Blog by Matt Ridley Restricting whether you can build, rather than what, drives up prices My Times column on Britain's housing crisis: Sajid Javid, the Housing (etc) secretary, is right – and brave -- to go on the warpath about Britain’s housing crisis in his new national planning framework, to be launched today. No longer the world’s favourite airline - British Airways faces a £183m fine over a data breach BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA), the country’s flag carrier, used to make much in its advertising of being “the world’s favourite airline”. That slogan, which the airline used between 1989 and 2004, trumpeted its status as the world’s largest carrier by international passenger numbers. British Airways also claimed to provide some of the world’s best service, for instance, by introducing the world’s first fully-flat airline seats in 1995.
Science Two possible explanations of mysterious earthquake lights — Centuries of humans have reported strange lights moving along the ground before an earthquake strikes. Now, two different teams of scientists have two competing theories that could explain where those lights come from and how they're made. — Maggie • 5 Maggie Koerth-Baker at 6:57 am Fri, Apr 11, 2014 • 16 Oarfish are freaky sea dragons. You might remember them from the beaching incidents last fall, when two oarfish turned up on the coast of California within a week. The latest issue of The Spectator Your subscriber number is the 8 digit number printed above your name on the address sheet sent with your magazine each week. If you receive it, you’ll also find your subscriber number at the top of our weekly highlights email. Entering your subscriber number will enable full access to all magazine articles on the site.
105 Podcasts You Should Check Out Ask our team, “What’s new?” and you’ll hear about how we’re learning on the go with podcasts. Ask our teacher bloggers about new practices they’re trying in their classrooms and you’ll hear how their encouraging reflective learning with podcasts. At the start of a new school year, we think they are a great way to continue learning and stay engaged. Musk Says ‘Time To Break Up Amazon,’ Fueling Feud with Bezos Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said it’s “time to break up Amazon” in a tweet Thursday, escalating a rivalry with Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos, another billionaire investing in space exploration. “Monopolies are wrong,” Musk tweeted while tagging Bezos, the world’s wealthiest man. The online retailer is among tech companies being scrutinized by federal regulators and lawmakers for the increasing size and the scope of its business.
Poultry Industry Executives Indicted Over Alleged Price-Fixing Scam The Justice Department on Wednesday indicted four current and former executives from chicken producers Pilgrim's Pride and Claxton Poultry Farms over allegations of conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids between 2012 and 2017, the first charges in an ongoing antitrust investigation, according to a statement from the agency. The four executives charged with one-count indictments include Pilgrim's Pride CEO Jayson Penn and former vice president Roger Austin, as well as Claxton Poultry Farms president Mikell Fries and vice president Scott Brady. The Justice Department launched an investigation into potential price fixing between major poultry producers last year following years of accusations and litigation against producers like Perdue Farms, Sanderson Farms and Tyson Foods.
Meet The Forbes Under 30 Founders Leading The Next Billion-Dollar Startups “It was difficult to get anyone to take me seriously because I’m not a 60-year-old white male and in my industry that is very much the norm,” says Gaurab Chakrabarti, the cofounder and CEO of specialty-chemicals company Solugen. “While trying to have some authority, it’s always in the back of your mind, like, ‘Well, this person has been in the industry longer than I've been alive.’” But Chakrabarti, who cofounded the company with his friend Sean Hunt during his final year of medical school, persevered, getting $120,000 in funding from top accelerator Y Combinator in 2016. The duo snagged a spot on the 2017 Forbes Under 30 list at 27 years old each for their groundbreaking discovery: a sustainable process to create food-grade peroxide from plants. Today, Houston-based Solugen, with $80 million from top venture capital firms like Founders Fund, is one of 25 companies to make the cut for Forbes’ latest Next Billion-Dollar Startups list.
McDonald’s Creates Swimwear From Plastic Straws To Advertise Environmental Moves In an effort to promote its environmental credentials in Europe–and how it is removing plastic straws in its branches–McDonald’s has created swimwear in its iconic red and yellow striped design from its plastic straws. McDonald’s has often been criticised for its promotion of throwaway culture and specifically, its reliance on single use plastics. In 2017, it came under renewed criticism for using plastic straws in its restaurants (a SumOf Us petition in the U.S. gained nearly 500,000 signatures in protest). In 2018, the company announced a switch to paper straws in Ireland and the U.K. but ironically, these appeared to be less recyclable than the old plastic straws. A spokesperson for the company explained to CNBC at the time that the straws “cannot currently be processed by waste solution providers or local authorities unless collected separately.”
Hacker Gives Away 386 Million Stolen Records On Dark Web—What You Need To Do Now "I've made enough money now" ShinyHunters said as stolen data is offered for free in a commercial dark web hacker forum. In just the first two weeks of May 2020, a hacker, known only as ShinyHunters, offered an astonishing 200 million stolen data records for sale on the dark web. Not repurposed data from old breaches, but fresh to the market and, therefore, very valuable. The surprising thing is that, until then, nobody had even heard of ShinyHunters.
‘The Wild’ Doc Efforts To Save Alaskan Sockeye Salmon From Pebble Mine Project The environment versus industry has been a long-fought battle. In a decades-old fight, it’s salmon versus gold. Alaska is the epicenter of the conflict between the last fully intact natural salmon run left in the world and the world’s largest precious metals mine. Known for its majestic landscape and wildlife, Alaska relies heavily on its two top industries: Mining and fishing.
‘O: The Oprah Magazine’ May End Its Print Edition But Still Dominates Reports of the demise of the print edition of O: The Oprah Magazine were premature. According to the title’s publisher Hearst Magazines, O’s “print expression’ will continue although the company is “evaluating what that will look like beyond the December 2020 issue.” Hearst also says: “This is a natural step for the brand which has grown to an online audience of 8 million.” “Twenty years ago O, The Oprah Magazine launched as a personal growth guide to help women live their best lives, and as we embark on this next chapter, we will lean into moments that are central to the brand’s DNA and deepen the connection with our loyal readers,” said Lucy Kaylin, O’s editor in chief, in a press release. According to the New York Post, O’s print edition may appear as a quarterly publication, which is the format Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop magazine used though it only lasted two issues. Hearst also may publish special editions or higher-priced newsstand editions of O, the Post says.