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Russia's jamming of American weapons in Ukraine is showing the US what it needs to be ready for in a future fight 2024-05-09 21:19:32+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 Russian electronic warfare has created problems for American-made precision weaponry in Ukraine, but Moscow is also showing its hand and telling the US what it needs solutions for to be ready for potential future fights. Ukraine has employed US precision weapons, like the HIMARS-fired Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems and air-launched Joint Direct Attack Munitions, throughout the war, but widespread Russian electronic warfare is regularly diminishing the effectiveness of these weapons. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Lt. Gen. Antonio Aguto, who is serving as the commander of Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, addressed the problem in December 2023, noting that electronic warfare directed at some of the US' "most precise capabilities is a challenge." Other US officials have identified these issues as well, adding that the US and Ukraine were working on solutions. Any fixes developed to effectively counter the challenge posed by electronic warfare won't just benefit Ukraine. They'll also help the US solve problems it has long been concerned about as it prepares for the possibility of great-power conflict. Advertisement Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explained to Business Insider that "the widespread GPS spoofing we see in Ukraine adds urgency to solving a problem DoD has long recognized: that wartime spoofing will reduce the effectiveness of its weapons." A Russian R-330Zh Zhitel electronic-warfare jamming station during an exercise in July 2018. Denis Abramov/Russian Defense Ministry via Mil.ru Electronic warfare can be executed using cheap but effective technology, and both sides of the war are using it extensively. And these tactics are not used solely to foil precision-guided munitions. They can also be used to scramble the connection between an operator and a reconnaissance or strike drone. Electronic warfare is a broad term that includes a variety of inexpensive options. Jamming is relatively straight-forward, Thomas Withington, an expert in electronic warfare and air defense and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said, explaining to BI that it involves "blasting a GNSS receiver with noise to cause it to lose the position, navigation, and timing signal that it received from the satellite." Spoofing, on the other hand, involves sending false GNSS information to the weapon's navigation system, sending it off course or trajectory. Jamming is easier and can be done with cheaper equipment and engineers, while spoofing is likely to be used in more specific instances, such as hiding locations from the enemy. Advertisement Both serve different purposes, but in either case, the effects can be deeply problematic for precision weaponry. Ukraine has managed to adapt to the challenge, in some cases, by engaging in jamming of its own or locating Russian electronic warfare sites and destroying them. Relying on alternative systems that don't depend on GPS or utilize other guidance systems, such as an inertial guidance system, helps bypass the problem. That's not always an option though. M142 HIMARS launches a rocket on Russian position on December 29, 2023 in Unspecified, Ukraine. Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Within the Russian military, there has likely been increased interest in employing electronic warfare in battle, especially over the past year or so, because it's so effective at countering US-provided precision weapons. Precision systems — like Excalibur and GMLRS, which can be fired from US-provided M777 howitzers and HIMARS, respectively — are seeing shockingly decreased accuracy due to jamming. Advertisement "The philosophy behind weapons like Excalibur and JDAMs was that their reliance on GNSS, to an extent, was supposed to provide a level of precision," Withington told BI. The capability and accuracy of those much-vaunted weapons are now in question, he said, noting that "not only has tactical and operational ramifications for the Ukrainians," but it also potentially raises questions about "the wider confidence others have in those systems." Related stories Daniel Patt, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Congress back in March the 155mm GPS-guided Excalibur artillery shell "had a 70% efficiency rate hitting targets when first used in Ukraine" but "after six weeks, efficiency declined to only 6% as the Russians adapted their electronic-warfare systems to counter it." Patt added that "the peak efficiency of a new weapon system is only about two weeks before countermeasures emerge." That is valuable information for the US as it prepares for potential future fights. Advertisement 2000 lbs GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) are transported to the flight deck of USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy The war in Ukraine has, as a defense expert previously told BI, been an "intelligence bonanza" and is giving the US an opportunity to learn how its precision weapons perform under modern threats like electronic warfare. It's not theoretical. Instead, the US is watching a rival power engage its weapons in a real war. Intelligence from the war builds on and likely advances years of research and discussion among US defense officials and experts about how electronic warfare will impact America's arsenal in a great power conflict and how the US will need to adapt. Cancian said DoD has been working on overcoming these threats by focusing on options like using narrower signal bands or the generation of stronger signals that are able to burn through jamming attempts. The threats, nevertheless, "remind us to be careful about expecting 'game changers,' though," he said. "The other side always develops countermeasures that reduce effectiveness." Advertisement Despite the challenges, the US shouldn't completely write off its precision weapons should it one day find itself in a war with another great power, be it Russia or China, which would almost certainly employ electronic warfare as well. Withington said that "even if that jamming has been quite successful, the tactical imperative behind this is to work out a way to outflank the effectiveness of that electronic attack," noting that while a strong Russian jamming signal may be effective, it's also easier to detect and destroy. At a media event earlier this month, Doug Bush, the Army's acquisition chief, said it wasn't surprising Russia was able to jam US weapons. He said it was part of a "constant cycle" of innovation on both sides, adding that the US was learning that "with any precision weapon, you want multiple ways to guide it to its target." For some weapons, that's already in the works. Earlier this week, the US Air Force announced a contract for add-on seekers for its extended-range JDAMs, the goal being to improve the JDAM to resist electronic jamming and instead lock onto the source of the jamming, targeting it. Advertisement Bush said the Army had created a team focused on adapting its weapons to electronic warfare issues long before the war in Ukraine, signaling the Pentagon's clear understanding of the problem these capabilities pose. Bush previously said in August 2023 that the Army was "fundamentally reinvesting in rebuilding our tactical electronic-warfare capability after that largely left the force over the last 20 years" and that the war in Ukraine had added "urgency" to those efforts. US Army electronic-warfare specialists set up portable packs capable of picking up and jamming enemy frequencies at Fort Bliss in Texas in December 2018. Staff Sgt. Felicia Jagdatt Efforts to adapt precision weapons to the threat is just one facet of a multi-layered solution, Withington said. Other solutions to the problem involve using other weapons and prioritizing targeting the point of origin for electronic warfare signals early in a conflict. "It is imperative that forces like the US and its allies see future battle in a case that they have to first establish electromagnetic superiority," he said, explaining that denying enemies from using the electromagnetic spectrum in any way would "massively degrade at the very least, if not prevent altogether" an enemy from interfering with its weapons. Advertisement Ultimately, though, as the US and Ukraine adjust to Russia's jamming and learn from the war, the "constant cycle" of innovation, as Bush said, will continue. "The measure, counter-measure, counter-countermeasure that we're seeing in Ukraine is typical in war," Cancian said, adding that there is "no technology provides the ultimate advantage."

