Costco Has to Pay $19 Million After Selling 2,500 Fake Tiffany & Co. Rings - TIME

Costco Has to Pay $19 Million After Selling 2,500 Fake Tiffany & Co. Rings

Katie Reilly

Aug 16, 2017

Costco owes Tiffany & Co. more than $19 million after selling generic diamond rings falsely advertised as "Tiffany" rings, a judge ruled Monday.

Costco made $3.7 million selling 2,500 diamond rings falsely identified as "Tiffany," the Washington Post reported, citing a 2015 verdict. Costco argued that the diamond rings had a pronged setting known as "Tiffany," but the jewelry company argued the store's use of the stand-alone name without any modifiers was misleading to customers.

U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of New York Laura Taylor Swain ruled Monday that Costco should pay Tiffany $11.1 million to make up for lost profits and $8.25 million in legal damages, the Post reported.

“Judge Swain’s decision validates the strength of the Tiffany trademark and the value of our brand, and most importantly, sends a clear and powerful message to Costco and others who infringe the Tiffany mark,” Tiffany & Co. said in a statement to the New York Times.

Costco said it plans to appeal the ruling."From a purchaser list of approximately 2,500, Tiffany identified fewer than 10 who said that they had misunderstood Costco’s signage," Costco said in a statement. "This was not a case about counterfeiting in the common understanding of that word – Costco was not selling imitation Tiffany & Co. rings."

Warren Buffett Took a Stake in This Company and Its Value Soared $1 Billion Overnight - TIME Business

Warren Buffett Took a Stake in This Company and Its Value Soared $1 Billion Overnight

Lucinda Shen

A vote of confidence from Berkshire Hathaway helped send the market value of a recently down-in-the-dumps stock up by $1 billion overnight.

On Monday, behemoth helmed by Warren Buffett revealed a new 2% stake in the lender and store credit card issuer Synchrony. That pushed shares of the company up 4%, giving it a market capitalization of about $25.4 billion by midday trading on Tuesday.

Synchrony Financial, which spun off from GE roughly two years ago, has been far from a Wall Street darling. While the company's stock soared along with its banking peers following the election of President Donald Trump in November, its 2017 has been less forgiving. In the last seven months, Synchrony shares have shed about 15% as investors lost confidence in some Trump campaign promises — and began to worry about Synchrony's volume of bad loans. This even as the S&P 500 has continued its rise during that same period, jumping 10% in the first seven months of the year as tech stocks led a market rally.

But jumping on an underperforming stock would suit Buffett's investing philosophy, be "greedy when others are fearful." And Synchrony certainly spooked investors after signaling that it was setting aside more than expected to cover losses from borrowers failing to pay loans in the first quarter. Wall Street worried that it was a sign credit card companies were loosening standards and making loans to borrowers that couldn't afford it.

Still, that lackluster earnings report may have provided a buying opportunity for investors who don't think consumer credit will continue to weaken. Berkshire Hathaway took on a stake of 17.5 million shares, worth about $540 million by midday trading. And by one metric, Berkshire bought Synchrony cheap. While the S&P 500 has a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of about 22 today, and Synchrony's peers claim a PE ratio of 16, Synchrony's investors currently pay only about $12 for $1 of earnings.Separately, Berkshire Hathaway also sold its stake in Synchrony's former parent, GE, in the second quarter. Berkshire also added to its of Bank of New York Mellon, now worth $2.6 billion; General Motors, a stake now worth $2.1 billion; and Apple, a stake worth $18.8 billion.

Charlottesville attack: What, where and who? - Al Jazeera

Charlottesville attack: What, where and who?

A man rammed a car into anti-white supremacist protesters in Virginia. Here is what happened.

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Where?

Who?

Reactions

What's next?

In Charlottesville on Saturday, rallygoers and counterdemonstrators clashed, and a car ploughed into the crowd. Here is what we know.

What happened and when?

