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Judge blocks Arkansas law allowing librarians to be criminally charged over ‘harmful’ materials 2023-07-30 - Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors, a federal judge ruled Saturday. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which also would have created a new process to challenge library materials and request that they be relocated to areas not accessible by kids. The measure, signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year, was set to take effect Aug. 1. A coalition that included the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock had challenged the law, saying fear of prosecution under the measure could prompt libraries and booksellers to no longer carry titles that could be challenged. The judge also rejected a motion by the defendants, which include prosecuting attorneys for the state, seeking to dismiss the case. The ACLU of Arkansas, which represents some of the plaintiffs, applauded the court’s ruling, saying that the absence of a preliminary injunction would have jeopardized First Amendment rights. “The question we had to ask was — do Arkansans still legally have access to reading materials? Luckily, the judicial system has once again defended our highly valued liberties,” Holly Dickson, the executive director of the ACLU in Arkansas, said in a statement. The lawsuit comes as lawmakers in an increasing number of conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books. The number of attempts to ban or restrict books across the U.S. last year was the highest in the 20 years the American Library Association has been tracking such efforts. Laws restricting access to certain materials or making it easier to challenge them have been enacted in several other states, including Iowa, Indiana and Texas. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said in an email Saturday that his office would be “reviewing the judge’s opinion and will continue to vigorously defend the law.” The executive director of Central Arkansas Library System, Nate Coulter, said the judge’s 49-page decision recognized the law as censorship, a violation of the Constitution and wrongly maligning librarians. “As folks in southwest Arkansas say, this order is stout as horseradish!” he said in an email. “I’m relieved that for now the dark cloud that was hanging over CALS’ librarians has lifted,” he added. Cheryl Davis, general counsel for the Authors Guild, said the organization is “thrilled” about the decision. She said enforcing this law “is likely to limit the free speech rights of older minors, who are capable of reading and processing more complex reading materials than young children can.” The Arkansas lawsuit names the state’s 28 local prosecutors as defendants, along with Crawford County in west Arkansas. A separate lawsuit is challenging the Crawford County library’s decision to move children’s books that included LGBTQ+ themes to a separate portion of the library. The plaintiffs challenging Arkansas’ restrictions also include the Fayetteville and Eureka Springs Carnegie public libraries, the American Booksellers Association and the Association of American Publishers.
Brittney Griner forgoes 2 upcoming road games to focus on mental health, team says 2023-07-30 - Brittney Griner on Saturday became the latest high-profile athlete to prioritize mental health when her WNBA team announced she won't travel for a Chicago series. The Phoenix Mercury said Griner would not be on board when the team embarks on a two-game road trip Sunday through Tuesday against the Chicago Sky. She's opting out "to focus on her mental health," the team tweeted. "The Mercury fully support Brittney and we will continue to work together on a timeline for her return," the three-championship team said. Griner, 32, spent several months in Russian custody after she was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport in February 2022 when security personnel found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage. The star center said she packed the items inadvertently and later she said used the substance to aid in recovery from injuries. Griner was given a nine-year prison sentence in August and released in December in a prisoner swap negotiated by the Biden administration. At the time she was detained, Griner was a contract star for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Yekaterinburg, Russia, a base during the WNBA off-season. Griner is the latest big-name athlete who has cited mental health in the decision to skip events or take a break in the hyper-focused world of pro sports. In recent years, Black women at the top of their disciplines have helped drive the conversation about mental health as a key and shame-free component of human health. In 2021, tennis phenom Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open after her pleas to skip media interviews in the name of her mental health were rebuffed by tournament officials. She was ranked No. 2 in the world at the time and also later withdrew from Wimbledon. The U.S. Open subsequently announced that players would have access to licensed mental health providers and quiet rooms. Also that year, superstar gymnast Simone Biles, 24, withdrew from several events at the Tokyo Olympics, citing mental health as the reason. She has also revealed she has seen a psychologist and taken anxiety medication.
As Phoenix hits 30 days over 110, expected monsoon rains could help cool the Southwest 2023-07-30 - PHOENIX — A historic heat wave that has gripped the U.S. Southwest throughout July, blasting residents and baking surfaces like brick, is beginning to abate with the late arrival of monsoon rains. Forecasters expect that by Monday, people in metro Phoenix will begin to see high temperatures fall under 110 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time in a month. But not on Saturday. The high temperature in the desert city with more than 1.6 million residents climbed past 110 degrees for the 30th straight day, the National Weather Service said. The previous record stretch of 110 or above was for 18 days in 1974. There are increased chances on Sunday of cooling monsoon thunderstorms. Though wet weather can also bring damaging winds, blowing dust and the chance of flash flooding, the weather service warned. Sudden rains running off hard-baked surfaces can quickly fill normally dry washes. Already this week, the overnight low at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport fell under 90 degrees for the first time in 16 days, finally giving residents some respite from the stifling heat once the sun goes down. Temperatures also were expected to ease in Las Vegas, Albuquerque and even in Death Valley, California, where the weather service said the expected high of 122 degrees on Saturday is forecast to lower to 113 by Tuesday — along with a slight chance of rain. Also in California, triple-digit heat was expected in parts of the San Joaquin Valley from Saturday through Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Hanford, California. Gusty, late-afternoon winds were expected Saturday and Sunday in Santa Barbara County, posing an elevated risk of fire weather, the weather service in Los Angeles said. Hot, dry weather was also expected across nearby valleys, lower mountains and desert areas. In Riverside County, a firefighter was injured as crews battled a wildfire that charred 3.2 square miles in the community of Aguanga, about 60 miles northeast of San Diego, authorities said Saturday. The so-called Bonny Fire was about 5% contained, authorities said. A downward trend in Southwest heat started Wednesday night, when Phoenix saw its first major monsoon storm since the traditional June 15 start of the thunderstorm season. While more than half of the greater Phoenix area saw no rainfall from that storm, some eastern suburbs were pummeled by high winds, swirling dust and localized downfalls of up to 1 inch of precipitation. Storms gradually increasing in strength are expected over the weekend. Scientists calculate that July will prove to be the hottest globally on record and perhaps the warmest human civilization has seen. The extreme heat is now hitting the eastern part of the U.S, as soaring temperatures moved from the Midwest into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, where some places are seeing their warmest days so far this year. The new heat records being set this summer are just some of the extreme weather being seen around the U.S. this month, such as flash floods in Pennsylvania and parts of the Northeast. “Anyone can be at risk outside in this record heat,” the fire department in Goodyear, a Phoenix suburb, warned residents on social media while offering ideas to stay safe. For many people such as older adults, those with health issues and those without access to air conditioning, the heat can be dangerous or even deadly. Maricopa County, the most populous in Arizona and home to Phoenix, reported this week that its public health department had confirmed 25 heat-associated deaths this year as of July 21, with 249 more under investigation. Results from toxicological tests that can takes weeks or months after an autopsy is conducted could eventually result in many deaths listed as under investigation as heat associated being changed to confirmed. Maricopa County confirmed 425 heat-associated deaths last year, and more than half of them occurred in July. Elsewhere in Arizona next week, the agricultural desert community of Yuma is expecting highs ranging from 104 to 112 and Tucson is looking at highs ranging from 99 to 111. The highs in Las Vegas are forecast to slip as low as 94 next Tuesday after a long spell of highs above 110. Death Valley, which hit 128 in mid-July, will cool as well, though only to a still blistering hot 116. In New Mexico, the highs in Albuquerque next week are expected to be in the mid to high 90s, with party cloudy skies.
An American woman and her child have been kidnapped in Haiti, organization says 2023-07-30 - A nurse and her child, both Americans, have been kidnapped amid crime and unrest in Haiti's capital, a nonprofit connected to the woman said Saturday. The group, El Roi Haiti, said in a statement that Alix Dorsainvil, a community health nurse married to its founder and director, Sandro Dorsainvil, and the pair's child, were kidnapped Thursday morning from its location near Port-au-Prince. The organization said the two were taken "while serving in our community ministry." The State Department said Saturday it's aware of reports of the kidnapping, is in contact with Haitian authorities, "and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners." “The U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas," the department said in a statement. The kidnappings took place the same day the State Department ordered nonemergency U.S. government employees and families to leave Haiti “due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure.” Gangs have taken over a vast majority of Port au Prince's street geography, making crime and chaos rampant and prompting more than 165,00 Haitians to abandon their homeland, according to a United Nations report last month. "Gang attacks, extrajudicial killings, kidnappings and gender-based violence have become part of the daily lives of Haitians, forcing locals to flee their homes," the U.N. said in June. Some Haitians seeking safety and order have camped out next to the U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 precipitated the chaos, as the nation's government never recovered from the shock to its leadership. Haiti has also been ravaged this century by two devastating earthquakes — including one shortly after Moïse's assassination — and has struggled with political chaos, violence and poverty. El Roi Haiti, a Christian organization, said it would keep pressing for the return of Alix Dorsainvil and her child. "We continue to work with our partners and trusted relationships to secure their safe return," it said. The organization described Dorsainvil as "deeply compassionate" and a "loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family." In an El Roi Haiti video posted to Vimeo roughly three years ago, Alix Dorsainvil says she's a nurse from New Hampshire invited by Sandro Dorsainvil to care for school children in Haiti. “He said that was a big need that they had," she said in the video. "At first I didn’t think that there was going to be much of a need there. But when I got there there were so many cases.” Sandro Dorsainvil grew up in a rough neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, according to his El Roi Haiti bio. He attended a Christian high school in the United States before pursuing undergraduate studies at Liberty University in Virginia, it said. He ultimately returned to his homeland and founded the nonprofit with the idea faith can help revive the country.
