THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2024
Fears of ‘out of control’ prescription drug costs
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter
CONCERNS have been raised about the rising cost of pharmaceuticals.
Dr Marvin Smith, president of the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association (BPA), has voiced growing concern over the escalating cost of prescription drugs, which he says is troubling for both pharmacists and consumers.
Speaking to reporters, Dr Smith described the current inflationary environment as “out of control” and revealed that his association is in the final stages of preparing a comprehensive document aimed at addressing the issue.
“We actually have a paper that we are in its final stages of preparation, that we’re sending to the government that’s going to, we think, provide some reasonable avenues in which the government can both secure the authenticity and effectiveness of medicines from proper sources, but also at a very cost effective rate,” Dr Smith said.
He criticised the pharmaceutical industry’s approach to product security, suggesting it may be a tactic used
by major pharmaceutical companies to justify higher prices.
“The fact of the matter is that a lot of the things that we are trying to do in the name of product security are really just avenues in which Big Pharma is using to push more expensive to users,” Dr Smith asserted.
Addressing concerns about prescription pricing, Dr Smith assured that pharmacies are not engaging in price gouging.
He explained that high overhead costs contribute to the overall expense of prescription drugs.
Bowe: You can’t have two-tier bank system
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
GOWON Bowe, chairman of the Clearing Banks Association, voiced reservations about the proposed corporate minimum tax, suggesting it could lead to an inequitable two-tier banking system.
Speaking to Tribune Business, Mr Bowe Bowe said the tax, which targets large multinational enterprises, will apply only to foreign-owned commercial banks.
“There are some very peculiar influences that will have to be addressed. In my industry, you will have the likes of the Canadian and US-owned enterprises like RBC, Scotia Bank, CIBC, City Bank, that will be covered; but then you’ll have the Bahamian entities, Fidelity, Bank of Bahamas, Commonwealth Bank that will not be covered,” Mr Bowe said. He questioned the viability of such a system, asserting, “Can you have a basically a two-tier system, one for domestic commercial banks and one for internationally owned commercial banks? I think the answer to that is no.” The draft bill for the Pillar 2 corporate tax, released by the Davis administration on
Chamber chief supports corporate minimum tax
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
AN employers group leader has endorsed the proposed corporation minimum tax after the government released a white paper for consultation.
Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC)
“The fact of the matter is that our overhead is high. You’re bringing in product that you have to buy in bulk, and you don’t know if you’re gonna actually get it sold unless somebody gets sick,” Dr Smith noted.
He added: “A lot of overhead is there, the security issues, you have to pay professionals, you have to deal with front of store. I can promise you nobody is gouging with charging on this stuff.”
CEO Leo Rolle said it was a potential solution for increasing government revenue and addressing tax disparities.
Mr Rolle said that the tax, which targets large multinational enterprises, could offer a fair approach to taxation without burdening local businesses. He added that the local business community already faces numerous challenges that impact the cost of doing business, making this approach more equitable.
“We have reviewed the paper and subsequent documents and believe that it provides a reasonable measure of added revenue for the government and
one that seeks to eliminate the tax disparity by fostering equitable tax changes, applicable for those multinational companies and not domestic ones - as the local business community already has a plethora of challenges to contend with that impacts the cost of doing business,” said Mr Smith.
On Monday, the Davis administration released a draft domestic minimum top-up tax bill for consultation.
B4
GRANT PROGRAMME HELPS 83 WOMEN
THE SBDC awarded over $600,000 in grants to 83 women entrepreneurs, including those from the Family Islands. Executive Director Samantha Rolle highlighted the intense competition, noting that every grant programme, especially the Women Entrepreneurs Initiative, was oversubscribed. She emphasized the meticulous two-tier adjudication process, acknowledging the disappointment of many deserving applicants who could not be accommodated due to limited resources. SEE Story on PG2
DR MARVIN SMITH
LEO ROLLE
GOWON BOWE
Grant programme helps 83 women
By Annelia Nixon anixon@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Accelerator
Small Business Development Centre held a press conference yesterday to award recipients of the 2024 Women Entrepreneurs Initiative, giving over $600,000 worth of grants to 83 women, including those on the Family Islands.
Executive director of SBDC said recipients who did not receive a grant reached out to “express their disappointment in all manner". She said she understands that everyone would want to receive a grant but realistically it isn’t possible.
“The reality is not everyone who applies will be granted, “ Mrs Rolle said. “We have repeatedly said, and we need to continue to say, that all of our grant programmes are overwhelmingly oversubscribed. Every single grant programme, in particular the women’s entrepreneur initiative, compared to all others is always overwhelmingly oversubscribed.”
Mrs Rolle described the process of elimination of recipients as the adjudication process. She said it is a “two tier process”. The first tier consists of information sessions which highlight and details regarding the
programme. She said this normally happens before the programme launches. Then the application opens.
“So first level of adjudication is really ticking whether or not the applicant has fulfilled all of the requirements and prerequisites to that training,” Mrs Rolle said. “Now if there were any type of surveys, tick, the request or requirements for certain documents, business licence, invoice, etc. Tick, tick, tick. That pool is determined just based off those pure requirements, nothing else.”
