Latest News

See the latest news and get GPT analysis of articles

Red Lobster is closing nearly 50 restaurants. Here's where they're located. 2024-05-14 21:46:00+00:00 - Red Lobster is closing at least 48 of its restaurants Red Lobster is closing at least 48 of its restaurants 00:17 Red Lobster is closing at more than 50 of its restaurants across the country, according to a company that helps businesses liquidate restaurant equipment. Neal Sherman, CEO of TAGeX Brands, promoted a "Winner Takes All" liquidation sale of "fixtures, furniture and equipment" in a video posted Monday on LinkedIn that included a link for those who wished to bid. Red Lobster has consistently lost money for years. In an attempt to boost traffic at its restaurants, the company last year expanded its all-you-can-eat shrimp deal. Customers' appetites, however, ate into profits as demand overwhelmed what the chain could afford, resulting in financial losses. Rumblings of a possible bankruptcy emerged this spring when the company tapped Jonathan Tibus as its new chief executive. Tibus is a managing partner at advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal and is known for restructuring corporate entities. As recently as last month, Red Lobster was seeking a buyer in hopes the company could avoid bankruptcy, CNBC reported. Red Lobster's owner, Thai Union, first invested in Red Lobster in 2016 and upped its stake in 2020. In January, the company announced plans to sell its minority stake. CEO Thiraphong Chansiri said the pandemic, higher interest rates, rising material and labor costs have all played a role in Red Lobster's poor financial performance. Red recorded a $19 million loss in the first nine months of last year, Thai Union said in a statement. Red Lobster and Thai Union didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. As of Tuesday morning, auctions for 48 locations were still live after another four sales closed Monday, TAGeX Brands told The Associated Press via email. Red Lobster's roots date back to 1968, when the first restaurant opened in Lakeland, Florida. In the decades following, the chain expanded rapidly. Red Lobster currently touts more than 700 locations worldwide. Following are the 48 restaurants that Red Lobster has closed. Alabama 1805 Opelika Highway in Auburn 2027 Beltline Road Southwest in Decatur California 1345 Dana Drive in Redding 6440 Redwood Drive in Rohnert Park 1400 Howe Avenue in Sacramento 8330 Mira Mesa Boulevard in San Diego 21233 Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance Colorado 8268 East Northfield Boulevard in Denver 810 South Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood 9067 Westview Road in Lone Tree 4455 Wadsworth Boulevard in Wheat Ridge Florida 340 West State Road 436 in Altamonte Springs 6910 West Newberry Road in Gainesville 1750 West 49th Street in Hialeah 10500 East Ulmerton Road in Largo 8003 Golden Sky Lane in Orlando Georgia 1956 West Broad Street in Athens 1050 Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell 2105 Veterans Boulevard in Dublin Idaho 2115 Thain Grade in Lewiston Illinois 391 West Army Trail Road in Bloomingdale 3217 Vermilion Street in Danville Indiana 1752 North Shadeland Avenue in Indianapolis 3009 Brittany Court in Elkhart Iowa 3040 Dial Drive in Council Bluffs 941 East San Marnan Drive in Waterloo Maryland 15700 Shady Grove Road in Gaithersburg 9011 Snowden Square Drive in Columbia 8533 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring 14368 Baltimore Avenue in Laurel Michigan 4220 24th Avenue in Fort Gratiot Mississippi 3897 Promenade Parkway in D'Iberville New York 4010 Maple Road in Amherst 1 Miron Lane in Kingston 655 West Jefferson Road in Rochester New Jersey 303 NJ-10 in Ledgewood North Dakota 2675 32nd Avenue South in Grand Forks Oklahoma 3112 Northwest Cache Road in Lawton South Carolina 10000 Highway 17 North, Myrtle Beach Texas 104 Texas 332 in Lake Jackson 3515 McCann Road in Longview 7835 Interstate 35 South in San Antonio Virginia 119 Temple Lake Drive in Colonial Heights 2100 Richmond Road in Williamsburg 12580 Jefferson Avenue in Newport News Washington State 3208 Northwest Randall Way in Silverdale Wisconsin 2801 North Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa 3333 State Road 16 in La Crosse —The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Why are hundreds of Teslas parked outside a dying shopping mall? A local news station solved the mystery. 2024-05-14 21:31:21+00:00 - By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Chesterfield Mall, set to shut down in October, has become an unexpected parking lot for hundreds of Tesla vehicles over the last few months. The Teslas, including Cybertrucks, parked outside of the Chesterfield, Missouri, shopping spot puzzled people passing by, especially as the number of EVs seemed to increase over time. A couple of weeks ago, local news station KTVI solved the mystery. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. According to the report, Tesla is storing unsold vehicles at the mall until it shuts down. Advertisement Michael Staenberg, the president of The Staenberg Group, which owns the Chesterfield Mall, confirmed with BI that dozens of Tesla Cybertrucks, along with brand new Tesla Model Ys and Model 3s in various colors, are stored in the lot outside the mall. Staenberg said Tesla has occupied the space for about six or seven months and can stay until the mall closes in October. He said at least 90 groups are using space at the mall for different purposes before it closes. "One of our users happens to be Tesla, who does have a dealership in the Valley, but does not have enough capacity at the dealership to park all of the cars they are bringing in," senior vice president of leasing and development at The Staenberg Group Tim Lowe, told KTVI. "So they are renting space within the parking lot to store their cars." Related stories Tesla has a dealership about 2.5 miles away from Chesterfield Mall. Staenberg said 300 to 400 Teslas are stored in the parking lot. Advertisement Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Inventory lots aren't uncommon Tesla isn't the only car brand to store its unsold vehicles outside a dealership. Excess vehicles are often stored at factory lots close to manufacturing facilities, port facilities, distribution centers, transit compounds, and rail yards. Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne stores vehicles before transporting them to dealers or other facilities. General Motors also has a centralized distribution facility in Grand Blanc, Michigan, where it replenishes inventory. Advertisement EV makers are struggling with oversupply Electric vehicle sales across the industry have taken a hit as demand weakens — and Tesla is no exception. Over the past year, Tesla significantly lowered the prices of its EVs, which resulted in lower profits. Cox Automotive previously said in August 2023, there were nearly twice as many EVs as gas cars sitting at dealer lots. Around the same time, more EVs were being produced than ever before, forcing dealers to turn them down because inventory was piling up. Tesla reported its first year-over-year decline in quarterly deliveries last quarter. The EV giant sold about 386,800 cars in the first quarter of 2024, which was about 90,000 fewer than investors expected. Advertisement That's 20.1% lower from the fourth quarter of 2023 and 8.4% down from a year ago. It also marked the company's lowest quarterly performance since 2022. Tesla cited several reasons for a drop in deliveries, including challenges ramping up production of the new Model 3, an arson attack at its factory near Berlin, and supply-chain disruptions linked to the conflict near the Red Sea.

