News publisher Associated Press said on Thursday that it had reached an agreement with OpenAI to share access to select news content and technology as the two firms explore the use of generative AI in news.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/associated-press-openai-partner-explore-151436701.html
China's financial regulators have invited some of the world's biggest investors to a rare symposium next week, three sources said, seeking to encourage foreigners to keep investing in the world's second-largest economy despite its recent weakness and rising geopolitical tensions.
The meeting in Beijing next Friday will focus on the current conditions of U.S. dollar-denominated investment firms in China and the main challenges facing them, according to the sources who have direct knowledge of the matter and invitation documents reviewed by Reuters.
The gathering comes at a time when global investors and banks are warning that confidence is waning in China's economic outlook. The country's post-pandemic recovery is quickly losing steam and Sino-U.S. relations are at a low over national security issues -- including Taiwan, U.S. export bans on advanced technologies and China's state-led industrial policies.
Such a meeting, with a clear agenda to discuss challenges facing global fund managers investing in China, is rare, the three sources said, and reflected Beijing's keenness to shore up confidence among foreign investors.
Large foreign and domestic fund managers such as private equity (PE) firms, known as general partners (GPs), and their investors or limited partners (LPs) including sovereign wealth funds and pension funds are expected to join the meeting, said the sources.
They also will be encouraged to provide suggestions to help address challenges facing their businesses in China and share their outlook on the economy, according to the sources and documents.
The global funds which will attend will likely send their China-based senior staff, though some senior executives will be flying to China for the talks, the sources added.
All three sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak with the media.
Weighed down by strict COVID measures, China's economy grew just 3% in 2022, one of its worst showings in decades. Activity rebounded early this year after the curbs were abruptly lifted, but momentum has faded sharply since, while policy uncertainty and tensions between China, the U.S. and other Western powers have heightened.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-china-invites-global-investors-061845713.html
UnitedHealth Group reported a quarterly profit above analysts' estimates on Friday on lower-than-feared costs, weeks after the industry bellwether flagged rising medical costs due to an increase in non-urgent surgeries and outpatient visits.
The company posted an adjusted profit of $6.14 per share for the second quarter ended June 30, above analysts' expectations of $5.99, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Some health insurers have noted a spurt in recent months in the demand for outpatient services and elective surgeries such as hip and knee replacements, which patients had delayed due to COVID-related restrictions and a shortage of hospital staff.
The increased demand has led to industry bellwether UnitedHealth and smaller rival Humana warning of a jump in their medical costs for this year.
UnitedHealth's medical loss ratio - the percentage of spend on claims compared to premiums collected - was 83.2%, compared to analysts' expectations of 83.37%
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/unitedhealth-beats-quarterly-profit-estimates-095928137.html
by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,
Rheinmetall, Germany’s leading arms maker, will open a plant to manufacture tanks and other armored vehicles in Ukraine within the next 12 weeks as the West is looking to boost Ukraine’s weapons industry.
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger told CNN that the company will also train Ukrainians how to use and maintain the tanks they manufacture at the plant. He said Ukrainians need to learn how to "help themselves" and cannot rely on Europeans and Americans for maintenance.
The German company will operate the factory with Ukroboronprom, a Ukrainian state-owned defense firm. Papperger said the facility will be located in western Ukraine.
Other Western arms companies are looking to establish factories in Ukraine, and Russia has warned that it could target the plants.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia’s security council, warned in June that Russia should respond to Western arms manufacturing in Ukraine with "salvos of Kalibr (cruise missiles) and other Russian pyrotechnic devices."
Papperger insisted that the Rheinmetall plant would be able to be protected from any Russian attacks. "There are a lot of factories at the moment which are producing military goods [in Ukraine]. It is just another one — and we can protect that also," he said.
The war in Ukraine has been a boon for Rheinmetall and other Western arms makers. Papperger said that the focus right now is producing more artillery rounds, and his company is working on ramping up its annual production of shells from 100,000 to 600,000.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/germanys-leading-arms-maker-open-tank-factory-ukraine
Half of student borrowers said they will not earn enough to make payments on their student loans when they resume in October after a three-year pause, according to a recent survey.
The survey, conducted by Life and My Finances, found that among borrowers set to resume payments this fall, only 22 percent have planned how they would make them.
The survey measured the responses of 1,127 people with student loan debt.
Among 50 percent of survey respondents who said they could not afford to make student loan payments on their current income, close to 20 percent said someone might loan them the money, while others said they would cut their retirement contributions.
About 6 percent of borrowers surveyed said they would not make payments.
Close to two-thirds of those surveyed have a student loan balance of $20,000 or less, and more than a quarter owe between $20,001 and $60,000. Ten percent of survey respondents owe more than $60,000.
Still, the survey found about 6 percent of borrowers surveyed are heading toward default.
During an on-ramp period announced by the Biden administration after the Supreme Court struck down the president’s student debt forgiveness plan, borrowers who miss payments between October 2023 and September 2024 will do so without risking default or hurting their credit.
Nearly all borrowers in the survey believe the federal government should forgive at least a portion of student loans owed by more than 40 million people.
