All-Share Index surges past N60 trillion market cap as CAVERTON dominates gainers, AUSTIN LAZ heads losersThe National Packaging Centre (NPC) of the Export Development Board (EDB) recently conducted an awareness session focusing on ‘Packaging Solutions for Fruits and Vegetables’ at the EDB premises. One of the objectives of conducting this awareness session was to reduce post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables through innovative packaging solutions and enhance the value of export products, benefitting the broader economy. In Sri Lanka, post-harvest losses are significant, affecting 20%-30% of vegetables and 15%-20% of fruits. Inadequate packaging has been identified as a major cause of these losses. The session was conducted in collaboration with packaging experts from the industry and the National Plant Quarantine Service, with the participation of 70 exporters and potential exporters. The NPC was established for the promotion and development of the packaging industry in Sri Lanka. It supports a wide range of stakeholders, including exporters, manufacturers, designers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), women entrepreneurs, students, and research institutions. By fostering collaboration among Government bodies and other partners, the NPC plays a vital role in advancing Sri Lanka’s packaging industry and supporting sustainable growth in the agricultural export sector. The session featured insightful lectures by Packaging Consultant W. Abhaya Senavirathna, design83 CEO Dulesh Fernando, and National Plant Quarantine Service Deputy Director S.D. Kamani Priyadarshani. Key topics such as packaging concepts, packaging materials, packaging technology, packaging design, and graphic design for fruits and vegetable packing, as well as the importance of the plant quarantine certificate and the process of obtaining the certificate were mainly discussed. Participants also learned about the importance of proper packaging, selection of the most effective methods, and selecting the right materials to prevent product degradation. Further, packaging experts provided tailored solutions for appropriate packaging methods for export potential entrepreneurs participating in the program. In addition, Mount Packs Ltd. conducted a practical demonstration by packaging a sample of corrugated boxes. At the end of the program, an evaluation was conducted due to the significant contributions made by the resource persons to enhance capacity and knowledge. The participants highly appreciated the usefulness of the program.
CMC Publishes 2024 Sustainability ReportNEW YORK (AP) — More shoppers than ever are on track to use ‘buy now, pay later’ plans this holiday season, as the ability to spread out payments looks attractive at a time when Americans still feel the lingering effect of inflation and already have record-high credit card debt. The data firm Adobe Analytics predicts shoppers will spend 11.4% more this holiday season using buy now, pay later than they did a year ago. The company forecasts shoppers will purchase $18.5 billion worth of goods using the third-party services for the period Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, with $993 million worth of purchases on Cyber Monday alone. Buy now, pay later can be particularly appealing to consumers who have low credit scores or no credit history, such as younger shoppers, because most of the companies providing the service run only soft credit checks and don’t report the loans and payment histories to the credit bureaus, unlike credit card companies. This holiday season, buy now, pay later users can also feel more confident if a transaction goes awry. In May, the CFPB said buy now, pay later company must adhere to other regulations that govern traditional credit, such as providing ways to demand refunds and dispute transactions. To use a buy now, pay later plan, consumers typically sign up with bank account information or a debit or credit card, and agree to pay for purchases in monthly installments, typically over eight weeks or more. The loans are marketed as requiring no or low interest, or only conditional fees, such as for late payment. Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm are three of the biggest buy now, pay later companies. But consumer advocates warn that shoppers who sign up for the payment plans using a credit card can be hit with more interest and fees. That's because individuals open themselves up to interest on the credit card payment, if it's carried month to month, on top of any late fees, interest, or penalties from the buy now, pay later loan itself. Experts advise against using a credit card to pay for these plans for this reason. Consumer watchdogs also say the plans lead consumers to overextend themselves because, for example, not paying full price up front leaves, in the shopper’s mind at least, more money for smaller purchases . They also caution consumers to keep careful track of using multiple buy now, pay later services, as the automatic payments can add up, and there is no central reporting, such as with a credit card statement. “Buy now, pay later can be an innovative tool for purchases you’re going to make anyway,” said Mark Elliott, chief customer officer at financial services company LendingClub. “The challenge is that it does fuel overspending.” For merchants, that’s part of the appeal. Retailers have found that customers are more likely to have bigger cart sizes or to convert from browsing to checking out when buy