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☆ Vodafone and Nestlé Created Panels to Avoid ‘Greenwashing’ Allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Vodafone Group and Nestlé have set up panels of experts to double check environmental claims before they appear on products and marketing, a move by the multinationals to avoid allegations of so-called greenwashing. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is updating its environmental marketing guidelines and the EU has proposed that businesses need to offer scientific evidence. The panels at Nestlé and Vodafone are examples of how companies are stepping up their due diligence of green claims in response to mounting scrutiny, tighter regulation, shifting consumer preferences and the threat of lawsuits. So far, that hasn’t happened, Mr. Reiter said. The packaged-foods company’s panels are staffed by employees from marketing, regulatory, scientific affairs, sustainability, legal and communications.

☆ America Pays a High Price for Low Wages
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Michael Lind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

In “The Wealth of Nations,” the founding text of free-market economics, Adam Smith took it for granted that workers should be paid enough to cover the living costs of themselves and their dependents. “A man must always live by his work, and his wages must at least be sufficient to maintain him,” wrote Smith. “They must even upon most occasions be somewhat more, otherwise it would be impossible for him to bring up a family, and the race of such workmen could not last beyond the first generation.”In the last half-century, policy makers of both parties in the U.S. have successfully refuted Adam Smith. It turns out that it is indeed possible to pay wages to workers that are too low for their own maintenance, much less that of their families. This depends on using means-tested welfare programs like the earned-income tax credit (EITC), food stamps and housing vouchers, all of which compensate for wages that are too low for workers to live on.

☆ German magazine apologizes to Schumacher family over A.I. interview, sacks editor
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The publishers of a German magazine that ran an 'interview' with Michael Schumacher generated by artificial intelligence have sacked the editor and apologized to the Formula One great's family. His family said this week that they were planning legal action against weekly magazine Die Aktuelle, owned by the Essen-based Funke media group. "Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has held journalistic responsibility for the paper since 2009, will be relieved of her duties as of today." The latest edition of Die Aktuelle ran a front cover with a picture of a smiling Schumacher and the headline promising 'Michael Schumacher, the first interview'. "We're trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does.

CNN —The editor-in-chief of Die Aktuelle, a German magazine that published a fake artificial intelligence (AI) interview with Michael Schumacher, has been “relieved of her duties,” a statement from publishing house FUNKE said, alongside an apology to the Schumacher family. Schumacher has not been seen in public since he suffered a brain injury in a skiing accident in December 2013. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we – and our readers – expect from a publishing house like FUNKE,” FUNKE magazine managing director Bianca Pohlmann said in the statement. Only toward the end of the article does it become apparent that the interview was produced by AI. Hannibal Hanschke/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockSince the accident, the Schumacher family has kept updates about the health of the motorsport legend to a minimum to protect their privacy.

☆ German magazine fires editor over AI 'interview' with Michael Schumacher
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Mercedes Formula One driver Michael Schumacher of Germany stands inside his team garage during the first practice session of the Japanese F1 Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit October 5, 2012. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonApril 22 (Reuters) - The publishers of a German magazine that ran an 'interview' with Michael Schumacher generated by artificial intelligence have sacked the editor and apologised to the Formula One great's family. His family said this week that they were planning legal action against weekly magazine Die Aktuelle, owned by the Essen-based Funke media group. The latest edition of Die Aktuelle ran a front cover with a picture of a smiling Schumacher and the headline promising 'Michael Schumacher, the first interview'. "We're trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does.

On that unredacted form, Kacsmaryk reported owning about $2.9 million in stock in the Florida-based supermarket company Publix. Federal judges are only required to report financial holdings in ranges, and don’t have to provide exact figures. One possible source of the Publix stock Kacsmaryk reported in 2017 is the judge’s grandmother. In 2020 and 2021, less than 4% of officials required to file judicial financial disclosures requested redaction, according to reports from the Administrative Office of the US Courts. In any case, experts said, the judge’s redacted report prevents transparency that litigants deserve.

