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



<p>Almost half a million power bank chargers sold exclusively on Amazon over the last six years have been recalled after dozens of reports of the product expanding, igniting, melting, overheating or smoking while in use.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Charmast-Power-Banks-Recalled-Due-to-Fire-and-Burn-Hazards-Sold-by-Charmast-Exclusively-on-Amazon-com" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">recalled portable chargers</a>&nbsp;are powered by lithium-ion batteries and were sold under the brand name Charmast exclusively on Amazon for between $14 and $25 from December 2018 through September 2024.</p>



<p>Charmast has received 44 reports of the recalled power banks expanding, igniting, melting, overheating or smoking, and four customers reported receiving burns or blisters from the defective products, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.</p>



<p>The company&#8217;s recall says the products should be disposed of through local recycling centers for damaged or defective lithium batteries and should not be thrown out in regular garbage or in used battery recycling boxes because their defect poses a safety risk.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-here-s-how-customers-can-contact-charmast-for-a-full-refund">Here’s How Customers Can Contact Charmast For A Full Refund</h2>



<p>Customers can call Charmast from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST Monday through Friday at 929-636-0293, email rcus@charmast.com or visit the company’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.charmast.com/pages/recall-info-page" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">recall website</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-which-power-bank-chargers-have-been-recalled">Which Power Bank Chargers Have Been Recalled?</h2>



<p>The defective products have “Model: W1056” printed on the back and were sold in black, blue, green, mint, pink and white.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Lithium-ion batteries contain flammable materials and can overheat, leading to fire or explosion. The batteries can&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nyc.gov/assets/fdny/downloads/pdf/codes/dangers-of-lithium-ion-batteries.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">re-ignite</a>&nbsp;without warning, even days after an initial fire has been put out, and can&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/hazard-information/fire-in-the-home/lithium-ion-batteries#:~:text=Why%20do%20lithium%2Dion%20batteries,treated%20as%20a%20LiB%20fire." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">release</a>&nbsp;toxic, flammable and explosive gases. Last year, at least seven people were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/09/tech/lithium-ion-battery-fires/index.html#:~:text=The%20problem%20with%20lithium%20batteries&amp;text=%E2%80%9CSo%20when%20a%20fire%20does,these%20devices%2C%E2%80%9D%20Kerber%20said." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">injured</a>&nbsp;in a five-alarm fire in New York City caused by a defective lithium-ion scooter battery, and the New York City Fire Department&nbsp;<a href="https://ul.org/news/ul-research-institutes-ul-standards-engagement-and-ul-solutions-commend-new-york-city-council" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;it responded to more than 200 e-scooter and e-bike fires—resulting in six deaths—in 2022. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said it&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2023/CPSC-Calls-on-Manufacturers-to-Comply-with-Safety-Standards-for-Battery-Powered-Products-to-Reduce-the-Risk-of-Injury-and-Death" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">received reports</a>&nbsp;from 39 states of at least 208 fires or overheating events that caused a reported 19 fatalities from Jan, 1, 2021 through Nov. 28, 2022.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">Crucial Quote</h2>



<p>“Lithium batteries are generally safe and unlikely to fail, but only so long as there are no defects and the batteries are not damaged or mistreated,” Steve Kerber, vice president and executive director of Underwriters Laboratory’s Fire Safety Research Institute,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/09/tech/lithium-ion-battery-fires/index.html#:~:text=The%20problem%20with%20lithium%20batteries&amp;text=%E2%80%9CSo%20when%20a%20fire%20does,these%20devices%2C%E2%80%9D%20Kerber%20said." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told CNN</a>. “The more batteries that surround us the more incidents we will see.”</p>



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



<p>The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported several other recalls Thursday, including one impacting about 63,000 batteries used in lawnmowers and other outdoor tools.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Chervon-North-America-Recalls-SKIL-40V-50Ah-Lithium-Ion-Batteries-for-SKIL-Lawnmowers-and-Outdoor-Tools-Due-to-Fire-and-Burn-Hazard" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Chevron North America</a>&nbsp;has recalled SKIL 40V 5.0 Ah Lithium-Ion Batteries after more than 100 reports of the batteries overheating, melting, smoking and lighting on fire, including eight reports of minor burns and/or smoke inhalation and 49 reports of related property damage. Also recalled Thursday were 85,000 silicone&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Melii-Baby-Silicone-Spoons-for-Babies-Recalled-Due-to-Choking-Hazard-Imported-by-Melii-Baby" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">baby spoon sets&nbsp;</a>from Melii Baby and about 500 Elongdi magnetic&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Magnetic-Building-Sticks-Sets-Recalled-Due-to-Ingestion-Hazard-Violation-of-Federal-Regulations-for-Toy-Magnets-Sold-Exclusively-on-Amazon-com-by-Elongdi" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">building stick sets</a>&nbsp;sold on Amazon.</p>


Smartphones being Charge with Portable Power Banks

Power Bank Chargers Sold On Amazon Recalled After They Melted, Caught Fire


<p><strong>There are affordable ways to reduce the amount of plastic you use and alternatives that help limit the spread of microplastics when you’re out shopping and eating this holiday season.</strong></p>



<p>Microplastics, the tiny pieces of plastic debris that permeate everything from the water we drink to the air we breathe, are detrimental to human and environmental health. Busy, cost-conscious shoppers can choose affordable ways to reduce the amount of plastic they consume and discard.</p>



<p>“These particles are increasingly recognized as endocrine disruptors, capable of interfering with our hormonal systems,&#8221; writes&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;contributor Dr. Christopher Thompson, a medical professor at Harvard University. &#8220;By mimicking hormones like estrogen and cortisol, microplastics may contribute to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherthompson/2024/08/19/your-plastic-water-bottle-may-be-making-you-gain-weight-microplastics/">weight gain, metabolic issues, fertility and other serious health problems</a>.”</p>



<p>In addition to making us gain weight faster and reproduce slower,&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;science contributor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lesliekatz/2024/03/12/microplastics-in-arteries-heighten-heart-attack-and-stroke-risk-study-warns/">Leslie Katz</a>&nbsp;writes that research published earlier this year shows microplastics may be affiliated with heightened risks of heart attack and stroke.</p>



<p>When it comes to the planet at large, the overwhelming amount of plastic production and plastic trash we generate has widespread impacts. According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">United Nation Environment Programme</a>, people produce 400 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, polluting water supplies.</p>



<p>Here are a few tactics that&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;contributor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessepines/2024/04/25/5-ways-to-reduce-your-microplastics-exposure-in-the-plasticene-era/">Dr. Jesse Pines</a>, a practicing physician and professor of emergency medicine at Drexel University, recommends for reducing microplastic consumption at home:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Avoid heating plastic bowls or cups, including steamy takeout served in plastic containers.</li>



<li>Vacuum your home, including couches and drapes, frequently and follow that cleaning with wet mopping to reduce the microplastic particles you’d otherwise breath in.</li>



<li>Triple check that you’ve cleaned your food thoroughly before cooking, especially seafood like shrimp.</li>
</ul>



<p>Drinking from a copper or glass bottle, not plastic water bottles, and washing dishes with powder or liquid soap, instead of with plastic pods, can also help families avoid ingesting plastic particles.</p>



<p>And, as&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;sustainability contributor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviapinnock/2024/10/21/the-plastic-pollution-hiding-in-your-wardrobe-and-how-to-tackle-it/">Olivia Pinnock</a>&nbsp;points out, using products like Cora Ball or GUPPYFRIEND when washing your clothes at home can reduce the quantity of microplastic released into the water when you do laundry.</p>



<p>As many shoppers know, single-use plastic bags are on their way out. A dozen U.S. states and a growing number of municipalities in other states have banned them. Remember, you can put cloth canvas bags in your car or purse so that they’re already available the next time you go grocery shopping.</p>



<p>“Plastic bag bans in the U.S. have proven effective in reducing plastic litter and pollution in the ocean,” writes&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;sustainability contributor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danieladelorenzo/2024/09/09/plastic-bag-bans-tackle-ocean-pollution-right-study-finds/">Daniela De Lorenzo</a>, adding “The European Union has set a target for citizens to use a maximum of 40 plastic bags per year.”</p>



<p>No matter where you live, or what type of shopping you need to do, there are affordable ways to reduce the amount of plastic you consume. With these simple tips you can avoid plastics while shopping and eating, enjoying a healthier lifestyle that’s better for both you and the environment.</p>


a woman drinking coffee in stainless steel cup

How To Avoid Plastics While Shopping And Eating


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



<p>Sean &#8220;Diddy&#8221; Combs appeared in court Wednesday for what is likely to be his last court appearance for several months in his federal sex trafficking case that will see him spend the Christmas holidays in prison despite several attempts by his attorneys to have him released to house arrest. (Here is a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/10/22/all-major-allegations-against-sean-diddy-combs-rape-sexual-abuse-cassie-ventura-tony-buzbee-lil-rod/">complete list of the allegations</a>&nbsp;against Combs.)</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2171912226-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64025" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2171912226-1.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2171912226-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2171912226-1-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em><strong>King Combs, son of Sean &#8220;Diddy&#8221; Combs, right, exits court in New York. (Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)</strong></em></figcaption></figure></div>


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



<p>December 18Combs&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/sean-diddy-combs-back-court-wishes-spectators-happy/story?id=116924609" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">appeared in court</a>&nbsp;for a brief hearing in his federal case at which federal prosecutors said they plan to disclose all available evidence to his defense team by the end of the year in preparation for a May trial date. One court&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/diddy-sean-combs-case-jail-appearance-update-2003100" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reporter</a>&nbsp;described Combs as appearing “thinner” and “grayer” than when he was last seen in public, and the music mogul wished spectators a &#8220;Happy Holidays&#8221; as he left.</p>



