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Democrats Move to Avert Shutdown, but Divisions Imperil Biden’s Agenda

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Some Democrats have complained this week that the president has not engaged in talks to their satisfaction. He welcomed groups of progressives and moderates to the White House last week, for example, but met with each separately, as opposed to holding a group negotiating session.

And efforts by Mr. Biden and his team to pressure Mr. Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, another Democratic holdout on the reconciliation bill, appear to have fallen flat. Officials have been working for days to persuade the pair to specify how much they would be willing to spend on the package, calculating that such a commitment would allay the worries of progressives now refusing to support the infrastructure bill.

“Joe Biden is the only president in American history to have passed a relief package of the significance of the American Rescue Plan with zero margin for error in the Senate and three votes to spare in the House,” said Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the White House, referring to the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package that became law in March. “He knows how to make his case, he knows how to count votes, and he knows how to deliver for the American middle class.”

Both Ms. Sinema and Mr. Manchin visited the White House on Tuesday, but after their meetings, neither they nor White House officials would enumerate the contours of a bill they could support. Top White House officials also trekked to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to huddle privately with Ms. Sinema for more than two hours.

“The president felt it was constructive, felt they moved the ball forward, felt there was an agreement, that we’re at a pivotal moment,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Tuesday, characterizing the meetings. “It’s important to continue to finalize the path forward to get the job done for the American people.”

Mr. Biden held conversations with various lawmakers throughout the day on Wednesday and planned to continue them on Thursday, White House officials said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/us/politics/debt-limit-spending-bill.html

Filed Under: Economy News

Katty Kay Resigns From Ozy Media Following NYT Report

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

“I’m proud that we stood by him while he struggled, and we’re all glad to see him now thriving again,” Mr. Watson said.

Mr. Rao did not reply to requests for comment.

In its report, The Times also raised questions about claims Ozy made concerning the number of people who had visited its website or watched its online videos.

On Tuesday, Ozy’s board said it had hired Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, a large international firm with headquarters in New York, to investigate the company’s “business activities” and its leadership team. In a statement announcing the investigation, the board also said it had asked Mr. Rao to take a leave of absence.

Also on Tuesday, Mr. Watson pulled out of his scheduled appearance as the host of an Emmys ceremony scheduled for Wednesday night to honor documentary filmmakers, part of the 42nd News and Documentary Emmy Awards. An Emmys spokesperson confirmed that Mr. Watson had asked to be removed as the host “so as not to distract the focus from the talented nominees in the documentary categories.”

And Ozy Fest, a music and ideas festival run by the company that was scheduled to take place Oct. 16-17 in Miami, has been canceled, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Mr. Watson, a skilled networker who was an MSNBC anchor early in his career, has been the public face of Ozy since it started eight years ago. In addition to Mr. Conway, Ozy’s early investors included Laurene Powell Jobs, the founder of Emerson Collective, and David Drummond, the former chief legal officer at Google.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/business/media/katty-kay-ozy-media.html

Filed Under: Media Business

How to Find ‘Stalkerware’ on Your Devices

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Fighting stalkerware is tough. You may not suspect it’s there. Even if you did, it can be difficult to detect since antivirus software only recently began flagging these apps as malicious.

Here’s a guide to how stalkerware works, what to look out for and what to do about it.

Surveillance software has proliferated on computers for decades, but more recently spyware makers have shifted their focus to mobile devices. Because mobile devices have access to more intimate data, including photos, real-time location, phone conversations and messages, the apps became known as stalkerware.

Various stalkerware apps collect different types of information. Some record phone calls, some log keystrokes, and others track location or upload a person’s photos to a remote server. But they all generally work the same way: An abuser with access to a victim’s device installs the app on the phone and disguises the software as an ordinary piece of software, like a calendar app.

From there, the app lurks in the background, and later, the abuser retrieves the data. Sometimes, the information gets sent to the abuser’s email address or it can be downloaded from a website. In other scenarios, abusers who know their partner’s passcode can simply unlock the device to open the stalkerware and review the recorded data.

So what to do? The Coalition Against Stalkerware, which was founded by Ms. Galperin and other groups, and many security firms offered these tips:

  • Look for unusual behavior on your device, like a rapidly draining battery. That could be a giveaway that a stalker app has been constantly running in the background.

  • Scan your device. Some apps, like MalwareBytes, Certo, NortonLifeLock and Lookout, can detect stalkerware. But to be thorough, take a close look at your apps to see if anything is unfamiliar or suspicious. If you find a piece of stalkerware, pause before you delete it: It may be useful evidence if you decide to report the abuse to law enforcement.

  • Seek help. In addition to reporting stalking behavior to law enforcement, you can seek advice from resources like the National Domestic Violence Hotline or the Safety Net Project hosted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

  • Audit your online accounts to see which apps and devices are hooked into them. On Twitter, for example, you can click on the “security and account access” button inside the settings menu to see which devices and apps have access to your account. Log out of anything that looks shady.

