This Week in Review ☕️: Joe Biden Endorses Kamala Harris as Democratic Presidential Nominee | The worst IT outages in history | The decline of the ‘free’ coffee | Are fermented foods good for health | Eco-Friendly Swimwear | India’s Budget 2024 |
Quick Bites :
Politics 🙌🏻 : Biden’s momentous and ‘closely-held’ decision surprises own aides 😵
Joe Biden’s senior White House and campaign staff had spent the past week insisting the president planned to stay in the 2024 race despite an onslaught of calls within the Democratic Party for him to step aside.
As recently as Saturday, the president’s aides were putting together a campaign schedule for him to pick up upon his return to the White House next week. He had been recovering from Covid at his beach house on the eastern shores of Delaware, insisting that he was still running but infuriated as a co-ordinated effort to pressure him to exit by some Democrats began to spill into public view.
Ps; By Sunday morning, the president had changed his mind 🤯🙈
We wonder by Saturday evening did Mr Biden began to consider whether he should withdraw, one of the toughest decisions of his 50-year political career. We do think he had a great time huddling with his closest aides to help him make-up his mind. 😂
Key Highlights :
💡Mr Donilon, another aide who has played a key role in some of the president’s biggest political decisions, joined on Saturday. Mr Biden and his aides pored over new polling data and discussed whether he could defeat Donald Trump in the current political landscape.
💡Biden made the final decision that he was dropping out on Sunday morning, separately calling chief of staff Jeff Zients, his campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and Vice-President Kamala Harris to inform them.
💡On Sunday afternoon, the president held a video call with his most senior White House and campaign staff, including Anita Dunn, who manages his White House communications strategy.
Ps; One minute later, he released a public statement that sent shockwaves across the American political landscape and upended the 2024 election🤐
Though Mr Biden did not mention Ms Harris in his initial statement, he tweeted his endorsement for his vice-president about half an hour later. The two spoke multiple times throughout the day in the lead-up to the stunning announcement.
Many in the White House and on the campaign were not informed of Mr Biden’s plans in advance. Most found out from the post on social media.😱We wonder how many American’s got a mini attack and how many celebrated the news with a glass of champagne. 🤣🥂
Our Thoughts 💭:
Though Kamala Harris already earned the support of the president and top Democrats, her ascension to the top of the ticket is not certain until delegates vote to confirm Mr Biden’s replacement at the Democratic National Convention in August.
Notably, former president Barack Obama has not explicitly endorsed her, while BIll and Hillary Clinton have.
We wonder whether she will be a right candidate to beat the extravaganza of Donald Trump as she has never been a people favourite candidate. Does she even has an experience of being a President of the most powerful country😂.. well well who cares as long as democrat supporters at least have a healthy candidate to contest against the mighty Trump. 😎
Tech 💻 : The worst IT outages in history, impacted 8.5m computers around the world 🤯
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike says “a significant number” of devices that were impacted by a global IT outage on Friday are now back online.
In a social media post, the company – whose faulty security update caused Microsoft Windows computers to crash around the world – added it “continues to focus on restoring all systems”.
Ps; Businesses, banks, hospitals and airlines were among the worst-hit, with some still struggling to fully restore their systems. A world without Microsoft is as empty as living in a world without technology🤐.
We wonder were we back in medieval times…. imagine people travelling on bull carts and coins are back as payment of exchange. 😂🙈
“We understand the profound impact this has had on everyone. We know our customers, partners and their IT teams are working tirelessly and we’re profoundly grateful,” CrowdStrike said.
Ps; “We apologise for the disruption this has created.”🫣
The firm also said it is deploying a new fix that it hoped would speed up the recovery of computer systems.
However, CrowdStrike did not say how many devices were still being impacted.
Key Highlights :
💡More than 1,400 flights, into or out of the US, were cancelled on Sunday, according to aviation tracking and data platform FlightAware. Delta and United Airlines were the worst affected US airlines.
💡Health services in Britain, Israel and Germany were also impacted on Friday, with some services cancelled.
💡Until this incident the company had been one most trusted brands in the cybersecurity industry.