<p><strong>December 2</strong><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ghislaine-maxwell-prosecutor-joins-sean-diddy-combs-trial-1235190051/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maurene Comey</a>, former FBI director James Comey&#8217;s daughter who litigated the case in which Maxwell was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">convicted</a> for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein, on Monday notified the federal court in the Southern District of New York that she has joined the prosecution against Combs.</p>



<p><strong>November 27</strong>Federal judge Arun Subramanian <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628424/gov.uscourts.nysd.628424.92.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">denied</a> Combs’ request to be released on bail citing “compelling evidence of Combs’s propensity for violence.” Subramanian’s ruling also stated that there was evidence supporting “a serious risk of witness tampering,” along with evidence that he “violated Bureau of Prisons regulations during his pretrial detention to obscure his communications with third parties.” The judge also wrote the government prosecutors have shown “by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community.”</p>



<p><strong>November 25</strong>Attorneys for the federal government argued against Combs’ push to get released on $50 million bail and a laundry list of other conditions, telling Judge Arun Subramanian in a letter the package “does not come close to ensuring the security of the community” or to ensuring Combs won&#8217;t interfere with the case or try to flee before the trial—citing an alleged “pattern of violence” toward women and his own staff. In their own letter, defense attorneys argued Combs has been unconstitutionally held in jail and silenced since he was first arrested in September, that the government has launched a campaign against him to keep him from getting a fair trial and that Combs “is not required to sit idly by and acquiesce to all of this.” Subramanian is expected to make a decision on bail by Thanksgiving.</p>



<p>November 22Subramanian heard arguments from attorneys on both sides but punted a decision to the following week on whether Combs should be released on bail. Subramanian rejected the idea Combs be kept under house arrest at a home with a boat dock in Miami but seemed open to potentially releasing him to confinement with around-the-clock security at a three-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He asked lawyers to submit further arguments in writing by Monday, Nov. 25.</p>



<p><strong>November 19</strong>Subramanian told prosecutors to “get rid of” their copies of handwritten notes taken by Combs in jail, making the decision as he considers legal arguments from Combs’ lawyers that the notes were subject to attorney-client privilege and counter arguments from prosecutors who accused Combs of writing about a witness tampering plot.</p>



<p><strong>November 15</strong>In a filing opposing Combs’ request to be released on bail, prosecutors claim Combs has attempted to “corruptly influence witness testimony” by asking his family members to reach out to victims and potential witnesses and create “narratives” to affect their opinion, while also asking his children to post a video to social media in celebration of his birthday and ensuring the video had “his desired effect on potential jury members in this case.”</p>



<p><strong>November 12</strong>In &#8220;The Downfall of Diddy: Inside the Freak-Offs,” Ray J claims high-profile celebrities are &#8220;reaching out to victims&#8221; and offering them money in exchange for avoiding any public exposure, and aspiring singer-songwriter Tanea Wallace described her experience at a 2018 party where she said she saw minors “dressed up like Harajuku Barbies, red lipstick, looking like real sexy.”</p>



<p><strong>November 8</strong>Combs’ attorneys again requested the mogul be released on bail with a $50 million bond with a laundry list of new conditions, including home detention in Miami or New York City, security lockdown and no internet access, which is scheduled to be heard at a hearing on Nov. 22.</p>



<p><strong>November 4</strong>In a video <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DB9lgi1tXiF/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">posted</a> by his son, Combs spoke to his children on the phone on his 55th birthday Monday and said, “I can’t wait to see y’all. I just want to say that I’m proud of y’all, especially the girls. I mean, all y’all just for being strong.”</p>



<p><strong>November 3</strong>Comb&#8217;s lawyers sent a letter to Subramanian asking he place all potential witnesses under a gag order until a federal trial scheduled for May, claiming a &#8220;deluge of improper pretrial publicity that is undermining Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial.” (The request comes after a friend of Comb&#8217;s late girlfriend Kim Porter <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sean-combs-urges-court-to-issue-widespread-gag-order-1235152185/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spoke</a> outside a courthouse in Manhattan, saying he’d testified before a grand jury and has footage of Combs raping and sexually assaulting several people, including minors).</p>



<p><strong>October 31</strong>Ty Stiklorius, John Legend&#8217;s manager, wrote in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/31/opinion/p-diddy-sean-combs-music-business-reform.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Times piece</a> that she herself experienced a &#8220;terrifying situation&#8221; in which she says she was locked in a bedroom while attending a party hosted by Combs in St. Barts in the late 1990s and &#8220;managed to talk her way out&#8221; of what she assumed was an abnormal experience, but later realized &#8220;what happened that night was no aberration—it was an indicator of a pervasive culture in the music industry.”</p>



<p><strong>October 28</strong>Federal authorities said they&#8217;d carried out an “interagency operation” at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn where Combs is awaiting trial, but did not provide specific details about what was done inside the facility, which has been the target of rampant criticism from the Combs team and the location of several crimes in recent months, including a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/federal-inmate-mdc-brooklyn-charged-orchestrating-murder-hire-using-contraband" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">murder-for-hire </a>plot and the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/federal-jail-brooklyn-diddy-bureau-of-prisons-afd6aebdfacd70286955f8c1bbf1cd6e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stabbing deaths</a> of two inmates.</p>



<p><strong>October 25</strong>In a letter submitted to the court Friday, Combs&#8217; attorneys requested a gag order be implemented for all federal officials involved <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/17/sean-diddy-combs-charged-with-sex-trafficking-racketeering/">in his case</a>, specifically citing a <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/10/25/us-news/diddy-mixed-a-list-parties-with-freak-off-sex-shows-tapes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Post article</a> that quotes a &#8220;federal law enforcement source who is involved in the investigation&#8221; as proof the Department of Homeland Security is purposefully interfering with Combs&#8217; right to a fair trial (in October, Combs&#8217; legal team claimed DHS <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/10/lawyers-for-sean-combs-allege-us-government-leaked-assault-footage-to-cnn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">leaked</a> an incriminating video of Combs to CNN, which the agency denied). A judge later called the quotes in the article “plainly improper” but rejected the gag order request.</p>



<p>October 22Two of Combs’ seven children—Quincy Brown, Combs&#8217; adopted 33-year-old son, and Chance Combs, his 18-year-old daughter with Sarah Chapman—made a joint&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DBbIxQHPOjn/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">post on Instagram&nbsp;</a>calling the last month &#8220;devastating&#8221; for their family and defending their father from what they called &#8220;accusations, conspiracy theories and false narratives.”</p>



<p><strong>October 15</strong>Combs returned to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diddy/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a> for the first time since his arrest in September with a post marking the second birthday of his youngest daughter, named Love Sean Combs (he’d previously <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/06/20/all-of-diddys-instagram-posts-and-videos-including-cassie-apology-are-deleted/">deleted every post </a>on the social media account as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/10/22/all-major-allegations-against-sean-diddy-combs-rape-sexual-abuse-cassie-ventura-tony-buzbee-lil-rod/">allegations</a> piled up against him, but has posted a total of three times since July, each time with photos of his children).</p>



<p><strong>October 11</strong>A U.S. Appeals court referred Combs&#8217; latest request for bail to a panel of three judges, but ruled he will remain behind bars until a decision is made.</p>



<p><strong>October 10</strong>Combs appeared in court for the first time since his arrest, where a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/10/10/sean-diddy-combs-will-face-sex-trafficking-trial-in-may/">trial date</a> of May 5 was set for him to face federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.</p>



<p><strong>October 9</strong>Combs’ team filed a memo alleging that the Department of Homeland Security<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/10/lawyers-for-sean-combs-allege-us-government-leaked-assault-footage-to-cnn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> leaked</a> a surveillance video that showed him abusing his ex-girlfriend, Casandra &#8220;Cassie&#8221; Ventura, though prosecutors have denied the allegations and said they did not obtain that video until it was made public by CNN.</p>



<p><strong>October 8</strong>Lawyers for Combs filed paperwork <a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/diddy-appeals-bail-ruling-sex-abuse-case-witness-tampering/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">asking</a> he be allowed to await trial outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center where he resides, claiming the initial decision to deny him bail was unfairly “distorted” by the attention on the case (the initial judge, who has since been replaced, ruled Combs should stay in jail so he can’t use his money and influence to interfere in the government&#8217;s case against him).</p>



<p><strong>October 6</strong>Janice Small Combs, Sean Combs&#8217; mother, said in a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DAzDBw7p2pL/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=937fbcc4-1950-477e-9bef-89c73dccc13a&amp;img_index=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> through her family&#8217;s attorney she is &#8220;devastated and profoundly saddened&#8221; by the allegations against her son, adding those accusing him of misconduct are &#8220;seeking a financial gain&#8221; and likened Combs to &#8220;many individuals&#8221; who have been &#8220;wrongfully convicted due to their past actions or mistakes&#8221;—though she also said Combs “may have been not entirely truthful” when <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/17/entertainment/sean-combs-cassie-ventura/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">denying assault allegations</a> raised by his ex-girlfriend Ventura.</p>



<p><strong>September 30</strong>Lawyers for Combs filed a notice asking the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the Southern District of New York to overturn the decision to hold him in prison while he awaits trial, a choice Judge Andrew Carter made <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/30/entertainment/sean-combs-lawyers-appeal-detention/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">citing concerns</a> Combs had allegedly tampered with witnesses who had been contacted as part of the investigation against him (the request was not granted).</p>



<p><strong>September 26</strong>A <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/09/27/sean-diddy-combs-lawyer-says-violent-video-of-cassie-not-evidence-of-sex-trafficking/">documentary</a> was released for streaming on Tubi and featured an interview with Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo—who addressed a leaked <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/05/19/sean-diddy-combs-apology-video-of-him-beating-cassie-2016-lawsuits-sex-trafficking-rape-abuse-assault/">surveillance video</a> of Combs shoving and kicking ex-girlfriend Ventura—in which he called the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628425/gov.uscourts.nysd.628425.2.0_2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">indictment</a> a takedown of a “successful Black man&#8221; and said he doesn&#8217;t expect Combs to accept a plea bargain.</p>