now, pay later is offered. One report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York cited research that found customers spend 20% more when buy now, pay later is available. “The reality is that the increased cost-of-living and inflation have put more people in a situation where they’re already relying on revolving credit,” Elliott said. “The psychographics of ‘buy now, pay later’ may be different — people don’t think of it as debt — but it is.” If a consumer misses a payment, they can face fees, interest, or the possibility of being locked out of using the services in the future. Emily Childers, consumer financial expert for personal-finance technology company Credit Karma, said that internal data shows member credit card balances are up more than 50% for Gen Z and millennial members since March 2022, when the Fed started raising interest rates. “Young people are entering this holiday season already in the red,” she said. “And, based on what we’re seeing in the data, they’re continuing to bury their heads in the sand and spend.” The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.Indiana tries to snap 3-game losing skid to Nebraska
NoneHICKSVILLE, N.Y. , Dec. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Flagstar Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FLG) (the "Company") today announced the appointment of Brian Callanan , Senior Managing Director and General Counsel at Liberty Strategic Capital ("Liberty"), to its Board of Directors, effective December 16, 2024 . Commenting on the appointment, Joseph M. Otting , Chairman, President, and CEO said, "I'm pleased to have Brian join our Board. His proven track record and expertise in financial services, along with his strategic insights will be instrumental as we continue to execute on our transformation and long-term vision. Brian's perspectives will provide valuable guidance, and his leadership will play a critical role in driving sustainable growth, ensuring we achieve long-term success and maximize the value we deliver to our shareholders, employees, and clients." Callanan is a distinguished lawyer with extensive experience in financial regulation, regulatory compliance, and financial technology. At Liberty, Callanan leads the firm's legal function, serves on its Investment Committee, and focuses on financial sector investments. Prior to joining Liberty, he served as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, overseeing 2,000 lawyers across the department. As Chief General Counsel, he played a key role in major initiatives such as economic rescue programs during COVID-19, the design of new economic sanctions, and the implementation of tax reform. While serving as Deputy General Counsel, Callanan managed major litigation and advised on regulatory reform efforts, among other responsibilities. For his service, he received the Alexander Hamilton Award, the department's highest honor. This appointment aligns with the $1.05 billion equity investment in March 2024 , which stipulated that two Board seats would be granted to lead investor Liberty Strategic Capital. With Callanan's addition, the Company's Board of Directors, which was reconstituted earlier in 2024, expands to nine members, including Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Joseph M. Otting , Milton Berlinski , Alessandro P. DiNello , Alan Frank , Marshall Lux , Lead Independent Director Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin , Allen Puwalski , and Jennifer Whip. About Flagstar Financial, Inc. Flagstar Financial, Inc. is the parent company of Flagstar Bank, N.A., one of the largest regional banks in the country. The Company is headquartered in Hicksville, New York . At September 30, 2024, the Company had $114.4 billion of assets, $73.0 billion of loans, deposits of $83 .0 billion, and total stockholders' equity of $8 .6 billion. Flagstar Bank, N.A. operates over 400 branches, including a significant presence in the Northeast and Midwest and locations in high growth markets in the Southeast and West Coast. In addition, the Bank has approximately 80 private banking teams located in over 10 cities in the metropolitan New York City region and on the West Coast, which serve the needs of high-net worth individuals and their businesses. Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This release may include forward‐looking statements by the Company and our authorized officers pertaining to such matters as our goals, beliefs, intentions, and expectations regarding (a) revenues, earnings, loan production, asset quality, liquidity position, capital levels, risk analysis, divestitures, acquisitions, and other material transactions, among other matters; (b) the future costs and benefits of the actions we may take; (c) our assessments of credit risk and probable losses on loans and associated allowances and reserves; (d) our assessments of interest rate and other market risks; (e) our ability to execute on our strategic plan, including the sufficiency of our internal resources, procedures and systems; (f) our ability to attract, incentivize, and retain key personnel and the roles of key personnel; (g) our ability to achieve our financial and other strategic goals, including those related to our merger with Flagstar Bancorp, Inc., which was completed on December 1, 2022, our acquisition of substantial portions of the former Signature Bank through an FDIC-assisted transaction, and our ability to fully and timely implement the risk management programs institutions greater than $100 billion in assets must maintain; (h) the effect on our capital ratios of the approval of certain proposals approved by our shareholders during our 2024 annual meeting of shareholders; (i) the conversion or exchange of shares of the Company's preferred stock; (j) the payment of dividends on shares of the Company's capital stock, including adjustments to the amount of dividends payable on shares of the Company's preferred stock; (k) the availability of equity and dilution of existing equity holders associated with amendments to the 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan; (l) the effects of the reverse stock split; and (m) transactions relating to the sale of our mortgage business and mortgage warehouse business. Forward‐looking statements are typically identified by such words as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "outlook," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "should," "confident," and other similar words and expressions, and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, which change over time. Additionally, forward‐looking statements speak only as of the date they are made; the Company does not assume any duty, and does not undertake, to update our forward‐looking statements. Furthermore, because forward‐looking statements are subject to assumptions and uncertainties, actual results or future events could differ, possibly materially, from those anticipated in our statements, and our future performance could differ materially from our historical results. Our forward‐looking statements are subject to, among others, the following principal risks and uncertainties: general economic conditions and trends, either nationally or locally; conditions in the securities, credit and financial markets; changes in interest rates; changes in deposit flows, and in the demand for deposit, loan, and investment products and other financial services; changes in real estate values; changes in the quality or composition of our loan or investment portfolios, including associated allowances and reserves; changes in future allowance for credit losses, including changes required under relevant accounting and regulatory requirements; the ability to pay future dividends; changes in our capital management and balance sheet strategies and our ability to successfully implement such strategies; recent turnover in our Board of Directors and our executive management team; changes in our strategic plan, including changes in our internal resources, procedures and systems, and our ability to successfully implement such plan; changes in competitive pressures among financial institutions or from non‐financial institutions; changes in legislation, regulations, and policies; the imposition of restrictions on our operations by bank regulators; the outcome of pending or threatened litigation, or of investigations or any other matters before regulatory agencies, whether currently existing or commencing in the future; the success of our blockchain and fintech activities, investments and strategic partnerships; the restructuring of our mortgage business; our ability to recognize anticipated expense reductions and enhanced efficiencies with respect to our recently announced strategic workforce reduction; the impact of failures or disruptions in or breaches of the Company's operational or security systems, data or infrastructure, or those of third parties, including as a result of cyberattacks or campaigns; the impact of natural disasters, extreme weather events, military conflict (including the Russia / Ukraine conflict, the conflict in Israel and surrounding areas, the possible expansion of such conflicts and potential geopolitical consequences), terrorism or other geopolitical events; and a variety of other matters which, by their nature, are subject to significant uncertainties and/or are beyond our control. Our forward-looking statements are also subject to the following principal risks and uncertainties with respect to our merger with Flagstar Bancorp, which was completed on December 1, 2022 , and our acquisition of substantial portions of the former Signature Bank through an FDIC-assisted transaction: the possibility that the anticipated benefits of the transactions will not be realized when expected or at all; the possibility of increased legal and compliance costs, including with respect to any litigation or regulatory actions related to the business practices of acquired companies or the combined business; diversion of management's attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities; the possibility that the Company may be unable to achieve expected synergies and operating efficiencies in or as a result of the transactions within the expected timeframes or at all; and revenues following the transactions may be lower than expected. Additionally, there can be no assurance that the Community Benefits Agreement entered into with NCRC, which was contingent upon the closing of the Company's merger with Flagstar Bancorp, Inc., will achieve the results or outcome originally expected or anticipated by us as a result of changes to our business strategy, performance of the U.S. economy, or changes to the laws and regulations affecting us, our customers, communities we serve, and the U.S. economy (including, but not limited to, tax laws and regulations). More information regarding some of these factors is provided in the Risk Factors section of our Annual Report on Form 10‐K/A for the year ended December 31, 2023, Quarterly Report on Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2024 , June 30, 2024 , and September 30, 2024 , and in other SEC reports we file. Our forward‐looking statements may also be subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those we may discuss in this news release, on our conference call, during investor presentations, or in our SEC filings, which are accessible on our website and at the SEC's website, www.sec.gov . Investor Contact: Salvatore J. DiMartino (516) 683-4286 Media Contact: Nicole Yelland (248) 219-9234 View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flagstar-financial-inc-appoints-brian-callanan-to-board-of-directors-302331692.html SOURCE Flagstar Financial, Inc.