Tesla is sued over air pollution from factory operations in Fremont, California 2024-05-14 21:14:00+00:00 - Tesla is being sued by the nonprofit Environmental Democracy Project, which alleges "ongoing failure to comply with the Clean Air Act" at the electric vehicle company's assembly plant in Fremont, California. In the suit, filed in federal court in San Francisco on Monday, the environmental group accused Tesla of violating that law "hundreds of times since January 2021, emitting harmful pollution into the neighborhoods surrounding the Factory." While Tesla has long touted the climate benefits of driving EVs, its manufacturing practices have been decried by environmentalists for years. Tesla landed at 89 on the 2023 Toxic 100 Air Polluters list, an annual study by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The Environmental Protection Agency fined Tesla $275,000 in 2022, saying the company had failed to measure, track and maintain records about its own emissions or to minimize air pollutants from painting operations at the facility. Separately, Tesla was sued by 25 counties in California for its handling of hazardous waste materials at facilities throughout the state earlier this year, and promptly settled with those counties. And in Germany, environmentalists have been protesting Tesla's clearing of forests to build a factory outside Berlin, as well as the company's water consumption. The latest lawsuit in California described Tesla's environmental violations as "ongoing" and said that residents and employees in the surrounding area have been exposed to "excess amounts of air pollution, including nitrogen oxides, arsenic, cadmium, and other harmful chemicals." Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, an environmental regulator, recently accused Tesla of allowing "unabated emissions" in Fremont that should have been prevented. The agency said that Tesla has received 112 violation notices since 2019 and that it is now seeking an abatement order that would force the company to implement changes to its factory operations. "The violations are frequent, recurring, and can negatively affect public health and the environment," the regulator said in a statement earlier this month. Air pollution from the assembly plant is the result of equipment that frequently breaks down, allowing emissions to vent directly into the air without proper filtration, regulators have said. Additionally, Tesla employees or contractors have allegedly shut off air pollution controls in the factory, particularly when the company was having trouble with other paint shop equipment. The paint shop is where unpainted vehicle bodies are primed, painted and coated before final assembly. Tesla's has a history of repeated fires, CNBC previously reported. In Tesla's recent quarterly report, the company maintained that its mission is to "accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy." However, in spearheading a massive reorganization at Tesla of late, CEO Elon Musk has been promoting its research and development efforts on artificial intelligence and self-driving software, robotaxis and humanoid robots, rather than electric cars and solar energy products. Musk told investors on the company's first-quarter earnings call to think of Tesla and its value "almost entirely in terms of solving autonomy." He recently called climate activists "communists," sharing derisive memes targeting them on X. WATCH: How Tesla may have just killed its most important product — Superchargers

AMC, BlackBerry shares surge along with GameStop. Here's why meme stocks are back. 2024-05-14 21:14:00+00:00 - Why are GameStop shares on the rise again? Why are GameStop shares on the rise again? Why are GameStop shares on the rise again? It's like 2021 all over again — at least, in one bullishness-on-steroids corner of the stock market. Several "meme stocks," or companies whose shares are buoyed by social media buzz rather than traditional business fundamentals like growth and profits, surged on Tuesday. It's the second consecutive day that such stocks have popped in the stock market, following GameStop's 72% surge on Monday. Other favorites with WallStreetBets, the Reddit forum that spurred the meme-stock craze three years ago, jumped in pre-market trading on Tuesday. Among them are movie-theater operator AMC Entertainment, whose shares soared 31%, and BlackBerry, with a 12% gain. GameStop shares spiked 60%. The resurgence of the meme stock phenomenon comes as trader Keith Gill, also known as "Roaring Kitty," resurfaced on X (formerly Twitter) after a three-year hiatus, posting a sketch Sunday night of a man leaning forward in a chair. Gill became the face of meme stock traders after he bought GameStop shares for $53,000 in 2019 and reportedly turned it into a multi-million stake due to the hype around the stock. Once again, traders are posting about meme stocks on WallStreetBets, urging others to buy stakes in GameStop and additional meme favorites with the term YOLO, or "you only live once." Others posted screenshots of their gains from AMC, BlackBerry and additional stocks. Other stocks that are getting a lift in the meme stock resurgence include: SunPower Corp., a photovoltaic solar energy company, whose shares jumped 60% Tuesday Plug Power, a company that makes hydrogen fuel cell systems, with a 19% gain Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's spaceflight company, up 22% In the case of SunPower and Plug Power, the companies may also have drawn interest from traders due to President Joe Biden's announcement of new tariffs on Chinese EVs, solar cells and other products. "Extremely speculative" The appeal is simple: the opportunity to make a quick buck in a short period of time, with the bonus of sticking it to the professional traders on Wall Street who have shunned meme stocks. "[W]e expect day traders will pile in not because they think the memes have any real value, but because they hope others will get FOMO (the Fear of Missing Out), jack the price up and then they can sell off and make a quick profit," noted Nigel Green, the CEO of the financial advisory firm deVere Group, in an email. But there are very real risks, Green added. "Of course, big, big money can be made by some," he said. "But let's very clear: This is extremely speculative, and valuations can be expected to be incredibly wild — in both directions." The dynamic was on full display Tuesday, with shares of AMC, BlackBerry, GameStop and other stocks that rocketed up in early trade already losing much of those gains by the afternoon. Among the immediate casualties aren't retail investors, but rather hedge funds and other traders who had bet that GameStop's stock would decline. Such a strategy, called short selling, involves a trade that will make money if a stock declines — investors lose money if the shares rise. On Monday, hedge funds with short positions in GameStop lost more than $1 billion, analytics firm S3 Partners told CBS MoneyWatch. "Shorting [GameStop shares] again may soon rank as the worst risk-reward of any hedge fund trade over the past decade: best case, make a dollar; worst case, lose five," Andrew Beer, co-founder and managing member of Dynamic Beta investments, said in an email. Some meme stocks have a high share of short interest, Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners, wrote in a blog post. For instance, about 65 million shares of GameStock are currently shorted, or about 24% of its available stock, he noted. Such companies have tended to attract meme stock investors because of the potential to engineer a so-called "short squeeze." That can occur when a shorted stock gains in price, forcing short sellers to cover their positions by buying the stock, which in turns sends the share price higher. The surge in GameStop's shares will "squeeze [short sellers] out of their positions with their buy-to-covers pushing [GameStop's] stock price even higher than the momentum and day traders could do on their own," Dusaniwsky wrote. The renewed focus on meme stocks comes amid a broader melt-up in financial markets powered by strong corporate profits and robust economic growth. The S&P 500 is up 26% over the last 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and tech-heavy Nasdaq have risen 18% and 33%, respectively.

TikTok creators sue U.S. government, say divestiture law violates First Amendment 2024-05-14 21:12:00+00:00 - TikTok creators gather before a press conference to voice their opposition to the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act," pending crackdown legislation on TikTok in the House of Representatives, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 12, 2024. Eight TikTok creators sued the U.S. government Tuesday to block the recently passed law that forces China-based owner ByteDance to divest of the social media app or face a ban in the U.S., arguing that the law violates the First Amendment, an attorney representing the group said in a post on X. In the filing shared by attorney Davis Wright Tremaine, the group says that the law, which gives ByteDance nine months to find a buyer for the app, "undermines the nation's founding principles and free marketplace of ideas." The law "promises to shutter a discrete medium of communication that has become part of American life, prohibiting Petitioners from creating and disseminating expressive material with their chosen editor and publisher," the lawsuit says. TikTok itself sued the United States last week over the legislation, also invoking a free speech argument in its suit. TikTok and ByteDance argue that the divesture mandated by the law is "simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally," they say in their lawsuit. After Congress passed the TikTok legislation in a series of bills that also provided aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, President Joe Biden signed it into law on April 24. Critics say the Chinese-owned app poses a national security threat, specifically raising concern over the company's data-collection practices. One of the creators on the most recent suit is Brian Firebaugh, a rancher in Texas. According to the filing, Firebaugh earns income from the TikTok Creator Fund and from selling products promoted on the app. "Without access to TikTok, Firebaugh would need to get a different job and pay for daycare instead of raising his son at home," the lawsuit says. "If you ban TikTok, you ban my way of life," Firebaugh is quoted as saying in the suit.