<p><strong>September 24</strong>Combs is sharing a unit with disgraced<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/03/28/sam-bankman-fried-speaks-my-useful-life-is-probably-over-as-hes-sentenced-to-25-years/"> Bankman-Fried</a> at the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/09/18/sean-diddy-combs-reportedly-complains-about-horrific-jail-conditions-what-to-know-about-notorious-metropolitan-detention-center/">Metropolitan Detention Center</a>, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/arts/music/sean-combs-sam-bankman-fried-jail.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes#" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The New York Times</a>, as the former crypto mogul serves out a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/03/28/sam-bankman-fried-speaks-my-useful-life-is-probably-over-as-hes-sentenced-to-25-years/">25-year sentence</a> in prison for counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering linked to a scheme that lost former FTX customers, lenders and investors several billion dollars.</p>



<p><strong>September 18</strong>Combs&#8217; lawyers cited &#8220;horrific&#8221; conditions at the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/09/18/sean-diddy-combs-reportedly-complains-about-horrific-jail-conditions-what-to-know-about-notorious-metropolitan-detention-center/">Metropolitan Detention Center</a> in Brooklyn, New York in a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/18/sean-diddy-combs-loses-bail-denial-appeal-after-pleading-not-guilty-to-sex-trafficking-racketeering-charges/">request for bail</a>—which included a $50 million bond offer, GPS monitoring and strict limitations on visitors—that was denied by U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter, who said the conditions weren’t enough to ensure the safety of the community.</p>



<p><strong>September 17</strong>A federal court in Manhattan <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/17/sean-diddy-combs-charged-with-sex-trafficking-racketeering/">unsealed charges</a> against Combs for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, alleging he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”</p>



<p><strong>September 16</strong>Combs was arrested in Manhattan after being indicted by a grand jury.</p>



<p><strong>May 29</strong><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/29/entertainment/sean-diddy-combs-federal-investigation/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sources told CNN</a> federal investigators were getting close to filing charges against Combs, and that plaintiffs who had filed individual civil lawsuits against him had been interviewed as part of the case.</p>



<p><strong>March 25</strong>Federal agents <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/03/25/feds-search-sean-diddy-combs-la-and-miami-homes-reports-say/?sh=d8b69e15d52c">raided Combs’ homes</a> in Florida and California in relation to a federal sex trafficking investigation.</p>



<p><strong>November 20-23</strong>A $30 million lawsuit filed by Ventura kicked off a series of criminal complaints against Combs that have included rape, sexual assault, sex trafficking and other claims (<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/10/22/all-major-allegations-against-sean-diddy-combs-rape-sexual-abuse-cassie-ventura-tony-buzbee-lil-rod/">see all of the allegations here</a>).</p>


Sean “Diddy” Combs Fulfills $1 Million Pledge To Howard University At Howard Homecoming – Yardfest

Diddy Wishes Courtroom ‘Happy Holidays’ At Hearing: Here Is The Latest On Sean Combs


<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/"></a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/search/"></a><strong>Plus: A $13.2 Billion Shopping Day; Holiday Spending Predicted To Hit Record Levels, But With Slower Growth; Inflation Makes Shoppers More Likely To Use Credit; Avoiding Shopping Scams</strong></p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-this-is-the-published-version-of-forbes-ceo-newsletter-which-offers-the-latest-news-for-today-s-and-tomorrow-s-business-leaders-and-decision-makers-click-here-to-get-it-delivered-to-your-inbox-every-week">This is the published version of <em>Forbes’</em> CEO newsletter, which offers the latest news for today&#8217;s and tomorrow&#8217;s business leaders and decision-makers. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/newsletter/ceo">Click here</a> to get it delivered to your inbox every week.</h4>



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



<p><strong>The holiday spending season is officially here</strong>. Shoppers are tapping mobile phones, typing on keyboards, and yes, even going into actual stores in search of gifts to make the darkest part of the year more festive.</p>



<p>While today’s shopping event—<strong>Cyber Monday—is really just a name for sales, it’s still enormous</strong>. (According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Pew Research Center</a>, 96% of adults use the internet and 79% have a high-speed connection at home—a vast difference from the 2005 origin of the event, when people used their work computers to shop online.)&nbsp;<a href="https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/cyber-monday-statistics/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">CapitalOne predicts</a>&nbsp;that holiday shoppers will spend $13.2 billion today. In 2023, 94 million people shopped online on Cyber Monday, which was a 26.5% bigger shopping day than Black Friday.</p>



<p>Since the holiday spending season brings so much business—according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://nrf.com/research-insights/holiday-data-and-trends/winter-holidays/winter-holiday-faqs" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">National Retail Foundation</a>, it’s driven an average of 19% of total annual sales for the last five years for retailers—<strong>we’re devoting Forbes CEO today to what retailers and shipping companies call the most wonderful time of the year</strong>. We’ve got statistics and projections about what consumers are likely to spend and how it can impact the economy. I also talked to Jim Yu, CEO of BrightEdge, about how Google’s AI is impacting e-commerce this holiday season.</p>



<p>Thanks so much for reading, and may your registers ring.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spending-projections">SPENDING PROJECTIONS</h2>



<p>It’s high shopping season now, but the projections about how people were likely to spend have been coming out since August. The good news:&nbsp;<strong>All predictions have shown more spending this year</strong>. The not-so-great news: Many see slower growth than in the past.</p>



<p>According to the National Retail Federation’s annual holiday sales predictions in October,&nbsp;<strong>total retail sales are expected to increase 2.5% to 3.5%</strong>&nbsp;over 2023 levels.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2024/10/15/retail-group-upbeat-about-holidays-expects-980-billion-in-spending/"><em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;senior contributor Joan Verdon wrote</a>&nbsp;this is a modest increase but still would be a spending record, with shoppers expected to spend at least $25 billion more than last year. NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said retailers are fairly upbeat and optimistic about the holidays, even though they’re concerned that shoppers will be more price-conscious.</p>



<p><strong>Deloitte made a similar projection in September</strong>, expecting holiday spending to increase between 2.3% and 3.3%. Michael Jeschke, leader of Deloitte’s Retail &amp; Consumer Products Practice,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2024/09/12/moderate-holiday-sales-growth-of-23-to-33-forecast-by-deloitte/">told Verdon</a>&nbsp;in an interview about this forecast that they see a “return to normal spending” in 2024—more in line with the last 10 to 15 years in terms of growth than the previous three, which were all deeply impacted by the pandemic and its after effects. But still, Deloitte found that consumers plan to spend an average of $1,778 this holiday season—8% more than 2023—with the largest increases on experiences, decor and holiday clothing.</p>



<p>In August,&nbsp;<strong>Salesforce predicted online global holiday sales of $1.19 trillion, growth of just 2%</strong>&nbsp;from 2023’s $1.17 trillion,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2024/08/29/holiday-online-sales-expected-to-increase-2-to-119-trillion/">wrote&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;senior contributor Joan Verdon</a>. Adobe’s online forecast, made about a month later in September, predicts a record $240.8 billion in online spending in the U.S., an increase of 8.4% over 2023,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2024/09/25/adobe-expects-record-online-holiday-sales-of-2408-billion-up-8/">Verdon wrote in another article</a>. Patrick Brown, Adobe’s vice president of growth marketing and insights, told Verdon that they anticipate consumers to do more splurging on bigger ticket items—and more deep discounts coming on them this year.</p>



<p>The spending got off to a rousing start last week.&nbsp;<strong>Black Friday online sales approached $11 billion</strong>—an increase of more than 10%,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2024/11/30/black-friday-online-sales-up-10-as-in-store-traffic-falls-8/">Verdon reported</a>&nbsp;from Adobe Analytics and Salesforce data. But there was a loser on Black Friday: actual stores. There was an 8.2% drop in in-store traffic, according to Sensormatic Solutions. Grant Gustafson, Sensormatic’s head of retail and analytics, told Verdon this was likely caused by retailers improving their online shopping experiences and spreading sales to the entire week.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-economic-indicators">ECONOMIC INDICATORS</h2>



<p>While analysts predict that more money will be spent this year,&nbsp;<strong>consumers have also borne the brunt of inflation for the last several years</strong>. Prices of most items, from food and fuel to gifts and experiences, are still a little more expensive—something that could make a big difference in what people spend.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sharonedelson/2024/10/07/consumers-start-holiday-shopping-early-but-high-prices-on-essentials-drives-cutbacks/"><em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;senior contributor Sharon Edelson reported on</a>&nbsp;a survey from ESW at the beginning of October that found 61% of consumers said they planned to spend more than $600 this holiday season, but 47% said the&nbsp;<strong>high prices of food and fuel will lead them to spend less than they would otherwise</strong>.</p>



<p>Salesforce&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2024/08/29/holiday-online-sales-expected-to-increase-2-to-119-trillion/">predicted back in August</a>&nbsp;that value will be top-of-mind for consumers this year, with&nbsp;<strong>one in five online purchases expected to be made on a Chinese-headquartered shopping app</strong>: namely Temu, Shein and TikTok. In August, 63% of consumers had made purchases from one of these apps during the previous six months, and half had already planned to buy from them during the holiday season. Salesforce said TikTok was likely to be the big winner; its customer base increased 24% between April and August.</p>



<p>Deloitte’s Jeschke&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2024/09/12/moderate-holiday-sales-growth-of-23-to-33-forecast-by-deloitte/">said in September&nbsp;</a>that&nbsp;<strong>inflation is likely to have both a positive and negative impact on holiday spending</strong>. With decreased inflation comes an ability to spend more, but the prolonged period of inflation has eaten into many households’ savings, which could lead to more credit card debt.</p>



