
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Meta inched toward its highest-ever share price Friday, potentially completing the social media giant’s dramatic recovery amid Wall Street’s renewed faith in Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has refocused the firm&#8217;s attention on improving bottom lines.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Shares of Meta climbed as much as 1.7% to $382.59 in morning trading, hitting their highest level in more than two years and testing their prior intraday high of $384.33 set in September 2021.</p>



<p>Meta, which is also on the cusp of breaking its prior high closing share price of $382, can cap a significant comeback from the stock’s 77% collapse from its 2021 peak to its November 2022 nadir.</p>



<p>The 2021-22 unraveling, though coming as worsening economic conditions and the threat of higher interest rates broadly weighed on technology stocks, notably coincided with Meta’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisakim/2021/10/28/facebook-announces-new-name-meta/">name change</a>&nbsp;from Facebook to reflect the company’s shifting focus away from its core social media product and into Zuckerberg’s pet “metaverse” augmented and virtual reality passion project.</p>



<p>The metaverse push&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/07/26/metaverse-results-keep-getting-worse-at-meta/?sh=78e1c8672b24">proved</a>&nbsp;highly unpopular among investors, as the company’s augmented and virtual division reported $13.7 billion of operating losses in 2022.</p>



<p>But Meta shares came roaring back in 2023 as Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/03/14/meta-cuts-another-10000-jobs/?sh=1d164387725b">touted</a> the company’s “year of efficiency” <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-lay-off-employees-metaverse-silicon-unit-wednesday-2023-10-03/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">marked</a> by more than 20,000 layoffs and a push to boost profits, an effort that began to bear fruit in Meta’s results as the company is fresh off of its most profitable quarter ever, generating $13.9 billion in cash during the quarter ending September 30, 2022.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Meta was the S&amp;P 500’s second-best performer of 2023, returning almost 200%. Its gains came during a broad rally for big tech stocks, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index rose more than 40% last year. Zuckerberg, who owns about 13% of the company, grew much richer as Meta stock soared. His $134 billion net worth Friday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/?sh=51ad6d243e06">as estimated</a>&nbsp;by Forbes, is the fifth-largest fortune in the world.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>Meta is now within 2% of achieving a $1 trillion market capitalization for the first time in its history. Apple, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco, Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia are the only companies in the world now valued at over $1 trillion. Meta’s roughly $980 billion market cap Friday made it the world’s seventh-most valuable company.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>Meta will report fourth-quarter and full-year financial results February 1. Analysts expect Meta to report its most profitable year ever with a record $72.6 billion of projected EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), according to FactSet. </p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/"></a></p>


gettyimages-1197863868-594×594

Meta Stock On Cusp Of Record High—How It Emerged From 77% Plunge And Metaverse Fiasco


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Climate change could cut life expectancy by half a year, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000339" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a>&nbsp;published Thursday, illustrating another ominous consequence of human-driven global heating after scientists confirmed 2023 as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/01/09/2023-was-officially-the-worlds-hottest-year-on-record/?sh=5b4ccc086655">hottest year on record</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Changes in temperature and rainfall caused by climate change could shave six months off the average human lifespan, researcher Amit Roy said in a paper published in the journal PLOS Climate.</p>



<p>Roy, a researcher at The New School for Social Research and Bangladesh’s Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, came to the conclusion after analyzing life expectancy data from 191 countries between 1940 and 2020.</p>



<p>An annual temperature increase of 1 degree Celsius on its own would cut average human life expectancy by around five and a half months once other factors affecting lifespan like GDP are accounted for, Roy said.</p>



<p>Changes in rainfall—which is&nbsp;<a href="https://climate.ec.europa.eu/news-your-voice/news/how-climate-change-disrupting-rainfall-patterns-and-putting-our-health-risk-2023-08-03_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">disrupted</a>&nbsp;in a multitude of health-affecting ways by climate change—also have an impact on life expectancy, the data showed</p>



<p>Considered in isolation without temperature changes, an increase or decrease in rainfall could be both beneficial or detrimental depending on circumstances—for example, in an area already experiencing heavy rainfall or an area experiencing drought.</p>



<p>Forbes Daily: Get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday.Sign Up</p>



<p>By signing up, you accept and agree to our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/terms-and-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terms of Service</a>&nbsp;(including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and you acknowledge our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Privacy Statement</a>.</p>



<p>However, when considered alongside temperature changes, Roy—who developed a new composite index to consider the combined impact of the two features on life expectancy—found a more negative outcome, with a 10-point change on the index combining the two features leading to a six month drop on the average life expectancy.</p>



<p>Women and those in developing nations are disproportionately affected by the life expectancy hit, Roy said.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Scientists have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/01/09/2023-was-officially-the-worlds-hottest-year-on-record/?sh=5b4ccc086655">confirmed</a>&nbsp;2023 as the hottest year on record and experts warn 2024 could be hotter still. Experts overwhelmingly believe that human activity is driving significant and rapid climate change the likes of which our planet has never experienced and warn that even with drastic action to mitigate damage, a great deal of hardship from this is going to be in store for coming decades. While variations in climate are a normal and expected part of the planetary ecosystem, emissions of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane have disrupted natural cycles and help lock heat inside the planetary system. These temperature increases have disrupted climatic patterns and features like rainfall, which can both decrease and cause problems in the form of phenomena like drought and increase and cause issues like flooding in wetter areas. Without drastic and swift action to cut emissions, scientists&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/10/25/here-are-6-tipping-points-the-un-warns-could-soon-spell-disaster-for-humanity-from-space-junk-to-disappearing-water/?sh=710d0f72797a">warn</a>&nbsp;we will cross planetary tipping points from which there may not be a return and extreme weather like storms, droughts and freezes are expected to increase in both frequency and severity.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>While abundant research has documented a slew of negative health effects linked to climate change—including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/11/21/extreme-heat-killed-over-70000-in-europe-last-year-study-finds-this-year-is-on-track-to-be-even-worse/?sh=62fbcdd57929">potentially lethal heat</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/04/28/climate-change-could-spark-future-pandemics-study-finds/?sh=a5d1e2b57873">the risk of new deadly pandemics</a>, an uptick in extreme weather events and natural disasters and risks for those with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/04/climate-crisis-poses-greatest-risk-to-people-with-respiratory-illnesses-experts-warn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">breathing</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/publications/all-publications/the-impact-of-climate-change-on-mental-health-and-emotional-wellbeing-current-evidence-and-implications-for-policy-and-practice.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mental health</a>&nbsp;problems—Roy said none had yet established a direct link between the phenomenon and life expectancy.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“The global threat posed by climate change to the well-being of billions underscores the urgent need to address it as a public health crisis,” Roy said, adding: “mitigation efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and proactive initiatives are essential to safeguard life expectancy and protect the health of populations worldwide.&#8221;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/01/09/2023-was-officially-the-worlds-hottest-year-on-record/?sh=5b4ccc086655">2023 Was Officially The World’s Hottest Year On Record</a> (Forbes)</p>


Reports Indicate 2016 Was Hottest Year On Record

Climate Change Could Cut Months From Life Expectancy, Research Warns


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Annual carbon emissions from bottom trawling—a popular fishing method used to capture seafood at the bottom of the ocean—is equivalent to around 40% of annual transportation emissions in the U.S., a new study published Thursday found, reaffirming previous research on the harms of bottom trawling.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/our-approach/fishing-methods-and-gear-types/demersal-or-bottom-trawls" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bottom trawling</a>&nbsp;is a fishing method used to catch large quantities of fish at once, which involves dragging nets towed by boats along the ocean floor to catch fish and other marine animals.</p>



<p>When the nets scrape the ocean floor, they disturb and cut up the coal housed in the marine sediment, releasing carbon dioxide into the water that eventually finds its way into the atmosphere.</p>



<p>Between 55% and 60% of the carbon dioxide made underwater by bottom trawling will be released into the atmosphere within the following nine years, the Thursday study published in Frontiers in Marine Science found.</p>



<p>Around 370 million metric tons of carbon emissions were released into the atmosphere every year between 1996 and 2020 due to bottom trawling, equivalent to around 40% of all U.S. transportation emissions in 2022 (1,023 million metric tons)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=307&amp;t=10" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.</p>



