ReportWire

Tag: Business

  • China grants UK and Canada visa-free entry, raising total to 79 countries

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    BEIJING — British and Canadian citizens can enter China without a visa starting Tuesday, bringing to 79 the number of countries granted visa-free access in a bid to boost tourism and business.

    China has expanded eligibility for the program significantly in the last two years. Visitors can stay for up to 30 days for business, tourism, exchange programs and to visit family and friends.

    Most Europeans qualify for visa-free entry, along with some from select countries in other regions including Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

    Citizens of a few other countries, including the United States and Indonesia, can enter for 10 days if they are in transit — meaning they have a ticket departing for a different country than they arrived from.

    Business executives and tourists have welcomed the change, as the China visa application process can be a relatively cumbersome one.

    The U.K. and Canada are being added following visits to China last month by their prime ministers, Keir Starmer and Mark Carney. Both are relatively new leaders who are trying to revamp ties with Beijing after a downturn in recent years.

    For most countries, the visa-free access expires at the end of this year, but it has been extended in the past.

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  • Japan’s economy barely grows in the last quarter

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    TOKYO — Japan’s economy expanded at an anemic 0.2% annual pace in the last quarter, the government reported Monday, with growth for all of 2025 at just 1.1%.

    Private consumption rose at a 0.4% annualized pace in October-December, but that was offset by a 1.1% drop in exports, the latest seasonally adjusted preliminary data show.

    Japan’s export-reliant economy has been shaken by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but has been growing at a lackluster pace for years. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to roll out policies to help revive the economy after a landslide victory in a general election earlier this month.

    Takaichi has promised to spend more and to suspend Japan’s sales tax on food, among other measures.

    Japan’s GDP contracted 0.7% in July-September, quarter-to-quarter, after growing 0.5% in April-June. Since the economy returned to growth in the latest quarter, the country narrowly avoided a technical recession, which is two straight quarters of contraction.

    On a quarterly basis, the economy grew 0.1% in October to December, the Cabinet Office reported.

    The 1.1% expansion last year was the fastest since 2022, when Japan was recovering from the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The government is projecting that the economy will expand at an average rate of about 0.6% in the near term.

    ___

    Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

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  • Hollywood groups condemn ByteDance’s AI video generator, claim copyright infringement

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    A new artificial intelligence video generator from Beijing-based ByteDance, the creator of TikTok, is drawing the ire of Hollywood organizations

    A new artificial intelligence video generator from Beijing-based ByteDance, the creator of TikTok, is drawing the ire of Hollywood organizations that say Seedance 2.0 “blatantly” violates copyright and uses the likeness of actors and others without permission.

    Seedance 2.0, which is only available in China for now, lets users generate high-quality AI videos using simple text prompts. The tool quickly gained condemnation from the movie and TV industry.

    The Motion Picture Association said Seedance 2.0 “has engaged in unauthorized use of U.S. copyrighted works on a massive scale.”

    “By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs. ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity,” Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA, said in a statement Tuesday.

    Screenwriter Rhett Rheese, who wrote the “Deadpool” movies, said on X last week that “I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us.” His post was in response to Irish director Ruairí Robinson’s post of a Seedance 2.0 video that shows AI versions Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

    Actors union SAG-AFTRA said Friday it “stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement” enabled by Seedance 2.0.

    “The infringement includes the unauthorized use of our members’ voices and likenesses. This is unacceptable and undercuts the ability of human talent to earn a livelihood,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement. “Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent. Responsible AI development demands responsibility, and that is nonexistent here.”

    ByteDance said in a statement Sunday that it respects intellectual property rights.

    “(We) have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0. We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users,” the company said.

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  • They said it: Dating apps no longer delivering?

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    Copyright 2026 The Mercury News. All rights reserved. The use of any content on this website for the purpose of training artificial intelligence systems, algorithms, machine learning models, text and data mining, or similar use is strictly prohibited without explicit written consent.

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    Bay Area News Group

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  • Tax season is here. Here’s what you need to know for stress-free filing

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    NEW YORK — Tax season is underway and you have until April 15 to file your return with the IRS. If you want to avoid the stress of the looming deadline, start getting organized as soon as possible.

    “Don’t wait until the last minute but also don’t rush,” said Tom O’Saben, director of tax content and government relations at the National Association of Tax Professionals,

    Gathering all your documents, signing up for direct deposit and keeping copies of your tax returns are some of the best practices when it comes to preparing to fill out your taxes. This year, due to the Republican tax and spending bill that President Donald Trump signed over the summer, there are new deductions taxpayers should know about.

    Among them are no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, deductions for car loan interest, and deductions for people who were 65 or older by Dec. 31, said Miguel Burgos, a certified public accountant and an expert for TurboTax.

    The average refund last year was $3,167. This year, analysts have projected it could be $1,000 higher, thanks to changes in tax law. More than 165 million individual income tax returns were processed last year, with 94% submitted electronically.

    If you find the process too confusing, there are plenty of free resources to help you get through it.

    Here are some things you need to know:

    While the required documents might depend on your individual case, here is a general list of what everyone needs:

    —Social Security number

    —W-2 forms, if you are employed

    —1099-G, if you are unemployed

    —1099 forms, if you are self-employed

    —Savings and investment records

    —Any eligible deduction, such as educational expenses, medical bills, charitable donations, etc.

    —Tax credits, such as the child tax credit, retirement savings contributions credit, etc.

    To find a more detailed document list, visit the IRS website.

    O’Saben recommends gathering all of your documents in one place before you start your tax return and also having your documents from last year. Taxpayers can also create an identity protection PIN number with the IRS to guard against identity theft. Once you create a number, the IRS will require it to file your tax return.

    — Change to standard deduction

    The standard deduction for single taxpayers is $15,750 for this year. For married couples filing jointly, it has increased to $31,500. For heads of households, the standard deduction is $23,625.

    — Change to state and local taxes (SALT) deduction

    The deduction cap on state and local taxes has increased from $10,000 to $40,000. The change is also known as the Working Families Tax Cut and was enacted in July 2025.

    “This is a big benefit, especially for states like California, New York, and New Jersey, that have a higher state income tax,” said Keith Hall, president and CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed and a certified CPA.

    The SALT deduction is a federal tax deduction for some state and local taxes paid during the year. The total deduction had been capped at $10,000 since it started in 2018.