Ukraine's air-defense problems are letting Russia launch HIMARS-style deep strikes behind the front lines 2024-05-14 21:08:18+00:00 - By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Ukraine's struggling air-defenses have opened doors for the Russians to launch their own strikes similar to Ukraine's HIMARS attacks. Russia has begun sending out an increased number of unmanned aerial vehicles beyond Ukraine's positions, gaining intelligence about the positions of critical weapons and sites that can then be targeted by guided tactical missiles. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Russia's heightened UAV presence is "allowing their troops to accurately detect and destroy targets behind the front lines," senior research fellow Dr. Jack Watling of the London-based Royal United Services Institute wrote in an analysis on Tuesday. Russia has not had sufficient ISR for much of the war due to robust Ukrainian air defenses, but as Ukraine reserves its limited interceptors for Russian jets, "Orlan-10 UAVs are now roaming far and wide over the front lines," he said. Advertisement With better targeting, Russia is executing strikes behind the lines with Iskander tactical ballistic missiles and rocket launchers like the Tornado-S system. Related stories The attacks mirror in the kind of strikes that Ukraine has carried out Russia with rockets and missiles fired from US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. A M142 HIMARS launches a rocket on the Bakhmut direction on May 18, 2023 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Photo by Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images "In recent days Russia managed to strike a Ukrainian Buk air defence system and catch two Ukrainian helicopters on the ground while they refuelled," Watling wrote. "There have been other notable strikes of a kind that Russia has long aspired to but rarely successfully executed." Russia was originally unable to defeat or conduct the same kind of strikes as Ukraine's HIMARS due to a lack of precision, targeting capabilities, and timely intel. Advertisement These strikes, like the glide bomb attacks as Russian air forces have gained greater maneuverability, further strain Ukraine's military, which is facing continuously depleting resources as Russian forces have 510,000 soldiers on the front lines and compounding advantages. These developments in Russian capabilities come as Russia sets the stage for a summer offensive, which could significantly pressure Kharkiv and areas around Zaporizhzhia before a push in the Donbas. Ukraine is still waiting for more aid from its international partners that would boost increasingly weak areas in combat training, munitions, and industrial capabilities. "So long as Ukraine lacks materiel, Russia will begin to compound its advantages," Watling concluded. Advertisement There are some things that only Ukraine can do, though. Watling said Ukraine needs to mobilize a sufficient number of troops and establish a training pipeline that would "not only replace losses in its existing units, but also raise enough units to manage their rotation on and off the line." "This allows troops to be trained as well as the recovery of reserves," he said. But if international partners fail to provide artillery, air defenses, electronic warfare systems, and other enablers, then Kyiv's forces will struggle. "The outlook in Ukraine is bleak," Watling wrote. But with the right effort and support, "then Russia's summer offensive can be blunted."

The Fed is struggling to break the back of inflation. Here's why. 2024-05-14 21:08:00+00:00 - Call Kurtis: Feds don't cut interest rates as prices go up Call Kurtis: Feds don't cut interest rates as prices go up 01:22 The Federal Reserve's two-year battle to tame inflation is turning into a drawn-out war, with the central bank grappling with prices that have run surprisingly hot this year. A major reason: stubbornly high housing and rent costs that have sapped household budgets across the U.S. The Fed will be scrutinizing the latest Consumer Price Index report on Wednesday morning for signs that its campaign to finally extinguish runaway inflation by pushing up interest rates is working. Wall Street expects a slight improvement, with economists forecasting that the CPI in April rose 3.4% from a year ago, a tick lower from March's 3.5% increase, according to financial data company FactSet. Still, 3.4% remains far higher than the Fed's target of 2% inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday acknowledged that his confidence that inflation is set to ease "is not as high as it was." One major driver of inflation is housing, which contributes about one-third of the CPI and which economists predict could remain a thorn in the Fed's side throughout 2024. That's creating something of a catch-22, given that the Fed is holding off on cutting interest rates until it sees more progress on inflation; that, in turn, is keeping borrowing costs elevated, including mortgage rates, which are now near a 20-year high. The so-called shelter portion of the CPI is capturing the price shock of people who are moving into new apartments after remaining in place for years. Such renters are more likely to experience a sharp increase in their housing costs as they jump from lower-cost apartments to market-rate rents, Zillow chief economist Skylar Olsen told CBS MoneyWatch. "The big 'a-ha' is that the full CPI is capturing the people that haven't moved in a while," Olsen said. "The fact we keep having people move who haven't moved in six to eight years, that will keep that growth up." But aren't rents cooling? It could take years for such data to cycle through the housing portion of the CPI because some renters continue to move from their long-term — and cheaper — housing into market-priced apartments, Olsen noted. But as many apartment hunters may know, rents are actually cooling now, thanks in part to new rental units built in recent years to meet growing housing demand. In some cities, rents are actually falling — but don't expect that to show up in the CPI data for a while longer, economists said. As of April, the monthly rent for a typical 1-bedroom apartment around the U.S. was $1,486, down 0.6% from a year ago, according to listing service Zumper, while 2-bedrooms hovered around $1,843. At a May 1 press conference, Powell hinted at this dynamic, noting that the Fed has been surprised by the length of time it's taking for the CPI's data to reflect the cooler rental market. He added that while he's confident the CPI's housing data will eventually reflect that decline, he's "not so confident in the timing of it." "Those market rents take years, actually, to get all the way into rents for tenants who are rolling over their leases," Powell said. "It's complicated, but the story is it just takes some time for that to get in." Homeownership and affordability The CPI has another quirk when it comes to tracking housing costs: It doesn't actually track home prices, because it considers housing values to be an asset, similar to stock prices, which also aren't tracked by the inflation index, noted Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. Instead, the CPI measures homeownership costs by tracking what it calls owners' equivalent rent, or the hypothetical amount that a homeowner would pay to rent their house in the current market. But that's also sparked debate among some economists, given that most homeowners are locked into 15- or 30-year mortgages at fixed interest rates and thus aren't subject to the pricing whims of the housing market. "Homeowners aren't feeling any impact of the housing rents, because their monthly payment is absolutely fixed," Yun noted. "Their mortgage costs aren't rising according to the inflation number, but it's not part of the CPI." Home prices, of course, are very important for first-time buyers who want to make their first home purchase, although that's not a figure that is reflected by the CPI, Yun added. The Fed's decision to delay cutting rates may be contributing to stubborn housing inflation, said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist of Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive advocacy group that is urging the central bank to start cutting rates. "When the Fed raises interest rates, mortgage rates rise too," Mabud said in a social media post. "That means that many prospective homebuyers are priced out of the decision to buy a home. Where do these potential buyers go? Back into the rental market, increasing demand among renters and pushing up rent costs."

