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☆ Pharrell Williams, Louis Vuitton’s New Don
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Jon Caramanica | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Earlier this month, Pharrell Williams was in the men’s atelier on the second floor of Louis Vuitton’s corporate office in Paris, sunglasses on, surveying his new perch. “This window is different.”The window by his desk looks out over the small plaza on the north side of the Pont Neuf, where in just a couple of weeks, his first show as Louis Vuitton men’s creative director would take place. A 50-foot statue of the artist Yayoi Kusama, a Vuitton collaborator, hovered just outside. The rapper Pusha T and the streetwear innovator Nigo were milling about. I mean, the Seine River right there — it’s like the moat.”

Persons: Pharrell Williams, Louis Vuitton’s, ”, Pont, Louis Vuitton, Pusha, Williams’s, “ Locations: Paris, Seine

☆ My final, unexpected conversation with Cormac McCarthy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

My last conversation with Cormac McCarthy, the acclaimed and elusive novelist who died last week at 89, came as unexpectedly as the first. "I thought you said Cormac McCarthy edited your book on theoretical physics?" "I got the manuscript back in the mail, and it was marked up on every page," Randall told me. By the time I interviewed Randall, Cormac was spending his days at the Santa Fe Institute, a theoretical-research institute in the piñon foothills of New Mexico. "Don't do this to yourself," McCarthy told the guy, before shutting the door in his face.

Persons: Cormac McCarthy, McCarthy, —, Belying, Cormac, Lisa Randall, Randall, Gil, Jon, MacArthur, Murray Gell, Mann, it's, Einstein, they're, Doug Erwin, David Krakauer, David, Stella Maris, I'd, He'd, David Kushner Organizations: Wired, Stone, Harvard, drifters, Santa Fe Institute, Atari Locations: backwoods Florida, piñon, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, El Paso, Rolling Stone, SFI

☆ Bunge, Viterra will merge to form $34 billion agri-trading powerhouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Under the deal, Viterra shareholders will get about 65.6 million shares of Bunge stock, carrying a value of about $6.2 billion, and about $2 billion in cash. Bunge will also assume $9.8 billion of Viterra's debt, according to the statement. Viterra was the third-largest corn exporter and No. Bunge said it plans to repurchase $2 billion of its stock to enhance accretion from the deal to adjusted profit. In early 2017, Viterra, then known as Glencore Agriculture, attempted a takeover of Bunge, which was then valued at $11 billion.

Persons: Archer, Bunge, Viterra, Greg Heckman, Heckman, Gavilon, Karl Plume, Anirban Sen, Arunima Kumar, Mrinalika Roy, Caroline Stauffer, Matthew Lewis, Devika Organizations: Bunge, Daniels, Midland, Cargill, ADM, Bayer, Agriculture, Thomson Locations: Canada, Argentina, Brazil, United States, Australia, Viterra, South Australia, Victoria, Chevron, Ukraine, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Chicago, New York, Bengaluru

☆ Most Gulf markets gain after US debt deal, job data
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Ateeq Shariff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 4 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Sunday after the U.S. Congress passed a debt ceiling deal that averted a government default in the world's biggest economy, while jobs data fuelled hopes for a possible pause in Fed rate hikes. Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - rose more than 2% on Friday after the U.S. debt deal and jobs data. In Qatar, the index (.QSI) finished 1.8% higher, with almost all the stocks closing in positive territory including Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA), which gained 2.1%. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) eased 0.4%, hit by a 0.7% fall in top lender Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA). Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joe Biden, Ateeq, David Holmes Organizations: U.S, Congress, Saturday, Al Rajhi Bank, Riyad Bank, Gulf Cooperation, Saudi, Qatar Islamic Bank, Commercial International Bank, Saudi Arabia's Milling, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Saudi, Al Rajhi, Gulf, Qatar, Ateeq Shariff, Bengaluru

☆ Florida sued over law blocking Chinese citizens, other foreigners from buying property
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A group of Chinese citizens living and working in Florida sued the state Monday over a new law that bans Chinese nationals from purchasing property in large swaths of the state. The suit says the law unfairly equates Chinese people with the actions of their government and there is no evidence of national security risk from Chinese citizens buying Florida property. The number of states restricting foreign ownership of agricultural land has risen by 50% this year. Foreign land ownership has become "a political flashpoint," said Micah Brown, a staff attorney for the National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas. Brown said the recent surge in state laws targeting land ownership by foreign entities stems from some highly publicized cases of Chinese-connected companies purchasing land near military bases.