    People who have not previously itemized their SALT deduction might want to consider it this year. To know if you should itemize your deductions, O’Saben recommends that you ask yourself the following questions: Did you pay state taxes? Did you pay property taxes? Do you have mortgage interest? Do you have charitable contributions?

    —Deductions for tips

    What is known as “no tax on tips” is not quite accurate. This new deduction is only for qualified tips and is subject to income limitations.

    “It can be cash, it can be electronic as well. But the main thing is, hey, it has to be voluntary (tips),” Burgos said.

    The maximum annual deduction is capped at $2,500. The deduction phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $150,000, or $300,000 for joint filers. The tax deduction is also limited to specific industries where tipping is common practice. Some of the included industries are bartenders, food servers, musicians and housekeeping cleaners.

    To claim the new tax break, you will need to fill out a new tax form called Schedule 1-A.

    —Additional Schedule 1-A deductions

    Schedule 1-A is an IRS form used to claim and calculate four tax deductions originating from the tax and spending bill. They are the change in state and local tax deduction, deduction on qualified tips, and car loan and senior deductions.

    IRS Direct File, the electronic system for filing tax returns for free, will not be offered this year. For those who make $89,000 or less per year, IRS Free File offers free guided tax preparation; you can choose from eight IRS partners, such as TaxAct and FreeTaxUSA.

    Beyond companies such as TurboTax and H&R Block, taxpayers can also hire licensed professionals, such as certified public accountants. The IRS offers a directory of tax preparers across the United States.

    The IRS also funds two programs that offer free tax help: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE). People who earn $69,000 or less a year, have disabilities, or are limited English speakers, qualify for the VITA program. Those who are 60 or older qualify for the TCE program. The IRS has a site for locating organizations hosting VITA and TCE clinics.

    Many people fear getting in trouble with the IRS if they make a mistake. Here’s how to avoid some of the most common ones:

    —Double-check your name on your Social Security card

    When working with clients, O’Saben asks them to double-check their number and their legal name, which can change when people get married.

    “If you got married last year and you now want to use your married name, that married name doesn’t exist if you haven’t filed it with Social Security,” O’Saben said.

    —Search for online tax statements

    Many people opt out of physical mail but when you do, it can also include your tax documents.

    “These documents may actually be available online because you may have chosen to have paperless contact. And because of that, you may need to go get those documents yourself,” O’Saben said.

    —Make sure you report all of your income

    If you had a second job in 2025, you need the W-2 or 1099 form for each job.

    In general, if you make a mistake or you’re missing something in your tax records, the IRS will audit you. An audit means that the IRS will ask you for more documentation.

    Currently, the tax credit is $2,200 per child but only $1,700 is refundable. This refund is called the Additional Child Tax Credit. To claim the Additional Child Tax Credit, you must have at least $2,500 of income for the tax year.

    You qualify for the full amount of the Child Tax Credit for each qualifying child if you meet all eligibility factors and your annual income is not more than $200,000 ($400,000 if filing a joint return). Parents and guardians with higher incomes may be eligible to claim a partial credit.

    You can find more details about the child tax credit here.

    Last September, the IRS began phasing out paper tax refund checks. If you’re expecting a tax refund, the IRS recommends you sign up for direct deposit.

    Tax season is prime time for tax scams, O’Saben said. These scams can come via phone, text, email and social media. The IRS uses none of those means to contact taxpayers.

    Sometimes scams are even operated by tax preparers, so it’s important to ask lots of questions. If a tax preparer says you will get a refund that is larger than what you’ve received in previous years, for example, that may be a red flag, O’Saben said.

    If you can’t see what your tax preparer is working on, get a copy of the tax return and ask questions about each of the entries.

    It’s always good practice to keep a record of your tax returns, just in case the IRS audits you for an item you reported years ago. O’Saben recommend keeping copies of your tax return documents five to seven years.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

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  • St. Pete Sunday Market returns at new location

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    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Pete’s Sunday Market is back. 

    After taking a short hiatus in January, the market opened Sunday morning at its new home at USF St. Pete downtown. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The St. Pete Sunday Market returned after a short hiatus 

    • It opened at a new location at the St. Pete USF campus 

    • The market is open the third Sunday of every month

    • Kody Roussert, who started the market, said he expects it to remain at the spot through the end of the year


    Since starting in 2023, the market has built a reputation for giving local businesses a chance to thrive. 

    One of those businesses is CBbees, which is from Lake Placid. 

    Owner Joanne McDaniel said she’s been beekeeping for 12 years. 

    Without markets like this, she said, it would be difficult for customers to find them.

    “We don’t have a brick and mortar yet, and it also helps us educate consumers (about) the difference between pure raw honey and store-bought honey and stuff like that,” she said.  

    Providing that kind of exposure is why Kody Roussert started the market. 

    Sunday’s market has dozens of vendors.

    Roussert said the goal of the market is to support as many businesses as possible.

    “We went to Fergs at the beginning of last year, and then we moved into the Museum of History, which was another downscale,” he said. “So it’s really nice to be scaling back up, and again, have more space to give people the opportunity to get their goods out there, get known by everybody here, and show them why they’re super cool.” 

    The plan is to be at the new location throughout the rest of the year. The market is open the third Sunday of every month.

    McDaniel said she has a good feeling about the spot.

    “I think this is going to be a great market,” she said. “Great atmosphere and looks like a lot of foot traffic, and I think everybody in the area is really happy to have a market here on Sundays.” 

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    Matt Lackritz

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  • Soaring coffee prices rewrite some Americans’ daily routines

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    NEW YORK — For years, it was a daily McDonald’s trip for a cup of coffee with 10 sugars and five creams. Later, it was Starbucks caramel macchiatos with almond milk and two pumps of syrup.

    Coffee has been a morning ritual for Chandra Donelson since she was old enough to drink it. But, dismayed by rising prices, the 35-year-old from Washington, D.C., did the unthinkable: She gave it up.

    “I did that daily for years. I loved it. That was just my routine,” she says. “And now it’s not.”

    Years of steadily climbing coffee prices have some in this country of coffee lovers upending their habits by nixing café visits, switching to cheaper brews or foregoing it altogether.

    Coffee prices in the U.S. were up 18.3% in January from a year ago, according to the latest Consumer Price Index released on Friday. Over five years, the government reported, coffee prices rose 47%.

    That extraordinary rise has brought some to take extraordinary measures.