Is it safe? That was the first question Captain Keagan Pang’s mother asked when she found out he was going to be a pilot at a low-cost carrier. The year was 2011, and budget airlines here were expanding and looking to hire. Having developed an interest in aviation after working in the air force and as a cabin crew member at national carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA), Captain Pang did not hesitate to sign up as a cadet at Jetstar Asia, before joining Tiger Airways. Now an associate management pilot with SIA’s low-cost arm Scoot, the 42-year-old has flown all over Asia, from Ipoh in Malaysia to Osaka in Japan. Despite her initial reticence, Captain Pang’s mother has become a regular on budget airlines, too. Fittingly, her most recent trip in 2024 was to Osaka on Scoot. When it took off 20 years ago, the low-cost carrier industry in Singapore was met with fervour by some and doubt by others. But budget airlines have since become an accepted – even essential – part of the aviation landscape, opening up air travel to millions and creating a new breed of travellers . While budget carriers make up about a fifth of the airlines at Changi Airport today, they fly to more than half of the 165 cities that the airport is connected with. The shortest non-stop budget flight from Singapore is 55 minutes to Melaka. The longest is 12 hours to Athens. More than 40 destinations are exclusively served by budget carriers, including Vientiane in Laos and Jeju in South Korea. In the first nine months of 2024, a third of the 49.8 million passengers who passed through Changi Airport flew on low-cost airlines. Mr Ellis Taylor, Asia editor of aviation analytics firm Cirium, said the conventional wisdom in the late 1990s and early 2000s was that Asian travellers would not fly on budget carriers. This has been proven wrong. By cutting costs and offering low fares, they have been able to launch new routes that other airlines wouldn’t have tried, and have played a key role in enabling tourism across Asia and beyond. With thinner margins, low-cost airlines have been among the first to adopt new technology and business models to reduce costs, pushing full-service carriers to rethink their processes and product offerings. AirAsia Malaysia chief executive Fareh Mazputra said the low-cost carrier model has democratised air travel. With a growing middle class expected to fuel greater demand for affordable flights, he and the heads of Singapore-based Scoot and Jetstar Asia believe the sky’s the limit for budget carriers in South-east Asia, even with the challenges that lie ahead. The low-cost carrier wave in Singapore began on May 5, 2004, when a Valuair flight left Changi Airport for Bangkok with 162 passengers on board. It was the first budget flight to be operated by a Singapore carrier, with fares that were 40 per cent to 50 per cent cheaper than full-service ones. Later that year, Tiger Airways – which was set up by SIA Group, Singapore’s investment company Temasek and the founders of Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair – entered the fray. Qantas subsidiary Jetstar Asia joined in too, with its maiden flight on Dec 13, 2004. The three upstarts were inspired by the successes of Southwest Airlines in the United States, and Ryanair and easyJet in Europe. The emergence of AirAsia in 2001 brought the low-cost fever closer to home. Yet, many in the industry remained sceptical about low-cost carriers, as they felt consumers here were not ready for them, said a former airline head who was involved in the launch of budget flights here. Travel was still a luxury in Asia then, and many airlines pitched themselves as delivering a premium service, which came at a high cost and with high fares. But there was, in fact, a hankering for cheaper flights, and the response to the launch of budget flights in Singapore was huge. Weeks before Valuair’s first flights, which were priced at a promotional rate of $138 to Bangkok and $300 to Hong Kong, full-service airlines such as SIA and Cathay Pacific began slashing their fares to keep up. “We proved we could sell at lower fares and turn in operating profits on routes,” said the former airline executive, who declined to be named for this story. By 2007, Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways, which was later rebranded as Tigerair, had already made it onto the list of Changi Airport’s 10 largest carriers by passenger numbers. By 2009, low-cost carriers accounted for 23 per cent of the airport’s total passenger traffic. While the budget aviation sector has grown over the years, it encountered turbulence along the way. The first storm came shortly after lift-off, as irrational pricing by full-service carriers in response to the competition and expensive fuel made 2005 a tough year