Author: insighter

The US housing market — long crippled by an inventory drought — is finally starting to see listings rise. But now, in many places, the buyers just aren’t showing up. Sellers are grappling with the fact that higher-for-longer rates are choking off demand during what’s typically the key season for the market. And more of those owners are cutting asking prices than any time since November 2022 as inventory grows stale, according to Redfin Corp. “With mortgage rates rising back over 7%, the willingness of homebuyers to take a stab this season is diminished,” Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.com, said. “You…

To address this, YouTube did not expedite the dispute process, which still allows up to 30 days for rights holders to respond. Instead, it expedited the appeals process, which happens after a rights holder rejects a disputed claim and arguably is the moment when the YouTuber’s account is most in danger of being terminated. “Now, the claimant will have 7 days instead of 30 to review the appeal before deciding whether to request a takedown of the video, release the claim, or let it expire,” YouTube wrote in 2022. “We hope shortening the timespan of the appeals process helps you…

Two far-right Israeli ministers have threatened to quit and collapse the governing coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a Gaza ceasefire proposal unveiled by US President Joe Biden on Friday. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said they were opposed to striking any deal before Hamas was destroyed. But opposition leader Yair Lapid pledged to back the government if Mr Netanyahu supported the plan. The prime minister himself insisted there would be no permanent truce until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities were destroyed and all hostages released. Mr Biden’s three-part proposal would begin with…

College students are at a big disadvantage when it comes to racking up points and miles since most have limited income and little to no credit history. This makes some of the best points and miles cards just out of their reach. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® resolves this dilemma while still providing outsized benefits to those with limited credit history. Read on to see why it should be the first card on every college student’s list. Related: Getting started with points, miles and credit cards to travel No annual fee to worry about Since most college students don’t earn a…

Live Nation is investigating a data breach at its Ticketmaster subsidiary,which dominates ticketing for live events in the United States. Live Nation, based in Beverly Hills, California, said in a regulatory filing Friday that on May 27 “a criminal threat actor” offered to sell Ticketmaster data on the dark web. Other media reports say a hacking group named ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach in an online forum and was seeking $500,000 for the data, which reportedly includes names, addresses, phone numbers and some credit card details of millions of Ticketmaster customers. Live Nation and Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to…

The space capsule will carry a two-person team to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch countdown for Boeing’s new Starliner space capsule on its inaugural crewed test flight has been halted, postponing the mission for at least 24 hours. The postponement was announced during a live NASA webcast on Saturday. Earlier, launch forecasts had called for a 90 percent chance of favourable weather conditions. However, less than four minutes prior to liftoff, a ground system computer triggered an automatic abort command that paused the countdown clock, according to mission officials. The reason for the halt remains unclear. .@NASA, @BoeingSpace…

President Joe Biden has vetoed H.J.Res. 109, a congressional resolution that would have overturned the Securities and Exchange Commission’s current approach to banks and crypto. Specifically, the resolution targeted the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which presents rules around how banks can handle customers’ crypto assets — in effect, they must treat those assets as liabilities. “SAB 121 reflects considered technical SEC staff views regarding the accounting obligations of certain firms that safeguard crypto-assets,” Biden said in a statement. “By virtue of invoking the Congressional Review Act, this Republican-led resolution would inappropriately constrain the SEC’s ability to set forth appropriate…

S&P Global Ratings downgraded France, tarnishing President Emmanuel Macron’s record for debt management and plunging him deeper into political difficulties a week before European elections.  In a statement on Friday, the credit assessor highlighted the French government’s missed goals in plans to restrain the budget deficit after huge spending during the Covid pandemic and energy crisis.  S&P said that although reforms and a recovery in economic growth will improve the situation, the hole will remain above 3% of gross domestic product in 2027.  The reduction to AA- from AA is a harsh blow to Macron, who has sought to foster…

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted there will be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed and all hostages are released. His statement comes after US President Joe Biden announced Israel had proposed a three-stage plan to Hamas aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire. A senior Hamas politician has told the BBC it “will go for this deal” if Israel does. The negotiations come as fighting continues in Rafah, with reports of Israeli air strikes on Saturday in the city on Egypt’s border with Gaza. There is no guarantee that the public pressure…

The Listening Post cuts through the confusion about Zionism and anti-Zionism in Western media and politics. In the coverage of Israel-Palestine in the Western media, an ideology that is central to the story – Zionism – rarely gets discussed. Instead, we hear a debate about whether opposition to it – anti-Zionism – is anti-Semitic. The Listening Post’s Daniel Turi reports on Zionism, the confusion that surrounds it, and what it tells us about the world’s longest-running occupation. Contributors:Bernard Avishai – Professor, The Hebrew University of JerusalemSherene Seikaly – Associate Professor of History, University of California at Santa BarbaraAvi Shlaim –…

Ethan Gaskill, a 29-year-old content creator, begins everyday the same way: “When I wake up in the morning—most people get on their phone and start checking Instagram—I check Facebook Marketplace.” With his Los Angeles home furnished almost exclusively with second-hand items and a TikTok with over 220,000 followers interested in his thrifty hauls, Gaskill trusts the shopping platform to be a reliable source for hidden gems: a thousand-dollar Herman Miller light and pendant he nabbed for $400; a $5,000 bed from the same designer he bought for 20% of the original price; and, a Founders mid-century dresser worth $4,000 that…

Solar generators and battery-powered fridges are highly desirable additions to vans, boats, cabins, and sheds, or anywhere power and refrigeration is needed off the grid. Both are meant to be portable by necessity but suffer from the same issue: weight.  Bluetti just started shipping its SwapSolar kit that pairs an AC180T solar generator with its MultiCooler, a 3-in-1 solar-powered fridge, freezer, and ice maker. What makes this kit interesting is that the MultiCooler and AC180T devices can share the same B70 LFP batteries, which can be charged inside either device when plugged into your car’s 12V socket, a standard power outlet, or…