France's Le Maire presses China on market access and lobbies for electric car investment 2023-07-30 - Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, speaks during a joint press conference with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, at the end of the 9th China-France High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue held at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, Saturday, July 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, speaks during a joint press conference with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, at the end of the 9th China-France High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue held at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, Saturday, July 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, speaks during a joint press conference with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, at the end of the 9th China-France High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue held at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, Saturday, July 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, speaks during a joint press conference with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, at the end of the 9th China-France High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue held at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, Saturday, July 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) The French finance minister says he pressed Chinese leaders to open their markets wider to foreign companies BEIJING -- The French finance minister said Sunday he pressed Chinese leaders to open their markets wider to foreign companies and lobbied for investment in France’s electric car industry, as the European Union’s second-largest economy followed Washington in reviving post-COVID economic talks amid tension over Beijing’s surging trade surpluses. Bruno Le Maire also defended Paris’s controls on foreign access to technology after authorities said two Chinese citizens are under investigation for what news reports say is possible smuggling of French-made processor chips with military uses to China and Russia. Le Maire met Saturday with Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing’s top envoy on economic issues. He followed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who visited Beijing on July 9-10 as part of U.S. efforts to revive frosty relations with China. Chinese officials gave Le Maire and Yellen a warm welcome as part of efforts to reverse an economic slump by reviving foreign investor interest. But Beijing has given no indication of possible changes in technology and other policies that its trading partners say violate Chinese market-opening commitments. Officials of the 27-nation European Union are trying to narrow a trade deficit with China that swelled to 396 billion euros ($432 billion) last year. Le Maire cited cosmetics, aerospace and agriculture as possible areas for more French exports. “There is a need to improve access to the Chinese market. I think that it was at the core of our discussions,” Le Maire said in an interview at the French Embassy. “We want to have a stronger economic relationship between Europe and China, between France and China, which means to get access for all European goods.” Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government has looked to Europe as an alternative market and source of technology since Washington tightened controls on access to U.S. processor chips and other high-tech goods and hiked tariffs on imports from China in a feud over its industry development ambitions. Le Maire and Chinese officials pledged to cooperate on climate change, financing for developing countries and nuclear power. They announced plans to set up a group to settle a dispute over access to China’s market for cosmetics, a major French export. Le Maire also lobbied for investment from China’s fast-growing electric car industry. He was due to fly to the southern city of Shenzhen to meet Wang Chuanfu, founder of BYD Auto, one of the world’s biggest electric vehicle producers. BYD Auto and other Chinese brands are starting to sell in developed markets including Europe and Japan. Chinese battery supplier CATL has set up a factory in Germany to supply automaker BMW. “We want China to make investments in France in electric vehicles,” Le Maire said. “In the climate transition, there is a place for Chinese investment in France, which allows us to reinforce our economic relations and also speed up action against global warming.” The talks were overshadowed by Russia's war against Ukraine and complaints China might be helping Moscow evade Western sanctions, but Le Maire said he didn't discuss the war with Chinese officials. However, he said it was in Beijing’s interest to end the 17-month-old war. President Emmanuel Macron’s security adviser, Emmanuel Bonne, said this month China was delivering “military equipment” to Russia but gave no details. “I want to make very clear that we want this war to go to an end as soon as possible,” Le Maire said. “Indeed, (it is) in the interest of China, it is in the interests of the global growth to have peace as soon as possible.” Le Maire also defended French controls on technology exports and foreign investment in high-tech industry. French authorities are investigating two Chinese citizens associated with chip producer Ommic who the newspaper Le Parisien said face possible charges of exporting chips to a Chinese armaments maker using forged documents. French counter-espionage officials believe a Chinese investor who bought control of Ommic in 2018 was trying to transfer chip manufacturing technology to China, according to the newspaper. The ruling Communist Party is trying to develop its own chip industry, but Washington has blocked access to advanced manufacturing tools and persuaded allies Japan and the Netherlands to impose their own restrictions. Chinese authorities complain their companies are unfairly targeted by restrictions on access to foreign technology. They have warned curbs on access to semiconductors will disrupt smartphone and other industries. “Everybody can understand that France wants to protect its key technologies,” Le Maire said. “We don’t want any foreign country to get access to those French sovereign technologies.”
Russian missile attacks leave few options for Ukrainian farmers looking to export grain 2023-07-30 - The collapse of the Black Sea grain deal and a series of missile strikes on Ukrainian grain silos and ports have left farmers with few options to export their grain — and all of them are getting more expensive PAVLIVKA, Ukraine -- The summer winds carried the smell of burned grain across the southern Ukrainian steppe and away from the shards of three Russian cruise missiles that struck the unassuming metal hangars. The agricultural company Ivushka applied for accreditation to export grain this year, but the strike in mid-July destroyed a large portion of the stock, days after Russia abandoned the grain deal that would have allowed the shipments across the Black Sea without fear of attack. Men shirtless and barefoot, with blackened soles from ash, swept unburnt grain into piles and awaited the loader, whose driver deftly steered around twisted metal shrapnel, bits of missile and craters despite his shattered windshield. They hoped to beat the next rain to rescue what was left of the crop. According to the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Russia struck the facility July 21 with three Kalibr- and Onyx-class cruise missiles. “We don’t have a clue why they did it,” explained Olha Romanova, the head of Ivushka. Romanova, who worked in the debris alongside the others, wore a red headscarf and an exhausted expression and was too frazzled to even estimate her losses. She cannot comprehend why the Russians targeted Ivushka, as there are no nearby military facilities and the frontlines are far from the village in the Odesa region. “They spent so much money on us,” she said, puzzled. The missiles that ruined the silos are worth millions of dollars — far more than the crop they destroyed. But Ivushka wasn't the only target in Odesa. The main port also was struck, leaving Black Sea shipping companies that relied upon the grain deal to keep them safe and food supplies flowing to the world at a standstill. The Black Sea handled about 95% of Ukrainian grain exports before Russia’s invasion and the U.N.-brokered initiative allowed Ukraine to ship much of what farmers harvested in 2021 and 2022, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Ukraine, a major supplier of corn, wheat, barley and vegetable oil, shipped 32.9 million metric tons (36.2 million U.S. tons) of grain under the nearly yearlong deal designed to ease a global food crisis. It has been able to export an additional 2 million to 2.5 million metric tons (2.2 to 2.7 million U.S. tons) monthly by the Danube River, road and rail through Europe. Those are now the only routes to ship grain, but have stirred divisions among nearby European countries and generated higher costs to be absorbed by Ukrainian farmers, said Glauber, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Russian missiles strikes against the Danube port last Monday also raised questions about how much longer that route will remain viable. That’s a disincentive to keep planting fields already threatened by missiles and strewn with explosive mines. Corn and wheat production in agriculture-dependent Ukraine is down nearly 40% this year from prewar levels, analysts say. From the first of July last year until June 30 this year, Ukraine exported 68 million tons of grain, according to data from Mykola Horbachov, the president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Ukrainian farmers shipped 11.2 million tons via railways, 5.5 million tons by road transport and around 18 million tons through Danube ports. Additionally, nearly half of the total exported grain, 33 million tons, was delivered through seaports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Ihor Osmachko, the general director of Agroprosperis Group, was unsurprised by Russia's withdrawal from the deal leading to its collapse. His company had never considered it a reliable or permanent solution during wartime. He said Russians frequently stymied the deal, even while it was functioning, by delaying ship inspections until the cargos were sent back, leading to $30 million in losses for his company alone. Now, they are once again forced to pay to reroute 100,000 tons of grain trapped in ports that are no longer safe, Osmachko said. “We have been preparing for this whole time,” Osmachko said. “We haven’t stopped. We are moving forward.” Osmachko estimated around 80% to 90% of the approximately 3.2 million tons of grain Agroprosperis exported to China, Europe and African countries during the past year went through the grain corridor. “The most significant problem today is the cost of logistics,” explained Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. Before the war, farmers paid approximately $20 to $25 per ton to transport grain to the Odesa ports. Now, logistics costs have tripled as they are forced to pay more than $100 to transport a single ton via alternative routes through the Danube port to Constanta, Romania. “If we were to go on the Danube with the grain corridor closed, practically all our production would be unprofitable,” Osmachko said. The Danube ports can't handle the same volume as seaports. The most Agroprosperis has sent through this route is 75,000 tons per month, compared with a monthly average of 250,000 tons through Black Sea ports. The Ukrainian harvest this year is the lowest in a decade, according to a July report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Horbachov said shipping costs to export around the world and uncertainty about the length of the war will last could quickly make new planting unprofitable for Ukrainian farmers. Ukraine currently produces three times more grain than it consumes, while global prices will inevitably rise if the country's exports decrease. “I think you’re looking at a diminished Ukraine for at least the next couple of years and maybe longer,” said Glauber, the former U.S. agricultural official. “That’s something the rest of the world just needs to make up.” The war from all sides poses risks for Agroprosperis. In the Sumy region on the Russian border, farmers harvest their crops wearing body armor. Sometimes they must stop their combines in the middle of the wheat fields to pick up shrapnel from Russian projectiles. “It can get tough at times,” Osmachko acknowledged. “But there are responsibilities — some have duties on the front. Some must grow food and ensure the country’s and world’s security.” ___ Volodymyr Yurchuk in Lviv, Ukraine, and Courtney Bonnell in London contributed. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Consumer demand for speed and convenience drives labor unrest among workers in Hollywood and at UPS 2023-07-30 - FILE - UPS teamsters and workers hold a rally, Friday, July 21, 2023, in Atlanta, as a national strike deadline nears. UPS has reached a contract agreement with its 340,000-person strong union Tuesday, July 25, averting a strike that had the potential to disrupt logistics nationwide for businesses and households alike. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File) FILE - UPS teamsters and workers hold a rally, Friday, July 21, 2023, in Atlanta, as a national strike deadline nears. UPS has reached a contract agreement with its 340,000-person strong union Tuesday, July 25, averting a strike that had the potential to disrupt logistics nationwide for businesses and households alike. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File) FILE - UPS teamsters and workers hold a rally, Friday, July 21, 2023, in Atlanta, as a national strike deadline nears. UPS has reached a contract agreement with its 340,000-person strong union Tuesday, July 25, averting a strike that had the potential to disrupt logistics nationwide for businesses and households alike. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File) FILE - UPS teamsters and workers hold a rally, Friday, July 21, 2023, in Atlanta, as a national strike deadline nears. UPS has reached a contract agreement with its 340,000-person strong union Tuesday, July 25, averting a strike that had the potential to disrupt logistics nationwide for businesses and households alike. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File) NEW YORK -- Six straight days of 12-hour driving. Single digit paychecks. The complaints come from workers in vastly different industries: UPS delivery drivers and Hollywood actors and writers. But they point to an underlying factor driving a surge of labor unrest: The cost to workers whose jobs have changed drastically as companies scramble to meet customer expectations for speed and convenience in industries transformed by technology. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated those changes, pushing retailers to shift online and intensifying the streaming competition among entertainment companies. Now, from the picket lines, workers are trying to give consumers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a show that can be binged any time or get dog food delivered to their doorstep with a phone swipe. Overworked and underpaid employees is an enduring complaint across industries — from delivery drivers to Starbucks baristas and airline pilots — where surges in consumer demand have collided with persistent labor shortages. Workers are pushing back against forced overtime, punishing schedules or company reliance on lower-paid, part-time or contract forces. At issue for Hollywood screenwriters and actors staging their first simultaneous strikes in 40 years is the way streaming has upended entertainment economics, slashing pay and forcing showrunners to produce content faster with smaller teams. “This seems to happen to many places when the tech companies come in. Who are we crushing? It doesn’t matter,” said Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, a screenwriter and showrunner on the negotiating team for the Writers Guild of America, whose members have been on strike since May. Earlier this month, the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists joined the writers’ union on the picket line. Actors and writers have long relied on residuals, or long-term payments, for reruns and other airings of films and televisions shows. But reruns aren’t a thing on streaming services, where series and films simply land and stay with no easy way, such as box office returns or ratings, to determine their popularity. Consequently, whatever residuals streaming companies do pay often amount to a pittance, and screenwriters have been sharing tales of receiving single digit checks. Adam Shapiro, an actor known for the Netflix hit “Never Have I Ever," said many actors were initially content to accept lower pay for the plethora of roles that streaming suddenly offered. But the need for a more sustainable compensation model gained urgency when it became clear streaming is not a sideshow, but rather the future of the business, he said. "Over the past 10 years, we realized: ‘Oh, that’s now how Hollywood works. Everything is streaming,’” Shapiro said during a recent union event. Shapiro, who has been acting for 25 years, said he agreed to a contract offering 20% of his normal rate for “Never Have I Ever” because it seemed like "a great opportunity, and it’s going to be all over the world. And it was. It really was. Unfortunately, we’re all starting to realize that if we keep doing this we’re not going to be able to pay our bills.” Then there's the rising use of “mini rooms,” in which a handful of writers are hired to work only during pre-production, sometimes for a series that may take a year to be greenlit, or never get picked up at all. Sanchez-Witzel, co-creator of the recently released Netflix series “Survival of the Thickest,” said television shows traditionally hire robust writing teams for the duration of production. But Netflix refused to allow her to keep her team of five writers past pre-production, forcing round-the-clock work on rewrites with just one other writer. “It's not sustainable and I'll never do that again,” she said. Sanchez-Witzel said she was struck by the similarities between her experience and those of UPS drivers, some of whom joined the WGA for protests as they threatened their own potentially crippling strike. UPS and the Teamsters last week reached a tentative contract staving off the strike. Jeffrey Palmerino, a full-time UPS driver near Albany, New York, said forced overtime emerged as a top issue during the pandemic as drivers coped with a crush of orders on par with the holiday season. Drivers never knew what time they would get home or if they could count on two days off each week, while 14-hour days in trucks without air conditioning became the norm. “It was basically like Christmas on steroids for two straight years. A lot of us were forced to work six days a week, and that is not any way to live your life,” said Palmerino, a Teamsters shop steward. Along with pay raises and air conditioning, the Teamsters won concessions that Palmerino hopes will ease overwork. UPS agreed to end forced overtime on days off and eliminate a lower-paid category of drivers who work shifts that include weekends, converting them to full-time drivers. Union members have yet to ratify the deal. The Teamsters and labor activists hailed the tentative deal as a game-changer that would pressure other companies facing labor unrest to raise their standards. But similar outcomes are far from certain in industries lacking the sheer economic indispensability of UPS or the clout of its 340,000-member union. Efforts to organize at Starbucks and Amazon stalled as both companies aggressively fought against unionization. Still, labor protests will likely gain momentum following the UPS contract, said Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, which released a report this year that found the number of labor strikes rose 52% in 2022. “The whole idea that consumer convenience is above everything broke down during the pandemic. We started to think, ‘I’m at home ordering, but there is actually a worker who has to go the grocery store, who has to cook this for me so that I can be comfortable,’” Campos-Medina said. ___ Associated Press video journalist Leslie Ambriz contributed from Los Angeles.
Influencers and freebies: Big Tobacco’s push to sell nicotine pouches in UK 2023-07-30 - Tobacco companies are exploiting a legal loophole to promote flavoured nicotine pouches as a fun and glamorous lifestyle product, including paying young influencers to plug the products online. The addictive pouches – sachets of nicotine tucked under the lip – are being pushed in Instagram campaigns, at music festivals and at lavish promo parties, the Observer has found. Companies are also running prize draws and handing out thousands of free samples to attract new customers in the UK. The marketing has raised concern among health experts and campaigners, who say firms are able to position the pouches as a “trendy lifestyle product” – rather than presenting them factually as a smoking alternative – because they are largely unregulated. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration bans sales of all nicotine products to under-21s and prohibits companies from giving out free samples. The Netherlands recently banned nicotine pouches altogether. But in the UK, unlike e-cigarettes, they are not classed as tobacco-related products and can be legally sold to under-18s. The disposable pouches – which come in various strengths and in flavours such as watermelon, strawberry and mint – can also be legally advertised across social media, where vape promotions are generally prohibited. The advertising watchdog says promotions must be “responsible” and not targeted directly at children, but statutory restrictions that cover vapes and other age-restricted products also do not apply – meaning price promotions, celebrity endorsements and content that goes “beyond factual information” are not explicitly banned. Companies pushing nicotine pouches in the UK say that despite the looser rules, their marketing is responsible and their promotions are never targeted at under-18s. They say the pouches, which do not contain tobacco, are a reduced-risk alternative to smoking and are aimed at existing nicotine users. But Observer analysis suggests the products are being promoted in glamorous marketing campaigns that appear to be aimed at younger audiences – just as the UK government launches a crackdown on e-cigarettes amid concern over youth vaping. British American Tobacco (BAT) – which makes Pall Mall and Lucky Strike cigarettes and Vuse vapes – frequently works with young British Instagram influencers to promote its nicotine pouch brand, Velo. In March, the company hosted a party with a DJ and free product samples. Attendees, including London rappers in their 20s, later posted event videos featuring Velo products on Instagram. A photo from the Velo website: firms also use young influencers to try to associate their products with good times. Photograph: Velo Website The firm – which claims to have a 52% share of the UK nicotine pouch market – has also sent influencers on sponsored trips. Several have posted clips of themselves dancing, drinking and posing with nicotine pouches at the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium and the British Grand Prix. Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has also invested heavily in its UK marketing. The company – maker of Camel and Benson & Hedges cigarettes – has partnered with 12 festivals to promote its Nordic Spirit pouches, including Secret Garden Party, the Isle of Wight festival and Reading and Leeds. “Ready for the best summer ever? Well ... Never miss a moment with @nordicspirit_uk,” one ad, posted recently by a festival partner, says. JTI is also running online prize draws giving away free bar tabs and event tickets. Professor Agnes Nairn, an expert in issues relating to marketing and young people at the University of Bristol, said the companies were “advertising fun”. “What the stuff is saying is, ‘This is a hell of a lot of fun.’ It just creates this incredibly positive feeling about your product,” she said. She added that some of those featured in the ads “look young”, but that the ads were likely to be within existing regulations. “The big point is: are the regulations right? And the chances are they probably aren’t.” Caroline Renzulli, from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which tracks advertising by tobacco firms and shared its research with the Observer, said firms were “positioning nicotine pouches as trendy lifestyle brands” but loose regulation meant the marketing was “falling through the cracks”. “What we’re seeing is outrageous. This is an extremely addictive product,” she said. Action on Smoking and Health, a campaigning charity, said the marketing was “straight out of the big tobacco playbook of old”. Marketing tactics used by some online retailers have also raised concern. Websites are offering unofficial products modelled on popular sweet and drink brands, including Skittles, Tic Tacs, Mentos and Pepsi, the Observer has found. Many advertise discounts and deals to entice people to buy. Some of the unofficial products have higher nicotine content than mainstream brands, which typically contain 2mg to 17mg per pouch. One website is offering “extreme” versions with a “whopping” 50mg per pouch, in “delicious” flavours such as bubblegum, strawberry milkshake and banana ice. The findings have led to calls for nicotine pouch regulation to be brought in line with that of other nicotine products. Despite the heavy investment in marketing, UK sales remain modest. But figures suggest the category is growing – with the total market for pouches worth £45.8m, up from just £3m in 2020, according to JTI data. A promotional stand for Nordic Spirit pouches at Vaper Expo in Birmingham last year. Photograph: John Keeble/Getty Images Dr Leonie Brose, reader in nicotine research at King’s College London, said the regulatory “void” meant that while some manufacturers put “18+” on their packaging and ads, retailers “don’t even need to ask for ID” to legally sell nicotine pouches at the moment. “It is a loophole,” she said. The government has previously been warned about the issue. A report by the Committee on Toxicity into nicotine pouches – prepared last year at the request of officials – raised concerns about the current regulatory framework and warned of the “appeal and ease of availability of oral nicotine pouches to individuals under 18”. Alice Wiseman, policy lead for addiction at the Association of Directors of Public Health, called on the government to “introduce tighter regulation as a matter of urgency”. “These products are currently unregulated which leaves children and young people vulnerable,” she said. The Department of Health said it was aware of the concerns but had no current plans to regulate further. “The use of nicotine pouches remains low in England and while there are no current plans to regulate them any further, we will continue to keep this under review,” it said. The approach appears at odds with the strategy for tackling youth vaping, which is currently the focus of a government crackdown after figures revealed a rise in underage use. Measures being considered are a ban on flavours and bright packaging. In April, Rishi Sunak criticised e-cigarette firms that used adverts, colours, characters and flavours that “appeal to kids”. “These are all things that shouldn’t be happening,” he said. The Advertising Standards Authority said it was reviewing several ads flagged by the Observer to see whether they complied with its code. It said nicotine pouch ads must be “socially responsible” and not directly targeted at children – but that because the products were not age restricted by law, statutory restrictions did not apply. It said it was keeping the issue under review. Instagram suggested the ads went against its policy; however, several posts promoting Velo and Nordic Spirit were live this weekend. “We don’t allow ads or branded content that promotes tobacco-related products and we’ll continue to remove content that breaks our rules,” it said. BAT said its marketing for Velo “complied with all applicable laws”, and that it only worked with influencers aged over 25 with a “significant majority” of followers aged over 18. “We have frequently called on the UK government to introduce specific regulation for nicotine pouches,” it said. JTI said it only marketed Nordic Spirit to “adult smokers, vapers and nicotine consumers” and its products were for use in “situations when smoking or vaping is not possible”. It said it did not work with influencers who were, or looked, under 25; that it has a “challenge 25” policy for free samples; and that it only uses social platforms where 75% of the audience are over 18. “JTI is fully committed to the principle that minors should never use or access nicotine-containing products,” it said.
