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The Czech central bank again cuts a key interest rate as inflation stays low and economy recovers None - The Czech Republic’s central bank has cut its key interest rate for the fifth straight time as inflation remains low and the economy shows signs of recovery The Czech central bank again cuts a key interest rate as inflation stays low and economy recovers PRAGUE -- The Czech Republic’s central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate for the fifth time in a row as inflation remains low and the economy is showing signs of recovery. The cut, which had been predicted by analysts, brought the interest rate down by a half-percentage point, to 4.75%. The bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, the first cut since June 22, 2022. Further cuts of half a percentage point each time followed on Feb. 8, March 20 and May 2. Inflation declined to 10.7% in 2023 from 15.1% in 2022, according to the Czech Statistics Office, and dropped to the bank's target of 2.0% year-on-year in February, remaining unchanged in March. It increased to 2.9% in April before dropping to 2.6% in May. The Czech economy was up by 0.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, and increased by 0.3% compared with the last three months of the previous year, the figures released by Statistics Office on May 31 said. That came after the Czech economy contracted by 0.2% in the last three months of 2023 compared with a year earlier. Central banks around the world are leaning toward lowering borrowing costs as they judge whether toxic inflation has been sufficiently tamed. The European Central Bank cut its key interest rate on June 6 by a quarter-point to 3.75% from a record high of 4%, moving ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve in lowering rates. Federal Reserve officials said they saw some progress on inflation on June 12 but said they expect to cut their benchmark interest rate just once this year.
Walgreens to take a hard look at underperforming stores, could shutter hundreds more None - Walgreens is finalizing a plan to fix its business that could result in the closure of hundreds of additional stores in the next three years Walgreens to take a hard look at underperforming stores, could shutter hundreds more Walgreens is finalizing a plan to fix its U.S. business that could result in closing hundreds of additional stores over the next three years. CEO Tim Wentworth told analysts Thursday morning that “changes are imminent” for about 25% of the company's stores, which he said were underperforming. The drugstore chain currently runs more than 8,600 in the United States. Wentworth said the company's plan could include the closing of a “significant portion” of those roughly 2,100 underperforming stores if they don't improve. Company leaders said they’ve already closed 2,000 locations over the last 10 years. Overall, the company runs about 12,500 drugstores worldwide. "We are at a point where the current pharmacy model is not sustainable and the challenges in our operating environment require we approach the market differently," he said. Walgreens and major competitors like CVS and Rite Aid — which is going through a bankruptcy reorganization — have been closing stores as they adjust to an array of challenges to their businesses. They include include years of tight reimbursement for their prescriptions and rising costs for running their locations. Plus, analysts say they’ve also been hit by growing competition from Walmart, Amazon and other discount retailers over sales of goods sold outside their store pharmacies. Consumers also tend to grow more price conscious when inflation rises, and drugstores generally have higher prices than those discounters. “Our customers have become increasingly selective and price sensitive in their purchases,” said Wentworth, who joined the company last fall and has been conducting a review of its business. Walgreens also has been closing VillageMD primary care clinics it had been installing next to its stores in order to grow its presence as a health care provider. The company had launched an aggressive expansion of those clinics under previous CEO Rosalind Brewer. But Walgreens said in March that it was reversing course and closing around 160 of the clinics. Primary care clinics like the ones VillageMD operate tend to lose money their first couple years as they build a patient base and improve health. Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut has said the new clinics were burning a lot of cash and racking up losses. But Wentworth said Thursday those clinics were now on a “clearer path to profitability.” The CEO also said his company is talking to pharmacy benefit managers to “ensure that we are paid fairly” and working to grow other parts of its business like specialty pharmacy. That helps people with complex or chronic medical conditions. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. also reported that it missed earnings expectations and cut its annual forecast. The company earned $344 million in its fiscal third quarter, with adjusted results totaling 63 cents per share. Revenue rose nearly 3% to $36.35 billion. Analysts were looking for earnings of 68 cents per share on $35.9 billion in revenue, according to FactSet. Walgreens now expects adjusted earnings to range from $2.80 to $2.95 for its fiscal year, which ends in August. That’s down from a forecast of $3.20 to $3.35 per share that it had narrowed in March. Analysts expect $3.20 per share. That guidance cut was not “overly shocking to us as the company now begins the next leg of its turnaround,” Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny said in a research note. But the overall results surprised investors. Shares of the Deerfield, Illinois, company plunged 22% to end Thursday at $12.19, by far the stock's biggest single-day percentage decline on record. Walgreens' shares have already shed more than half their value so far this year.
US weekly jobless claims fall, but the total number collecting benefits is the most since 2021 None - Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week but the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits rose to the highest level in more than two years US weekly jobless claims fall, but the total number collecting benefits is the most since 2021 Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week but the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits rose to the highest level in more than two years. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending June 22 fell by 6,000 to 233,000 from 239,000 the previous week. However, the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose for the eighth straight week, to 1.84 million, for the week of June 15. That's the most since November of 2021. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark borrowing rate 11 times beginning in March of 2022 in an attempt to extinguish the four-decade high inflation that shook the economy after it rebounded from the COVID-19 recession of 2020. The Fed’s intention was to cool off a red-hot labor market and slow wage growth, which can fuel inflation. Many economists had expected the rapid rate hikes would trigger a recession, but that’s been avoided so far thanks to strong consumer demand and sturdier-than-expected labor market. But recent government data suggest that some cracks are beginning to show. Applications for jobless benefits are trending higher in June after mostly staying below 220,000 this year. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4% in May, despite the fact that America’s employers added a strong 272,000 jobs last month. Job postings for April hit their lowest level since 2021. Thursday's report from the Labor department showed that the four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 3,000 to 236,000.
Fire tears through the Danish taxation ministry, the latest major fire in Copenhagen None - A fire has broken out on top of a building housing Denmark’s taxation ministry, leading to the evacuation of the offices and adjacent houses COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- A fire broke out Thursday on the top floor of a building housing Denmark’s taxation ministry in downtown Copenhagen, leading to the evacuation of the people inside the glass-and-steel construction on the harbor-front and from adjacent houses. There was no word on casualties. Large flames and huge billows of black smoke rose from the six-story building and could be see across much of the Danish capital. Authorities say the blaze quickly came under control. “It was a serious situation, and therefore the emergency services called many forces to the scene,” said Tim Ole Simonsen, a spokesman for the Greater Copenhagen Fire Department. On the social media platform X, the fire brigade wrote that it “had prepared for greater efforts, with water supply from the harbor etc. It was not relevant.” It was the latest in a series of recent blazes in and around Copenhagen. In April, a blaze tore through the 400-year-old Old Stock Exchange downtown. The fire, which broke out on the roof during renovations, destroyed half the red-brick building and its distinctive 56-meter (184-foot) spire in the shape of four intertwined dragon tails. The cause has not yet been established. Earlier this month, a fire broke out at an office building belonging to pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, the third fire in a little more over a month to hit the Danish drugmaker. In May, two fires were reported at a company facility under construction about 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Copenhagen, and at an administration building in a Copenhagen suburb. The causes of those fires have not been made public. No one was injured in any of the incidents. Authorities have said that there was no connection between the fires. Jens Kastvig, a fire expert with the Danish Society of Engineers, told Danish broadcaster TV2 that although fire brigades in Denmark have been busy recently, “it’s accidental, I hope.”
