Warsh would succeed outgoing Fed chair Jerome Powell as Trump continues his push to influence the US central bank Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The US Senate is expected to confirm Kevin Warsh this week as chair of the Federal Reserve , as Donald Trump continues his campaign to influence the world’s most important central bank. The Fed’s influence over the economy spans from th...
Warsh would succeed outgoing Fed chair Jerome Powell as Trump continues his push to influence the US central bank Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The US Senate is expected to confirm Kevin Warsh this week as chair of the Federal Reserve , as Donald Trump continues his campaign to influence the world’s most important central bank. The Fed’s influence over the economy spans from the job market to mortgage rates, and its every move is carefully scrutinized by investors on Wall Street. Warsh’s confirmation comes at a turbulent time for the central bank, which has fallen under intense scrutiny from Trump for not lowering interest rates. Continue reading...
Yihwen Chen’s warm and galvanising documentary follows queer punk band Shh…Diam! as they battle discrimination with humour and raw energy For queer Malaysian punk band Shh … Diam!, every live gig is a small miracle. Their name translates as “Shut up!”, a powerful and defiant cry in a country rife with homophobia. Favouring distorted riffs, heavy drums and swaggering lyrics, the band’s powerful sou...
Yihwen Chen’s warm and galvanising documentary follows queer punk band Shh…Diam! as they battle discrimination with humour and raw energy For queer Malaysian punk band Shh … Diam!, every live gig is a small miracle. Their name translates as “Shut up!”, a powerful and defiant cry in a country rife with homophobia. Favouring distorted riffs, heavy drums and swaggering lyrics, the band’s powerful sound seeks to drown out the noise of prejudice and discrimination. Their courage, as well as their simple joie de vivre, thrum through Yihwen Chen’s documentary portrait. Shot over six years, the film charts the monumental changes undergone by the band members and their home nation. Always ready with a joke, lead singer and guitarist Faris is a proud trans man. Rejected by his own family, the charismatic performer finds a safe haven with his bandmates Yon and Yoyo, and their audience. Their songs turn up the volume on issues faced by the queer community, and also bristle with an anarchic sense of humour. One particularly tongue-in-cheek tune is titled Lonely Lesbian; a title taken from a hostile rightwing article citing ways to spot a lesbian, its playful and defiant lyrics reconfigure homophobic ideology into satire, an act of rebellious subversion cloaked in irony. Continue reading...
History was made this Labour Day, as China’s southern Shenzhen Bay port cleared 24 tonnes of South African apples and central Hunan province processed 6,000 bottles of South African wine – the first time these goods had reached the Asian economic giant under a new zero-tariff arrangement. The duty-free access for African partners from May 1, which saw the 10 per cent tariff rate for apples removed...
History was made this Labour Day, as China’s southern Shenzhen Bay port cleared 24 tonnes of South African apples and central Hunan province processed 6,000 bottles of South African wine – the first time these goods had reached the Asian economic giant under a new zero-tariff arrangement. The duty-free access for African partners from May 1, which saw the 10 per cent tariff rate for apples removed, arrived as a lifeline for South African exporters looking to diversify away from increasingly...
Listen to Odd Lots on Apple Podcasts Listen to Odd Lots on Spotify Watch Odd Lots on YouTube Subscribe to the newsletter Ever since Covid, central banks around the world have had the same problem. They have tools that are designed to modulate demand, but so many challenges have involved the supply side of the economy. Whether we're talking about supply chain disruptions, the war in Ukraine, and no...
Listen to Odd Lots on Apple Podcasts Listen to Odd Lots on Spotify Watch Odd Lots on YouTube Subscribe to the newsletter Ever since Covid, central banks around the world have had the same problem. They have tools that are designed to modulate demand, but so many challenges have involved the supply side of the economy. Whether we're talking about supply chain disruptions, the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran, these are all issues for which monetary policy is of limited value. Of course, the temptation is to \
Ever since Covid, central banks around the world have had the same problem. They have tools that are designed to modulate demand, but so many challenges have involved the supply side of the economy. Whether we’re talking about supply chain disruptions, the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran, these are all issues for which monetary policy is of limited value. Of course, the temptation is to “l...
