Thursday 30 June 2022
Key US Ports Brace for Expiration of Dockworker Union Contract
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2 Gen Z entrepreneurs launched a sustainable-period-care startup that's booked $1 million in revenue. Here's how their strategy of posting 100 times a day on TikTok grew the business.
August
- When Nadya Okamoto was 16, she began her entrepreneurial journey in the reproductive-health space.
- Today, she's a cofounder of August, a period-care brand that makes sustainable pads and tampons.
- August has booked $1 million in revenue, and Okamoto attributes that to her social-media strategy.
When Nadya Okamoto was 16 years old, she began her entrepreneurial journey in the sexual- and reproductive-health space by confounding a nonprofit devoted to period care.
"I want periods to be a global conversation," Okamoto told Insider. "That's why I chose to be in this space — to help eliminate that stigma and help menstruators feel empowered about their bodies."
Today, as a 24-year-old, she's continuing her life's work through August, a sustainable-period-product startup. Okamoto launched the business in January 2020 with her friend Nick Jain to address a gap in the menstrual-hygiene market by creating plastic-free, biodegradable, and leak-proof period products for all menstruators, especially Gen Zers. The company has booked $1 million in revenue since its launch, according to documentation verified by Insider.
Most pads take 800 years to decompose, but August's pads take 12 months, Okamoto said. Additionally, the pads are made from 100% organic cotton and are plastic-free. For Gen Zers — a top concern for whom is the environment, a 2021 survey by Deloitte found — the emphasis on sustainability is one of the most attractive aspects of the brand.
"We both quickly came to the conclusion that there was something missing in this space," Jain told Insider. "There are certain spaces where young people are fundamentally more disenfranchised, and menstrual care is one of them."
Okamoto's passion for the industry stemmed from her upbringing — growing up in New York City, she noticed how many people who menstruate didn't have access to the period care they needed.
She cofounded the youth-focused nonprofit Period when she moved to Portland, Oregon, as a teenager. Under her leadership, the nonprofit distributed free menstrual-care products, like pads and tampons, to underserved communities in the city, such as single mothers and women from low-income backgrounds.
Today, Period has built a national presence: It has hundreds of volunteers and college-campus chapters across the country, and last year, it helped cover over 3 million menstrual cycles through the free distribution of pads and tampons.
Six years after creating Period, Okamoto hired an executive director to take the organization forward and left to create August, which is headquartered in New York City.
Okamoto and Jain broke down how they created a successful brand in the menstrual-hygiene space, an area that is continuously being redefined by younger generations.
August
A business built based on Gen Z customer feedback
When Okamoto and Jain began discussing how they could fill the gap in period care — by creating more environmentally friendly and efficient pads and tampons — they turned to the wider Gen Z community to ask how to best serve menstruators' needs.
"In today's day and age, for a founder to really build a successful brand, you have to listen to your customers," Jain said. "When it comes to period care, most brands have failed to listen."
Jain and Okamoto used the app Geneva, an organized group chat, to get direct feedback from Gen Zers about what an ideal product would look like. The duo used their community — called August Inter Cycle and made up of a few hundred members — to ask questions about the product's design, marketing tactics, and events to host. Now, there are more than 3,200 members across the 12 chat rooms whom Jain and Okamoto communicate with regularly. Some members of August's eight-person team were found and hired through the app.
"Every decision that we made was made in conjunction with that community," Jain said.
August
Showing period blood on TikTok was a win
When August launched, Okamoto posted up to 100 videos a day on her TikTok account to showcase the brand's unique approach to menstrual hygiene.
"To me, the TikTok algorithm is like a lottery," she said. "The more lottery tickets you put in, the more chances you have of winning or, in this case, going viral."
The frequency of her posting helped her quickly discover what the audience liked to see. She realized that most people enjoyed seeing her show period blood, put on pads in the bathroom, and record behind the scenes of the company. These kinds of videos went viral and helped grow August's account, along with Okamoto's personal account. Now, she has 3.2 million followers on TikTok and posts about 30 times a day.