Promoters of Mike Tyson-Jake Paul Netflix fight offer $2 million VIP package as ticket, bettor interest spike 2024-05-09 21:18:00+00:00 - In this composite image a comparison between Former Boxer Mike Tyson (L) and Jake Paul (R). Tyson and Paul face in July 2024 exhibition fight. Mike Tyson's return to the boxing ring to fight Jake Paul this summer is already seeing soaring ticket prices and strong bettor interest. The July 20 bout, which will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and be streamed globally on Netflix , is expected to be the most heavily bet on boxing match of the year. Fans are already lining up for tickets to see the former heavyweight champion Tyson, who will be 58 at that time, take on the 27-year old social media influencer turned boxer Paul. The fight, which will be sanctioned as a professional bout, will be 8 rounds, consisting of two minutes each. Tyson last fought in an exhibition match in 2020, but his last professional fight took place in 2005. The event will also feature lightweight world champion Katie Taylor vs. boxing trailblazer and unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano. The two previously achieved the first ever sold out women's headline boxing event at Madison Square Garden. Most Valuable Promotions, the company co-owned by Paul that is promoting the event, said more than 121,000 fans have signed up for presale access for the fight. Tickets go on sale officially next Thursday. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event that literally touches six generations," said Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of MVP. Bidarian said 35,000 people have indicated they want to sit on the floor of the venue and over 10,000 have said they want VIP seats. Most Valuable Promotions also has a unique offer for the fight — a $2 million VIP package. The promotion said it will include two ringside seats, which it said have never been offered before in boxing. The package will also include four first-row floor seats for the event, four second-row floor seats, a pre-fight locker room photo with both Paul and Tyson, gloves signed by both fighters and two-night luxury penthouse accommodations at the hotel where the fighters will stay. "We're trying to bring awareness and exposure back to boxing in a gigantic way. That has not been the case for many, many years," Bidarian said. For those who can't shell out the $2 million, secondary market sites like Gametime have released ticket prices for the event. Currently, the lowest-cost tickets are available for $357 each, and ringside seats are selling for $8,067 each. Gambling interest in the fight has increased, too. BetMGM is already taking bets on the bout. The odds show Jake Paul as the current favorite (-145), but 70% of the money is being bet on Tyson. "This is the type of mega fight that will draw in multiple demographics: Tyson supporters, Jake Paul haters and casual sports fans," said Alex Rella, senior trader at BetMGM. "I fully expect this to be the most bet on boxing match of the year." Financial terms of the fight, and what Netflix will receive from it, have not been released. Netflix will make the bout available to all subscribers at no cost as the streaming giant continues its push into sports. Tyson and Paul are expected to make eight figures, Bidarian said. "We're hoping that this becomes the most viewed streaming event in sports in the U.S.," he added.

Samsung S95D vs. S95C: Our TV expert pit the brand's top OLEDs head-to-head 2024-05-09 21:16:16+00:00 - When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more The S95 series is Samsung's flagship OLED TV lineup. It offers high-end picture quality and is geared toward buyers willing to pay a premium for the brand's best performance. Right now, shoppers can choose between two S95 models: the 2023 S95C and 2024 S95D. The S95D is meant to replace the S95C, but the latter will remain available until existing stock sells out. Both TVs have similar capabilities, but the S95D can get a bit brighter, and it has a new matte screen that significantly reduces glare and reflections. However, the older S95C costs much less, and its glossy screen has some unique perks that videophiles might prefer. To help you decide which high-end Samsung TV is best for your needs, I put both models head-to-head. I've been reviewing home entertainment products for over a decade, and my findings are based on hands-on testing time with each TV. Here's why I think the S95C remains a better buy for most people searching for a premium OLED. The verdict The less expensive S95C still delivers the best value for most buyers who want a premium Samsung OLED. However, the S95D's new matte-screen coating could be worth the extra money if you have a room where reflections are a big problem. Samsung 65-inch S95C 4K OLED TV The S95C is one of Samsung’s top OLED TVs. It has a sleeker design and a brighter picture than step-down models, but it can't quite reach the peak brightness of Samsung's newer S95D. Shop at Amazon Shop at Walmart Shop at Best Buy What we like Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Quantum dots provide a bright, vivid picture Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. 144Hz refresh rate for smooth PC gaming Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Slim design with One Connect Box What we don’t like con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Doesn't support Dolby Vision con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Pricey compared to the very similar S90C con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Brightness can't quite match Sony and LG's top OLEDs. Samsung 65-inch S95D 4K OLED TV Samsung's 2024 flagship 4K TV is the brightest OLED we’ve ever tested. It features a new matte screen that nearly eliminates reflections, making it ideal for rooms that struggle with glare. However, the matte design gives black levels a slightly faded look in direct light. Shop at Amazon Shop at Best Buy Shop at Samsung What we like Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. The brightest OLED we've tested Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Matte screen significantly reduces glare and reflections Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. 144Hz refresh rate for smooth PC gaming Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Slim design with One Connect Box What we don’t like con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Doesn't support Dolby Vision con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Glare-free coating elevates black levels in bright rooms con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Pricey compared to 2023 counterpart Advertisement Samsung S95D vs. S95C: Picture performance The S95D (pictured above) edges out the S95C when it comes to HDR brightness capabilities. Steven Cohen/Business Insider The S95D and S95C both use QD-OLED (OLED with quantum dots) panels, which enables them to produce pixel-level contrast control and a wide range of bright colors. They also offer excellent viewing angles so you can sit off to the side of the screen without noticing any drop in image quality. When watching actual movies and TV shows, both displays provide impressive high-dynamic-range (HDR) performance. But while both TVs are neck and neck in most picture quality aspects, there is one area where the S95D has a more notable edge over the S95C: peak brightness. In fact, the S95D is the brightest OLED TV I've ever measured. On a 10% HDR test pattern (a white box that takes up 10% of the screen), I measured a peak of around 1,360 nits on the S95C. On that same test pattern, I measured a peak of around 1,700 nits on the S95D. That's an increase of 340 nits or about 25%, which is a solid jump. That said, the S95D can only hit 1,700 nits briefly before dimming significantly. But since most highlights that need to get that bright (like an explosion in a movie) only appear on screen for quick flashes, this limitation isn't that big of a deal. Ultimately, the S95D's increased brightness gives it a slight advantage over the S95C for two reasons. One, it gives you more headroom to adjust the S95D's settings and pump up the screen's brightness to help combat issues with glare in rooms that let in a lot of light. And two, it enables the S95D to more accurately cover the full range of brightness that filmmakers intend when mastering HDR content that exceeds 1,000 nits. This means that extreme highlights can come through with a bit more detail and visual intensity on the S95D than they would on the S95C. But while the S95D's brightness performance is the kind of thing that home theater nerds like me geek out over, it's important to note that the real-world benefits of this extra luminance can be subtle. If you watch both TVs next to each other while set in their brightest modes or playing HDR movies with especially bright highlights and colors, you'll certainly see a difference. But for average TV viewing, the S95C's brightness remains sufficient. So, while the S95D does technically deliver superior image quality, I don't think its performance benefits are big enough to justify its more expensive price tag. The S95D will eventually come down in price, and the S95C will sell out, so this will become a moot point. But for now, it's hard to justify spending so much when you can still snag the S95C for around $1,000 less. Advertisement Samsung S95D vs. S95C: Glare and reflections The S95D's matte screen (pictured above) is better at combating reflections than the S95C's glossy screen, but the anti-glare filter can elevate black levels. (Note: The camera sensor exaggerates this effect.) Steven Cohen/Business Insider Even more so than their brightness capabilities, the biggest difference between the S95D and S95C is how each TV handles reflections. The S95C uses a glossy screen, while the S95D uses a matte screen. Both have their pros and cons, but the S95D's matte coating offers a big improvement in reducing glare and reflections. Glossy screens, which are used in nearly every TV sold, can cause noticeable reflections in certain rooms. To combat this, manufacturers use different kinds of anti-reflective filters. The S95C's anti-reflective filter does a solid job for a screen of its type, but depending on where your windows and indoor lights are positioned, you could still run into issues with glare. On the other hand, the S95D's matte screen virtually eliminates reflections and glare entirely. If you struggle with reflections in your room, the S95D is a game changer. The only other 4K sets with similar matte-screen coatings are Samsung's own Frame TV and Hisense's upcoming Canvas TV, but those models can't match the pixel-level contrast that the S95D's OLED panel produces. Unfortunately, the S95D's matte screen has one notable side effect: it hurts black-level performance in a bright room. Though reflections and glare are dramatically reduced, black levels lose a bit of that deep, inky quality that OLEDs are known for and instead look slightly gray and hazy. This is especially true when displaying darker scenes, like the opening action sequence of "The Matrix." This scene starts in a dimly lit room and then moves outside at night. The darkest elements of the scene are meant to be pure black, but because of the S95D's glare-free coating, they take on a more cloudy look that flattens the distinction between shades of black and gray. This makes it harder to discern details in shadows. The S95C's anti-reflective filter isn't immune to this kind of side effect either, as it can cause a slight elevation of black levels and a faint pinkish hue in extremely bright rooms. But I never found those effects on the S95C noticeable during day-to-day viewing. In contrast, the elevated black levels caused by the S95D's matte screen are more pronounced and easier to notice. So, when it comes to bright room viewing, there are clear tradeoffs with each TV. The S95D's matte screen can handle glare and reflections better than any other TV on the market, but the downside is that you get elevated black levels that can give some dark scenes a flat look. Conversely, while the S95C's glossy screen preserves deep black levels better in bright rooms, it's much more prone to showing reflections when hit with light from certain angles. As a big home theater enthusiast, I prefer the S95C's glossy screen since black-level performance is one of the most important aspects of preserving an accurate image. The matte screen is definitely helpful for certain use cases and could be ideal for specific setups, but I wish Samsung had implemented it on a step-down model rather than its 2024 flagship. Or better yet, offered it as an optional alternative. Advertisement Samsung S95D vs. S95C: Design and interface The S95C (left) compared to an S95D (right). Differences in brightness are a result of settings and camera sensors, and are not indicative of either model's actual brightness performance. Steven Cohen/Business Insider Outside their screen coatings, the S95D and S95C have nearly identical physical designs. Both TVs have a thin profile that measures around 0.4 inches thick and use a separate One Connect Box to house all of their video and audio inputs instead of having those ports built into the panel. The One Connect gives you more flexibility for cable management, and both models have four HDMI 2.1 ports and one ATSC antenna port. However, the S95C has an ATSC 3.0 port, while the S95D has been downgraded to an ATSC 1.0 port. ATSC 1.0 supports receiving HD broadcasts, while ATSC 3.0 can also support 4K broadcasts. The switch to ATSC 1.0 is disappointing, but it's not as big a deal as it might sound. Actual 4K broadcasts are rare, and most people buying a high-end set like this rely on cable boxes or streaming services for live TV rather than digital antennas. Likewise, you can purchase a separate ATSC 3.0 tuner if needed. The One Connect Box can be slotted right onto the back of the TV stand to hide it from view. The metal stand itself is also very similar for both TVs, with a sturdy pedestal design. Samsung's smart TV interface, which uses the Tizen operating system, has been slightly updated for the S95D versus the S95C. The S95D's layout has been tweaked and streamlined, and there's a new loading graphic when you open an app, but general functionality and features remain the same. Advertisement Samsung S95D vs. S95C: Price and availability The S95C currently costs a lot less than the S95D. Steven Cohen/Insider The 2024 S95D is meant to replace the 2023 S95C, but the S95C will remain available to purchase for as long as the existing inventory lasts. Though exact street prices fluctuate, the S95C is often on sale for as much as $1,100 less than the S95D. Both models are available in 55-, 65-, and 77-inch screen sizes, and here's how pricing compares for each option at the time of writing: Current S95C price Current S95D price 55 inches $1,900 $2,600 65 inches $2,500 $3,400 77 inches $3,700 $4,600 The S95D's price should gradually fall as the year goes on, and I expect to see big discounts during events like Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday. By the time the holiday shopping season rolls around, prices for current- and previous-year TV models usually even out. It's important to remember that the S95C will get harder to find in the fall and winter as stock depletes. Advertisement The bottom line The S95C remains a better value for now, but that could change when the S95D starts seeing discounts later in the year. Steven Cohen/Insider The S95D and S95C are both impressive OLEDs, but the cheaper S95C remains a better value for most buyers in the market for a flagship Samsung TV. The pricier S95D technically offers better image quality with brighter HDR performance. But for typical use cases, I don't think it's worth the premium, while you can still find the S95C for less money. However, buyers specifically looking for a glare-free TV should consider paying extra for the S95D. It's the only high-end TV that can combat reflections this well. I generally prefer the superior black-level performance you get with the S95C's glossy screen, but the S95D's matte screen is uniquely suited for rooms where glare is a persistent issue. For more details on each TV, check out our full Samsung S95C review and our full Samsung S95D review. And for more TV recommendations, visit our guides to the best 4K TVs, best OLED TVs, and best Samsung TVs.

