1772‐D Garnet AvenuePacific Plaza Shopping Center, 1772‐D Garnet Avenue Woodland Hills: Pride Shopping Center, 22950 Victory Blvd. Winston-Salem: Whitaker Square Shopping Center, 1947 North Pease Haven Road, Space #1947Whitaker Square Shopping Center, 1947 North Pease Haven Road, Space #1947 Matthews: Windsor Square Shopping Center, 9945 E. Independence Blvd. ; Westhill Village Shopping Center, 7525 WestheimerWeslayan Plaza West Shopping Center, 5442‐A Weslayan Street; Westheimer Commons, 12568 Westheimer Rd. ; Westhill Village Shopping Center, 7525 Westheimer El Paso: West Towne Marketplace, 6450 N. Desert Blvd., Ste.

☆ Biotech CEO famous for spending millions to reverse age accused of walking out on ex after her breast cancer diagnosis and manipulating her in the spirit of 'radical transparency"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A biotech CEO famous for trying to reverse his age was accused of walking out on a cancer-stricken partner. Ex-fiancée Taryn Southern alleged that Bryan Johnson emotionally and financially manipulated her. "Trickery, deceit, preying on Ms. Southern's physical and emotional weaknesses and financial dependence, and creating confusion and fear with his threats of legal action were major features of Johnson's scheme against Ms. Southern," Southern's attorneys wrote. "He aggressively pursued and propositioned Ms. Southern's own friends and acquaintances – while other women were paid prostitutes or girls from 'Sugar Daddy" apps,' Southern's attorneys said in the suit. "He became obsessed with his sexual conquests and relaying the details of his triumphs to Ms. Southern under the guise of 'radical transparency and honesty.'"

☆ How to earn, redeem, and maximize Hilton Honors rewards points — from luxurious Conrad resorts to family-friendly Hampton Inns, there are options for every traveler
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Carissa Rawson | Freelance Writer | Read More | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +44 min

How to earn Hilton rewards pointsHilton has two main categories of points: bonus points, which help you earn rewards via special promotions, and elite-qualifying base points. You can do so at the following ratios:HawaiianMiles : 1 HawaiianMile = 1.5 Hilton Honors points: 1 HawaiianMile = 1.5 Hilton Honors points Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: 1 Virgin Atlantic point = 1.5 Hilton Honors pointsEarn Hilton points through your elite statusJoining Hilton Honors can be especially lucrative if you're on the road often. Finally, Lyft and Hilton have teamed up to offer 3x Hilton Honors points on Lyft rides, or 2x Hilton points for shared Lyft rides. Redeem Hilton Honors points for event creditsIt's also possible to redeem your points for events at a Hilton, though this isn't generally considered a good way to maximize your Hilton points value. Here's how much the credits cost:25,000 points = $5050,000 points = $10075,000 points = $150125,000 points = $250250,000 points = $500Exchange Hilton points for airline milesIf you'd rather have airline or rail points, you have the option to transfer Hilton points to partner airlines, though redemption rates vary.

☆ Revelers celebrate Carnival in Venice
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Wind-chill warnings were posted this weekend for most of New York state and all six New England states - Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine - a region home to some 16 million people.

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