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‘It’s for the judge to decide’: Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s battle to defend his Easy brand None - Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou practically makes a living from arguing. So the fact that our meeting, minutes in, has descended into a polite tussle is perhaps no surprise. The contentious issue at hand: the colour orange. The easyJet founder and perpetual defender of the “easy …” brand prefix is preparing for his latest court showdown – this time with easyfundraising, a platform with a logo recently rebranded a cheery yellow. Or orange, the billionaire contests. “I think it’s pale orange. I’ve spent a lot of money developing the logo behind me,” says Haji-Ioannou, referring to the cascade of “easys” on his video call background as he speaks from Ireland, where his partner has family. Technically, the easyJet orange is Pantone 021C – or, as we decide, pumpkin orange. “It’s for the judge to decide if [easyfundraising]’s logo is too close. I’ve seen enough judgments now to know it could go either way.” The legal tussle, due to reach court in June, is the latest fight by Haji-Ioannou against what he calls “brand thieves”. The entrepreneur spends roughly a third of his time on his easyGroup portfolio of companies, another third on his eponymous philanthropic foundation and the remainder on his investments, sitting glued to a Bloomberg terminal. He stepped down from easyJet’s board in 2010, but his family remains a 15% shareholder in the low-cost carrier. As founder of easyGroup, he licenses out and receives royalties from the “easy” brand, with the £4bn orange airline his standout income generator. More than 100 similarly branded ventures, from hotels to car rentals, are in the long tail of much smaller businesses behind it. He remains on the hunt for “asset-light” sectors to launch the brand into, noting a recent foray into e-sims for phones, designed to cut data roaming costs. To some, Haji-Ioannou’s vociferous defence against the commercial use of “easy” – an everyday word dating back centuries in usage – appears unedifying. The tycoon, 57, lives in the tax haven of Monaco, and has homes in Greece and the Caribbean island of St Barts. A suitably budget-looking new video to mark 30 years since he devised the low-cost brand charts his career: upending European aviation, predicting the explosion in internet bookings and adding new ventures (of varying success) to his empire. So is publicly scrapping with other companies over intellectual property how a knighted tycoon should spend his time? “We have an army of lawyers: that’s what they’re paid to do. A percentage of the royalties we receive goes to lawyers to stop people using the name without permission,” he says, adding that just a “ninth” of his time is spent on the intellectual property fights. “We have a duty to protect the consumer against confusion. I’m not the only one who has made an ordinary word a trademark,” he says, citing Virgin and Apple. Recent disputes range from taking on Premier Inn’s owner, Whitbread, for its use of the slogan “Rest Easy” to challenging the airline association Iata over its EasyPay payment system (a similar battle with the car dealership Arnold Clark was lost). Taking issue with this marketing is vital in a business environment dominated by search engines, he argues. Haji-Ioannou has faced criticism from those who claim he is punching down, and has been labelled a “corporate bully” – an upstart aviation outsider turned antagonistic incumbent. Last year, the British pop group Easy Life were forced to change their name, saying they did not have the funds to fight easyGroup in court. His approach was described as “aggressive” against a soft target (albeit one signed to a label with the clout of music giant Universal, he argues). In the case of easyfundraising, Haji-Ioannou accuses it of being “disingenuous”, and not as cuddly as its communications suggest. The business has not changed its name since its launch in 2005 as a service allowing shoppers to donate part of what they spend on a cause. In 2020, the Manchester private equity firm Palatine took a stake in the company, and the new logo followed in 2022. The for-profit platform describes itself as “the UK’s biggest charity shopping site”, raising money for causes via online retailers paying cashback. Causes range from big charities such as the Alzheimer’s Society to