Apple apologizes for 'crushed' iPad Pro ad after widespread online blowback 2024-05-09 21:16:00+00:00 - Apple is apologizing for its advertisement promoting its latest iPad Pro after widespread blowback online. In a statement obtained by advertising industry publication Ad Age, Tor Myhren, Apple's vice president of marketing, said the ad's message failed to connect. “Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world,” Myhren said. “Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.” Apple did not respond to a request for comment. CNBC confirmed the statement's authenticity. Apple won't run the ad on TV, according to Ad Age. The ad, released Tuesday, features an industrial press crushing mostly analog modes of expression like a trumpet, piano, a camera, cans of paint, and an upright video game console while Sonny & Cher’s “All I Ever Need Is You" plays in the background. The ad was posted on X by Apple CEO Tim Cook with a caption that read in part; "Just imagine all the things it'll be used to create." Online criticism of the ad was nearly universal, with many observers pointing out that while it may have intended to portray the manifold capabilities of the product, it seemed to signify technology as a force for destroying human agency in creative endeavors. One creative director compared the ad unfavorably to another infamous Apple ad: The one first advertised for the original Macintosh computer. Directed by Ridley Scott, the spot, called "1984," depicted Apple as saving the world from a mechanized, dystopian nightmare. “Apple’s new iPad spot is essentially them turning into the thing they said they were out to destroy in the 1984 ad,” Christopher Slevin, creative director for marketing agency Inkling Culture, wrote on LinkedIn.