Apple sells 4 different types of iPads — here are the latest models you can buy 2024-05-14 21:05:06+00:00 - When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more New iPad models aren't given simple numbers like the iPhone, which makes things a lot more confusing when talking about new and old iPads. You might be wondering what the latest option is between Apple's four tablet types, for instance, or how to distinguish between different generations. With the release of the 2024 iPad Pro and iPad Air models, we're here to break down the latest iPad lineup for you. Currently, Apple officially sells six different tablets, listed here from newest to oldest: Determining which iPad makes the most sense for your needs can be difficult, as many features and specs overlap. But it's important to understand the differences, especially if you want to make sure you're choosing the proper model when considering the best iPad Pro cases, best iPad Air cases, or best iPad cases. Read on for a full breakdown of the latest iPads from the four current model types, and check out our guide to the best iPads for further assessment. The new iPad Pro models Apple's most premium tablet received a major update this month with the launch of the latest 13-inch and 11-inch iPad Pro models. Apple debuted its new M4 processor on the iPad Pros alongside a slate of AI-focused enhancements that make the high-end tablets more powerful and tailored for productivity than ever before. Apple's new iPad Pros are ideal for highly intensive tasks. Apple Dubbed Apple's "thinnest" products to date, the iPad Pros boast slim designs at depths of 5.3mm and 5.1mm for the 11-inch and 13-inch models, respectively. Apple introduced a new "Tandem OLED" design for the iPad Pro displays that allows for enhanced brightness and clarity relative to the Pro line's previous LED and mini-LED displays. Apple released a new Magic Keyboard for the 2024 iPad Pro models that features a function row and a larger trackpad, bringing the iPad Pro closer to a viable laptop replacement. The latest iPad Pros are compatible with the USB-C Apple Pencil and the new Apple Pencil Pro, which offers a "squeeze" sensor and a gyroscope that enable a suite of new features. The generational improvements to the iPad Pro line resulted in higher prices. Where the previous iPad Pro line started at $799, the new 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999, and the new 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299. Read our guide to the 2024 iPad Pro launch for more information. The new iPad Air models Apple iPad Air (2024) The 2024 iPad Air runs on Apple’s M2 processor introduced in certain Apple computers in 2022, making it a veritable ultra-portable powerhouse for visual creative work. It comes in the standard 11-inch option and a brand new 13-inch model, which gives you a powerful large tablet for a significantly lower price than the 13-inch iPad Pro. Shop at Amazon Shop at Walmart Shop at Best Buy Apple launched two new iPad Airs this month: an overhaul on the typical 11-inch model and a first-ever 13-inch iPad Air. Apple upgraded the iPad Air models from the M1 processor to the newer M2 processor, which runs laptops like the 2022 MacBook Air and 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro, enabling smoother performance for intensive tasks relative to the previous-generation Air model. The 13-inch iPad Air is a new form factor in Apple's tablet lineup. Apple Apple moved the front-facing camera on the new iPad Airs to the landscape position, which aligns with the new iPad Pro models and offers a more convenient position for video calling. The latest iPad Air models work with the USB-C Apple Pencil and the new Apple Pencil Pro. The latest 11-inch iPad Air starts at $599, the same price as the previous generation, while the new 13-inch iPad Air starts at $799. Read our guide to the 2024 iPad Air launch for more information. The latest standard iPad Apple last released a standard iPad in October 2022, with the 10th-generation iPad. The 10th-generation iPad adopted Apple's modern design language, with slim bezels around a larger 10.9-inch screen relative to the previous-generation model. It has a USB-C port instead of Lightning, and its Touch ID sensor is integrated into the power button. Its best upgrade was repositioning its ultra-wide FaceTime camera to the landscape position for a better angle of view during video calls. Apple also released a new standard iPad in the fall of 2022. Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider In terms of power, the 10th-generation iPad runs Apple's A14 Bionic chip, the same processor as the iPhone 12, which can still handle basic to moderately intensive tasks. Those looking for smoother and more powerful performance should opt for the new iPad Pro or iPad Air. The 2022 iPad supports the USB-C Apple Pencil and the first-generation Apple Pencil, though the latter requires an adapter to charge. Following the launch of the new iPad Pro and Air models, the starting price of the 10th-generation iPad dropped to $349 from $449. Apple also discontinued the 9th-generation iPad, making the 10th-generation iPad the lone budget option in the current lineup. Read our full 2022 iPad review. The latest iPad Mini The most recent iPad Mini model is the sixth-generation iPad Mini, which Apple released in September 2021. Starting at $499, the 2021 iPad Mini is a mid-range option between the standard iPad and the new premium iPad Pro and Air models. If you're looking for the perfect balance between portability and performance, the iPad Mini could be calling your name. It's been more than two years since we've seen a new iPad Mini. Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider The 2021 iPad Mini marked a total redesign over previous generations, with narrower borders that resemble the iPad Air. The sixth-generation iPad Mini features a larger 8.3-inch Liquid Retina touch display with True Tone color technology versus the 7.9-inch screens of previous generations. It runs smoothly through basic to moderately intensive tasks on Apple's A15 Bionic processor, which runs the iPhone 13 series. The latest iPad Mini supports the USB-C Apple Pencil and second-generation Apple Pencil. It has a USB-C port for charging and connecting accessories, an ultra-wide FaceTime camera with Apple's Center Stage, an improved 12-megapixel rear camera, and a Touch ID sensor built into the power button on the top edge. Read our full 2021 iPad Mini review. How to figure out which iPad you own All the latest iPads look similar now that each model has Apple's modern tablet design language. If you're unsure which iPad model you own, you can find your iPad's model in the Settings app by tapping General > About. You can also look for the model number etched on the back of the iPad. Read our comprehensive guide to identifying iPad generations for more detail.

Reddit shares close near record after two-day rally driven by meme stocks 2024-05-14 21:04:00+00:00 - Traders work as Reddit's logo is displayed, at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 21, 2024. Reddit shares popped 7% on Tuesday, climbing for a second straight day after retail traders kicked off a buying frenzy of so-called meme stocks. The stock closed at $62.34, Reddit's second-highest close since its IPO in March. The rally began Monday when "Roaring Kitty," aka Keith Gill, the man who inspired meme stock mania in 2021, resurfaced online, sending shares of GameStop and AMC soaring. Gill shared a picture on X that showed a video gamer sitting forward on a chair. The image is often used by gamers to signal they're taking the task seriously. As of Tuesday's close, the post has been viewed more than 25 million times, according to X. Reddit played a central role in the meme stock boom three years ago, largely due to the forum WallStreetBets, where traders gather to share tips and, in some cases, band together to drive a stock up or down. GameStop mentions ballooned on WallStreetBets on Monday after Gill's post. The image and a series of other cryptic posts were enough to lift GameStop and AMC by more than 100% in the past two trading sessions. Other stocks that have been bunched in with the meme group rose, including BlackBerry , Koss and SunPower .