☆ US proposes new checks on land sales to foreigners near military bases
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - Buying land near eight U.S. military bases could become more difficult for foreign companies and citizens under a Treasury Department rule proposed by the Biden administration on Friday. Grand Forks Air Force Base houses air and space operations and includes a unit that operates military drones. The Air Force, Republican senators and community members voiced opposition to the real estate deal. The Grand Forks City Council in February voted to terminate its development agreement with Fufeng, preventing it from building the mill. North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer welcomed news of the proposed rule, which could have blocked the land sale to Fufeng.

☆ Westinghouse announces a new small nuclear reactor — a notable step in the industry's efforts to remake itself
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Westinghouse is offering a smaller-scale nuclear reactor in an effort to expand access to nuclear power as demand for clean energy soars. The company announced the launch of a small version of its flagship AP1000 nuclear reactor on Thursday. Small nuclear reactors are also being eyed by industrial producers as carbon-free sources of heat, Merrifield told CNBC. But an AP300 nuclear reactor will produce roughly the same amount of electricity as what a typical coal plant produces, so replacing one coal plant with a small nuclear reactor would be simpler. "We have absolute confidence, because the NRC has already licensed every bit of this technology," Durham told CNBC.

Bunge reaffirmed its full-year 2023 outlook of adjusted earnings of $11 per share, citing likely weaker results from its Agribusiness and Milling divisions but improved profits in its Refined and Specialty Oils unit. Bunge and other supply chain middlemen, including Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM.N) and Cargill Inc (CARG.UL), have generally benefited from strong global crop demand and tightening supplies, with record profits last year. The worst drought in decades has slashed grain and soy harvests in Argentina, depriving Bunge of the crops it needs to process. First-quarter adjusted profit in Bunge's Agribusiness unit, its largest in terms of revenue and volumes, dropped 18% on the year. Bunge said results were strong in all regions in its Refined and Specialty Oils division, with notable strength in North America and South America, reflecting favorable food and fuel demand trends.

☆ A 'Diet Coke break' is the latest example of Gen Zs and Millennials insisting on work-life balance
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The idea of "sharing a Coke," or taking a Diet Coke break, is also prominent in the soda brand's advertising history. Seninger says she's always been a "Diet Coke break girl" — even before she started posting about it on TikTok last year. A Diet Coke break helps me to romanticize that part of my day and take a break," Seninger said. In another TikTok, a creator captioned her Diet Coke break video: "Studies show Diet Coke breaks significantly improve one's mental health." In the past, he's said he drinks a minimum of five cans of Diet Coke or Cherry Coke a day.

☆ South Koreans tap cash-giving apps to help offset rising living costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Hyunsu Yim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

As many as three in four adults earn cash through such applications, showed a recent survey by job portal Incruit. Retiree Han Sun-jae, 77, said he had made some 50,000 won ($37.91) so far through the Toss app. The trend shows people are going the extra mile to help overcome an increasingly dire economic situation, experts said. "While the effort to make pocket money is commendable, it could also leave people vulnerable to personal data use," said Lee Eun-hee, a consumer studies professor at Inha University. ($1 = 1,318.79 won)Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ French pension protesters flood LVMH headquarters in Paris
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Security members stand in front of the headquarters of luxury retailer Louis Vuitton after a protest action French SNCF workers, members of French CGT and Sud Rail labour unions in Paris as part of the 12th day of nationwide strikes and protests against French government's pension reform, in Paris, France, April 13, 2023. REUTERS/Bart BiesemansPARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - Scores of French workers protesting against pension reforms flooded into the Paris headquarters of luxury group LVMH (LVMH.PA) on Thursday, calling for the rich to contribute more to financing the state pension. France's labour unions have been staging strikes and marches since mid-January in protest against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to raise the legal retirement age. The government says it is necessary to raise the retirement age for most workers to balance the pension budget in years to come. Reporting by Bart Biesemans and Ingrid Melander, writing by Mimosa Spencer; editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The high-speed train in Saudi Arabia that connects Mecca and Medina
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia CNN —In the distant past, Muslim pilgrims came to the holy city of Mecca on foot. Haramain means “two sanctuaries” in Arabic, named for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina that sit on the line’s opposite ends. Business class passengers on the train can watch seat-back TVs. Even on a short journey like the one from Jeddah to KAEC, business class passengers are entitled to a full meal service. When it comes to high-speed railway, it seems as though the Haramain line is only the beginning in Saudi Arabia.