💡According to CrowdStrike’s website, it has 29,000 customers around the world, including some of the biggest companies in the US.
Our Thoughts 💭:
The massive outage has put a spotlight on the vulnerability of global computer networks, showing how a single glitch can cause global chaos.
Ps; “These incidents reveal how concentration can create fragile systems.”🤐
Business 💵 : Pret A Manger: The decline of the ‘free’ coffee ☕️
We all love a good deal…. Don’t we 🤓
Especially on our daily coffee which, in some places, is closer to £4 a cup nowadays than £3.
High street coffee shops enjoy offering us a deal too – especially if we buy into their loyalty models, which until recently seemed nearly as “attractive as a silky smooth latte.” 😂
And yet almost four years after launching its wildly popular subscription, Pret A Manger has become the latest coffee chain to ditch it in favour of a less generous scheme.
Under the current system, subscribers who pay a monthly fee of £30 get up to five ‘free’ coffees a day.
But from September, Pret will offer up to five half-price coffees a day for £10 a month, which it says will “continue to be the best offer on the high street”.
The change also ends the 20% discount on food for subscribers.
Ps; “Commercially this might make a load of sense for Pret, but the reaction – it plays into the hands of their competitors.” Competitors be like “You mess about with loyalty schemes at your peril “…🫣
Pret is not the only coffee shop to have watered down its loyalty scheme.
“You might not have noticed, but your wallet probably has.” 🙄
Key Highlights :
💡Costa Coffee currently runs a free loyalty card, the Costa Club, but changed the terms last August. Customers went from needing eight stamps (or “beans”) on their loyalty cards to qualify for a free drink, to needing 10.
💡At the end of 2022, Starbucks announced more loyalty points would be required to redeem many of its menu items. Customers who enrol in the chain’s Starbucks Rewards programme earn points (or “stars”) when purchasing food or drinks.
Hot coffee, tea, or baked goods now require 100 stars, doubling the previous price of 50 stars.
💡The less generous loyalty schemes were “not a surprise” with the rising cost of labour, packaging and the coffee itself. The cost of arabica beans has soared in recent years because of the impact of climate change in countries such as Brazil and Ethiopia. The industry is also still grappling with high energy and utility bills.
Our Thoughts 💭:
The subscription models offered value to customers, but had to be mutually beneficial to work.
“They can be good for businesses too because they produce a predictable, stable income that can rely on recurring revenue” .🤐
“But if there’s one party losing out, it won’t work, and the big question is, was this commercially viable for Pret? We suspect not.” 🙈
Consumers today want immediate value. They shouldn’t need a calculator to work out if they’re getting a good deal. Pret will be hoping people are lazy and stuck in their routines…. 😴
Food 🥫: Are fermented foods like kombucha actually good for you? 🙄
While humans have been eating fermented foods since ancient times, researchers are only starting to unravel some of the biggest questions about their health benefits.
Kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha are very different foods, but they all have one crucial thing in common: they’re fermented.
Humans have used fermentation throughout history to preserve food. “Every culture has their own fermented foods”.
Now, fermentation is spreading. There are thousands of different types, and they’re produced in a more industrial way.
These additives – including salt, sugar and artificial sweeteners – are within legal guidelines. But it does mean that some are technically classified as ultra-processed….😵
So are fermented foods actually good for our health, or just another ultra-processed food we should be avoiding? 🤷🏻♀️
Key Highlights :
💡In recent decades, there have been mounting concerns among scientists that modern lifestyles may affect our immune system by altering the diversity of our microbes. “Our diets are generally low in fibre and we have a lot of antibiotics and stress, and we don’t sleep well. And these factors will all impoverish the microbes in our bodies,”.
💡In principle, fermented foods could change that. “The main role of fermented foods is that they can give you live microbes. These microbes get into the gut, and train your immune cells how to control inflammation,”.
💡The researchers analysed and compared their microbiomes and other nutrients in their guts and found that those who ate fermented foods had more bacterial diversity and higher amounts of short chain fatty acids, which are produced by bacteria, than those who didn’t.
💡Western diet high in sugar and fat, people developed depression. With consuming kombucha, and people found that the symptoms improved, possibly via changes in the microbiome.