Trump megadonor Jeff Yass funds massive effort to intimidate, expose liberals 2024-05-14 21:01:11+00:00 - Happy Tuesday! Here's your Tuesday Tech Drop, the top stories from the intersection of tech and politics from the past week. Trump donor's deep pockets Billionaire Trump backer and major TikTok investor Jeff Yass has been exposed as the key financier behind a right-wing group known for investigating and intimidating liberals. CNBC reports Yass is a significant investor in the group “Accuracy in Media,” an organization that’s been behind recent efforts to dox and disrupt pro-Palestinian demonstrators on college campuses. In a press release responding to the news, the watchdog group Accountable.US expounded on the work Accuracy in Media does, noting it specializes in “sting operations and propaganda campaigns” and comparing the group to the beleaguered right-wing organization Project Veritas. I’ve grown quite suspicious of Yass’ aspirations when it comes to media. His opposition to a TikTok ban (paired with an interesting uptick of pro-Trump content on the app) and his involvement in dubious organizations like Accuracy in Media suggest he’s deeply interested in tools that can be used to manipulate and misinform the public. Read the CNBC report here. DOJ is alarmed about AI DOJ officials held a press conference Monday on threats against election workers. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco specifically sounded the alarm on threats made by people who deploy artificial intelligence to “mask their identities and communicate their threats.” Read more at Axios. TikTok's contraception deception A new report from Agence France-Presse points to an uptick in U.S.-based wellness influencers on TikTok spreading misinformation meant to discourage the use of birth control pills. It’s yet another in a growing list of misinformation and manipulative content allowed on TikTok, an that app many, particularly as of late, falsely portray as a bastion of accurate and informative content. Read more at Agence France-Presse. Signs of the times A few weeks back, I checked out an excellent exhibit about the importance of symbols at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City. It came to mind as I read a recent study by the Center for Campaign Design, about which kinds of campaign logo features (shapes, color schemes, etc.) resonate most with voters. One of my favorite designers is Ashleigh Axios, a creative director who formerly managed design for the Obama White House. Exploring her work taught me the value of memorable and understandable logos in politics. The study on campaign logos similarly enlightened me. Read it here. Neuralink? No thanks. Elon Musk’s brain technology startup, Neuralink, said its first human brain chip implant malfunctioned weeks after being inserted into its first human test subject. An already creepy project has gotten even eerier. Read more at NBC News. Trump has a friend in Facebook A collaborative study by researchers from Stanford University and Meta, Facebook's parent company, concluded that using Facebook may have made people more likely to vote for Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Though the researchers say their findings fell "just short" of being statistically significant, they ought to raise eyebrows and, perhaps, concern about an app that's been controversially used to Trump's benefit in the past. Read more on the study at Bloomberg Law.

Two years after Buffalo mass shooting, Trump's GOP is all-in on racist theory that motivated it 2024-05-14 20:56:05+00:00 - Two years after a racist gunman massacred 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket in a Black neighborhood, the conspiracy theory that motivated him has become mainstream within the Republican Party. The "great replacement theory" — a claim espoused by white nationalists that nonwhite immigration is part of a liberal (often Jewish-led) plot to overthrow the American way of life — had been linked to multiple mass shooters before the Buffalo shooting at Tops Supermarket on May 14, 2022. Donald Trump (no stranger to anti-immigrant conspiracies) helped to popularize great replacement rhetoric years before the Buffalo shooting — polling data around the time of the shooting indicated that a majority of Trump's 2020 voters believe it. And Trump has only ratcheted up that rhetoric since then. It’s typical today to hear MAGA Republicans spewing the toxic bigotry that forms the basis of the great replacement theory, if not touting the conspiracy by name. Trump, for example, claims that the Biden administration’s immigration policies are part of a “conspiracy to overthrow the government.” He, along with House Speaker Mike Johnson, have put the replacement theory at the center of the Republican agenda through baseless allegations that undocumented immigrants might illegally sway federal elections. That Trump is making such claims after pushing Republicans not to pass strict immigration reforms underscores his intent to use immigration to sow fear among voters. “Replacement theory is real,” Trump-loving Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Scott Perry told fellow lawmakers last week, in audio unearthed by CNN. Other Republicans have been only slightly less overt in promoting the conspiracy theory. Nearly every Republican member of the House, for example, voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Jewish, over nonsensical accusations that he and the Biden administration were deliberately allowing an “invasion” of immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. Multiple GOP governors have used similar allegations of a liberal-aligned immigrant “invasion” to justify their own anti-immigrant crackdowns — some of which usurp federal authority, a tactic that had right-wing extremists clamoring for civil war. Two years after one of the replacement theory's many adherents gunned down innocent people in a Black neighborhood — one of several acts of violence it has inspired — Republicans are still using it to incite racist fury among their followers.

Google search will never be the same 2024-05-14 20:46:43+00:00 - Google unveiled a revamped vision of its hallmark search product at I/O on Tuesday. "Google will do the Googling for you," its head of search said of the AI-driven experience. A lot of business models rely on SEO. These changes could shake those foundations. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time. Advertisement "Google will do the Googling for you." That's the vision head of search Liz Reid laid out onstage at Google I/O on Tuesday. Google unveiled an AI-enhanced version of Search, along with a lot of promises. Google's demos showed how Search can now find yoga studios in your city that have introductory deals, create meal plans for a family of picky eaters, and even troubleshoot what's wrong with your record player and suggest fixes just by reviewing video you take on your phone. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .

New US tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, batteries and solar cells could raise consumer prices 2024-05-14 20:39:21+00:00 - WASHINGTON (AP) — New tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and batteries, solar cells, medical equipment and other goods are intended to protect U.S. jobs and manufacturers. They could raise prices on certain specific items, experts say, though a broad inflationary impact is unlikely in the short term. The tariffs will be phased in over the next three years, officials said. Those that take effect in 2024 include EVs and EV batteries, along with solar cells, syringes, needles, steel and aluminum and more. Some would not take effect until 2026. The election-year tariffs could increase friction between the world’s two largest economies. China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the tariffs “will seriously affect the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation.” Administration officials say they don’t expect the tariffs to significantly escalate tensions between the two counties, although China is likely to explore ways to respond to the new taxes on its products. WHY IS THE WHITE HOUSE IMPOSING NEW TARIFFS ON CHINA? President Joe Biden said Chinese government subsidies for EVs and other consumer goods ensure that Chinese companies don’t have to turn a profit, giving them an unfair advantage in global trade. “For years, the Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese companies .... it’s not competition, it’s cheating,’' the Democratic president said Tuesday at the White House. The tariffs come in the middle of the presidential campaign between Biden and his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, in which they are vying to show who’s toughest on China. The Biden administration has insisted that its approach is more targeted and less inflationary than the across-the-board tariffs proposed by Trump. HOW DO THE TARIFFS AFFECT THE U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY? Under the White House action, tariffs on EVs from China will quadruple, from 25% to 100% this year. There are currently very few EVs from China in the U.S., but the Biden administration and U.S. automakers worry that low-priced, heavily subsidized EVs could soon flood the U.S. market. China’s global exports of EVs grew by 70% from 2022 to 2023. “A 100% tariff rate on EVs will protect American manufacturers from China’s unfair trade practices,″ the White House said in a statement. John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a major industry group, applauded the White House action, saying it would help prevent the U.S. from becoming a “dumping ground” for subsidized Chinese EVs. “We can’t let China’s EV overcapacity problem turn into a U.S. auto industry problem,’' he said. While Chinese EVs are largely a future threat, tariffs on EV batteries may have a more immediate impact because China dominates mining and processing of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite used in EV batteries. U.S. automakers such as Ford and Tesla use lithium iron phosphate batteries made in China, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal mobility analyst for Guidehouse Insights. Tesla uses battery cells from China’s Contemporary Amperex Technologies Ltd., or CATL, in versions of its Model 3 car. Ford uses CATL products in some versions of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup and the Mustang Mach E electric SUV. Lithium iron phosphate batteries generally cost less but don’t go as far per charge than the lithium-ion chemistry now in use in most EVs. However, they can handle more frequent fast-charging than other battery chemistries. Ford didn’t immediately respond to a question about battery tariffs but said in a statement that it favors U.S. policies that support American manufacturing and protect supply chains, national security and data privacy. The tariffs could raise the cost of batteries and battery materials for EVs that likely would be passed on to the consumer as part of the vehicle cost. WHAT ABOUT THE SOLAR INDUSTRY? The price of solar panels also may rise because of the new tariffs. The tariff rate on solar cells will increase from 25% to 50% in 2024. The White House said China has used unfair practices to dominate upwards of 80% to 90% of the global solar supply chain. Chinese policies are flooding global markets with artificially cheap solar modules and panels, undermining investment in solar manufacturing outside of China, the White House said. Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, commended the Biden administration for acting to support the continued buildout of U.S. solar and storage manufacturing. The administration was “thoughtful” to exclude tariffs on key machinery used to manufacture solar components in the United States, Hopper said. A temporary tariff exclusion will encourage domestic manufacturing of solar products, she said. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat and clean-energy advocate, was less optimistic. He called the tariffs on solar cells and other items “horrible news for American consumers and a major setback for clean energy.’' “Tariffs are a direct, regressive tax on Americans and this tax increase will hit every family,’' Polis said on X, the social media site. STEEL AND ALUMINUM Tariffs on steel and aluminum products will triple in some cases, from the current range of zero to 7.5% to 25% in 2024. China controls over 50% of global production of steel and aluminum, and its products are “among the world’s most carbon intensive,” the White House said. While the exact effect of the higher tariffs is uncertain, “tariffs do create deadweight loss, so we can expect them to exact some costs on the U.S. economy,’' said Sarah Bauerle Danzman, an associate professor of international studies at Indiana University. Still, “the certainty in price protection that these tariffs afford producers could induce new investments in the U.S. supply chains for these items,’' she added. MEDICAL PRODUCTS Tariff rates on syringes and needles will increase from zero to 50% in 2024, while certain personal protective equipment, including some respirators and face masks, will see tariffs increase from zero to 7.5% now to 25% in 2024. Tariffs on rubber medical and surgical gloves will increase in 2026. The tariffs on needles and syringes should not have a noticeable impact on U.S. supply, according to Steve Brozak, a health care analyst and president of WBB Securities. New Jersey-based Becton, Dickinson and Co. is the largest supplier in the U.S., where manufacturing has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, Brozak said. The Food and Drug Administration said earlier this month that the supply and manufacturing capacity for plastic syringes made outside China is enough to support current demand. The FDA had warned last fall it was evaluating plastic syringes made in China for potential problems like leaks and breaks. The agency has since recommended that suppliers avoid using those syringes if possible, cooling demand for the Chinese products. Greta Peisch, a former Biden administration trade lawyer, said the tariffs will bolster health and national security by ensuring domestic supplies of crucial medical equipment. “We can argue about whether and how much prices will rise, but this heads off a potential supply bottleneck’’ now and during a future pandemic, she said. ____ Associated Press writers Tom Krisher in Detroit and Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed to this story.