Supreme court rules that the SEC’s in-house rulings violate US constitution None - The US supreme court on Thursday stripped the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of a major tool in fighting securities fraud in a decision that could have far-reaching effects on other regulatory agencies. The justices ruled in a 6-3 vote that people accused of fraud by the SEC, which regulates securities markets, have the right to a jury trial in federal court. The in-house proceedings the SEC has used in some civil fraud complaints violate the constitution, the court said. Liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor called the decision “plainly wrong” in a dissenting opinion. “The majority today upends longstanding precedent and the established practice of its coequal partners in our tripartite system of Government,” she wrote. The SEC was awarded more than $5bn in civil penalties in the 2023 government spending year that ended 30 September, the agency said in a news release. It was unclear how much of that money came through in-house proceedings or lawsuits in federal court. The agency had already reduced the number of cases it brings in administrative proceedings pending the supreme court’s resolution of the case. The case is among several this term in which conservative and business interests are urging the nine-member court to constrict federal regulators. The court’s six conservatives already have reined them in, including in a decision last year that sharply limited environmental regulators’ ability to police water pollution in wetlands. The high court rejected arguments advanced by the Democratic administration that relied on a 50-year-old decision in which the court ruled that in-house proceedings did not violate the constitution’s right to a jury trial in civil lawsuits. The justices ruled in the case of Houston hedge fund manager George Jarkesy. The SEC appealed to the supreme court after a divided panel of the New Orleans-based fifth US circuit court of appeals threw out stiff financial penalties against Jarkesy and his Patriot28 investment adviser. The appeals court found that the SEC’s case against Jarkesy, resulting in a $300,000 civil fine and the repayment of $680,000 in allegedly ill-gotten gains, should have been heard in a federal court instead of before one of the SEC’s administrative law judges. Jarkesy’s lawyers noted that the SEC wins almost all the cases it brings in front of the administrative law judges but only about 60% of cases tried in federal court. The appeals court also said Congress unconstitutionally granted the SEC “unfettered authority” to decide whether the case should be tried in a court of law or handled within the executive branch agency. And it said laws shielding the commission’s administrative law judges from being fired by the president were unconstitutional. Those issues got virtually no attention during arguments in November, and the court chose to resolve the case only on the right to a jury trial. The Associated Press contributed reporting
More WestJet flight cancellations as airline strike hits thousands of travelers None - Canada’s second-largest airline says it has canceled more than 800 flights affecting tens of thousands of passengers days as an unexpected strike by WestJet plane mechanics entered its third day TORONTO -- Canada’s second largest airline, WestJet, said Sunday that it canceled more than 800 flights affecting tens of thousands of passengers as an unexpected strike by plane mechanics entered its third day. Around 680 workers, whose daily inspections and repairs are essential to airline operations, walked off the job on Friday evening, despite a directive for binding arbitration from the federal labor minister. The strike is happening during the Canada Day long weekend, the busiest travel week of the year in the country. Both the airline and the Airplane Mechanics Fraternal Association have accused the other side of refusing to negotiate in good faith. WestJet Airlines president Diederik Pen has stressed what he calls the “continued reckless actions” of a union making “blatant efforts” to disrupt Canadians’ travel plans, while the association claimed the Calgary-Alberta, based company has refused to respond to its latest counterproposal. In an update to members Sunday, it said that mechanics were “the victim of WestJet’s virulent PR campaign that you are scofflaws,” citing “calumnies” against workers around their right to strike. The job action comes after union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative deal from WestJet in mid-June and following two weeks of tense talks between the two parties. As the clock ticked down toward a Friday strike deadline, the impasse prompted Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan to step in, mandating that WestJet and the union undertake binding arbitration headed by the country’s labor tribunal. That process typically sidesteps a work stoppage. WestJet certainly thought so, stating the union had “confirmed they will abide by the direction.” “Given this, a strike or lockout will not occur, and the airline will no longer proceed in canceling flights,” the airline said Thursday. The mechanics took a different view. The union negotiating committee said it would “comply with the minister’s order and directs its members to refrain from any unlawful job action.” Less than 24 hours later, workers were on the picket lines.
In the final days before the UK election, Rishi Sunak insists that he can stay in power None - U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has dismissed suggestions that his party is heading to defeat in Thursday’s general election In the final days before the UK election, Rishi Sunak insists that he can stay in power LONDON -- U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday dismissed suggestions that his party was headed to defeat in the July 4 general election, using one of his final televised appearances to defend the Conservatives’ record on the economy. Sunak told the BBC that he believed he’d still be in power by the end of the week, despite opinion polls that have found the Conservatives trailing far behind the opposition Labour Party of Keir Starmer. “I’m fighting very hard," Sunak said. “And I think people are waking up to the real danger of what a Labour government means.” While he acknowledged that the last few years “had been difficult for everyone,’’ Sunak declared it was “completely and utterly wrong” to suggest that Britain's place in the world has diminished since Brexit. “It’s entirely wrong, this kind of declinist narrative that people have of the U.K. I wholeheartedly reject,” he said. “It (the U.K.) is a better place to live than it was in 2010.’’ After 14 years of Conservative-led governments, many voters blame the party for Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, long waiting lists for health care, high levels of immigration and the dislocations caused by Britain's departure from the European Union. Sunak, who became prime minister in October 2022, has tried to silence his critics by arguing that his policies have begun to solve those problems and warning that Starmer, the Labour leader, would raise taxes if his party wins the election.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged support for Ukraine, EU and NATO in his farewell speech None - Long-serving Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has urged his country to support Ukraine and international cooperation in his final address to his compatriots THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Long-serving Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged his country to support Ukraine and international cooperation in his final address to his compatriots Sunday, as an inward-looking new government is set to take over the Netherlands in two days. “It is crucial that our country is embedded in the European Union and NATO. Together we are stronger than alone. Especially now,” the 57-year-old Rutte said from his office in The Hague. After leading the country for 14 years, he will take his experience with consensus-building to Brussels, where he will take over as NATO’s new secretary-general later this year. He stressed the need to continue support for Ukraine, “for peace there and security here.” The new government, expected to take office on Tuesday, has pledged to maintain assistance. But far-right populist Geert Wilders, whose party won the largest block of seats in last year’s election, has expressed pro-Russia views and Kremlin backers cheered his victory at the polls. Rutte described the MH17 tragedy in 2014 as “perhaps the most drastic and emotional event” during his tenure. The passenger jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine as it traveled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, killing all 298 passengers and crew, including 196 Dutch citizens. A Dutch court convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian in 2022 of involvement in the downing of the Boeing 777. Known for cycling to meetings and his dedication to politics, Rutte highlighted his country’s positive attributes. “There is no war here, you can be who you are, we are prosperous,” he said in the 12-minute speech. He acknowledged that there had been low points during his tenure, including a child benefits scandal that wrongly labeled thousands of parents as fraudsters. Wearing a white shirt with several of the top buttons undone, Rutte said that his time in office had added some “gray hairs and wrinkles” to his appearance.