<p>Annual bottom trawling emissions are more than double the annual fuel emissions from the global fishing fleet(<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0117-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">179 million</a>&nbsp;metric tons a year), almost double the annual emissions produced by volcanos (<a href="https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/news/volcano-watch-which-produces-more-co2-volcanic-or-human-activity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">200 million</a>&nbsp;metric tons) and 55% of all U.S. yearly agriculture emissions (<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/natural-resources-environment/climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">671.5 million</a>&nbsp;metric tons).</p>



<p>The researchers identified bottom trawling carbon dioxide emissions as the highest in the East China Sea, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Greenland Sea.</p>



<p>A previous&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03371-z" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;published in 2021 found bottom trawling releases as much carbon dioxide as the entire aviation industry, and there’s less carbon in trawled areas of the ocean than untrawled areas.</p>



<p>Forbes Daily: Get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday.Sign Up</p>



<p>By signing up, you accept and agree to our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/terms-and-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terms of Service</a>&nbsp;(including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and you acknowledge our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Privacy Statement</a>.</p>



<p>The practice’s controversy has led to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration banning it from some parts of the seafloor off the U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://montereybay.noaa.gov/resourcepro/ebmi/2020nmfs_rule.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">West Coast</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mpi.govt.nz/fishing-aquaculture/sustainable-fisheries/strengthening-fisheries-management/bottom-trawling/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New Zealand</a>&nbsp;restricting it from around 20% of its territorial sea and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL8N3706KS/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.K.</a>&nbsp;banning it from at least one body of water.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“The good news is that reducing bottom trawling carbon emissions will deliver immediate benefits,” Enric Sala, study author and executive director of ocean preservation company Pristine Seas, said in a statement. “The bad news is, delaying action ensures that emissions from trawling will continue seeping into the atmosphere a decade from now.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CONTRA</h2>



<p>Some researchers don’t believe bottom trawling emits as much carbon as previously reported. Researchers who wrote a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06014-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">response paper</a>&nbsp;to the 2021 study believe the study overestimated the carbon emissions of bottom trawling by between 100 and 1,000 times due to the researchers’ flawed assumption of the carbon cycle. Around 70% of buried carbon can be broken down by bottom trawling and release carbon dioxide, according to the 2021 study. However, buried carbon isn’t reactive to oxygen, and therefore most of it cannot be broken down, the response paper says. “It doesn’t mean [the 2021 study] can’t be important, but it does mean that the model makes no sense,” lead author of the response paper and researcher at Bangor University in Wales&nbsp;<a href="https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/premium/environment-sustainability/response-paper-aims-to-debunk-the-theory-that-bottom-trawling-releases-as-much-carbon-as-air-travel" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;SeafoodSource News. A separate&nbsp;<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.16105" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">paper</a>&nbsp;released in 2022 challenged claims that there was less carbon in trawled areas compared to untrawled areas. It reviewed 49 papers and found 61% saw no difference, 29% reported less carbon in untrawled areas and 10% reported higher carbon levels in trawled areas of the ocean.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>19 million tons. That’s how much seafood is caught by bottom trawling annually, making bottom trawling responsible for over a quarter of all wild-caught seafood captured each year, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1802379115" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Besides releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, bottom trawling has other dangerous effects. Between 40% to 45% of carbon released by bottom trawling remains in the ocean, which increases ocean acidification and leads to harmful damage on aquatic plants and animals, according to Thursday’s paper. The practice can also lead to a change in nutrient levels, the destruction of habitats and plant roots and reduce photosynthesis in ocean-dwelling organisms,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usgs.gov/programs/cmhrp/news/what-drag-global-impact-bottom-trawling" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the U.S. Geographical Survey, an arm of the Department of the Interior. It’s also believed bottom trawling is wasteful:&nbsp;<a href="https://marine-conservation.org/archive/mcbi/DSCC_RedHerrings.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50%</a>&nbsp;of all unwanted and discarded fish by the fishing industry is caught through bottom trawling. This is equivalent to around 437 million tons of discarded fish, or a loss of $560 billion, the University of California, Santa Barbara&nbsp;<a href="https://emlab.ucsb.edu/blog/overlooked-impact-bottom-trawling" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/climate/climate-change-oceans.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Looking for Climate Solutions? Protect More Ocean, Researchers Find.</a>&nbsp;(New York Times)</p>


Crew members of purse seiner hauling in net while fishing for salmon

Here’s How Much Carbon Emissions Are Caused By A Popular—And Controversial—Fishing Method, According To Study


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>The Emmy Awards hit a record low for viewership Monday night, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/emmys-ratings-record-low-1235873962/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multiple</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/business/media/emmy-awards-ratings.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a>, attracting 4.3 million total viewers—a 27% drop from the 2022 Emmys, which brought in 5.9 million viewers.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Monday’s 75th Emmy Awards aired on Fox and scored a 0.85 rating among adults 18-49, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/emmys-ratings-record-low-1235873962/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Variety</a>, which cited preliminary data from Nielsen, representing the lowest viewership total on record.</p>



<p>The awards show ran at the same time as an NFL playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as well as the Iowa caucuses.</p>



<p>The show created&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/best-social-media-reactions-to-the-2024-emmy-awards" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">buzz on social media</a>&nbsp;and was a highlight for Fox despite the poor ratings, becoming the network’s most-watched Monday unscripted telecast in more than eight-and-a-half years.</p>



<p>This year’s installment of the Emmys was delayed by four months due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, bucking its yearly tradition of airing in August or September.</p>



<p>Cast and producers behind “Succession,” “The Bear” and “Beef” dominated several categories, with “The Bear” bringing in the most Emmy wins of any show with&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2024/awards/news/emmy-2023-2024-hbo-wins-by-show-platform-1235872548/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10 total</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The drop in Emmy viewership this year may also be due to awards show fatigue, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-01-16/fox-telecast-75th-emmy-awards-ratings-low" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Los Angeles Times</a>&nbsp;reported, noting the quick turnaround from the Golden Globe Awards’ Jan. 7 broadcast and the Critics Choice Awards’ Sunday broadcast, which meant many of the same award winners from the Emmys had already made repeated appearances on stage days before. The Emmys broadcast on Fox meant cable-cutters had to flock to either YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV. Both platforms have monthly subscription costs totalling more than $70. Most other prestige award shows have recorded favorable rebounds in recent years including the Oscars, Grammys and last week’s Golden Globes, which had a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-01-08/golden-globe-awards-9-4-million-viewers-cbs-robert-downey-jo-koy#:~:text=A%20new%20owner%20and%20TV,when%20it%20aired%20on%20NBC." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50% jump</a>&nbsp;in viewership from last year and raked in 9.4 million viewers.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://variety.com/2024/awards/news/emmy-2023-2024-hbo-wins-by-show-platform-1235872548/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">‘The Bear,’ ‘Beef’ Lead 2023 Emmy Wins, HBO Nabs Most Wins by Network</a> (Variety)</p>


75th Primetime Emmy Awards – Press Room

75th Emmys Bring In Just 4.3 Million Viewers—An All-Time Low


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Apple will be allowed to sell a redesigned version of some of its smartwatches, after successfully arguing that some models do not contain a contested blood-oxygen detection technology, a court filing revealed Monday, in an effort to overcome a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesfarrell/2023/12/26/apple-watch-import-ban-starts-today-heres-what-to-know-as-newer-watch-sales-stop/?sh=43c62b272e67">recent ban</a>&nbsp;implemented by the U.S. International Trade Commission last month on certain Apple watch models because of an ongoing patent infringement case.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Apple can sell watches, including the Series 9 and Ultra 2, that do not include a pulse oximeter function—a way to measure the oxygen level of blood— California-based company Masimo Corp. said in a court filing Monday after suing Apple for patent infringement.</p>



<p>The decision was made Friday by the enforcement branch of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection but wasn’t known publicly until Monday when Joseph R. Re, an attorney for Masimo, wrote to the U.S. Court of Appeals informing the court that Apple had been told the redesign falls outside the scope of the initial decision.</p>