Federal student loan interest rates to surge to highest in over a decade amid economic shifts 2024-05-14 20:39:00+00:00 - The interest rate on many new federal student loans is set to rise to its highest level in more than a decade next year as lenders throughout the economy seek higher returns for borrowing money. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education said in a notice on its website that the rate for undergrads would rise to 6.53% from 5.5%. That's equivalent to $113.72 for every $10,000 borrowed, according to Mark Kantrowitz, an expert on student loans, versus $108.52 for this past year. For graduate students, the rate is rising from 7.05% to 8.08%, or to $121.77 per $10,000 from $116.36. The rate levels are set by a pre-determined formula that takes the current yield on 10-year Treasury notes and adds percentage points based on the loan type and loan recipient. The interest rate on the most recent auction of 10-year notes hit 4.483%. The 10-year is considered a benchmark rate and reflects investor appetite for risk given current circumstances in the economy. Right now, the biggest factor in the economy remains inflation, and lenders are looking for higher rates to offset its effects. It is not clear whether the Biden administration could intervene to freeze or even reduce rates from current levels. In 2013, the Obama administration signed a bipartisan bill to retroactively lower rates. Biden has made reducing the burden of student loans a cornerstone of his agenda and has rolled out a new debt cancellation plan after the Supreme Court rejected an earlier one. A spokesperson for the Biden administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The new rates do not affect outstanding student loans or private student loans, which tend to have much higher interest rates.

How major US stock indexes fared Tuesday, 5/14/2024 2024-05-14 20:25:41+00:00 - Stocks ended higher on Wall Street Tuesday, sending the Nasdaq composite to another record. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, and is sitting just shy of its own all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8%. Several “meme” stocks raced higher including GameStop and AMC Entertainment in an echo of the social-media driven frenzy of three years ago. Treasury yields edged lower in the bond market following a mixed report on wholesale inflation. Markets will be even more focused on the government’s report due out early Wednesday on inflation in consumer prices. On Tuesday: The S&P 500 rose 25.26 points, or 0.5%, to 5,246.68. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 126.60 points, or 0.3%, to 39,558.11. The Nasdaq composite rose 122.94 points, or 0.8%, to 16,511.18. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 23.57 points, or 1.1%, to 2,085.69. For the week: The S&P 500 is up 24 points, or 0.5%. The Dow is up 45.27 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq is up 170.31 points, or 1%. The Russell 2000 is up 25.92 points, or 1.3%. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 476.85 points, or 10%. The Dow is up 1,868.57 points, or 5%. The Nasdaq is up 1,499.83 points, or 10%. The Russell 2000 is up 58.62 points, or 2.9%.

5G and 6G are among 'the most strategic sectors' in the AI age, a national security advisor says 2024-05-14 20:25:25+00:00 - The US is strengthening its 5G infrastructure, according to a National Security Council official. She said the US must improve its telecom infrastructure. This article is part of "5G and Connectivity Playbook," a series exploring some of our time's most important tech innovations. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time. The US is bolstering its 5G infrastructure in the age of AI. Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging tech, said that 5G and 6G were some of "the most strategic sectors," especially since telecom and data-center infrastructure houses the data required to train artificial-intelligence models. On Thursday at the annual RSA Conference in San Francisco, she spoke at a fireside chat on cybersecurity and new technologies like 5G and AI, which was moderated by Niloofar Razi Howe, an operating partner at Capitol Meridian Partners. Neuberger discussed the importance of the telecom sector, saying that one of the biggest challenges for the US was its lack of competitive technology in telecom infrastructure. She said the US needed to improve its hardware and encourage competition among vendors. This is especially important, Neuberger said, as the US is engaged in a tech arms race with China and Chinese telecom companies, such as Huawei. As Chinese technology gets more embedded in the technology Americans use daily, whether it's 5G technology or connected vehicles, the US needs to consider national security risks in how data is collected, she added. "We're at the point we can say, what's a thoughtful approach that protects Americans' sensitive data, that protects Americans' navigation data while also promoting innovation?" Neuberger said. The telecommunications industry affects valuable information belonging to American companies and the government. It's also often managed and updated remotely, so it needs to be secure, Neuberger said. "Telecom systems are so complex today," she said. "If you don't have confidence in those vendors, it's really hard to trust it." Neuberger highlighted some of the government initiatives for investing in 5G, including the Biden administration's $1.5 billion Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, which aims to bring open standards into telecommunications and advance innovation in the wireless industry. "What we've been trying to do is bring in innovation to bring in new players to allow our traditional strength in software to come to bear," Neuberger said. Grants from these these types of funds have helped US allies. They have allowed global telecom companies, including those from India, Japan, and Europe, to test new technology together and learn from each other. The US has also been building a telecom partnership with India, as it's one of the biggest telecom markets in the world, along with the US and China. In November, the White House launched its National Spectrum Strategy to promote innovation in wireless technologies. Neuberger said this included industries such as connected vehicles and defense, adding that these technologies allowed the US to aid Ukraine when Russia struck down its electric lines. "As we think about how we lead in these connected industries in the future, we have to think about creative ways to use spectrum more efficiently and differently," Neuberger said.

