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☆ Seven out of ten UK households fear cost-of-living hit -NielsenIQ
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Scales to weigh loose fresh produce are seen in the UK supermarket Asda in Leeds, Britain, October 19, 2020. NielsenIQ said UK grocery sales on a value basis rose 7.6% in the four weeks to Jan. 28, due to an increase in food price inflation to 13.8%. However, volume sales fell 6.9% - the lowest volume growth recorded in over nine months, which reflects the concern shoppers have about cost-of-living increases, it said. It said Lidl overtook Morrisons to become the UK's fifth largest grocer with a market share of 8.9%. NielsenIQ said online's share of all FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) sales was 11.1% - similar to its share in the latter part of 2022.

☆ Pinterest shares plunge as much as 12% on fourth-quarter revenue miss and weak forecast
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pinterest shares sank as much as 12% after the company reported revenue that missed analyst expectations and issued a light forecast for the first quarter. Pinterest recorded net income of $17 million in the fourth quarter, but logged a net loss of $96 million for 2022. Its average revenue per user, or ARPU, for the U.S. and Canada region rose 6% in the fourth quarter to $7.60 from a year ago. Additionally, revenue in Alphabet's YouTube unit sank 8% year-over-year to $7.96 billion in the fourth quarter. Snap said its sales in the fourth quarter was slightly up year-over-year to $1.30 billion, which missed analyst expectations of $1.31 billion.

☆ My husband and I met in a Facebook group for singles and married less than a year after meeting. We just celebrated our 4th anniversary.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Micca Watkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Micca Watkins met her husband in a Facebook group for singles who love to travel. But a year later, in December 2017, I met my new husband in the unlikeliest of places: a Facebook group. My friends recommended I join a Facebook group for singles who love to travel. 8 months later we tied the knotWe started living together; he moved to Canada five months after we met in person. We are in awe of our life sometimes, and it all happened because we connected over our shared visions of life via a Facebook group.

☆ Bandwidth Challenges Limit Grocery Chains’ Technology Initiatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Grocery chains looking to deploy new technologies are running into internet bandwidth limitations because of aging hardware and remote locations. “The more you put in the store, the more bandwidth it requires,” said Mr. Kosla. Further investment, however, might be required if the company decides to tap more cutting-edge, bandwidth-heavy tech in the future, Mr. Kosla said. There are a couple reasons grocery stores might struggle with bandwidth, one of the biggest being their locations. In other instances, Mr. Watkins said he might work with technology providers to find ways for processing data with less bandwidth.

☆ Democratic Govs. Newsom, Pritzker push back on DeSantis after Florida blocks AP African American studies course
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Ron DeSantis after his administration blocked the teaching of an Advanced Placement course on African American studies. J.B. Pritzker is urging the College Board not to appease DeSantis, a likely 2024 Republican presidential candidate, and alter the course curriculum. DeSantis’ administration rejected the AP African American studies program in a letter this month to the College Board, which oversees AP classes. Pritzker meanwhile said that Illinois expects any AP course focused on African American studies "to include a factual accounting of history, including the role played by black queer Americans." The College Board said Tuesday it would release a new framework for the AP course, which it said has been under development since March.

☆ Mass Shootings in the U.S.: A Symptom of Despair - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Jillian Peterson | James Densley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +23 min

Seven killed and 46 injured in Highland Park, Ill., on July 4, 2022He suffered from severe back pain. Eight killed and seven injured in Indianapolis on April 15, 2021He was known for being paranoid with a short temper. Five killed and seven injured in Aurora, Ill., on Feb. 15, 2019He had expressed violent thoughts. Nine killed and seven injured in Red Lake, Minn., on March 21, 2005He had been noticeably depressed and angry at church. Seven killed and seven injured in Fort Worth on Sept. 15, 1999He killed his daughter’s cat because he was upset.