primary schools and even a university canoe-polo team. Advertising and promotions also generate revenue. In April 2020, the company had zero revenues and every plane was grounded. I thought we were going to run out of money Haji-Ioannou says his team found less than 10% of the listings were from registered charities, after taking a random sample of more than 2,000 causes. He claims no checks are carried out to verify that causes are registered charities. The company says the website-wide proportion is “much higher” and that it has “never professed” to only support charities. Haji-Ioannou says the pay of its parent company’s highest-paid director (likely to be chief executive James Moir), at £196,512 for 2022, far outstrips the £56,000 average for charity chief executives. “This is a business that makes money out of two lies – pretending to be a charity when they’re not to get people to use their services, and pretending to be something to do with easyJet so people trust them with their money,” says Haji-Ioannou. “Its business model is based on this dual confusion.” Moir says: “At no point has easyfundraising ever claimed to be a charity. We are a technology-for-good company that is striving to bring innovation to the sector to help good causes to raise critical funds, for free.” He says its rebrand was designed with the “utmost care to avoid any comparison or confusion with easyGroup” and it plans to “rigorously defend these baseless accusations” of trademark infringement in court. In some cases, easyGroup has snapped up companies it has challenged over their branding. However, Haji-Ioannou says there is no prospect of that in this instance, adding that he would hand any damages to charity and run the domain at a loss to raise money for charities if awarded it in court. Haji-Ioannou shows no signs of slowing down, admitting he’d be “very bored” without his business interests. Born in Athens, he holds dual UK and Cypriot citizenship – his parents were born in Cyprus when the island was a British colony. He spends his winters in St Barts, and also lives in Monaco, where he met his partner, Orla, during a Formula One grand prix. It’s a little early to decide whether his five-year-old daughter will want to take on his empire, he says, adding that he is grateful to his father, a successful shipping magnate, for the £30m handed to him to start a shipping business. A mission to prove he was not simply a “daddy’s boy” and succeed in another industry drove him to set up easyJet. As for the airline with which he will for ever be associated, relations have thawed significantly. He had proved a thorn in the side of successive chief executives since stepping down. This culminated in a failed boardroom coup during the pandemic. “In April 2020, the company had zero revenues and every plane was grounded. I thought we were going to run out of money and be bankrupt – that I’d lose not only my shareholding but my income stream from the royalties,” he recalls. His holding was cut in a £1.2bn cash call on other investors in 2021. But the company bounced back: “To go from zero to £9.5bn in revenues in four years is an incredible achievement.” Now, he speaks regularly to easyJet’s chairman, Stephen Hester, and the ex-RBS chief visits Monaco once a year for a meeting of all the “easy” business bosses. In the long term, he hopes easyJet will keep ramping up its dividend to reinstate its policy of paying out 50% of its profits. Time for easyDividends, perhaps? CV Age 57 Family Partner, Orla Murphy, and a daughter, Aria, aged five. Education School in Athens, degree in economics from London School of Economics, master’s degree in shipping from City University business school. Pay Does not take a salary. Refuses to disclose his exact wealth. Family wealth estimated at £1.74bn in 2023 Sunday Times Rich List. Best advice he’s been given “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, or, in more business-school speak, always be diversified in your investments.” Biggest career mistake “Do not sign long property leases. Many years ago I signed a 25-year lease on an internet cafe by Victoria station. If I owned the real estate, I could have changed the use of the shop and made money with it. Now I only buy and own freehold real estate.” Phrase he overuses “Let’s get on with it!” How he relaxes Spending time with family; sailing his yachts. “Unashamedly, I’m a fair-weather sailor – I only go out if the weather is good.”