Right-wingers’ martyr mythology about Trump is also on trial 2024-05-14 20:22:40+00:00 - Since the beginning of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York, I’ve been drawn to op-eds and interviews about the stubbornness of his support among evangelicals despite it all. The lurid allegations involved in the trial have been enough to make news anchors blush. And yet, Trump’s evangelical supporters seem undeterred. Sociologist Samuel Perry offered a compelling explanation for this during an interview with Politico. Explaining how some evangelicals view Trump as one of God’s tools, Perry used the biblical story of Samson: Samson is just a full-time ass kicker. He’s this rampaging wild man who is like the John Wick of killing Philistines. That’s his favorite thing to do. His other favorite thing to do is to visit prostitutes, and his downfall ends up being this prostitute, Delilah. But that is often glossed over within the evangelical space — he’s still talked about as a hero, because God used him to fight the enemies of his people, and to do it fearlessly and even happily. As Politico writer Dylon Jones summarized, Trump is seen as the equivalent of a biblical warrior who “struggled with sexual temptation” yet is able to “lead the faithful to glory.” We’ve seen versions of this view in some of the Republican responses to Stormy Daniels’ testimony. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, said on Fox News last week that “there is no person on planet Earth that believes Donald Trump has been celibate all his life. That is not news. But they want to drag him through the gutter because this is a political smear job; it’s not about the rule of law.” Other right-wingers have pushed more overtly religious rhetoric, framing Trump as a “martyr” and claiming that he’s being “crucified.” Such reactions are why I’ve been watching the trial with QAnon on the brain. The extremist conspiracy theory, which portrays Trump as a Christian crusader against a “deep state” ring of Satan-worshipping pedophiles and is popular among evangelicals, has always seemed to me like a convenient mythology that right-wingers can use in defense of Trump or his associates. Such reactions are why I’ve been watching the trial with QAnon on the brain. The New Republic’s Melissa Gira Grant, for example, wrote in 2021 about QAnon believers downplaying the fact that several Trump-associated Republicans had been sentenced to prison for sex crimes. And Mike Rothschild, an expert on conspiracy theories, explained to Politico why QAnon backers have been so eager to tie Jeffrey Epstein to the Clinton family, even with Trump’s well-known ties. As researcher Jared Holt, who tracks far-right media, told NBC News back in 2018: What the QAnon theory does, as far as political efficacy goes, is it provides Trump’s most fervent supporters a way to explain away any scandal or slip-up the president may face. It’s certainly been beneficial for Trump to have a bespoke mythology constructed around him. But prosecutors have effectively been tearing away at that façade in the Manhattan courtroom. That’s why I think there are layers to Trump’s criminal case in New York. Yes, the former president is on trial. But so is the biblical narrative of victimhood that Republicans have wedded to him.

Vermont Legislature passes one of the strongest data privacy measures in the country 2024-05-14 20:11:36+00:00 - The Democrat-controlled Vermont legislature has passed one of the strongest data privacy measures in the country aimed at cracking down on companies’ use of online personal data, which would let consumers file civil lawsuits against companies that break certain privacy rules. However, Republican Gov. Phil Scott has concerns about how part of the legislation could affect small businesses. He hasn’t seen the final bill that passed early Saturday before the Legislature adjourned. He will make a decision once he’s had a chance to review it, his spokesperson Jason Maulucci said Tuesday. The bill prohibits the sale of sensitive data, such as social security and drivers’ license numbers, financial or health information. It also sets meaningful limits on the amount of personal data that companies can collect and use, according to the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center based in Washington, D.C. More than a dozen states have comprehensive data privacy laws. Vermont’s is “among the strongest, if not the strongest” in the country, said Caitriona Fitzgerald, deputy director of EPIC. State Rep. Monique Priestley, a Democrat and a sponsor of the bill, told colleagues Friday night that without thoughtful and comprehensive measures, gaps can be exploited, undermining the protections legislators were seeking. “At a time when everything we do and everything we are is monetized in a surveillance economy, the urgency of this moment cannot be overstated,” she said, according to EPIC. A big step in the legislation is allowing consumers to sue, which Fitzgerald said has been the most effective way to ensure that companies comply with privacy laws. State attorneys general do not have the resources to enforce these privacy regulations, Fitzgerald said. If there is a violation and a person wants to sue, the company has 60 days to remedy that problem, Priestley said Tuesday. The governor has been concerned about the private right of action and what it could mean for Vermont small businesses and “mom and pop” shops, his spokesperson said. The Vermont Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday that it shares the governor’s concerns. “Ultimately this will make it harder and more expensive for Vermont businesses to compete,” said Megan Sullivan, vice president for government affairs, by email Tuesday. Legislators decided to limit that action to violations by data brokers, which are companies that make a majority of their revenue selling data, as well as large data holders, which are companies processing data from 100,000 Vermonters or more a year, Priestley said. “The biggest feedback we were getting is that this would catch small businesses before they’re ready basically. We haven’t had any data privacy policies in place, so they really need to learn what good data standards,” she said. “But the big companies, they already know.” The bill also includes parts of previous legislation aimed at protecting children. “What’s left is really a product and safety liability bill as far as minimizing addictive features and things like that,” Priestley said. The passage of Vermont’s legislation came the week after Maryland’s governor signed two measures into law aimed at better protecting personal data online from Big Tech, including a bill to try to create limits on information collected on children. The other Maryland law will create consumer protections and rights as well as disclosure obligations relating to online personal data controlled or processed by certain entities that conduct business in Maryland or provide services or products that are targeted to residents of the state. Much of Vermont’s bill, if signed by the governor, would go into effect in 2025. The ability for consumers to sue wouldn’t take effect until 2026 and would sunset in 2028, with a study to look at its effectiveness and risks, Priestley said. ___ AP reporter Brian Witte contributed to this report from Annapolis, Maryland.

Five reasons not to freak out about the latest presidential poll 2024-05-14 20:05:02+00:00 - As a rule, you shouldn't freak out about a single presidential poll. There are almost six months left until the 2024 election, and everything from the verdict in Donald Trump's hush money trial to the national conventions to some unforeseen event may have an effect. That being said, there's still valuable information that can be gleaned from polls, especially ones that zero in on the battleground states and key demographic groups. But I've gotten a lot of questions from concerned Democrats about The New York Times-Siena poll released Monday showing Trump ahead in five key states, so here's a short list of what you should know about it. Polls are built on assumptions. A poll is a snapshot of the current views of the voters that the polling outfit thinks are likely to show up in the next election. In this case, the pollsters are expecting that voters who did not turn out in 2020 will make up 18% of the electorate in 2024. Personally, I think that's too high and may be a major reason why it shows Trump doing so well. The poll shows Trump winning Nevada by an eye-popping 12 points. This is a state that went for Biden in 2020 and re-elected a Democratic senator in 2022. If my political instincts count for something, I'm going to say that's not going to happen. This suggests that voters are not looking to make big changes. Respondents are generally happy. Typically, if you see the incumbent trailing in a poll, that's a sign that Americans are unhappy. But a staggering 74% of respondents in the NYT-Siena poll say they are satisfied with how things are going with their lives. This suggests that voters are not looking to make big changes. The Biden campaign has six months' worth of TV ads, emails, social media posts and campaign events to spread its message and remind them about how chaotic the Trump years were. Biden still has a chance to win back support. Trump is getting most of the people who voted for him in 2020 and about 7% of Biden backers. But people who don't like Trump aren't going to change their mind. Biden still has a shot to talk with his former supporters, who are disproportionately young and people of color, about what he's accomplished and what more he can do for them in a second term. It's much easier to get someone to vote for you again than to convert a former critic. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. remains a wild card. The third-party candidate is getting his biggest support among young voters and independents, two groups that both supported Biden in 2020. The Biden campaign will need to continue highlighting Kennedy's controversial and dangerous views on subjects such as vaccines and make the case that a vote for him is a vote for a Trump second term. Fortunately for the president’s team, about 60% of Kennedy supporters in the poll said they were open to voting for others, suggesting they still held an open mind. Biden still has a shot. Even in a poll that I think makes some questionable assumptions, the race is still winnable for Biden. The fact that former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley keeps getting about 20% of the vote in Republican primaries months after dropping out suggests that Trump is having a problem consolidating GOP support. Biden also has the advantage of a disciplined and well-funded campaign that's not distracted by legal problems, a contrast with Trump. This poll may be good news for Trump right now, but Biden is still in a decent position for re-election. Sign up for MSNBC’s new How to Win 2024 newsletter and get election insights like this delivered to your inbox weekly.