☆ Ben Crump plans to sue DeSantis over rejection of AP African American studies course
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump is expected to announce Wednesday that he intends to sue Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his administration's decision to block a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies from being taught in high schools. DeSantis' administration rejected the AP's African American studies program in a letter this month to the College Board, which oversees AP classes. On Tuesday, The College Board said it would release a new framework for the AP course, which it said has been under development since March. “We are glad the College Board has recognized that the originally submitted course curriculum is problematic, and we are encouraged to see the College Board express a willingness to amend,” Alex Lanfranconi, a spokesperson for the agency, said in a statement.

A jury on Monday convicted four members of the extremist group the Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy. The trial, which started Dec. 12, included testimony from Brian Ulrich, a member of the Oath Keepers’ Georgia chapter who had pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. ... I’m not afraid and I’m ready to f---ing go.”The four defendants were charged as part of the same seditious conspiracy case involving Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes that went to trial in October. Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, the leader of the group’s Florida chapter, were convicted of seditious conspiracy in November. The maximum sentence for seditious conspiracy — a rarely used Civil War era statute — is 20 years in federal prison.

☆ Liverpool and Chelsea play out stalemate, Everton woes continue
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Peter Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

All three sides are nine points off the top four, with Chelsea having played 20 games to Liverpool and Brentford's 19 apiece. Liverpool have failed to win any of their last three league games, while it is the first time they have failed to score in consecutive matches in the competition since March 2021. Chelsea are now without a win in their last six league games on the road, their longest comparable run in the competition since September-December 2015. They have collected just 15 points from their 20 league this season -- their fewest points won after 20 games of any league campaign in their history. They have 39 points and are third on goal difference ahead of Manchester United, who play leaders Arsenal on Sunday.

☆ WRAPUP Soccer-Liverpool and Chelsea play out stalemate, Everton woes continue
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Peter Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

All three sides are nine points off the top four, with Chelsea having played 20 games to Liverpool and Brentford's 19 apiece. Chelsea are now without a win in their last six league games on the road, their longest comparable run in the competition since September-December 2015. "We defended in the second half with passion and clear organisation, but we were too deep in these moments. Everton offered little in attack, with away supporters again calling for the club's board to resign throughout the clash. They have collected just 15 points from their 20 league this season -- their fewest points won after 20 games of any league campaign in their history.

☆ Google Cloud Introduces Shelf Inventory AI Tool for Retailers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Google Cloud said it has developed a new artificial intelligence tool designed to help big-box retailers better track the inventory on their shelves, aiming to improve a technology that has struggled to work well in the past. Google Cloud said Friday its algorithm can recognize and analyze the availability of consumer packaged goods products on shelves from videos and images provided by the retailer’s own ceiling-mounted cameras, camera-equipped self-driving robots or store associates. Google Cloud said its product is trained on a database of over a billion products, including images that are publicly available, licensed and provided directly by manufacturers. He said the Google Cloud product has shown above 90% accuracy during early tests in a Giant Eagle innovation lab, which is designed to replicate store conditions. For now Giant Eagle provides continuous feedback to Google Cloud about where the tool isn’t working so that it can fine-tune, he said.

☆ 9 things about sharks you saw in movies that are actually wrong, according to an expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Margaret Guzman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Here are facts that "Jaws," "Finding Nemo," and "The Meg" got wrong — and one that's right. NOAA fisheriesIt's those scales that make the shark nose the wrong target for a sucker punch. When Dory hits her nose, her blood goes straight into the shark's nose. So "Finding Nemo" hit the nail on the head when they showed blood actually going into the shark's nose, she said. Gerard Soury/Getty ImagesSharks in "Finding Nemo" might want to fight their urges to eat fish, but it's not in their nature.

☆ Musk’s Twitter restores accounts of prominent election deniers two years after Jan. 6 attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk’s Twitter has restored the accounts of two prominent election deniers who were banned from the platform following the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander’s account was restored on Monday. Alexander assumed a leadership role in the movement that discredited the 2020 election in the weeks leading up to January 6. Watkins played a central role in spreading conspiracy theories about voting machine and the 2020 election. An HBO documentary in 2021 identified Ron as potentially being the anonymous figure behind the conspiracy theory, an assertion that Ron has denied.