Okamoto said that this social-media strategy was what drew more attention to August and persuaded more people to try the products. In fact, the first viral TikTok post drew 400,000 people to the company's website overnight, she said.
She said that once people were on the website, most of them purchased subscriptions or contacted the company directly to learn what's unique about their brand.
"What I love the most is how many people we are able to get excited about periods," Okamoto said. "That's the win for me."
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The term 'no look handshake' is trending on Twitter after Biden was seen shaking hands with South Korea's president without making eye contact
Screenshot from MBC YouTube
- President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, met in Madrid on Tuesday.
- In a moment captured on video, Biden appeared to shake Yoon's hands without making eye contact.
- Now, "no look handshake" is trending on Twitter in South Korea as users scrutinize the gesture.
An awkward handshake between US President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, at the NATO summit in Madrid lit up social media on Wednesday.
The moment between the leaders, which was captured on video, appeared to show Biden extend his hand to Yoon during a gala dinner but then quickly turn away toward Bulgarian President Rumen Radev. He then shook hands with Yoon while chatting with Radev.
Since the incident, the term "no look handshake" has been trending on Twitter in South Korea, according to TrendMemo, which tracks trending Twitter topics worldwide. For several hours, it ranked among the top 10 topics.
—Hyunsu Yim (@hyunsuinseoul) June 29, 2022
The exchange provoked some criticism by Twitter users. One tweeted in Korean that Biden's actions showed the US leader had "no intention to be polite at all."
Another user speculated that there might be more meaning behind Biden's move. Calling it "disrespectful" to do so in everyday interactions, the user wrote that "to not look into your eyes while shaking your hands on a diplomatic stage" was " sending a message."
It is not uncommon for social-media users to scrutinize the ways world leaders interact with one another at events.
Earlier this month, an awkward photo of French President Emmanuel Macron hugging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, became an instant internet meme.
In 2017, the internet also went wild over a white-knuckled handshake that Macron shared with Biden's predecessor Donald Trump. The following year, Macron was said to have shaken hands with Trump so firmly that it left an imprint on Trump's hand.
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Crypto Becomes a Major Political Donor as Americans Head to the Polls
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Putin says Finland and Sweden can 'go ahead' and join NATO, but warned the countries against hosting the alliance's 'military contingents and infrastructure'
Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images
- Putin said this week that Finland and Sweden can "go ahead" and join NATO if they wish.
- However, he warned the countries against hosting NATO infrastructure.
- Putin said Russia would "respond in kind" if NATO military contingents were deployed in the countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on Wednesday that Sweden and Finland could join NATO if they wished, but warned that Russia would "respond in kind" if either country played host to the alliance's military forces or infrastructure.
According to Reuters, Putin made these comments to Russian state media while commenting on NATO's formal invitation to the two countries to join the alliance.
"With Sweden and Finland, we don't have the problems that we have with Ukraine. They want to join NATO, go ahead," Putin told Russia's state media, per Reuters.
"But they must understand there was no threat before, while now if military contingents and infrastructure are deployed there, we will have to respond in kind and create the same threats for the territories from which threats towards us are created," he added.
Reuters reported that Putin then went on to say that Russia's relationship with both countries would be subject to some new "tensions" if they joined the alliance.
"Everything was fine between us, but now there might be some tensions, there certainly will," Putin said. "It's inevitable if there is a threat to us."
Putin's latest comments come after repeated warnings from the Russians to Finland and Sweden on joining NATO. In April, Russia threatened that such a move would force it to "restore military balance" in the Baltic regions.
The two Scandinavian countries are now slated to make bids to join the alliance after Turkey dropped its objections to the countries joining the alliance. Turkey, Finland, and Sweden have since signed an agreement to let the membership process proceed, signaling an imminent end to the two countries' neutrality in Europe.
