Category: Business

More consumers buying organic, but US farmers still wary

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

George Naylor looks over organic apples grown on his farm, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, near Churdan, Iowa. Naylor, along with his wife Patti, began the transition to organic crops in 2014. The demand for organics has increased so fast that the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month committed up to $300 million to help farmers switch from conventional crops. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE Associated Press

CHURDAN, Iowa (AP) — In the 1970s when George Naylor said he wanted to grow organic crops, the idea didn’t go over well.

Back then organic crops were an oddity, destined for health food stores or maybe a few farmers markets.

“I told my dad I wanted to be an organic farmer and he goes, ‘Ha, ha, ha,'” Naylor said, noting it wasn’t until 2014 that he could embrace his dream and begin transitioning from standard to organic crops.

But over the decades, something unexpected happened — demand for organics started increasing so fast that it began outstripping the supply produced in the U.S.

Now a new challenge has emerged: It’s not getting consumers to pay the higher prices, it’s convincing enough farmers to get past their organic reluctance and start taking advantage of the revenue pouring in.

Instead of growing to meet the demand, the number of farmers converting to organic is actually dropping. Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture committed up to $300 million to recruit and help more farmers make the switch. Continue reading

EU wants to toughen cybersecurity rules for smart devices

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton speaks during a signature ceremony regarding the Chips Act at EU headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. The European Union’s executive arm proposed new legislation Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, that would force manufacturers to ensure that devices connected to the internet meet cybersecurity standards, making the 27-nation bloc less vulnerable to attacks. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, file)

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm proposed new legislation Thursday that would force manufacturers to ensure that devices connected to the internet meet cybersecurity standards, making the 27-nation bloc less vulnerable to attacks.

The EU said a ransomware attack takes place every 11 seconds, and the global annual cost of cybercrime is estimated at 5.5 trillion euros in 2021. In Europe alone, cyberattacks cost between 180 and 290 billion euros each year, according to EU officials.

The European Commission said an increase of cyberattacks was witnessed during the coronavirus pandemic and that Russia’s war in Ukraine has raised concerns that European energy infrastructure could also be targeted amid a global energy crunch.

The law, proposed as the Cyber Resilience Act, aims to remove from the EU market all products with digital elements that are not adequately protected. Continue reading

German leader outlines vision for bigger, more coherent EU

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivers a speech at the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

PRAGUE (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Monday for a growing European Union to agree on a series of changes that would help it overcome internal divisions and stand up to external rivals such as Russia and China.

In a wide-ranging speech at Charles University in Prague, Scholz said the EU must make itself “fit” for future enlargement from 27 to 30 — or even 36 — nations by taking more decisions by majority vote, rather than requiring unanimity on all issues that has in the past allowed individual member states to veto key decisions.

“We have to remember that swearing allegiance to the principle of unanimity only works for as long as the pressure to act is low,” Scholz said, arguing that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call for the EU to change the way it takes decisions. Continue reading

US & China reach deal in dispute over Chinese company audits

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – In this Sept. 19, 2014, photo, the Alibaba logo is displayed during the company’s IPO at the New York Stock Exchange. The U.S. and China have reached a preliminary agreement to allow U.S. regulators to inspect the audits of China-based companies whose stocks are traded on U.S. exchanges. The deal was announced Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

By MARCY GORDON and JOE MCDONALD AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and China have reached a tentative agreement to allow U.S. regulators to inspect the audits of Chinese companies whose stocks are traded on U.S. exchanges. In a long-festering dispute, U.S. regulators have threatened to boot a number of Chinese companies off the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq if China doesn’t permit inspections.

The deal announced Friday by market regulators in the U.S. and China is preliminary. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said, “The proof will be in the pudding.”

“While important, this framework is merely a step in the process,” Gensler said in a prepared statement. “This agreement will be meaningful only if (U.S. regulators) actually can inspect and investigate completely audit firms in China. If (they) cannot, roughly 200 China-based issuers will face prohibitions on trading of their securities in the U.S. if they continue to use those audit firms.”

An agreement would mean that U.S. investors will maintain access to shares of important Chinese companies while at the same time being protected by the integrity of company audits. Continue reading

Cineworld considers bankruptcy as cinema struggles continue

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – A man walks past a Cineworld cinema in Leicester Square, London, on Oct. 5, 2020. Cineworld Group PLC, the world’s second-largest chain of movie theaters, said Monday Aug. 22, 2022 that it is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and similar actions elsewhere. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

The Associated Press undefined

LONDON (AP) — Conditions are dimming at many movie theaters around the world.

Cineworld Group PLC, one of the industry’s biggest theater operators, confirmed Monday that it’s considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., as it contends with billions of dollars in debt and more empty seats in front of its screens than expected.

The British company, which owns Regal Cinemas in the United States and operates in 10 countries, said its theaters remain “open for business as usual” as it considers options for relief from its debt load. Cineworld said it expects to continue operating even after any potential filing, though its stock investors could face steep or total losses on their holdings.

