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The crash of a small plane in southwestern Brazil killed four people including Chinese landscape architect and urban planner Yu Kongjian, Brazilian authorities said Wednesday.The accident happened late Tuesday during a landing attempt at a large farm about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the municipality of Aquidauana in Mato Grosso do Sul state, firefighters said.Yu, who was known for promoting ecologically sound development, was traveling with two Brazilian documentary makers, Luiz Fernando Feres da Cunha Ferraz and Rubens Crispim Jr., who were making a film about the Pantanal wetlands. All three were killed along with pilot Marcelo Pereira de Barros, authorities said.Yu was know for developing the concept of “sponge cities,” with infrastructure that can absorb rainwater to mitigate flood risks and improve the urban climate.“In times of climate change,” Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote on social media, “Yu became a global reference with his sponge cities, which unite quality of life and environmental protection.”Yu argued that by creating large spaces to hold water in city centers, such as parks and ponds, extreme rainfall can be absorbed, helping prevent floods. The idea is widely cited in Chinese urban planning, and in recent years Yu worked on projects in other countries including Saudi Arabia and Thailand.He was known for his “notable contributions to sustainable urbanism, the preservation of biodiversity, and the protection of the planet,” Brazil’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said on X, adding that Yu’s legacy will continue to inspire those dedicated to ecological cause.Yu founded the College of Architecture and Landscape at Peking University, one of China’s most prestigious universities. The university did not respond a request for comment.The military fire department in Aquidauana was called at around 8:10 p.m. local time on Tuesday to respond to a plane crash, firefighters said. A search and rescue operation lasted approximately nine hours.Yu and the filmmakers were part of a team producing a documentary about the world’s largest tropical wetlands. The Pantanal, fed by tributaries of the Paraguay River and mostly located in Brazil, is a biodiversity hotspot and a popular destination for tourists to see jaguars, macaws, caimans, capybaras and migratory birds in the wild.In an interview with The Associated Press in 2022, Yu criticized much of Asia’s modern infrastructure for being built on ideas imported from Europe, which he said are ill-fitted to the monsoon climate that prevails over much of the continent. Fu Ting contributed to this report from Washington D.C. and Mauricio Savarese from Sao Paulo. Eléonore Hughes, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Did you buy a new pink dress to watch the Barbie movie, only to never wear it again? An Oura ring because your favorite TikTok influencer had it? A new pair of baggy jeans because ’90s fashion is making a comeback?Niche trends fueled by social media can influence your shopping decisions. Participating often brings some happiness and a sense of community, but the problem comes when you do it so often that you’re not using your money to achieve your financial goals, or worse, you get into debt, said Erika Rasure, chief financial wellness advisor for Beyond Finance, a financial services company.Whether it’s coastal grandma or clean girl aesthetic, microtrends can take a significant toll on already-strained budgets as prices rise and Gen Z struggles to pay off debt.If you find yourself overspending to participate in microtrends, here are some expert recommendations: Pause before purchasing Before you click “buy” on TikTok Shop, it’s best if you take some time to reflect, said Jennifer Seitz, head of education for Greenlight, a financial literacy app for families. Pausing before a purchase can help you discern if the item is something you really want or a fleeting craving.“Think if you want to put it in a schedule pause, whether it’s 24 hours or even a couple of days if it’s a larger expense,” Seitz said.Participating in personal challenges can be a good way to get in the habit of making purchases more deliberate. Back in 2022, Alyssa Barber participated in the no-buy year challenge, where she pledged to stop buying non-essential items for a year.Barber shares sustainable practices with over 370,000 followers on TikTok, where one of her recurrent themes is how to stop impulse buying. Barber said the challenge gave her perspective on how much she was spending on things she didn’t need. Since then, she has changed her spending habits, focusing mainly on experiences. Know your spending values Taking a value-based spending approach can help you decide if you should participate in a trend you see online, Rasure said.If, for example, you want to build an emergency fund, having this goal in mind while shopping can help avoid unnecessary spending.Quynh Van, a 27-year-old UX designer from Minneapolis, was surprised by the number of ads on TikTok when she created an account after a four-year break from social media. And while being influenced by the ads is inevitable, she believes overspending comes in part from users not having defined goals.