CNN —The family of seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is planning legal action after a German magazine published a fake artificial intelligence (AI) interview, a family spokesperson told CNN on Thursday. “I can confirm that Michael Schumacher’s family is planning to take legal action over a fake artificial intelligence interview by German outlet Die Aktuelle,” a Schumacher spokesperson told CNN on Thursday. German weekly magazine Die Aktuelle published a fake AI interview with Michael Schumacher. “Please understand that we do not comment on this topic,” Barkhausen told CNN on Thursday. Since the accident, the Schumacher family has kept updates about the health of the motorsport legend to a minimum to protect their privacy.

☆ Schumacher family planning legal action over AI 'interview'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Denis BalibouseApril 19 (Reuters) - Michael Schumacher's family are planning legal action against a German weekly magazine over an 'interview' with the seven times Formula One champion that was generated by artificial intelligence. A spokesperson for the Schumacher family, asked by Reuters for a comment on Wednesday, pointed to published reports of legal action. The family has guarded his privacy since, with access limited to those closest to him and little information given about his condition. The latest edition of Die Aktuelle ran a front cover with a picture of a smiling Schumacher and the headline promising 'Michael Schumacher, the first interview'. "We're trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does.

☆ Wall Street investment firms are thirsty for the West's vanishing water
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Lucy Kafanov | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

And it comes at a time when Arizona’s allocation of Colorado River water is being slashed amid a decadeslong megadrought. “In the face of record shortages on the Colorado River, we have voluntarily answered urgent and repeated calls to conserve water. Water Asset Management owns at least 3,000 acres in Western Colorado’s Grand Valley, where Mueller works to protect Colorado’s share of the river. “Water Asset Management has engaged in a number of different purchase methods to keep their transactions unknown to many of the local jurisdictions,” Mueller said. The Colorado River in Eagle County, Colorado.

☆ Analysis: Biden's focus on deficit in budget is targeted at Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Biden's increasing emphasis on the deficit now doesn't mean the White House sees an imminent crisis looming from the nation's $32 trillion debt. Instead, the White House hopes to draw a sharp contrast with Republican threats to refuse to raise the debt limit without sharp spending cuts. Including this fiscal plan in Biden's agenda can help shore up his economic credibility before his expected 2024 re-election campaign, the White House believes. That doesn't mean that what the White House is proposing is going to happen, of course. Reuters GraphicsNearly six in ten people told Pew Research Center in January that reducing the deficit should be a top Biden administration priority.

☆ Wells Fargo seeks to catch faster-growing rivals by boosting engagement with rich clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Wells Fargo is unveiling a new platform to boost digital engagement with its 2.6 million wealth management clients, CNBC has learned. "These are the things that will really enhance the client-advisor experience, and they're not available on the mobile app today," Liersch said. "This is a really big platform enhancement for clients and advisors to collaborate around their goals and connect what clients want to accomplish with what our advisors are doing." Banks are jockeying to provide their customers with personalized experiences via digital channels, and this tool should enable Wells Fargo to boost satisfaction and loyalty. CEO Charlie Scharf has highlighted wealth management as one source of growth for the company, along with credit cards and investment banking, amid his efforts to overhaul the bank and appease regulators.

☆ Companies Must Reduce Impact on Biodiversity Under New U.N. Rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Joshua Kirby | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Companies will have to show they are reducing their impact on the world’s natural life, though not to a specific level, under a global plan agreed to Monday. Under the agreement—officially called the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, or GBF—governments between now and 2030 will introduce laws and policy measures requiring large companies and banks to disclose and reduce the damage done to ecosystems from their operations, supply chains and portfolios. The rules aim to take into account the connection between climate and nature, including cultivated and natural biodiversity, deforestation and water use, the ISSB said. Such measures are “critical to addressing the dangerous loss of biodiversity and restoring natural ecosystems,” COP15 organizers said. Even with the framework agreed upon by nations, assessing companies’ biodiversity impact could be a headache.