Consumers might be paying more than credit card perks are worth, officials say 2024-05-09 21:07:00+00:00 - Credit card holders could be paying more in fees and interest than their travel rewards and other perks are worth, Biden administration officials are arguing, raising scrutiny on loyalty programs that shape millions of people’s spending. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Transportation held a joint hearing in Washington on Thursday that brought together representatives from airlines, financial institutions, unions and consumer advocacy groups to discuss whether new regulations are needed. Regulators are looking into the promises made around sign-up bonuses, changes to point values, obstacles in redeeming points and loss of rewards when cards are closed. They’re especially focused on travel rewards, like those offered by airline-branded credit cards that let users rack up frequent flyer miles. Forty-one percent of Americans have travel rewards credit cards, according to a NerdWallet survey last year. “We’re going to look into how we can make sure companies are being straightforward about what people will get from these frequent flyer miles or loyalty programs when they sign up, and whether people are actually getting the deal that they were promised,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at Thursday’s hearing. The heightened scrutiny on credit card rewards is part of the White House’s broader crackdown on “junk fees” and other pricing practices, particularly in industries like financial services and airlines, that the administration sees as unfairly squeezing consumers and contributing to inflation. In March, the CFPB lowered the late fees that credit card companies charge, drawing swift industry pushback. Two weeks ago, the Transportation Department said it would require airlines to quickly give cash refunds to passengers whose flights are canceled or seriously delayed. The CFPB, with purview over financial institutions, has cracked down on banks for credit card sign-up bonuses before. Last July, it ordered Bank of America to pay more than $100 million for practices including withholding or denying bonus points to tens of thousands of consumers. Federal regulators are now looking more closely at airline credit cards too. With annual fees as high as $650 and average interest rates of 25.3%, according to LendingTree, they can be much costlier than the average credit card, which in many cases have no annual fees and charge comparatively lower rates, averaging 24.7%. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra told NBC News prior to the hearing that federal authorities could consider regulations, or even law enforcement actions, if they determine companies are breaking their promises to consumers. “We see that for many of these airline rewards programs, credit card companies are charging huge interest rates, sometimes 30% or more. And many consumers actually lose out on these deals. They may be paying way more than the value of the rewards that they accrue,” Chopra said. Even if consumers are able to pay their bills on time and avoid interest payments, consumers have complained about restrictions on using the points they’ve accrued. Buttigieg told NBC News ahead of Thursday’s hearing that he had concerns about “abrupt changes” in the value of points, given the airlines’ control over how many points a flight from, say, New York to Honolulu might cost. Airlines for America, a coalition representing the nation’s largest airlines, said Thursday that there is “fierce competition” within the industry for credit card loyalty, adding that “consumers have the power of choice when picking a carrier for air travel or a credit card for spending, with a wide range of options, to pick what best fits their needs.” The Electronic Payments Coalition, representing credit unions, community banks and payment card networks, points to CFPB data showing the value of rewards points has risen from an average 1.4 cents per dollar spent in 2019 to 1.6 cents in 2022. In a statement Thursday, the group described regulators’ scrutiny of credit card rewards as “politically motivated.” Loyalty programs, which sell points back to consumers at prices they set, have been a big source of revenue for major airlines. Delta Air Lines said it brought in $6.5 billion in revenue linked to its loyalty programs just last year, and American Airlines said 80% of its revenue this year will come from loyalty program members. When United Airlines pledged its entire loyalty program for a loan in 2020, it valued the asset at $21.9 billion. Lauren Randall, who lives in Norwalk, Connecticut, told NBC News she recently applied for a travel credit card that offered 40,000 miles at sign-up, only to receive a promotion in the mail just hours later for the very same card offering 60,000 points. She said she called to see if she could receive the better promo but was denied, calling it a “bait and switch.” “It feels like every year, either the seats get smaller, or the prices go up, or there’s some sort of excuse,” Randall said. “It would be great to hold these companies more accountable for the experience and what they promise.”

US utility pledges more transparency after lack of notice it empowered CEO to make plant decisions 2024-05-09 21:05:03+00:00 - NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The nation’s largest public utility on Thursday pledged to be more transparent after it took months to disclose that a general budget vote by its board last year also gave the CEO the final decision over several proposed natural gas power plants. The Tennessee Valley Authority’s board announced the transparency changes during its quarterly meeting in Nashville. The decision followed an August meeting in which the federal utility’s board cast the budget vote that quietly gave President and CEO Jeff Lyash the final say over the projects, including the replacement of the aging coal-fired Kingston Fossil Plant with a natural gas plant. The public didn’t find out about those provisions until documents with specific details were released several months later, some via public records request, said Amanda Garcia, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. The decision stood in contrast to a more publicized vote in May 2023 when the board, with a new majority selected by President Joe Biden, took back the final decision-making authority on the Kingston plant. Lyash had been granted the authority for Kingston and the natural gas switch at Cumberland Fossil Plant, both in Tennessee, when the board had a majority picked by former President Donald Trump. “One of the changes the chair asked me if I would do, which I can, is to take the resolutions, precisely what is being voted by the board, and make those resolutions publicly available, get them on the website rapidly after the meeting,” Lyash told The Associated Press. Board member Michelle Moore, who was absent but had a statement read on her behalf, said some decisions are better delegated to the CEO because they span years and multiple board cycles, but others require board decisions because of “exceptional, regional and even national significance.” Additionally, Lyash said the board maintains oversight authority when the CEO is the decision maker. TVA’s plans to open more natural gas plants have drawn the ire of advocates who want an aggressive move away from fossil fuels and into solar and other renewables. They note that even with six of nine board members appointed by Biden, TVA is off track to meet the Biden administration’s goal of eliminating carbon pollution from power plants by 2035 to try to limit the effects of climate change. Several of its proposals for new natural gas plants have received criticism from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including a warning that its environmental review of the Kingston project doesn’t comply with federal law. Southern Environmental Law Center staff attorney Trey Bussey said the transparency changes should have been in place “before TVA decided to spend billions of dollars on new gas plants and pipelines — not after,” adding that the board can still halt the buildout of gas plants. In April, the law center said it recently found out that the board had given decision-making power back to the CEO. Although TVA has not embraced renewables, the utility still says a majority of its energy is carbon-free because 42% comes from nuclear and another 9% is from hydropower. Purchased wind and solar make up another 4% of its energy portfolio. The utility currently produces 1 megawatt of its own solar and has 20 megawatts of battery storage. The Kingston project includes another 3-4 megawatts of solar and 100 megawatts of battery storage. TVA estimates that the new gas plant will produce 1.68 million tons (1.52 million metric tons) of greenhouse gases a year, noting that it is a steep decline from Kingston’s current emissions. TVA says its power mix was at 55% last fiscal year, with a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. The utility has said it intends to build 10,000 megawatts of solar by 2035. Its solar goals have hit some snags, including supply chain issues, interest rates and land costs, according to Lyash. As the region grows in population and TVA looks to add power plants, the utility says it also has a goal of reducing consumption by 30% over the next decade through energy efficiency and demand response programs. TVA provides power to 10 million people across seven Southern states.