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer should take courage from Joe Biden – green energy for all is the only way forward | Joss Garman 2023-07-30 - This was always going to happen. There was always going to be a moment when the seemingly dry question of decarbonisation became a dominant – the dominant – question in British politics; a moment when the government and opposition would have to genuinely address a question that was no longer abstract, no longer about measures to take in distant decades to prevent climate impacts in distant lands. Are we actually going to clean up our economy, and if we are, then who’s going to pay for it? Some world leaders understand the moment we’re in and are acting accordingly – to defend a global climate that allows humans to prosper, but also to ensure their economies prosper this century. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is the biggest single investment of money into decarbonisation ever attempted, and the consequences are scaring European policymakers witless. The White House has made a huge intervention in the US economy in an effort to ensure America, not China, dominates technologies this century. So here we are, in the summer of 2023, witnessing three emerging inevitabilities – the politics, physics and economics of climate change. But who, in this defining moment, will our political leaders listen to? All last week, influential pundits and politicians were urging Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to row back, not double down, on their climate plans. The argument they were making is odd. They recognise we are all being made poorer by the crippling cost of gas but argue in response that people should be left even more reliant on gas to heat their homes. Charging a car is now so much cheaper than filling your fuel tank, but the sceptics say the government should ensure more households depend on petrol and diesel vehicles to get to work. Generating electricity from our wind and solar farms is so much cheaper than lighting up our homes with imported gas, but David Frost and his fellow travellers say we should build fewer renewables and import more expensive gas. As Biden ploughs $1tn (£780bn) into America’s climate transition, they are demanding policies to ensure British businesses are less competitive in these fast growing industries. And so on. As Biden ploughs $1tn into America's climate transition, they demand policies to ensure Britain's businesses are less competitive If it weren’t so dangerous, the perversity of their arguments would almost be funny. It’s especially infuriating that so much of their ire is aimed at the target, backed by both Sunak and Starmer, to end the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. As Torsten Bell, of the Resolution Foundation, noted, this is one of the cheapest climate policies. Green Alliance worked out that it could deliver two-thirds of the emission cuts we need over the coming decade, and it’s a rare example of a climate policy we are actually on track to deliver. Already, a third of cars sold in the UK have zero tailpipe emissions, and the pace of sales is exceeding the government’s targets, with investment flowing accordingly. We will get new battery factories in Somerset, and even the charging infrastructure we need is finally being deployed – up 38% in just the past year. It’s true that if voters are left with the impression that going green will add to their bills at a moment when they are more sensitive than ever to inflation, and when taxes are already higher than for 70 years, then net zero policies will fail. But it should follow from this collective Westminster wobble that the most effective climate policies won’t be about taxing struggling households, but about investing to make the green options affordable, accessible and desirable to as many families and businesses as possible in the shortest period of time. With 20 other countries in Europe installing more heat pumps than Britain every year, can it really be so hard? In France, President Emmanuel Macron is offering low-income households the chance to lease electric cars for just £88 a month, insurance and maintenance included. Why not here? Before David Cameron “cut the green crap”, insulation rates were 92% higher than they are now. So it’s not as if we can’t do better than this. If we were already, millions would be spending £600 less every year on their energy bills. The Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed this month that failing to hit net zero could cost the public double what it would cost to achieve. But given that most people don’t have a few grand to fork out for green upgrades, it was inevitable we would soon be having a lively democratic debate over the best plan to deal with the upfront costs of making the big switch. But right now, ministers aren’t even doing the free stuff. Just look at the government’s failure to break the link between gas prices and what we pay for our electricity. It is insane that the price of power is defined by the most expensive form of generation at any point. You may have signed up with a green electricity provider that generates clean power at a dirt-cheap price, but your monthly bill is dictated by events in the Donbas or the weather in Asia that week. This isn’t an inherent flaw with the green transition, it’s a political choice. So is tangling up cheap energy sources with planning restrictions. So is layering higher taxes on bus and train tickets, and loading taxes on to clean electricity while keeping them down on fossil gas. Last week’s election in Spain saw Vox, the party of extremist climate deniers, punished at the ballot box, repeating a pattern seen in Australia where the rightwing government was kicked out of office when it abandoned the centre ground on climate change. Sunak should ignore his party’s siren voices if he is to avoid the same fate. When Margaret Thatcher found herself in choppy waters, she famously told her party: “There is no alternative.” Until such a time as their critics are offering up credible solutions, Sunak and Starmer should do the same.
Say hello to longlife tech that can challenge our throwaway culture 2023-07-30 - It is a habit that has become ingrained in so many consumers that you could be forgiven for thinking there was no other way: dumping your old and tired tech for a shinier model every year or two, shelling out hundreds of pounds in the process. But a new generation of technology is creeping into the mainstream that is designed to upend this consumerist churn – devices that can be taken apart, repaired and upgraded by the user, and not via an over-priced service. Once niche, these phones, headphones and laptops are vying for the same customers that buy iPhones and Samsung devices. And legislation being pushed through the EU will eventually force even the big brands to offer more repairable devices. So is it time to make the jump now, or wait to spend later? The Fairphone 4, which has replaceable parts you can change with a screwdriver. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian Phones One of the leaders of the repairable, upgradeable revolution is Dutch upstart Fairphone and its eponymous smartphone, which is now in its fourth generation. The Fairphone 4 is an Android-based device with all the usual features, including water resistance, packed into a slightly chunky design that hides fully modular parts. This means you can pop the back off and change the battery with your fingernail, while everything else just needs one small Phillips screwdriver. Fairphone even offers a five-year warranty and aims to provide updates for up to seven years. The catch? It isn’t the fastest, the camera isn’t on the same level as a Pixel and, at £499, is more expensive, spec-for-spec, than rivals costing the same. There are cheaper alternatives, such as a handful of Nokia phones costing about £120 and up, with user-replaceable parts. But they aren’t quite as easy to fix as the Fairphone, and Nokia only provides up to three years of updates from release. Laptops Most computers used to be modular and upgradeable, with users able to swap out boards and cards to increase their power. But somewhere along the way, in recent years they have increasingly become sealed boxes. But Framework, a US startup, has changed that with its now third-generation Laptop 13 and upcoming Laptop 16 gaming machine. The Laptop 13 looks like a standard notebook PC running Windows or Linux. But it is designed to be easily taken apart with memory, storage and wireless cards easily replaceable and upgradeable. The ports on the sides can be easily changed, too. Plus there’s a DIY kit should you want to build a whole computer from scratch at home. Framework also provides processor upgrade kits, so, in theory, you could keep the same laptop and just keep changing processor bits to keep you up to date. Build-your-own desktops still exist, but Framework is the first to take the niche upgradeable laptop towards the mainstream. The catch, as with the Fairphone, is that the Framework 13 is slightly more expensive than equivalent rivals, starting at £1,049. That’s about £200 extra compared to Dell, Acer or others. Headphones Outside a small band of high-end brands, headphones have been a disposable commodity for decades. The addition of batteries for wireless models made the situation worse by making waste even more toxic. But there are solutions. Danish firm Aiaiai, which has been making modular headphones since 2010, allows you to easily swap different parts, beyond just the cable and ear cushions. Its TMA-2 comes in different variants, including a Bluetooth version, and a DIY edition you put together yourself. The headband, speakers, cushions and cables can all be changed, with spare parts and refurbished bits readily available, plus a lifetime trade-in offer. The only thing they don’t offer is noise cancelling, and they aren’t cheap at £200 for the Bluetooth versions. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to TechScape Free weekly newsletter Alex Hern's weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives 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 Another contender is Fairphone’s Fairbuds XL, a set of wireless, noise-cancelling headphones that you can completely take apart. The modules, including the battery, can be replaced by using just a fingernail. At £219 they may not compete with high-end rivals on sound, but they offer a real alternative to Bose or Sony. What else? Beside these cutting-edge products, the big brands are also slowly improving the sustainability of mainstream products. Over the last five years there’s been a shift towards longer-lasting devices, with the best providing key software support for at least five years from a phone’s release. Framework’s Laptop 13: designed to be taken apart. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian The batteries are lasting longer, with many maintaining their useful life for in excess of 1,000 full charge cycles, or roughly five years’ charging, if done once every two days. Battery life is the number one cause of phone replacements, according to data from market research company IDC, so progress here is essential. “Today’s phones are much more resistant to breaking than even five years ago,” says Francisco Jeronimo, IDC’s vice-president of devices analysis. Another positive trend is the inclusion of more recycled materials. Apple, Google and Samsung all now include recycled plastics and metals in phones, tablets and other devices. All three also offer some degree of DIY repair, but nothing like the simplicity of products from the new generation of companies that focus on sustainability. These slow, but needed, changes have been driven, in part, by increasing consumer awareness, with a growing percentage of buyers actively seeking out more sustainable, or longer-lasting, devices. But it is the EU’s upcoming new rules on eco-design that will force the issue. The overhaul of regulations for batteries, device durability, longevity and repairability will come into force in about 2027. They will ensure any device sold in the European market, and, by extension, probably any other market – including the UK – will have to be designed to be easier to repair, more durable, have much longer software support and user-replaceable batteries. The big firms are likely to be able to make such design changes, but phones may become thicker and more expensive as a result. Either way, the Android or Apple phone of 2027 may have a battery you can replace yourself with simple tools, be durable enough to survive drops and dunks in water, and be supported for as many as five years after the device is discontinued. But the question is whether longer-lasting phones will stop yearly or biannual upgrades. “Even if manufacturers could make a phone that lasts 10 years, consumers don’t want to keep them that long. They want them to last better in the first two to five years, but most want change, just like in the car market,” Jeronimo says. If that is the case, the biggest boon may be in the secondhand phone market. A phone with a longer useful life has more value to a second or third owner, which is beneficial to wallet and the environment alike.