  • Change your passwords and passcode. It’s always safer to change passwords for important online accounts and avoid reusing passwords across sites. Try creating long, complex passwords for each account. Similarly, make sure your passcode is difficult for someone to guess.

  • Enable two-factor authentication. For any online account that offers it, use two-factor authentication, which basically requires two forms of verification of your identity before letting you log into an account. Say you enter your user name and password for your Facebook account. That’s Step 1. Facebook then asks you to punch in a temporary code generated by an authentication app. That’s Step 2. With this protection, even if an abuser figures out your password using a piece of stalkerware, he or she still can’t log in without that code.

  • On iPhones, check your settings. A new stalker app, WebWatcher, uses a computer to wirelessly download a backup copy of a victim’s iPhone data, according to Certo, a mobile security firm. To defend yourself, open the Settings app and look at the General menu to see if “iTunes Wi-Fi Sync” is turned on. Disabling this will prevent WebWatcher from copying your data.

    Apple said this was not considered an iPhone vulnerability because it required an attacker to be on the same Wi-Fi network and have physical access to a victim’s unlocked iPhone.

  • Start fresh. Buying a new phone or erasing all the data from your phone to begin anew is the most effective way to rid a device of stalkerware.

  • Update your software. Apple and Google regularly issue software updates that include security fixes, which can remove stalkerware. Make sure you’re running the latest software.

In the end, there’s no true way to defeat stalkerware. Kevin Roundy, NortonLifeLock’s lead researcher, said he had reported more than 800 pieces of stalkerware inside the Android app store. Google removed the apps and updated its policy in October to forbid developers to offer stalkerware.

But more have emerged to take their place.

“There are definitely a lot of very dangerous, alarming possibilities,” Mr. Roundy said. “It’s going to continue to be a concern.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/technology/personaltech/stalkerware-apps-protection.html

Filed Under: Media Business

The world’s top central bankers see supply chain problems prolonging inflation.

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

The joint appearance of some of the world’s most powerful economic officials, sponsored by the European Central Bank, came during a turbulent week in financial markets. While stocks were rebounding on Wednesday morning, they had fallen sharply on Tuesday as government bond yields rose. Investors have been shaken by a political standoff over the debt ceiling in the United States, problems in China’s heavily indebted property sector, the reality that global central banks are preparing to dial back economic support and the possibility that recent rapid price gains might last.

The burst in inflation has swept Europe and the United States this year as consumer demand booms but factory shutdowns and shipping snarls keep many goods in short supply. Central bankers have consistently argued that those price increases will prove temporary. As businesses adjust to the postpandemic recovery, they say, supply-chain kinks will unravel. And while consumers have been spending down savings stockpiled during the pandemic and padded by government stimulus, those will not last forever.

But economic officials have increasingly acknowledged that while they expect the inflationary pop to be temporary, it may last longer than they initially anticipated.

In the United States, consumer price inflation came in at 5.3 percent in August, and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures, or P.C.E., index — grew 4.2 percent in the year through July. August P.C.E. data is slated to be released on Friday.

Consumer prices are expected to peak “slightly above” 4 percent later this year in Britain, double the central bank’s target.

Elsewhere in Europe, inflation is also high, though the jump has not been as large. Euro-area inflation came in at 3 percent in August, the highest reading in roughly a decade. But price gains there are expected to slow more materially over the coming years than in Britain and the United States.

Japan is a notable outlier among developed economies, with slow demand and inflation near zero. Weak inflation leaves central banks with less room to help the economy in times of trouble, and can fuel a cycle of economic stagnation, making it a problem.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/business/central-bankers-supply-chains-inflation.html

Filed Under: Economy News

Biden Presses Democrats to Embrace His Economic Agenda

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON — President Biden and his aides mounted an all-out effort on Wednesday to salvage Mr. Biden’s economic agenda in Congress, attempting to forge even the beginnings of a compromise between moderates and progressives on a pair of bills that would spend trillions to rebuild infrastructure, expand access to education, fight climate change and more.

Mr. Biden canceled a scheduled trip to Chicago, where he was planning to promote Covid-19 vaccinations, in order to continue talking with lawmakers during a critical week of deadlines in the House. One crucial holdout vote in the Senate, Kyrsten Sinema, a centrist from Arizona, was set to visit the White House on Wednesday morning, a person familiar with the meeting said.