How Cannes works, from the standing ovations to the juries to the Palm Dog 2024-05-14 20:00:34+00:00 - CANNES, France (AP) — The Cannes Film Festival is hallowed ground in cinema but understanding its unique landscape can be confounding. The Côte d’Azur festival, which kicked off Tuesday, is a 10-day ballet of spectacle and film where even the photographers wear tuxedos, standing ovations are timed with stopwatches and movies tend to be referred to by the names of their directors — “the Almodóvar,” “the Malick,” “the Coppola.” From the outside, it can seem mad. From the inside, it can be hardly less disorienting. But grasping some of Cannes’ quirks and traditions can help you understand just what is unspooling in the south of France and what, exactly, a Palm Dog is. WHY DOES CANNES MATTER? The short answer is that Cannes is the largest and arguably most significant film festival, and few care more deeply about the art of cinema than the French. This is where cinema was born and it’s where it’s most closely guarded. It’s not a coincidence that to enter the Palais des Festivals, the central hub, you must climb 24 red-carpeted steps, as if you’re ascending into some movie nirvana. Cannes is also singularly global, attracting filmmakers, producers and journalists from around the world. It’s a little like an Olympics for film; countries set up their own tents in an international village. Because Cannes is also the largest film market in the world, many who come here are trying to sell their movies or looking to buy up rights. Deal-making, though not quite the frenzy it once was, happens in hotel rooms along the Croisette, aboard yachts docked in the harbor and, yes, on Zoom calls. But aside from being a beacon to filmmakers and executives, Cannes is a draw for its shimmering French Riviera glamour. Since the days of stars like Grace Kelly and Brigitte Bardot, Cannes has been renown as a sun-kissed center stage for fashion. HOW OLD IS CANNES? Originally called the International Film Festival, Cannes was born in the lead-up to World War II. Venice had launched the first major film festival in 1932, but in 1938, fascist influence on Venice was pervasive. The French government in 1939 chose the tourist destination of Cannes as the place for a new festival — though because of the war, the first edition wasn’t held until 1946. This year’s festival is the 77th edition. WHAT IS IT LIKE ON THE GROUND? The hive of activity is the Palais, a massive complex by the sea full of cinemas with names like Buñuel, Bazin and, the granddaddy, the Grand Théâtre Lumière. This is where the red carpet runs in Cannes, nightly hosting two or three world premieres beneath a glass canopy flanked by rows of photographers. Festival cars ferry stars and directors who are ushered down the carpet and up the steps. Unlike most movie premieres, there are no reporters on the carpet. Jury president Greta Gerwig enters the opening ceremony of the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP) Filmmakers and casts instead face questions from the media the day after their premieres, at a press conference preceded by a photo call. The press conferences can be atypically newsy, too; after Danish director Lars von Trier declared “I am a Nazi” at a Cannes press conference in 2011, he was named “persona non grata” by the festival for years. Interpreters translate live for headphone-wearing reporters. Inside the Palais, bleary-eyed attendees are treated to gratis espresso. Down the Croisette, the oceanside, palm tree-lined promenade of Cannes, there are regal old hotels like the Carlton and the Martinez from where festival attendees flow in and out, interviews might be happening on balconies as autograph-seeking fans gather outside in throngs. After-parties are typically held in clubs across the Croisette, by the beach. People play chess on the Boulevard de la Croisette ahead of the 77th international film festival in Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 13, 2024. The Cannes film festival runs from May 14 until May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) A person walks along the Croisette ahead of the Cannes film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 12, 2024. The 77th edition of the film festival runs from May 14 until May 25. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) WHO ATTENDS? Unlike public festivals like Toronto or SXSW, Cannes is industry-only and largely out of reach for most moviegoers. That doesn’t stop the desperate, tuxedo-clad ticket seekers who hold signs outside the Palais on the chance someone has an extra, or the photo-takers who stand on small ladders near the red carpet. Cannes is rigorously hierarchical, with a system of color-coded badges regulating access. If you hear about a film being booed at Cannes — even Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” was famously jeered before winning the Palme d’Or — it’s usually at a press screening. The premieres, largely attended by industry professionals, are where the prolonged standing ovations take place. But this, like many things at Cannes, is a bit of stagecraft to boost the mythology. After the credits role, a cameraman rushes in, with his footage fed live to the screen. He goes down the aisles, giving the audience a chance to applaud for the director and each star. No one is just cheering for a dark movie screen. The Cannes sign is pictured above the old town ahead of the the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 13, 2024. The Cannes film festival runs from May 14 until May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) WHAT DOES ‘IN COMPETITION’ MEAN? Cannes hierarchy is in the lineup, too. Attention focuses most on the films “in competition”: usually around 20 movies competing for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top award. Past winners include “Apocalypse Now,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Parasite.” Last year, it went to Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall.” Winners are chosen by a jury of nine that changes every year. This year’s is presided over by Greta Gerwig. Jury president Greta Gerwig, second form left, poses with jury members Omar Sy, from left, Lily Gladstone, Nadine Labaki, Ebru Ceylan, Kore-eda Hirokazu, J.A. Bayona, Eva Green, and Pierfrancesco Favino upon arrival at the awards ceremony and the premiere of the film ‘The Second Act’ during the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP) Competition is only one section, though. Many high-profile films might play out of competition, as “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is this year. Un Certain Regard gathers a lineup of original or daring films. First and second films play in the sidebar Critics’ Week. There are also midnight selections and the recently launched Premiere sidebar, which also takes some overflow for films that didn’t fit into competition. Restorations and documentaries play in Cannes Classics. And down the Croisette, separate from the official selection, is the Directors’ Fortnight or the Quinzaine, a parallel showcase launched in 1969 by a group of French filmmakers after the 1968 Cannes was canceled. The Palme d’Or is displayed at the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. The Cannes film festival runs from May 14 until May 25, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP) BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PALM DOG? There are many other prizes, too, even an unofficial one created by journalists called the Palm Dog (sadly, not the Palme D’Og), for the best canine in Cannes. Last year, that honor went to Messi, the “Anatomy of a Fall” pooch. Messi the dog poses for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony and the premiere of the film 'The Second Act' during the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (Photo by Daniel Cole/Invision/AP) Messi the dog poses for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony and the premiere of the film 'The Second Act' during the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (Photo by Daniel Cole/Invision/AP) Created in 2001, the annual award and its spinoff categories is decided by a jury of reporters. Past winners have included Uggie from “The Artist” (2011) and Sayuri, who played the heroic pit bull in “Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood” (2019). As for the reigning champ, Messi captivated the carpet on opening day this year, in town again as a correspawndent of sorts for French television.