The first full-color image released from the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope is the sharpest infrared image of the distant universe ever produced, according to NASA. Space Telescope Science Institut / NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERONASA released the first batch of images from the tennis court-sized observatory to much fanfare in July. The exoplanet HIP 65426 b in different bands of infrared light, as seen from the James Webb Space Telescope. Back to the moonFifty years after the final Apollo moon mission, NASA took key steps toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface. Chinese officials have also said they intend to use the space station for space tourism and commercial space initiatives.

☆ Liverpool beat Aston Villa 3-1 to go sixth in league
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 26 (Reuters) - Liverpool beat Aston Villa 3-1 on Monday thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Stefan Bajcetic to go sixth in the Premier League during a game littered with chances. Striker Salah tapped in the visitors' opener in the fifth minute after a sublime passing move from marauding wing-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. Goalscoring opportunities came aplenty for both teams as they peppered each other with high balls over the defences. The result left Aston Villa in 12th place on 18 points, while Liverpool are on 25 points, one behind old rivals Manchester United in fifth but a daunting 12 behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, who were playing later on Monday. Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne, editing by Pritha SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hunter Biden hires attorney Abbe Lowell to beef up legal team
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Sarah Fitzpatrick | Sarah Fitzpatrick Is A Senior Investigative Producer | Story Editor For Nbc News. She Previously Worked For Cbs News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Hunter Biden has added a high-powered attorney to his legal team amid an ongoing federal probe and plans by Republicans to make him a key focus of investigations when they take control of the House next month. Abbe Lowell, of the firm Winston and Strawn, will be primarily responsible for coordinating Hunter Biden’s response to anticipated congressional oversight investigations, as well advising on other legal issues and overall strategy, an attorney for Hunter Biden told NBC News on Wednesday. "Hunter Biden has retained Abbe Lowell to help advise him and be part of his legal team to address the challenges he is facing,” the attorney, Kevin Morris, said. "Lowell is a well-known Washington based attorney has represented numerous public officials and high profile people in DOJ investigations and trials as well as Congressional Investigations. Mr. Lowell will handle congressional investigations and general strategic advice."

☆ Bankers not expecting quick recovery as IPO volumes plunge to lowest level since 2008
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | Echo Wang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

With questions swirling around monetary policy and the prospect of a looming recession, IPO advisers are not holding their breath on a near-term recovery in the equity capital markets. Global share sales plunged this year as the IPO market froze and hundreds of companies postponed stock market debuts, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and interest rate hikes from central banks weighed on the broader economy. “It’s all about rates - the price of money changed and it has affected everything," said James Palmer, head of EMEA equity capital markets (ECM) at Bank of America. A return by long-only investors to capital markets deals is seen as key for any recovery, after a year in which hedge funds have taken a lead role as buyers of new issuance. "When the stock market is going like this, people typically don't buy new issuance," said Joshua Bonnie, co-head of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett's global capital markets practice.

☆ Boies law firm makes odd moves in FTX case against Tom Brady, celebs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

That was apparently not what the Boies and Moskowitz firms were hoping. In mid-November, the firms filed the first of their three FTX lawsuits in federal court. On Nov. 21, the Boies and Moskowitz firms filed a second FTX class action, this time on behalf of non-U.S. FTX customers. The day after Bloom’s assignment to the case, the Moskowitz and Boies firms voluntarily dismissed the two previously-filed FTX class actions before Moore and Gayles. “As we got more cases, we filed more cases,” Moskowitz said.

☆ Deion Sanders is showing that upward mobility isn't just for white coaches
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Cecil Harris | Cecil Harris Is A Veteran Sports Journalist Whose Work Has Appeared In The New York Times | Usa Today | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Many are upset that the Black former superstar is leaving a Historically Black University where his leadership could continue to provide a solid foundation for young Black athletes. Sanders proved his ability in his first coaching job by making the Jackson State Tigers the best team among HBCUs. In his final game at Jackson State, Sanders will lead the Tigers against North Carolina Central University in the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17 in Atlanta. At each previous stop in Saban’s head coaching journey (University of Toledo, Michigan State University, Louisiana State University and the NFL’s Miami Dolphins), he may well have disappointed some players who signed on hoping he would stay. His son, Jackson State star quarterback Shedeur Sanders, is expected to do just that and follow his father.

