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☆ After prison, getting banking services is hard. This startup wants to change that.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

FRSH is a banking solution for the formerly incarcerated community. "We are justice-impacted and we know this is the best solution," Sam told Insider. FRSH offers banking products and services to help returning citizens — those who have been released from jails and prisons, per the US Department of Justice — establish financial stability. Sam, Daniel Feldman, and Chris Heckler, all of whom were formerly incarcerated, founded the fintech. The startup also trains caseworkers and case managers to teach financial-education courses and offer FRSH as a banking solution for returning citizens.

☆ Austria: Hitler speech and Nazi slogans played on train's loudspeakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Inke Kappeler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Nazi slogans such as “Heil Hitler” and “Sieg heil” were also heard via the train’s intercom, according to several passengers on the train. “Someone has illegally opened the intercom with a duplicate key and played a Hitler speech over a loudspeaker,” a spokesperson for the rail operator ÖBB told CNN on Monday. ‘Completely helpless’After hearing the broadcast of Hitler’s speech, David Stögmüller, member of Austria’s upper house of parliament, tweeted a video of himself expressing disbelief. “Could you please enlighten us as to why an entire train” heard Hitler’s speech, she asked. Speaking to CNN, Schmidt said Hitler’s speech was about 20 seconds long, followed by the Nazi slogans, and that the recording was on a loop.

☆ See inside one of Europe's fastest high-speed trains, which bolts at 186 miles per hour and serves meals in first class
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

…as well as two meals included in the fare, which has options like broccoli mousse, a waffle pastry, fish with veggies, or a rice dish — though the menu rotates. Examples of the food and drinks included in the Thalys first class ticket. Taylor Rains/Insider

☆ End of Title 42 immigration policy has brought fewer migrants than expected, but overcrowding concerns remain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Nouran Salahieh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

David Peinado Romero/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Migrants carry a baby in a suitcase across the Rio Grande on May 10. Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images Migrants wait to get paid after washing cars at a gas station in Brownsville on May 10. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images Migrants surrender to US Border Patrol agents after crossing the border in Yuma on May 10. Paul Ratje/Reuters Migrants wait to be processed by US Border Patrol agents in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on April 26. Hudak warned in the filing that without measures to conditionally release some migrants, Border Patrol could have over 45,000 migrants in custody by the end of the month.

☆ BlackRock CEO Fink trains successors, with no imminent plan to retire -WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 13 (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink has been preparing five key leaders to take his role whenever he decides to step down in the future, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Though Fink has no imminent plans to retire, he along with President Robert Kapito has been training these candidates for "The Great Race" - to choose the successor - in what Fink calls is the "No. Fink told the newspaper he hoped to build camaraderie among the five, and not competition, so they will keep working together. BlackRock said it plans no major changes to the way it engages with companies. Reporting by Baranjot Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

DETROIT, May 10 (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) will consolidate North American sales operations for commercial vehicles, parts and telematics services under a new brand umbrella, GM Envolve, that will compete with Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Ford Pro unit and others for revenue from business vehicle fleets. GM executives said the reorganization is aimed at making it easier for commercial fleet customers to negotiate electric and combustion vehicle purchases and sign up for services and software offerings that GM is developing to generate revenue after the vehicle sale. GM is battling with Ford and Stellantis NV for a bigger share of the commercial fleet market. Ford created its Ford Pro commercial fleet unit in May 2021, and is aiming to increase its annual revenue to $45 billion by 2025, driven in part by software-enabled services. Both Ford and GM say they are leaders in commercial fleet sales, using different definitions of the market.

☆ Advocates want to spend $11 billion to fix Austin's crappy public-transit system. But many critics say the price tag is too high for a system hardly anyone will use.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Officials say an $11 billion public-transit plan could make Austin safer, greener, and more affordable. Austinites voted to approve Project Connect in 2020 when its total price tag was $7.1 billion. However, nearly 50% of the riders of MetroRail — the city's current rail system — earn more than $60,000 a year. Public-transit advocates say the plan is worth the costSupporters of Project Connect are open to lowering its price tag. But on a larger scale, Project Connect supporters say that public transportation provides better access to healthcare, education, employment, and affordable housing.

☆ Ted Cruz accused JD Vance of empowering 'the radical Green Movement' by aligning with Democrats on a bill to prevent rail disasters like the East Palestine crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, proposed the Rail Safety Act in March. "All of us were moved by the testimony of the witnesses" from East Palestine, Cruz said. "We cannot undo the psychological, economic, and physical toll of the derailment in East Palestine," Vance noted, but "there will be another East Palestine in this country if we do not pass the Railway Safety Act." "I earnestly hoped that we would reach a bipartisan consensus," Cruz said, but "this bill is overly and needlessly prescriptive." Nonetheless, Cruz doubted the bill would pass the Senate with 60 votes, let alone the House.

