Chrissy Teigen mourns the lack of her and John Legends’ beloved canine Pippa

It was a ruff day for Chrissy Teigen when she says goodbye to her “beautiful little” dog Pippa.

Chrissy shared on Instagram that she and John Legend‘s longtime companion “just died in my arms” on Thursday, July 15th, not so long ago.

As the Cravings author wrote in her homage to the 10-year-old French bulldog, “I remember picking her up in Gainesville and documenting our journey home EVERY new dog we brought with us.”

She added: “Our street dog with Sade, a tour dog for years. We loved her so much. We love you sweet girl I know you’re making hell up there. (The couple mourned the death of their bulldog Puddy in 2018, calling the dog their “firstborn” child.)

Summer house Stephen McGee shared one of his favorite memories of Pippa on Instagram and wrote in the comment section: “RIP Pippa. Remember her and Puddy in the apartment in New York hobbling that giant teddy bear!”

Hong Kong-based biotech start-up Prenetics plans to merge SPAC price 1.three billion US {dollars}

Hong Kong biotech company Prenetics is set to merge with Artisan Acquisition, a purpose-built company, in a deal that will value the new venture at $ 1.3 billion or more, according to a source close to the deal.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The SPAC is already traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker ARTAU.

SPACs are letterbox companies founded to raise money through an IPO – their sole purpose is to merge with an existing private company or to acquire it and go public. They bypass the traditional Wall Street IPO.

Artisan Acquisition is supported by Adrian Cheng, CEO and Executive Vice Chairman of New World Development, a conglomerate with $ 88 billion in assets.

Prenetics is a diagnostic and genetic testing company with significant operations in Hong Kong and the UK. Founded by serial entrepreneur Danny Yeung, it will be the first multi-billion dollar startup in Hong Kong to go public.

A technician processes a sample in a Prenetics laboratory in Hong Kong, China on January 26, 2018.

Anthony Kwan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

UBS, Citi, Credit Suisse and CICC are providing financial advisor to the potential de-SPAC transaction.

Artisan raised $ 339 million in the SPAC and has signed an additional $ 60 million forward purchase agreements with investment firm Aspex and PAG, a private asset manager for institutional investors, according to the source, who requested anonymity as that person was not allowed to discuss the information public.

Talks with other pipe investors should run with strong initial demand, the source said.

The company has grown significantly since its inception in 2014, and sales are expected to exceed $ 200 million in 2021. According to the source, that would mean a growth of 400% over the previous year.

Annual sales are expected to reach $ 600 million by 2025, the source said.

– Correction: This article has been updated to accurately reflect that the Artisan Acquisition SPAC is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol ARTAU.

A portion of the US inhabitants will get a booster vaccination, says Dr. Scott Gottlieblieb

Former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Thursday that Covid booster vaccinations could become a reality for certain segments of the population. Gottlieb made the prediction, following the news, that a panel of expert advisors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to consider booster vaccinations for immunocompromised patients.

“I think the bottom line is that we will strengthen part of the population,” Gottlieb told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith”. “I think it’s something we need to do to consider boosters, especially among the older, more vulnerable populations.”

Gottlieb noted that Israel already offers booster shots to adults with severe pre-existing conditions and that France and the UK are planning to give booster shots. The former FDA chief in the Trump administration also cited data from Israel showing that the shelf life of Covid vaccines does not last as long as researchers would have expected from the start.

“I think we will achieve our goal in terms of boosters, especially for the older population, who were vaccinated in December and January,” said Gottlieb. “You might get a very permanent reaction after the third dose.”

Host Shepard Smith also asked Gottlieb about the reintroduction of mask mandates across the country as a result of the highly transferable Delta variant. Los Angeles County issued a new mask mandate on Thursday that requires residents to wear masks indoors regardless of their vaccination status.

Gottlieb told Smith that he believed Los Angeles was the exception and advised individuals to take masking measures into their own hands.

“I think individuals in these hot spots across the country who are at risk need to take action and take precautions if they think they are at risk, as it is widespread in states that have already done so takes place affirmed that they will not return to mandates, “said Gottlieb.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the board of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, health technology company Aetion Inc., and biotechnology company Illumina.