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Wednesday 29 June 2022
The $300 million, 290 foot-long superyacht of Russia's wealthiest oligarch has been spotted docked in Dubai
NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
- A superyacht linked to Russia's wealthiest oligarch was spotted in Dubai, AP News reported.
- Nirvana, owned by nickel tycoon Vladimir Potanin, is said to be worth $300 million.
- Potanin has not been sanctioned by the West, but has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A Russian oligarch thought to be the country's wealthiest man is the latest rich citizen to move a superyacht to the billionaire haven of Dubai amid scrutiny on those tied to Putin.
Associated Press journalists spotted the yacht Nirvana, which belongs to nickel tycoon Vladimir Potanin and is said to be worth $300 million, at Dubai's Port Rashid on Tuesday.
Potanin, who is the CEO and majority shareholder of the world's largest producer of refined nickel, Nornickel, has been known to take vacations and play ice hockey with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Despite his close ties to Putin, Potanin has not been listed on US, EU, or UK sanctions lists.
Still, the oligarch is now one of several wealthy Russian individuals who have transferred major assets to Dubai.
Levent Kisi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images.
The UAE has taken a neutral stance on the conflict in Ukraine and has not imposed sanctions on elite individuals with ties to Putin. By moving their yachts to Dubai, individuals are putting them beyond reach of sanctions from the west.
Government officials in Dubai have told Western allies that sanctioned individuals are not allowed to do business in the country, The Financial Times previously reported.
Potanin's luxury vessel, Nirvana, now sits close to a $156 million superyacht belonging to billionaire Andrey Skoch, which was spotted in Dubai last Thursday, per AP.
A $300 million superyacht belonging to Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko was also spotted in the UAE earlier in June.
The 290-foot Nirvana yacht has a six-person lift, a terrarium for exotic reptiles, and a 7.5 meter swimming pool, according to its manufacturer, Oceanco.
Potanin is the 33rd richest person in the world, with a net worth of $37.1 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Insider contacted Vladimir Potanin for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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Ukraine's first lady says her relationship with Zelenskyy is 'on pause' as they can't see each other for long periods during the war
PressOffice of Ukrainian Presidency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
- Ukraine's first lady said she doesn't get to see her husband, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
often. - Olena Zelenska told CNN that their relationship was "on pause."
- She said her kids can only talk to Zelenskyy on the phone, and that they are "waiting to be reunited."
Ukraine's first lady told CNN her relationship with her husband, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was "on pause" as they're forbidden to see each other for long periods during the war.
In an interview aired Tuesday, Olena Zelenska told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that she is not allowed to see Zelenskyy very often and when she does, it's only for a short period of time.
"But at least I can physically feel him next to me," Zelenska told CNN.
"This isn't normal. It's not a normal relationship when children cannot see their father and have to talk to him on the phone. So our relationship is on pause just as it is for all Ukrainians," she said.
"We ... are waiting to be reunited, to be together again, to spend evenings together, to talk to the children about their things."
Both Zelenskyy and his wife have refused to leave Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24.
In the first two months of the war, the family was not able to see each other at all. Zelenskyy lived in his office with his staff while Zelenska and their two children, aged 17 and 9, were kept in a secret location.
In her CNN interview, Zelenska also said the ongoing war, which has moved away from Kyiv and intensified in the eastern Donbas region, had taken a large toll on the country and that she currently "cannot see the end of our suffering."
"It's very difficult to hold on for five months," Zelenska said. "We need to accumulate our strength, we need to save our energy."
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Trump's Truth Social struggled to hire tech workers because it wanted right-wing staffers and nobody wanted to take the jobs, report says
Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
- Trump launched his own social media app Truth Social in February.
- The company that built the app struggled to hire tech workers, sources told Reuters.
- The hiring pool was narrowed by a reported company policy that favored right-wing candidates.
The company behind Donald Trump's social media app Truth Social struggled to hire enough tech workers, according to a Reuters report.
Truth Social launched on the App Store in February, and Trump has touted the app as his alternative to Big Tech which he claims censors right-wing views.
