Pets, Sports, And Disney Might End Up Rescuing China's Ailing Consumer Economy

The once-high-flying firm has been beset by challenges since going public via a SPAC merger in 2021. Here’s the latest. DNA-testing company 23andMe (Nasdaq: ME), once an industry leader that attracted millions of customers, including rapper Snoop Dogg and investor Warren Buffett, has announced significant cuts to its operations, with plans to lay off 200 employees, or roughly 40% of its workforce.

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines is offering buyouts and extended leaves of absence to airport workers to avoid what it calls “overstaffing in certain locations,” which it blames on a shortage of new planes from Boeing. The move on Monday comes as a hedge fund presses Southwest to increase profits and boost the stock price, which has fallen sharply since early 2021. A Southwest spokesperson said the offers of “voluntary separation” are limited to 18 airports.

The Magic Kingdom has dropped its contender for the holiday advertising championship title. Disney’s newest ad isn’t pitching a new movie, TV show, or product. By enlisting director Taika Waititi to direct a four-minute short that chronicles the unlikely friendship between a boy and an octopus, the brand is selling one thing and one thing only: magic.

Excess methane produced in 2024 could result in a fee of $900 per ton, with fees rising to $1,200 per ton in 2025. Oil and natural gas companies for the first time will have to pay a federal fee if they emit dangerous methane above certain levels under a rule being made final by the Biden administration.

Part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, Article 6 was created to help nations work together to reduce climate-causing pollution. After nearly a decade of negotiations, leaders during the United Nations climate conference’s first day decided on some of the finer points of much-debated sticking point aimed at cutting planet-warming emissions from coal, oil and gas.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday overturned a landmark ruling that ordered energy company Shell to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, while saying that “protection against dangerous climate change is a human right.” The decision was a defeat for the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups, which had hailed the original 2021 ruling as a victory for the climate.