A "Unite the Right" rally was planned for Saturday, August 12 to protest against the removal of a statue of Confederate icon General Robert E Lee.

Described as one of the largest white supremacist events in recent US history, it was organised by Jason Kessler, a former journalist and a member of the Proud Boys, an ultra-nationalist group.

The day before, on Friday, marchers descended on the University of Virginia carrying torches and yelling slogans "white lives matter" and "blood and soil".

Protesters gathered again on Saturday, and clashed with counter-demonstrators.

At 11:28am (15:35 GMT) a local state of emergency was declared by the City of Charlottesville and the County of Albemarle.

At 1:42pm (17:42 GMT) a speeding car rammed into counter-demonstrators, through a three-vehicle crash.

The speeding car, a Dodge Challenger, hit another sedan, which in turn pushed a minivan in front of it.

The speeding car fled the scene but was soon located and stopped by police.

Later in the afternoon, a police helicopter crashed while en route to the rally, though officials did not elaborate on the details.

Where did it happen?

This took place in Charlottesville, a university town of 46,000 people, in the state of Virginia in the United States.

Charlottesville has become a focal point of the resurgent white supremacist movement after officials there voted to take down a statue of the Confederate General Robert E Lee.

Who was behind it?

The driver of the car, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr was arrested shortly after the incident and was charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of hit-and-run.

In connection with the events at Charlottesville today, police made three more arrests.

21-year-old Troy Dunigan and charged him with disorderly conduct.

21-year-old J acob L. Smith was also arrested and charged with misdemeanour assault and battery.

44-year-old James M. O'Brien was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed gun.

How many casualties?

Hit by the car ramming, 32-year-old Heather Heyer died in hospital.

Lieutenant Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Bates, who were on board the crashed helicopter, died.

35 people were injured at the rally, 19 confirmed by the hospital in Charlottesville.

Is Charlottesville now safe? What is the latest on the ground?

Police intervened after clashes broke out and dispersed the crowd, and Governor McAuliffe declared a state of emergency.

The Governor’s office also urged all members of the community to stay home on Saturday evening.

What are people saying?

On August 12, US President Donald Trump condemned the clashes in Charlottesville in a Twitter post:

We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!

3:19 AM - Aug 13, 2017

67,203 67,203 Replies 58,461 58,461 Retweets 190,437 190,437 likes

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Senator Bernie Sanders also condemned the clashes and said, "it was a reprehensible display of racism and hatred".

The white nationalist demonstration in #Charlottesville is a reprehensible display of racism and hatred that has no place in our society.

Bernie Sanders ✔ @SenSanders

The white nationalist demonstration in #Charlottesville is a reprehensible display of racism and hatred that has no place in our society.

Senator Cory Gardner a labelled them as "domestic terrorism":

Mr. President - we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.

Cory Gardner ✔ @SenCoryGardner

Mr. President - we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.

And former US President Barack Obama wrote:

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..."

Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..."

On Tuesday, Donald Trump declared: "There is blame on both sides" for the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump's remarks were welcomed by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who tweeted: "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth."

What happened next?

Local state of emergency.

FBI launched its own investigation into the incident.

A fundraising campaign for the family of a woman killed in a car-ramming attack in the US town of Charlottesville has raised tens of thousands of dollars.

A "Moment of Unity" was held in Charlottesville, giving citizens a chance to offer prayers and support for the victims.

Judge Robert Downer said during a bail hearing on Monday, August 14, that he would appoint a lawyer for James Alex Fields Jr.

The next scheduled court hearing is on August 25, though Fields' attorney could request a bond hearing before then.

A rally against racism took place in North Carolina, and a Confederate statue was toppled.

Bitcoin’s Latest Record Is Thanks to a Big Speed Breakthrough - Bloomberg

Bitcoin’s Latest Record Is Thanks to a Big Speed Breakthrough

Bloomberg

Aug 14, 2017

Bitcoin soared past $4,000 for the first time on growing optimism faster transaction times will hasten the spread of the cryptocurrency.

