Author: natixis-ezine

Target is ending its diversity goals as a strong DEI opponent occupies the White House

natixis-ezine

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – A person heads into a Target store Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Lakewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Discount store chain Target said Friday that it would join rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have come under attack from conservative activists and, as of this week, the White House.

The Minneapolis-based retailer said the changes to its “Belonging at the Bullseye” strategy would include ending a program it established to help Black employees build meaningful careers, improve the experience of Black shoppers and to promote Black-owned businesses following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Target, which operates nearly 2,000 stores nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people, said it already had planned to end the racial program this year. The company said Friday that it also would conclude the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, goals it previously set in three-year cycles. Continue reading

Big Tech wants to plug data centers right into power plants. Utilities say it’s not fair

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

A data center owned by Amazon Web Services, front right, is under construction next to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Berwick, Pa., on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

By MARC LEVY Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Looking for a quick fix for their fast-growing electricity diets, tech giants are increasingly looking to strike deals with power plant owners to plug in directly, avoiding a potentially longer and more expensive process of hooking into a fraying electric grid that serves everyone else.

It’s raising questions over whether diverting power to higher-paying customers will leave enough for others and whether it’s fair to excuse big power users from paying for the grid. Federal regulators are trying to figure out what to do about it, and quickly.

Front and center is the data center that Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services, is building next to the Susquehanna nuclear plant in eastern Pennsylvania. Continue reading

Trump’s first day actions loom large as Davos begins

natixis-ezine

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

Countries’ flags fly on the roof of the congress center in front of Kongress Hotel prior to the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — As the World Economic Forum’s annual gabfest gets into full swing Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump gave everybody something to talk about with his actions on his first day back in office.

Energy industry executives will mull Trump’s vow to “drill, baby, drill.” Foreign leaders will decipher what he means by his wish to expand U.S. territory. Environmentalists will decry his planned exit from the Paris climate deal. Trade advocates can digest his newly christened “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs and duties.

From the earliest speeches, panel discussions and back-channel meetings in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos, Trump’s executive orders and evocative oratory will loom large. Continue reading

Poland wants the EU focused on security. Its border with Belarus highlights the challenges

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

A Polish border guards stands at the crossing point Połowce-Pieszczatka in Polowce, Poland, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Lorne Cooke)

By LORNE COOK Associated Press

POLOWCE, Poland (AP) — Poland’s six-month presidency of the European Union is firmly focused on security. As Europe’s biggest land war in decades rages, fewer places highlight the challenges and contradictions of defending the bloc and its values more starkly than the border with Belarus.

Some 13,000 border guards and soldiers protect around 400 kilometers (250 miles) of border. It’s become a buffer zone since Belarus’ ally, Russia, invaded neighboring Ukraine three years ago. Similar fortifications farther north line Poland’s frontier with the Russian region of Kaliningrad.

Poland is Ukraine’s top logistical backer. Most of the Western-supplied arms, ammunition and equipment helping to keep Ukraine’s armed forces afloat transit through. Russia, meanwhile, uses Belarus as a staging ground for its invasion. Continue reading

UN predicts world economic growth at subdued 2.8% in 2025

natixis-ezine

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, during a visit in Pretoria, South Africa. Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Shiraaz Mohamed)

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The world economy resisted battering by conflicts and inflation last year and is expected to grow a subdued 2.8% in 2025, the United Nations said Thursday.

In “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2025,” U.N. economists wrote that their positive prediction was driven by the strong although slowing growth forecast for China and the United States and by the robust performances anticipated for India and Indonesia. The European Union, Japan, and United Kingdom are expected to experience modest recovery, the report says.

“We are in a period of stable, subpar growth,” said Shantanu Mukherjee, chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch at the Economic Analysis and Policy Division at the U.N.’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Continue reading