Mrs Rolle said applicants who have met all the requirements move on to the second tier and are scored, on a rubric, by business advisors, consultants and external participants, as well as some of our SBDC team members.
“Second level adjudication then has a scoring mechanism or format based on a rubric and that rubric looks against a number of variables,” she said. “One, market viability, innovation, use of funds. Those are some of the things that are checked against the application and then the scoring. Based on the score and then against the budget already determined for the programme, those
applicants are selected based on the scoring.”
Mrs Rolle said SBDC has intentionally ensured that more than 50 percent of the budget goes towards Family Island businesses. While recipients owned businesses with varying functions, a few had the same end goal, spreading knowledge about women and fertility.
Recipient Dashanae Butler said she first dreamed up her business, Be Natural, which consists of self-care kits in 2021. She said the uncertainty of job security during the pandemic pushed her to start a business. However, she said the passion for the products she sells came about in 2022 when she relied on her own stock to help heal herself with self-care after her pregnancy experience.
“I actually went through a really traumatic pregnancy period and so in that period of just being sick, not well, overwhelmed, postpartum is real, all of that stuff, Be Natural is actually what I turned to,” Mrs Butler said. “I actually used my inventory at that time because there wasn’t much going on and I would go to my bathroom and I would do my self care routine. I would say my mantras and that was like my saving grace. A lot of things happen in our
lives as women and we kind of put on a face and carry on. As I realised, this was something I could actually share with my sisters, that is where the heart and passion of Be Natural came from.”
Mrs Butler said she plans to use the grant to expand her line from natural soaps to natural serums, lip balms and other natural products. She also said she wants to use the grant for a media push which she noted she learned a lot about during the Digital Diva Course with SBDC. She gave SBDC praise for their services.
“Small Business Development Centre really helps you and equips you,” she said. “When you come in you may not know what to do but I love that they had the structure where you have the courses. Go for your dreams. Girls run the world. There’s nothing that we cannot do.”
Doctor Latazia Stuart owns Doctor Tazz Bahamas
consulting Agency and provides fertility coaching services for individuals as well as seminars, trainings, and workshops for corporate entities that “are looking to help their employees navigate fertility challenges in the workplace.” She said her business was born from the experience she had with her own fertility problems.
Mrs Stuart said she sees the grant provided to her by SBDC helping her in the marketing area and to spread the word.
“One of the signature programmes that I did this year was hosting a fertility empowerment international conference,” Mrs Stuart said. “So, I’m preparing to do the same conference again in April 2025 and my goal is to use funding from this grant to host that, where I'm able to provide education, bring in doctors, bring in resources, to continue expanding the
resources and support of our community.”
Mrs Rolle says the future of SBDC looks bright but it is also looking to meet demands when there aren’t enough resources to do so. Despite this, Mrs Rolle said SBDC is trying its best.
“We have an e-commerce platform that we’re about to launch that will give access to some of our clients to have their products displayed for local and international purchase,” she explained. “So, we are looking at having multipurpose initiatives, not only training but the other levels or changes in terms of funding modalities that we can assist entrepreneurs. We are looking to expand our partnership, regionally and internationally that give entrepreneurs another level of support that is just unknown to them currently. So, the future of the SBDC is bright.”
Bowe: You can’t have two-tier bank system
Monday, proposes a 15 percent tax on profits for large multinational enterprises (MNEs) with at least 750m in annual turnover.
This measure aligns with The Bahamas’ commitment as one of 140 countries that have agreed to the G-20/ Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) framework.
The consultation period for the bill will end on September 16, with Parliament expected to review it on October 9.
Mr Bowe also expressed concern over the short consultation period, noting that the corporate minimum tax represents a significant shift in tax policy.
“There are some concerns from the perspective
that it is a relatively short consultation period with comments to be back by the middle of September, which, given this is probably the most significant tax legislative reform since VAT, it should be done in a very deliberate and comprehensive manner,” Mr Bowe said. He stressed the need for a thorough and inclusive approach, saying: “We need to make sure that we are holistic, comprehensive and collective in our efforts.”
He further suggested that the corporate minimum tax presented an opportunity to reform the country’s outdated business licence regime.
“The truth of the matter is, the business license regime has been deemed antiquated and basically
not fit for purpose for many years,” Mr Bowe said. He advocated for a more comprehensive overhaul of the tax system rather than incremental changes.
“Ultimately, we’re seeming to pick around the edges and only comply with the minimum requirements globally, when the reality is The Bahamas could benefit from being more comprehensive and changing its overall taxation system,” he added.
Mr Bowe also raised concerns about the readiness of the Department of Inland Revenue to handle the new tax.
“The devil in the detail is going to be some implementation issues that are going to have to be identified,” he said.
“There’s going to have to be some practical
Fears of ‘out of control’ prescription drug costs
Next week, Dr Smith, on behalf of his association will meet with Price Control officials to discuss the inspection process for pharmaceuticals.