☆ Quinn Emanuel adds longtime SEC enforcement official in D.C., California
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Chinekwu Osakwe | Thomson Reuters | Chinekwu Osakwe Covers Legal Industry News With A Focus On Midsize Law Firms. Reach Her At Chinekwu.Osakwe Thomsonreuters.Com. | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CompaniesCompanies Law firms Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP Follow(Reuters) - Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan said Monday that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official C. Dabney O'Riordan has joined the firm's SEC enforcement practice as a partner in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.O'Riordan was the longest serving head of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement’s Asset Management Unit before leaving the agency in September, according to the 900-attorney firm. At Quinn Emanuel, she will represent asset managers that handle private funds including private equity managers, hedge fund managers, mutual fund advisors and ETF advisors, she said. “There’s a lot of rulemaking going on in the asset management space,” said O'Riordan, who joined the SEC in 2005. She also knew some of her new colleagues before joining, including co-chairs of the firm’s SEC enforcement defense practice, Michael Liftik and Sarah Heaton Concannon, O'Riordan said. Read more:Litigation giant Quinn Emanuel beefs up leadership, elevating DC, NY partnersOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON — The conservative-majority Supreme Court left its imprint on the 2022 elections, galvanizing Democrats with decisions on guns and abortion and potentially aiding Republicans with election rulings. For decades, it was the Republican Party that benefited from conservative anger over the Supreme Court's original ruling in Roe v. Wade. Using the new map, Republicans won five of the six districts Tuesday. Under the newly drawn map, Republicans won 20 of 28 seats. The Supreme Court's 2019 ruling said partisan gerrymandering claims could not be adjudicated by federal courts.

☆ Election officials combat voter intimidation across U.S. as extremist groups post armed militia at some polls
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Rocio Fabbro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Instead they are leading to voter intimidation complaints," Maricopa County election officials Bill Gates and Stephen Richer said in a joint statement the next day. But its presence caused unease among Maricopa County voters, who saw these "drop box watchers" as a blatant attempt at voter intimidation. Fears about voter intimidation and suppression have been brewing nationwide since the 2020 presidential election, when Trump refused to accept his loss and accused several states of voter fraud. Two in five U.S. voters said they were worried about threats of violence or voter intimidation at the polls, according to a new Reuters/Ipso poll. "There's an alarming rise in the number of people in this country condoning political violence or simply remaining silent," Biden said.

☆ Federal judge issues restraining order against group monitoring Arizona ballot boxes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A federal judge in Phoenix issued a restraining order Tuesday night against a group that has been photographing and recording voters casting ballots at drop boxes in Arizona. Liburdi's order also bars the group's members from taking photos, recording, following or yelling at voters within 75 feet of drop box locations. Armed individuals dressed in tactical gear at the site of a ballot drop box in Mesa, Ariz., on Oct. 21, 2022. Maricopa County Elections Department / AFP - Getty ImagesThe restraining order comes after a series of warnings about potential voter intimidation in the battleground state. Liburdi's order comes after his refusal on Friday to grant the restraining order requested by Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and Voto Latino.

Nov 1 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order against an Arizona group being sued over voter intimidation, banning members from coming within 75 feet of a ballot drop box, following voters or harassing them. The lawsuit was filed last week after two people were seen wearing military gear and allegedly carrying weapons while monitoring a drop box in Maricopa County, Arizona. In his order on Tuesday, Liburdi said the group and its representatives were also banned from speaking to or yelling at voters unless they were spoken to or yelled at first. He also forbade them from openly carrying firearms wtihin 250 feet of a ballot drop box. He also ordered the group to post on the conservative Truth Social website and social media platform a statement that it is not always illegal to drop multiple ballots at a drop-box.

