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☆ Cracks begin to show in India's Himalayan building spree
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Krishn Kaushik | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

"Modern connectivity is also a guarantee of national security," Modi said at an election rally at a border village in October, where he said the new transport links would bring development to remote regions. India's ministries of highways and railway, which own the state-run companies building the road and rail projects, also did not respond. Hundreds of homes have sunk and cracked in an Indian tourist town close to the Himalayan border with China. Eight of the families neighbouring Butola have now left the village, their homes riven with cracks, villagers told Reuters. Officials halted road construction work near the town, fearful of a bigger collapse.

☆ Professor who predicted the 'great resignation' says quits will plateau in 2023—here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The "great resignation" will soon grind to a halt. Klotz coined the "great resignation" in May 2021 to describe the sudden wave of people quitting their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led many to re-think where, how and why we work. Companies are improving employee retentionTo attract talent in a perennially tight labor market, many employers have introduced flexible work arrangements, increased wages or revamped their benefits. The ripple effects of the "great resignation" prompted more companies to prioritize existing employees' well-being, whether it's through enhanced mental health resources or transitioning to a permanent hybrid model. In 2023, Klotz says he expects employers to double down on their efforts to attract and retain talent.

☆ Traders see inflation falling this year - JPMorgan survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Naomi Rovnick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Most traders believe global inflation has peaked, while potential recession has emerged as the main risk to markets this year, according to a survey released on Wednesday. JPMorgan's annual survey of institutional and professional trading clients found that 44% of the 835 respondents predicted inflation will decrease in 2023. "Inflation was the number one concern for the market for quite a while," said Scott Wacker, head of FICC e-commerce sales at JPMorgan. The majority of JPMorgan's survey respondents in Europe, where price rises are running at around 9%, believed inflation rates would decrease. Traders in the U.S., where headline consumer prices rose at a rate of to 6.5% in the year to December, mostly thought inflation would plateau from here, the survey showed.

☆ BP says demand for oil and gas will drop dramatically by 2050 in 'decisive shift'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An increasing focus on the need to slow global warming as extreme weather events become more common and obvious and citizens and customers demand action. Security: Newfound desire by countries around the globe to increase their energy security because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Newfound desire by countries around the globe to increase their energy security because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But in any of the three scenarios, the pace with which renewables enter the global energy system is "quicker than any previous fuel in history," the report said. Global demand for oil is expected to "plateau" for the coming decade before starting to fall off, BP said.

☆ Italy's Eni signs $8 billion Libya gas deal as PM Meloni visits Tripoli
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Gavin Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The deal, signed during a visit to Tripoli by Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, aims to increase gas output for the Libyan domestic market as well as exports, through the development of two offshore gas fields. Output will begin in 2026 and reach a plateau of 750 million cubic feet per day, Eni said in a statement. "This agreement will enable important investments in Libya's energy sector, contributing to local development and job creation while strengthening Eni's role as a leading operator in the country," said its chief executive, Claudio Descalzi. Meloni met Libya's Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, head of the internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli for talks that also focused on migration across the Mediterranean. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who oversees the migration issue for Rome, accompanied Meloni to Libya, as well as Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

☆ 10 things about ancient Egypt that movies and TV got wrong, according to an expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Carter Thallon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Movies and television shape what people think about ancient Egypt. Here are 10 things that "Moon Knight", "The Mummy", and others got wrong and one they got right. When it comes to ancient Egypt, they can draw the portrait of pharaohs ruling Egypt with an iron fist, cruel torture, and wicked booby-trapped pyramids. "All of the sarcophagi that I've seen in Egypt were made of stone," said Browder, an author of several books on ancient Egypt. The curse that set Imhotep on his murderous path in "The Mummy" has no historical basisIn "The Mummy," Imhotep was mummified alive.

☆ European markets head for higher open ahead of flash PMI data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Surging inflation may appear largely in the past, but a shift to a 25 basis point hike at the next Federal Reserve policy meeting is a "mistake," according to Allianz Chief Economic Adviser Mohamed El-Erian. "'I'm in a very, very small camp who thinks that they should not downshift to 25 basis points, they should do 50," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. Inflation, he said, has shifted from the goods to the services sector, but could very well resurge if energy prices rise as China reopens. El-Erian expects inflation to plateau around 4%. "That's probably the best outcome," he said of the latter.

☆ Consumer Prices Plateau as Inflation Slows to Prepandemic Levels
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Danny Dougherty | Nate Rattner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After a period of steep inflation, Americans have seen monthly price growth ease, but when will things get back to normal? The inflation benchmark, measuring price growth over a year, hit a 40-year high in June after months of sustained price increases. Since then, monthly gains have slowed. While December 2022 prices were up 6.5% from a year earlier, a Wall Street Journal analysis of Labor Department data indicates that annual growth has eased to levels that existed before the pandemic. Inflation observed during the past six months would extend to prices rising 1.9% over the course of a year, close to the average annual rate of 1.7% between 2010 and 2020.