for budget airlines. Countries like Indonesia had also shut the door on foreign low-cost carriers, leaving a few crowded regional routes for Singapore carriers to compete on. The first casualty was Valuair, which tried to offer a “mid-cost” alternative by providing some frills such as free hot meals and assigned seating. But it did not have deep-enough pockets, nor could it attract enough investors, leading to its merger with Jetstar Asia in 2005. More turbulence came in the 2010s, after the skies in South-east Asia opened up. Aggressive expansion by low-cost carriers caused markets to be flooded with seats. Fares tumbled, as did earnings, prompting a scaling back of operations and a wave of consolidations and bailouts. The growing proportion of low-cost carrier flights from Changi Airport relative to total flights The rise of budget airlines prompted the development of new airport infrastructure, with the Budget Terminal opening in Singapore in 2006. With no aerobridges and transfer facilities, the no-frills single-storey terminal at Changi was meant to help budget carriers save on airport costs. Two years later, a $10 million expansion more than doubled the terminal’s capacity from 2.7 million to seven million passengers a year. In 2012, a decision was made to redevelop the Budget Terminal into the larger Terminal 4. Mr Lim Ching Kiat, Changi Airport Group’s (CAG) executive vice-president for air hub and cargo development, said this was because the cost savings for low-cost carriers at the Budget Terminal were marginal, and passengers wanted a consistent experience at the airport. Budget airlines in Singapore started to fly farther as well. In 2010, Jetstar Asia’s sister airline Jetstar Airways started flying non-stop to Melbourne. Two years later, SIA launched Scoot to serve medium and long-haul routes. In 2017, Tigerair merged with Scoot to capture a greater share of the low-cost market. Scoot’s first European service to Athens started the same year. A recent trend has been the arrival of North-east Asian low-cost carriers at Changi Airport, such as South Korea’s Jeju Air and Japan’s Zipair. The latest additions are Air Japan and Peach Aviation, both subsidiaries of full-service carrier All Nippon Airways. With the liberalisation of air service agreements and low-cost airlines buying new narrow-body aircraft with longer ranges, CAG’s Mr Lim expects the growth of such carriers in Singapore to continue. “Because of our location, we can actually access a bigger market, such as the northern parts of India and China, and Central Asia,” he said. As acceptance of low-cost carriers has grown, the mix of passengers on board has become more varied. Expectations have changed too. “In the early days, there was this misperception about low-cost airlines being less safe. But over time, people have seen, and the track record has proven, that this is untrue,” said Scoot’s Captain Pang. Mr Lim said the stereotype that budget airlines are only for travellers on a shoestring is also no longer true, citing the example of Zipair, which offers lie-flat seats on its red-eye Singapore-Tokyo flights, a feature more commonly associated with premium airlines. “My take is that people are more savvy these days,” he added. Ms Florence Chan, 38, who joined Scoot as a cabin crew member in 2012, said she still gets questions from passengers about the lack of certain amenities on flights, but these have become less common. She and other cabin crew members noted that no-frills does not mean no service. Ms Mei Ng, 49, who has been working as a cabin crew member for 19 years, first with Valuair and then with Jetstar Asia, said: “We’ve had parents request milk, passengers needing earplugs, or even asking for unexpected items like sanitary napkins – all of which we do our best to accommodate.” Scoot chief executive Leslie Thng said customers are becoming more sophisticated, which is why low-cost carriers now offer different ways to bundle ancillary services, such as checked baggage and in-flight meals. There has also been a move towards self-service options. Mr Thng said Scoot is using technology and data in all facets of its operations – from improving sales to simplifying work processes for staff. Generative artificial intelligence is also a big trend, with both Scoot and AirAsia using it to give their customer chatbots a boost. Mr Kenji Soh, general manager at corporate travel management company FCM Travel South-east Asia, said low-cost carriers have started offering products aimed at corporate travellers, including quiet zones and business class. Pointing to a 13 per cent increase in low-cost bookings on FCM Travel’s platform, he said there is a trend of companies incorporating budget carriers into their travel policies for shorter flights. In the past 20 years, there has also been a growing convergence between the low-cost and full-service models, giving rise to more hybrid airlines. For example, while traditional low-cost carriers would not facilitate passengers transferring between flights or between other airlines, this is now the norm in Asia, Mr Taylor from Cirium said. Jetstar Asia was the first to do this here, and it now has interline and codeshare agreements with more than 40 carriers out of Singapore, including Emirates and KLM. This has allowed the budget airline to grow beyond the reach of its own direct customers. Scoot is taking a similar approach with SIA. “We don't have a domestic market, so transit traffic is also very important for us,” Mr Thng said, noting