<p><strong>An overwhelming majority of consumers—85.1%—said they expect to use credit</strong>&nbsp;or borrowing to make holiday purchases, according to Coresight Research’s Holiday 2024 Consumer Survey and Retail Outlook,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanverdon/2024/11/18/why-shoppers-are-using-credit-cards-more-this-holiday-season/">Verdon wrote last month</a>. Four in 10 expect to put the majority of their spending on credit, and more than a third are using credit cards more than last year, according to Salesforce.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tomorrow-s-trends">TOMORROW’S TRENDS</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-google-s-ai-is-shifting-the-holiday-e-commerce-playing-field"><strong>How Google’s AI Is Shifting The Holiday E-Commerce Playing Field</strong></h3>



<p><em>It’s hard to miss the changes that Google has been making to its search results pages this year, especially when it comes to shopping. As the tech giant continues to improve its AI-powered search results, it’s doing more to impact what it shows to consumers. I talked to Jim Yu, CEO of SEO and content marketing firm BrightEdge, which keeps close tabs on what Google and other search engines are doing. I spoke to him about some of the changes and what they mean for businesses. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.</em></p>



<p><strong>What are some new things Google is incorporating in its e-commerce search results?</strong></p>



<p><strong>Yu:&nbsp;</strong>Google’s doing a lot in some of these commerce shopping queries [with] experimentation around YouTube. It makes sense if you think about multimodal content. If you are shopping for the new Sonos, buying a new iPhone or looking for a big screen TV, a lot of times people go to YouTube and find reviews. But it takes a lot of time to watch those videos.</p>



<p>Google’s AI overview automatically goes and looks at the video, watches the video, transcribes the video, then figures out what query is relevant for in search and summarizes. For example, if there are some pros and cons to buying something, it automatically looks at the video, along with regular reviews, and then summarizes that into the AI overview.</p>



<p>This is a very interesting hint into the future of AI. The last 18 months has been around large language models, which have been about just text. From a shopper perspective during the holiday season, you don’t have to watch all that stuff and spend a ton of time researching.</p>



<p><strong>Is it doing a good job of picking credible reviews? I mean, anybody who wants to do a product review can, but I imagine that an editor at&nbsp;<em>Consumer Reports</em>&#8216; review might carry more weight than one from my neighbor.</strong></p>



<p>I think they’re doing a relatively good job with this. It’s an interesting dynamic because on YouTube they have a lot more signals around content moderation. Bigger picture, you saw this evolution with AI overviews, where in the beginning it was using a lot of Reddit and Quora content—user-generated, creator-generated content, but with maybe less on moderation and authority. With YouTube, there are better controls and guardrails around the authority they ascribe to a creator.</p>



<p><strong>What else has Google changed and added for the shopping season in terms of AI and search results?</strong></p>



<p>There are larger AI overview panels. And by larger, I mean the real estate the AI overview takes now. We have not seen a lot of ads appear. I know they&#8217;re talking about that, [and because] the space that the AI overview is taking is increasing, that may be a precursor to having more real estate to add ads into that format.</p>



<p>You’re seeing more of the introduction of AI overviews at the top of search results, and a lot of times, integrating more details around the product so it’s a richer experience if you have a high-intent shopping query.</p>



<p>The product carousel, where in the AI overviews you can actually see different products, went up 300%. It’s not just describing products, describing attributes to consider, talking about the latest trends and things like that, but [it can] go ahead and show you the products that you can click through and buy. Those are going to be very important aspects heading into the holiday season.</p>



<p><strong>What does this mean for CMOs and CEOs?</strong></p>



<p>You’ve got to start analyzing this. If Google is important to your business, which for many people it is, especially as you head into the holiday shopping season, make sure you understand and monitor where AI is showing up in your portfolio of shopping keywords. If you have products [that would be in its] carousels, make sure that the product feeds you’re sending Google are in there, they’re timely, accurate and optimized because it’s pulling that right into the front of the AI. You want your image of your product and the information from your products to show up in that AI overview. And the best chance of that is making sure that you are feeding that directly into Google.</p>



<p>You also want to make sure you are very focused on the quality of the data and the content that you’re sending. Before, nobody was going to page two of the results. Now, you really want to be the trusted, accurate information that’s right in the AI portion at the top of that page.</p>



<p>One other thing I would [recommend], especially for shopping, is visual content. The trend here, especially in commerce, is people don’t just shop by looking at words. People are looking at pictures and videos and things like that. You want to make sure you are the source of that beautiful picture of that product and that is going to be another important element of winning in the AI-assisted shopping experience.</p>


Google

How Google’s AI Is Changing E-Commerce For The Holidays


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



<p>Nissan Motor’s shares surged sharply on Wednesday morning after reports emerged that the company had initiated talks for a merger with fellow Japanese carmaker Honda, in a move that intended to help Nissan wade through an ongoing crisis and reportedly allow the Japanese companies to compete better against electric vehicle rivals from China and Tesla.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



<p>According to&nbsp;<a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Honda-and-Nissan-to-begin-merger-talks-amid-EV-competition" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Nikkei Asia</a>, which first reported the merger talks, the two automakers are discussing the possibility of operating under a single holding company that would allow them to pool their resources to take on emerging rivals.</p>



<p>The report said the size of each of the two automakers’ stakes in the new holding company and other financial details of the merger are yet to be decided.</p>



<p>The merged entity also plans to eventually bring Mitsubishi Motors—whose top shareholder is Nissan—on board, the report added.</p>



<p>In a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nissan-global.com/JP/IR/TSE/ASSETS/2024/PDF/20241218_tse01_j.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Tokyo Stock Exchange filing</a>, Nissan said it is considering “various ways of future collaboration” with Honda and Mitsubishi as part of a strategic partnership that was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/IR/TSE/ASSETS/2024/PDF/20240801_tse02_e.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;earlier this year, “including some matters reported in the press…but nothing has been finalized at this time.”</p>



<p>Honda also issued a&nbsp;<a href="https://global.honda/en/investors/library/filings/filings20241218/main/0/link/CY2024_20241218_TSEfling_e.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">similar statement</a>&nbsp;in a regulatory filing, noting that the media reports are not based on any official announcements from the company.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How The Market Reacted To The Honda-Nissan Merger Reports?</h2>



<p>The price of Nissan’s shares surged 23.70% to JPY 417.6 ($2.72) in Wednesday morning trading in Tokyo, prompting a pause in trading as it hit the upper limit for a single-day swing. Mitsubishi Motor Corp’s stock price surged 19.65% to JPY 487 ($3.17) after the news was reported. The shares of Honda Motors—the biggest of the three companies—went up initially, but eventually slipped to JPY 1,233 ($8.04), down nearly 4% from the previous day. The stock of Japan’s biggest automaker Toyota—which will continue to hold that crown even if this merger goes through—rose nearly 2% to JPY 2,725 ($17.76).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Big Number</h2>



<p>Around 4 million. That is the combined number of vehicles Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi sold globally in the first half of 2024, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-17/honda-nissan-said-to-explore-potential-merger-to-take-on-toyota" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>. This is lower that the 5.2 million sold by Toyota—the world’s biggest car marker—in the same period.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Honda-and-Nissan-to-begin-merger-talks-amid-EV-competition" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Honda and Nissan to begin merger talks amid EV competition</a>&nbsp;(Nikkei Asia)</p>


Nissan, Honda Agree to Study EV, Intelligence Partnership

Nissan Shares Surge 23% After Reports Of Merger Talks With Honda


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



<p>Shares of MicroStrategy rallied Monday after the corporate bitcoin holder earned a spot in a key stock index, an apparent institutional vote of confidence in the company whose stock has been red hot amid the cryptocurrency boom.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>MicroStrategy stock gained 4% at market open, enjoying a bump from the Nasdaq&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/annual-changes-nasdaq-100-indexr-2024-12-13" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announcing</a>&nbsp;after Friday’s close that the Virginia-based company would join its Nasdaq 100 stock index next Monday.</p>



<p>The inclusion on the Nasdaq 100, which is the basis for the popular Invesco QQQ exchange-traded fund, should result in about $2.1 billion in net buying of MicroStrategy shares as portfolios adjust to the move, according to Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani.</p>



<p>Also boosting the share price of MicroStrategy, which trades under the ticker MSTR, was a weekend rally for bitcoin, which hit a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/bitcoin-powers-above-105000-first-time-2024-12-15/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">fresh</a>&nbsp;all-time high Monday of over $106,000; almost all of MicroStrategy’s underlying value is tied to its bitcoin horde rather than a more traditional revenue-based business model.</p>



<p>MicroStrategy stock has gained a robust 573% in 2024, outstripping bitcoin’s 150% gain and the S&amp;P 500’s 29% return.</p>



<p>Shares of the other two new Nasdaq 100 entrants, Axon Enterprise and Palantir, had less stark reactions, with Taser stun gun maker Axon stock up 1% and analytics-based defense contractor Palantir trading flat.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-does-mstr-do">What Does Mstr Do?</h2>



<p>MicroStrategy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.microstrategy.com/investor-relations" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">describes</a>&nbsp;itself as the “world&#8217;s first and largest Bitcoin Treasury Company.” Part of the dot-com boom at the turn of the millennium, MicroStrategy shifted its focus beginning in 2020 from its software business to becoming the most prominent voice advocating for bitcoin as a long-term store of value akin to gold. The company owns 439,000 bitcoins in its strategic reserve, equivalent to $46 billion, or 2.2% of the world’s total bitcoin supply. Some 40% of MicroStrategy’s bitcoins have been acquired over the last 40 days, according to Chhugani, dating back to the election of Donald Trump, an outspoken bitcoin ally. MicroStrategy has taken the rare step of issuing debt to fund its bitcoin purchases. “If you are not a Bitcoin believer, this is scary, but MSTR’s Bitcoin strategy is a long term high-conviction ‘buy &amp; hold’ strategy with the view to hold Bitcoin till it surpasses Gold and beyond,” Chhugani wrote Monday.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contra">Contra</h2>