<p>Re said in the filing the government had no objection to Apple importing Apple Watches if they did not contain the blood-oxygen detection technology, which is at the heart of their patent infringement suit.</p>



<p>Apple and Masimo did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>If the ITC disagrees with U.S. Customs and Border Protection decision, it could be overruled.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>In October, the ITC ruled Apple infringed on a patent of medical technology manufacturer Masimo, and issued an order banning sales and imports of watches that contained the pulse oximeter function. The Biden Administration had 60 days to decide whether they would allow the decision to take effect. Ahead of that decision, Apple preemptively&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesfarrell/2023/12/18/apple-halts-sale-of-watch-series-9-and-ultra-2-over-patent-dispute/?sh=70e7ac157fa2">pulled</a>&nbsp;the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models of its watches from shelves. On Dec. 26, the U.S. Trade Representative&#8217;s office&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2023/december/ustr-statement-section-337-review" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;they would not reverse the decision and allowed it to take effect and that same day Apple filed an appeal. One day later, the U.S Court of Appeals ruled Apple could sell its Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Apple Watch Series 9 after Apple argued it would “suffer continuing irreparable harm to its reputation and goodwill” if it was not allowed to sell Apple Watches with the technology.</p>



<p>Forbes Daily: Get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday.Sign Up</p>



<p>By signing up, you accept and agree to our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/terms-and-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terms of Service</a>&nbsp;(including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and you acknowledge our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Privacy Statement</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesfarrell/2023/12/26/apple-watch-import-ban-starts-today-heres-what-to-know-as-newer-watch-sales-stop/?sh=43c62b272e67">Apple Watch Import Ban Starts Today—Here’s What To Know As Newer Watch Sales Stop</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2023/12/27/ban-on-apple-watch-sales-paused-by-appeals-court/?sh=2f5c7d614555">Ban On Apple Watch Sales Paused By Appeals Court</a> (Forbes)</p>


Apple iPhone 15 And Apple Watch Series 9 Launches In Australia

Apple Can Sell Redesigned Watches Despite Import Ban

Green Modern Split Screen Tutorial YouTube Thumbnail (12)

50 OVER 50: EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA 2024


<p><strong>The accountants certified that Tingo Group had $462 million in the bank. The SEC says it was just $50. Short sellers are rejoicing.</strong></p>



<p>Hindenburg Research, known for sniffing out corporate scams, took aim in June at an obscure Nigeria-based outfit named Tingo Group. Hindenburg rolled out a report with a title that left little to the imagination:&nbsp;<a href="https://hindenburgresearch.com/tingo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Fake Farmers, Phones, and Financials – The Nigerian Empire That Isn’t.”</a>&nbsp;But Hindenburg didn’t just call Tingo a clear-cut scam. The short-seller also threw a spotlight on the auditor who green-lit Tingo’s financials, challenging its competence, and perhaps its willingness, to see the truth.</p>



<p>“The issues in Tingo’s financials are glaring enough that we’d expect they could have been spotted by any semi-conscious finance undergrad with severe vision loss,” Hindenburg wrote. “These issues were apparently not glaring enough for the company’s auditor, however.”</p>



<p>The auditor in question was Deloitte, the behemoth Big Four accounting firm with annual revenue of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/about/press-room/global-revenue-announcement.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$65 billion</a>&nbsp;through a global network that stretches from Amsterdam to Zhengzhou.</p>



<p>In November, after Tingo’s stock had already fallen about 80% wiping out more than $700 million in market value, the Tingo saga took a sharp turn. The Securities and Exchange Commission stepped into the fray,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/suspensions/2023/34-98920.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">slamming the brakes</a>&nbsp;on Tingo’s stock trading. In December, the SEC slapped Tingo CEO Dozy Mmobuosi with charges of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-25915" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“massive fraud.”</a>&nbsp;Things only got worse this month, when the regulator&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/founder-and-former-ceo-tingo-companies-charged-securities-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tacked criminal securities fraud charges</a>&nbsp;onto the bill of consequences. According to the SEC’s civil complaint, Tingo, whose audited books boasted a $462 million treasure chest socked away in Nigerian banks, actually had only $50.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>“The issues in Tingo’s financials are glaring enough that we’d expect they could have been spotted by any semi-conscious finance undergrad with severe vision loss.”Hindenburg Research</p>
</blockquote>



<p>Auditors are supposed to be the financial world’s most trusted sources of information, armed with calculators and sworn to sniff out fiscal misconduct. A flip through history tells a different story: too often auditors, who are paid fees by the clients they are examining, fail to dig below the surface, and essentially rubber stamp seemingly obvious inconsistencies and problems in financial statements. Worse, some would even say they’re part of the problem, either by not being sharp enough or by looking the other way at the outrageous claims of their clients.</p>



<p>“As outsiders, we’d like to think that auditors are looking for fraud, but fraud detection isn’t one of their mandates,” Matthias Breuer, an accounting professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>. “Auditors don’t go into their work with an adversarial mindset. Their mandate isn’t to be a whistleblower, and because of that it’s usually insiders and short-sellers that uncover these issues.”</p>



<p>Need a few examples? Ernst &amp; Young, after nodding approval at Wirecard’s books, could only watch as the German firm imploded over a $2.08 billion vanishing act. Remember Arthur Andersen? Once an auditing giant, it crumbled under the weight of its involvement in Enron’s notorious collapse. And let’s not forget the infamous 1MDB saga, which roped in the trifecta of Ernst &amp; Young, KPMG and Deloitte, as billions earmarked for development in Malaysia were splurged on lavish parties, opulent real estate and a cache of Monets and Van Goghs. That one cost Deloitte&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-03/malaysia-says-received-80-million-1mdb-settlement-from-deloitte?embedded-checkout=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$80 million</a>&nbsp;when it settled with the country in 2021, a hefty sum, but nothing compared to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/deloitte-touche-agrees-pay-1495-million-settle-claims-arising-its-audits-failed-mortgage#:~:text=The%20Justice%20Department%20announced%20today,%2C%20Bean%20%26%20Whitaker%20Mortgage%20Corp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$150 million</a>&nbsp;it paid to the U.S. government in 2018 for its role in auditing failed mortgage lender Taylor, Bean &amp; Whitaker.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-routine-failures">Routine Failures</h2>



<p>Auditing failures, despite the cost in money and reputation to the auditors, are practically routine. A 2020 study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners showed that auditors uncover less than 4% of frauds. That’s a dismal track record, for sure, but there are a couple of reasons why it actually makes a bit of sense.</p>



<p>First off, auditing is pretty much a by-the-book routine, says Columbia’s Breuer, which provides an opinion on whether companies’ financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting standards, and whether companies maintain sound financial controls. It’s a straightforward, no-frills affair, and that’s just how the auditing world prefers it.</p>



<p>“What’s happened in the audit industry is that they’ve lobbied to do check-the-box exercises to limit their legal liability,” he told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>. “They’re just trying to satisfy the auditing standards, they’re not necessarily trying to attest to the real economic reality of the business.”</p>



<p>Secondly, despite their expertise, auditors are often outfoxed by companies willing to lie to them. Firms can concoct a tangle of fictitious documents, hide critical information, or devise schemes so elaborate they’re nearly impossible to decipher without a whistleblower’s help.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>A 2020 study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners showed that auditors uncover less than 4% of frauds</p>
</blockquote>



<p>But Deloitte’s Tingo case isn’t one you can just brush off with the usual excuses. It stands out because Hindenburg, along with a crew of independent internet detectives, managed to cut through the smoke and mirrors without any insider help.</p>



<p>Hindenburg’s exposé on Tingo, echoed by the SEC allegations, hints at a more unsettling issue. Auditors get their paychecks from the companies they’re supposed to keep honest. (Tingo paid&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/854800/000121390023025186/f10k2022_tingogroupinc.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$1.6 million</a>&nbsp;in audit fees in 2022.) This setup can lead to auditors playing it safe, avoiding the hard-hitting questions that could upset a paying customer.</p>



<p>How did Deloitte, the auditing heavyweight watching over Tingo’s books, miss a scam that Hindenburg, an outsider, called out as painfully obvious?</p>