[1/2] A Ford Ranger Raptor is seen at a Ford event in Michigan, U.S., May 5, 2023. REUTERS/Joe WhiteDETROIT, May 10 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Wednesday unveiled the latest addition to its muscle truck franchise - a Ranger Raptor midsize pickup with a 405-horsepower engine and a suspension designed for racing across the desert, made possible in part by Ford's electric vehicles. But a Ranger Raptor will start at $56,960, Ford said. Ford is also ramping up production of its Mustang Mach-E, Ford F-150 Lightning and Transit electric vehicles - generating credits that allow it to sell more high-performance, combustion vehicles such as the Ranger Raptor, the Bronco Raptor and the F-150 Raptor. "We're doing it through a portfolio of products" that includes electric vehicles and a hybrid Maverick pickup, Baumbick said.

☆ These maps show how far China's freight railways are stretching across Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — In the last two years, China has announced the opening of new freight train lines, while cross-border railways have become a feature in President Xi Jinping's meetings with regional leaders. Here's a look at where the rail lines are being built across the Asian continent. In the last six months, China also opened freight train lines to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, according to state media. Those freight lines are in addition to China's relatively older rail network through central Asia — connecting Yiwu in eastern China to London. While it's difficult to verify how operational all the rail lines are, official reports offer a glimpse at how China's Belt and Road ambitions are panning out.

☆ I made $221K in passive income after quitting my corporate job to go into real estate. Here's how I built up my portfolio to 38 properties.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Robin Madell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Erika Brown is a real estate investor who made six figures in passive income in a year. I'm a self-made real estate investor who trains Black and Brown folks, especially women, to invest in real estate to build passive income and close the racial wealth gap. Through my corporate job and speaking with executive clients, I learned that many higher-ups owned real estate. Time is a concern for many, especially because passive income is supposed to be passive. The reality is that many forms of passive income do take time and effort to establish on the front end.

☆ Uber customers in the UK will be able to book flights on its app by the summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

On Wednesday, Uber rolled out the ability to book flights to select customers in the UK. Uber is adding a new addition to its app that lets customers book plane tickets, the Financial Times first reported. It will be rolled out to all UK users this summer as part of its ambitions to create a "super app" for public transport. "Over the last 12 months with the addition of rail, coach, and now flight bookings, Uber is truly a one-stop travel solution." Brem told the newspaper that the launch of commercial flight bookings was "the latest and most ambitious step" in its goal to expand Uber into a larger travel app.

☆ Migrants risk life and limb to jump Mexico trains in rush to border
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jose Luis Gonzalez | Gustavo Graf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

I doubt it,” said Romario Solano, 23, a Venezuelan, while waiting for hours in baking sun near the trash-strewn rail tracks in Huehuetoca. For years, mainly Central Americans have crisscrossed Mexico on cargo trains, dubbing them collectively “La Bestia” (The Beast) due to the risk of injury, even death, if they fell off. The latest wave of people aboard “La Bestia” are largely poor Venezuelans, including families with small children, mostly aiming to reach Ciudad Juarez, opposite the Texan city of El Paso. “There are hundreds of people arriving every day,” said migrant activist Guadalupe Gonzalez last week in the central city of Irapuato, where the train makes a stop. “We hadn’t seen so many migrants passing through here like this before.”During the past month, as many as 700 people were trying to board per day, she said.

Farmers in Poland and other eastern European countries who held out for higher prices have been hit by a perfect storm. A jump in exports from Brazil and Russia helped to drive global grain prices lower while the EU opened its borders to tariff-free Ukrainian grain imports in a show of solidarity after Russia blocked the country's Black Sea ports. After opening its borders to Ukrainian grain, Poland imported 2.08 million tonnes of maize and 579,315 tonnes of wheat last year, up from just 6,269 tonnes of maize and 3,033 tonnes of wheat in 2021. If the grain corridor due to expire this month were to collapse, Ukrainian farmers would have little option but to send all their grain exports through eastern Europe. European wheat prices hit post-harvest highs in October 2022 of more than 350 euros a tonne but since then prices have dropped to pre-invasion levels of about 235 euros.

☆ Factbox: Why does Russia celebrate Victory Day on May 9, and what does it mean for Putin?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Victory Day is one of Russia's most important public holidays. WHEN WAS THE FIRST VICTORY DAY? In Moscow it was already May 9, which became the Soviet Union's "Victory Day". The Soviet Union celebrated the 20th and 40th anniversaries of Victory Day with Red Square parades in 1965 and 1985. Under Putin, Victory Day increasingly became a muscular display not only of marching battalions but also of Russia's latest weaponry, including warplanes, tanks, and nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.

☆ UBS shares its 5 top takeaways for investors from Berkshire Hathaway's 'best annual meeting in years' — including how Warren Buffett's successor will take over
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Berkshire Hathaway had a successful annual meeting following its Q1 earnings report. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had its "best annual meeting in years" over the weekend, according to UBS analyst Brian Meredith — and it wasn't just because of its strong earnings report. 5 top takeaways from Berkshire Hathaway's annual meetingStrong earnings results were just one impressive component from Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting. "We viewed Berkshire's 2023 annual meeting as the best in several years with quality questions and insightful answers," Meredith wrote. After BNSF undershot on volumes and suffered from higher compensation costs, Berkshire investors may start to wonder if the company would reconsider its stance against PSR.