    “Before, I thought, ‘There’s no way I could make it through my day without coffee,’” says Liz Sweeney, 50, of Boise, Idaho, a former “coffee addict” who has cut her consumption. “Now my car’s not on automatic pilot.”

    Sweeney used to have three cups of coffee at home each day and stop at a café whenever she left the house. As prices climbed last year, though, she nixed coffee shop visits and cut her intake to a cup a day at home. To make up for the caffeine, she pops open a can of Diet Coke at home or rolls through McDonald’s for one.

    Dan DeBaun, 34, of Minnetonka, Minnesota, has likewise trimmed back on coffee shop visits, conscious of the increasing expense as he and his wife save up for a house.

    “What used to be a $2 coffee, it’s now $5, $6,” says DeBaun, who now buys ground coffee at Trader Joe’s and fills up a travel mug to bring to the office.

    Data from Toast, a payment platform used by more than 150,000 restaurants, found the median price of a regular hot coffee in the U.S. had climbed to $3.61 in December, with wide variation by location. The median price of cold brews was $5.55.

    Virtually all coffee consumed in the U.S. is imported. Though tariffs affected some imports of coffee in 2025, they ultimately were removed. Climate issues — drought in Vietnam, heavy rain in Indonesia, and hot, dry weather in Brazil — are blamed for reducing yields of coffee crops and driving up global prices.

    Two-thirds of Americans drink coffee daily, according to the National Coffee Association. For many, it is such an indispensable part of their routine, the soaring price has led to nothing more than grumbling.

    The coffee association says its surveys show coffee consumption is broadly holding steady despite price hikes. But, squeezed by the cost of everything from rent to beef, others are shaking up their habit.

    Sharon Cooksey, 55, of Greensboro, North Carolina, was visiting her local Starbucks most weekday mornings for a caramel latte until scaling back last year. First, she switched to brewing Starbucks at home. Then, she discovered Lavazza coffee was about 40% cheaper and switched to it.

    “I can buy a bag of coffee for $6?” she said to herself. “It was like I had just discovered another world. The multiverse opened up to me in the coffee aisle of Publix.”

    She has noticed her home-brewed costs tick upward, too, but it’s nothing compared to her café habit. A bag of beans that lasts weeks costs her about the same as one latte.

    Cooksey misses the social aspect of visiting the café, where baristas greeted her by name. But she’s been surprised to find she actually prefers the way her homemade coffees taste.

    “I’ll be damned if it didn’t taste so good,” she says.

    Growing up, Donelson watched enviously as her mother made a daily coffee jaunt (also to McDonald’s, also 10 sugars and five creams), and she duplicated the habit. She went from college to the Air Force to a government job as a data and artificial intelligence strategist, but through it all, coffee was there.

    She noticed the growing expense of her routine, but kept it up until a government shutdown halted her paychecks last fall and she needed to trim her spending. Looking for a morning substitute, she landed on a Republic of Tea blend with a healthy squeeze of honey.

    “Twenty cents a cup compared to $7 or $8 a cup,” she says. “The math just makes sense.”

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    Matt Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org and https://x.com/sedensky

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  • South Broadway theater in Denver exits bankruptcy, foreclosure

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    The owner of a renovated theater along South Broadway is back on good terms with its lender.

    Sonquist LLC, which owns the Jewel Theater at 1912 S. Broadway in Denver, exited bankruptcy Feb. 6.

    The entity managed by real estate attorney Doug Norberg and business partner Paul Yaft filed for Chapter 11 on Jan. 23 to prevent the building’s lender, MidWestOne Bank, from foreclosing.

    MidWestOne, which took over the building’s $2.3 million loan when it acquired Bank of Denver in 2024, withdrew its foreclosure effort Feb. 3, records show.

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    Thomas Gounley

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  • St. Pete celebrates local businesses with Localtopia

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    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Thousands of people celebrated St. Petersburg’s local businesses on Saturday as the nonprofit Keep St. Petersburg Local hosted its annual Localtopia event in Williams Park. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Localtopia, St. Petersburg’s largest community celebration of all things local, returned to St. Pete

    • Thousands of people 300 businesses and thousands of people filled Willams Park

    • The St. Pete Chamber of Commerce said this event is crucial for local businesses

    • Businesses said the event was a great opportunity for exposure


    It’s considered St. Petersburg’s largest community celebration of all things local.

    It was a busy day for businesses.

    Gallons of locally brewed beer were on tap at Localtopia.

    “Today, we have on tap our Harold’s lager, which is a nice, light, easy-drinking beer and our orange, which is a nice, easy-drinking light beer as well,” said Dennis Decker, owner of Pinellas Ale Works.

    Pinellas Ale Works has been coming to Localtopia for about 10 years. Every year, Decker said they sell more beer. While Decker said they are pretty established, the event is still a great day for exposure.

    “For a lot of the smaller businesses that haven’t been around a long time or don’t have a big advertising budget, this is a great way to show people what you do and what you have to offer,” he said.

    There are more than 300 independent businesses and organizations at this year’s celebration of all things local. The St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce said businesses need the help after spending most of last year recovering from 2024’s back-to-back hurricanes.

    “We love our locals, we know that has made the difference. When people come to St. Pete and they feel the buzz, it’s the buzz of the love we have for that entrepreneur who’s got the courage to open up that shop and take care of the rest of us,” said Chris Steinocher, president and CEO of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce.

    Steinocher said that St. Pete is open for business and encouraged people to shop local, not only on Saturday, but throughout the year.

    “Now, our economy is back, and our tourism is back, and our community is back. This is a year we want everybody to realize, we can get back to that normal sense of we have a lot of people here and we’re going to do a lot of good things,” Steinocher said.

    And after Localtopia, Decker said people do just that, as the brewery usually sees some extra foot traffic.

    “I think this kind of event reminds people of their local businesses. They kind of forget with the ordering online and all that kind of stuff, they forget about local businesses, and I think this is a good showcase for local businesses,” Decker said.

    Localtopia started in 2014 to celebrate art, music, food, drinks, and culture that St. Pete has to offer.