The largest digital tender jumped to a peak of $4,187 Monday, a gain of nearly 17 percent since Friday, after a plan to quicken trade execution by moving some data off the main network was activated last week. The solution -- termed SegWit2x -- had been so contentious that a new version of the asset called Bitcoin Cash was spun off earlier this month in opposition.

The split grew out of the tension between growing demand for the virtual currency and some of the design features that had fueled that popularity -- the decentralized verification procedures that ensured against hacking and government oversight. While this month’s confrontation ended up as little more than a speed bump in bitcoin’s more than 300 percent rally in 2017, concerns remain around the capacity to increase transaction volumes.

“Up until now a lot of people didn’t really believe bitcoin could go any higher until the scaling issue is resolved,” said Arthur Hayes, Hong Kong-based founder of bitcoin exchange BitMEX. “With this actually being implemented on protocol, theoretically the amount of transactions that can be processed at a reasonable speed is going to be much higher, so a lot of people are very bullish about bitcoin now.”

Because of a cap on the amount of data processed by bitcoin’s blockchain, transactions started to slow as its popularity boomed. The community was then divided between the SegWit2x solution backed by a group of developers and another supported by miners that sought a larger increase in the block size. The latter then became Bitcoin Cash.

Bitcoin Cash, whose price has retreated since peaking right after its birth, has neither disrupted its progenitor’s operations nor undercut its appeal.

While SegWit2x has garnered enough support for activation, challenges remain. Its next stage involves doubling the block size to 2 megabytes some time in November, a possibility that’s still mired in debate. Reduced support could thwart this step, with some arguing that Bitcoin Cash -- with a block size of 8 megabytes -- has obviated the need for another “hard fork” to upgrade the bitcoin again, Hayes said.

The cryptocurrency’s staggering price surge has bolstered related businesses. Digital currency exchange Coinbase Inc. announced Thursday it’s received a $100 million investment. The supply of bitcoin is capped at 21 million, compared with 16.5 million that had been mined as of Saturday, according to blockchain.info.“People are starting to price in the consumer demand from Coinbase’s $100 million fund-raising round,” said Justin Short, London-based founder of trading platform Nous. “That’s a lot of advertising budget. Every $1 million of marketing brings new demand, which increases the price as the supply is limited by design.”

Assessing a new leader’s progress after 100 days is not an arbitrary exercise - Independent

Assessing a new leader’s progress after 100 days is not an arbitrary exercise. American President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously highlighted his achievements after this time period in a 1933 summer radio broadcast, saying it had been “devoted to the starting of the wheels of the New Deal”. Since then, ambitious commentators have often tried to gauge the effectiveness of an administration after just over three months.

In France, Emmanuel Macron reaches the 100th day anniversary of his astonishing presidential election win today. It is of course a cue for enemies to try to rip his reputation to shreds. Traditionalists from both left and right are naturally antipathetic towards a newcomer who in May humiliated both the governing Socialists and opposition Republicans. The former now portray Macron as an ex-banker turned amoral tool of big business, while the latter think he is a puny media creation who will fall apart when faced with his first real challenge.

The reality is that Macron fulfils none of these laboured caricatures. On the contrary, he has already shown he is ready to take on vested interests, and to transform society in a manner that none of his predecessors were able to do. Those sniping boorishly at the 39-year-old’s much older wife, Brigitte Macron, or his huge enthusiasm for the EU, might well have missed some key summer developments that will have a profound effect on the immediate future of France.

In August – the month when blubbery heads of state are normally photographed on Riviera beaches before appearing in Paris Match feature spreads – a parliament dominated by Macron’s REM! party (The Republic on the Move!) passed a law aimed at creating more jobs. The legislation will liberalise the labour market by giving employers more power to negotiate working conditions at a local level, rather than according to industry-wide agreements.