Sinclair explores selling roughly 30% of its broadcast stations, sources say 2024-05-09 21:04:00+00:00 - Sinclair, one of the largest owners of broadcast stations in the U.S., is looking to sell more than 30% of its footprint, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has hired Moelis as its investment banker and has identified more than 60 stations in various regions of the U.S. that it would be willing to sell, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Sinclair owns or operates 185 TV stations in 86 markets. The stations are a mix of affiliates including Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS and the CW. If sold together, their average revenue for 2023 and 2024 is an estimated $1.56 billion, the people said. Sinclair is willing to sell all or some of the stations, which are in top markets like Minneapolis; Portland, Ore.; Pittsburgh; Austin, Texas and Fresno, Calif., among others. Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said Wednesday that the company is open to offloading parts of its business, without providing specifics. “As we’ve always stated, we have no sacred cows,” Ripley said during his company’s earnings conference call. “We want to unlock the sum of the parts valuation that we think we’re grossly undervalued for. And to the extent that asset sales makes sense in order to unlock that value and help us de-lever, then that’s something that we’d be open to as well.” The company began officially shopping them in February, one of the people said. Spokespeople for Sinclair and Moelis declined to comment. Sinclair is also exploring options for its Tennis Channel, a cable TV network that features the sport and pickleball matches, the people said. Bloomberg earlier reported that development. Broadcast TV station groups have suffered in the past five years as millions of Americans have canceled traditional pay TV. Most stations make money from so-called retransmission fees, paid on a per-subscriber rate by traditional TV distributors, such as Comcast, DirecTV, and Charter, for the right to carry the stations. Sinclair has lost more than 70% of its market value in the last five years. The company’s market capitalization is about $975 million with an enterprise value of about $4.7 billion. Sinclair changes Last year, Sinclair rebranded and reorganized, splitting the company into two operating units — Local Media, which focuses on the stations, and Ventures, which houses Tennis Channel but can also act as an investment vehicle. The split in the company divisions, and the recent sale process for some of its stations, stems from tension within the Smith family, the shareholders and the board directors who helped build Sinclair, some of the people said. The stations are up for sale in the months before the 2024 election, which usually draws high political advertising revenue for broadcast TV companies. Sinclair said during earnings on Wednesday that it pre-booked $77 million in political advertising for the second half of the year through Election Day, compared with $21 million at the same point in 2020, the last time former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden were on the ticket. The company’s overall revenue and advertising revenue both rose slightly during the first quarter. Sinclair’s stock was up 12% on Thursday. Sinclair’s broadcast stations have been known for having a conservative editorial voice, and the company faced backlash in 2018 after requiring some of its stations to read promos criticizing the media about “fake stories.” Diamond woes The process also comes after Sinclair faced headaches in the regional sports networks business. Sinclair acquired the largest portfolio of regional sports networks from Disney in 2019 for $10.6 billion, including $8.8 billion in debt. Between ramped-up cord-cutting and the hefty debt load, Diamond Sports, the independently run and unconsolidated subsidiary of Sinclair, sought bankruptcy protection last year. Diamond later sued parent Sinclair, and the litigation was settled in January. Sinclair made a $495 million payment to settle lawsuits related to Diamond.

Approximately 800,000 BetterHelp online therapy customers receive refund notices 2024-05-09 20:49:00+00:00 - About 800,000 customers of online therapy platform BetterHelp will start receiving refund notices related to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the agency said Thursday. Last year, BetterHelp agreed to pay $7.8 million to settle FTC charges that it co-opted user data, including personal health questions, for advertising purposes, sharing the sensitive info with social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat. The FTC accused BetterHelp of failing to properly obtain consumers’ consent before doing so. BetterHelp did not admit to the charges. The company issued a statement this week that said it was “deeply committed to the privacy of our members and we value the trust people put in us by using our services.” Eligible refund customers include anyone who paid for services on BetterHelp or its affiliated websites like MyTherapist, Teen Counseling, Faithful Counseling, Pride Counseling, iCounseling, Regain, and Terappeuta; between August 1, 2017 and December 31, 2020. According to The Associated Press, the refunds will equate to just under $10 per person. BetterHelp remains a massive sponsor of podcasts. In March 2024, it spent $8.3 million on podcast opportunities — nearly double the next biggest sponsor, Amazon, according to Magellan AI, a podcast analytics group. The company is now owned by Teladoc Health, an online medical services group that has seen its share price plunge as the Covid-19 pandemic waned. In its most recent earnings report, Teladoc Health said its BetterHelp segment was experiencing declining usership and revenues.

What Items an Army Artillery Soldier Brings to Battle 2024-05-09 20:42:05+00:00 - We got an inside look at how new United States Army field artillery soldiers are trained at the Field Artillery School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Driscoll, a cannon crew member instructor, walked us through 41 essential items an artillery soldier would bring on a mission. While some of Driscoll's gear is used by other units in the US Army, he showcased artillery-specific items like the M2 collimator and the fire-control computer.

Governor says he won’t support a bill that could lead to $3M in assistance to striking workers 2024-05-09 20:36:48+00:00 - HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday he doesn’t support a vague bill passed in the final minutes of the legislative session that creates a $3 million fund that could financially benefit striking union workers, signaling he would will likely veto it. “Everything I know about it, I’m not going to support it,” he told reporters during a post-session news conference, calling lawmakers’ tactics to pass the bill “too cute by half.” Senate Democrats mostly avoided describing the bill as supporting striking workers. Rather, Sen. Julie Kusher repeatedly said during the late-night debate the bill would help “low-wage workers” and State Comptroller Sean Scanlon would iron out the details. Minutes after the vote, a coalition of unions praised the legislation as a step toward creating an assistance fund for striking workers. Ed Hawthorne, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said such a fund would “level the playing field for working people” and allow them to strike without facing foreclosures, evictions and repossessions. Lamont said he supports unions but was unenthusiastic about using taxpayers’ money to subsidize strikers. New York and New Jersey allow striking workers to apply for unemployment benefits, a proposal that failed this session in Connecticut.

IRS reminder: Time to claim $1 billion in tax refunds from 2020 expires on May 17 2024-05-09 20:33:00+00:00 - There is $1 billion in unclaimed 2020 tax refunds up for grabs — but the last chance to file returns and collect the money is approaching. Nearly 940,000 taxpayers have until May 17 to file 2020 returns and claim their refund, the IRS said in a "final reminder" this week. The median possible payment is $932, according to the agency. The deadline is "terribly important" because there's a three-year refund expiration after each tax deadline, said certified public accountant John Karls, partner at accounting firm Armanino. More from Personal Finance: Just 4% of current retirees say they are 'living the dream,' survey finds This is the best time for a Roth individual retirement account conversion Interest rates on federal student loans may increase by 1 percentage point The 2020 tax deadline was postponed to May 17, 2021, amid the pandemic — and the three-year deadline to file 2020 returns and collect refunds is now one week away. "If you let if you let it slip, there's nothing anybody can do," said Bill Smith, national director of tax technical services at financial services firm CBIZ MHM. "You won't get your refund when the statute of limitations has run out."

Boeing Locks Out Firefighters in Contract Dispute, and Biden Weighs In 2024-05-09 19:54:18+00:00 - Contract negotiations between Boeing and a union representing firefighters at some of the company’s commercial plane factories broke down last week. On Thursday, President Biden called on both sides to return to the negotiating table. The company locked out about 125 workers represented by a chapter of the International Association of Firefighters union on Saturday after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract, said Casey Yeager, the president of the union chapter, I-66. The previous contract expired on March 1, but the firefighters, who work at Boeing’s plants in the Seattle area, continued to work under its provisions. The talks, conducted with the help of a federal mediator, stalled after the firefighters rejected what the company had said was its final offer. The two sides met as recently as Friday night, minutes before the lockout began, Mr. Yeager said. “When we left our negotiating room the other day, we had a very firm discussion that we were willing to continue to bargain,” he said. “They can call us at any point and we will bargain, but at this time they have not sent any information to us at all.”