Hurricane Beryl strengthens into a Category 4 storm as it nears the southeast Caribbean None - Hurricane Beryl strengthens into a Category 4 storm as it nears the southeast Caribbean SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Hurricane Beryl strengthened into what experts called an "extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm as it approached the southeast Caribbean, which began shutting down Sunday amid urgent pleas from government officials for people to take shelter. The storm was expected to make landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday morning. Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “This is a very dangerous situation,” warned the National Hurricane Center in Miami, which said that Beryl was “forecast to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge.” Beryl was located about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Barbados. It had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 18 mph (30 kph). It is a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds extending 35 miles (340 kilometers) from its center. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Martinique. A tropical storm watch was issued for Dominica, Trinidad, Haiti's entire southern coast, and from Punta Palenque in the Dominican Republic west to the border with Haiti. Beryl is expected to pass just south of Barbados early Monday and then head into the Caribbean Sea as a major hurricane on a path toward Jamaica. It is expected to weaken by midweek, but still remain a hurricane as it heads toward Mexico. Beryl had strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane on Sunday morning, becoming the first major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record for June, according to Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher. It took Beryl only 42 hours to strengthen from a tropical depression to a major hurricane — a feat accomplished only six other times in Atlantic hurricane history, and with Sept. 1 as the earliest date, according to hurricane expert Sam Lillo. Beryl is now the earliest Category 4 Atlantic hurricane on record, besting Hurricane Dennis, which became a Category 4 storm on July 8, 2005, hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said. “Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area,” he said in a phone interview. “Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane and it hasn’t struck yet.” Hurricane Ivan in 2004 was the last strongest hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean, causing catastrophic damage in Grenada as a Category 3 storm. “So this is a serious threat, a very serious threat,” Lowry said of Beryl. Reecia Marshall, who lives in Grenada, was working a Sunday shift at a local hotel, preparing guests and urging them to stay away from windows as she stored enough food and water for everyone. She said she was a child when Hurricane Ivan struck, and that she doesn't fear Beryl. “I know it’s part of nature. I’m OK with it,” she said. “We just have to live with it.” Forecasters warned of a life-threatening storm surge of up to 9 feet (3 meters) in areas where Beryl will make landfall, with up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain for Barbados and nearby islands. Warm waters were fueling Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year, according to Brian McNoldy, University of Miami tropical meteorology researcher. Lowry said the waters are now warmer than they would be at the peak of the hurricane season in September. Beryl marks the farthest east that a hurricane has formed in the tropical Atlantic in June, breaking a record set in 1933, according to Klotzbach. “Please take this very seriously and prepare yourselves,” said Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “This is a terrible hurricane.” Long lines formed at gas stations and grocery stores in Barbados and other islands as people rushed to prepare for a storm that rapidly intensified. Thousands of people were in Barbados for Saturday’s Twenty20 World Cup final, cricket’s biggest event, with Prime Minister Mia Mottley noting that not all fans were able to leave Sunday despite many rushing to change their flights. “Some of them have never gone through a storm before,” she said. “We have plans to take care of them.” Mottley said that all businesses should close by Sunday evening and warned the airport would close by nighttime. Across Barbados, people prepared for the storm, including Peter Corbin, 71, who helped his son put up plywood to protect his home's glass doors. He said by phone that he worried about Beryl's impact on islands just east of Barbados. “That’s like a butcher cutting up a pig,” he said. “They’ve got to make a bunker somewhere. It’s going to be tough.” In St. Lucia, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced a national shutdown for Sunday evening and said that schools and businesses would remain closed on Monday. “Preservation and protection of life is a priority,” he said. Caribbean leaders were preparing not only for Beryl, but for a cluster of thunderstorms trailing the hurricane that have a 70% chance of becoming a tropical depression. “Do not let your guard down,” Mottley said. Beryl is the second named storm in what is forecast to be an above-average hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 in the Atlantic. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto came ashore in northeastern Mexico with heavy rains that resulted in four deaths. On Sunday evening, a tropical depression formed near the eastern coastal city of Veracruz, with the National Hurricane Center warning of flooding and mudslides. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the 2024 hurricane season is likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast calls for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes. An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
Summer hours are a perk small businesses can offer to workers to boost morale None - With summer having gotten off to a scorching start, workers across the country may be dreaming of a seaside escape or cutting out early to watch a movie in an air-conditioned theater NEW YORK -- With summer having gotten off to a scorching start, workers across the country may be dreaming of a seaside escape or cutting out early to watch a movie in an air-conditioned theater. For some, that can be a reality. Business owners have found that offering summer hours – a reduced schedule on Fridays, usually between Memorial Day and Labor Day — can be a way to boost employee morale. Workers are able to deal with summer childcare gaps, return to the office refreshed and feel like their job values them, owners say. Reduced hours in the summer months can also enable smaller businesses to stand out to prospective employees in a competitive talent marketplace. “When smaller employers have less resources and they want to be more competitive with attracting and retaining quality talent, they want to be creative with the benefits that they offer. And one of the benefits they can offer would be flexible time in the summer,” said Rue Dooley, a knowledge advisor at the Society for Human Resources Management. Special summer schedules don't work for all types of industries, however. And it takes some trial-and-error to figure out the best option for each company. Michael Wieder, co-founder of Lalo, which makes baby and toddler products, thought summer hours were a good fit for his 32 employees because so many of them – about 75% -- are parents. His staffers work remotely and are spread across the U.S. and several other countries. Since founding the company in 2019, he tried various summer hour schemes, such as offering every other Friday off, but the current system works the best, he said. On Fridays, the business closes at 1 p.m. local time. Staffers also get four-day weekends for Memorial Day, Labor Day and July 4th. “We know that childcare is harder during the summer,” he said. “Summer is a time where people do like to take time with their family or take trips, and we want to be able to reward our employees with some additional time with their families.” Greg Hakim, owner of Corporate Ink in Boston, which offers PR services to emerging tech companies, said he uses summer hours as both a recruitment and retention tool. He plays up summer hours in job descriptions and said the perk has helped him retain staff – particularly during the pandemic when others found it hard to keep workers. “It’s just helped us retain our team during the ‘Great Resignation,’ people are just like losing people left and right,” he said. ”And I think we went 23 months without having someone resign. And that’s just such an important benefit and competitive advantage.” Jim Christy co-owns Midwest Cards, a trading card retailer based in Columbus, Ohio, with about 30 employees. He started offering summer hours – Fridays off after 2 p.m. -- in 2021, a year after founding the company, as the pandemic upended normal ways of working. The hardest part was figuring out what to offer people who worked in his brick-and-mortar shop, who also fill online orders, since they had to work normal