<p>Maybe the answer lies in who was holding Deloitte’s magnifying glass. Tingo, balancing its act between Nigeria and the Nasdaq in New York, wasn’t checked by Deloitte’s team in Nigeria. Instead, it was Deloitte’s Israeli branch, Brightman Almagor Zohar &amp; Co., that certified the books. That’s a head-scratcher, especially since, as Hindenburg highlighted, Tingo didn’t really do much business in Israel. Why not use auditors who operate where the action is? It almost seems like a move to keep the auditors just far enough away so they wouldn’t stumble upon anything they shouldn’t.</p>



<p>In response to questions from&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>, a spokesperson for Deloitte Israel declined to comment, saying “professional standards prohibit our commenting on client matters.” Tingo didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-astonishing-gap">Astonishing Gap</h2>



<p>The discrepancy between what Deloitte certified — $461.7 million — and Tingo’s actual cash balance of $50 was “astonishing,” Ed Ketz, an accounting professor at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;in an email. “The cash account is the most important balance sheet account and one of the easiest to audit,” he said. “One wonders how Deloitte Israel could have missed that.”</p>



<p>Verifying a company’s cash is a foundational part of the auditing process and one of the boxes auditors are supposed to check, said Stephani Mason, an accounting professor at the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University.</p>



<p>“In the process of an audit there are some pretty basic things that should be done,” Mason told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>. “One of those is confirming cash balances by sending a form that goes directly to the client’s bank. The standard essentially says that the auditor has to verify the bank account independently.”</p>



<p>You’d think the obvious move would be to tighten standards on checking companies’ bank balance claims. But just cranking up the standards might not stop the deceit. In fact, academics argue that squeezing the fraud balloon doesn’t deflate it, it just pushes the hot air somewhere else.</p>



<p>A 2021 paper from folks at the University of Minnesota and Indiana University, titled&nbsp;<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3762260" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Everlasting Fraud,”</a>&nbsp;lays it out. Fraud, they say, shifts shapes, constantly morphing as crafty companies stay one step ahead of regulators in a relentless game of cat and mouse. While regulators are busy learning from old scams like Enron’s off-the-books creativity, companies like Wirecard, and allegedly Tingo, are out there boldly cooking up fake bank balances. It’s a gutsy move, a bet that it’s so obvious that auditors might figure no company would even try it, and not even check.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-their-job">Not Their Job</h2>



<p>“If the auditors were really after fraud, I think they could find it,” Columbia’s Breuer told Forbes. “But that’s not the nature of their business. It’s not great for an auditor’s career to claim fraud with a client. They’re very cautious to not be too alarmist too often. That’s why they may look the other way or never get started on these things.”</p>



<p>An added impediment to accountability is the way auditing firms are set up, with offices in different countries acting more like independent franchises than branches of a central tree. That means Deloitte’s main office may never have to pay for this ridiculous oversight. Each office is its own island, so the fallout tends to stay local.</p>



<p>Where you might spot some consequences for auditors, however, is in the stock market. In the short term, Deloitte’s other client companies could feel a bit of a chill. There’s precedent for this. Consider what happened with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ clients after the “OscarGate” fiasco.</p>



<p>Rewind to 2017. PwC had the seemingly simple job of tallying votes for the Academy Awards. In the world of auditing tasks, this was so easy it was a bit dull, but with a hefty upside of a mountain of free publicity. Still, PwC screwed the pooch. Its accountants handed over the wrong envelope for the best picture award (<em>La La Land</em>&nbsp;instead of&nbsp;<em>Moonlight</em>) and what should have been a seamlessly glamorous affair turned into a comedy of errors, swapping the auditor’s PR triumph for a dose of public embarrassment.</p>



<p>Researchers&nbsp;<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3216232" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lawrence Abbott and William Buslepp</a>&nbsp;decided to investigate how PwC’s blunder — witnessed by millions of TV viewers around the world — might ripple out to its clients. They dug into the data and, lo and behold, it was PwC’s roster of clients who ended up feeling the pinch.</p>



<p>“We find that abnormal returns in the days following the error are significantly lower for PwC clients,” the researchers wrote, “suggesting an impaired reputation for audit quality.”</p>



<p>Basically, for a brief spell — the study pegs it at a month — the market was giving PwC’s clients the side-eye. Investors discounted the companies’ financial statements, all because they started wondering if they could really trust what was in them.</p>



<p>“In my expectation, this isn’t likely to affect the Deloitte U.S. firm,” DePaul’s Mason told <em>Forbes</em>. “The SEC can fine Deloitte Israel, disgorge profits, or even give them the death knell, so to speak, by barring them from auditing companies in this jurisdiction. But what I’m interested in is what other companies have they done work for? If I was an investor long on a client Deloitte Israel audited, I’d be very concerned.”</p>


0x0 (1)

How Auditor Deloitte Missed A Nigerian Company’s Massive Fraud


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>The Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday it’s investigating whether Boeing failed to ensure its planes were safe for flying after a a “plug” door fell off a 737 Max 9 plane flying from Portland, Oregon.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The FAA&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1745491519266542047" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;it notified Boeing of the investigation, saying it was prompted by the Alaska Airlines 1282 flight, where a “plug” type passenger door blew off the Boeing Model 737 Max 9 plane mid-air, prompting an emergency landing.</p>



<p>Every Boeing 737 Max 9 with a “plug” door has been grounded since Saturday.</p>



<p>The FAA said that the “incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again.”</p>



<p>In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.boeing.com/737-9-updates/index.page" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>&nbsp;Thursday, Boeing said it would cooperate “fully and transparently” in both the FAA investigation and an ongoing National Transportation Safety Board investigation.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Safety concerns regarding Boeing’s 737 Max 9 planes have continued since the Jan. 5 incident. Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines—the two U.S. airlines that use the 737 Max 9 planes—have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/no-data-captured-alaska-airlines-737-cockpit-voice-recorder-ntsb-chair-2024-01-08/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;finding loose parts on grounded Max 9 aircraft. And Wednesday, Alaska Airlines&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/01/10/alaska-airlines-cancels-all-boeing-737-max-9-flights-this-week-after-hole-blown-into-plane-during-flight/?sh=6d5a18062273">canceled</a>&nbsp;all flights using Boeing 737 Max 9 planes, awaiting instruction from the FAA. It represents the latest major safety setback for Boeing, which garnered international scrutiny in 2019, two Boeing 737 Max 8 planes were involved in fatal crashes within the span of less than a year. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation into the Alaska Airlines incident, and has since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/01/08/jet-door-blown-off-alaska-airlines-plane-is-found-in-oregon-schoolteachers-backyard/?sh=2aa3337e2d43">found</a>&nbsp;the plane door, which landed in an Oregon school teacher’s backyard.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



<p>Elon Musk has used the Boeing incident to continue his attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion corporate policies, implying without evidence on X in recent days that the plane-maker’s pursuit of diversity may have made air travel less safe. The posts drew <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/elon-musk-boeing-dei-diversity-x-posts-pilots-rcna133351" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rebuke</a> from civil rights groups.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT WE DON’T KNOW</h2>



<p>When the grounding of Boeing planes with “plug” doors may end. The FAA said in its Jan. 9 announcement that “the safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning the Boeing 737-9 Max to service.”</p>


US-AVIATION-BOEING

Boeing Under Investigation For 737 Max 9


<p><strong>More states are now giving money to families who pull their kids out of public school, creating a pot that can be spent on online learning and microschool programs.</strong></p>



<p>In September, Sandra Testo pulled her 14-year-old son, Keaton, out of his public middle school in Trinity, Florida—a response, she says, to years of bullying that had left him so anxious he ended up routinely hiding out in the school nurse’s office. Keaton now spends his days at home, completing his 8th grade coursework via Outschool, an online learning platform that offers live virtual classes for K-12 students. On Tuesdays, he attends a Christian co-op with other kids his age to study art and play basketball. “It’s been the best thing,” Sandra Testo says. “His demeanor has changed. He’s just so calm now.” Testo pays about $300 per month for Outschool from an educational savings account (ESA) funded by Florida.</p>