Cineworld faces challenges specific to itself after building up $4.8 billion in net debt, not including lease liabilities. But the entire industry is navigating a tenuous recovery after the pandemic shut theaters worldwide. Continue reading

Did Amazon Buy iRobot to Spy on You?

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

By Dane Dickerson

By now, you’ve likely heard about Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot, makers of Roomba Vacuums, with the insidious motive of mapping consumer homes for valuable marketing data. But what’s really behind this brow-raising deal is not so conclusive amongst field experts.

Amazon’s press release on August 5th stated they would purchase iRobot for $61 per share, including iRobot’s net debt, which approximates to a $1.7 billion deal. They refer to the deal as a “definitive merger agreement.”

The current CEO of iRobot, Colin Angle, will retain his position. The senior vice president of Amazon Devices, Dave Limp, advertises wholesome intentions for the deal that has nothing to do with using Roomba’s as tiny data spies.

“We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love,” says Limp. “I’m excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable.” Continue reading

At 75, India seeks way forward in big but job-scarce economy

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, unveils the logo of ‘Make in India’ initiative in New Delhi, India, Sept. 25, 2014. India’s phenomenal transformation from an impoverished nation in 1947 into an emerging global power whose $3 trillion economy is Asia’s third largest has made it a major exporter of things like software and vaccines. The country marks 75 years of independence from British rule on Aug. 15. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, File)

By KRUTIKA PATHI and BHUMIKA SARASWATI Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — As India’s economy grew, the hum of factories turned the sleepy, dusty village of Manesar into a booming industrial hub, cranking out everything from cars and sinks to smartphones and tablets. But jobs have run scarce over the years, prompting more and more workers to line up along the road for work, desperate to earn money.

Every day, Sugna, a young woman in her early 20s who goes by her first name, comes with her husband and two children to the city’s labor chowk — a bazaar at the junction of four roads where hundreds of workers gather daily at daybreak to plead for work. It’s been days since she or her husband got work and she has only five rupees (six cents) in hand.

Scenes like this are an everyday reality for millions of Indians, the most visible signs of economic distress in a country where raging unemployment is worsening insecurity and inequality between the rich and poor. It’s perhaps Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest challenge as the country marks 75 years of independence from British rule on Monday. Continue reading

Business Leaders’ Optimism at Record Low

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Justin McDevitt

Is the American Dream dead?

A new study reveals that optimism in the business community has hit a record low, making many question the root causes, the current dilemmas, and the future of an ideal.

Pandemic fatigue? Inflation fatigue? American Dream fatigue? What’s causing the negative feelings?

In Arthur Miller’s seminal classic, Death of a Salesman, Biff Loman, son of the eponymous salesman, asks, “What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!” While the play went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and has been taught in school ever since, Miller’s classic may ask more questions than it provides answers.

Seventy-three years later, exhausted by a pandemic, the war in Ukraine, Monkeypox, and soaring inflation, Americans are asking the same questions. They deserve answers. Continue reading

Cold showers, no lights: Europe saves as Russian gas wanes

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

Hadj Benhalima from the the collective “On the Spot” jumps to turn off lights during a night of action where they will extinguish the lights on dozens of storefronts in Paris, Friday, July 29, 2022. The collective had been acting against wasteful businesses in Paris long before Russia started cutting energy supplies to Europe in a battle of wills over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. As such, the campaigners were precursors of the energy economy drive becoming all the rage in France, Germany and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

By JOHN LEICESTER and NICOLAS GARRIGA Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Fanning out like urban guerrillas through Paris’ darkened streets well after midnight, the anti-waste activists shinny up walls and drain pipes, reaching for switches to turn off the lights.

Click. Click. Click.

One by one, the outdoor lights that stores had left on are extinguished. It’s one small but symbolic step in a giant leap of energy saving that Europe is trying to make as it rushes to wean itself off natural gas and oil from Russia so factories aren’t forced to close and homes stay heated and powered. Continue reading

US newspapers continuing to die at rate of 2 each week

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

Various local newspapers appear outside a convenience store in the Brooklyn borough of New York on June 30, 2022. The United States continues to see newspapers die at the rate of two per week, according to a report issued Wednesday on the state of local news. The country had 6,377 newspapers at the end of May, down from 8,891 in 2005, the report said. (AP Photo/Mark Kennedy)

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Despite a growing recognition of the problem, the United States continues to see newspapers die at the rate of two per week, according to a report issued Wednesday on the state of local news.

Areas of the country that find themselves without a reliable source of local news tend to be poorer, older and less educated than those covered well, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications said.

The country had 6,377 newspapers at the end of May, down from 8,891 in 2005, the report said. While the pandemic didn’t quite cause the reckoning that some in the industry feared, 360 newspapers have shut down since the end of 2019, all but 24 of them weeklies serving small communities. Continue reading