that transfer passengers now make up about a quarter of Scoot’s traffic. Legacy airlines too have adopted parts of the low-cost carrier playbook, such as charging passengers for ancillary services. Mr Taylor said this convergence will most likely continue as airlines adapt to the needs of different markets. This could mean more budget carriers adopting a frequent flier programme and offering business class cabins to compete against traditional carriers. While the Covid-19 pandemic dealt low-cost carriers a major blow, budget airlines in Singapore have bounced back from that. Between January and September, budget airline passenger traffic at Changi Airport was 101.6 per cent of 2019 levels. With Covid-19 in the rear-view mirror, the sector is now looking at growth. Mr Thng said he sees immense potential in South-east Asia, which he views as Scoot’s hinterland. Scoot has focused on shorter hops within the region in 2024, with the roll-out of its new Embraer E190-E2 jets. But the airline wants to grow its medium- and long-haul network too, pending the delivery of more wide-body Boeing 787s. AirAsia’s Captain Fareh said Singapore contributes significantly to the carrier’s overall passenger load, and the goal is to also expand its network here. Growing the airline’s fleet would allow it to increase flight frequencies from the Republic, the former pilot added. At a regional level, AirAsia has ambitions of turning its Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok bases into low-cost Dubai-like hubs. It is also eyeing global expansion, with plans to launch routes to Africa, Europe and the US by 2030. For Jetstar Asia, which has been slower to recover from the pandemic, the aim is to gain a firmer footing after the airline almost doubled its fleet from seven to 13 aircraft in two years. While it is still short of the 18 jets that it had before Covid-19, Jetstar Asia chief executive John Simeone said the airline is making sure its current network is profitable. He said the competitive environment within South-east Asia is intense, and Jetstar Asia, like all airlines, faces challenges such as volatility in fuel prices and broader geopolitical tensions. With revenge travel coming off the boil, demand is likely to slow too. Other headwinds include supply chain snags, which have delayed plane deliveries and grounded existing ones, and sustainable aviation fuel mandates, which will drive costs up. While Singapore will continue to play a key role in the growth of low-cost carriers in the region, airlines have highlighted several challenges operating here too. The biggest concern is Changi’s costs, which are set to rise further over the next six years. Jetstar Asia’s Mr Simeone said this may impact the number of tickets that the airline can sell below $100, which now make up about two-thirds of all its flights. The difficulty in securing take-off and landing slots at Changi is another issue, and Captain Fareh believes slot availability at the airport can be better optimised. Peach Aviation’s chief corporate planning officer Satoru Endo said he hopes that Changi Airport’s capacity will be expanded, so the airline can mount more flights in the future. “Since Singapore is a popular and busy destination in terms of airport traffic, it is not very easy to get our desired slot,” he added. A related question that has come up is whether there is room for another Singapore-based low-cost carrier. This is after AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes told the Malaysian media in September that the carrier will not give up on securing an airline licence in Singapore, despite having been rejected thrice. Asked about Changi Airport’s capacity for more budget carriers, CAG’s Mr Lim said the airport is committed to working with its existing carriers so they continue to grow, and it is happy to partner with other airlines to drive traffic and expand its network. In response to a similar query, and about whether there is room for another local budget carrier here, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said only that it will continue to work with CAG to support all airlines that are committed to the Singapore air hub. CAAS director of air transport Sidney Koh said: “Low-cost carriers have played, and will continue to play, an important role in Singapore.”
Cataldi keeps vow by scoring for hospitalised teammateChick-Fil-A in fresh attempt at UK launch By JESSICA CLARK Updated: 21:54, 13 December 2024 e-mail View comments US fast food giant Chick-fil-A is aiming to avoid another backlash over the anti-gay views of its billionaire owners when it opens in the UK next year. Chick-fil-A scrapped its Reading pop-up site after just six months when gay rights campaigners targeted it in 2019. But the Atlanta-based restaurant chain has been in talks with LGBT group Stonewall and other charities in a bid to distance itself from accusations of homophobia. The company was founded in 1946 by devout Christian S Truett Cathy and is the third largest fast-food chain in the US by sales. It has more than 3,000 sites in America and has launched in Canada – where it also faced backlash from LGBT campaigners – and Puerto Rico in the last five years. Despite the popularity of its chicken sandwiches, comments and donations made by the Cathy family, who still own and run the business, have triggered controversy. Protests: Chick-fil-A scrapped its Reading pop-up site after just six months when gay rights campaigners targeted it in 2019 They have historically donated to various organisations that have been linked to anti-LGBT beliefs. And chairman Dan Cathy, father of chief executive Andrew Cathy, revealed his opposition to gay marriage in 2012. But the business has been in talks with Stonewall about how to be 'a more inclusive workplace' ahead of another bid to conquer the competitive British market. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Nando's to open more restaurants as it reveals strong... Hospitality firms suffer business rates and wage hikes... Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing account A Stonewall spokesman said: 'We frequently have conversations with companies and organisations at various stages on their journey to becoming more inclusive workplaces for their employees. Outspoken: Chairman Dan Cathy 'We have had some recent conversations with Chick-Fil-A about the training and services we could provide to support the company on this journey.' When asked about the controversy ahead of the UK launch, Chick-fil-A international vice president Paul Trotti told the Mail that the firm's 'desire is to be inclusive to all people and to treat all people with honour, dignity and respect'. Launching in the UK comes with other challenges including tough competition from the likes of KFC and Nando's, and recent American imports Popeyes and Wingstop. Chick-fil-A believes its 'unique' owner-operator franchise model, its focus on fresh ingredients and its trademark Southern hospitality will set it apart. Trotti said: 'The UK place in the world market is something that we absolutely can't ignore as we think about wanting to be a global business.' DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS AJ Bell AJ Bell Easy investing and ready-made portfolios Learn More Learn More Hargreaves Lansdown Hargreaves Lansdown Free fund dealing and investment ideas Learn More Learn More interactive investor interactive investor Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month Learn More Learn More Saxo Saxo Get £200 back in trading fees Learn More Learn More Trading 212 Trading 212 Free dealing and no account fee Learn More Learn More Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence. Compare the best investing account for you Share or comment on this article: Chick-Fil-A in fresh attempt at UK launch e-mail Add comment Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence. More top stories
Their ages vary. But a conspicuous handful of filmmaking lions in winter, or let’s say late autumn, have given us new reasons to be grateful for their work over the decades — even for the work that didn’t quite work. Which, yes, sounds like ingratitude. But do we even want more conventional or better-behaved work from talents such as Francis Ford Coppola? Even if we’re talking about ? If Clint Eastwood’s gave audiences a less morally complicated courtroom drama, would that have mattered, given Warner Bros.’ butt-headed decision to plop it in less than three dozen movie theaters in the U.S.? Coppola is 85. Eastwood is 94. Paul Schrader, whose latest film “Oh, Canada” arrives this week and is well worth seeking out, is a mere 78. Based on the 2021 Russell Banks novel “Foregone,” “Oh, Canada” is the story of a documentary filmmaker, played by Richard Gere, being interviewed near the end of his cancer-shrouded final days. In the Montreal home he shares with his wife and creative partner, played by Uma Thurman, he consents to the interview by two former students of his. Gere’s character, Leonard Fife, has no little contempt for these two, whom he calls “Mr. and Mrs. Ken Burns of Canada” with subtle disdain. As we learn over the artful dodges and layers of past and present, events imagined and/or real, Fife treats the interview as a final confession from a guarded and deceptive soul. He’s also a hero to everyone in the room, famous for his anti-Vietnam war political activism, and for the Frederick Wiseman-like inflection of his own films’ interview techniques. The real-life filmmaker name-checked in “Oh, Canada” is documentarian Errol Morris, whose straight-to-the-lens framing of interview subjects was made possible by his Interrotron device. In Schrader’s adaptation, Fife doesn’t want the nominal director (Michael Imperioli, a nicely finessed embodiment of a second-rate talent with first-rate airs) in his eyeline. Rather, as he struggles with hazy, self-incriminating memories of affairs, marriages, one-offs with a friend’s wife and a tense, brief reunion with the son he never knew, Fife wants only his wife, Emma — his former Goddard College student — in this metaphoric confessional. Schrader and his editor Benjamin Rodriguez Jr. treat the memories as on-screen flashbacks spanning from 1968 to 2023. At times, Gere and Thurman appear as their decades-young selves, without any attempt to de-age them, digitally or otherwise. (Thank god, I kind of hate that stuff in any circumstance.) In other sequences from Fife’s past, Jacob Elordi portrays Fife, with sly and convincing behavioral details linking his performance to Gere’s persona. We hear frequent voiceovers spoken by Gere about having ruined his life by age 24, at least spiritually or morally. Banks’ novel is no less devoted to a dying man’s addled but ardent attempt to come clean and own up to what has terrified him the most in the mess and joy of living: Honesty. Love. Commitment. There are elements of “Oh, Canada” that soften Banks’ conception of Fife, from the parentage of Fife’s abandoned son to the specific qualities of