Author: Grace Johnson

Vintage once ruled the wine world In wine, the vintage has always been king. Every bottle of red, white, or rosé almost always carries the year of harvest on the label. Non-vintage still wine, which blends grapes from several years, has long been seen as cheap and undesirable. It is also far less common. But climate change is now shaking this tradition. Heatwaves, droughts, and extreme weather push winemakers to seek consistency. A small but growing group of respected wineries now release non-vintage bottles. They argue blending ensures quality when nature brings chaos. Napa Valley feels the heat Chris Howell,…

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker denounced President Donald Trump’s plan to send troops to Chicago. He said the move is an abuse of power. Pritzker argued no emergency justifies deploying the National Guard in Illinois. He accused Trump of fabricating a crisis for political gain. Trump already stationed about 2,000 troops in Washington DC. The capital’s Democratic leaders strongly oppose the action. Trump frames the deployment as part of a wider crime crackdown in US cities. On Friday, he suggested Chicago and New York would be next. Chicago mayor voices strong opposition Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he received no official…

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick announced on Friday that Washington will acquire a 10% stake in Intel. “This historic agreement strengthens American leadership in semiconductors. It will grow our economy and secure our technological edge,” Lutnick wrote on X. He added a photo of himself with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. President Donald Trump disclosed the deal earlier in the Oval Office. He called it “a great deal for them.” Shares of the Santa Clara-based chipmaker rose more than 5% on Friday. Intel confirmed that the US government will invest $8.9bn (£6.6bn) in its common stock. Government uses redirected grants…

Elon Musk and his social media company X have reached a settlement with former employees. The workers had filed a lawsuit seeking $500 million in unpaid severance. The deal was revealed in a court filing on Wednesday. Both sides asked the San Francisco appeals court to delay a scheduled hearing. They said they need more time to complete the settlement paperwork. Thousands lost jobs after Musk takeover The case stemmed from Musk’s decision in 2022 to dismiss about 6,000 staff. That was more than half of the company’s workforce. Many of those employees later sued over severance terms. Representatives of…

Sony will raise the cost of the PlayStation 5 in the US by around $50 starting Thursday. The Japanese electronics giant struggles with growing expenses and slowing demand in the gaming sector. Sony executive Isabelle Tomatis stated in a blog post that the company faces a “challenging economic environment.” All three console models will become more expensive. The Pro version now carries a recommended retail price of $749.99. Tariffs trigger rising costs The increase follows tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump on several major trading partners, including Japan. These measures raised concerns about higher consumer prices. Tomatis explained: “We made…

The Kremlin has downplayed the possibility of an imminent summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. At the same time, Donald Trump renewed his call for the two leaders to meet to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. The push for direct talks comes after Trump met Putin in Alaska last week. On Monday, he welcomed seven European leaders and Zelensky to the White House. Trump admitted the conflict was difficult to solve. He acknowledged that Putin might not want to end hostilities. “We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks,” he said on…

An Australian court has fined airline giant Qantas 90 million Australian dollars for unlawful sackings during the Covid-19 crisis. The company had dismissed more than 1,800 ground staff in 2020. Australia’s Transport Workers’ Union welcomed the decision. It called the fine the largest in history for breaches of industrial relations law. Court delivers a clear warning Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said the penalty must serve as real deterrence. He stressed that employers must know such conduct has consequences. Qantas accepted the ruling and announced it will pay the fine. The company admitted it caused harm to its workers. “We…

A US senator has launched an investigation into Meta. A leaked document reportedly showed the company’s artificial intelligence allowed “sensual” and “romantic” conversations with children. Internal document raises alarm The internal paper, obtained by Reuters, was reportedly titled “GenAI: Content Risk Standards.” Republican Senator Josh Hawley called the content “reprehensible and outrageous.” He demanded to see the full document and the list of products it covers. A spokesperson for Meta rejected the claims. “The examples and notes in question were erroneous and inconsistent with our policies,” they said. The spokesperson stressed the tech company had “clear rules” defining chatbot responses.…