Persons: Tawfiq Al Rabiah, ” Al Rabiah, King Abdullah, King, Saudi riyals, Lilit Marcus, Foster, they’re, KAEC, isn’t, it’s, Umrah, Khalid al, Falih Organizations: CNN, Saudi Arabia CNN —, King Abdulaziz International Airport, King Abdullah Economic, King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi, CNN Station, Foster + Partners, du Nord, Getty, Saudi Gazette, Bandar, Saudi Railway Polytechnic, Saudi Arabia’s Investment Locations: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Mecca, Hajj, Medina, Jeddah’s, Jeddah Al, New York, Paris, du, Sulimaniyah, Bandar Aldandani, AFP, KAEC, umrah, Islam, Riyadh

Most international grain traders have stopped new investment in Russia since last year following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine but continued exporting Russian wheat. "As grain export-related challenges continue to mount, Cargill will stop elevating Russian grain for export in July 2023 after the completion of the 2022-2023 season," the company said in an emailed statement. "The cessation of its export activities on the Russian market will not affect the volume of domestic grain shipments abroad. The company's grain export assets will continue to operate regardless of who manages them," the agriculture ministry told Reuters. According to RBC business daily, Cargill will export 2.2 million tonnes of Russian grain in the 2022-23 exporting season, or around 4% of Russia's total grain exports.

☆ Why a 70-year-old flour brand is suddenly surging in popularity among Gen Z
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Corn flour brand Maseca was one of the top brands among Gen Z consumers, per Numerator. People of Hispanic heritage make up a quarter of Gen Z, a larger share than any previous generation. Maseca ranked fourth on Numerator's list of the top Gen Z brands of 2022. In 2022, "89% of Maseca's Gen Z sales growth came from Gen Z Hispanics, compared to 60% of total Maseca's sales growth coming from Hispanics," a Numerator spokesperson said. Fifty-four percent of Gen Z Hispanic households consider heritage important to which foods and beverages they buy.

☆ U.S. curbs slowly crippling Russia's military - official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - A top U.S. trade official said on Thursday that export controls placed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine have slowly reduced the supply of materials that Moscow can use to rebuild its war machine. "Evasion techniques are not going to get you the scale you need to reconstitute your military over time," Estevez said in an interview with Reuters. "It's easier to smuggle micro-electronics than it is to smuggle a CNC machine," Estevez said, referring to a computer-coded machine used for high-precision metal shaping and milling. Estevez reiterated that export controls and financial sanctions on Russia work over time, not at once. "Over time, Putin's war machine is going to be crippled, and as we continue to supply arms to Ukraine, their military capability is going up and Putin's is going down," he said.

☆ Firms use Google ads to entice small businesses to pay for help the gov't provides free
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jesselyn Cook | Jesselyn Cook Is An Investigative Tech Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Several draw in unwitting customers like Talbot through Google ads that outrank the legitimate SAM.gov page, illustrating the ease of buying visibility on the world’s largest search engine. Google removed the ads for a number of these sites in response to an inquiry for this article but subsequently reversed its decision. “We have strict ads policies that govern the types of ads and advertisers we allow on our platforms,” Google spokesperson Davis Thompson said in a statement. But the Small Business Administration urges people not to spend their precious resources on these services when so many free alternatives exist. She expects new, prominently displayed Google ads to play a part in the problem.

☆ 3 active-duty Marines who work in intelligence arrested over alleged participation in the January 6 riot
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Konstantin Toropin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Three Marines were arrested Wednesday in relation to the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. All three Marines work in jobs connected to the intelligence community. All three Marines, who were arrested more than two years after the attack, work in jobs connected to the intelligence community. Records provided by the Marine Corps show that among his awards was a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, an unusual and prestigious medal for a junior Marine. However, the men are not the only members of the intelligence community to be arrested for their alleged part in the siege.