<p>Homeschooling is booming for a variety of reasons, but chief among them are dissatisfaction with public schools that spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic and $5 billion a year (and growing) of state stipends for families opting for public school alternatives. Those can include traditional private schools, online classes, homeschooling and microschools—networks of in-person learning “pods” with one teacher and a dozen to two dozen kids, often using online courses.</p>



<p>It all adds up to a growing parent-driven market for the edtech industry, says Michael Moe, founder and CEO of GSV Ventures, which backs educational startups. “Personally, I think the most exciting opportunity is in microschools, but homeschool, charter schools, low-cost private schools and virtual charter schools are all positioned well for this coming boom,” he says.</p>



<p>In 2019, before the pandemic, 3.7% of children aged 5 to 17 were schooled primarily at home either by parents or through virtual classes, up from 2% in 1999, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2023/2023101.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;by the National Center for Education Statistics, which attributes that increase in part to information technology making home instruction more feasible. The NCES doesn’t have more recent data yet, but an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2023/homeschooling-growth-data-by-district/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analysis</a>&nbsp;by the&nbsp;<em>Washington Post&nbsp;</em>found the number of homeschooled children has surged 51% since the 2017-18 school year. Meanwhile, private school enrollment rose just 7% while public school enrollment declined 4%. The big spurt in homeschooling came during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, when virtual classes and mask mandates were widespread. Since then, as public schools have returned to (more or less) normal, homeschooling numbers have dropped some, but held on to much of their pandemic era gains. Notably, some of the students who fled public school for home during the pandemic are now enrolling in microschools.</p>



<p>A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/09/26/home-schooling-vs-public-school-poll/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">poll&nbsp;</a>conducted in August for the&nbsp;<em>Post</em>&nbsp;found homeschooling has spread well beyond the Christian conservatives most associated with the movement in recent decades. These days, homeschooling families increasingly cite anxiety over school safety (including bullying and violence) as well as a belief that what is available online is better than the instruction in local public schools, with a majority now&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/tablet/2023/09/25/aug-1-10-2023-washington-post-schar-school-home-schooling-poll/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">using online live or recorded classes</a>.</p>



<p>This parent-driven opportunity is a rare bright spot for an edtech industry still struggling through the bust that followed its Covid boom. Funding for U.S. edtech startups in 2023 totaled $3.2 billion, down dramatically from the $9.5 billion raised in 2022 and $20.3 billion in 2021, according to data from Crunchbase. (In 2019, before the pandemic, the industry received $2.2 billion in investment.) The Covid-era funding frenzy came as three federal stimulus packages showered&nbsp;<a href="https://covid-relief-data.ed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$190 billion</a>&nbsp;on K-12 schools—money was spent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/k-12-federal-covid-relief-what-can-we-learn-from-doing-school-funding-differently/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on everything</a>&nbsp;from beefing up technology for online learning, to making schools physically safer, to mental health supports and catch-up instruction for students. (Schools must spend their final Covid dollars by this coming September.)</p>



<p>As the federal windfall ends, new money to support the parent-driven boomlet is coming from state-funded educational savings accounts. Back in 2020, there were just four state ESA programs serving about 25,000 children and doling out around $100 million annually, says Joe Connor, founder and CEO of Odyssey, a platform that aims to connect state ESA programs with parents and education vendors. Today, 13 states have programs (some have more than one program, with different eligibility and funding) providing $5 billion a year to parents, he says. Those numbers are likely to grow. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/the-top-10-education-trends-for-2023" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">33 state legislatures considered ESA programs last year</a>&nbsp;and that it is now tracking nearly 100 such proposals.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<p>In August 2022, Melissa Shah, a Gilbert, Arizona mother of three, used a state funded ESA to enroll her now 16-year-old son into a KaiPod microschool. He’s neurodiverse and excels at math, but struggles with writing and reading comprehension. “Being able to customize your child’s education allows both the child and the family to increase their quality of life,” Shah says. “My son is finally feeling challenged in math, but it took until 11th grade. He spent so many years being bored in this subject, but not until we moved to an accelerated online private school paired with KaiPod Learning did he really shine.” Her son is now making plans to attend college—something Shah doesn’t think he would have considered without the opportunity he’s now had to forge his own educational path.</p>



<p>While ESAs are clearly boosting the money available to parents, Amar Kumar, founder of Boston-based KaiPod, argues they’re actually a “lagging indication” of growing parental demands for more control over their children’s education. “The way I see it is—ESAs follow what’s happening on the ground. As more and more families are saying, ‘Hey, I want to tailor my child’s education the way I see fit,’ that’s when politicians come on board and say, ‘Okay, then you should be able to use your tax dollars to do that.’”</p>



<p>Since launching in 2021 with seed funding from Y Combinator and EO Ventures, among others, KaiPod has helped independent teachers set up 49 pods and has opened 19 of its own company-run pods across five states. About half its current students were homeschooled before enrolling, while another quarter left full-time online schooling to join KaiPod and the last quarter left traditional public or private schools, Kumar says. Each pod is typically made up of 12 to 14 students and one educator. The pod covers a range of school subjects—from math to reading to science—with each student following their own self-paced and family-selected curriculum. Tuition prices vary by pod. In Nashua, New Hampshire, a five-day, Monday through Friday plan costs $6,600 per academic year. In Rosewell, Georgia, the same plan costs parents $9,000 per year. Parents also have the option to purchase two, three or four-day plans at most locations.</p>



<p>If parents have not already settled on a homeschooling curriculum, KaiPod helps them construct one. “So they may choose an a la carte approach of curriculum—Khan Academy for Math or Lexia for reading or something else for science,’’ Kumar says. “And then they come to the Kai pod three, four or five days a week to do all the other things and have a safe place to work.”</p>



<p>Outschool, a San Francisco-based online learning service, has seen a surge in business from ESAs, with the number of users paying with the accounts growing six fold in 2023, reports founder and CEO Amir Nathoo. Over the course of 2023, Outschools’ weekly receipts from ESA funds increased from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands, he says. Currently, about half of the 100,000 monthly users of the platform are homeschooled, while others use it to supplement their public or private education. (The service, which was launched from the 2016 Y Combinator class, raised $110 million at a $3 billion valuation in 2021, bringing its total funding to $242 million from more than two dozen investors.)</p>



<p>Tony Wan, head of platform at Reach Capital, an education-focused VC firm that has invested in Outschool, cites state funded ESAs as one of the most important K-12 education trends to watch this year. “We anticipate demand for ESAs to grow as parents continue to seek alternatives for their children who they feel are not well served by existing and local options,” offers Wan, whose firm has also invested in other companies that sell to parents, such as early learning and reading platform Sharpen and tutoring platform Preply.</p>



<p>“We’ve seen (the number of) prospective customers that ask about paying with ESAs and other government funding increase dramatically,” reports Felipe Izquierdo, Founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Quest, which uses online games to teach math to pre-teens. He sees this as a big area of growth for his year-old startup, which now has 500 customers. So too does Garrett Smiley, the cofounder and CEO of Sora Schools, a New York-based virtual accredited private middle and high school that expects to increase its enrollment to 1,000 next academic year, from 335 now.</p>



<p>While ESA proposals have engendered big political fights in some states and so far have only been adopted by Republican controlled states, they seem to enjoy broader public support than the older private school voucher model. In a July&nbsp;<a href="https://hunt-institute.org/resources/2023/12/2023-across-the-aisle-report-cutting-through-the-noise-parents-and-voters-want-real-world-skills-safe-schools-and-literacy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey for the Hunt Institute of 1,300 likely 2024 voters</a>, 56% of respondents said they support spending taxpayer dollars on education savings accounts, compared to 49% who said the same for vouchers. (The Hunt Institute, which is affiliated with Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, has received funding from the foundations of Amazon founder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/?sh=33966241b238">Jeff Bezos&nbsp;</a>and Microsoft cofounder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/">Bill Gates</a>&nbsp;and his ex-wife&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/melinda-french-gates/">Melinda French Gates</a>&nbsp;and from Meta cofounder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/?sh=65dcd7a3e06d">Mark Zuckerberg</a>&nbsp;and his wife Priscilla Chan.)</p>



