Newsweek International February 18, 2022

“It’s a strange responsibility to have this many viewers.” » P.33 IT SOUNDS LIKE ONE OF THOSE TOO-GOOD-to-be true propositions: Buy an item online, shell out just a fraction of the price at checkout and pay the remainder in installments over time, typically at no extra cost. As online shopping has soared during the pandemic, the popularity of these new payment programs, known as buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans, has skyrocketed as well. Last year alone, Americans spent $20.8 billion through these services, with purchases overall up 230 percent since the start of 2020, according to a study by Accenture commissioned by Afterpay, one of the leading players in the field. Traditionally offered just for online spending by financial tech companies like Affirm, Klarna and PayPay Credit in addition to Afterpay,…

HEADING INTO ITS SECOND YEAR in office, the Biden administration has been hit hard by rising inflation, another pandemic variant and a stalled agenda in Congress. As it struggles to salvage things, the administration can little afford a major international conflict—especially after finally winding down the 20-year fiasco in Afghanistan. That’s precisely the risk in Eastern Europe, where the administration is straining to confront Russia over its troop buildup on Ukraine’s borders. If handled improperly, the conflict could potentially spiral into a proxy war between the United States and Russia. But if the administration stops dealing with Ukraine as a dangerous distraction, it could turn this crisis into a profound foreign policy opportunity. The truth is, the United States has few levers of influence with Russia, and European allies are divided on how…

LITTLE ENDURES VERY LONG IN Super Bowl history. Dynastic teams come and go. Stadiums and commissioners, too. Even Tom Brady, it turns out, could not last forever. But on February 13, as he has on every single Super Bowl Sunday, 93-year-old Jerry Green expects to don a collared shirt and dungarees, loop his credentials lanyard around his neck and head to “the office.” This time, that will be SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, where he’ll watch the L.A. Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals and then tap out some observations for The Detroit News. In doing so, Green will extend an unbreakable streak: He’ll become the only newspaper reporter of the 338 credentialed journalists to document Super Bowl I in 1967 who will have attended and covered all 56 of them.…

Best Super Bowls: III: In 1969, the New York Jets of the AFL upset the heavily favored NFL Baltimore Colts, 16-7, fulfilling quarterback Joe Namath’s shocking guarantee of triumph. “The first two Super Bowls were so lopsided, we in the NFL side, thought the AFL would never catch up” Green says. “Joe Namath took care of that.” LI: In 2017, the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime. “They were 25 points behind in the second half behind Atlanta and the Patriots tied the game, won the coin flip and Atlanta never got to touch the ball again. It was amazing to see.” Worst Super Bowls: II: In 1968, the Green Bay Packers crushed the Oakland Raiders, 33-14. “I was crossing the field to go to the locker room at the…

The Southern European economy, one of the world’s ten largest, saw investment more than three times the European Union average in 2021, and will continue to outstrip the bloc of which it is a leading member in the coming two years. As PWC noted, the country was recently upgraded from “stable” to “positive” outlook by ratings agency S&P, acknowledging “the government’s commitment to pro-growth reforms would boost the economy”. Official estimates show that the economy grew by more than 6% in 2021 and will expand by a further 4.7% in 2022. Yet the administration led by highly-respected former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi will not rest on its laurels. The government is committed to further reform, and supporting Italy’s extremely dynamic private sector, which is taking the lead in Europe’s…

The strength of the economic recovery should help the government deliver on one of its top priorities – accelerating the energy transition, in which Italy is a world leader. The transition will see the world shift away from fossil fuels towards a zero-carbon economy by the second half of the century, entailing a massive wave of investment in renewable resources, electrification, battery technology, and the power grids to support them. In April 2021, the government allocated $78bn for “Green Revolution and Ecological Transition” expenditure, including €28bn for the energy transition and sustainable mobility, the vast sums a clear statement of intent from one of the world’s top-ten economies. Prysmian Group is in a prime position to participate in the transformation, asone of the country’s biggest companies and a global market leader…