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    Tyler O’Neill

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  • Founder of Sacramento dog training service that uses rattlesnakes fights to keep business going

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    In a park just east of Sacramento, Jake Molieri guided us through his service Snakeout where he trains dogs and dog owners how to avoid rattlesnakes on hiking trails and parks. “They are obviously an animal that are dangerous if you get into an altercation and provoking them,” Molieri said. “They are never going to chase you or go after you.”Molieri currently uses his albino rattlesnake called Mr. Cheese for training. However, that snake is not the most ideal one to use for his business. “The only reason we are able to continue operating and continue doing the service is because we use these albino, which is not ideal because they are really hard to acquire,” he said. The State Department of Fish and Wildlife told Molieri he is not allowed to operate if he uses regular rattlesnakes that are found in Northern California. The state claims he violated regulations that protect those animals from being used for profit. “They told me the classes you’re doing are like illegal, you’re illegally commercializing these animals,” Molieri said. However, Molieri claims there is a gray area that needs to be changed. “The regulations they are citing were written back in the day with the idea of like, hey you can’t go out into the woods and catch a bunch of snakes and sell them into the pet trade and the skin industry,” he said. “They’re taking that idea and applying it to this dog class and saying that we’re basically selling the snakes. The snakes are not changing hands. The snakes are my snakes.”He filed a lawsuit to try to get the regulations changed. CDFW said in a statement: “Current regulations prohibit the take or possession of any native species unless specifically permitted by regulation for commercial purposes, as it presents a financial gain to motivate take. That commercial motivation can have negative impacts on native populations.”The lawsuit is still going through the court system. He hopes they can reach an agreement to change regulations that benefit his business and keep snakes safe. “We want to see more snakes being alive, less dogs getting bit and everyone having an understanding that nobody wants to get into an altercation with each other, but the state’s making it really hard,” he said. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

    In a park just east of Sacramento, Jake Molieri guided us through his service Snakeout where he trains dogs and dog owners how to avoid rattlesnakes on hiking trails and parks.

    “They are obviously an animal that are dangerous if you get into an altercation and provoking them,” Molieri said. “They are never going to chase you or go after you.”

    Molieri currently uses his albino rattlesnake called Mr. Cheese for training. However, that snake is not the most ideal one to use for his business.

    “The only reason we are able to continue operating and continue doing the service is because we use these albino, which is not ideal because they are really hard to acquire,” he said.

    The State Department of Fish and Wildlife told Molieri he is not allowed to operate if he uses regular rattlesnakes that are found in Northern California. The state claims he violated regulations that protect those animals from being used for profit.

    “They told me the classes you’re doing are like illegal, you’re illegally commercializing these animals,” Molieri said.

    However, Molieri claims there is a gray area that needs to be changed.

    “The regulations they are citing were written back in the day with the idea of like, hey you can’t go out into the woods and catch a bunch of snakes and sell them into the pet trade and the skin industry,” he said. “They’re taking that idea and applying it to this dog class and saying that we’re basically selling the snakes. The snakes are not changing hands. The snakes are my snakes.”

    He filed a lawsuit to try to get the regulations changed.

    CDFW said in a statement: “Current regulations prohibit the take or possession of any native species unless specifically permitted by regulation for commercial purposes, as it presents a financial gain to motivate take. That commercial motivation can have negative impacts on native populations.”

    The lawsuit is still going through the court system. He hopes they can reach an agreement to change regulations that benefit his business and keep snakes safe.

    “We want to see more snakes being alive, less dogs getting bit and everyone having an understanding that nobody wants to get into an altercation with each other, but the state’s making it really hard,” he said.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • What to Know About the Counter Drone Technology That Triggered the Closure of the El Paso Airspace

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    The government’s ability to deal with drones that pose a threat on American soil has been questioned this week after the use of a laser designed to shoot down drones near the border in Texas led to the abrupt closure of the airspace over El Paso, sources familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

    The details of exactly what happened before the Federal Aviation Administration shut down the busy airport in the Mexican border city on Wednesday aren’t entirely clear, but a source familiar with the situation told AP that the laser was deployed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection without coordinating with the FAA.

    Two months ago, Congress agreed to give more law enforcement agencies the authority to take down rogue drones as long as they are properly trained. That could make situations like the one in El Paso more likely. Previously, only a select few federal agencies had that power.

    Here’s a look at what happened and the issues that raised:


    Communication issues acknowledged

    The government would say only that the airspace was shut down when an incursion by Mexican drug cartel drones was neutralized.

    But the two people who discussed sensitive details on condition of anonymity said the FAA grounded every aircraft in the El Paso area over concerns about the safety of the laser system being used near commercial planes. The restrictions were initially expected to last 10 days, but then they were lifted a few hours later.

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Friday that the government agencies involved in El Paso are working to address the concerns that led to the cancellation of more than a dozen flights and sent travelers scrambling.

    “This was a joint agency task force mission that was undertaken and we’re continuing to work on the communication through that,” Noem said in Arizona.

    But drone warfare expert Brett Velicovich said the dysfunction in Texas raises questions about whether the U.S. will be prepared to deal with a significant drone threat.

    “We need to simplify the authorities for who is really in charge and get these egos out of the way from these different agencies before an American gets hurt,” said Velicovich, who founded drone maker Power.us and consults on ways to mitigate their threats.

    Velicovich, who used to use Predator drones in the military to bomb targets, said it wouldn’t be hard for someone with malicious intent to buy a drone for a few hundred bucks and do great harm at a major public event like a World Cup match or the celebrations of America’s 250th birthday that are planned this summer.

    Cartels routinely use drones to deliver drugs across the Mexican border and surveil Border Patrol officers. Officials told Congress last summer that more than 27,000 drones were detected within 1,600 feet (500 meters) of the southern border in the last six months of 2024.

    The government recently handed out $250 million in grants to the 11 states that are set to host World Cup matches this summer to help them prepare for the threat of drones. Another $250 million in grants will be awarded later this year to strengthen the nation’s drone defenses.


    More near misses involving drones

    The threat to planes from drones continues to increase along with the number of near misses around airports. Homeland Security estimates there are more than 1.7 million registered drones flying in the United States, and that number has been growing.

    Larger drones are required to carry a radio transponder that identifies the drone’s owner and broadcasts its position to help avert collisions. Cities can also invest in additional sensors around stadiums to help quickly detect drones.

    Airspace Link, a Detroit company, created a low altitude air traffic control system to track drones and can alert authorities who might soon be able to take action. Cities can buy additional sensors to upgrade that system around stadiums or other high-profile locations.

    “We don’t want something to happen,” said CEO Michael Healander. “But we also want to be prepared to have the tools in place to take action, because these are such big global events.”


