DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Australia to require negative COVID tests for travellers from China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Australia said on Sunday that travellers from China will have to provide negative COVID-19 test results from Jan. 5, joining a growing number of nations that have implemented similar restrictions as cases surge in China. Citing a lack of epidemiological information and genomic sequencing data from China, Australian health minister Mark Butler said the government has decided out of an abundance of caution to require visitors to present a negative test taken within 48 hours of their departure. "I want to stress that the government welcomes the resumption of travel between Australia and China... I also want to stress that this is a temporary measure, reflecting the lack of comprehensive information right now about the situation in China," said Butler. read moreReporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Here's a list of places imposing rules on travelers from China as Covid surges
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Authorities around the world are imposing or considering curbs on travelers from China as Covid-19 cases in the country surge following its relaxation of "zero-Covid" rules. Places imposing curbsUnited StatesThe United States will impose mandatory Covid-19 tests on travelers from China beginning on Jan. 5. IndiaThe country has mandated a Covid-19 negative test report for travelers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Thailand, the health minister said. Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesJapan will require a negative Covid-19 test upon arrival for travelers from mainland China. South KoreaSouth Korea will require travelers from China to provide negative Covid test results before departure, South Korea's News1 news agency reported on Friday.

☆ 2022 was tough for media stocks like Netflix and Disney, and 2023 doesn't look good, either
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

On top of that, companies are contending with lower ad revenue and more cord cutting. Tightening ad marketOn top of this, the ad market has worsened. Paramount missed third-quarter estimates after its ad revenue dropped, with its stock hitting a low in the following days. "We also anticipate that advertising streaming will become more important in the year to come," Solomon Partners' Boidman said. For media companies like Comcast and Charter Communications , lagging subscriber growth on the broadband front, rather than the pay-TV business, weighed more significantly on their stocks.

Dec 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday left in place for now a pandemic-era policy allowing U.S. officials to rapidly expel migrants caught at the U.S.-Mexico border. The court said it would hear arguments on whether the states could intervene to defend Title 42 in its February session. Enrique Lucero, director of migration affairs in Tijuana, said it was "absurd" that Title 42 remained in place, noting the city had a large backlog of U.S. asylum seekers. It also failed to weigh the harm asylum seekers would face from Title 42, he said. When a federal appeals court on Dec. 16 declined to allow them to intervene and put Sullivan's order on hold, they took the matter to the Supreme Court.

☆ Premarket stocks: Wall Street's dirty secret: It's terrible at forecasting stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

What’s happening: Last year, Goldman Sachs analysts predicted that the S&P 500 would close out 2022 at 5,100 points. With those caveats, let’s get to Wall Street’s predictionsThe numbers: Forecasts for where the S&P 500 will finish 2023 vary greatly. Analysts overestimated the final value (that is, the final value finished below the estimate) in 13 of the 20 years and underestimated the final value (the final value finished above the estimate) in the other 7 years. They’re on track to have overestimated the performance of the S&P 500 in 2022 by nearly 40%. During this period, the S&P 500 has historically gained 1.3% on average, according to data from LPL Financial going back to 1950.

☆ Haaland scores twice as Man City cruise past Leeds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Peter Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LEEDS, England, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Erling Haaland continued his incredible season in front of goal with a brace to help Manchester City cruise to a 3-1 victory at Leeds United on Wednesday, ensuring the champions closed the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to five points. It appeared City would go into the interval frustrated, before Spanish midfielder Rodri finally made one count in first half stoppage time, firing home after another Meslier save. The victory helped second-placed City move back to within five points Arsenal at the top of the standings, while Leeds stay 15th, two points clear of the relegation zone. "I have a (goal) target but I cannot say it," Haaland told Amazon. Leeds boss Jesse Marsch felt the timing of the goals his side conceded were their undoing.

The Title 42 order was first implemented in March 2020 under Republican former President Donald Trump at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Close to half of those arrested were rapidly expelled under the Title 42 policy. In that case, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C., sided with the migrants on Nov. 15 and ruled Title 42 was unlawful. He said the government also failed to weigh the harm asylum seekers would face from the Title 42 order. When a federal appeals court on Dec. 16 declined to allow them to intervene and put Sullivan's order on hold, they took the matter to the Supreme Court.

☆ 5 of the wildest experiments tardigrades have survived in the name of science
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Water bears can go years without food or water and endure extreme radiation and temperatures. When the water bears returned to Earth, the scientists discovered that 68% survived. A thawed tardigrade survived being frozen for 3 decadesIn 2016, scientists at Japan's National Institute of Polar Research examined tardigrades retrieved from a frozen moss sample collected in Antarctica in 1983. Still, in a 2020 study, researchers found that long-term exposure to high temperatures, even in their hibernated state, can kill tardigrades in only a day. Tardigrades survived being shot out of a high-speed gunSome scientists believe that tardigrades may be capable of spreading life to different planets.