While acknowledging that many drug prices are regulated, he emphasised the need to address logistical issues.
“I have a meeting next week on behalf of the association with Price Control. It’s really to talk about not the price issue, because a lot of the products are price controlled, but to talk about some of the logistics around inspections,” Dr Smith explained.
He also highlighted that, despite the challenges, prescription drug costs in the Bahamas remain lower than in many larger neighboring countries, including the United States.
“When we look at our cost for drugs in this country, they’re extremely, much
lower than a lot of our larger neighbors, including the US,” Dr Smith said. Former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis has also criticised the high cost of prescription drugs and the addition of VAT. In May, he described the situation as a “crisis
in the healthcare system”, noting that some patients relying on public healthcare are forced to purchase medications from private pharmacies when government facilities are out of stock.
considerations in terms of the readiness of the government’s Department of Inland Revenue, the systems that are going to be necessary for the reporting and uploads in order to be able to implement it and make sure that it is effective.”
Additionally, he called for greater accountability from the government,
suggesting the involvement of independent bodies such as the Fiscal Responsibility Council and the Auditor General.
“Reality is we now need to start being more accountable to the people, not by the cliché of transparency and accountability, but by the actions,” Mr Bowe said. He urged for regular reporting and oversight, stating, “There should be an independent body like the Fiscal Responsibility Council, there should be the Auditor General, who should not be chastised and criticized every time that he has a negative report, but actually welcomed to say that these are the deficiencies that need to be addressed.”
Chamber chief supports corporate minimum tax
FROM PAGE B1
The proposed Pillar 2 corporate tax would impose a 15 percent tax on profits for large multinational enterprises (MNEs) with at least 750m in annual turnover.
This measure is part of The Bahamas’ commitment
as one of 140 countries that have agreed to the G-20/ Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) framework.
The consultation period for the draft bill will conclude on September 16, with the bill expected to be
submitted for Parliament approval on October 9.
While Mr Rolle supports the tax, he urged the government to proceed with caution.
“What we caution the government on is the implementation of these reforms without extensive
stakeholder involvement and educational campaigns that provide contextual basis for the implementation and ensures adequate comprehension by the international business community with a local presence,” Rolle warned.
He stressed that such measures are crucial for a smooth transition and for maintaining foreign direct investment and ease of doing business in the Bahamas.
Mr Rolle also highlighted that the corporate minimum tax will not apply to businesses with no foreign presence, those with less than 750m in turnover, as well as government
entities, international organisations, and non-profit organisations.
“We are pleased to note, based on the Pillar Two Module Rules provided, that taxpayers who either have no foreign presence or less than 750m in consolidated revenues and government entities, international organizations and non-profit organisations, among other business types are exempted,” Mr Rolle said.
He emphasised the importance of clearly communicating these exemptions to affected parties.
“This should be highlighted and properly
communicated in easily understandable and digested bites for those most impacted,” Mr Rolle added.
“The BCCEC is ready to collaborate with the government and provide expertise to ensure the effective study, analysis, and phased implementation of the tax reforms. “As always, the BCCEC welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with research, discussion, and leveraging the expertise of the Tax Reform Committee to assist the government with proper study, analysis and phased implementation of the same; including the much-needed reforms of our existing tax regime.”
Social media influencers descend on the White House, where Biden calls them the new 'source of news'
By FATIMA HUSSEIN and HALELUYA HADERO Associated Press
SOCIAL media influencers got the royal treatment at the White House on Wednesday as President Joe Biden gave a nod to their ability to hold sway with millions of loyal followers.
The White House played host to a group of more than 100 influencers, also known as content creators, across a range of media platforms — from chefs and makeup artists to fitness gurus and medical students — to talk about issues including mental health, pay equity and the abuse of artificial intelligence.
Biden stopped by to tell the influencers gathered in the Indian Treaty Room in the White House complex: "The fact is, you are the future."
"You're the source of the news," he said. "You are the new possibilities. You are the new breakthrough in how we communicate."
Biden added, to laughter: "And that's why I invited you to the White House, because I'm looking for a job."
Those in attendance included makeup artist Jackie Aina, chef My Nguyen and medical student Joel Bervell. Together, the influencers count millions of followers. In showcasing the importance and heft of the content creator economy — valued at roughly $250 billion worldwide — the White House is also recognizing the youth vote that will be a crucial constituency for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump in the November election.
In late July, a coalition of 17 youth-led groups endorsed the vice president. The youth-led progressive organizations had warned for months that Biden, 81, had a problem with young voters, pleading with the president to work more closely with them to refocus
on issues most important to younger generations or risk losing their votes. They're hoping Harris can harness a new explosion of energy among young voters.
Trump has also spent time courting influencers. Notably, his campaign is counting on younger male voters to give him the edge in November.
Trump participated in an interview last week with Twitch streamer and online personality Adin Ross, who has more than 7 million Instagram followers. The internet personality ended his interview with the former president by gifting him a Tesla Cybertruck wrapped in images of Trump raising his fist after the assassination attempt against him.