The app's launch was beset with technical difficulties and many users were shunted onto a long waiting list when they tried to sign up.
Three sources familiar with Trump Media and Technology Group's operations told Reuters the company avoided hiring left-wing employees — a requirement which significantly narrowed the choice of tech candidates.
One source told Reuters in at least one instance recruiters for the company scoured a potential candidate's social media to evaluate their politics.
Three people familiar with TMTG's recruitment efforts also told Reuters tech workers with moderate and left-wing political views were often unwilling to work for the company.
Three sources told Reuters the company also struggled to hire employees regardless of their politics.
One person who was approached by TMTG told Reuters not only did they object to Trump's politics, but they were also put off by his previous failed business ventures.
Digital World Acquisition Corp, a SPAC that is currently in the process of trying to acquire TMTG, listed Trump's previous failed businesses including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump University, and Trump Vodka, as a risk factor for investors.
Reuters reported even workers who did accept jobs at TMTG have taken steps to hide that fact. After Reuters reviewed the social media bios of workers at the company, it found some had omitted mentioning their jobs at TMTG.
One source told Reuters this was because some staffers fear being associated with the company could harm their future career prospects.
A regulatory filing by Digital World said TMTG had around 40 employees as of March 31, 2022.
Reuters contacted TMTG for comment on its report and received a statement Shannon Devine, managing partner at investor relations company MZ Group.
Devine said Reuters' report contained "false and defamatory statements" and said it "includes misleading assertions and omits material facts."
Devine did not specify which parts of the reports were false and did not reply to a follow-up request for comment, Reuters said.
TMTG did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider for comment outside normal US working hours.
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Tuesday 28 June 2022
Xi Jinping says China has consulted millions of citizens about its government as part of a 'whole-process democracy' that Beijing claims is better than the West's
Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via Getty Images
- Xi Jinping said China polled millions of people for opinions on its government and future leadership.
- He called it part of a "whole-process democracy" meant to consult often with its people.
- However, with no direct elections for the top posts, Xi is poised for a third term as China's leader.
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Sunday that China had conducted a nationwide campaign that gathered public opinion on what the country's senior leadership should look like in the next five years.
He called it an example of a "whole-process people's democracy," which Beijing has touted as being better than the West's model of democracy. This brand of democracy practiced in China appears to include holding local elections and frequent public consultation on issues.
State media outlet Xinhua said Chinese authorities gathered 8.54 million online opinions on China's upcoming National Congress, where changes to the country's top leadership positions are announced every five years.
While the Xinhua report was vague about what people said, it cited Xi saying that "a myriad of constructive ideas and suggestions" were submitted.
The Chinese leader said the poll should "offer a reference" to how the country's government will be structured.
However, the biggest decision appears to have already been made, with the consensus among experts being that Xi is practically guaranteed an unprecedented third term as China's president and preeminent leader.
What is "whole-process democracy?"
Xi's own definition of "whole-process democracy" isn't completely clear. He has described it as a form of government in which "all major legislative decisions are made in accordance with procedures, through democratic deliberation, and through scientific and democratic decision-making."
The description implies that the Chinese government actively allows citizens to influence policies and major decisions after the local elections conclude. China's Foreign Ministry has said that this system represents a "true and high-quality democracy that works."
"If the people are awakened only to cast a vote but become dormant afterward, that is no true democracy," China's Chargé d'affaires in Australia wrote in December, taking a jab at Western democracy. "If the people are offered great hopes during electoral campaigning but have no say afterward, that is no true democracy."
In reality, there are no direct or competitive elections for China's executive leaders, according to the non-profit organization Freedom House, which researches and advocates for democracy and political freedom.
In 2018, Xi was appointed for a second term as China's leader in a unanimous decision from all 2,970 votes in the National Congress. In 2013, Xi was first elected with 2,952 votes in support of him, one against, and three abstentions.
According to CGTN, the Chinese government's decision-making system allows people to submit suggestions to the government.