When £17m isn’t enough: FTSE firms plead to pay bosses millions more None - There was a sharp intake of breath last month when the pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca cemented chief executive Pascal Soriot’s position as the best-paid FTSE 100 boss with a £17m pay package, up from £15.3m a year earlier. The latest award brings to £137m the amount he has earned since joining in 2012. While it drew the anger of corporate governance experts, Soriot’s generous payout was just a fraction of the sums his counterparts at the biggest US companies take home. Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, stands as the highest-earning boss on the US-based S&P 500, with a $226m pay packet in 2022. That gulf has fuelled fears over London’s ability to attract and retain global talent, and been used to strengthen boardroom calls to boost executive pay to compete with Wall Street-level salaries. Concern in the City follows a string of defections in recent years. Top bosses have crossed the Atlantic to go to rival companies, and London-listed companies have departed to US stock exchanges, where deeper pockets and weaker shareholder scrutiny give companies more control over remuneration schemes. “There has been a drumbeat around this competitiveness issue, anecdotally, for a number of years,” said Andrew Ninian, who speaks on behalf of pension fund managers and other big shareholders as director of stewardship at trade body the Investment Association. “But we’re hearing growing numbers of cases where, actually, companies have struggled to get the right people and to be able to compete for talent.” One example is medical devices maker Smith & Nephew, which lost chief executive Namal Nawana after 18 months following a row in 2019, in which he demanded higher pay in line with American peers. The company reportedly discussed relocating to the US, where it could more easily bump up his £6m package, but ditched the plan and Nawana resigned. Three years later, in 2022, the maker of Dettol disinfectant, Reckitt Benckiser, abruptly lost its boss, Laxman Narasimhan, part way through a big turnaround plan. Despite being one of the best paid chief executives in the FTSE 100 – earning £6m in 2021 and £8.4m in 2020 – he jumped ship to lead Seattle-based Starbucks, where he clinched a $28m (£21.7m) package. These cases have given ammunition to bosses at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), who, in their quest to attract more listed companies, are some of the most vocal advocates for higher pay. The LSEG’s chief executive, David Schwimmer, whose own pay is reportedly set to rise from £6.25m to £11m pending shareholder approval, last month said the UK needed to take US “standards for compensation” seriously. “If London has an ambition to be a globally leading financial centre and to attract world-class companies, that means it has to attract world-class talent,” he said. View image in fullscreen Laxman Narasimhan left the UK for the US and a $28m pay packet at Starbucks. Photograph: Stephen Brashear/AP That echoed comments made a year earlier by his colleague Julia Hoggett, who leads the group’s listing arm. She criticised asset managers and proxy advisers, saying they had put the UK at a disadvantage by voting against pay policies that were already “significantly below global benchmarks”, while voting in support of higher compensation packages in other countries, including the US. She warned that without change, the UK could flounder. “The alternative is we continue standing idly by as our biggest exports become skills, talent, tax revenue and the companies that generate it,” Hoggett said. While Britain’s bosses at the top 100 listed companies were paid an average of £4.4m in 2022, according to the High Pay Centre thinktank, their counterparts at S&P 500 companies were paid three times as much – an average of $16.7m (or £13.1m then), according to the AFL-CIO, the US trade union federation. Translated into dollars, UK pay, when adjusted for purchasing power, was less than a fifth of US pay. AstraZeneca was the most generous UK-listed company, handing £15.3m to Soriot in 2022, followed by BAE Systems, who granted boss Charles Woodburn a £10.7m package that year. That pales in comparison not only toPichai’s $226m but also second-place Nikesh Arora, a former Google executive and now boss of the cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks, who was paid $151m.. Look the other way, towards Europe, and executive pay at London-listed companies appears competitive enough. Median pay for the companies listed on the pan-European Stoxx 600 index, which includes the biggest UK companies, was €3.5m (£2.9m) in 2022, according to research conducted for the Observer by Prof Xavier Baeten at Vlerick Business School in Belgium. Excluding UK firms, European median pay was €3.1m. There are many factors accounting for the gulf in pay, Baeten says. US companies are generally larger, with bigger revenue pots and profits, than the UK’s listed firms. The UK also has a longer history of giving investors a role in policing pay. Advisory votes on annual pay were first introduced in the UK in 2002, something the US only did eight years later in 2010. And the UK government went a step further in 2013, giving shareholders a binding vote on executive compensation policies – which outline how bosses will be paid in future – every three years. The US has stopped short of that, leaving British-listed companies more accountable on pay than their transatlantic peers. And shareholders have been prepared to make their voices heard. There have been rebellions at companies such as Unilever, where last year 60% voted against incoming chief executive Hein Schumacher’s pay package, which included a €1.9m base salary that was a fifth higher than his predecessor’s. Earlier that year, education group Pearson had suffered a 46% revolt over plans to increase maximum bonus payouts from 200% to 300% of executive salaries. View image in fullscreen Emma Walmsley of GSK is the highest-paid woman in the FTSE 100, earning £8.4m Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images But after consulting with more than 100 of the UK’s largest listed firms, the Investment Association is considering updating its pay guidelines. If they remain sympathetic to the competitiveness argument, it could sway the IA’s 250 members – asset managers who handle more than £8.8tn – to go easy on UK companies and help bridge the gap with stateside rivals. The guidance, due out this summer, comes too late for the 22 companies on the FTSE 100 that, according to Deloitte, are due to renew their policies this year. But it could give encouragement to others, such as HSBC. The London-headquartered lender plans to take advantage of the UK’s decision to scrap the banker bonus cap, introduced after the 2008 financial crisis, which limited bonuses at twice base salary. HSBC said the move would help “recruit and retain people in competitive markets where many of our international competitors do not have similar restrictions”. Others urge caution, saying a boost in pay will only exacerbate already worrying inequality in the UK. “There are well-documented links between greater inequality and greater socioeconomic problems,” Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre, said. “So there’s a reason to be concerned about this, beyond just finding it objectionable that people who don’t work that much harder, and aren’t that much better, than anybody else are just getting much more money which they don’t need.” Across the FTSE 100, chief executives were paid 91 times more than the average employee in 2022, according to the High Pay Centre. That compares with the S&P 500, where the gulf was far higher, on average, at 272 times workers’ pay. There is also the argument that the money spend on paying executives could instead be used to up-skill or fund a more competitive workforce, boosting productivity and overall corporate performance. “You have to ask: is this really going to make such a difference for UK companies?” Hildyard said. “If they’re able to spend £10m or £20m on a new CEO to replace someone who was earning a “mere” £4m a year, it isn’t going to change the sort of economic, social, technological context they’re operating in.” But for all the noise, the Investment Association says UK companies are unlikely to bridge the gap completely. “It’s very clear that we are not going all the way and you will not see comparable packages between US and UK,” Ninian said. “It would just be a step towards it,” he added. For the time being, bosses such as Bill Winters – the chief executive of London-headquartered Standard Chartered bank – will prove an anomaly. When asked during a media call whether UK bosses were paid enough to keep them from defecting, he said he was comfortable with his £7.8m package: “I made my choice a long time ago. I’m very happy to be sitting here in the UK. I’m very happy to be paid what I’m paid”.