<p>Which students qualify for ESAs, how much they get and what parents can spend the money on varies widely from program to program. Montana and North Carolina have launched accounts just for students with special needs. New Hampshire established its ESA in 2021 for families with 350% or less of the poverty rate (a household income of $105,000 or less for a family of four). The accounts are not popular with teachers’ unions. The American Federation of Teachers-New Hampshire sued to block the program, claiming it violates the state constitution because it is partially funded through the state’s lottery program, whose earnings are earmarked exclusively for state aid to education. In November, a Superior Court judge&nbsp;<a href="https://www.doj.nh.gov/news/2023/documents/20231115-howes-v-edelblut-mtd.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dismissed the lawsuit</a>.</p>



<p>West Virginia’s Hope Scholarship program, launched in 2022, and recently upheld by the state’s Supreme Court, provides accounts (equal to the state’s per capita contribution to local public schools) only to students who had previously been enrolled in public schools or are just starting kindergarten. This year, the accounts provide $4,489 to eligible students to pay for tuition, homeschooling curriculum and other expenses for individualized education. But the legislation could eventually make the accounts more widely available.</p>



<p>That’s in line with a trend toward wider eligibility. Arkansas, for example, launched ESAs this year with eligibility restricted to certain students, such as those with disabilities or fleeing the lowest ranked public schools, with total participation capped. The accounts are equal to 90% of the state’s per capita student funding for the prior year for public schools—that translates to $6,600 this year. But by the 2025-2026 school year, the state plans to make the accounts available to all students who want to leave public school.</p>



<p>“Generally, states want to make sure that the programs are up and running and that there is no fraud, waste and abuse before they expand the categories,” Connor observes. “But I think if you step back, generally the policy is to empower parents. And historically what we’ve seen is an expansion of what that means rather than a contraction.”</p>



<p>Arizona’s “empowerment scholarship accounts” were first established in 2011 for students with disabilities. For the 2022-23 academic year, children with disabilities were eligible for up to $43,000 in ESA funding, depending on their disability. But in 2022 the state made smaller accounts (now ranging from $6,000 to $9,000, depending on how much state aid would have been paid to a public or charter school system if the student had been enrolled) available to any non-disabled resident K-12 student regardless of family income, so long as they’re not enrolled in public schools or publicly funded charter schools. Parents can spend the money on private school tuition, curriculum, home education or tutoring, to name a few things. (This is separate from Arizona’s tax-credit subsidized voucher program for private schools and families can’t qualify for both.)</p>



<p>Connor’s Odyssey works with ESA programs in Idaho, Missouri and Iowa, and operates an online marketplace where parents can purchase pre-approved educational services for their children. After the programs are up and running, he sees a spike in interest from education vendors who want in on the action. “Once money actually starts flowing to the parents, and parents are purchasing things, we typically see that is when vendors—some tutoring centers, afterschool programs, music programs—get very interested in it, because now it’s a potential source of business and revenue for them,” he says.</p>


Serious Mother Helps her Children To Do Their Homework in a Living Room

Will Homeschooling Parents Save Edtech?


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Hospitalizations for Covid spiked 20% in the week after Christmas, according to new <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with an increase in Covid deaths, and flu hospitalizations and deaths, solidifying what experts predicted to be a “severe” season for respiratory illnesses as Americans traveled and gathered for holiday celebrations.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>There were 34,798 Covid-related hospitalizations during the holiday week ending in Dec. 30, 2023, a 20.4% increase from the week prior, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a>&nbsp;from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p>



<p>Covid-related deaths were up <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#maps_percent-covid-deaths" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">12.5%</a> during this period, with the highest concentrations in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Missouri and Oklahoma.</p>



<p>New Omicron Covid variant JN.1 made up&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">61.6%</a>&nbsp;of all Covid cases in the two-week period between Dec. 24, 2023 and January 6, up 22.8% from the previous two-week period.</p>



<p>There were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#ORIAM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">39 states</a>&nbsp;with high or very high levels for respiratory illness, including Covid, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus—this is up from 34 states the previous week.</p>



<p>Flu cases increased by <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">17.5%</a>, and there were <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#NHSN" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">20,066</a> flu-related hospitalizations, up over 5% from the previous week, according to the CDC.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/preparing-for-a-tripledemic-holiday-season/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warned</a>&nbsp;in November 2023 that experts were preparing for an intense tripledemic holiday season. “It’s going to be a severe respiratory virus season,” associate director of Hospital Epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai, said in a statement. The tripledemic is a simultaneous rise in Covid, flu and RSV cases, which typically peaks during the winter season each year. Because of an uptick in respiratory illness-related hospitalizations, several healthcare systems across the country have reinstated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/01/04/heres-where-mask-mandates-are-coming-back-as-covid-cases-and-hospitalizations-rise/?sh=6e54ea132542">mask mandates</a>. Healthcare facilities in New York City began requiring masks for all patients, visitors and staff earlier this week. After the Illinois Department of Public advised hospitals to increase their mitigation efforts in December, several hospitals reinstated mask mandates, including Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center, Cook County Health and Endeavor Health. Berkshire Health System in Massachusetts began requiring masks on Wednesday, citing a “<a href="https://www.berkshirehealthsystems.org/news/winter-respiratory-viruses-on-the-rise-bhs-reinstitutes-masking-and-updates-visitor-guidelines" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">significant increase</a>” in local respiratory cases. After Los Angeles County entered the&nbsp;<a href="http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/ncorona2019/masks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">medium level</a>&nbsp;for Covid hospitalizations last month, the county required masks in all its hospitals.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



<p>New Covid variant JN.1 has been driving an increase in Covid cases across the country as it’s been rapidly spreading. JN.1 only made up&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">3.3%</a>&nbsp;of all Covid cases during the two-week period ending in Nov. 11, 2023, so it’s grown by almost 60% in a little over two months. The World Health Organization&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/12/20/jn1-covid-variant-of-interest-spreading-fast-in-us---heres-what-to-know/?sh=4fafa4dc10cc">classified</a>&nbsp;it as a “variant of interest” in December 2023, meaning it’s spreading in a way that may pose “an emerging risk to global public health.” JN.1 is an offshoot of the highly mutated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/11/28/what-to-know-about-rapidly-spreading-pirola-covid-variant-ba286-and-if-vaccines-offer-protection/?sh=27f10c0e1978">Pirola</a>&nbsp;(BA.2.86) strain that was spreading rapidly last fall. Some healthcare experts worried Pirola wouldn’t be protected against the updated monovalent Covid vaccines since they specifically target XBB variants. However, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer-BioNTech said their shots provided some protection. Because of how rapidly JN.1 spread, the CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/whats-new/SARS-CoV-2-variant-JN.1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;it was the “fastest growing variant in the United States.” WHO also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/18122023_jn.1_ire_clean.pdf?sfvrsn=6103754a_3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acknowledged</a>&nbsp;JN.1’s growth, stating it made up the majority of all BA.2.86 subvariants circulating globally, though available evidence suggested it posed a low risk to public health.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/01/04/heres-where-mask-mandates-are-coming-back-as-covid-cases-and-hospitalizations-rise/?sh=6e54ea132542">Here’s Where Mask Mandates Are Coming Back As Covid Cases And Hospitalizations Rise</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/preparing-for-a-tripledemic-holiday-season/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Preparing for a ‘Tripledemic’ Holiday Season</a>&nbsp;(Cedars-Sinai)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/12/20/jn1-covid-variant-of-interest-spreading-fast-in-us---heres-what-to-know/?sh=4fafa4dc10cc">JN.1 Covid ‘Variant Of Interest’ Spreading Fast In U.S. — Here’s What To Know</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/11/28/what-to-know-about-rapidly-spreading-pirola-covid-variant-ba286-and-if-vaccines-offer-protection/?sh=1493441c1978">What To Know About Rapidly Spreading ‘Pirola’ Covid Variant BA.2.86—And If Vaccines Offer Protection</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


TUNISIA-HEALTH-VIRUS-TOURISM-HOSPITAL

Covid Hospitalizations And Deaths See Double-Digit Spike After Holiday — Amid Surge In Respiratory Illnesses


