Sony sees profit rise despite waning interest in video games
Sony has reported its profit edged up 3% in the last quarter, weathering production setbacks from COVID-19 lockdowns in Shanghai and a trend away from video games as pandemic restrictions eased elsewhere. Tokyo-based Sony’s April-June profit totaled 218 billion yen, or $1.6 billion. Quarterly sales rose 2% on the back of strong demand for music, including Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” and Doja Cat’s “Planet Her.” In movies, Sony is hoping “Bullet Train,” starring Brad Pitt and set for release in August, will do well at the box office. Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki says people are doing less gaming as COVID restrictions ease.
California aims to make its own insulin brand to lower price
California plans to make its own insulin. The state budget includes $100 million to develop three types of insulin products and invest in a manufacturing facility. The state would contract with a private company to make the insulin under the CalRx brand. This would not be the first time California made its own medicine. The state also makes the only treatment for the rare disease of infant botulism. But millions of people suffer from diabetes. Advocates say the health care industry has conspired to keep the price of insulin high. People with Type 1 diabetes require insulin to survive.
Alex Jones’ media company files for bankruptcy amid trial
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ media company Free Speech Systems has filed for bankruptcy, but his attorney says it shouldn’t disrupt the defamation damages trial underway in Texas that seeks to force Jones to pay $150 million or more to the family of one of the children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School attack. The trial in Austin, where Jones lives and Free Speech Systems is based, wrapped up its first week of testimony and is expected to conclude next week. The bankruptcy filing was announced in court late in the day. Courts in Texas and Connecticut have already found Jones liable for defamation for his portrayal of the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax.
Large landlords aggressively moved against renters in the pandemic, report says
A House subcommittee that investigated eviction practices by large landlords during the pandemic issued a scathing report that said four firms had engaged in “abusive” tactics to attempt to push renters out of their homes despite a federal moratorium. The report was released Thursday, after a yearlong investigation and a hearing by the committee that looked into the business practices of so-called corporate landlords that led to eviction filings against tens of thousands of renters during the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee focused mainly on four firms, which the report said had accounted for the filing of nearly 15,000 eviction cases from March 2020 to July 2021.
JetBlue and Spirit Airlines announce plan to merge, creating fifth-largest US airline
JetBlue Airways reached a deal to buy Spirit Airlines on Thursday, a merger that could reshape the airline industry by putting pressure on the nation’s four dominant carriers. The deal, which values Spirit at $3.8 billion, would create the nation’s fifth-largest airline, with a share of more than 10% of the market. The merger is likely to face a thorough investigation from the Biden administration’s antitrust regulators, who have taken an aggressive stand against corporate consolidation, especially in industries already dominated by a few businesses. Given that reality, JetBlue’s top executive sought to cast the Spirit deal as a way to make his industry more competitive.
Inflation hits record 8.9% in euro area, but economy grows
Inflation in the European countries using the euro currency shot up to another record in July, pushed by higher energy prices driven partly by the war in Ukraine. But the economy still managed better-than-expected, if meager, growth in the second quarter. The European Union statistics agency said Friday that annual inflation in the eurozone’s 19 countries rose to 8.9% in July, up from 8.6% in June. Inflation has been running at its highest level since record-keeping for the euro began in 1997. The economy grew from April through June, expanding by 0.7% compared with the previous quarter. Economists expect that to be the last glimmer of good news and the region to tip into recession later this year.
Instagram rolls back some product changes after backlash
Instagram said Thursday that it was rolling back several recent updates to its photo-sharing app after Kylie Jenner and other celebrities joined a user backlash against the changes and criticized the platform for trying to be too much like TikTok. Instagram said it would pause tests of full-screen photo and video posts, which the app had introduced to replace its typical look of posts that take up just a portion of the screen. The app, which is owned by Meta, also said it would temporarily decrease the number of posts in user feeds that its algorithm recommended, a new feature that it had been trying out.
By wire sources