‘A Hail Mary to end all Hail Mary’s’: See Trump's latest desperate attempt to delay hush money case None - Lisa Rubin, MSNBC Legal Correspondent, Andrew Weissmann, former top prosecutor at the Justice Department, and Donna Edwards former Democratic Congresswoman from Maryland join Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House to discuss the latest attempt by Donald Trump and his legal team to delay his NY Hush Money trial until after the Supreme Court weighs in on his Presidential Immunity claim.March 11, 2024

‘Wrong year, wrong president, wrong country’: GOP Senator's brazen misrepresentation exposed by SNL None - Tim Miller, Writer at Large for The Bulwark, Donna Edwards, former Democratic Congresswoman from Maryland, and Basil Smikle Director of Public Policy Program at Hunter College join Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with reaction to the brazen misrepresentation made by Alabama Senator Katie Britt about a key aspect of her State of the Union rebuttal. March 11, 2024

‘Birds of a feather flock together’: Trump rolls out the red carpet for his favorite dictator None - New York Times Reporter, Michael Gold and Charlie Sykes, MSNBC Contributor join Nicolle Wallace with reaction to Donald Trump’s meeting with one of his favorite dictators Viktor Orban and what Orban’s comments about the meeting could mean for the War in Ukraine should Donald Trump return to the presidency. March 11, 2024

John Kerry's 'Exit Interview': If you 'lose the truth', you've 'lost democracy' None - Former Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry joins Jen Psaki for his "Exit Interview." Kerry discusses rebuilding climate diplomacy after Trump's presidency, the importance of fighting disinformation, and whether or not he worries that Russia will intervene in November. Psaki also asks whether Kerry has ruled out serving in public office again. March 11, 2024

For social platforms, the outage was short. But people's stories vanished, and that's no small thing None - NEW YORK -- Once upon a time, there was a brief outage on some social media platforms. It got fixed. The end. On the face of it, kind of a boring story. But the widespread attention given to the blanking of Meta’s , Instagram, Threads and Messenger platforms on Tuesday suggests another, perhaps less obvious tale: the one that shows that social media platforms, like the books or newspapers or insert-medium-here of other times in history, matter more than just being entertaining pastimes. Wait, you mean those posts from that cousin you rarely see, sharing updates from her kids' lives? That reel from the influencer, introducing you to a culture or bit of knowledge you never knew? That photo collage you put up as a memorial to a loved one whose loss you're grieving? The back-and-forth debate between people on your feed trying to one-up each other on topics that interest you? Yes. The technologies might be recent. But the things we use them for? That taps into something age-old: Humans are wired to love stories. Telling them. Listening to them. Relating to each other and our communities through them. And, of late, showing them to the world piece by piece through our devices — so much so that one of Instagram's primary features is called, simply, “Stories.” “Our narrative capacity is ... one of the best ways through which we are able to connect with one another,” says Evynn McFalls, vice president of marketing and brand at the NeuroLeadership Institute, a consultancy that incorporates neuroscience into its corporate work. “Our brains like stories because it makes it easier for us to understand other people, other circumstances.” In his book “The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human,” scholar Jonathan Gottschall says this: “The human imperative to make and consume stories runs even more deeply than literature, dreams and fantasy. We are soaked to the bone in story.” And in these times, social media is so often where they're told — whether in pictures, videos, memes, text threads or mashups of all four. People can get news and information (and OK, yes, misinformation) there, learn and possibly sympathize with others' plights, see things in ways that help us make sense of the world. We tell our own stories on them, make connections with others that might not exist in any other space. In many ways, these social spaces are where we do “human.” “It’s almost impossible for many people, especially in the United States, to think about their lives and communication without thinking about social media,” says Samuel Woolley, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism and Media. So when they're disrupted? Uh-oh. Threads of connection can disappear. Endorphin-generating activities get cut off. Routines — for better and for worse — are interrupted, and expected flows of information and storytelling hiccup and falter. “Outside of the trivial nature of these platforms, they’ve also really morphed over the last 15 years into an advocacy space,” says Imani Cheers, associate professor of digital storytelling at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “Those types of outages can really cause disruption in the passing and service of information." It can also ratchet up the impact if the interruption comes at a moment when communication and information are perceived to be needed the most, Woolley notes: In the United States, the outage corresponded with the moments many were heading to the polls for Super Tuesday. “Even though the recent outage only lasted a handful of hours for most people, it still resulted in a lack of access to the news,” Woolley says. “And that's a problem.” After the outages happened Tuesday, Andy Stone, Meta’s head of communications, acknowledged them on X, formerly known as . “We apologize for any inconvenience,” he wrote. But for some, it was more visceral than simple inconvenience. Their stories and their online lives were at stake. When Taylor Cole Miller, an assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, first realized that he wasn't getting into his Facebook account Tuesday, his initial concern was security — that he had somehow been hacked. Shortly afterward came creeping panic: What if he had lost almost two decades of his Facebook existence, including some connections with people he only had over the platform? “I hesitate to say that my life flashed before my eyes, because that’s just so overwrought,” he says. “But the fact of the matter is that as someone who’s been on Facebook for 20 years, a significant amount of my life is archived” there. “Many of the ways that I connect with people is merely through Facebook. What happens if poof, it just goes away really fast? What does that mean for who I am as a person and how I interact with other people?” That type of reaction about losing something that's so part of the fabric of one's day speaks to the power of story to connect us, says Melanie Green, a professor in the department of communication at the University at Buffalo. And, not incidentally, to the platforms that amplify those stories. “Humans have a need to belong. We're social species, our survival often depends on being part of groups,” she says. “Stories can help us feel that sense of belongingness.”