Baby tax credit score funds among the finest types of authorities spending: Economist

The enhanced federal child tax credit program, with monthly payments starting Thursday, is one of the best ways the government can allot its money to spur economic growth and help the nation’s youth, University of Maryland economist Melissa Kearney told CNBC.

“What I think makes this policy expansion both politically and economically feasible — and generally very good policy — is the fact that it’s targeted on families with children,” Kearney said Thursday in an interview on “The Exchange.” 

“Frankly, this is one of the best ways the federal government can and should be spending money from the perspective of social return,” added Kearney, whose research focus is domestic policy with an emphasis on inequality and poverty.

More than 35 million families received the first of six monthly child tax credit payments on Thursday, according to the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service. The first round of payments will reach nearly 60 million children and total about $15 billion, according to the agency. The average payment this round is $423.

Parents and caretakers of nearly 90% of children in the U.S. will receive the stimulus payments, which were included in the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package signed into law by President Joe Biden in March. The program is a historic bid to reduce the nation’s child poverty by 50% and represents one of the largest anti-poverty measures in the U.S. since the launch of former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty in 1964.

Kearney, who is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said “we have tons of evidence” showing that supplementing families’ incomes leads to improved educational and economic outcomes for children that last into adulthood.  

While families have received child tax credits for years, Biden’s American Rescue Plan increased payment amounts per child, qualified low-income families who have little or no taxable income, and modified the payment distribution so that families will get half the total sum in monthly, direct deposits from July until December.

Families will receive $250 per month for each child between the ages of 6 and 17, amounting to $3,000 in total payments, while the monthly payout for each child under the age of 6 is $300 per month, for $3,600 in total.

Qualifying for the full amount are the following taxpayers: individuals making $75,000 or less, heads of households earning $112,500 or less, and married couples filing taxes jointly making under $150,000. Payments begin to phase out for those who earn above those income levels.

In a note published Tuesday, analysts at investment bank Cowen said these child tax credit payments are an “underappreciated stimulus” that could lift sales across the retail, restaurant and travel industries as the nationwide spending ramps up due to Covid vaccinations. The Cowen analysts predicted families will spend their money on food for the home, dining out and shopping online. They also expect the one-year relief program to be extended through 2025 through a reconciliation bill. 

“It certainly will add to spending, but most importantly, it provides support for families to be able to take care of the needs of children,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an interview that aired Thursday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”

Kearney said paying out the child tax credit in monthly installments is not necessarily an on-ramp to creating a broader universal basic income program in the U.S. However, she said, this pandemic-era policy would “ideally” pave the way for a child allowance program in the future.

Many other developed countries, including Canada, Germany and the U.K., already provide a monthly child benefit.

Kearney said detaching the child allowance program from the “extremely complicated” U.S. tax code would help both the lowest-income families, who need the assistance but usually don’t make enough money to file tax returns, and middle-income families, who have to figure out if they will owe more taxes in April after receiving these payments. 

She suggested the program could be run through the Social Security Administration.

“We could have a streamlined spending program that we could commit to in the federal budget, and then families wouldn’t have to do this really complicated dance of figuring out how this affects their overall tax credit, wondering whether they’re going to get this check just to have to pay it back,” Kearney said.

“If we committed to this type of a child allowance, we could raise taxes in ways that could cover that without upending all of our existing social insurance programs, which essentially would be required for an actual universal basic income not targeted on children,” Kearney said.

Lil Durk & India Cox unhurt after dwelling invasion

India Royale, Lil Durk

Over the weekend, Lil Durk and his girlfriend India Cox were victims of a house invasion at their Georgia home. DJ Akademiks was the first to share the news online. While streaming it live, he claimed that there was a heavy police presence at Durk & India’s home in the Chateau Elan neighborhood of Braselton, an hour outside of Atlanta. Akademiks alleged the couple’s home may have been ransacked as a result of an investigation into a shooting and other crimes.

Ak claimed he got the information from neighbors and people living in Durk’s condominium, adding that the FBI was trying to execute a search warrant. In the meantime, further details of the situation have become known. According to reports from TMZ, there should have been a shooting in the apartment, which is now being investigated. The reports said strangers broke into the couple’s home at around 5 a.m. on Sunday when shots were fired.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) states that Durk and India also fired their firearms but were not injured during the incident. Not much information is known about the men alleged to have attacked the couple. The GBI is currently asking the public for information that will help them investigate and lead to an arrest.

