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[ad_1] New York CNN  —  Zohran Mamdani, the favorite to become New York City’s next mayor after winning the Democratic primary, has a contentious plan to create a network of city-owned grocery stores. But it’s less radical than critics portray, some food policy and grocery industry experts say. Mamdani has proposed five municipally owned stores, one in each New York City borough, to offer groceries at lower prices to customers with limited access to supermarkets. In some New York City neighborhoods, more than 30% of people are food insecure. The proposal has been blasted as a “‘Soviet’ style disaster-in-waiting,” “farcical”…

[ad_1] Scarlett Johansson, 40, says her early rom-com roles didn’t challenge her as an actor.In an interview with The Times published on Saturday, Johansson reflected on her career and how Hollywood has changed over the years.After her breakout role in Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” in 2003, Johansson said she found herself being offered roles that banked on her sex appeal, which she found “deeply unfulfilling.””You know, it’s a different time for young women,” Johansson told The Times. “The messaging is different — there are many more role models, women are visible in powerful positions, and the opportunities I have…

[ad_1] CNN  —  In the face of higher tariffs on virtually everything the United States imports, plus a Middle East crisis, the United States economy has, remarkably, held its ground. Inflation has mostly held steady, while the unemployment rate remains near historic lows. Stocks, meanwhile, hit fresh record highs last week. That could soon change as crucial deadlines near. The first is July 9, which marks the end of President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on what he termed as “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of America’s trading partners. Unless those countries reach trade deals with the US, they could potentially face…

[ad_1] Navin Chaddha, managing director of the 55-year-old Silicon Valley venture firm Mayfield, is betting big on AI’s ability to transform people-heavy industries like consulting, law, and accounting. The veteran investor, whose wins include Lyft, Poshmark, and HashiCorp, recently discussed at TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC evening in Menlo Park why he believes “AI teammates” can create software-like margins in traditionally labor-intensive sectors, and why startups should right now target neglected markets rather than compete head-to-head with giants like Accenture — though he acknowledged that disrupting outfits where relationships and trust matter is sometimes harder than Silicon Valley anticipates. This conversation has been…

[ad_1] Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Pensions industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.A contentious change in UK legislation is not consistent with what ministers had promised and could harm the retirement outcomes of millions of savers, some pension experts have warned.The pension schemes bill, expected to become law next year, proposes to give regulators a power to force defined contribution (DC) schemes to invest a minimum amount in private markets.“The provision isn’t framed as a reserve power and doesn’t promise that there won’t be detriment to pension savers,” said Charles Randell, former chair…

[ad_1] Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldThe writer is vice chair and chief global economist at PGIM and former US deputy national security adviser for international economicsThe supply of rare earths has featured prominently in President Donald Trump’s complex trade negotiations with China. The centrality of the issue underscores an uncomfortable reality: on critical minerals, China holds the cards. The problem isn’t just the country’s production dominance — it is also Beijing’s control over the market infrastructure that sets global prices, leaving America and its…

[ad_1] Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the US equities myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The writer is chair of Rockefeller International. His latest book is ‘What Went Wrong With Capitalism’It’s suddenly fashionable to talk about how the era of “American exceptionalism” is ending, given Trump’s policies, the dollar’s decline, and the fact that so far this year the US stock market is underperforming its international rivals by the widest margin since 1987.The surprise, however, is that despite the shocks emanating from Washington and the Middle East, US stocks are still grinding higher. And so are…

[ad_1] Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the US equities myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Wall Street’s comeback from tariff turmoil to hit a record high has dramatically narrowed the gap with European stocks, testing the mettle of investors who were betting on an end to an era of exceptionalism for US markets.The blue-chip S&P 500 stock index has torn 10 per cent higher in the second quarter of the year, far outstripping Europe’s region-wide Stoxx 600, which has risen less 2 per cent, as well as other big global indices. The outperformance of American stocks…

[ad_1] Big hedge funds are pushing into private credit as they seek to establish themselves as diversified financial institutions, with Millennium Management, Point72 and Third Point all looking to launch new funds and strategies.Third Point, a $20bn firm with a history as an activist investor, plans to launch a publicly traded private credit fund next month called Third Point Private Capital Partners, which will lend directly to businesses.Millennium, which manages more than $75bn in assets, has been weighing whether to launch a separate fund to invest in less liquid assets, including private credit, its first new fund in more than…

[ad_1] The plants are old, the earth is tired, said farmer Kouadio N’Guessan Yves, stamping his foot into the red dirt and running his hand up a gnarled trunk. The rows of cocoa trees stretching towards the sun were planted by the Ivorian’s grandfather or great-grandfather, and no one since then has had the cash to plant new ones. Down a narrow, dusty path in a tiny village near the town of Daloa, Yves’s neighbours pull apart the yellow cocoa pods and spread the white, fleshy beans across tarpaulins by hand. Once the sun has browned and sweetened them, the…