How major US stock indexes fared Monday, 3/11/2024 None - Stock indexes drifted to a mixed close as Wall Street prepared for a report on inflation that could show how realistic its hopes for easier interest rates are How major US stock indexes fared Monday, 3/11/2024 The Associated Press By The Associated Press Stock indexes drifted to a mixed close as Wall Street prepared for a report on inflation that could show how realistic its hopes for easier interest rates are. The S & P 500 slipped 0.1% Monday, coming off just its third losing week in the last 19. It’s still near the all-time high it set on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%. If economists are correct, Tuesday’s report on prices at the consumer level could show inflation remained at 3.1% in February. Treasury yields edged higher in the bond market. Bitcoin hit another record. On Monday: The S & P 500 fell 5.75 points, or 0.1%, to 5,117.94 The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.97 points, or 0.1%, to 38,769.66. The Nasdaq composite fell 65.84 points, or 0.4%, to 16,019.27. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.83 points, or 0.8%, to 2,065.88. For the year: The S & P 500 is up 348.11 points, or 7.3%. The Dow is up 1,080.12 points, or 2.9%. The Nasdaq is up 1,007.92 points, or 6.7%. The Russell 2000 is up 38.81 points, or 1.9%.

The Body Shop ceases US operations, plans to close dozens of stores in UK, Canada None - The Body Shop has ceased its U.S. operations and is closing dozens of locations in Canada amid deepening financial struggles for the British beauty and cosmetics chain The Body Shop ceases US operations, plans to close dozens of stores in UK, Canada NEW YORK -- The Body Shop has ceased its U.S. operations and is closing dozens of locations in Canada amid deepening financial struggles for the British beauty and cosmetics chain. The Body Shop's U.S. arm ceased operations on March 1, according to a company announcement from earlier this month. And the brand's Canadian subsidiary commenced liquidation of 33 closing stores as part of wider restructuring proceedings. These closings arrive just weeks after the U.K.-based retailer appointed insolvency administrators set to consider “all options to find a way forward” after years of financial struggles. A spokesperson for FRP, the administrators hired by The Body Shop International, told The Associated Press Monday that they have also announced plans to shutter 82 of 198 stores total in the U.K. Those closings are expected to occur over the next five weeks. FRP does not oversee The Body Shop's U.S. or Canadian subsidiaries. A spokesperson for The Body Shop North America did not immediately respond Monday to requests for further information. In its March 1 announcement, The Body Shop Canada said it had filed for a notice of intention pursuant to the country's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act “to obtain a stay” of its parent's administration proceedings in the U.K. — and “provide additional breathing room while it evaluates its strategic alternatives and implements certain restructuring initiatives.” At the time, The Body Shop Canada said its total 105 stores were still open — but that the 33 closings, and end of online sales via Canada's e-commerce platform, were set to arrive “in the near term.” Specifics about the timing of closings and liquidation for U.S. locations were not immediately provided. The Body Shop, which founded by Anita Roddick and her husband back in 1976, is often hailed as an early champion of ethical practices in business. The retailer of soaps, creams and makeup has promoted fair-trading practices and products that were not tested on animals. The brand became hugely popular in the 1980s, when it listed on the London Stock Exchange, and grew to have stores in some 80 countries, including many operated through franchises. In 2006, Roddick and her husband sold The Body Shop to beauty giant L’Oreal. The brand later was passed on to Brazilian cosmetics business Natura in 2017 — and was then sold to Aurelius, a private equity firm that specializes in buying and turning around troubled companies, late last year in a deal valued at $261 million (207 million pounds).