Investor convicted in Trump Media insider trading case 2024-05-09 19:44:00+00:00 - A federal jury in New York on Thursday convicted an investor of insider trading in the stock of a shell company ahead of its announcement in October 2021 that it would merge with Trump Media. The investor, Bruce Garelick, had been on the board of directors of the publicly traded company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., at the time he was accused of sharing and exploiting non-public information with others about its plans to merge with then-privately held Trump Media, the owner of the Truth Social app. Trump Media’s majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump, who was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case against Garelick in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. But Garelick’s trial, which began on April 30, took place just blocks away from where Trump is on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court on criminal charges related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Two co-defendants of Garelick, the brothers Michael and Gerald Shvartsman, pleaded guilty to insider trading charges on April 3. Jurors in Garelick’s case began deliberating on Wednesday afternoon after hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and a defense lawyer. After several hours of deliberation Thursday, jurors returned guilty verdicts on the five counts of securities fraud and conspiracy that the 54-year-old Garelick faced. Garelick, who testified at his trial, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 12. Garelick was an investment advisor to Michael Shvartsman’s venture capital firm, Rocket One Capital. Prosecutors said Garelick shared non-public material information about DWAC’s merger plans with Trump Media with the Shvartsman brothers in 2021 after joining DWAC’s board. All three men then bought up DWAC stock based on that non-public information and then sold their shares after the price soared following the announcement of the deal to combine with Trump Media, prosecutors said. Garelick made a profit of just $49,000 on the illicit trades, but the Shvartsmans earned a whopping $23 million, according to prosecutors. “Bruce Garelick was part of a sophisticated group of individuals invited to invest in Digital World Acquisition Corporation ..., a special purpose acquisition company that had raised funds with the intention of later investing in a target company, Trump Media & Technology Group, not yet known to the public,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement Thursday. “When he was given that opportunity, Garelick promised to keep the information about DWAC’s interest in acquiring Trump Media secret and not use it to trade in the stock market. Garelick was also given a seat on DWAC’s board, which gave him direct access to additional non-public information regarding the acquisition,” Williams said. “As a unanimous jury has just found, Garelick blatantly violated the law by using the information that he obtained as an insider at DWAC to trade and tip others,” the top prosecutor said. “Garelick’s federal conviction is yet another stark reminder that insider trading is always a losing bet.” DWAC and Trump Media completed their merger in late March. Public trading of the company’s stock under the new ticker DJT began a day later. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Trump Media’s auditor with what the regulator said was “massive fraud” involving the auditor’s accounting work for hundreds of publicly traded companies, affecting 1,500 SEC filings. The auditor, BF Borgers CPA, and its owner, Benjamin Borgers, agreed to be permanently suspended from practicing as accountants before the SEC, and to pay a combined $14 million in civil penalties. Trump Media hired a new auditor, Semple, Marchal & Cooper LLP last weekend to replace BF Borgers.

Tech sits out Thursday's rally as the S&P 500 inches closer to its March record 2024-05-09 19:43:00+00:00 - Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. (We're no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.) Markets : The market is moving higher Thursday after Wednesday's quiet session. Thursday's gains put the S & P 500 less than 1% away from its record close on March 28. The Dow , meanwhile, is up around 270 points, or 0.7%, on pace for its seventh straight winning day. Stocks are getting some support Thursday from the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was initially higher in early trading, but it retreated those levels after initial jobless claims hit their highest levels since August, pointing to signs of a loosening labor market. The response follows the "bad news is good news" market reaction to the April jobs report last week. Yields dipped again shortly after 1 p.m. ET in reaction to a solid demand for a $25 billion auction of 30-year bonds. We'll be getting some notable economic data reports in the coming days. At 10 a.m. ET Friday, we'll get preliminary results from the University of Michigan's May consumer sentiment survey, which includes consumer inflation expectations. And then next week, the April producer price index (PPI) and consumer price index (CPI) are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Wall Street will pay close attention to those two reports because a series of hotter inflation data points in recent months have pushed out the timeline for expected Federal Reserve rate cuts. Tech sits out: The only S & P 500 sector in the red Thursday was technology. A bunch of solar stocks, which fall under the tech bucket, were lower after SolarEdge gave disappointing second-quarter guidance. It's been tough sledding for the industry lately. Remember, this cohort is extremely interest-rate sensitive because many solar systems are purchased with financing. Over the past 12 months, shares of SolarEdge are down more than 80%. The Invesco Solar ETF is down nearly 40% in the same stretch. Elsewhere in tech, chips stocks were mostly lower Thursday. Some of that may have to do with soft quarterly guidance from chip designer Arm Holdings , but we think those sellers may be missing the bigger picture of what will be a multiyear growth story for AI chips. Indeed, we got a positive read on AI spending earlier this week from Arista Networks , whose CEO, Jayshree Ullal, is on "Mad Money." Club holding Salesforce is the worst performer in the Dow on Thursday, down about 1.5%. The decline is likely tied to competitive concerns about Alphabet 's reported interest in buying HubSpot , which also sells customer relationship management software. HubSpot reported earnings Wednesday night and provided mixed guidance. S & P leaders: The top-performing sectors in the S & P 500 on Thursday were real estate, utilities and energy. Utilities, a classic defensive sector, has been the biggest gainer this week by far, up nearly 4%. Up next: We're through the big earnings reports of the week. What's left tonight is the solar tracking company Array Technologies , insulin pump maker Insulet Corp , and the content delivery company Akamai Technologies . On Friday, Canadian energy pipeline company Enbridge is set to report. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. (We're no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.)

Telegraph takeover: Zucker ‘would have done bid differently’ in hindsight 2024-05-09 19:12:00+00:00 - The US businessman who fronted a UAE-backed consortium’s failed £600m attempt to buy the Telegraph group has said he should have taken a different approach to the deal and immediately snapped up the Spectator magazine, after the takeover collapsed under political pressure. Jeff Zucker, a former CNN chief executive, now runs RedBird IMI, which last week announced it was walking away from its planned deal for the newspaper group after saying the transaction was “no longer feasible” because of new legislation that would block foreign states from owning newspaper assets in the UK. Zucker, speaking at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council summit in London, said that in hindsight there were two things he would have done differently in the proposed bid for the Telegraph group. He said he would have closed the deal for the Spectator, which the group owns, right away as that was not subject to the same regulatory scrutiny as the Telegraph. He said RedBird IMI, a partnership backed by the UAE’s vice-president, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and the US investment firm RedBird Capital Partners, had not done so because it had agreed the Telegraph and Spectator deals would go through at the same time and it was working with the regulators. “We were being good citizens,” he said. Zucker said he would have also structured the deal differently by changing the percentage of the owners of the entities that were within the RedBird IMI partnership. “Looking back in hindsight we did not fully appreciate the need to do either of these moves at that time,” he said. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion The planned RedBird IMI takeover of the Telegraph, widely seen as the house journal of the Conservative party, had been fiercely opposed by many Tory MPs and peers who raised concerns about free speech. The UAE, which provides the financial backing for 75% of RedBird IMI, has been criticised in the past for breaches of press freedom. The concerns prompted the government to draw up the legislation which is expected to become law in the coming weeks. RedBird IMI effectively took control of the Telegraph newspapers and the Spectator magazine in December when it repaid the debts of their owners, the Barclay family, including a £600m loan against the titles. Its withdrawal from a full takeover of the business will trigger a fresh round of bidding from interested parties. Zucker said that, since the sale process started last week, “interest has been pretty robust” from potential bidders including from those outside the UK. “We are confident there is enough serious interest in this and we will do well,” he said, adding of the sales process: “In the next two to three months it’ll work itself out.” Last year’s auction for the Telegraph attracted interest from more than 20 parties but was halted after RedBird IMI made its proposed offer. Interested bidders this time are expected to include DMGT, which owns the Daily Mail, and Paul Marshall, the hedgefund founder and backer of GB News, who has already shown interest in the Telegraph. The Rupert Murdoch-owned News UK has been linked to a deal for the Spectator. RedBird is being advised by the banks Raine and Robey Warshaw – which employs the former chancellor George Osborne – in the sales process. Zucker said RedBird IMI had made a planned bid for the Telegraph and Spectator because they were “terrific brands”, and such assets rarely become available. He added that the Telegraph was a good business but had suffered from a serious lack of investment in the past decade. RedBird IMI’s plan had been to help expand the Telegraph globally, particularly in the US, he said. The UAE-backed consortium has made a number of acquisitions including a £1.15bn deal to buy All3Media, the production company behind Fleabag and the Traitors. All3Media has more than 50 different labels and has produced some of the most popular TV shows of recent years, including Squid Game: The Challenge, Midsomer Murders and Call the Midwife. Zucker said the All3Media deal closed next week and that RedBird would continue to look for suitable acquisitions.