☆ Long Covid patients can face a battle trying to claim benefits through their workplace disability insurance
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Many workers get disability coverage via an employerAn estimated 43% of private industry workers have access to short-term disability insurance through their employer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Long-term disability insurance, which is intended to kick in when necessary after short-term disability benefits run out, is available to 35% of workers. After 10 weeks of struggling, he filed another short-term disability claim when it was clear he was not improving. Toward the end of 2021, with five doctors agreeing that his condition was disabling, he again filed a long-term disability claim. In fact, cases involving denial of long-term disability benefits for long Covid are cropping up around the country.

WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday placed a temporary hold on a lower court ruling that would end a Trump-era immigration policy implemented during the pandemic to allow asylum-seekers to be quickly turned away at the border. The brief order came after Republican-led states asked the Supreme Court to keep the policy in place. Roberts ordered that the federal district court ruling, which was due to go into effect on Wednesday, be put on hold until the Supreme Court acts. He asked the Biden administration and groups challenging the policy to file a response to the states' request by Tuesday afternoon. The appeals court said in its order last week that the states had waited too long before attempting to intervene.

☆ England manager Southgate to stay on until Euro 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 18 (Reuters) - England manager Gareth Southgate has decided to stay on and lead the campaign for the 2024 European Championship, the Football Association (FA) said on Sunday. "We are delighted to confirm that Gareth Southgate is continuing as England manager, and will lead our Euro 2024 campaign," FA CEO Mark Bullingham said in a statement. Southgate, who previously coached England's under-21s, was appointed manager in 2016 after Sam Allardyce's sacking. His tenure began during a difficult period for England, coming in the aftermath of their shock Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland. Some adverse fan reaction then had upset him and his players, though they were widely praised for their World Cup campaign, performing impressively and losing narrowly 2-1 to France with a missed penalty by captain Harry Kane.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried, currently held in a Bahamian prison, now plans to face the music and will not fight extradition to the US, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried plans to stop resisting his extradition to the US, Reuters reported. He is expected to appear in court on Monday in the Bahamas as he faces fraud charges in the US. His lawyers previously said at his first court appearance that he would fight being sent back. Earlier this month, the FTX founder told New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin that he'd considered heading to the US and possibly speaking to members of Congress. Mark Botnick, a spokesperson for Bankman-Fried, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of typical working hours.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - PepsiCo plans to roll out 100 heavy-duty Tesla Semis in 2023, when it will start using the electric trucks to make deliveries to customers like Walmart and Kroger, the soda maker's top fleet official told Reuters on Friday. PepsiCo is the first company to experiment with the battery-powered Tesla Semis as a way of cutting its environmental impact. When Tesla starts building them, PepsiCo "will rotate those up" into its fleet, he said. PepsiCo declined to share details on the price of the trucks, a figure that Tesla has kept quiet. O'Connell said that a 425-mile (684-km) trip carrying Frito-Lay products brings the Semi's battery down to roughly 20%, and recharging it takes around 35 to 45 minutes.

PepsiCo, which ordered the Semis in 2017, is the first company to experiment with them as a way of cutting its environmental impact. PepsiCo is deploying 36 electric trucks from Tesla, with 15 in Modesto and 21 in Sacramento, so far. When Tesla starts building them, PepsiCo "will rotate those up" into its fleet, he said. PepsiCo declined to share details on the price of the trucks, a figure that Tesla has kept quiet. O'Connell said that a 425-mile (684-km) trip carrying Frito-Lay products brings the Semi's battery down to roughly 20%, and recharging it takes around 35 to 45 minutes.

☆ SBF thinks one of his biggest mistakes at FTX was slashing his workday from 18 hours to 13 hours a day, his planned testimony shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said he used to work 18 hours a day, per his planned testimony. In his 7,000-word draft, Bankman-Fried wrote that he was "less grounded in operational details" in the months leading up to his exchange's downfall. "I also prided myself on having a strong work ethic; I began FTX routinely working 18 hour days. In the planned testimony, he blamed himself for making a "number of significant mistakes" but said he didn't know about risky investments executed by FTX. Bankman-Fried's spokesperson, Mark Botnick, told Insider he had no further comment on Bankman-Fried's testimony draft.

☆ Read the full text of Sam Bankman-Fried's planned testimony, which a congressional panelist called 'absolutely insulting'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested before he could testify about his exchange's collapse. He did prepare a testimony, which a member of the House Financial Services Committee called "absolutely insulting." It wasn't read out in full at the hearing, but congressional leaders had a copy of the draft on hand. Bankman-Fried's spokesperson, Mark Botnick, told Insider he had no comment on the planned testimony. Copies of the planned testimony were first obtained by Forbes and Bloomberg.

☆ Ten years after Sandy Hook shooting, Connecticut town spends a day in reflection
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Nathan Layne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/8] Dr. Anthony Salvatore, co-president of the Connecticut Federation of School Administrators lays roses on the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial as part in a wreath laying ceremony hosted by The National Teachers Hall of Fame to mark the 10th anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, U.S., December 14, 2022. Wearing a green sweater - the Sandy Hook school color - he walked the memorial, stopping at the names of the children who now would have been 16 and 17. He renewed a call to ban the kind of military-style rifles used in Sandy Hook and many other mass shootings. Mark Barden, whose 7-year-old son Daniel was killed at Sandy Hook, is one of several parents who channeled their grief into advocacy. He co-founded Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit that aims to educate teachers and students about warning signs that can be used to identify likely mass shooters.