    Acting against rogue drones

    Common anti-drone systems use radio signals to jam or force drones to land. But the government has also developed high-powered microwaves or laser beams like the one sources say was used in Texas this week that are capable of disabling the machines.

    Some other systems station small drones to take flight quickly and ram into drones that are considered a threat. And there are systems that use bullets to shoot down drones.

    Michael Robbins, president and CEO of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International trade group, said these counter drone systems are more common in warzones than across the United States. But the government is working to get them into the hands of more officers nationwide.

    “It’s our belief that this is important technology that when responsibly used with proper oversight and intensive training will help to mitigate unsafe or malicious drones in the very rare instances where that needs to occur,” Robbins said.


    Pilots worry about drones

    Allied Pilots Association union spokesman Capt. Dennis Tajer said he’s not sure how big of a threat the counter drone technology is to the American Airlines jets he flies because so few details have been released about what happened in Texas. And officials with Homeland Security and the FAA didn’t respond to questions about it again on Friday.

    Tajer said he’s more concerned about the possibility of a passenger jet running into a drone because that could bring the plane down. A year ago, 67 people were killed when an American Airlines jet collided with an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C.

    “You don’t have to be a pilot, an engineer or a defense expert to understand that two pieces of metal in the sky that one doesn’t know the other is there and is uncontrolled is dangerous,” Tajer said. “We’ve got to keep those two pieces of metal away from each other.”

    Associated Press writer Josh Kelety contributed from Scottsdale, Arizona.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Fei-Fei Li and Andrej Karpathy Back a New A.I. Use Case: Simulating Human Behavior

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    A.I. pioneer Fei-Fei Li is lending her support to Simile’s effort to simulate human behavior at scale. John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images

    Every three months, public companies brace for analyst questions during quarterly earnings calls. But what if firms could predict these queries in advance and rehearse their responses? That’s one of the capabilities touted by Simile, a new A.I. startup spun out of Stanford and backed by acclaimed researcher Fei-Fei Li and OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy.

    Simile emerged from stealth yesterday (Feb. 12) with $100 million in funding from a round led by Index Ventures. Alongside Li and Karpathy, the startup—which hasn’t disclosed its valuation—also counts investors including Quora co-founder Adam D’Angelo and Scott Belsky, a partner at A24 Films.

    Li and Karpathy both have close ties to Simile’s founding team, which includes Stanford researchers Joon Park, Percy Liang and Michael Bernstein. Li is the co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered A.I. Institute and advised Karpathy during his Ph.D. study at the university. She is widely known for foundational work such as ImageNet, a large-scale image database that helped drive major breakthroughs in computer vision. Karpathy and Bernstein also contributed to that project.

    Simile’s mission of using A.I. to reflect and model societal behavior taps into an underexplored research area, according to Karpathy, who previously worked at OpenAI and Tesla before launching his own education-focused A.I. startup. While large language models typically present a single, cohesive personality, Karpathy argues they are actually trained on data drawn from vast numbers of people. “Why not lean into that statistical power: Why simulate one ‘person’ when you could try to simulate a population?” he wrote in a post on X.

    That idea underpins Simile’s broader goal. The Palo Alto-based startup aims to simulate the real-world effects of major decisions, from public policy to product launches, across virtual populations that mirror human behavior. The team has already tested this concept on a smaller scale through projects like Smallville, a 2023 Stanford experiment in which 25 autonomous A.I. agents interacted in a virtual environment.

    Now, Simile is scaling the approach for business use. After spending the past seven months developing its model, the company is already working with clients on applications ranging from product development to litigation forecasting. CVS Health Corporation, for example, uses Simile to create simulated focus groups, while Gallup uses the platform to build digital polling panels. For earning calls, Simile can predict about 80 percent of the questions that analysts ultimately ask, said Park, the startup’s CEO, during a recent appearance on TBPN.

    At present, Simile’s models are based on data from hundreds of thousands of people who have signed up for its studies. Over time, the company hopes to expand that to simulations representing the world’s entire population of roughly 8 billion people.

    Simile joins a growing wave of A.I. companies focused on using simulation to model real-world scenarios. Much of the existing research in this space has centered on physical systems, such as robotics and autonomous vehicles, through “world model” platforms developed by firms like Google and Nvidia.

    One of the most prominent figures in world models is Li herself. In 2024, she took a leave of absence from Stanford to launch World Labs, a startup that builds 3D digital environments from image and text prompts. The company has raised $230 million to date and is valued at more than $1 billion.

    Fei-Fei Li and Andrej Karpathy Back a New A.I. Use Case: Simulating Human Behavior

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  • Stocks Settle Slightly Higher as Bond Yields Fall

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    The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) on Friday closed up +0.05%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) closed up +0.10%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) closed up +0.18%.  March E-mini S&P futures (ESH26) rose +0.03%, and March E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQH26) rose +0.14%.

    Stock indexes recovered from early losses on Friday and settled higher. Falling bond yields were bullish for stocks on Friday after US January consumer prices rose less than expected, which may prompt the Fed to keep cutting interest rates.  The 10-year T-note yield fell to a 2.25-month low of 4.05% on the tame inflation news.

    Also, a recovery in software stocks was supportive of the overall market.  However, metal companies retreated on reports that the Trump administration is working to narrow its tariffs on steel and aluminum products.

    Stocks initially moved lower today, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 posting 1-week lows.  Worries over AI weighed on stocks and dampened market sentiment.  Concerns have surfaced that the latest tools released by Google, Anthropic, and other AI startups are already good enough to disrupt many sectors of the economy, including finance, logistics, software, and trucking.

    US Jan CPI rose +2.4% y/y, weaker than expectations of +2.5% y/y and the smallest pace of increase in 7 months.  Jan core CPI rose +2.5% y/y, right on expectations and the smallest pace of increase in 4.75 years.

    Q4 earnings season is in full swing, as more than two-thirds of the S&P 500 companies have reported earnings results.  Earnings have been a positive factor for stocks, with 76% of the 371 S&P 500 companies that have reported beating expectations.  According to Bloomberg Intelligence, S&P earnings growth is expected to climb by +8.4% in Q4, marking the tenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.  Excluding the Magnificent Seven megacap technology stocks, Q4 earnings are expected to increase by +4.6%.

    The markets are discounting a 10% chance for a -25 bp rate cut at the next policy meeting on March 17-18.