“When you don’t know who you are or what you like, you’re so driven by over-consumerism and lifestyle creep because you don’t have your values in order,” Van said.Rasure recommends using your financial values as a guiding principle for your spending decisions. If you’re not sure of your values, allocate some time to map them out according to your life goals. Create barriers to spending If a purchase is one click away, it can make it easier to spend large amounts of money. If you consciously make it a little harder to pay for an item, you can spend more mindfully, Seitz said.“Just that action of needing to input your payment information rather than just that simple click can help you give to really stop and think about purchases before moving ahead with them,” she added.To add barriers, you can remove your credit card details from your computer browser or social media and disable Apple Pay on your phone. Think of it as an act of self-care Finances are closely tied to emotions, and often, they evoke negative feelings such as shame or guilt. However, reframing them as an act of self-care can help you spend mindfully, Rasure said.“It can help you create boundaries around what you value spending money on, helps you choose intentionally and it feels more like freedom instead of restriction,” she said.Your spending habits in the present can help your future financial situation. This mindset can inspire you when you’re tempted to overspend on the newest trending electronic or fashion item. Engage with trends with moderation It can be OK to engage with trends if they bring you positive feelings, Rasure said.Van decided to participate in the matcha trend, but with moderation. For Barber, physical media, such as old records, DVDs, and cassettes, is on her list of non-negotiable expenses, as she loves collecting these items.“Trends and engaging them, engaging in them really should spark that happiness or contentment, not the debt that can go with them,” Rasure said. The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism. Adriana Morga, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Remember when former Try Guy Ned Fulmer was caught in a public cheating scandal that broke the internet? Hes back, this time with a new podcast called Rock Bottom with Ned Fulmer. Or as one commenter called it: One of the most painful watches in YouTube history. The podcast is meant to explore, people’s lowest, most embarrassing, and challenging moments. Fulmer’s first guest: his wife, Ariel. The first question many have asked is why would they do this? Was this a humiliation ritual for him? one TikTok user asked. According to Ariel, it was mostly for their children, aged 7 and 5, who they are currently coparenting, and as a way to move on and put the past in the past by bringing it all up again. In case you were living under a rock in 2022 and have no idea what a Try Guy is or what happened, let us catch you up to speed. The Try Guys were four former BuzzFeed employees, Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang, who made content based around the simple premise of trying various things. In late 2022, their YouTube channel had close to 8 million subscribers, with their empire extending to TV shows, books, and podcasts. In 2022, it all came crashing down after internet sleuths uncovered Fulmers extramarital affair with a Try Guys producer. The scandal broke the internet and Fulmer was fired from the group after an internal investigation. Fast forward three years and on the debut episode of his new podcast (because there arent enough men with podcasts), Ned and Ariel reconstructed the timeline of the scandal and shared that they are no longer together romantically, much to the internets delight and relief. Ariel also revealed, for the first time, that she found out about her husbands affair from a fans message. When asked if she’s forgiven Ned, Ariel responded, Absolutely not. How can you forgive somebody for lying to you, for cheating on you? No.” Neither has the internet, it seems. Him calling it the scandal and her calling it your affair is all we needed to know, one person commented beneath the YouTube video, which currently has more than 100,000 dislikes compared to just over 7,000 likes. I can’t believe he’s really interviewing her about him traumatizing her, another wrote. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ariel revealed the podcast episode was, in fact, her idea. Some have speculated Ariel predicted exactly how badly Ned would come across and that was part of her motivation to do the episode in the first place. I love that she lets silence hang in the air after he says something horrible or stupid and just fully lets him feel uncomfortable, one commented. Another added: Oh to be a fly on the wall in the Try Guys office today.