Utilities complete contentious land swap to clear way for power line in Mississippi River refuge 2024-05-09 19:06:34+00:00 - MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Utilities looking to finish building a high-voltage power line linking Iowa and Wisconsin completed a contentious land deal Thursday that allows them to build on a Mississippi River federal wildlife refuge. American Transmission Company, ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative have nearly finished the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line. If completed, the 345-kilovolt line would stretch 102 miles (164 kilometers) from Iowa’s Dubuque Country to Wisconsin’s Dane County. A mile-long section of the line (1.6 kilometers) would cross the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge near Cassville, Wisconsin. The refuge is a haven for fish, wildlife and migratory birds. Conservation groups filed a lawsuit in March seeking to block the crossing. They contend the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued final approvals for the crossing without adequate public comment. They also allege that the fish and wildlife service and the utilities improperly reached a deal calling for the utilities to transfer about 36 acres (15 hectares) south of Cassville to the refuge in exchange for 10 acres (8 hectares) within the refuge for the line. U.S. District Judge William Conley issued a preliminary injunction preventing the utilities and the agency from closing the deal, but a federal appellate court invalidated the order on Tuesday. Rodney Pritchard, a spokesperson for ITC Midwest, said the utilities and the agency closed the deal Thursday. He said it’s unclear when construction will begin. The conservation groups fear construction will begin immediately. They asked Conley on Thursday to issue another injunction. The judge has set a hearing for Tuesday. The groups’ lead attorney, Howard Learner, said in a statement that he hopes the utilities won’t begin construction before Tuesday’s hearing. He said the groups deserve their day in court. Officials with the fish and wildlife service declined to comment because the legal case is ongoing.

Shareholders push casinos to reassess indoor smoking 2024-05-09 19:01:00+00:00 - A new strategy has emerged in the battle to ban smoking in casinos: the shareholder vote. Shareholders at Boyd Gaming, Bally’s Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment will put on the ballot at the respective casino companies proposals to force them to study the costs associated with permitting smoking indoors — and whether going smoke-free could save money. The proposals are sponsored by Trinity Health, a nonprofit health care network, and the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. Trinity Health, based in Livonia, Michigan, has used its shareholder status to fight for various health initiatives despite the fact that it owns just a tiny fraction of these companies. For example, public records show Trinity owns just 440 shares of Bally’s stock, or about 0.001% of the company. Boyd, Bally’s and Caesars fought to keep the proposals out of the proxy materials distributed to shareholders. The Securities and Exchange Commission denied the casinos’ requests, and the proposals as well as the rationale behind them were delivered to all shareholders. Boyd will face a vote over a smoke-free assessment at its annual shareholder meeting Thursday. Bally’s holds its annual meeting on May 16, and Caesars will follow with its own meeting, likely in June. The three companies collectively operate 75 U.S. casinos that permit indoor smoking, where state law allows. About 14 states permit indoor smoking in commercial casinos. States like Nevada and New Jersey have prohibited indoor smoking more broadly, but carved out exceptions for casinos. Legislation to end indoor smoking at casinos is in various stages in several states across the country, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Advocates for smoking bans point to research by C3 Gaming that concluded smoke-free casinos generate more revenue and outperform competitors that allow smoking. Proposal sponsors argue shareholders should know how much casinos pay in higher health insurance premiums for employees, greater maintenance costs and keeping away customers who hate the smoke. In its proxy, Boyd argues it’s seen a negative impact in states that banned indoor smoking. It argues these decisions are best left up to the properties to follow local trends and says if shareholders succeed in implementing a ban (which Boyd claims is the true goal in forcing an assessment), the company will lose customers to competitors who continue to allow smoking. Caesars board member Jan Jones Blackhurst said Wednesday at the SBC Summit North America, an online gaming conference, that she believes the decision of whether to ban smoking in casinos should be left up to governments. She pointed out that experience has shown that smoke-free casinos can take an economic hit. “Generally, if you look across the United States, when casinos prohibit smoking, revenues fall anywhere from 20% to 25%, which also then have a huge layoff factor with people starting to lose their jobs,” she said. Unions are mixed in their responses. While some worry about the potential of job losses, the United Auto Workers, which represents more than 10,000 table game dealers across the country, has ramped up its efforts in the fight against in-casino smoking, citing secondhand exposure for employees. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says “no amount of exposure to secondhand smoke is safe and the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke is through 100% smoke free indoor air environments.” The U.S. Surgeon General says that many common practices found in casinos such as separating smoking versus non-smoking sections, cleaning the air and ventilating buildings are not effective protections against secondhand smoke. Casino operator Parx, which runs locations in Pennsylvania, decided to stay smoke-free during the Covid pandemic at its property in Bensalem, north of Philadelphia. It competes with four other local casinos that allow smoking indoors, but said it hasn’t seen its market share suffer. “Financially, we know we’ve lost some customers, but we also know we’ve gained some customers. We don’t think we’ve seen a significant impact either way,” Parx spokesperson Marc Oppenheimer told CNBC. Instead, the company said it focuses on guest satisfaction scores and surveys that indicate a boost to employee morale. In Las Vegas, MGM Resorts opened the first casino resort on the Strip to prohibit indoor smoking and even smoking on the pool deck. On its website, the property declares, “Here at Park MGM, we’re not afraid to be different and, as you may have noticed, we’re all about what’s fresh. Now, that includes the air you breathe. ” For now, Park MGM is the exception, but smoke-free advocates hope soon, it’ll be the rule.