Gere’s performance. It has been 44 years since Gere teamed with Schrader on “American Gigolo,” a movie made by a very different filmmaker with very different preoccupations of hetero male hollowness. It’s also clearly the same director at work, I think. And Gere remains a unique camera object, with a stunning mastery of filling a close-up with an unblinking stillness conveying feelings easier left behind. The musical score is pretty watery, and with Schrader you always get a few lines of tortured rhetoric interrupting the good stuff. In the end, “Oh, Canada” has an extraordinarily simple idea at its core: That of a man with a movie camera, most of his life, now on the other side of the lens. Not easy. “I can’t tell the truth unless that camera’s on!” he barks at one point. I don’t think the line from the novel made it into Schrader’s script, but it too sums up this lion-in-winter feeling of truth without triumphal Hollywood catharsis. The interview, Banks wrote, is one’s man’s “last chance to stop lying.” It’s also a “final prayer,” dramatized by the Calvinist-to-the-bone filmmaker who made sure to include that phrase in his latest devotion to final prayers and missions of redemption. No MPA rating (some language and sexual material) Running time: 1:34 How to watch: Opens in theaters Dec. 13, running 1in Chicago Dec. 13-19 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.;FLAGSTAR FINANCIAL, INC. APPOINTS BRIAN CALLANAN TO BOARD OF DIRECTORSAP Sports SummaryBrief at 5:38 p.m. ESTNEW YORK (AP) — More shoppers than ever are on track to use ‘buy now, pay later’ plans this holiday season, as the ability to spread out payments looks attractive at a time when Americans still feel the lingering effect of inflation and already have record-high credit card debt. The data firm Adobe Analytics predicts shoppers will spend 11.4% more this holiday season using buy now, pay later than they did a year ago. The company forecasts shoppers will purchase $18.5 billion worth of goods using the third-party services for the period Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, with $993 million worth of purchases on Cyber Monday alone. Buy now, pay later can be particularly appealing to consumers who have low credit scores or no credit history, such as younger shoppers, because most of the companies providing the service run only soft credit checks and don’t report the loans and payment histories to the credit bureaus, unlike credit card companies. This holiday season, buy now, pay later users can also feel more confident if a transaction goes awry. In May, the CFPB said buy now, pay later company must adhere to other regulations that govern traditional credit, such as providing ways to demand refunds and dispute transactions. To use a buy now, pay later plan, consumers typically sign up with bank account information or a debit or credit card, and agree to pay for purchases in monthly installments, typically over eight weeks or more. The loans are marketed as requiring no or low interest, or only conditional fees, such as for late payment. Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm are three of the biggest buy now, pay later companies. But consumer advocates warn that shoppers who sign up for the payment plans using a credit card can be hit with more interest and fees. That's because individuals open themselves up to interest on the credit card payment, if it's carried month to month, on top of any late fees, interest, or penalties from the buy now, pay later loan itself. Experts advise against using a credit card to pay for these plans for this reason. Consumer watchdogs also say the plans lead consumers to overextend themselves because, for example, not paying full price up front leaves, in the shopper’s mind at least, more money for smaller purchases . They also caution consumers to keep careful track of using multiple buy now, pay later services, as the automatic payments can add up, and there is no central reporting, such as with a credit card statement. “Buy now, pay later can be an innovative tool for purchases you’re going to make anyway,” said Mark Elliott, chief customer officer at financial services company LendingClub. “The challenge is that it does fuel overspending.” For merchants, that’s part of the appeal. Retailers have found that customers are more likely to have bigger cart sizes or to convert from browsing to checking out when buy now, pay later is offered. One report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York cited research that found customers spend 20% more when buy now, pay later is available. “The reality is that the increased cost-of-living and inflation have put more people in a situation where they’re already relying on revolving credit,” Elliott said. “The psychographics of ‘buy now, pay later’ may be different — people don’t think of it as debt — but it is.” If a consumer misses a payment, they can face fees, interest, or the possibility of being locked out of using the services in the future. Emily Childers, consumer financial expert for personal-finance technology company Credit Karma, said that internal data shows member credit card balances are up more than 50% for Gen Z and millennial members since March 2022, when the Fed started raising interest rates. “Young people are entering this holiday season already in the red,” she said. “And, based on what we’re seeing in the data, they’re continuing to bury their heads in the sand and spend.” The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