hours to keep the store running. He decided to give logistics-side workers Friday afternoons off while the six staff who work on the brick-and-mortar side and do customer service for online orders get off on Mondays, when the store was closed. Some workers can sign on remotely to answer customer queries if they want to, but it is not required. “We couldn’t just apply one situation to everybody. So that that was a little challenging,” he said. For some companies, summer hours work so well they’ve gone even further. Chris Langer, co-founder of digital marketing agency CMYK, has 14 staffers who all usually work in the company's studio. In 2014, rather than offer Friday afternoons off, he started offering entire Fridays off during the summer –- every other week. Then, last year, Langer started hearing chatter about the four-day work week, so he decided to try that out during the summer. Communicating with the company’s tight knit staff, who have all worked together for years, makes the four-day week doable, Langer said. “We’re small, so, it’s easy to have a discussion with everybody on like what’s real and how everyone’s feeling, if they’re feeling stressed out, can they get their work done,” he said. If a big project is due, he might call people in on a Friday, but so far, that has only happened twice since CMYK instituted the four-day week. “It is more stressful in terms of getting the work done throughout the week, but the day (off) was much more of a payoff,” he said. Of course, summer hours don’t work for every company. Retail stores risk losing customers to big box stores or others that are open for more hours. And employees that are paid by the hour rather than set salaries can balk at getting paid for fewer hours. Jennifer Johnson, owner of True Fashionistas, a consignment shop in Naples, Florida, thought she would try summer hours in 2022 because Naples is seasonal, with the busiest part of the year wrapping up around Easter. Beginning May 1, she changed her open hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. But the change didn’t work. “We have a staff of 45 to 50 employees, and it cut their hours and that upset them, and rightfully so,” she said. “It also upset our customers who were used to our hours and wanted to shop.” She abandoned the effort after two months and hasn’t tried again. “I really believe that with anything consistency is the key,” she said. “The customers need to know they can rely on you to be open, you cannot always be changing your hours because that is a quick way to lose customers."
The Latest | France's first-round voting ends. Bardella calls for rejection of 'dangerous far left' None - France had held an early parliamentary election that could bring the country’s first far-right government since Nazi occupation during World War II France held the first round of an early parliamentary election on Sunday that could bring the country's first far-right government since Nazi occupation during World War II. The second round will come on July 7. The outcome of the vote is highly uncertain. Turnout is unusually high. Three major political blocs are: The far-right National Rally, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance and the New Popular Front coalition that includes center-left, greens and hard-left forces. The French system is complex and not proportionate to nationwide support for a party. After the far right’s crushing victory in the European Parliament election earlier this month, Macron called an early vote in France because he otherwise feared the results would lead to paralysis in the legislature. If the National Rally wins a parliamentary majority, Macron would be expected to name 28-year-old National Rally President Jordan Bardella as prime minister in an awkward power-sharing system known as “cohabitation.” Bardella said he would oppose sending French troops to Ukraine — a possibility Macron hasn't ruled out — and refuse French deliveries of long-range missiles and other weaponry capable of striking targets within Russia. Currently: — France is facing an election like no other. Here’s how it works and what comes next — Macron weakened at home and abroad as an early French election gives the far right momentum — In France’s high-stakes legislative election, a Jewish candidate faces and fights hate and division — French far-right leader Bardella seeks to reassure voters, EU partners on economic, foreign policies — French prime minister seeks to step out from Macron’s shadow in the upcoming early election Here’s the latest: Thousands of people gathered at Paris’ République plaza to protest the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections. Among them was Cynthia Fefoheio, a 19-year-old political science student. “We are going towards the extreme. People don’t understand that this will impact us for years and years. This is a France of hate that is growing, not a France of solidarity and union,” Fefoheio said. Many in the crowd, which grew by the minute late Sunday, despaired for next week’s runoff election, which will decide the makeup of parliament and who will be the prime minister. National Rally was in a strong position already to control the powerful lower house of parliament, which would put a prime minister in place fundamentally opposed to French President Emmanuel Macron’s policies both at home and abroad. “Maybe he can appeal for a vote against the far-right. I hope, I hope for a union between the right and the left,” said Daniel Gwendal, a 23-year-old public worker. PARIS — French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called on voters to prevent the far right from an absolute majority in parliament. French President Emmanuel Macron, who named the 35-year-old Attal as France’s youngest prime minister in January, dissolved parliament and called the surprise elections after the National Rally’s strong showing in European elections in June. “Not a single vote must go to the National Rally. France does not deserve that,” said Attal, standing in front of the prime minister’s residence. The far-right party came out ahead in Sunday’s first round with about a third of the vote, and a left-wing alliance came in second. Macron’s alliance came in third, forcing his party and others into strategic decisions. Among them, Attal said, is that candidates in the president’s centrist alliance who came in third will step down before the runoff on July 7. PARIS — French far-right leader Jordan Bardella, who could become prime minister if his National Rally wins a majority in the parliamentary election, called on voters to choose his party over a “dangerous far left.” Bardella spoke shortly after the party’s top figure Marine Le Pen implored voters to give the National Rally an “absolute majority” in parliament. Polling projections say French voters have propelled the party to a strong lead in Sunday’s first-round legislative election, ahead of a left-wing coalition that includes center-left, greens and hard-left forces. “The choice is clear,” Bardella said, accusing the leftwing coalition to campaign for “disarming the police,” “opening wide the doors for immigration” and criticizing leftist leaders for “insulting institutions and anyone who thinks differently from them.” Bardella said “the time has come to put leaders at the head of the country who understand you.” French far-right leader Marine Le Pen is calling on voters to give her National Rally an “absolute majority” in parliament as polling projections say French voters have propelled the party to a strong lead in Sunday's first-round legislative election. French President Emmanuel Macron is urging voters to block the far right in the decisive second round on July 7. “The French have almost wiped out the ‘Macronist’ bloc,” Le Pen said after polls closed. She said the results show voters’ “willingness to turn the page after seven years of contemptuous and corrosive power.” She said a National Rally majority would enable the far right to form a new government with the party’s president Jordan Bardella as prime minister in order to work on France’s “recovery.” Macron has said he won’t step down before his presidential term expires in 2027. The power-sharing system known as “cohabitation” would weaken him at home and on the world stage. Polling projections say French voters have propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong lead in the first-round legislative election on Sunday and plunged the country into political uncertainty. French President Emmanuel Macron called the surprise election just three weeks ago and is urging voters to rally against the far right. Projections by polling agencies suggest the National Rally stands a good chance of winning a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time with an estimated one-third of the first-round vote. That's nearly double their 18% in the first round in 2022. The National Rally is building on its success in the European Parliament election weeks ago that prompted Macron to dissolve parliament and call the vote. The second round of voting is on July 7. Macron could end up sharing power with a prime minister who is hostile to most of his policies. HENIN-BEAUMONT, France — Residents in a stronghold of France's far-right National Rally party say its politicians have made an effort to become more voter-friendly after years of fighting pariah status. Magali Quere says she was born and raised in the former mining town of Henin-Beaumont and would cast her first vote for the far right on Sunday. She says things have changed for the better since a mayor from the National Rally took power in 2014. The city is cleaner and police regularly patrol the streets. Quere says the days of former far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen years ago were “scary," but his daughter Marine Le Pen regularly visits the local food market and shakes hands with everyone, including people of color. Murielle Busine says she won't “go as far as voting for the far right” but also praised the work of Mayor Steeve Briois and how accessible he is. “I cannot deny everything he has done for the city,” she said. The first round of France's high-stakes legislative election is seeing an unusually high turnout of 59% with three hours to go before polls close. That’s 20 percentage points higher than the turnout at the same time in the last first-round vote in 2022. President Emmanuel Macron called the surprise vote three weeks ago after European Parliament election showed a collapse in support for his centrist party and a sharp rise for the far-right National Rally. Two rounds of voting will determine who will be prime minister and which party controls France’s lower house of parliament. That could potentially put France in uncharted political territory if Macron must share power with a party hostile to most of his policies. Some pollsters suggest the high turnout could temper the outcome for the hard right National Rally, possibly indicating that voters made an extra effort to come out for fear that it could win. French President Emmanuel Macron and other candidates across the political spectrum have voted in the country's parliamentary election after Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally party dominated pre-election opinion polls. Turnout at midday in the first round of the two-round election stood at 25.9 % according to France's interior ministry. That's higher than the 18.43% at midday two years ago in the 2022 legislative election. The second round of voting is July 7. Voters have issues from immigration to inflation and the rising cost of living on their minds as the country has grown more divided between the far right and far left blocs. A deeply unpopular and weakened Macron remains in the political center. PARIS — New Caledonia’s top French official says turn out at the legislative election in the troubled French Pacific territory was higher on Sunday than in the parliamentary balloting two years ago. High Commissioner Louis Le Franc said in a statement that over 32.39% of registered voters have cast their ballots until noon local time compared to 13% at the same time in 2022. Polls already closed at 5 p.m. local time due to an 8 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew that authorities on the archipelago have extended until July 8, the day after the second and decisive legislative vote will take place. Violence flared on May 13, leaving nine people dead after two weeks of unrest, due to attempts by Macron’s government to amend the French Constitution and change voting lists in New Caledonia, which the Indigenous Kanaks feared would further marginalize them. They have long sought to break free from France, which first took the Pacific territory in 1853. While the worst of violence ebbed in the past weeks, tensions flared in the archipelago with a population of 270,000, in the lead-up to the high-stakes legislative election after seven detained pro-independence Kanak leaders were flown to mainland France for pre-trial detention on charges related to instigating the unrest that included protests, clashes, looting and arson. Members of a pro-independence movement known as The Field Action Coordination Unit demanded the “release and immediate return” of Christian Tein, the Indigenous Kanak leader and six others and accused Macron’s government of “colonial tactics.” Voters across France have begun casting ballots in the first round of an early legislative election that could see far-right forces taking over the government — or no majority emerging at all. Polling stations opened in mainland France at 8 a.m. Sunday (0600 GMT). The first polling projections are expected at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), when the final polling stations close, and early official results later Sunday night. There are 49.5 million registered voters who will choose 577 members of the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament. The outcome of the two-round election could impact European financial markets, Western support for Ukraine and how France’s nuclear arsenal and global military force are managed.
Kenya's urban population is growing. The need for affordable housing is, too None - Kenya's urban population is growing. The need for affordable housing is, too NAIROBI, Kenya -- In the heart of the crowded Kibera neighborhood in Kenya's capital, Jacinter Awino shares a small tin house with her husband and four children. She envies those who have escaped such makeshift homes to more permanent dwellings under the government’s affordable housing plan. The 33-year-old housewife and her mason husband are unable to raise the $3,800 purchase price for a one-room government house. Their tin one was constructed for $380 and lacks a toilet and running water. “Those government houses are like a dream for us, but our incomes simply don’t allow it,” Awino said. The government plans to build 250,000 houses each year, aimed at eventually closing a housing deficit that World Bank data puts at 2 million units. The plan was launched in 2022, but no data is available on the number of houses already completed. Kenya’s urban areas are home to a third of the country's total population of more than 50 million. Of those in urban areas, 70% live in informal settlements marked by a lack of basic infrastructure, according to UN-Habitat. Some urban Kenyans have moved into a government housing project on the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, where one-bedroom units sold for $7,600 last year. Felister Muema, a 55-year-old former caterer, paid a deposit of about 10% through a savings plan and is expected to pay off the balance in 25 years. “This is where I have started living my life," she said. “If I do something here, it is permanent. If I plant a flower, no one is going to tell me: ‘Uproot it, I don’t want it there.' This gives me life.” But experts say construction and financing need to change and speed up for Kenya's housing deficit to be met. “We cannot rely on the traditional mortgage route," said UN-Habitat’s head of East Africa, Ishaku Maitumbi, who recommended a cooperative savings system that is popular with Kenyan businesses. For home construction, some are exploring the emerging technology of 3-D printing. A machine layers special mortar to form concrete walls and cuts the building time by several days compared to traditional brick and mortar work. A company, 14Trees, has used the technology to build a showcase house in Nairobi and 10 houses in coastal Kilifi County. Company CEO Francois Perrot said the technology can help address the huge housing need on the African continent, but it will take time. “If we want to clear that backlog, we need to build differently, we need to build at scale, with speed, and with low-carbon materials, and this is what construction 3-D printing makes possible,” Perrot said. The company's homes, like many traditionally built ones, remain beyond the reach of most Kenyans. A two-bedroom house costs $22,000 and a three-bedroom one costs $29,000. But Perrot asserted that acquiring a printer locally and making mortar locally would help bring down costs. “People don’t really worry or care about technology. What they care about is the design, the price, the way it is set up, the layout of the building," he said. Nickson Otieno, an architect and founder of Niko Green, a sustainability consulting firm, said such new technology has great potential but remains limited. “It will still take a long time for it to compete with brick and mortar," he said. “Brick and mortar, everybody can build their house anywhere they are. They are able to access the materials, they are able to access the tradesmen who build the house and they can plan the cost." Financing remains a challenge. In June 2023, Kenya’s parliament passed a finance law with a new housing tax of 1.5% on gross income, to be used to build affordable housing. The law is being challenged in court. Critics argue the tax is discriminatory as it applies only to those with formal employment. If the tax is rejected, Kenya's government would need to look elsewhere for funding to build affordable housing. The housing tax is one of the issues causing discontent among young people who have organized a series of protests that included the extraordinary storming of parliament on Tuesday. More than 20 people were killed as police opened fire. President William Ruto has defended the need for the tax. ”We have said that affordable housing, social housing is a right," he said earlier this year in response to the legal challenge. ___ The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