☆ NHL roundup: Steven Stamkos nets No. 500 as part of hat trick
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY SportsJanuary 19 - Steven Stamkos recorded a hat trick that included his 500th NHL goal, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-2 road win over the host Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. With the three goals, Stamkos moves into a tie for 45th on the all-time goals list, joining Hall of Famer Joe Mullen with 502 career goals. 501 for Stamkos came less than 10 minutes later, and he completed the hat trick with an empty-netter late in the third period. Nick Bonino had a goal and an assist and Timo Meier, Steven Lorentz and Logan Couture also scored goals for the Sharks. Jason Robertson, Ty Dellandrea and Radek Faksa scored goals for Dallas, Miro Heiskanen added two assists and Jake Oettinger stopped 23 shots.

☆ Italy’s Friuli region is one of Europe’s best kept secrets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Silvia Marchetti | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

With 13 natural reserves and the pristine park of the Friuli Dolomite Mountains, the region lures tourists seeking to connect with nature or explore the outdoors. There’s also the spellbinding Grotta Gigante, or Giant Cave, one of the world’s largest tourist caverns. Golden beachesThe Grotta Gigante is one of the world's largest tourist caverns. Trieste boasts an unusual segregated beach, with origins dating back several centuries. “Residents are very fond and proud of this place,” says Trieste local Maria Bonacci.

☆ Idea of de-globalization is a 'mirage,' says historian Niall Ferguson
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Historian Niall Ferguson gives a speech at a gala dinner in Hong Kong. Ferguson argued at the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos that the world is not experiencing major de-globalization. The idea that a major trend of de-globalization has begun is a "mirage" that is not borne out by data, according to the historian Niall Ferguson. This is "just history happening," he said on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It would be surprising if that series of events hadn't produced structural changes in the way the world economy worked, Ferguson said.

☆ Investors piled a record $12.6 billion into wellness apps during the pandemic. Now they're starting to bet on startups tackling mental illnesses.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The COVID-19 pandemic created a wellness boom across Europe, with mindfulness apps growing rapidly. VCs pumped a record $771 million into European startups tackling mental illnesses in 2021, per Dealroom. But psychologists have been clear that they are not substitutes for clinically-approved treatments for mental health conditions. Now, there is a new wave of startups looking to move beyond wellness and tackle mental illnesses. "The scale of the problem of mental illnesses became evident after COVID-19," Joseph Zipfel, chief investment officer at SFC, told Insider.

☆ Netflix will air SAG Awards in another step into live broadcasting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Netflix will exclusively air this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards show in its first partnership with an awards show and its next step into live broadcasting. The SAG Awards, which will take place Feb. 26, will air live on Netflix's YouTube channel, but not the streamer's own platform. Netflix aims to broadcast the awards show on its actual service in 2024, according to a company spokesperson. Since 2007, the SAG Awards has aired on both TNT and TBS, channels owned by Warner Bros. Discovery parted ways with the SAG Awards in May as the newly merged company restructured.

☆ Biden says U.S. economy headed to 'new plateau,' amid recession fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While investors, many economists and some CEOs have warned recently that a U.S. recession is due in 2023, the Biden administration considers it unlikely, in part because of federal spending. "We're the only country in the world who's come out of the crisis stronger than we went in." read moreSt. Louis Federal Reserve leader James Bullard said Thursday that the risk of a U.S. recession has fallen in recent weeks. The Federal Reserve predicts 0.5% growth in 2023, for example. Biden's upbeat comments came as Wall Street's main indexes closed more than 1% lower, with evidence of a tight labor market eating away at any hopes investors had that the Federal Reserve could soon pause its rate hike cycle.

☆ Fangtooth oil discovery may justify Guyana's 7th platform, Hess CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HOUSTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The Fangtooth oil discovery in Guyana's waters is big enough to potentially require a platform for itself, which would be the seventh in the country, Hess Corp (HES.N) Chief Executive Office John Hess said in a conference on Thursday. The six units will lead to an estimated output of 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas per day by 2027, Hess said. "Fangtooth itself could potentially be the seventh boat," Hess said at a Goldman Sachs energy conference. Hess' operations in Guyana and the Bakken basin in the United States, will take up 80% of the $3.7 billion the company plans to invest this year, the CEO said. The United States can lift total oil production to 13 million to 13.5 million bpd before output plateaus, Hess said.

☆ Here's the difference between your healthspan and lifespan—plus, how your diet factors in
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

For decades, scientists have studied lifespan to determine the impact of the factors that dictate how humans age. Lifespan and healthspan will always overlap in some way, but there is a major difference between the two, says Alan Cohen, associate professor at the Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University. Here's how each term is defined and how diet may play a role in lengthening them both, according to Cohen. Healthspan vs. lifespan: What's the difference? There are different aging metrics, so one diet won't decrease aging across the board.