Our Thoughts 💭:
Those who’ve been eating fermented foods across their whole lifetime may have a permanent healthy advantage in their gut microbiome.
Whichever fermented foods you want to try, we would suggest eating it regularly. “Getting any health benefits depends on how frequently you eat it,”. “You should eat it regularly, because the immune system needs constant stimulation.”
We’d suggest buying 10 fermented foods and gradually introducing them into your diet to see which your body agrees with 😎
Fashion 🛍️ : Can we wear Eco-Friendly Swimwear 👙
It’s at this time of year when images of Jane Birkin in a ring-fronted bikini or Brigitte Bardot in her classic frilled bikini bottoms resurface. Swimwear brands name their designs after iconic stars, with vintage styles reworked into modern pieces. 😎
Like swimwear’s timeless styles, the environmental damage it causes also endures. The problem comes down to plastic. Swimsuits need to stretch, recover their shape, and be quick-drying.
Therefore, synthetic fibres like nylon, polyester and elastane, which are derived from fossil fuels, are the most widely used materials, both for performance and low cost.
But the washing of synthetic products leads to the accumulation of more than half a million tonnes of microplastics on the bottom of the oceans every year.
One such fabric is Econyl, made using synthetic waste such as discarded fishing nets, and then recycled and regenerated into new nylon fibre.
Econyl isn’t a perfect solution – microfibres are still shed in the washing process – but there are methods to minimise the shedding. The best way to look after swimwear is by gentle handwashing, which reduces the release of microfibres.
We wonder are we existing in times where we need to be cautious of the material in which we are going to take a dip in ocean… LMAO, Well no doubt people are choosing to go skinny dipping…🤣
Swimwear is also joining the second-hand clothing world. Customers are buying second-hand luxury swimwear to choose retailers that fully authenticate their garments.
Ps; “A few years ago, people wouldn’t buy pre-loved shoes, and now they are one of the biggest categories. Pick the level you are comfortable with – is it something new with tags, or perhaps you’re comfortable with the concept but want to steam and wash more thoroughly when it arrives.” 🙌🏻
Finance 💰: India’s Budget 2024: Big Push For Jobs, Rewards For New Regime Taxpayers & Allies
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a major reduction in customs duty on cancer medicines and mobile phones, which will significantly bring down their prices in the retail market. Imported gold, silver, leather goods and seafood will also get cheaper.
Ms Sitharaman slashes import duties on gold and silver to 6%, a move that industry officials say could boost retail demand and help in curtailing smuggling in the world’s second-biggest bullion consumer.
Existing new tax regime slabs (effective for FY 2023-24) were as follows:
- Income up to ₹ 3 lakh – Nil
- Rs 3 lakh to ₹ 6 lakh – 5 per cent
- Rs 6 lakh to ₹ 9 lakh – 10 per cent
- Rs 9 lakh to ₹ 12 lakh – 15 per cent
- Rs 12 lakh to ₹ 15 lakh – 20 per cent
- Above ₹ 15 lakh – 30 per cent
The increase in standard deduction was one of the most anticipated ahead of the budget speech.
Our Thoughts💭:
“This Budget is women-focussed, and will help towards women-led development and more participation of women in the overall workforce. This Budget is development-focussed and has increased investment in infrastructure. “
According to PM Modi, “This is a Budget which will benefit gaon, gareeb, kisaan,”
Quicker Bites :
- Vice-President Kamala Harris has attracted the support of enough Democratic delegates to become the party’s nominee for president.
- Two top executives at Japanese drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical are stepping down as an investigation continues into 80 deaths that could be linked to some of its products.
- Ryanair says it expects summer fares will be much lower than last year after profits at the no-frills airline fell by almost 50%.
- Modi’s new budget faces jobs crisis test in India.
- The European Union’s foreign policy chief has stripped Hungary of the right to host the next meeting of foreign and defence ministers over its stance on the war in Ukraine.
- ‘Roof topping is my art form’: The death-defying couple who climb the world’s tallest skyscrapers as they risk their lives for art atop the world’s tallest buildings.
Business Eye 
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