☆ Tech's been hit by layoffs. But Singapore is still investing big in its talent — in tech and beyond
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Audrey Wan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Demand for individuals with specialized tech talent isn't limited to the tech sector, says Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority. "This has been a consequence of tech companies anchoring and growing their higher-value tech development and corporate functions here," he said. Tech 'powers all the big banks'In finance, technology is the engine that "powers all the big banks," said Donald MacDonald, OCBC head of group data. and deep tech," MacDonald said. Specialized tech skills

☆ New York City choking death revives debate over subway crime
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Julia Harte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The overall subway crime rate spiked in April 2020, as COVID-19 gripped New York, but city statistics show the daily rate fell back to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2021. Robbery and grand larceny, the other most common types of major subway crime, dropped during the same period. But the data does not show how often the assailants or victims are homeless, according to Herrmann. "The problem is people are conflating homelessness with crime," said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director at Riders Alliance, a grassroots organization that advocates for city subway reform. Republican Lee Zeldin highlighted grisly city subway crimes in last year's gubernatorial election, prompting Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul to also focus on anti-crime policies in her campaign.

☆ Weird and wonderful trains that break the rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ben Jones | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Here’s a selection of unusual railways that break the rules in order to reach the places other trains can’t roll. The single rails carrying the trains are supported by a series of 486 steel portals weighing almost 20,000 tonnes in total. It is the oldest continuously operating pier railway in the world. Six miles of the route are along a rural railway line, with the rest in bus mode. Katoomba Scenic Railway, AustraliaNot far from the wonderful city of Sydney is a railway experience unlike anything else in the world.

☆ Elon Musk's Tesla tunnels are a 'fake alternative' to solve traffic but if he made them for subways we'd all be better off, expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A journalist argues that Musk could use The Boring Company to make public transportation cheaper. This includes solving traffic by moving transportation underground through car tunnels or building a successful hyperloop. And Musk has often been explicit that traditional public transportation options, like subways, would not be a part of his vision. The Boring Company has also put its controversial hyperloop plans to the side. The Boring Company did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Russia to hold Victory Day parade amid tight security after drone attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Gareth Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Russian service members march in columns before a rehearsal for a military parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia May 7, 2023. Russia is also reeling from drone attacks, including one on the Kremlin on May 3 which it said was an attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. Putin has repeatedly likened the Ukraine war - which he casts as a battle against "Nazi"-inspired nationalists - to the challenge the Soviet Union faced when Hitler invaded in 1941. Kyiv says this is absurd and accuses Russia of behaving like Nazi Germany by waging an unprovoked war of aggression and seizing Ukrainian territory. However, reflecting increased security concerns caused partly by the drone attacks, authorities have cancelled the traditional flyover.

“Our feet frozen, frozen, – the whole body frozen.”A tent encampment is seen along a street in Ciudad Juárez. Janeysi Games sits under a blanket strung to a wall to provide shade in Ciudad Juárez. “I want to cross, but not illegally,” said Janeysi Games, who reached Ciudad Juárez with her husband and daughter after taking a series of trains. A fire in Ciudad Juárez several weeks ago has made matters even harder, she said. And with more and more people arriving all the time in Ciudad Juárez, they will not be the last.

☆ Video shows police yelling at a driverless Waymo taxi to stop before it runs over a fire hose
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Footage obtained by San Francisco news site Mission Local shows police trying to stop a Waymo driverless taxi. The driverless taxis ferrying passengers throughout San Francisco are a technological marvel — and sometimes a nuisance. Waymo operates autonomous taxis in San Francisco and Phoenix, and customers can hail rides through an app. As impressive as they are, the driverless taxis on roads today still have trouble reacting to unusual situations like blocked streets or commands from first responders. A recent viral Tik Tok video shows a police officer repeatedly gesturing for a Waymo taxi to pull over.

☆ Security worries overshadow Russia's Victory Day preparations
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Gareth Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But several Russian regions have already scaled back events, citing concerns that they could be targeted by pro-Ukrainian saboteurs. The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, more than any other country. Putin's office linked what it called the "terrorist" drone attack on the Kremlin in the early hours of May 3 to the Victory Day parade, which takes place below the walls of the ancient citadel. Kyiv has said it expects increased efforts by Russian forces to take the devastated eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut ahead of Moscow's Victory Day celebrations. In Soviet times, Victory Day commemorations were more low-key, with the emphasis on honouring veterans and their huge sacrifices, which are seared into older Russians' folk memory.

[1/4] People wait to watch Britain's King Charles' procession to his coronation ceremony from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, at The Mall in London, Britain May 6, 2023. From the early hours, people dressed in red, white and blue and clutching union flags lined the streets to watch the crowning of King Charles, the first coronation in Britain for 70 years that will be marked by a vast display of pomp and pageantry. But polls show the public generally approves of Charles as king and a majority still support the monarchy, even if younger people are far less interested. By 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) crowds on the grand Mall boulevard leading up to Buckingham Palace were 20-deep in places, with many wearing paper crowns and waving flags. "I think regardless of his age the king will reach out to younger people, I think he'll be more connected to the youth than the queen," he said.

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