Yum Brands—the Kentucky company that owns KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and the Habit burger chain—has nearly doubled its investment in technology from $11 billion in 2022 to $21 billion now.
ECONOMIC UPDATE – MARKET OVERVIEW
Here is the hard fact. No one in the world, other than The Trends Journal, had forecast that a Top Trend of 2024 would be a “GOLDEN YEAR FOR GOLD.”
HOW DID YOU LIKE THE BIG SHOW?
You want to talk about unprecedented? Ok, let’s do that. This weekend’s event is being broadcast to the world via the mainstream media outlets as “unprecedented,” (same word being repeated over and over by each of them).
AS FORECAST: COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS KILLED THE HUMAN SPIRIT AS ALCOHOL USE SURGED DURING OUTBREAK
Americans turned to the bottle during the COVID-19 outbreak and alcohol consumption had a particularly deleterious impact on women from April 2020, the start of lockdowns, to September 2021.
JUNIOR PARTNERS IN THE AI > HUMAN SYMBIOSIS
Data is the lifeblood of generative, fast emerging Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
WAR GANG CLAMORS FOR WAR WITH IRAN
The Israeli extremists who occupy top positions in government pushed for a major conflict with Iran after Tehran launched its retaliatory strikes Saturday in response to Israel’s consulate bombing in Damascus.
TOP TREND 2024: EV GO FU
Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in the U.S. have slowed lately and one reason is the “significant disconnect” between the needs and wants of potential buyers and what car makers are giving them, according to the 2024 Edmunds EV Sentiment Survey.
Global Economy
SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
As we had forecast, the M&A activity which went down when interest rates went high would soon return.
TURKEY’S VOTERS REBUKE ERDOGAN’S ECONOMIC POLICIES
On 31 March, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan was drubbed in municipal elections, suffering what Bloomberg called “an unprecedented defeat.”
SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S ECONOMIC STRUGGLE
In March, China’s factory activity grew for the first time in six months, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has estimated.
The Israel War
IRAN SAYS U.S. GAVE ISRAEL ‘GREEN LIGHT’ TO ATTACK CONSULATE
Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran's foreign minister, said Monday that the U.S. gave Israel the “green light” before the deadly attack on Terran's consulate in Damascus and said Washington should also be held responsible.
UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: ISRAEL TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WAR CRIMES
The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday, for the first time since the Israel War broke out, adopted a resolution that called for Israel to be held accountable for committing possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS MASSACRE AT AL SHIFA HOSPITAL DESPITE INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
The U.S. last week continued its limitless support for Israel both militarily and diplomatically despite the IDF’s most recent massacre at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
AI
CHINA SURPASSES U.S. IN PRODUCING AI RESEARCHERS
China may lag the U.S. in AI technology, but perhaps not for long. China is producing about half of the world’s leading AI researchers, while the U.S. is creating only about 18 percent, according to a new study by the Paulson Institute, which promotes positive connections between the U.S. and China.
FROM THE “AI BEHAVING BADLY” FILE…
Last October, New York City mayor Eric Adams announced that the city would use artificial intelligence to improve city services and keep residents better informed.
AI DESIGNS DRUGS TO KILL ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA
The overuse of antibiotics has created a flock of bacteria that infect humans and defy drug treatment, resulting in about five million deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Hi-Tech Science
EXTRACTING CARBON FROM THE OCEANS, NOT AIR
Carbon capture technology—sucking excess carbon from the air and then storing it—has grabbed not only headlines, but billions of dollars in speculative investments.
PLANT-BASED PLASTIC THAT DOESN’T TURN INTO MICROPLASTIC
Microplastics—those invisible granules of plastic that remain after a plastic container has degraded—cover the Earth from the ocean floor to the tops of Himalayan mountains.
FULL POWER, SCOTTY! FUSION ENGINE FOR SPACE FLIGHT READY FOR LAUNCH
RocketStar, a development-stage company, says it has successfully tested a novel ion-drive rocket engine that gives 50 percent more thrust than conventional fuels, in part by incorporating a form of nuclear fusion.