☆ Germany calls for global regulation of crypto industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Germany's top regulator this week called for global regulation of the cryptocurrency industry to protect consumers, prevent money laundering and preserve financial stability. Branson said a "crypto spring" may follow what has been a "crypto winter" but that the industry that emerges is likely to have more links with traditional finance, further increasing the need for regulation. "Now is the time for serious cryptocurrency regulation," he said. Regulation of the industry has been loose and patchwork. Last month he said in an interview on the ECB's website that "not all crypto business models are serious".

A woman accused Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter of raping her at a concert in Washington State two decades ago, when she was 17, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday. "He also said he’d turn people against me because he’s Nick Carter and he would wreck my life," the woman is quoted as saying in a news release from her lawyer, Mark Boskovich. In a statement, Michael Holtz, an attorney for Carter, called the allegations "legally meritless" and "entirely untrue." Holtz said the woman had been "manipulated into making false allegations about Nick — and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time. Carter raped her a second time on a bed near the back of the tour bus while she begged him to stop, the suit alleges.

☆ Sandy Hook families focus on pushing for change, decade after shooting
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Daniel Fastenberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] A general view of Sandy Hook prior to the 10th remembrance of the Sandy Hook school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, U.S., December 8, 2022. He was among 20 first graders gunned down inside Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2012. At least 11 school shooting plots have been foiled in recent years because of the training Sandy Hook Promise provided, the group says. Speakers included former U.S. President Barack Obama, who was in the White House when the Sandy Hook shooting took place. Mark Barden, whose son, Daniel, was killed at Sandy Hook, co-founded Sandy Hook Promise with Hockley.

☆ Commodity-linked stocks push TSX to fresh two-week highs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A sign board displaying Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) stock information is seen in Toronto June 23, 2014. ET (1540 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was up 66.9 points, or 0.33%, at 20,040.12. The materials sector (.GSPTTMT), which includes miners of precious and base metals, climbed 0.8% on higher metal prices. "Given the magnitude of the rate hikes, they want some time to evaluate how that's going to impact the economy." Among single stocks, Parkland Corp (PKI.TO) gained 5.9% after the food and fuel retailer posted its 2023 outlook.

☆ TSX gains as Bank of Canada signals slowdown in rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A sign board displaying Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) stock information is seen in Toronto June 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File PhotoDec 7 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed on Wednesday as investors shrugged off potential impact from a oversized rate hike by the Bank of Canada and digested commentary from the central bank hinting at an end to its monetary policy tightening. ET (15:32 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was up 102.39 points, or 0.51%, at 20,092.56. "Above and beyond the rate hike itself, the bank also indicated that they're going to consider whether future rate hikes are needed," said Douglas Porter, chief economist, BMO Capital Markets. The materials sector (.GSPTTMT), which includes precious and base metal miners, led gains in the index with a climb of 1%.

☆ I'm a psychologist who helped cast 'Survivor' for years. I weeded out people who might be dangerous or unstable under pressure — here's what I looked for in contestants.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( John Loeppky | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Survivor producer Mark Burnett paired with clinical psychologist Richard Levak to design a psychological screening program for "Survivor," and then most of the other reality TV shows too. That's where psychology got its toehold in reality TV. Through this, we get a really good sense for who they are. In my opinion, good 'Survivor' contestants have enough energy to be interesting and exciting on TVIt's not exciting to watch somebody who is fatigued and needs to lay down and rest the whole time. Being on any reality TV show is something you can't prepare for.

FTX's implosion has heightened the need for more trustworthy, regulated cryptocurrency players, and big banks see an opportunity to pick up business, Mathew McDermott, Goldman's head of digital assets, told Reuters. Goldman is doing due diligence on a number of different crypto firms, he added, without giving details. HSBC (HSBA.L) CEO Noel Quinn, meanwhile, told a banking conference in London last week he has no plans to expand into crypto trading or investing for retail customers. Goldman Sachs has also together with MSCI and Coin Metrics launched data service datonomy, aimed at classifying digital assets based on how they are used. The firm is also building its own private distributed ledger technology, McDermott said.

☆ FTX's Bankman-Fried hires white collar defense attorney Mark Cohen
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Bankman-Fried has retained Cohen, of Cohen & Gresser, Bankman-Fried's spokesperson Mark Botnick said in an emailed statement. In recent weeks, U.S. authorities have sought information from investors and potential investors in FTX, according to two sources with knowledge of the requests. Federal prosecutors in New York are asking for details on any communications such firms have had with the crypto firm and its executives, including Bankman-Fried, the sources said. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been asking for similar information from investors as well, one of the sources said. "I didn't ever try to commit fraud," Bankman-Fried said, adding that he doesn't personally think he has any criminal liability.

Search resuls for: "Mark B"

25 mentions found