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E-Commerce
Starbucks will end the year with fewer stores and fewer employees. But the brand maintains that its all part of a greater turnaround still in the mix. Today, the company announced that its North American store locations will be reduced by 1% for fiscal 2025landing the coffee chain at 18,300 stores total. And it will be eliminating 900 jobs outside of its coffee houses (in other words, corporate and other functions). The company claims it will attempt to place affected baristas into new stores, but Starbucks says, “For those we cant immediately place, were focused on partner care including comprehensive severance packages. We also hope to welcome many of these partners back to Starbucks in the future as new coffeehouses open and the number of partners in each location grows. CEO Brian Niccol has been at the helm for a year now, where hes been unable to break a six-quarter streak of same-store sales declines. Hes promised a Back to Starbucks turnaround centered on better store design, operations, and customer experience. But as he faces the scrutiny of an impatient Wall Street, the former Chipotle chief appears to be reallocating spending to drive the companys growth while offsetting overhead. Closures today; growth tomorrow A closer examination of the details around this restructuring spot a somewhat finer narrative than sheer cost-cuttingand Starbucks insists that Niccols aggressive growth plan, in which hell add to store count in 2026 and imagines reaching 100,000 stores globally one day, is still intact. Speaking just last week at the Fast Company Innovation Festival, he promised to add hundreds of thousands of seats back to Starbucks stores. The company will have actually closed hundreds of stores over the course of 2025, but its been opening enough new stores to offset the figure significantly for this final announced tally. In a public letter published to the Starbucks website on Thursday, Niccol argues that its the sort of fine tuning required to improve the brand. Our goal is for every coffeehouse to deliver a warm and welcoming space with a great atmosphere and a seat for every occasion, he wrote. During the review, we identified coffeehouses where were unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect, or where we dont see a path to financial performance, and these locations will be closed. When asked if store closures were disproportionately focused on union locations, Starbucks told Fast Company that union represented status was not a factor in the decision. In any case, the larger restructuring does support Niccols greater thesisthat in offering higher touchpoint service, it will continue to raise the bar of expectations from its stores and employees. As Niccol mentioned during Q3 earnings, We plan to complete an evaluation of our North American portfolio by the end of this fiscal year to ensure we have the right coffeehouses in the right locations to drive profitability and deliver the Starbucks experience. So now that this is done . . . can we finally get back to Starbucks?
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E-Commerce
The H&M group is entering the fall season with style. On Wednesday, September 24, the retailer released its third-quarter earnings and reported an operating profit of 4.9 billion Swedish krona ($521 million). The H&M group owns brands including H&M, COS, Monki, and Arket. Its operating profit marked a 40% increase year-over-year (YOY) and beat analysts predicted 3.7 billion Swedish krona ($393 million), according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC. The figures also marked consecutive quarterly successes for the H&M group, which also beat estimated operating profits in quarter-two. However, the H&M group now predicts that 2025s quarter-four will yield less positive results due to the increased impact of tariffs. Stock price rises despite tariff warning Despite the concerning forecast, investors responded positively to H&M groups current earnings. Trading on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, the companys share price (STO:HM-B) jumped 10% through after-hours and into premarket trading Thursday morning. Other factors could have contributed to the boost in share prices. The H&M group reported that sales in local currencies had increased by 2% during the quarter. However, the company notably reduced its store count over the previous nine months. As of August 31, the H&M group had 4,118 stores, compared to 4,298 at the same point last year. The company closed 135, or 4%, of its store locations over the first nine months of the fiscal year, 48 in quarter-three alone. A majority of the closures were H&M and Monki stores in Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Africa. Only five stores shut down throughout North and South America. These closures dont necessarily point to a planned consolidation. The company pointed to a newly opened store, its first in Brazil, as being well received.
Category:
E-Commerce
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