Poland's president calls on NATO allies to raise spending on defense to 3% of GDP None - Poland’s president is calling on other members of the NATO alliance to raise their spending on defense to 3% of their gross domestic product Poland's president calls on NATO allies to raise spending on defense to 3% of GDP WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's president on Monday called on other members of the NATO alliance to raise their spending on defense to 3% of their gross domestic product as Russia puts its economy on a war footing and pushes forward with its invasion of Ukraine. President Andrzej Duda made his call in remarks directed at home and abroad. His appeal came on the eve of a visit to the White House, where U.S. President Joe Biden will receive both Duda and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday. “In the face of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s growing imperial aspirations, the countries making up NATO must act boldly and uncompromisingly,” Duda said in a Monday evening address to his nation. His appeal comes at Poland marks the 25th anniversary of its accession to NATO, along with the Czech Republic and Hungary, on March 12, 1999. “Poland is proud to have been a part of it for 25 years,” he said. “There has been and there is no better guarantor of security than the North Atlantic Alliance." “The war in Ukraine has clearly shown that the United States is and should remain the leader in security issues in Europe and the world,” Duda said in his speech to his nation. “However, other NATO countries must also take greater responsibility for the security of the entire alliance and intensively modernize and strengthen their troops.” Duda’s remarks came on the same day that Sweden’s flag was raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels to cement its place as the 32nd member of the trans-Atlantic alliance. Finland joined NATO last year. “Today, NATO is sending a clear and strong signal by welcoming Finland and Sweden into its ranks,” he said. “This is a historic event. Countries that have so far maintained a neutral status for years are joining the alliance. NATO is therefore significantly strengthened. However, further bold decisions are needed.” NATO members agreed in 2014 to boost their defense spending to 2% of GDP after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula that year, but most members, including Germany, still fall short of that benchmark. Poland, however, now spends 4% of its GDP on defense, making it the member to spend the most in percentage terms as it modernizes its military, while the U.S. is well above 3%. “Russia’s imperialistic ambitions and aggressive revisionism are pushing Moscow toward a direct confrontation with NATO, with the West and, ultimately, with the whole free world,” Duda said in an op-ed published in The Washington Post. Duda said that puts the United States and Poland in a position to “lead by example and provide an inspiration for others.” “The Russian Federation has switched its economy to war mode. It is allocating close to 30 percent of its annual budget to arm itself," Duda argued in the newspaper op-ed. “This figure and other data coming out of Russia are alarming. Vladimir Putin’s regime poses the biggest threat to global peace since the end of the Cold War.” The Biden administration suggested Duda’s call to raise the defense spending target for NATO countries may be, at least for now, overly ambitious. ”I think the first step is to get every country meeting the 2% threshold, and we’ve seen improvement of that,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “But I think that’s the first step before we start talking about an additional proposal.” Duda will visit Brussels for a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg after his visit to the U.S. ___ Aamer Madhani contributed to this report from Washington.

Boeing, EQT fall; Choice Hotels, MicroStrategy rise, Monday, 3/11/2024 None - Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Monday: Boeing, EQT fall; Choice Hotels, MicroStrategy rise The Associated Press By The Associated Press NEW YORK -- Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Monday: Boeing Co., down $6 to $192.49. The Department of Justice reportedly launched a criminal investigation into the airplane maker's jetliner blowout in January. Choice Hotels International Inc., up $6.74 to $127.77. The hotel chain ended its attempted takeover of rival Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. MicroStrategy Inc., up $58.64 to $1,484.23. The software company said it bought about $820 million worth of bitcoins. EQT Corp., down $2.91 to $34.61. The natural gas producer is buying Equitrans Midstream for about $5.7 billion in a stock deal. Linde Plc., up $6.93 to $469.48. The gas supplier is joining the Nasdaq 100 index. Triumph Group Inc., down 66 cents to $14. The aircraft supplier gave investors a discouraging financial update. Ballard Power Systems Inc., down 31 cents to $3. The fuel cell technology company's fourth-quarter earnings fell short of Wall Street forecasts. Walt Disney Co., up $1.99 to $112.31. The entertainment giant is seeking approval to expand its California theme park offerings over the next four decades.

Choice Hotels surrenders $8 billion hostile takeover attempt of rival chain, Wyndham None - Choice Hotels is abandoning its hostile $8 billion takeover bid for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Choice said Monday that while it received support from some Wyndham shareholders, it wasn't sufficient enough for the company to conclude that a deal could be done, particularly when taking into account the Wyndham board's opposition to a combination. There was also some resistance from hotel franchisees to the deal. Choice launched a hostile takeover offer for Wyndham in December after repeated attempts to reach a deal with the rival hotel chain were rebuffed. Its exchange offer to shareholders of Wyndham, which runs Days Inn, La Quinta, Ramada and a host of other brands, was the same as its last bid to company management, which was $49.50 in cash and 0.324 shares of Choice common stock per Wyndham share. Choice's exchange offer expired on Friday. The company also said Monday that it was withdrawing its slate of director nominees for Wyndham's board. “Choice intends to continue focusing on its standalone strategy, which the company is confident will create significant long-term value for its stockholders and franchisees,” it said in a prepared statement. “The Wyndham board is pleased that Choice has ended its hostile pursuit and proxy contest, following the expiration of its unsolicited exchange offer,” Wyndham Chairman Stephen Holmes said in a news release. “We are confident in Wyndham’s standalone strategy and growth prospects under the leadership of our proven management team. The Board remains committed to acting in the best interests of our shareholders and driving superior long-term value creation.” Choice had been trying to work out a deal for Wyndham, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, for some time, but had been held at arm’s length. In October Wyndham rejected an unsolicited $8 billion buyout offer from Choice. At the time, Wyndham, called the proposal “opportunistic” and said that it undervalued the company’s growth potential. The offer was rejected unanimously by its board. Holmes also said in October that Choice’s bid was “subject to significant business, regulatory and execution risk,” and that Choice had been unable to address Wyndham’s concerns. The Biden administration has been much more aggressive than previous administrations when it comes to antitrust reviews, regardless of the economic sector. Choice Hotels International Inc., which is based in Rockville, Maryland, runs about 7,500 hotels in 46 countries. It was seeking to absorb a much larger chain in Wyndham, which operates more than 9,000 hotels that also include Howard Johnson, Super 8 and Travelodge. Shares of Choice rose nearly 4% in midday trading, while Wyndham's stock climbed slightly.