☆ EU Looks to Follow Tough U.S. Action on Forced Labor
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Beijing has called allegations about the use of forced labor “vicious lies” and said its policies in Xinjiang are intended to counter violent separatism and terrorism. African mining operations, for example, have been implicated in the use of forced labor. Under the proposal, EU member states will designate authorities to enforce the regulation, and their customs authorities will enforce it at the EU’s borders. Goods made without forced labor are going to the U.S., while goods made with forced labor are shipped to the EU, the researchers said. Uniqlo has said it performs due diligence throughout its supply chain and prohibits the use of forced labor.

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice expressed support on Monday for a lawsuit filed by voting rights organizations in Arizona, which alleges that groups monitoring ballot drop boxes in the state are engaging in illegal voter intimidation. Among the activities that can be considered voter intimidation, it said, are photographing and video-recording voters, an activity that multiple conservative groups in Arizona have engaged in. The plaintiffs, which include the League of Women Voters of Arizona and the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, immediately appealed. Arizona officials earlier in the month asked the Justice Department to investigate a case of possible voter intimidation after a group of people followed and filmed a voter in Maricopa County, who was dropping off a ballot for the midterm elections. Since then, Arizona officials have said they have observed several more instances of voter intimidation.

☆ Federal judge in Arizona rejects restraining order request, lets group monitor ballot drop boxes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Some voters have complained alleging voter intimidation after people watching the boxes took photos and videos, and followed voters. The attorney for Clean Elections USA had argued that such a broad restraining order would be unconstitutional. A second lawsuit involving charges of voter intimidation at drop boxes in Arizona’s Yavapai County has since been merged with the first one. “We love our country very much.”Cilano said The Lions of Liberty is in no way associated with Clean Elections USA. He said his group is connected to the Yavapai County Preparedness Team, but the team was not involved in ballot box monitoring.

REUTERS/Michael Patacsil/WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has rejected a request for a temporary restraining order against a group accused of alleged voter intimidation, according to a ruling released on Friday. Judge Michael Liburdi, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump to the federal court in Arizona, rejected the request against Clean Elections USA and its founder, Melody Jennings. A lawyer who represented Clean Elections USA and Jennings in a hearing earlier this week did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He also dismissed Voto Latino from the case, stating he did not think the organization proved it would be harmed financially by Clean Election USA's actions. "We continue to believe that Clean Elections USA's intimidation and harassment is unlawful."

☆ 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.

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Two U.S. voter-rights organizations have asked a federal judge to temporarily stop a grassroots group from monitoring voter drop boxes in Arizona for alleged voter fraud, the week after state officials asked federal prosecutors to probe the group for possible voter intimidation. Clean Elections USA describes itself as a "grassroots organization committed to election integrity." Arizona's secretary of state last week asked the U.S. Department of Justice to probe a case of possible voter intimidation after a group of people linked to Clean Elections followed and filmed a voter dropping off a ballot. Clean Elections USA is running a "coordinated campaign of vigilante voter intimidation" that violates the Voting Rights Act and the Klu Klux Klan Act, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge Michael Liburdi, a Trump appointee, to impose a temporary restraining order blocking Clean Elections' ballot-monitoring activities.

☆ The biggest dilemma for homeowners right now: Should I sell or rent my home in 2022?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

More owners are now wrestling with the question of whether to sell their home or rent it out. Sellers in today's housing market face a nagging question: Should I just rent out my home instead? He told Insider he's now debating whether to sell or rent out his property. Some property managers are preparing for more homeowners to choose to rent out their homes rather than sell. "As we move into fall here, and more and more properties continue to hit the market, the market becomes weaker and weaker," Linnemann said.

☆ Randi Zuckerberg explains why she's laughing at the outcry over her crypto music video
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-04 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Randi Zuckerberg, sister of Mark, released a crypto music video this week that some called "cringy." Kanye West wasn't the only person who dropped a controversial music video this week. Crypto crusader Randi Zuckerberg's music video also sent social media into a frenzy with some declaring it a cringefest and others praising the singer's zeal for digital coin. Randi Zuckerberg. "A special thanks to all the crypto bros hating on my music video by retweeting and sharing it more broadly.

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