Ever since Covid, central banks around the world have had the same problem. They have tools that are designed to modulate demand, but so many challenges have involved the supply side of the economy. Whether we’re talking about supply chain disruptions, the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran, these are all issues for which monetary policy is of limited value. Of course, the temptation is to “look through” these events, recognizing the fact that these disruptions don’t say much about the actu
Turkish mobile gaming startup Grand Games Oyun ve Yazilim AS raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by Balderton Capital ’s Growth Fund, as investors continue to pour money into Turkey’s fast-growing gaming industry. Bek Ventures, Laton Ventures and angel investor Mert Gur also invested, while Balderton doubled down on its initial investment from last year, according to a company state...
Turkish mobile gaming startup Grand Games Oyun ve Yazilim AS raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by Balderton Capital ’s Growth Fund, as investors continue to pour money into Turkey’s fast-growing gaming industry. Bek Ventures, Laton Ventures and angel investor Mert Gur also invested, while Balderton doubled down on its initial investment from last year, according to a company statement. The latest financing brings Grand Games’ total funding to $103 million. Grand Games co-founder Bekir Batuhan Celebi said in an interview that the company’s valuation increased nearly sixfold since its previous funding round in early 2025, when it raised $30 million. He declined to disclose the valuation. Turkey has become a hub for mobile gaming companies over the past several years, producing high-profile acquisitions and billion-dollar studios. FarmVille maker Zynga Inc. acquired Turkish developer Peak Games for $1.8 billion in 2020, while Royal Match creator Dream Games was valued at about $5 billion in a funding round last year. Earlier this year, Saudi-owned Scopely Inc. bought a majority stake in Istanbul-based Loom Games. Founded in 2024, Grand Games has six titles and has surpassed 50 million downloads globally, according to Celebi. Its flagship game, Magic Sort!, ranks among the top free games on Apple’s US App Store, he said. The company generates more than $1 million in daily revenue through a hybrid monetization model combining advertising and in-game purchases, according to Celebi. The new funding will be used to expand the company’s workforce and accelerate game development, he said.
Morsa Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images Glass House Brands ( GLASF ) owns one of the most advanced low-cost cannabis growing businesses in California; however, market sentiment is quite high regarding success in this story as part of the turnaround tale. With the disappointing 2025 results, poor Q1 margin print, and extended forward multiples, GLASF is highly structurally compelling, yet valua...
Morsa Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images Glass House Brands ( GLASF ) owns one of the most advanced low-cost cannabis growing businesses in California; however, market sentiment is quite high regarding success in this story as part of the turnaround tale. With the disappointing 2025 results, poor Q1 margin print, and extended forward multiples, GLASF is highly structurally compelling, yet valuation sensitive right now. It is a Hold. Quality of Business: Scaling Production in a Fragmented Market In contrast with other cannabis retailers, who also grow cannabis but do not consider it to be their focus, Glass House Brands is much closer to a farming company whose focus is production. Glass House grows cannabis at a large greenhouse scale, manufactures branded cannabis products, wholesales biomass, and operates retail stores across California. The major advantage of GLASF is in its considerable greenhouse growing capacity - in particular, it possesses a cultivation facility in Camarillo (Southern California). In fact, the presence of a greenhouse provides a competitive advantage in terms of costs. Indeed, California cannabis market has become highly challenging recently, even though it is relatively large. It is quite mature and is characterized by price pressure and poor volumes due to competition between illicit and legal producers. Headset data shows that the total sales for April 2026 amounted to nearly $311 million, which is 7.1% below the figures observed a year earlier. Furthermore, average item price decreased from $18.89 to $17.91. In such conditions, not every operator can grow through demand expansion alone; therefore, low-cost players have a competitive advantage. The main advantage of the company is in its ability to produce high volumes at much cheaper costs compared to its competitors. According to the company's 2025 annual report, most revenues come from the sale of biomass to wholesale clients. Although it poses a risk of further price decrease, it a...