And separate polling from Intelligent.com shows that some who expected at least partial loan forgiveness to survive the Supreme Court spent extra money before the court’s June decision.
More than a third of student loan borrowers spent money they otherwise would not have when they believed a portion of their debt would be forgiven by the Biden administration, the poll found.
Most polled were confident they would receive some student debt relief as part of the Biden administration’s plan to forgive at least $10,000 for federal borrowers and up to $20,000 for those who received a federal Pell Grant while in school.
Borrowers said they used the extra money to cover a range of expenses, though 37 percent said they paid off other debts. Others used the funds on home repairs and rent payments.
The artificial sweetener aspartame may cause cancer, a World Health Organization-affiliated research group declared Thursday, even as another group linked to the international health body said the sweetener is safe to consume at the currently recommended levels.
The conflicting reports were released from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer research agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), a group of WHO and U.N. scientists that makes recommendations on how much of a product people can safely consume.
Aspartame is one of the most popular artificial sweeteners in the world, found in many diet sodas like Coke Zero and Diet Coke, some types of sugar-free foods, chewing gum and other products.
“The assessments of aspartame have indicated that, while safety is not a major concern at the doses which are commonly used, potential effects have been described that need to be investigated by more and better studies,” Francesco Branca, director of the WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, said in a statement.
According to WHO’s cancer research agency, aspartame is “possibly carcinogenic” to humans and associated with a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma, based on limited evidence of three studies.
But those three studies could have been influenced by chance, bias or other flaws.
There are 322 agents included in that classification, which means IARC put aspartame into the same category as engine exhaust, gasoline and infection with type 2 HIV, but also coconut oil soaps, aloe vera, pickled vegetables and nickel.
The separate WHO-affiliated food safety group, meanwhile, concluded that “there was no convincing evidence from experimental animal or human data that aspartame has adverse effects after ingestion.”
The committee said that the data evaluated “indicated no reason to change the previously established acceptable daily intake” of aspartame, which is 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day.
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recommended daily limit is 50 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight per day. Based on those guidelines, an occasional can of Diet Coke or chewing gum is unlikely to pose any risk.
The two agencies have different roles in evaluating substances. IARC, the cancer research group, looks at the strength of the scientific evidence of a cancer hazard but not the actual cancer risk.
Meanwhile the food safety group, JECFA, looks at all possible health impacts and conducts a risk assessment to determine the probability of a specific type of harm.
A number of public health agencies, including the FDA, have repeatedly said aspartame is safe, and public health experts as well as food and beverage industry executives have expressed concern that the conflicting reports will result in confusion.
On a website for “aspartame and other sweeteners,“ the FDA said aspartame “is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply” and noted the evidence “has continued to support the FDA’s conclusion that aspartame is safe for the general population when made under good manufacturing practices and used under the approved conditions of use.”
In a letter to the WHO sent in 2022, a top official in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said JECFA was best suited to conduct the review and expressed concern about the concurrent review.
A JECFA assessment considers all relevant toxicological endpoints, including carcinogenicity, wrote Mara Burr, director of the Multilateral Relations Office at HHS. In contrast, an IARC review would be “incomplete and its conclusions confusing to consumers” because it only relies on publicly available data, she wrote.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4096692-who-research-agency-warns-aspartame-may-cause-cancer/
The first over-the-counter (OTC) birth control pill has officially been approved, making it accessible without a prescription. But now the question is whether people will be able to afford the drug. |
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© THe Associated Press |
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Opill as an over-the-counter daily birth control pill. The drug will most likely become available in stores and online starting in early 2024 for women of all ages.
It is more than 90 percent effective at preventing pregnancies, making it more effective than other over-the-counter contraceptives like condoms or spermicides.
Reproductive rights activists said the decision could vastly expand access to contraceptives, particularly in rural areas where young women deal with logistical issues like meeting with a provider and obtaining a prescription.
But if Opill’s cost at the counter is financially prohibitive, then improvements in contraceptive access may not be quite as expansive as hoped.
Opill manufacturer Perrigo has yet to disclose what the retail price for the product will be, though it said in a statement that the drug will be “accessible and affordable to women and people of all ages.” A company executive told reporters there will be a patient assistance program to help people who want the drug but are struggling financially.
But even a small cost burden can present a significant barrier and make a drug inaccessible. A KFF survey from 2022 found nearly 40 percent of reproductive aged women surveyed would be willing and able to pay between $1 and $10 a month, but only about 16 percent would be willing and able to pay more than $20.
For example, the first OTC hearing aids were approved last year, but the average cost was significantly higher than what people would have paid with insurance coverage.
Opill has been available with a prescription for 50 years. The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover at least one prescription contraceptive as part of their benefits, but not any over-the-counter medication.
So barring any policy change, the retail price will determine how easily people can get it.
The White House has directed agencies to consider ways to cover the cost of birth control. President Biden also asked the relevant agencies to draft guidance for best practices for providing “seamless coverage” of OTC birth control. https://thehill.com/newsletters/health-care/4096674-will-otc-birth-control-be-affordable/ |