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Drugmaker Eli Lilly has launched a new website specifically for prescribing weight loss drugs through a telehealth service less than a month after the company&#8217;s new injectable, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/britneynguyen/2023/12/05/fda-approved-zepbound-weight-loss-drug-available-in-us-pharmacies/?sh=2cf010533603">Zepbound</a>, became available in U.S. pharmacies for overweight or obese adults.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Called&nbsp;<a href="https://lillydirect.lilly.com/pharmacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LillyDirect</a>, the new website is the first of its kind from a pharmaceutical company and will allow telehealth providers to prescribe GLP-1 agonist drugs for weight loss, like Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro or Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy.</p>



<p>The doctors working with LillyDirect will be able to prescribe any FDA-approved weight loss drug, but only patients who are prescribed the company&#8217;s Zepbound medication will be eligible for the at-home delivery service, Lilly CEO David Ricks told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/weight-loss-drug-online-website-eli-lilly-rcna131597" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NBC News.</a></p>



<p>The website can be used by people who have a BMI of at least 30, or of at least 27 if they also have at least one weight-related medical condition, according to NBC, and will also serve patients with diabetes and migraines.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/health/weight-loss/diet-companies-offering-weight-loss-medications/">Other websites</a>, like WeightWatchers, Noom and Found, also offer online prescriptions for semaglutide, the generic name for the medication that lowers the blood sugar and suppresses appetite, but LillyDirect is the first pharmaceutical company to do so.</p>



<p>Eli Lilly has said it is against the use of Mounjaro and Zepbound for &#8220;cosmetic weight loss,” Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/lilly-says-it-stands-against-cosmetic-use-its-weight-loss-drugs-2024-01-04/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>, and supports use for their approved purposes.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>$1,000. A month&#8217;s supply of injectable weight loss drugs&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/weight-loss-drugs-who-what-are-they-good-2024-01-02/#:~:text=Still%2C%20the%20potential%20costs%20are,deny%20use%20of%20the%20medicines." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">can cost</a>&nbsp;patients more than $1,000 when it is not covered by insurance.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The popularity of using diabetes drugs for weight loss has been on the rise since 2021, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/09/27/ozempic-prescription-jump-varies-across-us/70932858007/#:~:text=In%20a%20study%20out%20Wednesday,was%20approved%20for%20weight%20loss." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">USA Today</a>, spurred by the approval of Novo Nordisk&#8217;s Wegovy that year. The drugs change how bodies respond when blood sugar rises and their active ingredient, semaglutide, increases the feeling of satiety to reduce appetite. A 2022 Mayo Clinic&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2796491" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study found</a>&nbsp;that people who received weekly semaglutide injections for six months lost, on average, 27 pounds, but experts warn the medications are meant for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/omerawan/2023/06/19/why-ozempic-may-not-be-right-for-you/?sh=4911850149e1">long term use</a>&nbsp;and should not be seen as a quick solution to shed extra pounds.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>The widespread use of drugs in the GLP-1 agonist class for weight loss has been criticized by some scientists and former users. Lab studies have linked the medications with thyroid tumors in rodents,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/expert-answers/byetta/faq-20057955" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to</a>&nbsp;the Mayo Clinic, and the long-term effects of the medications are still largely unknown. The manufacturers of Ozempic and Mounjaro, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/08/14/what-to-know-about-gastroparesis-lawsuit-claims-ozempic-and-mounjaro-causes-the-severe-stomach-disorder/?sh=541d728f64a0">were sued</a>&nbsp;this summer over claims the medications cause gastroparesis, a severe stomach disorder. Some former users, including TikTok influencer Remi Bader, have been honest about severe weight gain after stopping the medication.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/remi-bader-shares-ozempic-experience-rcna65527" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bader said</a>&nbsp;the drug made her binge eating “so much worse” and said she gained back twice the weight she lost after getting off Ozempic. Actress&nbsp;<a href="https://people.com/health/stars-whove-spoken-about-ozempic-use-and-what-they-said/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amy Schumer said</a>&nbsp;she felt &#8220;so sick&#8221; while on weight loss medication.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>The popularity of the diabetes and weight loss drugs in recent years has sent pharmaceutical stock prices through the roof. Shares of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/08/08/weight-loss-drug-frenzy-drives-eli-lilly-and-novo-nordisk-stock-to-record-highs/?sh=1bc2706370ab">hit record highs&nbsp;</a>in August following a surge in sales and promising clinical trials, respectively. Eli Lilly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/lilly-overtakes-rival-to-become-worlds-most-valuable-drugmaker" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">has become</a>&nbsp;the most valuable pharmaceutical company in the world, surpassing Pfizer&#8217;s market cap in 2022 and Johnson &amp; Johnson last year, and the success of drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro are expected to help the company &#8220;dominate the landscape in 2024,&#8221; according to a note from BMO analyst Evan Seigerman.</p>


Eli Lilly And Company In Madrid

Pharmaceutical First: Eli Lilly Website Will Prescribe Weight Loss Drugs Through Service


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>An allegation that former President Bill Clinton “threatened” Vanity Fair magazine to kill articles about sex trafficking allegations involving Jeffrey Epstein highlighted a second tranche of unsealed documents released Thursday, a day after he was named alongside figures like Prince Andrew, law professor Alan Dershowitz and magician David Copperfield as associates of the late convicted sex offender (all listed have denied any suggestion of wrongdoing).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The unsealed names mentioned in the initial tranche of documents Wednesday included&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/01/03/first-epstein-names-unsealed-here-are-the-biggest-takeaways/?sh=6772cb58161b">prominent figures</a>&nbsp;like Clinton, Dershowitz, Prince Andrew and Copperfield—all of whom have denied wrongdoing in their associations with Epstein.</p>



<p>The following mentions are from documents unsealed Thursday, which previously had much information, including the names of Epstein’s alleged victims and associates, redacted.</p>



<p><strong>Former President Bill Clinton</strong>: “When I was doing some research into [Vanity Fair] yesterday, it does concern me what they could want to write about me considering that B.Clinton walked into [Vanity Fair] and threatened them not to write sex-traffic[k]ing articles about his good friend J.E.” (Attachment 2, email sent by Virginia Giuffre to journalist and friend Sharon Churcher) <em>Representatives for Clinton and Vanity Fair did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment, though Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair from 1992 to 2017, told </em><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/04/business/jeffrey-epstein-documents-second-round/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>CNN</em></a><em> the incident “categorically did not happen.”</em></p>



<p>“Traveled with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and may have information about Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual trafficking conduct.” (Attachment 5, a witness request made by Giuffre in a disclosure)</p>



<p><strong>Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson</strong>: “Has knowledge of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual trafficking conduct and interaction with underage minors.” (Attachment 5)</p>



<p><strong>Prince Andrew</strong>: “Has knowledge of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual trafficking conduct and interaction with underage minors, including Virginia Giuffre.” (Attachment 5)</p>



<p><strong>Lawyer Alan Dershowitz</strong>: “We all suspect Alan is a pedo and tho no proof of that, you probably met him when he was hanging [o]ut w [Jeffrey Epstein].” (Attachment 2, email sent by Churcher to Giuffre)</p>



<p><strong>Jane Doe #3</strong>: &#8220;Epstein also trafficked Jane Doe #3 for sexual purposes to many other powerful men, including numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known Prime Minister, and other world leaders.&#8221; (Attachment 3, an excerpt from a joinder motion filed by Jane Doe #3 and Jane Doe #4 that does not go on to name the prominent figures).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CHIEF CRITIC</h2>