    Overseas stock markets settled lower on Friday.  The Euro Stoxx 50 closed down by -0.43%.  China’s Shanghai Composite closed down -1.26%.  Japan’s Nikkei Stock 225 fell closed down -1.21%.

    Interest Rates

    March 10-year T-notes (ZNH6) on Friday closed up by +12 ticks.  The 10-year T-note yield fell -4.2 bp to 4.056%.  Mar T-notes climbed to a 2.25-month high on Friday, and the 10-year T-note yield fell to a 2.25-month low of 4.045%.  T-notes recovered from overnight losses and moved higher on the smaller-than-expected US Jan CPI increase, which is dovish for Fed policy.  Also, bond dealer short covering boosted T-note prices as dealers lifted short hedges placed in T-note futures this week to hedge against the $125 billion of T-note and T-bond sales in the Treasury’s quarterly refunding.

    European government bond yields moved lower on Friday.  The 10-year German bund yield fell to a 2.25-month low of 2.753% and finished down -2.4 bp to 2.755%.  The 10-year UK gilt yield slid to a 3.5-week low of 4.404% and finished down -3.6 bp to 4.416%.

    The German Jan wholesale price index rose +0.9% m/m, the largest increase in a year.

    Swaps are discounting a 3% chance of a -25 bp rate cut by the ECB at its next policy meeting on March 19.

    US Stock Movers

    Software stocks rallied on Friday, helping lift the broader market.  Crowdstrike Holdings (CRWD) closed up more than +4%, and ServiceNow (NOW) closed up more than +3%.  Also, Salesforce (CRM), Palantir Technologies (PLTR), and Oracle (ORCL) closed up more than +2%.  In addition, Adobe Systems (ADBE) closed up +0.54%, and Intuit (INTU) closed up +0.32%. 

    Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks rose on Friday after Bitcoin (^BTCUSD) rallied more than +4%.  Coinbase Global (COIN) closed up more than +16% to lead gainers in the S&P 500.  Also, MARA Holdings (MARA) closed up more than +9%, and Strategy (MSTR) closed up more than +8%.  In addition, Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY) closed up more than +7%.

    Metal companies retreated on Friday on reports that the Trump administration is working to narrow its tariffs on steel and aluminum products.  Century Aluminum (CENX) closed down more than -7%, and Steel Dynamics (STLD) closed down more than -4%.  Also, Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) and Nucor Corp (NUE) closed down more than -3%, and Alcoa (AA) closed down more than -1%. 

    Tri Point Homes (TPH) closed up more than +26% after being acquired by Sumitomo Forestry for about $4.28 billion, or $47 a share.

    Rivian Automotive (RIVN) closed up more than +26% after reporting Q4 revenue of $1.29 billion, above the consensus of $1.26 billion, and forecasting full-year vehicle deliveries of 62,000 to 67,000, the midpoint above the consensus of 63,402.

    Maplebear (CART) closed up more than +9% after reporting Q4 total revenue of $992 million, stronger than the consensus of $971.8 million.

    Applied Materials (AMAT) closed up more than +8% after reporting Q1 adjusted EPS of $2.38, better than the consensus of $2.21, and forecasting Q2 adjusted EPS of $2.44 to $2.84, stronger than the consensus of $2.29.

    Roku (ROKU) closed up more than +8% after reporting Q4 net revenue of $1.39 billion, above the consensus of $1.35 billion, and forecasting full-year net revenue of $5.50 billion, better than the consensus of $5.34 billion.

    Dexcom (DXCM) closed up more than +7% after reporting Q4 revenue of $1.26 billion, better than the consensus of $1.25 billion.

    Arista Networks (ANET) closed up more than +4% to lead gainers after reporting Q4 revenue of $2.49 billion, better than the consensus of $2.29 billion, and forecasting Q1 revenue of $2.6 billion, above the consensus of $2.39 billion.

    Airbnb (ABNB) closed up more than +4% after reporting Q4 gross booking value of $20.4 billion, better than the consensus of $19.46 billion, and forecasting Q1 revenue of $2.59 billion to $2.63 billion, above the consensus of $2.54 billion.

    Pinterest (PINS) closed down more than -16% after reporting Q4 revenue of $1.32 billion, below the consensus of $1.33 billion, and forecasting Q1 revenue of $951 million to $971 million, weaker than the consensus of $980.9 million.

    DraftKings (DKNG) closed down more than -13% after forecasting full-year revenue of $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion, well below the consensus of $7.32 billion.

    Ryan Specialty Holdings (RYAN) closed down more than -12% after reporting Q4 total revenue of $751.2 million, weaker than the consensus of $774.7 million.

    Bio-Rad Laboratories (BIO) closed down more than -12% after reporting Q4 adjusted EPS of $2.51, below the consensus of $2.71.

    Constellation Brands (STZ) closed down more than -7% to lead losers in the S&P 500 after announcing Nicholas Fink will succeed Bill Newlands as CEO, effective April 13

    Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) closed down more than -7% after CEO Harry Sommer stepped down immediately and was replaced by John Chidsey.

    Expedia Group (EXPE) closed down more than -6% despite posting better-than-expected Q4 earnings after Bloomberg Intelligence warned that AI is “a long-term risk for the broader online travel industry.”

    Earnings Reports(2/17/2026)

    Allegion plc (ALLE), Builders FirstSource Inc (BLDR), Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS), Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), Devon Energy Corp (DVN), DTE Energy Co (DTE), EQT Corp (EQT), Expand Energy Corp (EXE), FirstEnergy Corp (FE), Genuine Parts Co (GPC), Kenvue Inc (KVUE), Labcorp Holdings Inc (LH), Leidos Holdings Inc (LDOS), Medtronic PLC (MDT), Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW), Republic Services Inc (RSG), Vulcan Materials Co (VMC).

    On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com

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  • Wendy’s closes US restaurants and focuses on value to turn around falling sales

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    Wendy’s is closing several hundred U.S. restaurants and increasing its focus on value after a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter.

    The Dublin, Ohio-based company said Friday that its global same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell 10% in the October-December period. That was worse than the 8.5% drop expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

    U.S. same-store sales fell even further in the fourth quarter. Wendy’s said late last year that it planned to close underperforming U.S. restaurants, but it gave more details about those closures Friday.

    Wendy’s said it already closed 28 restaurants in the fourth quarter and ended 2025 with 5,969 U.S. locations. It expects to close between 5% and 6% of its U.S. restaurants – or 298 to 358 locations – in the first half of this year.