Just as crucially, the initiative guarantees that trade unions are involved, so introducing the consensus that is such an important part of Macron’s overall project. In a country where us-and-them apathy is blamed for leaving close to three-and-a-half million people out of work, the President has made a united effort to reduce unemployment his priority.

Long-overdue institutional changes have also included a bill to prevent politicians from hiring direct family members. “Penelopegate” – the scandal that saw conservative presidential hopeful François Fillon accused of channelling hundreds of thousands in taxpayers’ money to his British wife Penelope Fillon – was a prime example of how “serving one’s own” has perhaps been a prevalent maxim in French public life for far too long. This is one of the main reasons for France’s relative stagnation in recent decades, and it is high time somebody ended it, and the sleaze with which it is associated.

Emmanuel Macron is already unpopular after three months in office

Beyond proving himself a skilled technocrat – somebody who can turn ambitious domestic pledges into reality – Macron is also working hard to boost France’s standing overseas. He has just helped bring the 2024 Olympics to Paris following the humiliation of losing the 2012 bid to London, for example. Thus the indisputably clean-cut Macron is attempting to combine patriotic panache with a sense of morality. Unlike the last two presidents, François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, he demonstrates no inclination towards dedicating large chunks of his time in office to a racy love life, or to pushing for personal gains in any way.

I had just interviewed Macron in Paris on the eve of his election victory, when news came in that Russian hackers had accessed thousands of emails and files related to his campaign. Much of this once confidential data has now been made public in a WikiLeaks dump, but reveals no controversy whatsoever.

In contrast, the resolutely vulgar Sarkozy is, like his former colleague Fillon, also charged with obtaining money illegally. Jacques Chirac, the Gaullist president before Sarkozy, was tried and convicted for embezzling state funds. Go back as far as François Mitterrand, the last Socialist chef d’état before Hollande, and you will find another thoroughly shady character who kept a mistress and child on the public purse.

Of course Macron is making mistakes. Many think he is too reactionary in terms of foreign policy, especially after his crass references to African women having too many babies, and indications that he could accept murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad’s continued rule if it meant bringing some kind of peace in Syria. This sense of pandering to callous zealots was furthered by his glad-handling of alt-right populist US President Donald Trump and far-right hawk Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who is regularly accused of war crimes against the Palestinian people – during the two men’s respective visits to France in July.

Arnold Schwarzenegger takes a selfie video with Emmanuel Macron talking about a clean energy future

Some are also critical of the way in which Macron, the supreme head of all French military, forced the resignation of army chief Pierre de Villiers by disrespecting him in discussions over budget cuts. Macron was certainly brash and confrontational, although one would expect that de Villiers, a veteran of theatres of war including Afghanistan, should get over it.

No, Macron is not on the fast track to becoming a French Roosevelt. Yes, we are likely to see plenty of fierce street protests against his new policies by September at the latest, and his popularity ratings will continue to slide. Running France is a thankless task and Macron’s schoolboy looks and can-do demeanour are bound to fade.

However, the 25th President of France has immense respect for the institution of the presidency. He will still only be in his 40s if he completes two terms – a feat that the often comically inept “bling-bling” Sarko and “flanby” Hollande never got close to – and won’t just cruise towards a cushy retirement. If we have learned anything from his first 100 days, it is that Emmanuel Macron is a determined reformer who really does want to get the wheels of a new deal for his ailing country spinning as quickly as possible

Trump adviser emails show attempts to set up Russia meeting, report says - CBS News

Trump adviser emails show attempts to set up Russia meeting, report says

Three days after then-candidate Donald Trump appointed his foreign policy team in March 2016, adviser George Papadopoulos emailed seven campaign officials with the subject line "Meeting with Russian Leadership -- Including Putin," according to a report from The Washington Post.

Papadopoulos offered to facilitate "a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump," according to internal campaign emails read to The Post. The emails also expressed that Papadopoulos' Russian contacts welcomed the potential meeting.