Ms. Sinema was one of the Democratic champions of a bipartisan bill, brokered by Mr. Biden, to spend more than $1 trillion over the next several years on physical infrastructure like water pipes, roads, bridges, electric vehicle charging stations and broadband internet. That bill passed the Senate this summer. It is set for a vote this week in the House. But progressive Democrats have threatened to block it unless it is coupled with a more expansive bill that contains much of the rest of Mr. Biden’s domestic agenda, like universal prekindergarten and free community college, a host of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tax breaks for workers and families that are meant to fight poverty and boost labor force participation.

Ms. Sinema and another centrist in the Senate, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, have expressed reservations over the scope of that larger bill and balked at the $3.5 trillion price tag that Democratic leaders have attached to it. Moderates in the House and Senate, led by Ms. Sinema, have resisted many of the tax increases on high earners and corporations that Mr. Biden proposed to offset the spending and tax cuts in the bill, in order to avoid adding further to the budget deficit.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/business/economy/biden-agenda-sinema-manchin.html

Filed Under: Economy News

United Airlines threatens to fire hundreds of staff for refusing Covid vaccine

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

“This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority,” the Chicago-based airline’s chief executive Scott Kirby and president Brett Hart said in a memo to employees.

Also on rt.com Boeing improves its jet demand forecast, but next 10 years still expected to be below pre-pandemic levels

The company’s 67,000 US employees were ordered to provide proof of vaccination by last Monday. While the majority complied, 593 workers refused to be jabbed and failed to apply for the exemption on religious or medical grounds which the firm set as mandatory in the event of failing to vaccinate. 

“Our rationale for requiring the vaccine for all United’s US-based employees was simple – to keep our people safe – and the truth is this: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated, and vaccine requirements work,” United said in the memo.

The company, however, will allow employees to keep their jobs if they have been vaccinated but failed to submit proof by the deadline, or if they will be jabbed before the formal decision on the dismissals comes through. This means unvaccinated workers have several weeks or even months under the union’s current dismissal rules to undergo inoculation if they wish to stay.

Also on rt.com United Airlines to put employees granted Covid-19 vaccine exemptions on unpaid leave and fire workers who refuse the jab

The airline announced earlier this month it would put employees who are exempt from the vaccine mandate on unpaid or medical leave from October 2. The plan was later scrapped after a lawsuit filed by six employees appealed the decision. Some 2,000 employees have so far requested the exemption. 

United was the first US airline to impose a Covid-19 vaccine mandate on its staff in early August. Other US airlines have been uneager to follow suit, but moved to end pay protections for unvaccinated employees who test positive for the virus. Georgia-based Delta Airlines slapped a $200 monthly health insurance surcharge on staff who haven’t been vaccinated.

United is the fourth-largest airline by the number of passengers carried in the US, but has the second-largest fleet and serves the most destinations, according to pre-pandemic statistics. Like many other airlines, however, it was hit hard by pandemic-induced travel restrictions, having to furlough some 36,000 employees at the height of the crisis last year.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/536137-united-airlines-dismiss-unvaccinated-employees/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Filed Under: Global Business

European gas prices push above record $1,000 for second consecutive day

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

The cost of November futures on the TTF hub in the Netherlands has so far increased to about $1,020 per 1,000 cubic meters, while the cost of October futures stood at about $1,010 per 1,000 cubic meters.

The overall rise in gas prices since the start of Wednesday’s trading session was about 6% by 7:00 GMT.

Also on rt.com European gas prices smash historic high

On Tuesday, gas prices exceeded the $1,000 level for the first time in history. The cost of October futures jumped 11% at one point to nearly $1,040.

Experts at the Fitch rating agency expect the price of gas to continue to grow and break new records if the current shortage of the commodity on the European market is not curbed ahead of the upcoming winter.

Analysts attribute the price hike to the post-pandemic increase in demand for natural gas combined with underfilled gas storage facilities in Europe. Europe’s energy crunch has resulted in higher costs for consumers and threatens to derail the continent’s economic recovery.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/536111-gas-price-europe-rising-again/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Filed Under: Global Business

Jon Stewart Has a New Talk Show, but He Plans to do More Listening

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

I think the mistake is thinking that speech was me saying, “And this is how we win.” That isn’t. There’s so many different ways to build positive culture.

Do you think “The Daily Show” made people more cynical?

I think people always thought “The Daily Show” was cynical and it never was, in my mind. Certainly this show isn’t. If anything, it’s overly idealistic and naïve. Cynical would be to pretend like the show is really doing something. It’s not and I don’t think any of us ever thought it actually was. But it felt good to us. It was a bear scratching his ass on a tree.

Is the goal of “The Problem With Jon Stewart” that you will give a platform to people who are directly affected by an issue, and to people with the power to do something about it, and then viewers will hopefully be encouraged to take action on this issue themselves?