<p>MicroStrategy certainly has its critics, including investment firm Citron Research, which&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/CitronResearch/status/1859608654590202325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1859608654590202325%7Ctwgr%5E285e05254ab72981c19f7dd4fb2010b21edd4c81%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffinance.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2Fmicrostrategy-stock-plummets-16-after-new-short-bet-with-bitcoin-trading-at-record-highs-151747801.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;a short position on MicroStrategy stock last month, calling the stock “overheated” and “completely detached” from bitcoin fundamentals. With a market capitalization of about $100 billion, MicroStrategy trades more than two times higher than its bitcoin holdings, with its other operations hardly offering much further support, as its software business brought in less than $120 million last quarter.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">Big Number</h2>



<p>2,700%.<strong>&nbsp;</strong>That’s how much MicroStrategy stock has returned over the last five years. That easily outranks the roughly 2,200% and 1,600% gains from the S&amp;P’s top performers during that stretch in artificial intelligence darling Nvidia and Elon Musk-led electric vehicle company Tesla, respectively, according to FactSet.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forbes-valuation">Forbes Valuation</h2>



<p>MicroStrategy’s outspoken founder and chairman Michael Saylor is worth more than $10 billion, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/michael-saylor/">making him</a> the 254th-richest person in the world. His net worth has more than doubled <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/">since</a> March.</p>


Key Speakers At The Bitcoin 2024 Conference

MicroStrategy Stock Jumps On Nasdaq 100 Inclusion—Bitcoin Giant Up 570% This Year


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



<p>Millions of stainless steel travel mugs sold by the popular Stanley brand have been recalled as the company reports dozens of burn injuries caused by faulty lids.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Stanley on Thursday issued the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Stanley-Recalls-2-6-Million-Switchback-and-Trigger-Action-Travel-Mugs-Due-to-Burn-Hazard" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">recall</a>&nbsp;notice for 2.6 million of their Switchback and Trigger Action stainless steel travel mugs in 12 oz., 16 oz. and 20 oz. sizes.</p>



<p>The company reports an issue with the mugs&#8217; lid threads that causes them to shrink when exposed to heat and then fall off of the cup, posing a burn hazard to those who&#8217;ve put hot liquids inside.</p>



<p>The recall was issued after Stanley said it received 91 reports of the detaching lids, resulting in 38 burn injuries worldwide (16 of the reports and two of the injuries came from U.S. customers).</p>



<p>Of the people hurt, 11 required medical attention.</p>



<p>The cups were sold at Amazon, Walmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Target and other retailers for between $20 and $50 each for more than eight years and the recalled mugs have one of the following product identification numbers printed on the bottom: 20-01437, 20-01436, 20-02211, 20-02033, 20-02779, 20-02825, 20-02030, 20-02745, 20-02957, 20-02034 or 20-02746.</p>



<p>Customers with an impacted product can contact Stanley for a new free lid.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>The Stanley drinkware company has been around for 111 years, but its products&nbsp;<a href="https://www.retaildive.com/news/stanley-quencher-tumblers-viral-success/699416/#:~:text=Social%20media%20has%20also%20helped,people%20liked%20it%20as%20well.%E2%80%9D" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">went viral</a>&nbsp;several years ago on TikTok and Instagram, particularly with Gen Z and Millennial women. The viral popularity caused Stanley&#8217;s revenue to jump from $73 million in 2019 to $194 million in 2021 and $750 million in 2023,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/23/how-a-40-ounce-cup-turned-stanley-into-a-750-million-a-year-business.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">CNBC reported,</a>&nbsp;particularly as demand for its &#8220;Quencher&#8221; product went through the roof. The Quencher waterbottles, a 40-ounce insulated cup with a handle and straw, sell for between $45 and $55 each and releases of the cup in new colors have started to routinely&nbsp;<a href="https://www.al.com/shopping/2024/10/new-stanley-colors-now-at-target-and-theyre-already-selling-out.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">sell out</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">Crucial Quote</h2>



<p>“On the days that I do have extra time, I search for the specific [color] that matches my shirt,” content creator and Stanley Quencher collector Chelsea Espejo told CNBC. “I wouldn’t even say Stanleys are something I use. They’re actually part of my personality. If I don’t have it, if I don’t choose the right color, my day kind of doesn’t go how I planned it.”</p>


Wildly Popular Stanley Cups Go Viral Again, This Time For Users Claiming They Contain Lead

Millions Of Stanley Cups Have Been Recalled—Here’s Why


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



<p>A federal appeals court has upheld a federal ban on TikTok that would make the app unavailable to American users starting in January, and while TikTok is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/12/09/tiktok-asks-to-pause-ban-while-it-appeals-to-supreme-court/">doing all it can</a>&nbsp;to reverse the decision, users still have time to save their favorite videos before they potentially disappear.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Using TikTok on desktop is the easiest way to save videos created either by a logged-in account or that have privacy settings that allow them to be downloaded.</p>



<p>Videos with the proper settings on TikTok.com can be downloaded to a desktop computer as .mp4 files by right clicking and choosing “Download Video” (if there is no download video option, the creator of the video has probably changed settings to stop third party downloads).</p>



<p>On mobile, videos can be saved by tapping the Share button in the lower-right corner of the screen when a TikTok video is pulled up, tapping &#8220;save video,&#8221; and choosing from the list of choices including options to send as an email attachment, upload to Google Drive or save locally to the device.</p>



<p>When downloading directly from TikTok, either on desktop or mobile, a one-video-at-a-time approach is the only option, but several third-party services offer to save more than one at once.</p>



<p><a href="http://repurpose.io/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Repurpose.io,</a>&nbsp;a software company, allows creators to publish videos simultaneously across multiple platforms after they&#8217;ve been made in the TikTok app, and also has an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thekeirajones/video/7345992968609811755" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">option</a>&nbsp;to download every video made on an account to Google Drive, allowing creators to save all of their work locally.</p>



<p>A Chrome web browser extension called&nbsp;<a href="https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/myfavett-download-all-tik/gmajiifkcmjkehmngbopoobeplhoegad?pli=1" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">myfaveTT</a>&nbsp;promises to export all of a user&#8217;s liked and favorited videos to .mp4 files—and keep them sorted into folders as made within the app.</p>



<p><strong><em>Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts:&nbsp;</em></strong><em>We’re launching text message alerts so you&#8217;ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to&nbsp;</em><a href="https://tel:2013350739/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"><em>(201) 335-0739</em></a><em>&nbsp;or sign up&nbsp;</em><a href="https://joinsubtext.com/forbes" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"><em>here</em></a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">What To Watch For</h2>



<p>How legal efforts around the TikTok ban, currently set to start Jan. 19, progress. The company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/12/09/tiktok-asks-to-pause-ban-while-it-appeals-to-supreme-court/">on Friday&nbsp;</a>had its emergency motion for an injunction denied that would have stopped the ban from taking effect until the Supreme Court could decide whether to take up the case—and so President-elect Donald Trump could potentially step in to stop the ban after being sworn into office. Now, the company will have to appeal to the Supreme Court and the justices would have to issue a decision by Jan. 19.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>President Joe Biden signed a TikTok ban into law in April after increasing concerns from lawmakers about data privacy and its Chinese ties. Although TikTok has long denied having any links to the Chinese government, the new law said parent company ByteDance would need to sell its stake in the social media platform to stop it from being banned in the United States. TikTok fought in court, arguing the ban infringes on the company’s First Amendment rights, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/12/06/tiktok-ban-upheld-in-court/">denied</a>&nbsp;its petition to review the law and upheld the ban. On Monday, TikTok filed an emergency motion for an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/12/09/tiktok-asks-to-pause-ban-while-it-appeals-to-supreme-court/">injunction</a>&nbsp;asking the ban to be paused while it asks the Supreme Court to take up the case. That was denied Friday. In its filing, TikTok also said the pause would allow the Trump administration time to weigh in on the legal dispute. Trump reportedly wants to stop the TikTok ban, but how and if he could is still unclear. On Friday, members of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2024/12/13/congress-warns-apple-and-google-they-must-ban-tiktok-in-january/">Congress sent letters</a>&nbsp;to the CEOs of Apple, Google and TikTok reminding them that TikTok will need to be removed from app stores by Jan. 19.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-would-a-tiktok-ban-actually-work">How Would A Tiktok Ban Actually Work?</h2>



<p>It’s not completely clear how the banning of the application, which is used by about&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/year-on-tiktok-2024" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">170 million</a>&nbsp;Americans, would work, but it’s unlikely it would simply disappear from the phones of U.S. users. Instead, the law would penalize internet providers and companies with App stores like Apple and Google for continuing to make updates available,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/tiktok-ban.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported, so the app would degrade over time and become unusable.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-changing-location-settings-help-avoid-the-tiktok-ban">Can Changing Location Settings Help Avoid The Tiktok Ban?</h2>



<p>Yes and no. Even disabling location services or changing your location within TikTok is unlikely to stop the app from trying to infer an approximate location using other factors (like device settings), which may mean the ban still applies. Users who are able to use a virtual private network (VPN) to change their local IP address, however, may have a good chance of getting around the ban by rerouting their connection through another country. VPNs are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ceotodaymagazine.com/2024/09/effectiveness-of-vpns-in-bypassing-censorship/#:~:text=VPNs%20bypass%20censorship%20by%20allowing,the%20desired%20content%20is%20accessible." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">often used</a>&nbsp;by people in countries with strict information laws to access censored information and websites.</p>