Nigel Farage launching new website to help people denied accounts by banks 2023-07-30 - Nigel Farage has vowed to help thousands of people flood big banks with demands for details about why they were denied an account, as allies said his treatment by Coutts and NatWest had turned him into Britain’s newest “consumer champion”. The former Ukip leader is to spearhead a website assisting anyone who wants to find out why they have been denied a bank account. Farage used a subject access request to discover that, despite initial denials by Coutts, his political views had played a part in the closure of his account. Farage is said to want to make the independent website a non-partisan tool designed to help those who believe they have been denied banking services because of their political views. It will provide them with a step-by-step guide to demanding the personal information a bank holds about them. While NatWest, which owns Coutts, is said to have faced hundreds rather than thousands, of similar requests so far, Farage and his supporters believe the new website will help those daunted by the process of questioning their bank. “This is cross-party, it is non-partisan,” said an ally. “Dare I say, how the liberal elite – for want of a better term – have managed to turn Nigel Farage into one of the country’s leading consumer champions, I have no idea.” There has already been a huge fallout from Farage’s case. Dame Alison Rose, the chief executive of NatWest Group, eventually stood down in the wake of the row after she revealed she had been the source of a BBC story claiming Farage’s account had been closed for commercial reasons. She was soon followed out of the door by Peter Flavel, chief executive of Coutts. Farage also wants NatWest Group’s chairman, Howard Davies, to stand aside. While Downing Street made clear that Rose could not stay in her post, the government appears to be more protective of Davies. Andrew Griffith, the City minister, said on Friday night that it would not be “helpful” for the NatWest Group’s chairman to quit. However, Davies is already unpopular with some on the Tory right. He unleashed a stinging criticism of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget in front of hundreds of his staff last year. He explained how he felt “embarrassed” in its aftermath while attending a conference for the International Monetary Fund, the Washington-based lender of last resort. “I was at the IMF conference while all this was going on and Kwarteng was there. It was embarrassing, because he was then summoned back home to be sacked … The perception of the UK was terrible,” Davies told hundreds of staff at the private event held for the group’s legal, governance and regulatory affairs division in early November 2022. Davies has been caught up in the backlash from Farage’s case because of his initial support for Rose. Both Rose and the bank’s board had hoped she would survive with a mea culpa and docked pay for talking to the BBC’s business editor, Simon Jack, about Farage’s relationship with Coutts. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to First Edition Free daily newsletter Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning 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 Davies, as chair, had taken soundings from the Treasury at several points last Tuesday after the BBC issued apologies to Farage over its story, which had cited a source at Coutts. He hoped that a statement from himself and Rose would be enough to calm shareholders and get through to the banking group’s half-yearly financial results being released on Friday. In fact, it only held for a few hours. He was informed that ministers were unhappy about the statement, and that Rose had to go. With UK taxpayers still owning 39% of the banking group, it was regarded as an instruction, not a request. By 1.32am on Wednesday morning, Rose was gone. While Rose admitted to speaking to Jack, an independent investigation led by the law firm Travers Smith will examine what was said and when. It is part of a wider review. It will look into how Farage’s accounts at Coutts were closed, why they were shut down and how such a controversial set of statements about his political views and actions was compiled. The review is also set to find out if Farage is an outlier or a sign of a wider issue at Coutts, checking all accounts closed at the private bank over the past 24 months. It will follow a similar approach as the Farage-specific investigation, looking at questions of how, why and what was said to all other customers whose accounts were shut down.
Mortgage rates ease as Bank of England’s bitter medicine shows signs of working 2023-07-30 - Several of the nation’s biggest lenders cut rates on their fixed mortgage deals last week, in a sign of mounting expectations that the Bank of England may be nearing the end of an aggressive cycle of interest rate rises. Next week, the Bank is expected to push up interest rates for a 14th consecutive time from 5% to 5.25%, with financial markets betting that they will peak at 5.75% by the end of the year. Many analysts expect this will mark the end of a cycle of interest rate rises that began in December 2021, giving the major lenders some confidence that previous fears of a 6.5% peak were overdone. Nationwide, Barclays, HSBC and TSB have all announced in recent days that they would be cutting rates on fixed-rate mortgage deals, as competition for borrowers helped to drive down the cost of some deals. The average rate on a two-year fixed mortgage deal edged lower on Friday to 6.81% compared with 6.86% on Wednesday, according to Moneyfacts data. The turning point in expectations for interest rates came earlier this month, when the latest official figures showed inflation fell more than anticipated in June to 7.9% from an unexpectedly sticky rate of 8.7% in May. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, and is closely watched by the Bank of England, also fell back to 6.9% from a 30-year high of 7.1% in May. City economists said the likelihood of declining wage growth (which was 7.3% in the three months to May compared with a year earlier) and further sharp falls in inflation later in the year meant a rise in interest rates in September to 5.5% or possibly 5.75% would prove the high-water mark. Mortgage providers have bet that rates will peak at a lower point than previously expected, and HMRC figures show that homebuyers have returned to the housing market, ending speculation of a collapse in prices. Lower mortgage costs correlate with an outlook for the economy that comes close to stagnation. Gross domestic product fell in May by 0.1% after growth in April of 0.2%. Consumer spending has started to slip and retailers are feeling the pain. The Bank of England, when it considers further rate rises in the autumn, is likely to be only concerned about the tightness of the labour market and persistent wage growth, but there is a growing consensus that business sectors willing to increase wages are about to run out of steam. Paul Dales, chief UK economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, says: “While there is probably enough inflationary pressure to prompt another hike at the following meeting in September, to 5.5%, we think that a mild recession and an easing in both wage growth and core inflation will prevent further hikes.” George Buckley, chief UK economist at Nomura, says a change in the make-up of the nine-strong monetary policy committee will mean the peak could be 5.75%. One of the committee’s main critics of steep interest rate rises, the LSE professor Silvana Tenreyro, has left and been replaced by the financial expert Megan Greene, probably pushing it in a more hawkish direction, tending towards higher rates. Dales says a likely recession will make cutting rates irresistible at the back end of next year. “When rates are eventually cut in late 2024 and in 2025, we think they will fall further than investors expect.” 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 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 Financial markets expect the Bank of England will keep rates above 5% into 2025. Andrew Goodwin, chief UK economist at the consultancy Oxford Economics, says the economy is likely to experience “maximum pain” over the next six months and the first half of 2024. “There is a hump of people on two-year fixed-rate mortgages that they took out in 2021 and 2022. They will see a huge jump in monthly payments, forcing them to cut back on discretionary spending. “The labour market will suffer, leading to a fall in wages growth and maybe higher unemployment. For the Bank of England, there will be quite a few signs the medicine is working,” he said.
Here's what thousands of Tesla owners really think about their Model 3 2023-07-30 - A Bloomberg survey found many Tesla Model 3 owners were disenchanted with Elon Musk. However, 87% of respondents said they were considering buying another Tesla as their next vehicle. Here's some of the best and worst things the respondents had to say about their Model 3. Morning Brew Insider recommends waking up with, a daily newsletter. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking “Sign Up,” you also agree to marketing emails from both Insider and Morning Brew; and you accept Insider’s Terms and Privacy Policy Click here for Morning Brew’s privacy policy. A Bloomberg survey of more than 5,000 Tesla Model 3 owners found many respondents had become disenchanted with the EV maker's owner Elon Musk in the four years since the outlet's last survey. Many reported deep concerns about Musk's online presence and some of his controversial opinions. Nevertheless, the owners were overall still very positive about the Model 3 and said they planned to stick with Tesla. Nearly 87% of the Model 3 owners surveyed said they were considering another Tesla for their next vehicle, while 96% said they were considering an EV of some sort. But some still found issues with their vehicles, and many shared safety worries over Tesla's Full Self-Driving technology. Here's some of the best and worst things customers told Bloomberg about their Model 3 – and the FSD technology. The good "Best car I've ever owned." "The one repair I needed was for the charge door and they came to my house to fix it in one day, not under warranty. A great experience." "I love my car, and intend on getting my wife a Tesla when she moves to USA. Safest cars on the road are Teslas." "Makes it almost impossible to consider buying any other vehicle, especially electric." "Performance & mechanical reliability amazingly better than any non-EV. There just isn't any comparison." The Model 3's interior. Tesla The bad "Numerous problems with reliability follow a pattern. First, Tesla claims it doesn't exist, then they damage the car trying to fix it. Window actuators failed multiple times. Each time claimed no problem. Then, when they looked at, once they damaged the door trying to slam it while window stayed open, second time, cut the interior while trying to replace actuator. Both times, they needed to keep for 10 days to fix their own fubar." "The wheel well rusts and Tesla claims it is normal. This is the first time I've seen a wheel well rust from the 5 or so cars I have owned in the past." "I've been unable to use USB storage and charging for years, HVAC system doesn't work properly above 32 F, rear inverter blew while parked, some trim pieces fell off" "Car has been unable to drive for 3 months. AC system has not worked for over a year. Very dissatisfied." "Worst car I've ever owned. Appears to have been assembled by a 6 year old. Drunk. With a hand tied behind his back. Garbage." Autopilot and FSD "I definitely feel safer driving with it. It isn't perfect, but neither am I, and we complement each other's weaknesses. It has faster reaction times and sees better (360 degrees)." "People's risk profiles understandably differ, but if auto pilot is used properly and expectations are realistic, it's outstanding and much safer." "It is dangerous and this man must be stopped." "This $10,000 option was clearly fraud and should be treated as such by regulators." "Phantom braking is a frightening experience that greatly lowers confidence in FSD. I simply don't trust it and would like a refund." "My wife describes Autopilot and FSD in the following way, 'Your car drives like a drunk old man.'" "FSD is nowhere near safe enough to be used on public roads without 100% driver attention. Given that drivers rely on the hype and not reality, I think this is likely to create unsafe situations for everyone sharing the road."