The conversations are recorded as part of the more than 20,000 pages of documents forfeited this month to congressional committees by the Trump campaign after they were reviewed by White House and defense lawyers. The selection pertaining to Papadopoulos' emails were read to The Post by a person with access to them, and portions of the text were confirmed by two additional sources who also had access to the exchanges.

Special Counsel is using grand jury in Russia probe

Papadopoulos' proposed meeting set off a chain of concerned reactions from Trump campaign officials. Campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis suggested discussing with NATO allies before making any plans to meet with the Russians and adviser Charles Kubic expressed a variety of legal concerns, citing the Logan act, which prohibits citizens from participating in unauthorized negotiations with foreign governments.

Then-campaign manager Paul Manafort rejected one of Papadopoulos' requests in May 2016 for Mr. Trump to participate in a Russian meeting. At the time, the Trump campaign was focused on securing Mr. Trump's position as the Republican Party's candidate.

Eschewing the concerns of more experienced campaign advisers, Papadopoulos persisted in suggesting the meeting. Between March and September, he sent at least six requests for Mr. Trump or his team members to meet with Russian officials.

It is unclear from Papadopoulos' emails what benefit the Trump campaign would reap from meeting with the Russian government.

Three months following Papadopoulos' proposed meeting, Mr. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Manafort met at Trump Tower in June 2016 with a Kremlin-connected lawyer after being promised potentially damaging information on former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Trump Jr. claimed that his father did not have knowledge of the meeting.

That meeting, in addition to several other Trump campaign communications, are now under the scrutiny of the Special Counsel led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller assigned to investigate potential Russian collusion with the Trump campaign and interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In July 2016, then-senator and Trump foreign policy adviser Jeff Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak-- a meeting he has since disclosed in his recusal from any Russia-related investigation into the Trump campaign. In the same month, Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page spoke at an event at a university in Moscow, although he claims the speech was independent of the Trump campaign.

Following his previous efforts, Papadopoulos reached out to then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to explain that he was receiving "a lot of calls over the past month" about arranging a meeting between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government.

"Putin wants to host the Trump team when the time is right," Papadopoulos wrote on April 27, according to The Post.

A week later, Papadopoulos forwarded a note from the leader of the government-funded Russian International Affairs Council on to Lewandowski and others.

In the forwarded message, a senior official to the Russian International Affairs Council Ivan Timofeev explained that Russian foreign ministry officials welcomed a visit from Mr. Trump to Moscow. Timofeev also requested that the Trump campaign coordinate with the Russians to outline a formal letter regarding the meeting.

Clovis responded that, "There are legal issues we need to mitigate, meeting with foreign officials as a private citizen," and there is no apparent response from Lewandowski, according to The Post.

Papadopoulos later forwarded the same Timofeev message to Manafort.

"Russia has been eager to meet with Mr. Trump for some time and have been reaching out to me to discuss," he told Manafort, The Post reports.

"We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips," Manafort responded while forwarding the email to his deputy Rick Gates, who agreed with Manafort on the subject.

Timofeev confirmed that his organization had discussed a potential meeting with the Trump campaign.

"We discussed the idea informally as one of the opportunities for . . . dialogue between Russia and the U.S.," Timofeev said to The Post in an email. "RIAC often hosts meetings with prominent political figures and experts from the US and many other countries.," he said, noting that his organization would have been open to meeting with other presidential candidates' campaigns.

President Trump's recent aggressive threats against North Korea appear to have opened new fissures between the United States and South Korea - ABC News

President Trump's recent aggressive threats against North Korea appear to have opened new fissures between the United States and its most important ally against Kim Jong Un's regime – South Korea.

While the country’s new president Moon Jae-in has largely kept quiet and reaffirmed the strategic alliance with the U.S., his outspoken top aide, Moon Chung-in, openly criticized Trump for his bellicose language.

“This is very unusual. We do not expect that the president of the United States would make that kind of statement,” the South Korean ambassador-at-large for international security told ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz. “It is very worrisome for the president of the United States to fill [fuel] the crisis.”

ABC's Martha Raddatz interviews South Korean presidential adviser and ambassador-at-large Moon Chung-in about the Trump administration's response to the North Korean crisis.more +

Amb. Moon said the South Korean president – a member of the country's liberal party who was elected in May – wanted the U.S. president to tone down his rhetoric, a message he conveyed to Trump when they spoke on the phone last Monday.

But, 24 hours after that call, Trump vowed to unleash “fire and fury” on Kim Jong Un's regime, leaving President Moon’s administration “somewhat concerned,” his aide said. What followed was a week of escalating warnings from the U.S., culminating in the president's promise that America's military was “locked and loaded.

North Korea, of course, responded in kind, using the same pugnacious language its propaganda machine has fired off for years – but also specifically threatening to strike around Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific that is home to about 200,000 American citizens and a major U.S. military presence.

Kicking the threats made into higher gear the situation more dangerous, Amb. Moon said. He said both sides should rein it in, a rare rebuke from South Korea of its protector, the U.S.

“It is a chicken game, but I think what is needed right now is mutual restraint,” he said.

The disagreement between the Washington, D.C., and Seoul, however small, is exactly what North Korea wants, according to experts who say the outlaw regime in Pyongyang seeks to destroy the South Korean-American alliance and unify the two Koreas under its communist rule.

These aren’t the first disputes between the two allies.

Trump has angered some South Koreans with his demand that the longtime American ally pay up for U.S. defense, including the THAAD missile system. The weapon system, which could shoot down incoming ballistic missiles from the North, is controversial in South Korea because of its environmental as well as economic impact.

China, too, is concerned about the missile-defense system because of its advanced radar capabilities and has responded with a boycott of tourism to South Korea, impacting the country's businesses.

On a separate note, Trump has also argued that South Korea is cheating the U.S. through an unfair trade advantage, demanding that the two countries renegotiate trade agreements toward equalizing their trade deficit.

Amb. Moon criticized the Trump administration for what he said was a lack of clarity over North Korea. The White House has been knocked for sending mixed signals on North Korea, including on whether the U.S. supports talks with the North and whether it seeks regime change.

“I really don’t see a unified message. There is confusion,” the South Korean ambassador said. “We are very much confused. We think the American government has moved from ‘strategic patience’ of the Obama administration into strategic confusion.”

For eight years, Obama’s policy of “strategic patience” called for ignoring the Kim regime and seeking to increase its international isolation. The Trump administration has derided that strategy, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announcing on a trip to the region in February, “The era of ‘strategic patience’ is over.”

But it is unclear what exactly has replaced it. Tillerson has extended an olive branch to Kim Jong Un if he halts his ballistic missile tests, a position he reiterated earlier this month. But, in contrast, one week earlier, Vice President Mike Pence told The Wall Street Journal that the right strategy doesn’t involve “engaging North Korea directly.”

Amb. Moon is one of the leading advocates of South Korea's “sunshine policy,” which favors dialogue with North Korea and peaceful co-existence alongside its regime.

That sounds similar to Tillerson, who has said repeatedly that the Trump administration does not seek regime change in North Korea, even telling Kim Jong Un, “We are not your enemy.”

CIA Director Mike Pompeo, however, alluded to plans to eliminate the 33-year old leader, answering a question about regime change by saying, “I'm hopeful we will find a way to separate that regime from that [ballistic missile] system … The North Korean people, I'm sure, are lovely people and would love to see him go as well.”

Still, despite the differences, Amb. Moon said the U.S.-South Korean alliance was strong and would remain united against the North’s provocations. And, leaders from both administrations have remained in touch throughout the week, with the two national security advisers speaking Friday.

But with millions of South Koreans caught in the crosshairs, Moon suggested the country's leadership hopes to see a change in Trump's approach to North Korea: “We hope that President Trump will come up with the diplomatic skill to deal with the current crisis.”