Good morning. It's Monday, February 26th. I'm Jenny Gould, a reporter on the Times's early childhood education staff — and a mom who's done her share of trips to the pediatrician's office. Here's what you need to know to start your day. the news Start your day right Sign up for Essential California to get news, features and recommendations from the LA Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. Enter your email address Involve me You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. California kids don't get to see a doctor. this is the…
Author: ricardofrancois
If California's coast is a multi-trillion-dollar state asset — and it is — why is a state agency that has successfully protected that asset for 50 years under attack? The answer – “allowing unnecessary delays” – is unfounded. However, California's exceptional history of coastal protection is at greater risk today in the halls of our state Capitol than it has been in generations.Like the waters flowing down, California's unparalleled coastline has always been a magnet for development. In 1972, with that in mind, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 20, the ballot initiative that triggered the California Coastal Act of 1976.…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK's competition watchdog has launched an investigation into eight housebuilders over whether they shared commercially sensitive information after a year-long study into why Britain built too few homes.The Competition and Markets Authority said on Monday that the main reasons for the shortage of new homes were the UK's “complex and unpredictable planning system” and the fact that housebuilding production was heavily reliant on “speculative private development”.Only about 250,000 homes were built across the UK last year, less than the government's target…
Interview Kickstart, a profitable startup that helps tech professionals gain career advancement skills, has raised $10 million in its first funding from Blume Ventures, the companies said Monday. The San Francisco-based startup, founded in 2014, helps engineers learn from employees or graduates of major tech companies. Although always profitable, 2023 was pivotal for Interview Kickstart after the startup found immediate, widespread adoption in its newly launched AI space aimed at engineers looking to shift into advanced roles, the co-founder said. Ryan Valles to TechCrunch in an interview. Interview Kickstart offerings also help engineers learn to appreciate the large-scale challenges that…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up for the World myFT Digest – delivered straight to your inbox.Good morning, and we begin today with the fallout from the South Carolina primary election on Saturday.Americans for Prosperity, a political spending group backed by influential conservative billionaire Charles Koch, said it will stop funding Nikki Haley's presidential campaign following her heavy defeat to Donald Trump over the weekend in her home state.The move is a sign that Haley's support among top Wall Street Republicans and corporate donors — which helped sustain her bid for the White House — is beginning to wane…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Blackstone owes UCLA twice as much as it did last quarter as part of a complex deal to support its flagship real estate fund.The world's largest alternative asset manager has promised UC an 11.25 percent annual return from its real estate fund, called Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, or Breit, as part of a deal to attract $4.5 billion in new investment. But as the fund lost value last year, Blackstone's obligations to UCLA rose to $560 million.It highlights the financial risks…
Something I've always admired about Lenovo is the way the Chinese tech giant lets its weird flag fly. In fact, visiting the corporate booth just down the road, on the way back to Hall 3, was one of the highlights of MWC for me. You can always tell where the latest bit of weirdness is by a group of people taking smartphone video of the thing. This year's big scrum collector was Lenovo's long-rumored Transparent laptop. It's real. It works surprisingly well, and – as anyone can tell – its existence is a testament to form more than function. This…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Alphaville usually doesn't care much about insurers' results, but Allianz's ownership of Pimco – the world's largest bond investment group – makes it a good way to understand the dynamics of the broader fixed income market. Pimco CEO Manny Roman certainly sounded optimistic when he spoke to our colleagues at Unhedged in December, arguing that “there's going to be a tidal wave of money coming.” On Friday we were able to see how that expectation is taking shape, in the German insurer's…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.In his recent letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett said that Berkshire Hathaway, with its size and maturity, should “operate with a materially lower risk of permanent loss of capital.” A few pages later, the Omaha priest seemed to contradict himself.Berkshire Hathaway Energy is one of America's largest energy utilities. Buffett noted that these infrastructure companies are often operated as natural monopolies whose stock returns are mandated by government regulators. Such a system allows the utility to safely make long-term and costly investments…
France hosts the Ukraine summit on MondayFrench President Emmanuel Macron is hosting more than 20 heads of state and government representatives at a meeting on Ukraine in Paris on Monday.The Elysee Palace said in a statement on Monday: “Two years after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the participants will once again confirm their unity and determination to defeat the aggressive war led by Russia in Ukraine.”German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Polish President Andrzej Duda will be among the officials who will attend the conference. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a speech at…