<p></p>


In this photo illustration the TikTok logo seen displayed on

How To Save Your Favorite TikTok Videos—Ahead Of Possible Ban Next Month


<p>After Claudia Sheinbaum took the oath of office as Mexico’s president in October, a historic cheer filled the congressional chamber:&nbsp;<em>“Presidenta! Presidenta!”</em></p>



<p>Sheinbaum, 62, is the first woman to preside over the nation—the world’s 12th-largest economy—in its 200 year history as an independent country. “Many of us were told a version of history since we were children, which wanted us to believe that the course of humanity was led only by men. But little by little this vision has been reversed,” she said in her inauguration speech. “It is time for women.”</p>



<p>The women on the 2024 Power Women list define this moment. It is determined by four main metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence. The result: 100 women across finance, technology, media and beyond who command a collective $33 trillion in economic power and influence more than 1 billion people.</p>



<p>Five Africans have been featured on the 2024 list: Judith Suminwa Tuluka from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mpumi Madisa from South Africa, Samia Suluhu Hassan  from Tanzania and Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Mo Abudu.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center"><strong><em><a href="https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/">Click here for the full 2024 list</a></em></strong></p>


The World’s Most Powerful Women


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



<p>Meta apps Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were experiencing issues Wednesday afternoon as thousands of people reported outages for the apps on DownDetector—though Meta said just after 5:30 p.m. EST the issue was almost fixed.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Reports of outages soared starting around 12:30 p.m. EST, with more than 100,000 Facebook users reporting their problems on&nbsp;<a href="https://downdetector.com/status/facebook/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">DownDetector</a>&nbsp;by around 1:10 p.m. EST.</p>



<p>Tens of thousands of Instagram users also reported problems, while there was a similar spike for WhatsApp and Threads.</p>



<p>Just before 5:30 p.m., the number of reported outages on Facebook had dropped to just over 1,200, Instagram reports fell to about 1,900 from a peak of more than 68,000 and reports of issues on WhatsApp and Messenger were far below their peaks.</p>



<p>Upon trying to access Facebook, some users were met with an error message reading “We&#8217;re working on getting this fixed as soon as we can.”</p>



<p>Meta’s&nbsp;<a href="https://metastatus.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">status and outages page</a>&nbsp;for its business products said almost all listed tools and platforms including Facebook Ads Manager, Messenger API for Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp Business API were suffering “major disruptions” as of just after 5:30 p.m. EST.</p>



<p>But in a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/MetaNewsroom/status/1866974760694907008" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">post on X</a>, formerly known as Twitter, just after 5:30 p.m., Meta thanked people for bearing with it and said, “We’re 99% of the way there &#8211; just doing some last checks. We apologize to those who’ve been affected by the outage.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Meta’s outage on Wednesday comes after a global outage in March that lasted more than two hours. Meta said that outage was caused by a technical issue,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/metas-facebook-instagram-down-thousands-downdetector-shows-2024-03-05/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Reuters</a>&nbsp;reported, and it impacted hundreds of thousands of users. At the peak of that outage, there were more than 538,000 reports of issues with Facebook and more than 91,000 issues with Instagram, The New York Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/05/technology/facebook-instagram-meta-down.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>.</p>



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



<p>Meta’s outage follows at least two other recent tech outages. On Nov. 25, some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/11/26/microsoft-outages-issues-resolved-more-than-24-hours-after-outlook-teams-impacted/">Microsoft</a>&nbsp;platforms were down for more than a day. Microsoft didn’t specify what change impacted programs, though the outage happened the same day as the rollout of a new Recall AI tool for Windows Insiders that was meant to take regular snapshots of computer activity. Earlier that week on Nov. 21, Reddit had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/11/21/users-report-reddit-outage-thursday-morning-second-in-24-hours/">two outages</a>&nbsp;in 24 hours as more than 76,000 users logged reports of issues with the site and app on DownDetector.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forbes-valuation">Forbes Valuation</h2>



<p>Meta is ranked 24th on the Forbes’ Global <a href="https://www.forbes.com/lists/global2000/">2000 list</a> of the world’s largest public companies, according to sales, profits, assets and market value. Meta was listed with about $142.7 billion in sales, $45.8 billion in profit and a market value of $1.197 trillion as of June.</p>


Smartphone apps from Facebook

Facebook And Instagram Outage: Meta Says It’s ‘99% Of The Way’ To Being Fixed


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



<p>Gas prices in the U.S. reached a more than three-year low Monday, dipping below the $3.00 mark as Americans prepare to travel for the holidays.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The national average price for a gallon of gas reached $2.97 this week, according to data from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">GasBuddy</a>, marking its lowest point since May 2021.</p>



<p>Gas prices have fallen for eight consecutive weeks with the most common price encountered by U.S. motorists being $2.79 per gallon.</p>



<p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/an-early-holiday-gift-gas-prices-plunge-to-three-year-low/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">American Automobile Association</a>&nbsp;has the national average price for a gallon of gas at $3.01, also calling the price point a three-year low and noting 32 states already have averages below or well below $3.</p>



<p>The national average price of diesel has declined 2.3 cents since last week and is now $3.49 per gallon, GasBuddy reported.</p>



<p>The drop in gas prices “couldn’t come at a better time for motorists with the holidays upon us,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gasbuddy.com/go/national-average-drops-below-3-first-time-in-1308-days" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement</a>, adding the national average could potentially fall another 10 to 15 cents by Christmas.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-are-gas-prices-cheapest">Where Are Gas Prices Cheapest?</h2>



<p>States with the lowest average prices include Oklahoma ($2.52), Mississippi ($2.62), Texas ($2.63), Arkansas ($2.63) and Kansas ($2.67), according to AAA.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-are-gas-prices-the-most-expensive">Where Are Gas Prices The Most Expensive?</h2>



<p>States with the highest average prices include Hawaii ($4.56), California ($4.39), Washington ($3.99), Nevada ($3.66) and Oregon ($3.53), according to AAA.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>The drop in gas prices follows poor gasoline demand during the week of Thanksgiving, according to GasBuddy, which noted gasoline inventories have increased. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-dip-extended-opec-supply-cuts-highlight-weak-demand-2024-12-06/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;it will push back the start of oil output increases until April following a significant drop in global demand. Americans are benefitting from the dip in gas prices and may continue to enjoy the lowered price points in the leadup to the holidays. Around 65% of Americans are expected to take a road trip at some point between Thanksgiving and mid-January, according to a holiday travel survey by&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/articles/us187627_cic-holiday-travel/2024-Deloitte-Holiday-Travel-Study.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Deloitte</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.gasbuddy.com/go/national-average-drops-below-3-first-time-in-1308-days" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">National Average Drops Below $3, First Time in 1,308 Days</a>&nbsp;(GasBuddy)</p>



<p><a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/an-early-holiday-gift-gas-prices-plunge-to-three-year-low/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">An Early Holiday Gift? Gas Prices Plunge to Three-Year Low</a>&nbsp;(AAA)</p>


RC172B548A50

Gasoline Prices Drop Below $3.00— Lowest Point In Three Years


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



<p>An undiagnosed disease outbreak in southwest Congo causing flu-like symptoms has now infected more than 400 people since October, health officials said Sunday, and reportedly killed 143 people since October, disproportionately affecting children under the age of five—as health officials have struggled to address the disease in the remote Kwango province.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Between Oct. 24 and Dec. 5, the World Health Organization&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2024-DON546" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">recorded</a>&nbsp;406 cases of the disease, which causes fever, headache, cough, running nose and body aches, particularly affecting children under the age of five and females, the WHO said Sunday.</p>



<p>Local officials said the disease has killed 143 people,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/unknown-disease-kills-143-southwest-congo-local-authorities-say-2024-12-03/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>&nbsp;Tuesday, much higher than the 31 deaths recorded by the WHO.</p>



<p>The most severe cases are among people who are severely malnourished, according to the WHO, which reports acute pneumonia, influenza, COVID-19, measles and malaria are considered potential causal factors.</p>



<p>The remote Panzi health zone, where the outbreak is located, takes 48 hours to reach by car from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital city of Kinshasa, hindering access to treatment and supplies, as well as diagnosis and response efforts, circumstances exacerbated by the rainy season, according to the WHO.</p>



<p>Early diagnostics indicate it could be a respiratory disease, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya told&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congo-mystery-flulike-disease-who-panzi-kwango-7960f7cfcb78a42ccffafecdb6c9e704" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">the Associated Press</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">Crucial Quote</h2>



<p>It’s “really important not to panic until we have more information,” University of California, Los Angeles epidemiologist Ann Rimoin told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/mysterious-disease-congo-kills-dozens-rcna182804" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. “It could be anything . . . it could be influenza, it could be Ebola, it could be Marburg, it could be meningitis, it could be measles. At this point, we just really don’t know.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">Big Number</h2>



<p>64%. That’s the share of cases among children under the age of 14, according to the WHO, which also reported 60% of cases are among females.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Local officials and the WHO have deployed rapid response teams to the Panzi health zone to conduct surveillance, epidemiological analysis and strengthen healthcare access. Meanwhile, food insecurity has worsened in the Kwango province, increasing from a level 1, “acceptable” integrated food security phase classification in April to a crisis level 3 in September, the WHO reported. The disease appears to be transmissible as cases have been reported among family units. The WHO assesses a “high” risk level in the affected communities, but a moderate level nationally as the outbreak is localized within the Panzi health zone. The WHO has called for strengthened coordination at the national and local levels, including enhanced communication infrastructure as there is limited network coverage in the affected areas.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/unknown-disease-kills-143-southwest-congo-local-authorities-say-2024-12-03/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Unknown disease kills 143 in southwest Congo, local authorities say</a>&nbsp;(Reuters)</p>