    Those actions come on top of the closure of 240 U.S. Wendy’s locations in 2024. At the time, the 57-year-old chain said many of its locations are simply out of date.

    Like McDonald’s, Taco Bell and other rivals, Wendy’s also plans to emphasize value as it tries to win back inflation-weary customers.

    “One learning from 2025 around value, we swung the pendulum too far towards limited-time price promotions instead of everyday value,” said Ken Cook, Wendy’s interim CEO and chief financial officer, in a conference call with investors.

    In January, Wendy’s introduced a permanent “Biggie Deals” value menu with three price tiers: $4 Biggie Bites, $6 Biggie Bags and an $8 Biggie Bundle. Cook said Wendy’s also has new products coming this year, including a new chicken sandwich.

    Wendy’s said its revenue fell 5.5% in the fourth quarter to $543 million. That was higher than the $537 million analysts had forecast.

    Wendy’s expressed confidence that its U.S. turnaround plans and international growth will help arrest its sales slide this year. The company said it expects global systemwide sales — which includes sales at both company-owned and franchised restaurants — will be flat this year. Systemwide sales fell 3.5% last year.

    Wendy’s shares rose nearly 5% in mid-day trading Friday.

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    Analyst Report: Conoco Phillips

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  • Falling cocoa prices won’t necessarily mean cheaper Valentine’s Day chocolates

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    Cocoa prices have fallen nearly 70% since last Valentine’s Day, but that won’t make heart-shaped boxes of chocolate or even chocolate Easter bunnies more affordable this year.

    Chocolate prices at U.S. retail stores rose 14% between Jan. 1 and the first week of February compared to the same period last year, according to market research company Datasembly. That’s on top of a 7.8% increase for the same period in 2025.

    Europe has seen even steeper price increases. In Germany, chocolate prices rose 18.9% in 2025, according to government figures.

    Here’s what caused the price of cocoa futures to rise and then fall — and why that may not be reflected in the prices customers are paying.

    Cocoa prices more than doubled in 2024 due to insufficient rainfall and crop diseases in West Africa, which supplies more than 70% of the world’s cocoa. Cocoa, which is made from the dried beans of the cacao tree, is the main ingredient in both dark and white chocolate.

    Weather conditions have improved since then in Ivory Coast and Ghana, and cocoa production is increasing in Ecuador and other countries, according to an analysis by J.P. Morgan. The resulting supply increase is one reason cocoa prices are coming down.

    But they’re also dropping because of lower global demand. Chocolate getting more expensive has turned off consumers, so manufacturers have cut the amount of chocolate they use or shifted to other products like gummy candies to keep prices in check, said Chris Costagli, a food thought leader at the market research company NIQ.

    In the U.S., annual retail sales of chocolate rose 6.7% in 2025 compared to the prior year, largely because of price increases, according to NIQ data. But the number of individual products sold was down 1.3%, as consumers bought less chocolate overall.

    The Trump administration’s tariffs were another reason U.S. chocolate prices increased last year.

    The administration put a tariff averaging 15% on cocoa-producing countries last February, which raised the price of U.S. cocoa imports, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve.

    In November, the administration removed tariffs on cocoa and other commodities that can’t be grown in the U.S., including coffee, spices and tropical fruit.

    But tariffs of 15% or more on products from the European Union, including chocolates, remain in place.

    So far, declining cocoa prices haven’t necessarily let chocolate lovers pay less.

    Costagli compares the situation to gas prices. Even when the cost of oil goes down, prices at the pump don’t immediately follow because companies need to use up the oil they bought at a higher price.

    Chocolate makers like The Hershey Co. have long-term contracts that may require them to pay more than current cocoa prices. The market also is volatile; companies know that another bout of poor weather or a surge in demand could make cocoa prices surge again.

    But Costagli said companies also watch shoppers’ reaction to prices.

    “If the customer is still willing to pay that higher price point, do we really take the price down?” he said.

    Mondelez International, which owns chocolate brands like Oreo, Cadbury and Toblerone, raised its prices by 8% globally in 2025 to counter higher cocoa costs.

    In Europe, the company hiked prices by even more and saw a significant decrease in the amount of its products sold. As a result, Mondelez lowered prices this year in some markets, including the United Kingdom and Germany.

    “We have learned that certain price points are very important, and so we have adjusted already to put our products at the right price point,” Mondelez Chairman and CEO Dirk Van de Put said during a February conference call with investors.

    Van de Put said Mondelez didn’t plan immediate price cuts in North America, where both its price increases and its sales volume losses were more moderate.

    Two segments of the chocolate market grew in the U.S. last year: value brands and super-premium brands, Costagli said.

    The expanded interest in higher-end chocolate may seem surprising if consumers balked at paying more for a Snickers bar or a pack of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. But the companies behind super-premium lines like Ferrero Rocher, Justin’s and Lindt Excellence were less aggressive about instituting cocoa-related price increases since their products already were more expensive, Costagli said.

    As mainstream chocolate makers like Hershey and Mars raised prices, some customers decided they’d just spend a little more, he said.

    “It’s given the aspirational shopper that little push they need to trade up. If they wanted a better product, if they wanted better experience, better product characteristics, organic, fair trade, whatever it might be,” Costagli said.

    On the flip side, value brands — think Whitman’s or some store-brand chocolates — also sold more products in the U.S. last year as price-conscious shoppers traded down from mainstream brands.

    “The savings you get by trading down is actually greater than it used to be,” Costagli said. “So from an aspirational perspective, it’s easier to trade up, and from a financially insecure perspective, it saves you more to trade down.”

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  • Amazon scraps partnership with surveillance company after Super Bowl ad backlash

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    Amazon’s smart doorbell maker Ring has terminated a partnership with police surveillance tech company Flock Safety.

    The announcement follows a backlash that erupted after 30-second Ring ad that aired during the Super Bowl featuring a lost dog that is found through a network of cameras, sparking fears of a dystopian surveillance society.

    But that feature, called Search Party, was not related to Flock. And Ring’s announcement doesn’t cite the ad as a reason for the “joint decision” for the cancellation.

    Ring and Flock said last year they were planning on working together to give Ring camera owners the option to share their video footage in response to law enforcement requests made through a Ring feature known as Community Requests.