It's also unclear if the 8.54 million online opinions collected accurately represent "the people's voices." Freedom House rated China's internet freedom 10/100, citing obstacles to accessing information, heavy censorship, and severe violations of users' rights.
China is also known to have one of the world's most restrictive media environments.
The exact date of China's National Congress has yet to be announced, although state media says it is set to take place in the second half of 2022.
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Ex-UBS Staffer Wants Payout for Exposing $10 Billion Swiss Stash
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2.2 million people in America live without access to running water and basic plumbing: report
Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images
- Obtaining running water at home is a struggle for many people in the United States.
- Those who lack clean water overwhelmingly come from communities of color, according to nonprofit DigDeep.
- People are often unaware that people in their community — even neighbors — lack modern water resources.
Brenda and hundreds of other Navajo families live in an area too remote to be reached by traditional water lines.
So when Brenda's husband injured his foot at work, the lack of running water at home to clean it caused gangrene to develop. He received successful treatment at a hospital 50 miles away.
But Brenda's lack of water meant that she couldn't make and sell tamales to fill the financial void left by her husband, the primary breadwinner, being out of work. She had no money to bring him home immediately to their home in Smith Lake, New Mexico. So he slept on the street.
Brenda's situation isn't unique.
More than 2.2 million people in America still live without running water and basic plumbing in their homes, and tens of millions more without adequate sanitation, according to a new report released today by Los Angeles-based nonprofit DigDeep, which works to provide clean water to all parts of the United States.
The millions of people who are adversely affected by the water access gap are overwhelmingly from communities of color, with indigenous households 19 times more likely than white households to live without running water and Black and Latino households twice as likely, DigDeep's founder and chief executive officer George McGraw told Insider.
"There's a reason why every Girl Scout troop or soccer team or church group have been raising money for wells in Malawi, but they don't know that there are people in their own state, in their own county, in their own town who don't have running water at home," McGraw said.
The report comes at a time when the Biden administration has focused on closing another kind of gap — one in the nation's broadband network. In a White House statement released in June, the administration announced new investments from the American Rescue Plan to help provide "every American with access to affordable, high-speed internet." The American Rescue Plan funding is in addition to the $65 billion investment in high-speed Internet access in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to the statement.
While the law also makes historic investment in water and sanitation, ensuring clean water for all people in the United States will take a much more targeted investment, McGraw said.
"These people spend a significant amount of their monthly income just getting the water to survive," McGraw said. "The lack of access to water leads to health issues like diabetes, cases of mental health and a pileup of bills for buying bottled water."
Mike Windle/Getty Images for WE Day
The water access gap impacts communities in all 50 states, urban and rural. But the largest impacts, McGraw said, are felt at the rural level in communities that are generally isolated, not treated by the news and not seen.
"The problem first started because of a legacy of disinvestment mostly for our communities of color, and that problem continues today not only because of that legacy, but because of sources like climate change and economic inequality," he said.
Families who live in the water access gap have no choice but flush sewage into nearby streams and then bathe in or collect their drinking water from those same sources, effectively exposing themselves to waterborne illnesses and racking up expensive medical bills. Many are also forced to spend a big chunk of their household income on bottled water. Some die prematurely each year. All these scenarios, the report states, cost real money.
Among other estimates in the report, the lack of access to clean water in the United States annually results in:
- $846 million in time lost collecting water
- $762 million in physical health compromised
- $291 million in water purchase costs
- $218 million in mental health conditions
- $924 million in GDP impacts from lost productivity
The economic benefits of providing clean, running water outweigh the costs, McGraw said.
Brenda, whose last name is being withheld because of privacy concerns, now has access to water thanks to the off-grid water system installed by DigDeep's Navajo Water Project, but the work is far from complete.
"Brenda's story is illustrative of the lesson that access to clean water is your ability to go to school, your ability to keep a job and an income, your ability to play with your kids and maintain some sanity in this crazy world," McGraw said. "And so many of us take it for granted. But for millions of our neighbors, this is a daily reality that they simply can't afford to take for granted."
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