No. [Laughs.] I don’t think we can ever lose sight of the fact that it’s still just TV. I’m not trying to denigrate the form that I’ve worked in for my adult life. But don’t be fooled that this momentary boost is somehow akin to change or effective activism. If it gives those individuals a quick boost and it helps them get over the hill, boy, that would be amazing but those hills — I don’t know if you’ve noticed, we’re all Sisyphus. I’d rather feel like the person pushing someone up than the person kicking them back down. Isn’t some small measure of comfort and support and entertainment and insight better than noise and exploitation?

When I visited the show, a member of your studio audience asked about your ’90s-era appearance on “The Nanny.” You told the crowd — humorously, but aptly — “I don’t necessarily want to be your personal time capsule.” Are you concerned, with this show or in general, that your viewers won’t ever let you evolve into something different than what they’ve already seen?

[Laughs.] I guess we’ll find out! I think very little about legacy and what people think I am. I’ve been hired and fired so many times, from working in bakeries to laboratories to bars. I never view myself through a singular lens. Another person in the audience said to me, you’ve been gone for six years and you’ve missed so much. And I was like, “I’ve actually been alive this whole time. I get what you’re saying, but I had to wear a mask and buy a bunch of toilet paper and water. I had the ups and downs of the previous administration and felt it deeply.” People perceive you, but if you allow their perception to define you, then you live in a hologram. And I’m just trying to embody the universe I actually live in.

If I let other people define who I was, I’d probably still be bartending underneath a liquor store in Trenton, N.J. You can’t live like that.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/arts/television/jon-stewart.html

Filed Under: Media Business

Russia & China trade to reach record levels in 2021 – Russian economy minister

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

“By the end of the year, there is every chance to reach a historical maximum [in trade turnover with China],” the head of the ministry, Maxim Reshetnikov, said on Wednesday at a meeting of the Russian-Chinese subcommittee on trade and economic cooperation.

Also on rt.com Trade turnover between Russia’s Far East and China tops $10 billion 

Reshetnikov praised the steady confidence Chinese companies have put in the Russian market, shown by prolonged economic activity and the launch of new projects even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The ministry plans to send four of its representatives to China to work in the Russian trade mission and promote cooperation with emphasis on the digital economy and sustainable development.

Among the issues discussed at the meeting were the restoration of supplies of Russian fish products to China, ensuring uninterrupted export cargoes crossing the Russian-Chinese border by land, and expanding cooperation in agricultural trade.

“We are interested in the implementation of new large projects – the first Russian-Chinese insurance company, the construction of additional capacities of the terminal for receiving and transshipment of liquefied petroleum gas and propylene in Manchuria,” Reshetnikov said.

Also on rt.com Russia completes railway section of cross-border bridge to China

According to China’s customs administration, trade turnover with Russia at the end of 2020 dropped by 2.9% in annual terms and amounted to $107.76 billion. However, in the pre-crisis years, the indicator grew steadily, rising gradually from $69.52 billion at the end of 2016 to $110.75 billion in 2019. Both countries plan to get back on course as soon as possible, with the goal of increasing the volume of bilateral trade to $200 billion per year.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/536098-russia-china-trade-turnover-record/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Filed Under: Global Business

S&P upgrades Russia’s economic growth outlook for 2021

September 29, 2021 by Leave a Comment

The document, focusing on emerging markets, also gave a forecast for Russia’s GDP in 2022 and 2023, with the agency’s analysts expecting the country’s economy to grow by 2.6% and 2% in the next two years, respectively.

The agency sets Russia’s inflation at 6.1% in 2021, but predicts it to drop to 4.2% next year. According to the survey, the country’s central bank key interest rate will reach 7% per annum in 2021, up from the current 6.75%.

Also on rt.com Russian economy ‘completely restored’ to pre-pandemic level – Putin

Analysts expect Russia’s ruble exchange rate against the US currency to stop at 72 rubles per dollar at the end of the year, but to gradually weaken to 77.5 rubles per dollar by 2024.

The unemployment rate in the country is expected to be 4.9% this year, but fall to 4.6% in three years’ time.

The agency also gave an outlook for the emerging countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, predicting an upward trend in GDP growth throughout, primarily driven by increased consumption and exports. However, analysts noted that inflation in European states with emerging markets would continue to rise, pressured by higher fuel and food prices and supply chain disruptions as the result of accelerating economic growth. The agency warned that the two main risks to economic growth emerging economies are facing include inadequate vaccination and a faster-than-expected normalization of US monetary policy.

Also on rt.com Fitch upgrades Russia’s economic outlook, citing impressive cash cushion from oil revenues

Fitch ratings agency also recently improved its forecast for Russia’s economic growth in 2021, with a slightly higher figure of 4.3%. Meanwhile, according to a recent statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the country’s economy has this year completely overcome the economic decline caused by last year’s Covid-19 pandemic.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/536041-russia-gdp-improved-outlook/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Filed Under: Global Business
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