The White House event comes as the Biden administration is embroiled in a legal battle with TikTok over a federal law that will determine the future of the platform in the U.S.
Many creators who earn income on TikTok have opposed the law, which
requires TikTok's Chinabased parent company ByteDance to sell the popular platform to a U.S.approved buyer or face a ban.
In May, TikTok and ByteDance sued to block the law, arguing divestment isn't commercially, legally or technologically possible and that they would have to shut down the platform in the U.S. by January 19 if the law were to go into effect.
The measure was passed after it received bipartisan backing in Congress and by top-level administration officials who expressed concerns about how the Chinese government could influence ByteDance. TikTok was previously in negotiations with the Biden administration to resolve some of those concerns. However, those talks
out before the two sides reached a deal.
fizzled
PRESIDENT Joe Biden speaks at the White House Creator Economy Conference in the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Washington.
Photo:Mark Schiefelbein /AP
Wall Street ticks higher after inflation data clears the way for cuts to rates
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
U.S. stocks ticked higher in a quiet Wednesday after the latest update on inflation came in almost exactly as economists expected.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to follow up on one of its best days of the year and climb within 3.7% of its alltime high set last month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 242 points, or 0.6%, to finish a day above the 40,000 level for the first time in nearly two weeks. The Nasdaq composite edged up less than 0.1%.
Treasury yields were also relatively steady in the bond market after the U.S. government said consumers paid prices that were 2.9% higher last month for
gasoline, food, shelter and other things than a year earlier.
The data should keep the Federal Reserve on track to cut its main interest rate at its next meeting in September, a move that Wall Street has long been looking forward to. The Fed has been keeping rates at an economy-crunching level in hopes of stifling inflation that topped 9% two years ago, and lower interest rates would ease the pressure on both the economy and on prices for investments.
The only question is how big the first cut to rates since the 2020 COVID crash will be: the traditional quarter of a percentage point or a more dramatic half point?
Wednesday's reading on inflation at the consumer
level wasn't as cool as the prior day's update on inflation at the wholesale level, but it likely doesn't change much, according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. If most of the data over the next few weeks points to a slowing economy, he said the Fed may cut more aggressively. That includes a report coming up Thursday about how much U.S. shoppers spent at retailers.
While the economy is still growing, and many economists see a recession as unlikely, worries have risen about its strength after a much worse-than-expected month of hiring by U.S. employers in July.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 3.83% from 3.85% late Tuesday.
It's been coming down since topping 4.70% in April, as expectations have built for coming cuts to interest rates.
The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, edged up to 3.95% from 3.94% late Tuesday, as traders weigh whether September's anticipated cut will be the traditional or jumbo-sized move.
On Wall Street, Kellanova rose 7.8% after Mars said it would buy the company behind Pringles, Cheez-Its and Kellogg's for $83.50 per share in cash. The companies put the deal's total value at $35.9 billion, including debt. Kellanova was created when the Kellogg Co. split into three companies in the summer of 2022.
Cardinal Health rose 3.7% after joining the parade of companies that have reported stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected.
On the losing end was Brinker International, the company behind Chili's and Maggiano's restaurants. It fell 10.7% after reporting weaker profit for the latest quarter than expected. That was despite strengthening sales trends at Chili's, which got a boost from higher prices, increased traffic and the launch of its "Big Smasher" burger. Expectations were high coming into the report for Brinker International, whose stock is still up 45.6% for the year so far.
Starbucks fell 2.1% to give back some of its big gain from the prior day
after it said it had lured Brian Niccol away from Chipotle Mexican Grill to become its CEO.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 20.78 points to 5,455.21. The Dow gained 242.75 to 40,008.39, and the Nasdaq composite rose 4.99 to 17.192.60. In stock markets abroad, indexes were modestly higher across much of Europe and mixed in Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 has been the center of financial markets' wildest action in recent weeks, and it rose 0.6% following a day of ups and downs. Japan's embattled Prime Minister Fumio Kishida surprised the country Wednesday by announcing he'll step down when his party picks a new leader next month.
‘CHAOS AGENT’: SUSPECTED TRUMP HACK COMES AS IRAN FLEXES DIGITAL MUSCLES
By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press
WITH less than three months before the U.S. election, Iran is intensifying its efforts to meddle in American politics, U.S. officials and private cybersecurity firms say, with the suspected hack of Donald Trump's campaign being only the latest and most brazen example.
Iran has long been described as a "chaos agent" when it comes to cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns and in recent months groups linked to the government in Tehran have covertly encouraged protests over Israel's war in Gaza, impersonated American activists and created networks of fake news websites and social media accounts primed to spread false and misleading information to audiences in the U.S.
While Russia and China remain bigger cyber threats against the U.S., experts and intelligence officials say Iran's increasingly aggressive stance marks a significant escalation of efforts to confuse, deceive and frighten American voters ahead of the election.
The pace will likely continue to increase as the election nears and America's adversaries exploit the internet and advancements in artificial intelligence to sow discord and confusion.
"We're starting to really see that uptick and it makes sense, 90 days out from the election," said Sean Minor, a former information warfare expert for the U.S. Army who now analyzes online threats for the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, which has seen a sharp increase in cyber operations from Iran and other nations. "As we get closer, we suspect that these networks will get more aggressive."
The FBI is investigating the suspected hack of the Trump campaign as well as efforts to infiltrate the campaign of President Joe Biden, which became Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign when Biden dropped out. Trump's campaign announced Saturday that someone illegally accessed and retrieved internal documents, later distributed to three news outlets. The campaign blamed Iran, noting a recent Microsoft report revealing an attempt by Iranian military intelligence to hack into the systems of one of the presidential campaigns.
"A lot of people think it was Iran. Probably was," Trump said Tuesday on Univision before shrugging off the value of the leaked material. "I think it's pretty boring information."
Iran has denied any involvement in the hack and said it has no interest in meddling with U.S. politics.
That denial is disputed by U.S. intelligence officials and private cybersecurity firms who have linked Iran's government and military to several recent campaigns
targeting the U.S., saying they reflect Iran's growing capabilities and its increasing willingness to use them.
On Wednesday Google announced it had uncovered a group linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard that it said had tried to infiltrate the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen people linked to Biden and Trump since May. The company, which contacted law enforcement with its suspicions, said the group is still targeting people associated with Biden, Trump and Harris. It wasn't clear whether the network identified by Google was connected to the attempt that Trump and Microsoft reported, or were part of a second attempt to infiltrate the campaign's systems.
Iran has a few different motives in seeking to influence U.S. elections, intelligence officials and cybersecurity analysts say. The country seeks to spread confusion and increase polarization in the U.S. while undermining support for Israel. Iran also aims to hurt candidates that it believes would increase tension between Washington and Tehran.
That's a description that fits Trump, whose administration ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of an Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, an act that prompted Iran's leaders to vow revenge.
The two leaders of the Senate intelligence committee issued a joint letter on Wednesday warning Tehran and other governments hostile to the U.S. that attempts to deceive Americans or disrupt the election will not be tolerated.
"There will be consequences to interfering in the American democratic process," wrote the committee's chairman, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, along with Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the vice chairman.
In 2021, federal authorities charged two Iranian nationals with attempting to interfere with the election the year before. As part of the plot, the men wrote emails claiming to be members of the far-right Proud Boys in which they threatened Democratic voters with violence.
Last month, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the Iranian government had covertly supported American protests against Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Groups linked to Iran's government also posed as online activists, encouraged campus protests and provided financial support to some protest groups, Haines said.
Recent reports from Microsoft and Recorded Future have also linked Iran's government to networks of fake news websites and social media accounts posing as Americans.
AHEAD OF US ELECTION
Disney argues wrongful death suit should be tossed because plaintiff signed up for a Disney+ trial
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that ARNOLD CICERON #229 East Street South, Nassau, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 8th day of August, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE is hereby given that
SALNAVE of Charles Saunders Highway, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 15th day of August, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press
DOES signing up for Disney's popular streaming service mean you have agreed to never sue the entertainment giant over anything forever?
That is what Disney argues in a wrongful death lawsuit involving a 42-yearold New York doctor whose family claims had a fatal allergic reaction after eating at an Irish pub in Disney Springs in October.
Disney is asking a Florida court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Jeffrey Piccolo, the husband of Kanokporn Tangsuan, a family medicine specialist with NYU
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that MOIZUDDIN MOHAMMED of #79 Atlantic Drive, Westridge Estate, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 15th day of August, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that FRED RIKO POLYCARPE of #6 Moss Road, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the
Langone's office in Carle Place, on Long Island. The company argues Piccolo had agreed to settle any lawsuits against Disney out of court through the arbitration process when he signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019 and acknowledged that he had reviewed the fine print.
"The Terms of Use, which were provided with the Subscriber Agreement, include a binding arbitration clause," the company wrote in its motion. "The first page of the Subscriber Agreement states, in all capital letters, that 'any dispute between You and Us, Except for Small Claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration'."
But Piccolo's lawyer, in a response filed earlier this month, argued that it was "absurd" to believe that the more than 150 million subscribers to Disney+ have waived all rights to sue the company and its affiliates in perpetuity — even if their case has nothing to do with the popular streaming service.
"The notion that terms agreed to by a consumer when creating a Disney+ free trial account would forever bar that consumer's right to a jury trial in any dispute with any Disney affiliate or subsidiary, is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair as to shock the judicial conscience, and this court should not enforce such an agreement," Brian
Denney, Piccolo's attorney, wrote in the Aug. 2 filing. Spokespersons for the Walt Disney Company and Raglan Road, the pub in Disney Springs where Tangsuan dined, didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment Wednesday.
But Disney, in its May 31 filing, argued that whether Piccolo actually reviewed the service terms is "immaterial." It also noted the arbitration provision "covers 'all disputes' including 'disputes involving The Walt Disney Company or its affiliates'." Arbitration allows people to settle disputes without going to court and generally involves a neutral arbitrator who reviews arguments and evidence before making a binding decision, or award.
Piccolo's lawsuit, which was filed in February, claims that he, his wife and his mother ate at the Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs, an outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex at Disney World, on Oct. 5, 2023.
After informing their server numerous times that she had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy products and required "allergen-free food," Tangsuan ordered the vegan fritter, scallops, onion rings and a vegan shepherd's pie.
The waiter then "guaranteed" that the food was allergen-free even though some of the items were not served with "allergen free flags," the lawsuit states.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that DAVID BELLOT of Church Hill Subdivision, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 15th day of August, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that JUSTIN KESHAWN PAUL of Balfour Avenue, Miami Street, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 15th day of August, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that SAMREEN OMARA of #79 Atlantic Drive, Westridge Estate, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 15th day of August, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE is hereby given that KERLY VERNE Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 8th day of August, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality
A DISNEY logo forms part of a Disney Plus menu on a computer screen in Walpole, Mass., on Nov. 13, 2019. Photo:Steven Senne/AP
JUDGE TELLS GOOGLE TO BRACE FOR SHAKEUP OF ANDROID
APP STORE AS PUNISHMENT FOR RUNNING A MONOPOLY
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer
A FEDERAL judge on Wednesday indicated he will order major changes in Google's Android app store to punish the company for engineering a system that a jury declared an illegal monopoly that has hurt millions of consumers and app developers.
Over the course of a three-hour hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge James Donato made it clear that the forthcoming shake-up he is contemplating will probably include a mandate requiring Google's Play Store for Android phones offer consumers a choice to download alternative app stores
Donato has been weighing how to punish the Google since last December when a jury declared the Play Store a monopoly following a four-week trial.
The verdict centered on Google's nearly exclusive control over distribution of apps designed for Android phones and the billing systems for the digital commerce occurring within them — a system that generates billions of dollars in annual revenue for the company.
In protesting the judge's potential requirements, Google has raised the specter of consumers' devices being infected by malicious software downloaded from third-party app stores, triggering "security chaos."
But Donato repeatedly hammered on the need for a major overhaul of the Play Store, even if it causes Google headaches and huge bills that the company has estimated could run as high as $600 million, depending on what the judge orders.
"We are going to tear the barriers down, that is going to happen," Donato told Google attorney Glenn Pomerantz. "When you have a mountain built out of bad conduct, you are going to have to move that mountain."
Donato said he is hoping to issue an order outlining the framework for the changes to the Play Store within the next few weeks, possibly before the Labor Day weekend.
Google's tactics in the penalty phase of the Play Store case may foreshadow its strategy in a similar round of so-called "remedy hearings" that will be held in an even bigger antitrust case that resulted in a judge branding the dominant search engine as an illegal monopoly, too. Those hearings focused on the crown jewel of Google's empire are scheduled to start Sept. 6 in Washington, D.C.
In the Play Store case, Donato still appears to be grappling with how much time he should give Google to make the changes to its Android operating system and Play Store, and also for how long the restraints he imposes should remain in effect.
Google wants 12 to 16 months to make the adjustments to ensure a smooth transition and avoid glitches that could affect the performance of Android smartphones. Epic Games, the video game maker that filed the antitrust lawsuit that resulted in the Play Store being declared a monopoly, contends Google could do everything in about three months at a cost of about $1 million.
Without revealing a timeline he has in mind, Donato indicated he isn't going to give Google as much time as it wants to make the required changes.
"Google is telling me it will take eons for all of this to happen, but I am skeptical about it," the judge said. "I am dubious that all that brainpower can't solve these problems in less than 16 months."
Epic Games wants whatever Donato orders to remain in effect for six years, but the judge said Wednesday that he thinks that proposal is too lengthy. He wondered aloud if a
five-year term for his order might be more appropriate. Google wants the order to expire after one or two years.
Donato assured Google that he isn't going to attempt to micromanage its business, even as he braced the company for a significant shake-up.
"The whole point is to grow a garden of competitive app stores," the judge said.
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A GOOGLE sign hangs over an entrance to the company's new building, Sept. 6, 2023, in New York.
Photo:Peter Morgan/AP
FTC BAN ON NONCOMPETE AGREEMENTS COMES UNDER LEGAL ATTACK
CATHY BUSSEWITZ
AP Business Writer
THE federal government wants to make it easier for employees to quit a job and work for a competitor.
But some companies say a new rule created by the Federal Trade Commission will make it hard to protect trade secrets and investments they make in their employees.
At least three companies have sued the FTC after it voted to ban noncompete agreements, which prevent employees from working for competitors for a period of time after leaving a job. Their cases are now pending in Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas and the issue could end up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Here's what you should know about noncompete agreements:
What are they?
Once seen as a way to protect trade secrets among high-level executives, noncompete agreements have become more common, with some companies requiring lower-wage employees in fast-food and retail establishments to sign them before accepting a job.
The agreements prohibit employees from taking a job with a rival company or starting a competing business for a set period of time, to prevent employees from taking corporate secrets, sales leads, client relationships or skills to a competitor.
What did the FTC do?
The FTC voted in April to prohibit employers nationwide from entering into new noncompete agreements or enforcing existing noncompetes starting Sept. 4, saying the agreements restrict freedom of workers and suppress wages.
"In many cases, noncompetes are take-it-or-leave-it contracts that exploit workers' lack of bargaining power and coerce workers into staying in jobs they would rather leave, or force workers to leave a profession or even relocate," the FTC said.
The FTC says roughly 30 million people, or 1 in 5 workers, are subject to noncompete agreements. That in turn limits their ability to change jobs, which is often the best way to get a pay raise or promotion. Some people don't even realize they've signed such an agreement until they're hit with a lawsuit after changing jobs.
The FTC rule does not apply to senior executives, which the agency defines as workers earning more than $151,164 who are in a policy-making position. Several states, including California, already have bans on noncompete agreements.
"As far as I know there's a lot of companies in California, and high tech employees who are doing just fine," said Tom Spiggle, founder of the Spiggle Law Firm based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on protecting workers.
"They've just gotten a little out of hand with line cooks being subject to noncompetes in some industries," Spiggle added. "Think about it. You can't work in a similar position for a year or more, and there's often a geographical radius. You've got to move so you're able to continue to work. For people who are spooning the beans on the front line, they're signing noncompetes. Why?"
Who is suing the FTC and why?
Companies opposing the ban say they need noncompete agreements to protect business relationships, trade secrets and investments
they make to train or recruit employees.
"The ban would make it easy for top professionals to go across the street and compete against us," said John Smith, chief legal officer at Ryan, LLC, a tax services firm based in Dallas that sued the FTC.
Ryan uses noncompete agreements and nondisclosure agreements to ensure employees don't share trade secrets when they leave. But nondisclosure agreements are harder to detect — and enforce — than noncompete agreements.
"In a nondisclosure agreement, that employee leaves, and you don't know what information they are sharing with the new employer, a competitor of yours," Smith said. "It can take a lot of time and money to figure that out."
Business groups have voiced support for Ryan's lawsuit, including the Society for Human Resource Management, which said the FTC rule is overly broad and would discourage employers from investing in training for workers if those workers could easily quit the next day and take their knowledge elsewhere.
U.S. District Judge Ada Brown has ruled that Ryan and its co-plaintiffs, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are likely to prevail in court and that the ban on noncompete agreements cannot go into effect for them until their case is resolved.
In Florida, a retirement community called Properties of the Villages sued saying its sales associates' lifelong relationships with residents of the community are central to its business model. The company said it invests heavily in training its sales associates, and they sign noncompetes, which say for 24 months after leaving the company they won't compete to sell homes within the Villages community, which spans 58,000 acres.
Lawyers for Properties of the Villages said in a hearing Wednesday that the FTC's rule would have major economic consequences, and under the so-called "major questions" doctrine, Congress cannot delegate to executive agencies issues of major political or economic significance.
While stating sympathy for lower-wage workers caught in noncompete agreements, U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan said the plaintiff is likely to succeed in its argument that the FTC's rule invokes the major questions doctrine.
He noted that the FTC, by one metric, estimates that employers will pay from $400 billion to $488 billion more in wages over 10 years under the rule. "Suffice it to say that the transfer of value from employers to employees, from some competitors to other competitors, from existing companies to new companies and other ancillary effects will have a huge economic impact."
Congress intended for the FTC to take action to prevent unfair competition, and all noncompete agreements are unfair, said Rachael Westmoreland, an attorney with the Department of Justice who defended the FTC Wednesday. "They restrict competition. That's their entire purpose," she said. Corrigan granted a preliminary injunction in the case, prohibiting enforcement of the rule just for Properties of the Villages, until the case is resolved. His ruling did not apply to any other company, and will not stop the FTC's rule from going into effect on Sept. 4, he said.
THE FEDERAL Trade Commission building in Washington is shown on Jan. 28, 2015. Photo:Alex Brandon/AP
Trump's campaign
called
it
an
economic
address. He made big promises but mostly veered off
By BILL BARROW Associated Press
DONALD Trump made little effort to stay on message Wednesday at a rally in North Carolina that his campaign billed as a big economic address, mixing pledges to slash energy prices and "unleash economic abundance" with familiar off-script tangents on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' laugh, the mechanics of wind energy and President Joe Biden's son.
The 75-minute speech featured a litany of broad policy ideas and even grander promises to end inflation, bolster already record-level U.S. energy production and raise Americans' standard of living. But those pronouncements were often lost in the former president's typically freewheeling, grievanceladen style that has made it difficult for him to answer the enthusiasm of Harris' nascent campaign.
Trump aired his frustration over Democrats swapping the vice president in place of Biden at the top of their presidential ticket. He repeatedly denigrated San Francisco, where Harris was once the district attorney, as "unlivable" and went after his rival in deeply personal terms, questioning her intelligence, saying she has "the laugh of a crazy person" and musing that Democrats were being "politically correct" in trying to elevate the first Black woman and person of south Asian descent to serve as vice president.
"You know why she hasn't done an interview? She's not smart. She's not intelligent. And we've gone through enough of that with this guy, crooked Joe," Trump said, using the nickname he often uses for Biden.
When he was focusing on policy, Trump pledged
to end "job-killing regulations," roll back Biden-era restrictions on fossil fuel production and investments in green energy, instruct Cabinet members to use "every tool" to "defeat inflation" within the first year of a second term and end all taxes on Social Security benefits and income classified as tips.
He promised economic growth so abundant that "we will pay off all our debt," similar to a pledge he made in 2016 before the national debt ballooned during his presidency. He pledged to lower Americans' energy costs by "50 to 70%" within 12 months, or a "maximum 18 months."
But he immediately hedged: "If it doesn't work out, you'll say, 'oh well, I voted for him and he still got it down a lot.'"
At one point, Trump seemed even to question the purpose of giving a speech ostensibly devoted to the economy. "They wanted to do a speech on the economy," he riffed, apparently referring to his campaign aides. "They say it's the most important subject. I'm not sure it is."
Trump spoke at Harrah's Cherokee Center, an auditorium in downtown Asheville, with his podium flanked by more than a dozen American flags and custom backdrops that read: "No tax on Social Security" and "No tax on tips" — a made-for-TV setup to project the policy heft his campaign wanted Trump to convey. Republicans had been looking for him to focus more on the economy than the scattershot arguments and attacks he has made on Harris since Democrats shifted to her as their presidential nominee. Twice in the past week, Trump has virtually bypassed such opportunities, first in an hourlong news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, then in a 2 1/2-hour conversation on the social media platform X with CEO Elon Musk.
When he stayed on script Wednesday, Trump contrasted the current economy with his own presidency, asking, "Is anything less expensive under Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe?"
"Kamala has declared that tackling inflation will
be a 'Day One priority' for her," Trump said. "But Day One for Kamala was three and a half years ago. Why hasn't she done it?"
Yet throughout his speech, Trump pingponged between his prepared remarks and familiar attacks — deviating from the teleprompter in the middle of explaining a new economic promise when something triggered another thought. He ticked through prepared remarks crisply and quickly. The rest was his more freewheeling style, punctuated with hand gestures and hyperbole.
More than once, he jumped from a policy contrast with Harris to taking another swipe at her hometown of San Francisco. He also noted several times that it was Biden, not Harris, who earned votes from Democratic primary voters. During a section of his speech on energy, he slipped in an apparent dig at Hunter Biden, the president's son, and his "laptop from hell."
Trump sought to connect his emphasis on the border and immigration policy to the economy. He repeated
his dubious claim that the influx would strain Social Security and Medicare to the point of collapse. He bemoaned the taxpayer money being spent on housing migrants in some U.S. cities, including his native New York. But most of the time he spent on immigration was the same broadsides about immigrants and violent crime that have been a staple of Trump's speeches since 2015. The latest attempt to reset his campaign comes in the state that delivered Trump his closest statewide margin of victory four years ago and that is once again expected to be a battleground in 2024.
Trump aides have long thought that an inflationary economy was an albatross for Democrats this year. But the event in Asheville only amplifies questions about whether Trump can effectively make it a centerpiece of his matchup against Harris.
The speech came the same day that the Labor Department reported that year-over-year inflation reached its lowest level in more than three years in July, a potential reprieve for Harris in the face of Trump's attacks over inflation. Harris plans to be in North Carolina on Friday to release more details of her promise to make "building up the middle class ... a defining goal of my presidency."
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Americans are more likely to trust Trump over Harris when it comes to handling the economy, but the difference is slight — 45% for Trump and 38% for Harris.
Some voters who came to hear Trump said they
topic
were ready to hear him talk more specifically about his plans, not because they don't already trust him but because they want him to expand his appeal ahead of Election Day.
"He needs to tell people what he's going to do, talk about the issues," said Timothy Vath, a 55-year-old who drove from Greenville, South Carolina. "He did what he said he was going to do" in his initial term. "Talk about how he'd do that again."
Mona Shope, a 60-yearold from nearby Candler, said Trump, despite his own wealth, "understands working people and wants what's best for us." A recent retiree from a public community college, Shope said she has a state pension but has picked up part-time work to mitigate against inflation. "It's so I can still have vacations and spending money after paying my bills," she said. "Sometimes it feels like there's nothing left to save."
In some of his off-script moments, Trump ventured into familiar misrepresentations of fact, including when he mocked wind energy by suggesting people would face power outages when the wind wasn't blowing. Trump again insisted that inflation would not have spiked had he been reelected in 2020, a claim that ignores the global supply chain interruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 spending boosts that included a massive aid package Trump signed as president, and the global energy price effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A Harris aide said Wednesday that the vice president welcomes any comparison Trump is able to make.
REPUBLICAN
nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Asheville, N.C., Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.
Photo:Matt Rourke/AP