LA Times (June 20)
“Each day three or four children under age 17 die and an additional 16 are hospitalized from a single cause: gunfire. In fact… gun violence is the third leading cause of death for American kids between ages 1 and 17, and the second leading cause of injury-related deaths after motor vehicle accidents.” It is “the nation’s shame” that “we know it’s a problem…. We know steps can be taken to address it. But we don’t take them.”
Tags: Accidents, Children, Death, Gun violence, Gunfire, Hospitalized, Shame, U.S.
Fortune (June 19)
Amazon’s all-time high stock price put founder Jeff Bezos ”about $4 billion away from overtaking Gates, who is worth about $90 billion…. Since Bezos net worth is largely tied to his 78.9 million shares of Amazon, becoming the world’s richest person is completely within the realm of possibility. After all, his net worth has already shot up by $19.3 billion in the last six months thanks to strong earnings and growing investor confidence in the economy, sending Amazon’s stock 35% higher since the start of the year.”
Tags: Amazon, Bezos, Confidence, Earnings, Economy, Gates, Investor, Net worth, Stock price, World's richest
BBC (June 18)
“Coffee production in Ethiopia, the birthplace of the high quality Arabica coffee bean and Africa’s largest exporter, could be in serious jeopardy over the next century unless action is taken.” According to a study by Kew Gardens, “current coffee growing areas in Ethiopia could decrease by up to 60% given a temperature rise of 4C by the end of the century.”
Tags: Action, Africa, Arabica, Coffee, Ethiopia, Exporter, Global warming, Jeopardy, Serious, Temperature
National Geographic (June 18)
“Dangerous heatwaves are far more common than anyone realized, killing people in more than 60 different parts of the world every year.” Approximately “30 percent of the world’s population is currently exposed to potentially deadly heat for 20 days per year or more—and like a growing forest fire, climate change is spreading this extreme heat.” Barring major reductions in GHG emissions, “up to 75 percent of people could face deadly heatwaves by 2100.”
Tags: Climate change, Dangerous, Deadly, Extreme heat, Forest fire, GHG emissions, Heatwaves, Population
Wall Street Journal (June 18)
Helmut Kohl’s “vision shaped post-Cold War Europe for the better. Among the many leaders who shaped modern Europe, few have been as consequential…. He saw his country through the death of the Cold War and the birth of a reunited Germany at the center of a more deeply integrated European Union.”
The Economist (June 17)
Replacing Jeff Immelt at GE’s helm, new CEO John Flannery will need “to deal with GE’s soggy financial performance. Trian, an activist hedge fund, owns a stake in GE and, behind the scenes, has probably been agitating for change. Unless the numbers improve soon, pressure may mount for GE to break itself up. That would be a bad idea: what it now needs is less re-engineering and more consistent execution. At least Mr Flannery, unlike Mr Immelt, takes the helm when expectations are low.”
Tags: Activist, CEO, Execution, Expectations, Flannery, GE, Hedge-fund, Immelt, Performance, Re-engineering, Trian
Chicago Tribune (June 15)
“Donald Trump should be extremely worried about his presidency.” It’s easy to see why he “is still ruminating about firing Mueller,” the special counsel, even though that “would be politically disastrous, fueling impeachment fever…. His presidency is imperiled so long as Mueller compels witnesses to testify, accumulates written evidence and traces the myriad of ties between the Trump team and Russians.”
Tags: Disastrous, Evidence, Impeachment, Imperiled, Mueller, Russia, Special counsel, Testify, Trump, U.S., Witnesses, Worried
Institutional Investor (June 14)
“Companies and their stake holders are increasingly anxious to add more women to their boards, a process that can be fraught with controversy…. But for all the hand-wringing,” a recent study from the Wharton School found that “companies do not perform any better—or any worse—when they have women on their boards.” This is “the research diversity experts don’t want you to read.”
Tags: Anxious, Boards, Controversy, Diversity, Experts, Hand-wringing, Performance, Research, Stakeholders, Wharton, Women
Bloomberg (June 13)
“China’s skyscraper age is over,” but not everyone realizes this. China currently boasts “46 percent of the 500-foot-plus buildings under construction in the world,” but things are changing. Standing at over 2,000 feet, Shanghai Tower provides a stark reminder. Though it “is the world’s second-tallest building…only 60 percent of Shanghai Tower is rented out, and only a third of current tenants have actually occupied their leased space.”
Tags: Buildings, China, Construction, Leased, Rented, Shanghai Tower, Skyscraper, Tenants
New York Times (June 13)
“Tensions are reaching a dangerous pitch on the Korean Peninsula, testing the leadership of South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in…. In effect, Mr. Moon finds himself pincered between two rival powers, China and the United States, while facing an existential threat from the dictator next door.”
Tags: China, Dangerous, Dictator, Existential threat, Korean Peninsula, Leadership, Moon, Rival powers, South Korea, Tensions, U.S.