<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/congo-mystery-flulike-disease-who-panzi-kwango-7960f7cfcb78a42ccffafecdb6c9e704" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">A mystery illness has killed dozens of people in Congo. UN experts are now investigating&nbsp;</a>(Associated Press)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-sends-experts-help-congo-diagnose-mystery-disease-2024-12-06/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">WHO sends experts to help Congo diagnose mystery disease</a>&nbsp;(Reuters)</p>


World Health Organization – WHO

Mystery Disease Kills Over 100 In Southwest Congo: Here’s What To Know


<p>Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Russia on Sunday after rebels seized control of Damascus, Russian state media said—a pivotal moment in the years-long civil war against the regime that has controlled Syria since the 1970s.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Assad and his family arrived in Moscow and will be granted asylum there as Russia is an ally of his regime, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/22612655" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Russian</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syrias-assad-his-family-are-moscow-after-russia-granted-them-asylum-say-russian-2024-12-08/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">state</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/live-updates/israel-gaza-lebanon-live-updates-idf-confirms-lebanon/?id=116364007" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">media</a>.</p>



<p>The foreign ministry of Russia&nbsp;<a href="https://bertie.forbes.com/#/compose?id=6755abcb3c93731610dbde81">said</a>&nbsp;early he “decided to step down as the Syrian President and leave the country, instructing the government to transfer power peacefully”—but did not specify where Assad, who had not spoken publicly in a week, fled to.</p>



<p>Assad’s apparent departure follows a week-long blitz by the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other anti-government forces, starting with the seizure of Aleppo and culminating Sunday in a takeover of Damascus.</p>



<p>The group said it would work with Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, who would maintain control over public institutions for the immediate future, The New York Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/12/08/world/syria-war-damascus" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>.</p>



<p>Jalali said he had not spoken to al-Assad since Saturday and vowed to work with the country’s new leader, calling for free elections, Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-rebels-celebrate-captured-homs-set-sights-damascus-2024-12-07/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported.</a></p>



<p>President Joe Biden said the U.S. sees “new opportunities opening up for the people of Syria and for the entire region,” and vowed to support U.S. allies in the region amid the transition of power and to prevent ISIS from taking advantage of the situation, adding the U.S. carried out “a dozen” airstrikes Sunday within Syria targeting ISIS camps and operatives.</p>



<p>Biden also said the U.S. believes Austin Tice, a journalist kidnapped in Syria in 2012, is alive and “we think we can get him back,” as Tice’s family also said this week a “significant source” informed them that he is alive and being treated well.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">Crucial Quote</h2>



<p>&#8220;The great Syrian revolution has moved from the stage of struggle to overthrow the Assad regime to the struggle to build a Syria together that befits the sacrifices of its people,&#8221; the Syrian rebel coalition said in a statement, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-rebels-celebrate-captured-homs-set-sights-damascus-2024-12-07/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>The Assad family kept an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/07/syria-grief-mingles-with-joy-as-loved-ones-released-from-assad-prisons" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">authoritarian grip</a>&nbsp;on Syria for 54 years—the first 30 under Hafez al-Assad, and the last 24 under his son Bashar al-Assad. The country has faced a bloody civil war since 2011, but a brutal counteroffensive by Assad’s forces—aided by Russia—had reclaimed much of the country after 2016, leaving rebels in control of a tiny sliver of the country’s northwest while U.S.-backed Kurdish forces controlled eastern Syria. The surprise rebel takeover in recent weeks was apparently facilitated by waning support from Iran and Russia as their militaries—and Iranian-backed Hezbollah—are engaged in their own conflicts with Ukraine and Israel, respectively. Syrians gathered in the streets for the first time in years, celebrating the reprieve in violence after bombings were a reality of daily life for years and devastated much of the country’s infrastructure, killing more than 100,000 Syrians, The New York Times reported, citing watchdog group the Syrian Network for Human Rights.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">What To Watch For</h2>



<p>Assad’s apparent fall introduces a period of uncertainty and vulnerability in Syria and the possibility that Islamic State militants could take advantage of the leadership gap. Lead rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham could also face headwinds. The Islamist group has its roots in an al Qaeda offshoot and is still designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, and while its leader has tried to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/12/07/syria-rebels-biden-intelligence-islamists/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">cast himself</a>&nbsp;as a moderate and promised to respect Syria’s religious minorities, many observers are wary.</p>



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



<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday the Syrian rebels’ success was attributed to Israel’s military campaign against the Hezbollah militia group in Lebanon, calling it a “historic day in the Middle East.” Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to take control of the buffer zone between Israeli-occupied Golan heights and the rest of Syria to stave off “any hostile force,” CNN&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/08/middleeast/israel-syria-security-implications-golan-intl/index.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>. Meanwhile, Syrian rebels stormed Iran’s embassy, Reuters reported, citing Iranian English-language Press TV, and Hezbollah retreated from Syria, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/12/08/world/syria-war-damascus" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Syria Live Updates: Assad Has Resigned and Left Syria, Russia Says</a>&nbsp;(The New York Times)</p>



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<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/syria-assad-sweida-daraa-homs-hts-qatar-816e538565d1ae47e016b5765b044d31" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Jubilation and gunfire as Syrians celebrate the end of the Assad family’s half-century rule</a>&nbsp;(Associated Press)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-rebels-celebrate-captured-homs-set-sights-damascus-2024-12-07/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Syrian rebels topple President Assad, difficult times lie ahead</a>&nbsp;(Reuters)</p>


Crowds gather at Umayyad Mosque following the collapse of 61-year of Baath Party rule in Syria

Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad Flees To Moscow After Regime Collapses, Russian Media Says


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



<p>The price of Bitcoin crossed $100,000 for the first time and hit an all-time high of nearly $104,000 late on Wednesday, as the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency continued its post-election bull run as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to embrace crypto-friendly policies.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $103,900 on Wednesday night before settling at around $103,100 just before midnight, up 7.62% in the past 24 hours.</p>



<p>The $100,000 mark was breached for the first time late on Wednesday evening after the token’s price hovered just under $98,000 for nearly two weeks in what initially appeared to be a flattening of the post-election bull run.</p>



<p>Bitcoin’s price has risen more than 36% since election day, when it was valued at around $75,600.</p>



<p>Ether, the second most valuable crypto token, also appeared to be buoyed by Bitcoin’s surge and rose to $3,870 on Wednesday night, up more than 5.4% in the past 24 hours.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">News Peg</h2>



<p>Earlier on Wednesday, Trump announced Paul Atkins as his pick for the Securities And Exchange Commission’s chair role. Trump alluded to his pro-crypto view in his&nbsp;<a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113595807734621827" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announcement</a>, describing Atkins as someone who “recognizes that digital assets &amp; other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.” Last month, current SEC Chair Gary Gensler&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024-182" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;his plans to step down in January. The crypto world reacted to the news of Gensler’s exit with&nbsp;<a href="https://decrypt.co/292941/crypto-industry-bids-farewell-gary-gensler" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">relief and joy</a>&nbsp;as the SEC under his leadership had undertaken several enforcement actions against crypto companies—including major exchanges.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">Big Number</h2>



<p>133.41%. The rise in Bitcoin’s price since the start of this year, when it was at $44,200.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>The post-election surge in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices has come as Trump has vowed to be the “crypto president,” and move away from the Biden administration’s regulatory actions against the industry. The president-elect has promised to transform the U.S into the “crypto capital of the planet,” and has vowed to “keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future.” The pro-crypto embrace is a major shift in stance for Trump who previously&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57392734" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">expressed skepticism</a>&nbsp;about the industry and called it a “scam” and a disaster waiting to happen.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/11/13/bitcoin-price-crosses-90000-for-first-time-ever-amid-trump-crypto-surge/">Bitcoin Price Crosses $90,000 For First Time Ever Amid Trump Crypto Surge</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/12/02/ripples-xrp-is-now-the-fourth-largest-cryptocurrency-after-100-billion-post-election-surge/">XRP Is Now The Fourth Largest Cryptocurrency After $100 Billion Post-Election Surge</a> (Forbes)<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/"></a></p>


Mid-section of young Asian woman using smartphone in city at night, against illuminated street lights bokeh, working with Bitcoin technologies, investing or trading Bitcoin on cryptocurrency. Business on the go

Bitcoin Surges Past $100,000 For The First Time


<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/"></a><a href="https://www.forbes.com/search/"></a><strong>As CEOs cut back on DEI and tell young workers to leave their politics at home, charitable giving, with an employer match, has emerged as a way for employees to bring their own values to work.</strong></p>



<p><strong><abbr>P</abbr>resident-elect</strong>&nbsp;Donald Trump and his appointees are promising a war against woke, with employer diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts among their targets. At the same time, with job&nbsp;<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSJOL" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">openings</a>&nbsp;down nearly 40% from their 2022 peak, even unhappy employees are less likely to&nbsp;<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSQUR" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">quit</a>. So it’s no surprise that CEOs, who a few years ago embraced social justice in part to appease young subordinates, are now curtailing DEI programs, staying mum about causes, and demanding employees, too, keep their political views out of the workplace. Just last week, Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/11/26/walmart-is-the-latest-major-company-to-roll-back-dei-policies-amid-conservative-backlash/">confirmed it was rolling back</a>&nbsp;its DEI efforts.</p>



<p>After protests over the war in Gaza, workers discovered that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenamcgregor/2024/05/06/all-hands-memo-why-activism-at-work-could-get-you-fired/">activism can even get you fired</a>.</p>



<p>But there’s a notable exception to this retreat: charitable giving. In recent years, even as contributions to the United Way have declined, a new type of giving platform has spread that empowers workers to pick their own charitable causes–usually with an employer match.</p>



<p>“Everyone is looking for a way to keep all these young employees who now expect [their employers to speak out] happy, while not putting their organization at legal risk,” says Alison Taylor, a professor of corporate responsibility and business ethics at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “There is this overwhelming sense of caution among senior leaders and C-suite executives about not pissing anyone else off.”</p>