<p>Though Clinton has publicly acknowledged his connection to Epstein and once praised the disgraced financier’s intellect, philanthropic endeavors and financial know-how, the former president has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/01/03/first-epstein-names-unsealed-here-are-the-biggest-takeaways/?sh=6772cb58161b">strongly denied</a>&nbsp;having a close relationship with him and having any knowledge of his crimes. Clinton has also rejected allegations from Giuffre that he visited Epstein’s private island. Dershowitz welcomed the initial tranche of files unsealed Wednesday and has insisted that the publication of the documents will prove he “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/epstein-list-associates-alan-dershowitz-b2472637.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">did nothing wrong</a>.” The lawyer said that despite people possibly being “ashamed” about their connection to Epstein, the documents don’t indicate such people are guilty of anything beyond “having shown bad judgment.” Prince Andrew denies reports about a close relationship with Maxwell and has continuously denied allegations of abuse levied by Giuffre, claiming he had no memory of meeting her and targeting the authenticity of a photo of them said to be taken inside a home of Maxwell’s.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>Giuffre in a disclosure also requested “All photos of Ghislaine Maxwell at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding.” (Attachment 5, one of several relevant documents requested by Giuffre)</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The second round of names associated with Epstein were unsealed Thursday as part of a settled 2015 defamation case between alleged victim Giuffre and Epstein associate Maxwell. The first set of unsealed names&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/01/03/first-epstein-names-unsealed-here-are-the-biggest-takeaways/?sh=6772cb58161b">released Wednesday</a>&nbsp;also mentioned people such as Michael Jackson, former President Donald Trump, billionaire Highbridge Capital co-founder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/glenn-dubin/">Glenn Dubin</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-pritzker/?sh=3c87942c3864">Thomas Pritzker</a>, the billionaire Pritzker heir and executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels. However, Clinton, Prince Andrew and Dershowitz were mentioned the most out of the prominent figures noted in the documents. In one attachment, Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg recalled a comment made by Epstein in which he said Clinton “likes them young.” Sjoberg’s deposition also included a recalling of a suggestive photo op with Giuffre and Prince Andrew where the Duke of York put one of his hands on her breast and the hand of a puppet caricature of himself on Giuffre&#8217;s breast. Giuffre sued Maxwell in 2015, accusing her of “public ridicule, contempt and disgrace” used to discredit Giuffre’s claims about Epstein.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/01/03/first-epstein-names-unsealed-here-are-the-biggest-takeaways/?sh=6772cb58161b">First Epstein Names Unsealed: Here Are The Biggest Takeaways</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2024/01/02/all-of-epsteins-associates-a-timeline-of-the-major-lawsuits-and-trials-they-have-faced/?sh=412440ee1aa7">All Of Epstein&#8217;s Associates: A Timeline Of The Major Lawsuits And Trials They Have Faced</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


US-Britain-crime-justice-Epstein-Maxwell-assault

New Epstein Documents Unsealed: Bill Clinton ‘Threatened’ Vanity Fair Over Sex Trafficking Coverage, Email Alleges


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Kai Zhuang, a 17-year-old Chinese exchange student, has been found alive in the Utah wilderness after going missing in what local police are calling a case of “cyber kidnapping,” a new criminal trend in which scammers extort vulnerable victims remotely, convincing their families they’ve been forcibly kidnapped and demanding ransom money.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Zhuang was reported missing on Dec. 28, after his family in China contacted his school in the U.S. to report they’d received images that suggested he was forcibly kidnapped, even as Zhuang’s host family in the U.S. told police they had seen Zhuang earlier that day and were unaware of a forcible kidnapping,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=788485949980868&amp;set=pcb.788486709980792" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to Riverdale, Utah Police Chief Casey Warren.</p>



<p>His family paid approximately $80,000 in ransom money to Chinese bank accounts after receiving “continuous threats from the kidnappers” about Zhuang’s safety, police said.</p>



<p>Meanwhile, the scammers were threatening Zhuang for possibly a month, telling him if he didn’t comply with their demands, his family would be harmed in China, and ordering him to isolate himself in the woods and send photos to his parents, Warren said in a Tuesday&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ksltv/videos/1094551185237234" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">press conference.</a></p>



<p>The Riverdale Police and Weber County Sheriff’s Office used bank and phone data to track Zhuang’s movements and general area and conducted a drone search and rescue, finding Zhuang camping in the Brigham City canyon area alive “but very cold and scared,” police said.</p>



<p>In his press statement, Warren said that, as part of the investigation, the FBI had briefed the department of this “disturbing criminal trend,” highlighting similar cases that have been targeting foreign exchange students—and Chinese foreign exchange students, in particular.</p>



<p>In these “cyber kidnapping” cases, the scammers tell victims to isolate themselves and may convince them under duress to make it appear they are being held captive—in some cases even contacting the victim via webcam and sending voice recordings to the families.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Other local law enforcement agencies have reported so-called cyber kidnapping cases—last month, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/GrantCoSheriff/posts/pfbid0aHnLAcV63R5CLaNcUdsJG8XDJJGtaUMR4We46iRPn3dHnrJ4huNZpaBUAXtmgyv6l" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Grant County Sheriff’s Office</a>&nbsp;in Washington reported receiving similar cases. In some, scammers have been suspected of using artificial intelligence to mimic the victim’s voice or likeness. Earlier this year, CNN&nbsp;<a href="https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/04/29/us/ai-scam-calls-kidnapping-cec/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;on the case of Jennifer DeStefano in Arizona, who received a cyber kidnapping call that included fake audio of her daughter screaming—which she believes was generated with artificial intelligence. In June, the FBI issued&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2023/PSA230605" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a warning</a>&nbsp;about scammers’ use of artificial intelligence to generate explicit images of victims to harass or extort—also known as a “sextortion” scam. But the FBI has also been warning about these cyber kidnapping scams as far back as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/virtual-kidnapping" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2017.</a>&nbsp;The Bureau noted then that these cases have been known to law enforcement for at least two decades, but used to be common mostly along the southern border. They’ve since evolved to reach residents all over the U.S.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>$8.8 billion. That’s how much money Americans lost in scams in 2022, with $2.6 billion of that in so-called imposter scams,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/02/new-ftc-data-show-consumers-reported-losing-nearly-88-billion-scams-2022" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the Federal Trade Commission.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>Following Zhuang’s case, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. warned Chinese citizens, especially students, “to boost safety awareness, take necessary precautions, and stay vigilant against ‘virtual kidnapping’ and other forms of telecom and online fraud so as to protect their personal and property safety.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>The Riverdale Police Department noted that if you believe you are the victim of a cyber kidnapping, “do not send money, discontinue contact with the suspects, and contact police immediately.”</p>


Unknown person in the hood, reaches out from the darkness to the laptop. Theft of household and computer equipment

What Is ‘Cyber Kidnapping’? Chinese Exchange Student Latest Victim Of ‘Disturbing’ Trend


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Big technology stocks sank Tuesday, a potentially worrisome omen as the darlings of 2023’s explosive gains lost hundreds of billions of dollars of market value.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6% in the opening trading session of the year, a far wider loss than the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 0.1% gain and S&amp;P 500’s 0.6% fall.</p>



<p>Tuesday was the Nasdaq’s worst day since October 25 and its lowest closing price since mid-December.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/01/02/apple-shares-stagger-3-after-lackluster-iphone-sales-earns-rare-analyst-downgrade/?sh=dd328e23c42b">Driving</a>&nbsp;much of the tech slump was a 4% drop by Apple’s stock, a dive precipitated by an analyst downgrade questioning why the $2.9 trillion (market capitalization) company is trading at such an expensive valuation considering its negative earnings and profit growth.</p>



<p>Other members of the “magnificent seven” tech stocks, which gained a collective $5.1 trillion in market cap last year, also flailed Tuesday.</p>



<p>Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Meta each fell 1% or more, while Tesla was the sole magnificent seven member left unscathed, as its shares were flat after the automaker reported more fourth-quarter electric vehicle deliveries than forecasted.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>About $238 billion. That’s how much market value the magnificent seven lost Tuesday.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The Nasdaq rose more than 40% in 2023, erasing most of 2022’s historic losses and easily outperforming the Dow and S&amp;P’s respective returns. Much of tech’s gains were due to investor optimism about the longer-term profitability for breakthroughs in generative artificial intelligence, rather than a corresponding uptick in earnings, leading to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/04/10/these-7-tech-stocks-command-almost-90-of-the-sp-500s-gains-signaling-market-rally-may-not-be-so-healthy/?sh=b80b39d65d55">concerns</a>&nbsp;about the health of the rally.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>Microsoft is now just $130 billion behind Apple for the title of the world’s most valuable company, a mantle held by Apple since late 2021.</p>


Author: Forbes

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA