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Oil prices edged higher on Friday but were poised for the steepest weekly losses since late June on a tariff-hit economic outlook and a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Brent crude futures were up 52 cents, or 0.78%, at $66.95 a barrel by 1104 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 43 cents, or 0.67%, to $64.31. Brent was on track to be down 3.9% over the week while WTI was set to finish 4.5% lower than last Friday’s close. Higher U.S. tariffs against a host of trade partners went into effect on Thursday, raising concern over economic activity and demand for crude oil, ANZ Bank analysts said in a note. The latest tariffs arrive against a backdrop of an already weaker than expected U.S. labour market and Thursday’s announcement by the Kremlin that Putin and Trump would meet in the coming days as trade tensions rise between the U.S. and Russia’s oil customers. Trump this week threatened to increase tariffs on India if it kept buying Russian oil, which the market viewed as putting further pressure on Russia to reach a deal with the U.S., said independent analyst Tina Teng. Trump also said China, the largest buyer of Russian crude, could be hit with tariffs similar to those levied against Indian imports. The potential meeting raises expectations of a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine, which could lead to eased sanctions on Russia, with Russian stocks rallying after the news. “There could be a meeting between Trump and Putin in the near future, which could indicate that Trump is adopting a wait-and-see approach with regard to further sanctions against Russia and its allies,” Commerzbank analysts said in a note. However, some analysts remain cautious. “The Russian leader is expected to insist on having his territorial demands granted, a hard sell for the invaded country, while his U.S. counterpart will push for a ceasefire,” said PVM analyst Tamas Varga. “No breakthrough is anticipated, and the U.S. following through on its threat to impose secondary sanctions on those dealing in Russian energy including China and India remains a possibility.” Robert Harvey, Reuters
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E-Commerce
The WNBA is still struggling with a string of sex-toy disturbances.In the past week and a half, sex toys have been thrown on court during games in Atlanta on July 29, Chicago on Aug. 1, Los Angeles on Aug. 5 and Chicago again on Thursday night, with the most recent object hitting the court in the closing seconds of the Atlanta Dream’s victory over the Sky.The sex toy that landed on the court in Los Angeles nearly hit Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during Indiana’s game against the Sparks. Sex toys were also thrown at games in New York and Phoenix last Tuesday but didn’t reach the court. Police say another toy was thrown at a game in Atlanta on Aug. 1, although it’s unclear if that one reached the court.The distractions have created unexpected challenges for the league, the teams and the players, but also for arena security. Here’s what to know. Are arrests being made? A man was arrested Saturday in College Park, Georgia, after he was accused of throwing a sex toy onto the court during the Atlanta Dream’s July 29 matchup with the Golden State Valkyries, according to a police report. The report said he threw another sex toy during the Dream’s Aug. 1 game against the Phoenix Mercury, but that instance did not seem to result in a delay of play.He is charged with disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing, public indecency and indecent exposure. All four charges are misdemeanors in the state of Georgia, meaning that if he is convicted, the punishment for each can be a fine of up to $1,000 or jail time of up to 12 months. A misdemeanor for public indecency and indecent exposure may also require registration on the state’s sex offender list.The report said the man told police “this was supposed to be a joke and the joke (was) supposed to go viral.”Another man in Phoenix was arrested after police say he threw a sex toy in the crowd at a Mercury game on Tuesday. Police say the 18-year-old pulled the sex toy from his sweater pocket and threw it toward seats in front of him, striking a spectator in the back.The man later told police it was a prank that had been trending on social media and that he bought the toy a day earlier to take to the game. He was later tackled by a volunteer at the arena who had witnessed the incident and began following him as the man tried to leave the arena.Police say the man was arrested on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct and publicly displaying explicit sexual material.The New York Liberty told The Associated Press on Thursday night that there is an ongoing investigation into the throwing in New York and the team is cooperating with law enforcement. What difficulties do arena security face in stopping this? The types of sex toys being thrown onto the court generally do not include metal elements, meaning that arena metal detectors are not able to sense them. When carried on a spectator’s body, they become even more difficult to detect.Arena security teams face challenges in catching these items, according to Ty Richmond, the president of the event services division at Allied Universal Security, a company that provides security services to certain NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB and MLS arenas across the country.“Not all stadiums are using a screening process that’s consistent and can detect (the sex toys) because of what it would require pat down searches, opening the bags, prohibiting bags,” he said. “The conflict of expediency, of getting fans into the arena and into the venue, which is an important issue, and security and safety.”The limits of arena security make legal action one of the strongest deterrents for this kind of behavior, Richmond said.“The decision to prosecute and show examples of how people are being handled is very important,” he said. “Without a doubt, I think it will make a difference. The application of it is important, and publicizing that is important.”There have not been any arrests made yet for the in Los Angeles and Chicago. In a statement to the AP, the Sparks said they are “working with arena personnel to identify the individual responsible and ensure appropriate action is taken.”The WNBA has said that any spectators throwing objects onto the court will face a minimum one-year ban and prosecution from law enforcement. How is it affecting players? As the disturbances pile up, those on the court have become increasingly frustrated.“Everyone is trying to make sure the W is not a joke and it’s taken seriously, and then that happens,” Cunningham said on her podcast after nearly being hit by one of the sex toys on Tuesday. “I’m like, ‘How are we ever going to get taken seriously?'”No other professional sports leagues have faced sex toy disturbances like this. It has started a conversation online about the perpetrators’ choices to throw them during games in a women’s league and a league with a high-profile amount of lesbian and queer players.“This has been going on for centuries, the sexualization of women. This is the latest version of that. It’s not funny. It should not be the butt of jokes,” said Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve Thursday. “The sexualization of women is what’s used to hold women down, and this is no different.”Despite the criminal behavior leading to arrests, at least one crypto-based predictions market is offering trades essentially allowing users to wager on whether sex toys will be thrown at future WNBA games.Players have also been sounding off on social media, echoing concerns about arena security protocols.Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison posted on X last week, saying “ARENA SECURITY?! Hello??! Please do better. It’s not funny. Never was funny. Throwing ANYTHING on the court is so dangerous.” AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/wnba Alyce Brown, AP Sports Writer
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E-Commerce
Pinterest reported its second-quarter earnings on Thursday, August 7, and, in many ways, it was good newsthough you wouldnt know it from how much its shares have dropped. Here’s what to know: What did Pinterest report? The social media companys global revenue rose to $998.2 million from $853.6 million year-over-year (YOY). The 17% jump beat Wall Streets expectations of $975 million, according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC. Its net income also increased by 336% YOY, to $38.8 million from $8.9 million. Moreover, Pinterest also projected a better-than-expected third quarter, with revenue between $1.03 billion and $1.05 billion. Plus, its doing well when it comes to actual users, particularly younger ones. Pinterest reports an 11% increase YOY, coming in at 578 million global monthly active users. According to Pinterest CEO Bill Ready, over 50% of those users are Gen Z. What has the CEO said about the earnings? Three years into our business transformation, Ive never been more confident in Pinterests ability to deliver for our users and advertisers, Ready said in a statement. Weve found our best product market fit ever by becoming a personalized shopping destination for users and an AI-powered performance platform for advertisers. With this focus, we believe were well-positioned to further capture market share. Ready further called Pinterest an AI winner in an earnings call, stating that the technology is deeply integrated throughout almost every aspect of the company. This quarter, it launched a new proprietary generative retrieval model for search, built in-house. Due to the sophistication of this model and the breadth of content and activity [it] is trained on, it can recommend more relevant and deeply personalized content for our users while also balancing the distribution of fresh content, Ready said. How is the stock performing after the earnings? Not well. Alongside all of Pinterest’s great news was lower-than-expected earnings per share. The company reported adjusted EPS of 33 cents, rather than the 35 cents that Wall Street expected. Pinterests stock (NYSE: PINS) was down more than 13% in premarket trading on Friday as of this writing. Julia Brau Donnelly, Pinterests CFO, added that advertisers are also worried about tariffs and market uncertainty. “As we talk to advertisers about Q3, we do hear that some of that tariff-related and broader market uncertainty has continued into how they’re thinking about spend for Q3, though this varies by advertiser,” she said during the call. “Again, it’s definitely a relatively more constructive environment than feared.
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