Americans are choking on surging fast-food prices. "I can't justify the expense," one customer says 2024-05-09 18:59:00+00:00 - Kevin Roberts remembers when he could get a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a drink from Five Guys for $10. But that was years ago. When the Virginia high school teacher recently visited the fast-food chain, the food alone without a beverage cost double that amount. Roberts, 38, now only gets fast food "as a rare treat," he told CBS MoneyWatch. "Nothing has made me cook at home more than fast-food prices." Roberts is hardly alone. Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers. A January poll by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions found that about 25% of people who make under $50,000 were cutting back on fast food, pointing to cost as a concern. For some of the nation's best-known restaurant chains, losing lower-income customers means weaker sales, and potentially a dent to profits, said restaurant analyst Mark Kalinowski, president of Kalinowski Equity Research. "When you look at McDonald's, they're not getting a majority of high-income customers — the middle- and lower-income class are the bulk of their business," he said. "They need to be cautious with their spending, and that's what you're seeing right now." "Forget about it — I'm going home" As fast-food prices have risen, recent earnings reports from industry leaders such as McDonald's and Taco Bell parent Yum Brands show that same-store sales have slipped over the last year. "The whole conceit was that you were getting some OK-level of food for a low price and you could get it quick," Roberts said. "Now I can't justify the expense. If I'm paying $15 for a burger and fry and drink and it's McDonalds quality, forget about it — I'm going home." Casual dining restaurants are also feeling the absence of low-income Americans. The CEO of Dine Brands, which owns Applebee's and IHOP, told CNBC this week that the casual restaurants are seeing a decline in low-income customers. How much have fast-food chains raised prices? Fast-food prices have shot up over the last decade, according to FinanceBuzz. The personal finance site found that the price of a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal from McDonald's more than doubled in price from $5.39 in 2014 to $11.99 this year. Other restaurant chains also have jacked up their prices, FinanceBuzz said. Between 2014 and 2024, Popeye's, Jimmy John's and Subway hiked their food prices 86%, 62% and 39%, respectively. The price of a two-piece chicken combo at Popeyes jumped from $6.49 to $11.39 over that period, while an eight-inch club tuna from Jimmy Johns rose from $5.75 to $9.10, according to FinanceBuzz. FinanceBuzz derived its data by selecting 10 menu items from each fast-food chain, using third-party websites like fastfoodmenuprices.com and menuwithprice.com to check the menu prices in 2014, 2019 and 2024. To be sure, menu item prices at fast-food restaurants can vary wildly by state. While prices are set at the corporate level for some fast-food restaurants, they are determined by individual franchise owners at others. Why are fast-food prices rising? Restaurant chains point to rising labor costs as a key factor driving up prices. Across the U.S., 22 states raised their minimum wages in January, although the federal baseline pay remains stuck at $7.25 an hour. In California, fast-food chains with 60 or more locations nationwide are now required to pay their workers a minimum wage of $20 an hour following passage of a new law last fall. Labor advocates dispute that rising employee wages are to blame for higher fast-food costs. A March analysis of California fast-food restaurants by the Roosevelt Institute, a liberal think tank, noted the industry's record profit margins. "Our analysis of financial data for the past decade finds increases in fast-food industry operating profits and rising markups, suggesting that affected employers can absorb the increased operating costs associated with a higher industry minimum wage without increasing consumer prices or reducing employment," the report states. Jack in the Box, Jimmy Johns, McDonald's, Popeyes, Subway and Yum did not respond to requests for comment from CBS MoneyWatch. For now, companies appear to be looking toward rewards points programs, discounts and mobile apps in an effort to keep customers loyal. But McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski acknowledged the impact of rising prices last month in an earnings call. "[A]cross almost all major markets, industry traffic is slowing," Chris Kempczinski told Wall Street Analysis. "McDonald's has a long history of being the go-to destination for value, and it's imperative that we continue to keep affordability at the forefront for our customers."

Tata steelworkers vote to take industrial action over job losses 2024-05-09 18:51:00+00:00 - Members of a steelworkers’ union have voted to take industrial action in protest at planned job losses at Tata. The company last month rejected a plan by unions to keep open a blast furnace at the Port Talbot steelworks, ending hopes of avoiding as many as 2,800 job losses. Community said more than 85% of its members backed industrial action. Unions are campaigning against plans by Tata to change production at its site in Port Talbot, south Wales, to a greener method of steelmaking. The Community national officer Alun Davies said: “Today our members delivered their verdict on Tata Steel’s job cuts plan, and they have voted to demand a better deal for the workforce. “Community balloted more than 3,000 members across all Tata Steel UK production sites, and more than 85% have voted for industrial action. “It should be noted this resounding mandate has been delivered in spite of the company’s bullying and unacceptable threats to slash redundancy payments. “We will now be consulting our members on next steps, and we urge Tata to reconsider their position and get back around the table to head off a major industrial dispute.” Members of Unite have also voted to strike, while the GMB is yet to announce the result of its ballot. Indian-owned Tata Steel announced the closure of two of the UK’s four active blast furnaces in January, in a major blow to Port Talbot. The town and its economy are dominated by the steelworks. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Tata has said it is investing in a new electric arc furnace at Port Talbot that will secure thousands of jobs.

Trump Media investor convicted of insider trading ahead of merger 2024-05-09 18:47:00+00:00 - Bruce Garelick walks following a hearing at the Manhattan Federal Court, in New York City, July 20, 2023. A federal jury in New York on Thursday convicted an investor of insider trading in the stock of a shell company ahead of its announcement in October 2021 that it would merge with Trump Media . The investor, Bruce Garelick, had been on the board of directors of the publicly traded company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., at the time he was accused of sharing and exploiting non--public information with others about its plans to merge with then-privately held Trump Media, the owner of the Truth Social app. Trump Media's majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump, who was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case against Garelick in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. But Garelick's trial, which began on April 30, took place just blocks away from where Trump is on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court on criminal charges related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Two co-defendants of Garelick, the brothers Michael and Gerald Shvartsman, pleaded guilty to insider trading charges on April 3. Jurors in Garelick's case began deliberating on Wednesday afternoon after hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and a defense lawyer. After several hours of deliberation Thursday, jurors returned guilty verdicts on the five counts of securities fraud and conspiracy that the 54-year-old Garelick faced. Garelick, who testified at his trial, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 12. Garelick was an investment advisor to Michael Shvartsman's venture capital firm, Rocket One Capital. Prosecutors said Garelick shared non-public material information about DWAC's merger plans with Trump Media with the Shvartsman brothers in 2021 after joining DWAC's board. All three men then bought up DWAC stock based on that non-public information and then sold their shares after the price soared following the announcement of the deal to combine with Trump Media, prosecutors said. Garelick made a profit of just $49,000 on the illicit trades, but the Shvartsmans earned a whopping $23 million, according to prosecutors. "Bruce Garelick was part of a sophisticated group of individuals invited to invest in Digital World Acquisition Corporation ..., a special purpose acquisition company that had raised funds with the intention of later investing in a target company, Trump Media & Technology Group, not yet known to the public," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement Thursday. "When he was given that opportunity, Garelick promised to keep the information about DWAC's interest in acquiring Trump Media secret and not use it to trade in the stock market. Garelick was also given a seat on DWAC's board, which gave him direct access to additional non-public information regarding the acquisition," Williams said. "As a unanimous jury has just found, Garelick blatantly violated the law by using the information that he obtained as an insider at DWAC to trade and tip others," the top prosecutor said. "Garelick's federal conviction is yet another stark reminder that insider trading is always a losing bet." DWAC and Trump Media completed their merger in late March. Public trading of the company's stock under the new ticker DJT began a day later. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Trump Media's auditor with what the regulator said was "massive fraud" involving the auditor's accounting work for hundreds of publicly traded companies, affecting 1,500 SEC filings. The auditor, BF Borgers CPA, and its owner, Benjamin Borgers, agreed to be permanently suspended from practicing as accountants before the SEC, and to pay a combined $14 million in civil penalties. Trump Media hired a new auditor, Semple, Marchal & Cooper LLP last weekend to replace BF Borgers. This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.