☆ Analysis: Investors face dilemma as capital increases fill IPO void
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | Oliver Hirt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"This is a test as to whether shareholders want to support a company they know well already," he said. In contrast with a drought of initial public offerings (IPO), EMEA companies have raised an overall 33.3 billion euros ($34.99 billion) through capital increases so far this year. Meanwhile, fund managers' cash holdings stand at a near 21-year peak, according to poll data from Bank of America. "However, the market could see more firms turn to shareholders for funding given the rising cost of debt and changing outlook," he added. ($1 = 0.9517 euros)Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Crypto meltdown a boon for bankruptcy lawyers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Andrew Goudsward | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

“You’ve got to pay the gravedigger,” said Adam Levitin, a law professor at Georgetown University who specializes in bankruptcy law. Law firm billing rates are normally not public, but in bankruptcy cases lawyers for the debtor company must detail their billings and request a judge's approval for their fees. The lawyers are paid from the assets of a bankruptcy estate, and experts said judges rarely demand significant reductions in professional fees. Lawyers in the crypto cases must deal with a host of issues new to bankruptcy law, including whether digital assets deposited on a platform are owned by the customer or the platform itself, according to bankruptcy law experts. Levitin, a former member of the restructuring department at law firm Weil, Gotshal, & Manges, said such complex questions call for top-shelf lawyers.

☆ UK fresh food prices climb record 14.3% in November – BRC
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said fresh food prices were 14.3% higher this month than a year ago. Other food item prices surged at the fastest pace on record to 12.4% in November, up from 11.6% the month before, it said. Overall shop price inflation rose to 7.4%, a record for the index which started 17 years ago, and up from 6.6% in October. "Food prices have continued to soar, especially for meat, eggs and dairy, which have been hit by rocketing energy costs, and rising costs of animal feed and transport," she said. Market research firm NielsenIQ, which co-produces the data, said Christmas will become more expensive as higher prices are already forcing consumers to limit spending on non-essential items.

☆ U.S. Capitol riot sedition prosecutions won't get easier, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Prosecutors secured a victory when two key figures in last year's U.S. Capitol attack were convicted of seditious conspiracy. It marked the first time in nearly three decades that federal prosecutors won a conviction for seditious conspiracy. At the same time, co-defendants Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell were acquitted of seditious conspiracy, and the verdict was mixed on two other conspiracy charges. The obstruction and the seditious conspiracy charges each carry potential 20-year prison sentences. For example, the four defendants in the next Oath Keepers trial played secondary roles similar to the defendants acquitted of seditious conspiracy in the Rhodes trial.

☆ Guilty: Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy in the most significant January 6 case yet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A jury found Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes guilty of engaging in a seditious conspiracy. Three other members of the far-right group were found not guilty of joining in that conspiracy. Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy alongside Kelly Meggs, another member of the Oath Keepers. "Now, going forward, there are people higher up than the Oath Keepers who were potentially involved in the conspiracy," he told Insider. Just as he distanced himself from Oath Keepers who entered the Capitol, Rhodes sought to downplay the far-right group's references to quick reaction forces, or QRFs, in his testimony before jurors.

☆ Oath Keepers founder found guilty of seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 case
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Daniel Barnes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

WASHINGTON — A federal jury in Washington found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. All five defendants faced felony counts of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging their duties. Three of the defendants — Rhodes, Caldwell and Watkins — took the stand in their own defense, with Rhodes telling jurors it was "stupid" for Oath Keepers to go inside the Capitol. While three other Oath Keepers pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy, none of them testified during the trial. Four other Oath Keepers charged in conjunction with Rhodes — Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel and Ed Vallejo —are set to go to trial in early December.

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