☆ 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.

☆ Viral chatbot ChatGPT will be overhyped, then overlooked, and then, perhaps, essential
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Emerging technology like ChatGPT is usually called overhyped until it becomes essential. ChatGPT lets users ask its bot questions or give it prompts using GPT-3, an impressive piece of natural-language-processing AI tech. ChatGPT and the Gartner Hype CycleIn layman's terms, ChatGPT is a chatbot using GPT-3, a state-of-the-art AI model that uses a massive amount of data to generate humanlike text. It's all very exciting and new, which is where the Gartner Hype Cycle, from the tech-research and consulting firm Gartner, comes in handy. To be sure, the rise of generative AI and more forms of ChatGPT aren't assured.

☆ Black women are worn out from discrimination in corporate America. They're leaving to launch their own businesses, creating a hole for talent across industries.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Alexandra York | Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Black women are being pushed out of corporate America by microaggressions, belittling, and burnout. Their departures are likely to hurt innovation and profits in corporate America. For Black women facing disrespect on the job, those pledges of a more equitable workplace can seem hollow. Insider spoke with Stewart and two other Black women who've left the corporate world since 2020 to start their own businesses. They're among those making Black women the nation's fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs.

☆ Just How Bad Is the ‘Tripledemic’?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Amy Schoenfeld Walker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

R.S.V., or respiratory syncytial virus, has made so many young children ill this fall that weekly pediatric hospitalizations for R.S.V. Public health officials have been warning for weeks that a “tripledemic” of Covid-19, flu and R.S.V. Weekly hospitalizations for Covid-19, R.S.V. With flu surging and Covid-19 circulating, respiratory illness has overwhelmed pediatric units across the country, shifting the strain to emergency rooms and children’s hospitals. The predominant type of flu circulating right now, a subtype of influenza A known as H3, also tends to result in higher flu hospitalizations among the elderly, according to the C.D.C.

☆ Equinor boosts Johan Sverdrup oil output
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

OSLO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL) said on Thursday it had begun pumping oil from the second phase of its giant Johan Sverdrup development, sharply boosting output from Europe's biggest producing field. "At plateau, the (full) Johan Sverdrup field will produce 720,000 barrels of oil daily, aiming to rise to 755,000 barrels per day," Equinor said in a statement. "Johan Sverdrup alone can thus meet 6-7% of the daily oil demand in Europe," it added. Until now, the Sverdrup field has produced around 535,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Equinor. Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje SolsvikOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Of seven new dams planned in Laos, at least four are co-financed by Chinese companies, according to Mekong Dam Monitor data. 'WAKE-UP CALL'Farmers in the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta region were not prepared for the speed at which their landscape - and fortunes - have changed. The Mekong River Commission estimated in 2018 that total sediment flow by now would be around 47 million tonnes per year. "Mainstream dams catch everything," said economist Brian Eyler at the Stimson Center, which runs the Mekong Dam Monitor. The Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams in Laos are the most recent to come online, with Xayaburi the largest on the entire Mekong River.

☆ Indian, Chinese troops suffer minor injuries in clash on Dec 9: Indian army
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Indian and Chinese troops suffered minor injuries in a clash in the Tawang sector of India's Arunachal Pradesh state on Dec. 9, the Indian army said on Monday, the first such incident since the deadly clash between the two neighbours in June 2020. An Indian foreign ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, while a defence spokesperson declined to comment on injuries sustained by Indian or Chinese soldiers during the skirmish. Neither the Chinese foreign ministry nor its embassy in New Delhi responded to a request seeking comment. In June 2020, Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh, abutting the Chinese-held Tibetan plateau. The incident led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers, while China suffered an undisclosed number of casualties.

☆ Institutions are charging forward in crypto, even in the industry's darkest days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

After years of pooh-poohing cryptocurrency, institutions finally entered the crypto market last year and fell straight into crypto winter. "Right now [investors] are going back to basics, doing their homework, finding out what this means," said Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy. Near-term risk Institutions often look at big crashes like this one as opportunities , Alden said. "FTX destroyed trust in the industry and may delay traditional finance institutions that haven't already committed to digital assets to invest," Belshe said. However, for "institutions and brands that are already building products in crypto and Web3, we have not seen a slowdown of interest to build, grow and invest."

☆ The Fed may wreck one of the greatest booms in history of Main Street America
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

As interest rates rise, inflation lingers and home equity that many business founders use to get started shrinks, small business formations are doing something unexpected – they're rising. If the data persists, the resilience in small business formation points to a "new plateau" of activity that may add millions of jobs to the economy, Haltiwanger says. But the risks include the Fed itself choking off financial conditions so much that the small business boom is smothered. Danny Sweis opened his in the summer of 2022. If that lasts, that means 4 million per year, offset by 2.5 million lost as other small businesses close.

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