    “Following a comprehensive review, we determined the planned Flock Safety integration would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated,” Ring’s statement said.

    “The integration never launched, so no Ring customer videos were ever sent to Flock Safety.”

    Beyond the Flock partnership, Ring has faced other surveillance concerns.

    In the Super Bowl ad, a lost dog is found with Ring’s Search Party feature, which the company says can “reunite lost dogs with their families and track wildfires threatening your community.” The clip depicts the dog being tracked by cameras throughout a neighborhood using artificial intelligence.

    And viewers took to social media to criticize it for being sinister, leaving many wondering if it would be used to track humans and saying they would turn the feature off.

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that focus on civil liberties related to digital technology, said this week that Americans should feel unsettled over the potential loss of privacy.

    “Amazon Ring already integrates biometric identification, like face recognition, into its products via features like “Familiar Faces,” which depends on scanning the faces of those in sight of the camera and matching it against a list of pre-saved, pre-approved faces,” the Foundation wrote Tuesday. “It doesn’t take much to imagine Ring eventually combining these two features: face recognition and neighborhood searches.”

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  • Amazon Scraps Partnership With Surveillance Company After Super Bowl Ad Backlash

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    Amazon’s smart doorbell maker Ring has terminated a partnership with police surveillance tech company Flock Safety.

    The announcement follows a backlash that erupted after 30-second Ring ad that aired during the Super Bowl featuring a lost dog that is found through a network of cameras, sparking fears of a dystopian surveillance society.

    But that feature, called Search Party, was not related to Flock. And Ring’s announcement doesn’t cite the ad as a reason for the “joint decision” for the cancellation.

    Ring and Flock said last year they were planning on working together to give Ring camera owners the option to share their video footage in response to law enforcement requests made through a Ring feature known as Community Requests.

    “Following a comprehensive review, we determined the planned Flock Safety integration would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated,” Ring’s statement said.

    “The integration never launched, so no Ring customer videos were ever sent to Flock Safety.”

    In Super Bowl ad, a lost dog is found with Ring’s Search Party feature, which the company says can “reunite lost dogs with their families and track wildfires threatening your community.” The clip depicts the dog being tracked by cameras throughout a neighborhood on using artificial intelligence.

    And viewers took to social media to criticize it for being sinister, leaving many wondering if it would be used to track humans and saying they would turn the feature off.

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that focus on civil liberties related to digital technology, said this week that Americans should feel unsettled over the potential loss of privacy.

    “Amazon Ring already integrates biometric identification, like face recognition, into its products via features like “Familiar Faces,” which depends on scanning the faces of those in sight of the camera and matching it against a list of pre-saved, pre-approved faces,” the Foundation wrote Tuesday. “It doesn’t take much to imagine Ring eventually combining these two features: face recognition and neighborhood searches.”

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Gov. Stein visits N.C. ski resorts, celebrating industry during Winter Olympics

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    Gov. Josh Stein celebrated the ski industry in North Carolina on Friday, as the Winter Olympics are underway in Milan, Italy. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Gov. Stein is visiting three North Carolina ski resorts Friday and this weekend to highlight the industry

    • North Carolina is known as the “Winter Capital of the South”

    • The Winter Olympics are currently being held in Milan, Italy. Three North Carolinians, and five members of the Carolina Hurricanes are competing

    Stein was at the Appalachian Ski Mountain on Friday and plans to visit Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain this weekend to highlight the winter sport here at home, while three North Carolinians compete overseas.

    “For more than 60 years, North Carolina has been recognized as the Winter Capital of the South, offering the highest-elevation skiing in the eastern United States and welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors annually,” Stein’s office said in a news release on Thursday.

    According to Stein, North Carolina is home to six different ski resorts, each offering a wonderful experience for visitors, “whether you like zipping down the slopes, or sipping hot cocoa.”

    Just under 800,000 skiers and snowboarders of every level, beginner or expert, visit each year for the unique peaks and slopes, with some rising above 5,000 feet in elevation.

    “With the highest mountains, the biggest variety of activities and the best instruction for beginners, our ski areas have helped make North Carolina the winter sports capital of the South,” said Wit Tuttell, executive director of Visit NC. “Each year, it’s exciting to see the mountain landscapes extend their appeal with new developments on and off the slopes.”

    The ski industry in North Carolina supports about 2,000 jobs each year, bringing in nearly $250 million in economic activity.

    “Today, in the spirit of the Winter Olympics, I’m here to urge everyone to consider western North Carolina for your next winter vacation,” Stein said at an event on Friday at the Appalachian Ski Mountain.

    Last week, Stein announced his well wishes for each of the North Carolinians who are currently competing in the Winter Olympics, including Eunice Lee, a student at Duke Univerosty who is competing in speed skating, Mystique Ro, an alumnus of Queens University who is competing in skeleton racing, and Kayden Beasley, a North Carolina native who is competing in sled hockey. 

    In addition to these North Carolinians, five members of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team are competing in men’s ice hockey, representing four different countries.

    Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.



     

     

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  • Logistics giant DP World replaces chairman named in Jeffrey Epstein documents

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    Dubai has named a new chairman for DP World, one of the world’s largest logistics companies, replacing a chairman named in the Jeffrey Epstein files

    CAIRO — Dubai has name a new chairman for DP World, one of the world’s largest logistics companies, replacing the outgoing head who was named in the Jeffrey Epstein documents.

    The announcement by the government’s Dubai Media Office did not specifically name Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. However, it said that Essa Kazim was named DP World’s chairman and Yuvraj Narayan was named group CEO. Those were positions held by Sulayem.

    DP World has long been a pillar of the economy of the Middle Eastern city. DP World is a logistics giant that runs the Jebel Ali port in Dubai and operates terminals in other ports around the world.

    The announcement comes a day after financial groups in Canada and the United Kingdom said they’ve paused future ventures with DP World after newly released emails showed a yearslong friendship between Sulayem, and Epstein.

    The emails — some referencing porn, sexual massages and escorts — surfaced in the cache of Epstein-related documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice.

    Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 after he was charged with sex trafficking. The emails do not appear to implicate Sulayem in Epstein’s alleged crimes. DP World has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

    Sulayem previously had a larger role as chairman of the Dubai World conglomerate, which at the time included the property developer Nakheel. That company was behind the creation of human-made islands in the shape of palm trees and a map of the world that helped cement Dubai’s status as an up-and-coming global city.

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