World

So is there any way to detect lies based on real science? Actually, yes, and it involves understanding the psychology behind how liars think. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has even said that "the Federal government should not rely on polygraph examinations for screening prospective or current employees, or to identify spies or other national security risks because the test results are too inaccurate." In fact, polygraphs aren't reliable. With as little as 15 minutes of training, people have been able to consistently beat the test. Humans have been trying to master lie detection for thousands of years — and failing miserably. In 2009, the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) was formed to develop new lie detection best practices, and by 2016, they had spent more than $1...

LONDON: Roman Abramovich has completed the sale of Chelsea and related companies to an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, the Premier League club said on Monday (May 30), ending a three-month process to sell the club. The consortium, which won the bid to acquire the London side earlier this month, received approval from the Premier League and the British government last week for the sale to go ahead. A final agreement was reached on Saturday. Russian owner Abramovich put the club up for sale in early March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation". Sanctions on Abramovich had also complicated the sale process. "In selling the club, Mr Abramovich stipulated that the new owner must be a good steward of the club, the n...

WASHINGTON :President Joe Biden waived tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations for two years and invoked the Defense Production Act to spur solar panel manufacturing at home, the White House said on Monday, confirming a Reuters report. The tariff exemption applies to panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and will serve as a "bridge" while U.S. manufacturing ramps up, the White House said. Shares in U.S. solar companies including SunPower Corp, Enphase Energy Inc and Sunrun Inc climbed after Reuters earlier reported that Biden would issue a proclamation that ensured panels accounting for some 80 per cent of U.S. imports would not face tariffs, which could have been levied retroactively as part of a Commerce Department probe. The move comes in response to ...

Consumers are now demanding environmental accountability in everything — from the buildings they live in to the products they purchase. Food is a big one. While more and more food companies are claiming that their products are "sustainable," a Stone Ridge, New York-based start-up is taking a close look at those claims. The company is called HowGood. HowGood analyzes thousands of ingredients — more than 33,000 so far, the company says — looking at factors like the product's greenhouse gas emissions, its water usage, land usage, soil biodiversity impact, potential deforestation and concern for animal welfare. Every ingredient in every product has a different level of environmental impact, all of which change region to region. For each product analysis, HowGood takes in close to 250 differe...

NEW YORK/LONDON :Shares slid worldwide on Tuesday as supply chain woes and surging costs hurt corporate earnings and manufacturing output slowed, while Treasury yields dipped as the weakness in equities revived a safe-haven bid for U.S. government debt. The stock market's two-day relief rally ended as investors worried about slowing economies. Corporate profit margins have been squeezed, with soaring inflation forcing consumers to cut discretionary spending. U.S. and euro zone business activity slowed in May. S&P Global attributed the decline in its U.S. Composite PMI Output to "elevated inflationary pressures, a further deterioration in supplier delivery times and weaker demand growth." Surging freight and raw material prices led Abercrombie & Fitch Co to say it will face headwinds unt...

LONDON: Britain's railway workers on Tuesday (Jun 21) began the network's biggest strike action in more than three decades, as a cost-of-living crisis caused by surging inflation risks wider industrial action. Last-ditch talks to avert the strike broke down on Monday, meaning more than 50,000 members of rail union RMT will walk out for three days this week. RMT general-secretary Mick Lynch described as "unacceptable" offers of below-inflation pay rises by both overground train operators and London Underground that runs the Tube in the capital. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the government was doing everything it could to minimise the expected "mass disruption". But he told parliament on Monday: "It's estimated that around 20 per cent of planned services will operate, focused on ...

SEOUL: A week-long strike by truck drivers in South Korea has disrupted shipments to China of a key material used in the production of semiconductors, the Korean International Trade Association (KITA) said on Tuesday (Jun 14) It was the first sign that the strike was affecting the global supply chain of chip production, having already cost South Korean industry more than US$1.2 billion in lost output and unfilled deliveries. KITA said a Korean company that produces isopropyl alcohol (IPA), a chemical used in the cleaning of chip wafers, faces difficulties in shipping to a Chinese company that in turn supplies wafers to chipmakers. About 90 tonnes of the material, or a week's worth of shipments, have been delayed, the trade body said in a statement. It corrected an earlier statement tha...

Celsius Network, the retail crypto lending platform whose liquidity problems have sent cryptocurrencies plunging, stumbled on complex investments in the wholesale digital asset market in what analysts say was akin to a traditional bank run. Citing extreme market conditions, New Jersey-based Celsius this week froze withdrawals and transfers between accounts "to stabilize liquidity." In a video on Friday, the company's finance chief said Celsius, along with the industry, had seen redemptions rise following the collapse of cryptocurrency TerraUSD in May. Cryptocurrencies have since lost over $400 billion in value. Similar to a bank, Celsius gathers crypto deposits from retail customers and invests them in the equivalent of the wholesale crypto market, including "decentralized finance" or D...

Salesforce (CRM) reported better-than-expected fiscal 2023 first-quarter earnings Tuesday. Revenue of $7.41 billion, up 26% year-over-year in constant currency, exceeded expectations of $7.38 billion, according to FactSet. Constant currencies help strip out fluctuations in foreign currency to provide a clearer financial picture. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.98 — inclusive of a one-cent benefit from mark-to-market accounting on strategic investments — beat estimates of $0.94. Operating margin — which investors are now watching more closely due to the importance of profitable growth at scale — was 0.3% on a GAAP basis and non-GAAP operating margin was 17.6%, edging estimates of 17.4%. Operating cash flow, another line that has become increasingly important with the Federal Reserve raisi...

In this article TSLA An aerial view of the Tesla Fremont Factory on May 13, 2020 in Fremont, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images The S&P 500 booted electric vehicle maker Tesla from its ESG Index as part of an annual update to the list. Meanwhile, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and even oil and gas multinational Exxon Mobil were still included on the list. The S&P 500 ESG Index uses environmental, social and governance data to rank and effectively recommend companies to investors. Its criteria include hundreds of data points per company that pertain to the way businesses affect the planet and treat stakeholders beyond shareholders — including customers, employees, vendors, partners and neighbors. Changes to the index took effect on May 2, and a spokesperson for the index explained why t...