Investigators say they confirmed pilots' account of a rudder-control failure on a Boeing Max jet None - Federal investigators have confirmed an account by pilots who say the rudder controls on their Boeing Max jetliner failed during a landing last month Federal investigators said Thursday they confirmed pilots' account of a brief failure of rudder controls on a Boeing 737 Max after it landed at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey last month. United Airlines pilots said pedals that control rudder movement on the plane were stuck as they tried to keep the plane in the center of the runway during the Feb. 6 landing. The pilots were able to use a small nose-gear steering wheel to veer from the runway to a high-speed turnoff. The rudder pedals began working again as the pilots taxied to the gate with 155 passengers and six crew members on the flight from Nassau, Bahamas, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board. Boeing said this is the only rudder-response issue reported on a Max, although two similar incidents happened in 2019 with an earlier model of the 737 called NG or next generation, which has the same rudder-pedal system. The manufacturer said the issue was fixed by replacing three parts. The plane has made dozens of passenger-carrying flights since then, according to data from FlightAware. United said the parts were related to a landing feature that was designed for other airlines, and United has only nine planes with those parts. The airline said it will work with Boeing, the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration “on next steps for these aircraft.” The NTSB said preliminary information from the plane's flight data recorder, one of the so-called black boxes, confirmed the captain's description of the event. United was able to recreate the same problem on the 2-year-old plane during a test flight at the Newark airport three days later, and reported the problem to the NTSB. Mechanics couldn't find an obvious cause for the malfunction during an inspection, but they replaced parts of the rudder control system, and the plane operated normally during a second test flight, the NTSB said. The NTSB said that when it subjected one of the removed parts to cold for one hour in a laboratory, it failed to produce the torque needed for the rudder pedals to work. The NTSB said it plans further testing of the part. Pedals in the cockpit control the rudder, which is attached to the vertical part of the tail and can be used to point the nose of the plane left or right. United, Boeing, parts supplier Collins Aerospace and the Federal Aviation Administration are taking part in the ongoing investigation. Collins did not immediately comment.

Bernie Sanders: ‘We should stop funding Netanyahu’s war machine’ None - Sen. Bernie Sanders: “Netanyahu’s right wing government is blocking the borders and preventing the massive amount of aid that needs to get through from getting through and people are dying as a result. That is in violation of American law. We should stop funding Netanyahu’s war machine.”March 14, 2024

Shocking Mar-a-Lago witness details suggest broader Trump criminality; judge dithers None - Brian Butler, a former Mar-a-Lago employee and witness in the Donald Trump classified documents case, came forward for an interview with CNN, hoping to control his own story rather than leave his fate to the indecisive judge in the case who may or may not protect the identities of witnesses. Butler says he helped move boxes out of Mar-a-Lago even as Trump's lawyers were claiming to have turned everything over to the FBI. Lisa Rubin, MSNBC legal correspondent, joins Alex Wagner for analysis. March 13, 2024

Ethan Crumbley's journal entries could be 'very damning' in father's manslaughter trial None - ‘Buckle up and focus’ says Eddie Glaude for what is ahead in the 2024 political year 05:31

Aaron Rodgers, Jesse Ventura on RFK Jr.'s vice president shortlist None - New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former Minnesota governor and WWE wrestler Jesse Ventura are both on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s shortlist for vice president. NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard has the latest details on his presidential campaign.March 13, 2024

Oklahoma town to hold recall election after electing white nationalist None - The conservative city of Enid, Okla., will hold a recall election in three weeks after electing a white nationalist to the City Council. His election has led to a surge of political activism in the town. NBC News' Brandy Zadrozny reports. March 13, 2024