Cruises are increasingly adopting the strategy of budget airlines: Get ready to pay more for all the extras. 2023-07-30 - Cruise lines are seemingly adopting the budget airline model: Charge a base fare and pile on extras. Newer cruise ships have "more opportunities to upsell" with restaurant and entertainment options. Cruise companies have been raising the cost of packages like specialty dining, beverages, and WiFi. Morning Brew Insider recommends waking up with, a daily newsletter. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking “Sign Up,” you also agree to marketing emails from both Insider and Morning Brew; and you accept Insider’s Terms and Privacy Policy Click here for Morning Brew’s privacy policy. Going on a cruise can be one of your cheapest travel options — as long as you don't sign up for too many of the optional packages and extra amenities. Over the last 10 to 15 years, mass-market cruise lines have been adopting a model that looks a bit like budget airlines: Charge a low base fare and then offer a bunch of extras — all for an additional price. So on paper, your cruise vacation may seem super-affordable. After all, transportation, accommodations, food, and access to the pool deck still are all included in the base fare. And at the start of 2023, there were over 400 cruises sailing this year for $60 or less a day. Broken down, that means a cruise is cheaper than the average rent for a New York City apartment. But after adding on additional payments for your cruise's drink packages, excursions, onboard amenities, specialty dining, and WiFi, the cost of your vacation can start to balloon. In fact, cruise lines have told their investors recently that passengers are embracing these add-on costs — and enhancing their bottom lines. Here's how cruise lines are more fully embracing a model that offers lots of add ons once you board the ship: New ships mean more opportunities for onboard spend Norwegian Prima's VR arcade is $29 an hour, or $8 a la carte. Brittany Chang/Insider Cruise ships typically stay in service for 20 to 25 years. It's harder to carve out space on older vessels for higher-end amenities that can be offered as add-ons. But as old ships are phased out and replaced with newer ships, "there are going to be more opportunities to upsell," Patrick Scholes, an analyst at Truist Securities, told Insider recently. For example, brands like Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises have been unveiling more ships with family-friendly activities like on-ship go-karting, virtual reality arcades, and robotic rides. These amenities all come at an additional cost to travelers: It's $10 for MSC's Robotron robot ride, the Points Guy reported, and $29 for one hour at Norwegian's VR arcade. "I don't think cruises are [thinking] 'Hey, we're going to nickel-and-dime our customers,'" Scholes said. "But they realize customers are going to pay the $30 for teppanyaki and … pay a lot of money to be connected to WiFi on vacation. That was not something available 15 years ago." Scholes called Royal Caribbean the "leader" in this movement. Over the last nearly 10 years, he says the fares at Royal Caribbean Group — which oversees brands like Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Silversea — have generally been "fairly stagnant" despite the brand's growth in cruise passenger onboard spending over the last 10 years. "It's been a real earnings driver for them, as opposed to just the plain old ticket price," he said. Royal Caribbean pointed Insider to its most recent earnings call when asked for comment on onboard spending. The company in its release flagged "strong ticket pricing" and "strength in onboard revenue" as boosting Royal's revenue. The 'I already spent it' attitude helps Travelers typically book their cruises — and the additional paid packages — six to nine months ahead of sailing. So when it's finally time to travel and those initial costs have already been paid off, travelers will sometimes board the ship ready to spend as if they hadn't already shelled out ahead of time. "Cruise lines are creative to try to make you forget you actually bought some things nine months ago," Scholes said. And so far, it's been a good game plan for companies like Carnival Corp. During its second-quarter earnings call in late June, the company's CEO, Josh Weinstein, noted its brands' onboard revenue was "once again off-the-charts," citing "bundled packages and pre-cruise sales." Get ready to spend on WiFi, dining, and drinks New cruise ships like the Wonder of the Seas have plenty of speciality restaurants. Brittany Chang/Insider Yet travelers are eating up these premium options: When cruises resumed after COVID-19-related lockdowns were lifted, they eagerly splurged during their first vacation since the pandemic. What's the harm in a $30 dinner after a year of lockdown? And maybe some WiFi to show your friends you're on vacation? And another $60 a day for the drink package? It had been a year or two since everyone last traveled, after all. Surprisingly, this has yet to dwindle — cruise goers are still spending big, even on their subsequent vacations, Scholes said. And as travelers continue spending on these luxuries, cruise lines continue raising prices. WiFi is a big money maker for cruise brands. A decade ago, travelers weren't expecting internet on their cruises. Now, it's a necessity. And an expensive one at that: Daily access to WiFi can range from about $10 to more than $20 a day. And this year, Carnival increased its prices by $5 for premium WiFi. For premium dining options like teppanyaki — or Japanese-style cooking at a grill — travelers could find themselves paying an additional $20 or $30 for the interactive dining experience. But for more intimate "chef's table" dinners, travelers might tack on an additional $100 or $150, Scholes said. "Any [ship] being built and delivered today is going to have something pretty similar to that," he said. On newer ships, it can be harder to avoid these premium restaurants: Over half of the dining options aboard Royal Caribbean's latest mega-ship, the Wonder of the Seas, are specialty restaurants that come at an extra cost. Like dining, soda and alcoholic beverages come at an additional cost. As of late, cruise lines have been bumping the cost of these packages. In February, MSC Cruises raised the price of its drink packages by up to 36% depending on the option and number of nights, The Wall Street Journal reported. Norwegian also recently increased the cost of some beverage packages by $10 — the Premium Plus option is now $138 daily — while Carnival tacked on an additional $8 to its pre-reserved "Cheers!" package for a total of almost $60 a day. Scholes says this is because of both inflation — or the increasing costs to cruise lines themselves — and cruise lines looking to capitalize on the recent trend of rising onboard spending. Cruise lines are trying to cut costs at the same time The cost of drink packages have been increasing on some cruise lines. Brittany Chang/Insider At the same time, cruise companies seem to be cutting operational costs. Norwegian has decreased its burgers from nine ounces to seven ounces in an effort to restrain costs, according to a UBS note to investors from March. Similarly, guest-beloved unlimited "lobster night" on Royal Caribbean sailings is no longer unlimited, among other dining room changes. Instead, travelers now have to pay for additional lobster tails after the first one, The Street reported. "Lobster lovers on cruises are pretty upset about this," Tynan Smith, the founder of cheap cruise aggregator Cruise Sheet, told Insider in late 2022. And several cruise lines — including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian — are following hotels by cutting back on some housekeeping service for lower-level cabins, the Points Guy reported. However, Kara Wallace, Royal Caribbean's CMO, told Insider that travelers still have access to stateroom attendants if they need items like new towels. Still, for many if not most people, the cruise life beckons: After all, cruises are more popular than ever. And with even bigger and bigger ships set to sail in the coming years, travelers can expect bigger and better amenities — and the extra fees that go with them. Sometimes, it just costs more to have fun.
After 17 years at Walmart, I wanted an adventure – so I quit and sold my condo to go live in an RV 2023-07-30 - Lee Jeyes left his job as Walmart's head of innovation after almost 17 years. He said he was scared of getting older and looking back on his life with regrets. Jeyes sold his condo and most of his belongings to start a new life traveling and working in an RV. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy This is an as-told-to essay based on an interview with Lee Jeyes, a 32-year-old from Toronto who left his job at Walmart after almost 17 years to live and work in an RV. The following has been edited for length and clarity. In February, I left my job at Walmart as its head of corporate innovation after almost 17 years at the company. I sold or donated most of my possessions — everything from my car to my condo — and bought an RV for $40,000 in May. I made the decision after doing an activity called "freedom from fear" in January. It involved asking myself "what is one of my biggest dreams in life?" and "what are all the things that I really want to achieve?" I wrote them all down and questioned what was holding me back from pursuing them. One of the biggest fears I had was getting older and looking back on my life with regret. So I chose to step away from my career and go traveling. It's not a decision I took lightly. I'd been with Walmart and been focused on my career since the age of 16. I was promoted 15 times in my time there. I had a nice car, an apartment, and a good salary. I was comfortable, but I was still looking for more. After leaving Walmart in February, I spent time with family and friends in the UK and I started building a few exciting new ventures. I set up a men's mental-wellness community called "Mind over Masculinity" and a grassroots development program for entry and mid-level management called "Learn from Leadership." I also signed with the agency Spoken Artists as a keynote speaker on innovation culture. I then sold my condo for $925,000 in April and freed myself from a mortgage for the first time in a decade. I also liquidated 95% of my assets to unlock capital to invest in other opportunities. I also had savings to fund my adventure. Lee brought his dog Wally along for the adventure. Lee Jeyes I've been living in the RV with my dog Wally for just over two months now in a campsite in Ontario. I plan to visit all of western Canada over the next few months. The RV is a home on wheels — it has a shower, kitchen, and air conditioning. I also have Starlink for internet access. I'm spending between $800 to $1,000 a month on food, which is comparable to what I spent when I was living in a condo in Toronto. Fuel costs me around the same amount as I converted the engine to run on propane, which lowers the cost and is better for the environment. RV insurance is cheap at $700 a year. The idea of being able to do anything was exciting, but scary. Sometimes too much choice can be overwhelming. It was not just a matter of what I want to do for work. It was about where I want to live and what I want to spend my time on. For me it was just jumping into the unknown. I'm hoping that the community love that I can build on the way will help me on the journey. I don't know where I'm going to end up or what I'm in search of, but I do know that this is where growth will come from.
'South Park' creators' net worth: How Matt Parker and Trey Stone built a $1 billion empire and how they spend their wealth 2023-07-30 - The "South Park" creators have built up a billion-dollar empire from their long-running cartoon. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have struck two nine-figure deals for streaming rights to "South Park." Here's how they've spent some of their cash on ventures such as a restaurant in Colorado. Morning Brew Insider recommends waking up with, a daily newsletter. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking “Sign Up,” you also agree to marketing emails from both Insider and Morning Brew; and you accept Insider’s Terms and Privacy Policy Click here for Morning Brew’s privacy policy. "South Park" fans might be tempted to associate its creators with the cartoonish, crude universe their pre-teen characters reside in. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are nothing of the sort, however. They're responsible for creating one of the most successful and lucrative franchises in TV history. They've written the show and effectively voiced every character in the "South Park" universe for 26 seasons. They've written a hugely popular, filthy Broadway musical in the form of "The Book of Mormon." They also own a restaurant in Colorado and may even launch a weed business. Here's how they built a billion-dollar empire – and how they've spent their cash.
2 meteor showers are set to peak in the coming days. One could produce dazzling fireballs. 2023-07-30 - The Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids are predicted to peak on July 30 and 31. The Alpha Capricornids could produce dazzling fireballs, or extremely bright streaks in the sky. Here's how to view both showers. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy It's meteors galore this season, as two meteor showers are expected to peak this weekend, giving North Americans in the south the best views. The Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids are predicted to peak on July 30 and 31, sending ancient asteroid bits and comet particles streaking across the night sky. The spectacular Delta Aquariids meteor shower, which converges with the well-known Perseids, has been flying for weeks, but the peak means up to 15 to 20 meteors per hour could appear in a dark sky with no moon, according to EarthSky. The shower itself, however, is set to last until late August. Although the Aquariids are more visible in the southern hemisphere, Americans, especially those in the south, will still be able to get a glimpse. The best time to see the Delta Aquariid shower is around 2 a.m. when the meteor shower's radiant is at its highest. The light from these faint meteors may be outshone by a nearly full moon, per EarthSky, but viewing near the moonset can also help offset this. Meanwhile, the Alpha Capricornids, a less prominent source of meteors, could actually set the sky ablaze. The shower usually results in fewer meteors per hour — around five — but can produce brilliant "fireballs." On Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society, captured seven fireballs from the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower, according to EarthSky. This shower is set to last until mid-August. In order to best enjoy the meteor showers, Insider's Marianne Guenot reports that you should get away from city lights, lay on the ground, and let your eyes adjust to the dark night sky.
Yellow ceases operations 2023-07-30 - A bankruptcy filing could be announced Monday. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Corp. ceased all operations at 12 p.m. Sunday, according to a notice on the gates at its terminals. Separate internal documents showed the procedures for closing the facilities as well as “talking points” to be used when informing union employees not to show up for their shifts. The documents indicated the company plans to issue a public statement Monday updating “the state of the company and the operation.” On Friday, Yellow (NASDAQ: YELL) laid off most of its nonunion employees in areas like customer service, information technology and sales. The company stopped making pickups earlier in the week and has been delivering the remaining freight in its network ahead of what appears to be a permanent closure. After months of negotiations with its Teamsters workforce, the carrier has been unable to reach terms over proposed operational changes it has said were required for its survival. In a breach of contract lawsuit filed last month regarding the matter, the company said it could be out of cash as soon as mid-July. Most are expecting Yellow to announce it will file for bankruptcy Monday. Representatives from Yellow had not commented by the time of this publication. The post Yellow ceases operations appeared first on FreightWaves.
Is there more to Alphabet than Google search? 2023-07-30 - LAST NOVEMBER something strange happened in Mountain View. A thick fog enveloped the headquarters of Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Not the meteorological sort—this stretch of Silicon Valley is reliably sunny. It was a fog of confusion. Its cause was ChatGPT , an artificially intelligent conversationalist created by OpenAI , a startup backed by Microsoft. The effect was, by all accounts, panic. ChatGPT was giving uncannily humanlike answers to questions put to it by users. And answering questions is the bread and butter of Google’s lucrative search business. Were OpenAI and Microsoft, which in February launched an enhanced version of its Bing search engine, about to eat Google’s lunch? Eight months on the mist has mostly cleared. On July 25th the company reported another set of solid quarterly results. Revenues rose by 7% year on year, to $75bn. It continues to create piles of cash: in the 12 months to June it raked in $75bn of operating profit. Bing has taken no discernible bite out of Google’s share of global monthly search queries, which remains above 90%. Most important, Google has put to rest any notion that it has fallen behind technologically. In May Sundar Pichai, chief executive of both Google and its corporate parent, unveiled more than a dozen AI-powered products at I/O, an annual event for software developers. These included AI tools for Gmail, Google Maps and Google Cloud. Investors found it reassuring—not least after a rushed launch in February of Bard, Google’s chatbot, during which the AI helper made a factual error. Since then the firm has launched AI products and features left and right. On July 12th it brought out NotebookLM, an AI-assisted note-taking tool trained on a user’s documents. On the same day Nature, a scientific journal, published a paper by Google researchers describing an AI model that matched human doctors’ responses to questions about the right treatment for patients. A day later it expanded a now less error-prone Bard, proficient in more than 40 human languages and over 20 computer ones, to the EU. Work on an AI model to eclipse ChatGPT, codenamed Gemini, is proceeding apace. Having nearly fallen below $1trn in November, Alphabet’s market value is back up to $1.7trn. Crisis over? Story continues In the short run, probably. Like all heart-in-mouth moments, though, the chatbot panic invites broader questions: about the current state of one of the world’s biggest firms, its future and—as Google turns 25 in September—about the demands of different stages of corporate life. The view from the top Alphabet is, without a doubt, one of the greatest business successes of all time. Six of its products—Google search, the Android mobile operating system, the Chrome browser, Google Play Store for apps, Workspace productivity tools and YouTube—boast more than 2bn monthly users each. Add those with hundreds of millions of users, such as Google Maps or Google Translate, and, by one reckoning, humans collectively spend 22bn hours a day on Alphabet’s platforms. The ability to command so much attention is worth a lot of money to the people who want a slice of it, namely advertisers. Since going public in 2004 Google’s revenue, 80% of which comes from online ads, has grown at an average annual rate of 28%. In that period it has generated a total of $460bn in cash after operating expenses, virtually all of it from advertising. Its share price has risen 50-fold, making it the world’s fourth-most-valuable company. Given these eye-popping numbers, it may seem churlish to ask why Alphabet isn’t doing better. In fact, the question is warranted, and is being asked by Mr Pichai, his underlings and investors alike. The company finds itself at a delicate juncture—not only, or even primarily, because of AI. The core digital-ads business is maturing, with sales growth no longer consistently in double digits and increasingly tied to economic cycles. At the same time, finding new sources of material growth is difficult for a company that brings in $300bn in annual revenues. This quest is further complicated by investors calling for greater cost efficiency and capital discipline, which in turn requires a shake-up of its free-wheeling corporate culture. Consider the cash cow. Throughout the 2010s digital advertising seemed invulnerable to the business cycle. In good times advertisers spent like there was no tomorrow. In worse ones they diverted some of their non-digital marketing budgets online, where Google and other giants like Facebook (now Meta) offered to target adverts more precisely than a TV commercial or a page in a glossy magazine could. Now, as the online share of total ad spending touches two-thirds, businesses have smaller non-digital ad budgets to eat into. Insider Intelligence, a data firm, expects global sales of digital ads to increase by 10% or less annually in the next few years, down from a rate of 20% or so in the past decade (see chart 1). A slowdown last year offered a glimpse of the future, spooking investors. Nor can Google easily capture a bigger slice of the slower-growing pie. Trustbusters already believe its share is too high and have sued Google in America for abusing its search monopoly. Google’s arrangement with Apple, whereby it pays a reported $15bn a year to be the default search engine on the 2bn or so iDevices, has also come under scrutiny. Although search remains immensely lucrative, with operating margins of nearly 50%, according to Bernstein, a broker, how people look for things on the internet is changing. Most product searches these days start not on Google but on Amazon, the e-commerce giant. According to Google’s own executives, 40% of teenagers and young adults seek recommendations for things like restaurants or hotels on TikTok, a short-video app, or Instagram, a similar app from Meta. Google may entice some of these “search-nevers”, as Mark Shmulik of Bernstein calls them, to its platform, as YouTube is doing already with a TikTok lookalike called Shorts. Yet videos are unlikely to monetise as nicely as the search box. Then there are the chatbots and other “generative” AIs that, having been trained on a web’s worth of texts, images and sounds, can serve up simulacra of human-generated content. Mr Pichai’s insistence that Alphabet is an “AI-native” company rings true. Most observers believe that deep pockets and ample talent will allow Google to solve the technology’s teething problems, such as the bots’ tendency to “hallucinate” (make stuff up) or the high cost of serving up responses (which egg-headed Googlers are busy tackling). That still leaves open the question of how much money bot-assisted products, for all their expected ingenuity, will actually make. Set aside search, and Google’s knack for creating extraordinary products is matched by its inability to monetise them. There is no reason to think that its AIs will be any different. Despite a rebound, Alphabet’s share price continues to lag behind that of Microsoft, which is already beginning to monetise generative AI in its office software (see chart 2). As for search, generative AI does not necessarily herald a financial bonanza. Today Google gets paid when users click on the links to merchants’ websites that appear next to the responses to search queries. Once the technological niggles with generative ai are solved—in two or three years, experts reckon—Google will have a choice to make, reminiscent of the “innovator’s dilemma”, a theory put forward by Clayton Christiansen that argues that incumbents are reluctant to innovate if it jeopardises their existing markets. If a chat with an AI is to feel natural, it cannot be peppered with ads and links. Google could show fewer ads and charge clients more for each. But advertisers may balk—or, worse, defect. New bets Google’s founders and, thanks to Alphabet’s dual-class ownership structure, its overlords, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have long been aware that its primary revenue engine was going to slow at some point. They have sought to supplement it and, one day, perhaps replace it altogether. That was the main reason for the creation in 2015 of Alphabet. The holding company would house Google alongside various other ventures, including out-there “moonshots”, from self-driving cars to life-extending medicine. Most of the moonshots look as commercially questionable as the Apollo programme. Other Bets, the bit of Alphabet where most of them sit, haemorrhages money. Between 2018 and 2022 it notched up a cumulative operating loss of $24bn, more than six times bigger than its total revenues in that period (see chart 3). Other Bets consumes at least some of its parent’s capital spending, which ate up $31bn last year, and a material slug of its $40bn annual research-and-development budget. A deeper problem is that it is hard for any new venture to move the needle. Only a handful of industries—think finance, government, health care—are large and undisrupted enough to make a material mark on Alphabet’s top line. Conquering these markets requires huge investments for an uncertain return, and none offers the sort of capital-light quasi-monopoly that Google has enjoyed with search advertising. Alphabet has two health subsidiaries (Calico for life extension and Verily for less ambitious medical goals) and has invested around $15bn in the past six years in health-related startups. So far it has little to show for it. And although in December Google became one of four cloud providers to be awarded a $9bn multi-year contract with America’s Department of Defence, past attempts to enter procurement have run into opposition from the company’s mostly progressive-leaning workers. In finance, Google offers a digital wallet, has invested in Lending Club, a peer-to-peer lender, and owned price-comparison sites for insurance and mortgages, which it shut down in 2016. These efforts are unambitious compared with those of Apple, which offers a credit card and has launched a buy-now-pay-later scheme. A bank boss with knowledge of Google’s efforts says they are ultimately in the service of its ads business, the better to track users’ purchases, rather than a real attempt to become a financial player. Alphabet’s biggest wager is in a way less ambitious. It wants to become a force in cloud-based, AI-boosted business software. Perhaps three-quarters of Alphabet’s capital spending goes on building and equipping new data centres. To catch up with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, the two industry leaders, Google Cloud has in the past few years offered customers cut-price deals. Sales have been growing at an annual rate of 40%. The unit made its first profits in the past two quarters (albeit partly thanks to accounting changes). In a few years Google could become the world’s second- or third-biggest provider of business software, says Thomas Kurian, who runs Google Cloud. “Enterprises want to solve many of the same problems that consumers want to solve,” he explains, so things that Google has been working on for years in its consumer business, from voice recognition to AI-assisted search, offer it a leg up. Possibly. And the enterprise business is certainly large. Firms are projected to spend more than $3trn this year on information technology. But it is a cyclical business, and intensely competitive. Microsoft does not break out its Azure results but operating margins at AWS, which are disclosed, have been steadily falling, from 30% or more a few years ago to 24% today. Moreover, Amazon and, especially, Microsoft are formidable rivals. They have longstanding relationships with corporate clients. Google, by contrast, does not have a business-to-business bone in its body. Ten years ago Google Sheets may have been the best in the world, says a former executive. But it “failed to wine and dine” enough chief information officers to promote the spreadsheet software. Froogle living With revenue growth tougher to come by, some investors think Alphabet should focus on boosting returns by improving its overall margins. Many grumble that Alphabet shares trade at a lower price relative to earnings than Apple or Microsoft, and not much higher than the S&P 500 index of big American firms as a whole—a letdown for a tech pioneer (see chart 4). In November TCI, a hedge fund with a stake in the company worth $6bn at the time, wrote a letter to Mr Pichai demanding more discipline. It also noted that Alphabet had too many employees—nearly 190,000, more than twice as many as in 2017 (see chart 5)—who were paid too much. The typical Googler takes home nearly $300,000 a year, two-thirds more than a counterpart at Microsoft and more than twice as much as employees of America’s 20 biggest tech firms. Its scattershot approach to capital allocation, TCI seemed to imply, was tolerable only so long as it was concealed by strong returns from the core business. Since then two other big hedge funds with an activist streak, Pershing Square and Third Point, have disclosed large investments in Alphabet. As the company has grown, it has added layers of management. “You are negotiating with VPs and SVPs all day,” recalls one prominent ex-Googler. Many teams turn into mini-fiefdoms; some managers tell employees not to take their goals too seriously. Entry-level engineers report that it is easy to “rest and vest”—coast while waiting to cash in your stock options. And you get fed chocolate-covered strawberries. Some of this looseness is by design. Messrs Brin and Page wanted to nurture a startup culture that allowed brilliant ideas to bubble up. And they do: one of those presented at the developers’ conference came directly from a five-person team. But clever products often get tied up in compliance reviews. Insiders joke that the best way not to have your