The baby bust: how Britain’s falling birthrate is creating alarm in the economy None - Having children has become an unaffordable luxury for many of her generation, says Vanessa, a 35-year-old project manager living in Brighton. “My friends who managed to start a family, without exception, all received large sums of money from their parents to get on the property ladder. For those of us not fortunate enough, we are trapped in the rental market, largely with insecure, poorly paid employment.” Vanessa’s outlook is also clouded by concerns about the climate crisis, crumbling public services and the “plummeting mental health of young people”, she says. “Put these into the mix and you have a perfect storm for declining birthrates.” Her decision is replicated worldwide. The number of women of child-bearing age is in long-term decline across Europe, parts of Asia, South America and the US, a situation made worse by the steep drop in the number of women, and their partners, who either want or are able to have children. These factors have led to a sharp fall in fertility rates – the number of children born to each woman. While the issues facing governments from rapidly ageing populations are relatively familiar, a decline in fertility rates that was once limited to Japan has spread across the world. Today, almost every continent has a growing age-dependency ratio as average birthrates fall and people live longer. If the global population hits 10.4 billion in the 2080s as predicted, it will only be because sub-Saharan Africa has continued on its current trend, pushing the population across the African continent from about 1.5 billion to as many as 2.5 billion. Here we look at the trends, and the implications for future governments, of a demographic revolution. How the UK is affected The total fertility rate across England and Wales fell to 1.49 children per woman in 2022, from 1.55 in 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). As a benchmark, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says that to maintain a population, the “replacement rate”, often known as the “R-rate”, needs to be at least 2.1 children per woman. It has been well documented that the pandemic, rather than spark a baby boom, had the reverse effect. Yet the recent drop in fertility has shocked demographers. The rate was already declining, starting in 2010: then came Covid-19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a deepening of the climate crisis, which all appeared to add a further downward shift, taking the fertility rate to the lowest since comparative data began being kept in the 1930s. Ann Berrington, a professor of demography and social statistics at Southampton University, says: “The Human Fertility Database covering England and Wales documents the 1960s baby boom, 1970s baby bust, the fluctuations of the 1980s and 1990s that kept things fairly stable, increases through 2000s to 2010, and then a decline to the historical low levels seen today.” The trend in Scotland follows the same pattern, but on a lower trajectory during each period over the last 60 years. Northern Ireland follows the same pattern on a slightly elevated path. ONS figures tracking live births tell the same story of decline. They show 605,479 in England and Wales in 2022, a 3.1% fall from 2021 and the lowest number since 2002. This figure is not an all-time low because the UK’s population has been expanding since 2003, when the UK embraced the free movement of people from countries that had recently joined the EU. Opening its doors to workers from eastern Europe resulted in an increase in total births, and maintained fertility rates, which were about the same for UK-born and foreign-born women at the time. But when record numbers of women are reaching the age of 30 child-free, the effect has clearly waned. According to the latest data, half of women born in 1990 were childless by their 30th birthday – the first generation for which that is true. It’s the economy … When the Observer asked readers, including Vanessa, to say why they had not had children, or had restricted the size of their family, most replied that financial constraints were the main reason. Hannah, a 35-year-old marketing executive living in London, says she had been unable to have the two children she wanted with her partner of 10 years, despite moving to a cheaper area to secure a bigger home. Childcare costs were prohibitively high, along with other costs of living, she says. “The family we want to have is financially out of reach. We have only ever had one holiday together since our relationship began. We are cutting down on food bills and looking for extra work to make having a child happen.” She and her partner are considering moving abroad. In the early 00s, Britain and France were outliers in Europe. Both countries had generous family benefits and governments with a stated aim of supporting children. The scale of generosity, from tax credits for low earners to an expansion of early years centres and childcare subsidies, meant both countries – under Labour in the UK and the Gaullist centre-right in France – arrested declines over previous decades. In the UK and France, these subsidies were scaled back after the recessions of 2008-09. Austerity across all public services was the message from Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president from 2007 to 2012, and from the UK ’s coalition government from 2010 to 2015. For all the impact of welfare and public service cuts, a study by Fathom Consulting indicates those interested in creating a family look further ahead. In the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008, it was clear the future for many households looked bleak, with incomes flat and costs, especially housing, on a steady incline. Without the optimism of previous generations, couples decided not to have children, according to the initial findings from a study of Japan that links declines in fertility with periods when the future outlook for the economy was uncertain. “It turns out that there is a good relationship between forecasts of 15-year forward growth in Japan at any point in time and the fertility rate in Japan at the same point in time,” says the report. “In other words, people have kids when they feel optimistic that, when their kids join the workforce, the standard of living they will enjoy will be better than it is now.” To measure growth, the report used national income per capita, which has improved in Japan while the overall economy has stagnated. Japan’s fertility rate is 1.3, just ahead of Italy’s 1.2 and South Korea’s 0.8. View image in fullscreen Fiona Powley, a trainer and facilitator who runs Bristol Childfree Women. The consultancy’s director, Erik Britton, says the research is ongoing and the conclusions only tentative, but the initial findings reveal that government support, while a necessary element, might not be the most important factor. A nation confidently growing its economy is the comfort people need before starting a family, he says. … but also other factors Recent data from the UK Generations and Gender Survey tells us that the ideal family size remains relatively high, with an average of about two children. There remains evidence of a two-child family ideal. Berrington says that when her team asked childless people whether they intend to have children, there was “a lot of uncertainty in the answers”. Higher proportions of young adults said they probably or definitely would not have children, as compared with the proportions reported by millennials at a similar age. Fiona Powley, 49, a life coach, knew she did not want children by the age of 12, and knows many contemporaries who also prefer to be child-free; she runs the group Bristol Childfree Women. As an indication of the problem faced by any government seeking to boost fertility, she says that when she asks people as they join her community what they enjoy most about being child-free, “they talk about time and freedom: finances don’t usually feature”. She adds: “A common judgment from others asks ‘who will look after you when you’re old?’, to which most members might say they’ve made good financial provision for older-age care and pensions as they’ve not have the financial strain of children.” Sarah Harper, a professor of gerontology at Oxford University, says one of the main issues is equality, meaning equal treatment by the state and within a relationship. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Observed Free weekly newsletter Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion It is only when women believe they can continue working and have spare time that they will take the plunge into motherhood, she says – though the evidence from the Nordic countries, where fertility rates have followed the general downward trend, is weak. However, it might explain why traditional South Korea’s fertility rate is so low. “These days women say they have no obligation to reproduce and ‘I’m not going to have a baby who turns my life upside down’,” says Harper, who advised the David Cameron’s government on the implications of an ageing society. Public services The Treasury’s independent forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), says falling birthrates are going to have a negative effect on tax receipts. That is a situation that is not necessarily solved by higher immigration. In a recent report, it said that while every additional migrant generally boosts the level of output in the economy, “the size of this impact and the effect on per-person living standards is highly uncertain. “The age, education, skill level, and participation rate of migrants, alongside the investment response of businesses, are all factors that determine the impact of migration on per-person output,” it said. At the moment, the UK population is increasing – by an estimated 6.6 million to 73.7 million over the next 15 years – but the economy is on course to grow at a slower pace, meaning there is less of the financial pie to go around. Without a healthy rise in tax receipts, governments will struggle to pay for vital services. Schools are in the frontline of cuts as pupil numbers decline, according to the Resolution Foundation. In England, they could lose up to £1bn in funding by 2030, with exceptional falls in pupil numbers prompting closures as some establishments cease to be financially viable. Councils across the country have begun to consult local residents about mergers and closures to make the system viable. According to the Education Policy Institute (EPI), a thinktank, the north-east is projected to see the greatest decline in primary pupil numbers, down 13% by 2028-29. Primary school teachers could face redundancy, such is the dramatic loss of young children, says Lindsey Macmillan, an education policy expert at University College London. She says secondary schools that are now suffering teacher shortages will see the gap close as classes are cut and schools merged. Pupil numbers had grown because of a fertility surge in the 00s, but that cohort has moved through primary and on to secondaries, leaving empty seats in their wake. Looking ahead, even with real terms increases in per-pupil funding over the remainder of the decade, the EPI predicts that many schools will suffer funding cuts due to fewer pupils causing income to fall, though costs will remain high. What about ageing? Plenty of questions arise over the fact that the birthrate is falling while medical improvements are helping older people live longer. Will robots be able to look after elderly people? Could a new social contract between young and old give millennials and gen Z the security and encouragement they need to have more children? And can the UK import all the missing labour it needs, such as from sub-Saharan Africa, where births are expected to be higher? Nik Lomax, a professor of population geography at Leeds University, says one problem faced by the next government will be how different regions are affected. “One way of thinking about the implications of this is to assess the old-age dependency ratio – the number of people of retirement age for every 1,000 people of working age,” he says. “This reveals striking differences by geography, and will get larger over time as the number of old people relative to working age people increases.” Just as fertility rates are falling fastest in the north-east, Wales, the south-west and parts of the Midlands, the dependency ratio is increasing in these regions too. Harper says a clear trend shows fewer people entering the workforce and older people living longer, and not necessarily in good health. “Men in areas that rank in the lowest third by average incomes will live until they are 80, but spend their 70s in ill health,” she says. “Men who live in the top third of affluent areas will live until their late 80s and won’t be ill or have a disability, on average, until they are 80.” Harper says the Cameron government put ageing into its industrial strategy and considered many of the implications of falling birthrates and rising levels of ill health among a growing number of over-65s. But the industrial strategy and policy initiatives were later jettisoned. Given that we are not going to change the dynamics of fertility rates and have women go back to producing three to four children, we need to extend people’s lives in a healthy way, Harper says. Berrington says the implications for policymaking are “very significant – for example, the short-term decline in demand for childcare, maternity services and other parts of the economy that depend on people buying goods and services for children. “Policy responses to low fertility have tended to focus on ways to increase fertility,” she says. “However, many pronatalist policies do not work, especially cash benefits, as they tend to just bring forward in time births that would happen anyway, and not increase the overall number of births.” Pronatalist policies – those that attempt to boost the birthrate – are also often problematic in terms of entrenching gender inequality and reducing reproductive freedom. A report by the Social Market Foundation thinktank in 2021 said the tens of billions of pounds it would take to support an expansion of family welfare could be better spent. “We do not recommend that the government pursues a distinct ‘population strategy’ to increase the birthrate. However, the government should convene a cross-departmental working group to examine how different policies affect the birthrate,” it said. Berrington says healthy ageing is crucial to the prospects for the economy, providing more workers and helping fill the state’s coffers. “And governments will need to look to other policy solutions, such as increasing employment among groups which for different reasons – poor mental wellbeing, or because they have young children – have relatively high inactivity rates.”
Trump Tower is coming to Saudi Arabia None - New York CNN — The Trump Organization revealed plans Monday to develop a luxury Trump Tower in Saudi Arabia. The new tower will be built in Jeddah and developed in tandem with Dar Global, the international arm of Saudi mega-developer Dar Al Arkan. If completed, it appears the Jeddah tower would be the Trump Organization’s first major project in Saudi Arabia. “We are thrilled to expand our footprint in the Middle East and bring the Trump standard of luxury to the region through our long-standing relationship with Dar Global,” Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and son of former president Donald Trump, said in the announcement. Dar Global said the project will target the “luxury Saudi Arabian market and international investors.” The new project in Saudi Arabia comes just days after the Trump Organization and Dar Global unveiled a $500 million Trump International hotel complex in Oman. That five-star hotel complex, set to open in December 2028, would include a nightclub, golf course and members-only club. Dar Al Arkan has agreed to use the Trump name and logo under license for that hotel, which is not owned by the Trump Organization. The Trump Organization’s new projects in the Middle East could raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest should former President Donald Trump return to the White House. “The Trump Organization’s continued pursuit of foreign business projects raises perilous national security, corruption and constitutional concerns,” Donald K. Sherman, senior vice president and chief counsel at the Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW), told CNN in a statement. “This is particularly true of their development in Saudi Arabia, whose government has a long history of apparently seeking to influence Donald Trump,” Sherman added. “If Trump were to return to the presidency, he would likely violate the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, as he did repeatedly in his first term in office.” A 2023 analysis by CREW found that Trump made at least $9.6 million from countries in the Middle East during his presidency. The Trump Organization is owned by a private trust that lists the former president as the sole beneficiary. The family business is run by his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Last year, the Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million by a New York judge for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme. Two Trump entities were convicted of 17 felonies, including tax fraud and falsifying business records. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The investment firm run by Jared Kushner, the former president’s son-in-law who helped advise on foreign policy during the Trump administration, reportedly secured a $2 billion investment from the Saudi royal fund. Last month, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, launched an investigation into Kushner’s firm and its ties to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern governments. Wyden expressed concern that the investments in Kushner’s firm could create “significant conflicts of interest and potential counterintelligence risks.”