☆ Mud, mold, and destruction: California businesses face catastrophic damage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —At the end of a long wooden Southern California pier that juts out above the Pacific ocean sits the Wharf House. Powerful winter storms have unleashed heavy rain, wind, flooding and dangerous mudslides the likes of which California hasn’t seen in decades. An aerial view shows damage to the pier on which the Wharf House restaurant is located. Businesses digging outAbout 5 million people were under flood watches Wednesday as yet another atmospheric river brings more rain to California. “There was water damage, but luckily our floors are concrete and easy to clean and sanitize.

Though a tiny fraction of the nation's plantings, the previously unreported total represents the company's biggest ever release of hybrid wheat. NEARLY 100 YEARSFarmers have used hybrid seeds since the 1930s to grow corn, followed by other crops ranging from peanuts to tomatoes. Producing hybrid wheat seeds is still more complicated and expensive than conventional wheat. Hybrid wheat can produce more uniform results across fields than conventional wheat, and may deliver better yields on poor soil, Hankey said. Syngenta projected in 2015 that its annual sales of hybrid wheat seeds could potentially reach $3 billion by 2032.

☆ Qatar 2022: World Cup fans acclimatise to desert accommodation -- in tents and portacabins
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Doha, Qatar CNN —As fans trickle into Qatar, they’re understandably in holiday mode as they look forward to the prospect of a desert World Cup. But where best to stay in a country that is geographically on a peninsula smaller than Connecticut and is the smallest World Cup host in history? Container living in the desert ... World Cup style. Some World Cup visitors, however, were less impressed with what was on offer. With just two days to go until the first match, the nation is putting the final touches to its preparations as it braces itself for a World Cup like no other.

Web Summit, the sector’s annual bash held in Lisbon, is doing the opposite. And the usual welter of tech companies, investors and celebrities are still milling around. That new strain of reality-based tech investing has a lot further to go, though. The relative lack of investor focus at Web Summit on new technologies that could really move the dial, such as ways to ease climate change, is striking. The sector, Smith told Breakingviews, will increasingly “influence what people talk about and who comes to Web Summit”.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Argentina set to permit wheat export delays amid drought - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Maximilian Heath | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A government source with direct knowledge of the matter said that measures to permit wheat shipment delays were "probable". Reuters GraphicsThe country's producers have already formally declared overseas sales of 2022/23 wheat of 8.9 million tonnes, official data shows. Argentina's domestic wheat consumption from the 2021/22 harvest totaled 7.6 million tonnes. Some 2 million tonnes of wheat were left unsold from 2021/22. There is an existing export cap of 10 million tonnes for the 2022/23 season's wheat harvest.

In a monthly cereal report, the French firm lowered its 2022 EU maize (corn) crop forecast to 50.4 million tonnes from 52.9 million projected in September. However, Strategie Grains raised its projection of EU maize imports in the current 2022/23 season following a recent rush of imports supported by a Black Sea corridor for Ukrainian shipments. Supply would remain dependant on the war situation in Ukraine, including the continuation of the shipping corridor, Strategie Grains added. It increased its forecast for EU maize imports in 2022/23 to 23.0 million tonnes from 21.4 million projected last month, with imports from Ukraine now expected at 12.8 million tonnes against 10.4 million forecast in September. For soft wheat, Strategie Grains raised its estimate of this year's harvest by 1.4 million tonnes to 125.5 million tonnes.

☆ 7.6 magnitude earthquake shakes Mexico on anniversary of 2 deadly quakes; at least 1 dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY — A magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Mexico’s central Pacific coast on Monday, killing at least one person and setting off a seismic alarm in the rattled capital on the anniversary of two earlier devastating quakes. People remain in the street after an earthquake in Mexico City on Sept. 19, 2022. The U.S. Tsunami Warning Center said that hazardous tsunami waves were possible for coasts within 186 miles of the epicenter. Humberto Garza stood outside a restaurant in Mexico City’s Roma neighborhood holding his 3-year son. Like many milling about outside after the earthquake, Garza said that the earthquake alarm sounded so soon after the annual simulation that he was not sure it was real.

☆ The night the Lord of the Skies got away
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-22 | by ( Noah Hurowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +38 min

It was May 1985, and Ramirez had only been with the Border Patrol for two and a half years. But he also knew that at the end of that road, just before the international port of entry, was a Border Patrol station. The Lord of the SkiesWithin a decade of that traffic stop, Amado would be the most significant drug trafficker in Mexico. It's the border," Ford told me recently when I reached him by phone. Ford and Amado didn't make a deal that night, but Ford said they agreed to "something tentative."

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