product launch is to present it at I/O. The upshot is that many enterprising types leave, skewing the workforce ever more towards engineers working for internal customers, their managers, rather than seeking commercial success. Notably, all eight of the researchers behind Google’s seminal paper on “transformers”, the computer science that gives chatbots their wits (and the T in GPT), have since left the company. Startups need “a tinge of desperation” to succeed, says Aswath Damodaran of NYU Stern School of Business. By contrast, Alphabet is a “startup business with a sugar daddy”, in the form of the deep-pocketed search operation. One way to tackle these problems would be to reinvent Alphabet from top to bottom. Hiving off the disparate businesses—search, YouTube, Google Cloud and so on—would, for instance, permit each to focus resources on what it does best. Another approach would be to settle on a new direction, rather as Apple transformed itself from a purveyor of pricey desktops to a mobile-phone behemoth and Microsoft went from peddling software on CD-ROMs to cloud-computing might. Yet a move as radical as breakup would require the blessing of Messrs Brin and Page, which is unlikely to be forthcoming. And reinvention comes with big risks. Investors and analysts remain deeply sceptical of Mark Zuckerberg’s bet on the metaverse. Apple and Microsoft spent years in the wilderness before finding a second life. And radicalism is not Mr Pichai’s style. He is clever, in an understated way, and, as befits a former McKinsey consultant, shrewd. He has played a significant role in building the core business, which he ran even before taking over as Alphabet’s CEO in 2019. But he is no visionary. Mr Pichai and his lieutenants are therefore opting for incrementalism instead. He has talked about “trying to do more with constraints”. This seems to involve gradually introducing AI features to existing products and taking a more serious look at Alphabet’s expenses. The management astutely used the cloud cover of the chatbot crisis to force through some needed changes. It has pulled the plug on some Other Bets. Earlier this year Alphabet laid off 12,000 workers and merged its AI labs, DeepMind and Google Brain, which should enable more efficient use of its AI computing power and, if their distinct cultures don’t get in the way, its human brainpower, too. On July 25th it promoted Ruth Porat, its veteran finance chief, to president, as well as a new role of chief investment officer, to steer the group’s capital allocation. As the firm nears its quarter-century, then, it is, like a middle-aged person told to watch what they eat more carefully, determined to get rid of the flab, eschew risky behaviour and stay disciplined. If those efforts succeed, thinks one shareholder, Alphabet can keep increasing its bottom line even if overall sales slow, ensuring it stays enviably profitable. The incrementalist approach will, however, be put to the test, particularly as ai, generative and otherwise, progresses. Engineering chops, which Alphabet clearly still possesses in spades, will not be enough to harness the technology’s potential. That is going to require commercial ingenuity, too. Google displayed this early on, when it developed the search-ad business model. Since then Alphabet has, in business terms at least, mostly been able to coast on that innovation’s spectacular success, allowing some of its commercial sinews to atrophy. If it doesn’t flex them as the age of AI dawns, there are plenty of hungry rivals eager to muscle in. © 2023 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on https://www.economist.com/business/2023/07/30/is-there-more-to-alphabet-than-google-search
Self-Driving Cars Could Change the Auto Industry (GM, F) 2023-07-30 - Level Who Does What, When Level 1 The human driver does all the driving. Level 2 An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) on the vehicle can sometimes assist the human driver with either steering or braking/accelerating, but not both simultaneously. Level 3 An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) on the vehicle can itself control both steering and braking/accelerating simultaneously under some circumstances. The human driver must continue to pay full attention (“monitor the driving environment”) at all times and perform the rest of the driving task. Level 4 An Automated Driving System (ADS) on the vehicle can itself perform all driving tasks and monitor the driving environment – essentially, do all the driving – in certain circumstances. The human need not pay attention in those circumstances. Level 5 This is the envisioned "driverless" car. An Automated Driving System (ADS) on the vehicle can do all the driving in all circumstances. The human occupants are just passengers and need never be involved in driving. Impact on the Automobile and Related Industries The automobile industry has been historically slow to react to technological change. Traditional car makers have been reluctant to develop a full-featured electric car, and start-ups such as Tesla Motors (TSLA) have been founded to innovate instead. If self-driving cars become prevalent, it is likely that technology companies such as Google or Apple (AAPL) will lead the way and put a serious dent in the profits of traditional car companies such as GM, Ford (F) or Toyota (TM). Let's look a variety of more specific impacts AVs can have on the automobile industry. Changes to Business Models The emergence of autonomous vehicles can lead to a shift in the traditional business model of the auto industry. It's estimated that the 2023 autonomous vehicle market size is $33.5 billion; it's also forecast that the industry will grow to over $93 billion by 2028. Instead of just manufacturing and selling cars to individual consumers, automakers are exploring new revenue streams through mobility services. This includes developing autonomous ride-hailing services, car-sharing platforms, and subscription-based models where customers pay for access to a fleet of autonomous vehicles rather than owning a car. This shift may require automakers to form partnerships with tech companies and mobility service providers to deliver integrated and seamless mobility solutions. New Automakers The development of autonomous technology has attracted tech giants and startups to the auto industry. Companies like Google, Tesla, and Apple are investing heavily in AV technology, creating new competition for traditional automakers. As a result, automakers face a more competitive environment in the race to bring reliable and safe autonomous vehicles to the market. Interior Design Autonomous vehicles offer new design possibilities since passengers will no longer need to focus on driving. Interior spaces can be reimagined to become more comfortable and provide features for productivity or entertainment. Additionally, the integration of advanced sensors and AI technology requires automakers to rethink vehicle architecture and design to optimize sensor placement and ensure maximum safety. With potential changes of how these vehicles are operated, the future of what cars may look like is evolving. Interconnectivity AVs generate massive amounts of data through their sensors and AI systems. This data is invaluable for improving autonomous algorithms, enhancing safety, and optimizing traffic flow. Though the extent of how this big data can be used is still evolving, consider how city municipalities can acquire and leverage this data to better understand traffic flows, driving tendencies, and ways to improve their cities. Automotive Supply Chain The transition to autonomous vehicles may impact the automotive supply chain. Automakers may need to collaborate with new suppliers for specialized AV components, such as advanced sensors and AI processors. Additionally, AV technology may require changes in manufacturing processes, quality control, and testing protocols to ensure the safety and reliability of autonomous vehicles. Government Regulation The introduction of autonomous vehicles presents complex regulatory challenges. Governments and policymakers must create a clear legal framework and standards to govern AV operations, safety testing, liability, data privacy, and cybersecurity. Keep in mind that approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes due to traditional means of driving. Harmonizing regulations across regions and countries will be essential to facilitate the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles on a global scale. Auto Insurance Driverless car-makers promise their products will be safe and reduce accidents. Drunk driving will become a thing of the past as inebriated passengers will be chauffeured by their mechanical Hobsons. As a result, the incidence of hazard might fall dramatically – seriously impacting car insurance companies such as Allstate (ALL), GEICO (BRK.A), and Progressive (PGR). Since there presumably would be fewer accidents, the cost of insurance would plummet along with insurance companies' bottom lines. In a 2023 survey by AAA, 68% of individuals surveyed noted they are afraid of partially-automated vehicle technology, up 13% from last year. Impact on the Greater Economy In addition to disrupting the auto industry, AVs can have widespread and deep impact to the global economy. Here's a brief list of potential repercussions of the evolution of driverless cars. Employment The advent of autonomous vehicles has raised concerns about job displacement for professional drivers. Occupations such as truck drivers, taxi drivers, and delivery drivers may face job disruptions as AVs become more widespread. However, new job opportunities will also emerge, such as overseeing AV fleet operations, maintenance, and software development. The auto industry will need to manage this transition and potentially invest in retraining programs for affected workers. Environments and Consumption Safer driving and optimized traffic flow can also reduce fuel consumption and emissions, contributing to ESG benefits and potentially transforming the automotive industry's sustainability efforts. Autonomous vehicles can be programmed to optimize driving patterns, maintain consistent speeds, and avoid aggressive acceleration or braking, leading to smoother traffic flow and improved fuel efficiency. Autonomous cars can also employ eco-friendly driving strategies, such as predictive cruising and route planning. Consumer Tendencies Private ownership of cars may become a thing of the past, and consumer theory may be set to evolve. If driverless cars can be summoned by a user using an Uber-like app, then there would be no need for that user to own their own car, let alone multiple cars. A decentralized fleet of driverless cars, therefore, could be shared by many needing rides. Though this may negatively impact car sales, the need to never drive again may free consumer resources (time and money) to be spent overwise. Urban Development Driverless cars could prompt changes in urban development and infrastructure planning. Reduced demand for parking spaces and increased emphasis on mobility services may lead to the repurposing of parking lots and garages for other uses. Cities may need to adapt their transportation infrastructure to accommodate autonomous vehicles, which could result in both public and private investment opportunities. Corporate Productivity With autonomous vehicles handling the driving, commuters and businesses can utilize travel time more efficiently. Passengers can work, relax, or engage in other activities during their journeys, leading to increased productivity. Businesses may also benefit from improved logistics and delivery processes, reducing operational costs and enhancing overall economic output. Are Driverless Cars Safe? Driverless cars are designed with multiple safety systems, redundancies, and fail-safe mechanisms to minimize risks. The technology aims to significantly reduce accidents caused by human error, which account for a large percentage of road crashes. Extensive testing and validation processes are conducted to ensure the safety and reliability of autonomous vehicles, though the full extent of how reliable these driverless cars is yet to be fully determined. What Role Does Artificial Intelligence Play in Driverless Cars? Artificial intelligence is the driving force behind autonomous vehicles. AI algorithms process sensor data, recognize patterns, identify objects, and make real-time decisions on how to navigate safely. The continuous learning capability of AI enables AVs to improve their performance through data analysis and experience. What Are the Challenges Facing Driverless Car Adoption? Key challenges to driverless car adoption include regulatory and legal frameworks, safety concerns, public acceptance, cybersecurity, and data privacy. Additionally, the integration of autonomous technology with existing transportation infrastructure and vehicles presents technical and logistical challenges. What Are the Privacy Concerns with Driverless Cars? Driverless cars collect vast amounts of data from their sensors and cameras, which raises privacy concerns. Ensuring transparent data management, data anonymization, and robust cybersecurity measures are crucial to address these privacy issues and gain public trust in the technology. The Bottom Line Once just a far-off dream, driverless cars are now technologically feasible and may be coming to a street near you sooner than later. Autonomous cars are sure to disrupt the automobile and related industries, seriously hurting the bottom line of those companies who are not quick to adapt. At the same time, the benefits to society and the macroeconomy will be positive and significant. There will, however, be a smaller few who become displaced by the new technology and will not benefit from the larger societal gains.