Durk has been pretty reluctant to post on social media since the incident. He hasn’t posted much but has jumped on the gram to promote his upcoming show with Lil Baby. He also took the time to republish a video of Summer Walker after she revealed that his vocals had come back for a possible upcoming collaboration.

Roommate, we’ll keep you updated as soon as more information becomes available.

Would you like updates straight to your text inbox? Call us at 917-722-8057 or https://my.community.com/theshaderoom

NBA’s Steph Curry joins nonprofit NinetyToZero

Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors drives to the basket against the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021 NBA Play-In Tournament on May 19, 2021 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.

Adam Pantozzi | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

NBA star Steph Curry is now setting his sights on closing the racial wealth gap in the U.S., joining on Thursday the nonprofit NinetyToZero.

“Uncovering solutions and creating opportunities is something I’m profoundly committed to. Bridging the racial wealth gap is one of the biggest challenges of our generation,” Curry said Thursday in a press release about the move. “We are setting a concrete approach that every organization can take to initiate meaningful progress now.”

NinetyToZero estimates that closing the racial wealth gap could increase U.S. economic growth by $1.5 trillion over the next decade. Research from Duke University puts the wealth gap between Black and white Americans at between $11 trillion and $13.5 trillion.

Curry along with the NFL’s Washington Football Team, payment company American Express, cannabis company Green Thumb Industries and the United Way of New York City announced Thursday they would also join the organization as partners.

According to its website, NinetyToZero provides a road map for companies and organizations to drive change now, focusing on Black talent and businesses. The name of the nonprofit comes from the belief that white Americans have 90% more wealth than Black Americans due to socioeconomic disparities.

NinetyToZero was started in April by companies and organizations including Goldman Sachs, Starbucks and the Robin Hood Foundation, which has been incubating the initiative. NinetyToZero will ultimately will become independent of the foundation.

“Green Thumb is proud to be the first cannabis company to walk the walk in our commitment to closing the racial wealth gap that has been exacerbated by the failed ‘war on drugs.’ Black Americans are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana infractions than white Americans, and over 40,000 cannabis prisoners are still incarcerated while regulated companies continue to grow and thrive,” said Ben Kovler, founder, chairman and CEO of Green Thumb Industries.

Other partners include the American Civil Liberties Union as well as Michelle Williams, dean of the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health, and Marc Morial, president and CEO of the Urban League.

Nike calls for redress from Michael Avenatti for extortion

Michael Avenatti, attorney and founding partner of Eagan Avenatti LP, second from left, leaves federal court in New York, USA on Tuesday, May 28, 2019.

Louis Lanzano | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Nike has asked a federal judge in Manhattan to convict fallen attorney Michael Avenatti to pay more than $ 856,000 in compensation for his botched attempt to extort up to $ 25 million from the giant sportswear company.

The revised filing for reimbursement to Judge Paul Gardephe is significantly less than the $ 1.7 million Nike asked for from Avenatti, the once high-profile attorney who was convicted in court last year for attempting to rock the company.

The lower dollar amount now requested, $ 856,162, was calculated after Nike cut legal fees for Boies Schiller Flexner law firm on several areas of work, as suggested by Gardephe, and after Avenatti objected to these areas being considered.

These included media monitoring, the company’s response to “Mr. Avenatti’s attacks on the company after his arrest,” and charges related to work the nature of which was blacked out in court records, according to a letter from Boies Schiller to Gardephe published Thursday Flexner lawyers Peter Skinner and David Simons.

Prosecutors for the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan supported Nike’s motion in a separate letter to Judge.

The letter from Nike’s attorneys stated that the company incurred approximately $ 2.7 million in legal fees “as a result of the extortion of Mr. Avenatti.”

Nike is calling for redress, “which is only paid after its individual victims have been paid,” the letter filed a week after Gardephe sentenced the California attorney to 30 months in prison for extortion.

Avenatti has two other federal criminal proceedings pending with several individual victims.

The 50-year-old Avenatti was arrested in 2019 after threatening to go public with allegations by a basketball coach that Nike was corruptly paying amateur players and their families unless the company signed a lucrative consultancy agreement with Avenatti and another lawyer, Mark Geragos.

The bombastic Avenatti warned Nike’s lawyers that by publishing the allegations he could “take $ 10 billion off Nike’s market capitalization.”

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Avenatti was well known to the public at the time through numerous media appearances during his representation of the porn star Stormy Daniels in legal disputes with the then President Donald Trump.

Daniels paid $ 130,000 to Trump’s then personal attorney Michael Cohen prior to the 2016 presidential election to keep silent about claims she once had sex with Trump, who denies her allegations.

Avenatti was convicted in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan on charges related to Nike in February 2020. Geragos was never charged for his involvement in Avenatti’s efforts, a factor that led Gardephe to detain Avenatti for less time than the federal prosecutor’s recommended “substantial” prison sentence.

“I alone have ruined my career, my relationships and my life. And there is no doubt that I have to pay,” Avenatti tearfully told Gardephe before he was convicted.

Earlier this week, Avenatti began selecting the jury for a second trial in federal court in Santa Ana, California, where he will face a number of crimes, including defrauding customers for millions of dollars. One of these clients is a mentally ill paraplegic.

Next year, Avenatti will face a third case in Manhattan federal court for defrauding Daniels of $ 300,000 in proceeds for a book she wrote.

Avenatti, who remains free until the day he was surrendered in prison on September 15, has pleaded not guilty in his remaining criminal proceedings.

See Chicago West and Dream Kardashian Raid Kylie Cosmetics

It’s good to have Kylie Jenner as an aunt.

On Thursday, July 15, the makeup mogul released a new YouTube video documenting the ins and outs of her billion dollar brand. However, it was a cameo by Chicago West, 3, and Dream Kardashian, 4, that captured our attention.

At the start of the video, Kylie is seen conducting a business meeting with her employees. Before long, Kim Kardashian‘s youngest daughter and Rob Kardashian‘s only child join the mix, carrying large bags filled with Kylie Cosmetics products.

“No way,” a delighted Kylie declares as the little ones enter the room. “What did you guys get?”

Excited by their haul, Dream and Chicago hold up their goodie bags with pride. Just when we thought the moment couldn’t get anymore precious, Kylie FaceTimes in daughter Stormi Webster.

“You guys, your cousins are here,” the businesswoman notes on the call.

In the heartwarming scene, the close cousins shout “Stormi!” and “Hi, Stormi!” at Kylie’s phone.

The F45, supported by Mark Wahlberg, will probably be launched on IPO day. The actor promotes the vitality of coaching

Global fitness company F45 Training, supported by actor Mark Wahlberg, made its stock market debut on Thursday.

Under the ticker symbol FXLV, trading began on the New York Stock Exchange and rose to $ 17.75 per share on day one, representing a market cap of $ 1.6 billion. The IPO of 20.3 million shares on Wednesday night was in the middle of the expected range at $ 16 per share. The company raised $ 325 million. In afternoon trading, the stock drifted back towards its offer price.

Before the stock opened, Wahlberg, known for his physique and intense early morning exercise, told CNBC from the NYSE why he liked the company’s approach so much.

“Die-hard fitness enthusiasts who don’t have a schedule, have to do it in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning, don’t want to get on a bike. That’s fine. But at some point it will stagnate and boring, “said Wahlberg.” You want to be in there with the energy of people who work with you, are by your side, inspire you, push you and support you. “He added:” The Energy is absolutely amazing. “

F45 Training was founded in Australia in 2013 and offers so-called functional 45-minute studio and home training for people of all fitness levels. It features new workouts every day, inspired by a database of over 3,900 high-intensity interval training exercises that include both cardio and resistance exercises.

The company currently has 1,555 studios and 2,801 franchises in 63 countries and aims to ultimately have more than 23,000 studios worldwide.

“People of all fitness levels can come and do the training, and I had never seen that before,” Wahlberg said in the “Squawk Box”. “Someone who is clearly at the beginning of their fitness journey is training with a top athlete and can do the same exercises with modifications, never the same exercise twice. It’s absolutely fantastic. “

Mark Wahlberg hosts the opening of F45 training at Miramar MCAs, the first fitness franchise at a U.S. military base, in San Diego, California on June 11, 2021.

Phillip Faraone | Getty Images

In addition to Wahlberg, F45 Training said in its IPO filing that it has promotional relationships with basketball legend Magic Johnson, soccer star David Beckham, standout golfer Greg Norman and supermodel Cindy Crawford.

The company plans to use $ 190.7 million of net IPO proceeds to pay back debt, $ 2.5 million towards select cash awards for select employees, and $ 25 million towards the purchase of Flywheel indoor cycling -Chain.

“We will be opportunistic with this capital,” Adam Gilchrist, founder and CEO of F45, told CNBC, who stood alongside Wahlberg. “We’ve been financially conservative since 2013, we’ve never had an unprofitable quarter, and there aren’t many startups that have grown so rapidly that can boast about it.”

Gilchrist called the company’s acquisition of Flywheel a “big investment” because he said the bike chain invested $ 65 million in technology, saving F45 Training about $ 40 million in costs and believes the three years he would have needed F45 to develop this technology.

F45 Training prides itself on providing a judgment-free zone, Gilchrist said, adding that the company’s studios are considered “sanctuaries” for members with no mirrors and no scales. The program commends people for coming three times a week.

The average F45 training studio has 175 members, while the company’s break-even point – when total income equals total expenses – is 75 members, he said. The CEO added that 75% of the company’s members are female and 25% are male, with the general age group being between 25 and 42 years old.

The low membership develops a close community within the studios, he said, where members show up at 6 a.m. and know each other by name.

“We’re a premium product that pays up to $ 3,000 a year,” Gilchrist said, adding that the company’s monthly retention rate is in the “low single digits”.

Wahlberg said the company had seen more people visiting the studio in their second months of membership than before the Covid pandemic.

“We’re trying to create communities, and community is even more important to us than the actual training,” said Gilchrist. “We want people to have a third place to go. Obviously they have home, work and F45 is where … it’s a haven for people to just have 45 minutes of fun a day to have.”

F45 Training agreed to merge with Crescent Acquisition Corp. in June 2020. zu, a special-purpose acquisition firm, later canceled the deal as the pandemic closed several of its studios.

– Reuters contributed to this report.

Amazon rainforest now releases extra carbon than it absorbs: examine

Smoke rises during a fire in an area of ​​the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho, Rondonia state, Brazil, September 10, 2019.

Bruno Kelly | Reuters

According to a new study, the Amazon rainforest emits more carbon than it can absorb.

The rainforest was once a carbon sink – that is, it absorbed more carbon than it released – but it now emits more than 1 billion tons of emissions each year, mainly due to forest fires and deforestation.

The nine-year research project, published on Wednesday, was led by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research in collaboration with scientists from several countries, including the United States, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

Drones collected samples to measure carbon levels in four locations in the Amazon, with the long time frame of the study allowing researchers to account for the annual variation in forest carbon levels.

The Amazon’s carbon footprint – the final balance between emissions and carbon uptake – showed that 1.06 billion tons of CO2 were released into the atmosphere annually between 2010 and 2018. According to the study, 0.87 billion tons of emissions came from the Brazilian Amazon.

Incineration was the largest source of CO2 emissions from the Amazon, accounting for 1.5 billion tons of CO2 emissions, according to the study. If there were no fires or deforestation, the agency said, the Amazon would remove nearly 0.5 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere.

Researchers found that regions of the rainforest where deforestation was above 30% had 10 times more carbon emissions than areas with 20% or less deforestation.

The most heavily deforested areas of the Amazon had drier, warmer, and longer dry seasons, the study found. In dry months, the temperature in these parts of the Amazon rose by 2 degrees Celsius, which increased the forest’s flammability and reduced its ability to absorb carbon dioxide.

Emanuel Gloor, one of the researchers at the University of Leeds in the UK, told CNBC that the study showed immediate need for action.

“The data shows that forests in much of the Amazon region that are increasingly exposed to the heat are suffering,” he said in an email. “It is another wake-up call that the attack on the Amazon forests should be stopped urgently.”

Although the Amazon stretches across nine countries, about 60% of the forest is in Brazil. According to Greenpeace, the Brazilian Amazon has lost more than 18% of its rainforest in the past 40 years.

In 2019, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro was criticized for telling a UN assembly that the Amazon was “untouched and virtually untouched” after the rainforest was found to burn at record speed.

After increasing international pressure, he later authorized the Brazilian military to fight the fires. Last month, Reuters reported that Bolsonaro put a 120-day ban on unauthorized outdoor fires and switched the military to contain forest fires in the Amazon.