<p>In that context, she adds, “The pivot to giving employees more control over their donations is sensible.”</p>



<p>It’s also a way to accommodate Gen-Z and younger Millennials moved by the human suffering they see on social media and in the news, particularly in places like Gaza.</p>



<p>The dominant player in the giving platform space is Alberta, Calgary-based fintech Benevity, which in 2023 processed $3.2 billion of donations to 265,000 unique causes, from workers at such companies as Adobe, Cisco, Merck, Microsoft, Nike, UPS and Visa. (That total, which was up 14% and is on track to grow again this year by double digits, includes employer matches of workers’ donations. While Benevity has multinational and non-U.S. companies as clients, 84% of 2023 contributions went to U.S. charities.)</p>



<p>In an analysis for&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>of all employee giving at 826 client companies during the two years ended Oct. 31, 2024, Benevity found the top five recipients were the Red Cross (across all countries and chapters),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/st-jude-childrens-research-hospital/?list=top-charities">St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital</a>, Doctors Without Borders (across all countries),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/planned-parenthood-federation-of-america/?list=top-charities">Planned Parenthood Federation of America</a>&nbsp;and the Palestine Children&#8217;s Relief Fund.</p>



<p>At our request, Jules Dorval, the social data science lead at Benevity, also drilled down on giving by young workers at the subset of 62 companies for which it has data on donors’ age. During the same two year period, the top recipients of money from workers under 30 skewed more heavily to relief groups, particularly international ones. Palestine Red Crescent Society-Al Bireh Branch (serving both Gaza and the West Bank) was No. 1, Islamic Relief No. 3, and Palestine Children’s Relief Fund No. 6, compared to Nos. 11, 14 and 17, respectively, for workers of all ages at those same 62 companies. Rounding out the top 10 for under 30 givers: World Central Kitchen (2), UNICEF (4), Red Cross (5), St. Jude’s (7), Mercy Corps (8), Doctors Without Borders (9) and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/save-the-children-federation/?list=top-charities">Save The Children Federation</a>&nbsp;(10).</p>



<p>Medical Aid for Palestinians, a British non-profit providing healthcare services in Gaza and the West Bank, was the 11th most-donated-to charity for employees aged 30 or younger giving through Benevity, though it didn’t break the top 200 charities for all workers.</p>



<p>New York City-based American Friends of Magen David Adom, which&nbsp;<a href="https://afmda.org/about/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">acts</a>&nbsp;as Israel’s representative to the International Red Cross and provides disaster relief and emergency services to Israelis, ranked 18th in the top charities younger workers donated to, but just 78th for all employees–further evidence that whatever their views on the Israel-Hamas conflict, the youngest workers are inclined to express them through charitable giving.</p>



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



<p><strong><abbr>“I</abbr>gave at the office”</strong>&nbsp;is a cliche born from a long tradition. In the late 1800s,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/past-present-and-future-workplace-giving-united-states" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">local elites attempted to rationalize charitable giving</a>&nbsp;by forming charitable societies to act as umbrella organizations that could weed out the undeserving from the deserving. Increased workplace charitable solicitations during World War II led to the first implementations of payroll deductions for donations. After the war, as other deductions for insurance, taxes and the like spread, so did the payroll giving model, with most of the money going to community chests like the now more than 1,100 U.S. chapters of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/united-way-worldwide/">United Way Worldwide</a>, which in turn directed the majority of their funds to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/100731/the_past_present_and_future_of_workplace_giving_in_the_united_states.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">small group of big name</a>, mainstream charities, including the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/ymca/?list=top-charities">YMCA</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/american-national-red-cross/?list=top-charities">Red Cross</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/salvation-army/?list=top-charities">Salvation Army</a>.</p>



<p>At first, workers didn’t have much choice about what their dollars supported, but under pressure from alternative giving campaigns, in 1990 United Way officially embraced the idea of allowing payroll donors to designate where their dollars would go–even to organizations outside of United Way. Still, the percentage of workers participating in United Way campaigns continued to drop, with donations falling sharply during the Great Recession.</p>



<p>In the year ending in June 2024, just $1 billion of the United Way’s $2.5 billion in private donations came from workplace contributions.</p>



<p>Now the spread of online giving platforms is breathing new life into the old tradition of workplace giving–and turning it into an employee benefit, part of a broader package offered by companies to keep workers engaged and satisfied. Some 78% of employees who have workplace giving programs available say that their companies&#8217; values align with their personal ones, compared to just 56% where workplace giving isn’t offered, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/content/dam/fc-public/docs/insights/giving-in-the-workplace.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">research</a>&nbsp;by Artemis Strategy group for Fidelity Charitable, an affiliate of Fidelity Investments. (In 2019, Fidelity Charitable and the big employee benefits division of Fidelity Investments teamed up to start the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2019/03/26/fidelitys-latest-move-into-workplace-benefits-a-new-way-to-donate-to-charity/">Giving Marketplace,</a>&nbsp;a competitor to Benevity.)</p>



<p>Moreover, in the same Artemis survey of 1500 workers, 89% who have workplace giving programs available said they were satisfied with their current employer, 12 percentage points higher than the satisfaction rate for those without workplace giving schemes. Artemis’ findings don’t necessarily show that charitable giving is&nbsp;<em>why</em>&nbsp;more employees are satisfied, but it does suggest that it’s part of a benefits package found at happier workplaces. That’s something employers can’t ignore, since according to Gallup, Millennial and Gen Z workers in particular report&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx?thank-you-report-form=1" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">feeling more disengaged and stuck in their jobs</a>&nbsp;these days–a reflection of a tougher market for job-hunters that has transformed the “Big Quit” into the “The Great Stay.”</p>



<p>Further evidence that giving is now an employee benefit: 70% of employers who use Benevity match 100% of an employee’s contributions (up to a set amount), Dorval reports. In total, he calculates, 65% of all dollars given through the platform get a match. Companies can also use the platform to track days off given to workers for volunteering, or even to make contributions to a worker’s charity account to reward them for volunteering on their own time. Workers can donate through payroll deduction, fund their giving with a credit card donation, or do both. Employees can designate in advance the charities their money will support or accumulate cash in a giving account, and then direct individual donations from that account—just as someone would when using a donor-advised fund. (Benevity uses a master donor-advised fund to hold all the donations.)</p>



<p>The flexibility of the Benevity platform accommodates special fundraising drives and events like Giving Tuesday–the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Charities have pushed Giving Tuesday since 2012 as a way to goose donations at a time when Americans’ wallets are relatively open. During 2023’s Giving Tuesday, Benevity logged $150 million in donations made through its platform, a 22% increase from the year before.</p>



<p>Workplace giving is still just a drop in the charitable bucket–but is growing faster than other giving channels.. The Blackbaud Giving Fund&nbsp;<a href="https://blackbaudgivingfund.org/blog/what-is-workplace-giving-and-why-its-important-for-nonprofits/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">estimates</a>&nbsp;$5 billion a year is given at U.S. workplaces. That’s just 1% of the $557 billion in total contributions made in the U.S. in 2023. according to&nbsp;<a href="https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/news-events/news/_news/2024/giving-usa-us-charitable-giving-totaled-557.16-billion-in-2023.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Giving USA’s annual tally.</a>&nbsp;But individual giving was up only 1.6% (in nominal dollars, not inflation adjusted ones) in 2023, according to that report, compared to Benevity’s 14% increase.</p>



<p>By contrast, giving to donor-advised funds, run by community foundations and non-profit affiliates of such financial services powerhouses as Vanguard, Fidelity and Schwab,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2024/11/12/charitable-donations-billionaire-donor-advised-funds-tumbled-2023-year/">dropped a surprising 22% last year to $59 billion</a>. (To maximize their tax benefits, wealthy donors will typically contribute highly appreciated stock to DAFs in a lump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2023/11/20/from-donor-advised-funds-to-qcds-how-taxpayers-can-maximize-charitable-gifts/">when they have big gains</a>, then dribble out contributions to specific operating charities over time. That can lead to more volatility from year to year.)</p>



<p>While Benevity does provide U.S. workers the documentation needed to claim tax deductions, donations by rank and file workers aren’t usually driven by tax considerations–the 2017 Trump tax overhaul reduced the percentage of U.S. filers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2023/03/03/senators-propose-huge-boost-in-charitable-deduction-for-non-itemizers/">who itemize their deductions (and thus can claim tax benefits) to less than 8%.</a>&nbsp;In fact, contributions to foreign charities are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2023/10/10/tax-and-other-considerations-for-charitable-giving-abroad-in-times-of-crisis/">typically not deductible at all</a>, but Benevity reports that 67% of its clients allow for international giving. (Benevity has a roster of more than two million eligible organizations, though companies can exclude certain categories–for example, religious organizations–from their match.)</p>



<p>Workplace giving now seems poised to expand further, even as DEI and social activism by CEOs shrink. A new&nbsp;<a href="https://mycecp.cecp.co/s/article/Giving-in-Numbers-2024-Edition" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">survey of 219 big companies</a>&nbsp;by Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) found that between 2021 and 2023, 53% decreased their own community investments (which include direct cash gifts and donations of products and services, including employee time). At the same time, 94% of the companies (up by four percentage points from 2021) offered some sort of charitable matching gift program to employees. Matching programs include year-round matches, matching during annual giving campaigns, donations to reward employees’ volunteer work and the fastest growing category, special drives for disaster relief.</p>



<p>Here’s the kicker: At companies responding to the CECP survey, only 20% of employees, on average, participated in their companies’ employer matches, up one percentage point from 2021. Double Your Donation, which maintains a database of employers’ match programs for its clients (who are charities), calculates 27 million workers now have match programs available and estimates they could be leaving $4 to $7 billion in matching money unclaimed annually. Room to grow.</p>


Forbes

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