'Immune, immune, immune': Sotomayor rips Supreme Court ruling giving some immunity to presidents None - MSNBC Legal Correspondent Lisa Rubin, former FBI General Counsel and former Senior Member of the Mueller Probe Andrew Weissmann, former U.S Attorney and Senior FBI official Chuck Rosenberg join Katy Tur to discuss the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, stating presidents are immune for official acts only.July 1, 2024
'Stop panicking': NYT op-ed urges Democrats to rally None - In his New York Times op-ed titled "Democrats: Stop Panicking," Stuart Stevens addresses the concerns of Democrats after a recent debate. Stevens joins the Morning Joe panel to discuss his perspective and the current state of the Democratic campaign.July 1, 2024
'Imperial presidency is now concrete': Eddie Glaude rips Supreme Court's immunity decision None - How Supreme Court's immunity decision could complicate the case against Trump
Ownership group of NBA champion Boston Celtics is putting team up for sale None - The Celtics were valued at $4.7 billion last year by Forbes. BOSTON -- The ownership group that controls the NBA champion Boston Celtics says it intends to sell all its shares of the team. In a statement released Monday, Boston Basketball Partners LLC said it intends to sell the majority of its shares in 2024 or early 2025. The balance of its shares would then close in 2028. Wyc Grousbeck, whose family leads the ownership group, is expected to remain the team’s NBA governor until the sale is complete. “The controlling family of the ownership group, after considerable thought and internal discussion, has decided to sell the team for estate and family planning considerations,” the statement said. The Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals last month to capture the franchise's 18th championship. Boston Basketball Partners — led by venture capitalist Grousbeck, his father and investor H. Irving Grousbeck, along with venture capitalist Steve Pagliuca — purchased the Celtics for $360 million from the Gaston family in 2002. The Gastons had owned the team since 1983. One of the NBA’s original and storied brands, the Celtics were valued at $4.7 billion last year by Forbes, placing them behind only the Golden State Warriors ($7.7 billion), New York Knicks ($6.6 billion) and Los Angeles Lakers ($6.4 billion). The current ownership group was in charge when the Celtics won the NBA title in 2008. In an email to Celtics staff that was obtained by The Associated Press, Wyc Grousbeck wrote they are “committed to finding a worthy incoming ownership group who will guide the Celtics to more decades of success.” He added: “There will be a thoughtful and thorough process to find a buyer that recognizes the importance of Celtic Pride on the court and in the community.” Last year, the Phoenix Suns were purchased by mortgage firm owner Mat Ishbia for $4 billion. That was followed by the sale of the Milwaukee Bucks to Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam for $3.5 billion. Last November, Mark Cuban agreed to the sale of the majority of his Dallas Mavericks' ownership shares to Miriam Adelson and son-in-law Patrick Dumont, who operates the Las Vegas Sands casino company, for $3.5 billion. ___ This story has been corrected to show that the New York Knicks are valued at $6.6 billion, not $6.6 million, and that the Dallas Mavericks recently sold for $3.5 billion, not $3.5 million. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
UN-led meeting in Qatar with Afghan Taliban is not a recognition of their government, official says None - UN-led meeting in Qatar with Afghan Taliban is not a recognition of their government, official says ISLAMABAD -- A United Nations-led meeting held in Qatar with the Taliban on increasing engagement with Afghanistan does not translate into a recognition of their government, a U.N. official said Monday. The gathering on Sunday and Monday in Qatar's capital of Doha with envoys from some two dozen countries was the first time that representatives of the Afghan Taliban administration attended such a U.N.-sponsored meeting. The Taliban were not invited to the first meeting, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said they set unacceptable conditions for attending the second one, in February, including demands that Afghan civil society members be excluded from the talks and that the Taliban be treated as the country’s legitimate rulers. Ahead of Doha, representatives of Afghan women were excluded from attending, paving the way for the Taliban to send their envoys — though the organizers insisted that demands for women’s rights would be raised. “I would like to emphasize that this meeting and this process of engagement does not mean normalization or recognition,” Rosemary A. DiCarlo, a U.N. official for political and peacebuilding affairs said Monday. “My hope is that the constructive exchanges on the various issues over the last two days have moved us a little closer to resolving some of the problems that are having such a devastating impact on the Afghan people,” she added. Zabihullah Mujahid, chief Taliban government spokesman who headed the delegation to Doha, said there was an opportunity for them to meet with representatives of various countries on the sidelines of the gathering. He added that the messages from the Taliban “reached all participating” countries at the meeting. Afghanistan needs cooperation with the private sector and in the fight against drugs, he also said. “Most countries expressed their willingness to cooperate in these areas.” The talks took place behind closed doors with no media access. But that didn’t stop the Taliban delegation from posting videos of the sessions on the social media platform X featuring their officials. Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute, said the Taliban got what they wanted from the Doha gathering because they discussed the issues that mattered to them the most and the meeting excluded those they didn’t want at the table. The talks also shielded the Taliban from much of the vitriol directed at the meeting, given that so much of the anger targeted the U.N. for excluding Afghan women, and not the Taliban for being there, he said. “The Taliban played their cards well. Their conditions were met and they took full advantage with a major PR blitz targeting audiences at home and abroad.” With images and interviews and statements, the Taliban projected the narrative of their officials engaging with the world and conveying the idea that the Taliban are not the pariahs their critics want them to be, he said. Nobody from the Taliban delegation was immediately available for comment about the Doha talks, the most high-profile and high-level international meeting they've attended since seizing power in 2021. No country officially recognizes the Taliban and the U.N. has said that recognition remains practically impossible while bans on female education and employment remain in place. However, some participants, including Canada, expressed disappointment over the exclusion of women and civil society representatives. "Canada is extremely disappointed that the U.N. organizers have excluded non-Taliban Afghan participants, including women’s advocates, religious and ethnic minorities, and human rights groups from participating in the meeting’s main sessions,” David Sproule, Canada’s special representative for Afghanistan, said in a statement. DiCarlo, the U.N. official, said that "while women and civil society were not sitting across the table form the de facto (Taliban) authorities in last two days, we made their voices heard ... civil society has a rightful role to play in shaping Afghanistan’s future.”
Chewy, Blackrock fall; Spirit AeroSystems, Amedisys rise, Monday, 7/1/2024 None - Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Monday: Chewy, Blackrock fall; Spirit AeroSystems, Amedisys rise The Associated Press By The Associated Press NEW YORK -- Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Monday: Chewy Inc., down $1.80 to $25.44. Roaring Kitty, an investor at the center of the meme stock craze, has taken a 6.6% stake in the online pet retailer. Amedisys Inc., up $4.88 to $96.69. The home health care and hospice services provider is selling some of its care centers to VitalCaring Group. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc., up $1.10 to $33.97. Boeing is buying the aircraft parts maker for $4.7 billion. BlackRock Inc., down $5.05 to $782.27. The asset management company is buying private markets data provider Preqin for about $3.2 billion. KKR & Co., down 73 cents to $104.51. The investment firm acquired a controlling stake in Baby Memorial Hospital in India. Constellation Energy Corp., up $4.78 to $205.05. Technology companies are seeking deals with nuclear energy providers to help power artificial intelligence advancements. Diamondback Energy Inc., up $3.52 to $203.71. The energy company rose along with oil prices. EQT Corp., down 29 cents to $36.69. The natural gas company fell along with prices for natural gas.