The treated discharge from Japan's ruined Fukushima nuclear plant is safe, IAEA chief says on visit None - The head of the U.N. atomic agency has observed firsthand the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s ongoing radioactive wastewater discharges for the first time since the contentious program began six months ago The treated discharge from Japan's ruined Fukushima nuclear plant is safe, IAEA chief says on visit FUTABA, Japan -- The head of the U.N. atomic agency observed firsthand the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's ongoing radioactive wastewater discharges for the first time since the contentious program began months ago and called it an "encouraging start.” International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi watched treated radioactive water being mixed with massive amounts of seawater and examined a water sampling station. He was escorted by utility Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings president Tomoaki Kobayakawa. The discharges have been opposed by fishing groups and neighboring countries including China, which banned all imports of Japanese seafood immediately after the release began. An 2011 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima plant’s power supply and reactor cooling functions, triggering meltdowns of three reactors and causing large amounts of radioactive wastewater to accumulate. After more than a decade of cleanup work, the plant began discharging the water after treating it and diluting it with seawater on Aug. 24, starting a process that’s expected to take decades. Grossi last visited the plant in July after issuing an IAEA review predicting only negligible impact from the discharges. An IAEA comprehensive report later concluded that the discharges meet international safety standards. Grossi said an IAEA office and a laboratory at the plant have been carrying out their own, independent evaluations of the discharges, and results had been in line with what they expected. “We never say ‘this is done’ or ‘this is okay’ because there is a long way to go," he said. “I would say it's a very positive and encouraging start.” Grossi also met with local officials and representatives from fishing and business groups and reassured them that the discharges are being carried out “with no impact to the environment, water, fish and sediment.” “There is no scientific reason to impose any restriction on products coming from us,” Grossi said. He later told reporters that he is aware of “observations made by China” and noted that “I have an ongoing and very constructive dialogue with China regarding the operation here.” He asserted that “the authority and the impartiality of what the IAEA does cannot be put into question,” adding that he was ”very confident that the dialogue with China and with other countries will be constructive and we will be able to provide all the assurances as required.” China’s ban on Japanese seafood mostly hit scallop exporters in Hokkaido. Tokyo has earmarked a fund of more than 100 billion yen ($680 million) that includes compensation and other support, including measures to help find other export destinations. Despite earlier fears that the water discharge would further hurt Fukushima’s hard-hit fishing industry, it has not damaged its reputation domestically. Grossi stressed the importance of “transparency, technical accuracy and wide open, honest dialogue and consultation.” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government has reversed earlier plans for a nuclear phaseout and is accelerating the use of nuclear power in response to rising fuel costs related to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and pressure to meet decarbonization goals. On Thursday, Grossi will hold talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and is expected to discuss further cooperation between the IAEA and Japan in non-proliferation, use of nuclear energy and support to protect Ukraine's nuclear power plant seized by Russian military.

Apple reverses course and clears way for Epic Games to set up rival iPhone app store in Europe None - Apple has reversed course under regulatory pressure and cleared the way for a nettlesome adversary, video game maker Epic Games, to set up an alternative store for iPhone apps in Europe Apple reverses course and clears way for Epic Games to set up rival iPhone app store in Europe Apple has reversed course under regulatory pressure and cleared the way for a nettlesome adversary, video game maker Epic Games, to set up an alternative store for iPhone apps in Europe. The about-face disclosed Friday is the latest twist in a bitter fight between Apple and Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game, over the way iPhone apps are distributed and the fees for digital transactions that occur within them. Apple attributed the change of heart to reassurances from Epic that it won't violate its requirements for getting access to iPhone owners. Epic had brazenly broke the rules in the U.S. in 2020 to trigger an antitrust lawsuit alleging Apple's App Store is a monopoly. After a month-long trial, a federal judge in 2021 rejected most of Epic's claims in a ruling that withstood appeals, but the bickering with Apple has continued. Apple had rejected Epic's attempt to set up an account that would have allowed it to set up an alternative store for downloading iPhone apps — something that Apple has held exclusive control over for more than 15 years. But a new set of regulations called the Digital Marketing Act, or DMA, that took effect in European Union's 27-nation bloc earlier this week cleared the way for other companies to compete against Apple's App Store — an opportunity that Epic was eager to seize upon. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney had alleged Apple’s actions to stymie its efforts to open an app store in Europe were part of its efforts to retaliate against the video game maker for challenging a system that has been a huge money maker for the iPhone maker. Apple collects commissions ranging from 15% to 30% for digital transactions completed within iPhone apps, an arrangement that generates billions of dollars in annual revenue for the company while spurring complaints from Epic and other companies who rail against the fees as monopolistic price gouging. European regulators signaled Apple's rejection of Epic's effort to set up an iPhones app developer account in Europe, based in Sweden, might run afoul of the DMA, raising the specter of potentially a substantial fine. Apple didn't mention the regulatory approval in a brief statement saying it is now satisfied Epic will follow all its rules. Sweeney applauded regulators for taking swift action to rein in Apple in a social media post that hailed the outcome as “a big win for European rule of law, for the European Commission, and for the freedom of developers worldwide to speak up.” The bad blood between Apple and Epic is far from over. Apple is demanding more than $73 million from Epic to cover its fees in the U.S. antitrust case over the App Store. A hearing on that demand, which Epic has described as outlandish in court papers, is scheduled later this month.