The return of Netanyahu: Benjamin Netanyahu is on track for another term as Israel”™s prime minister. Israeli voters who participated in this week”™s election ”“ the nation”™s fifth election in less than four years ”“ gave Netanyahu”™s right-wing Likud party 32 seats and his coalition of religious and nationalist parties 64 seats in the 120-seat parliament, defeating Prime Minister Yair Lapid”™s Yesh Atid party and its coalition. Netanyahu has been elected Israel”™s prime minister five times in 15 years, but under Israeli law President Isaac Herzog will need to formally select Netanyahu and give him a six-week timeframe to form a coalition government from Israel”™s multitude smaller parties. If Netanyahu cannot form a government after six weeks, another election could be called.
Layoffs at Lyft: The ride-hailing company Lyft announced it is laying off 700 employees, or 13% of its workforce. The company”™s leadership announced the layoff by citing the possibility of a recession in 2023 and the increasing costs of ride-share insurance. The company has more than 4,000 employees, although its drivers are employed as contractors. Lyft laid off 60 workers in July.
An energy-efficient community: An KB Home has launched the first all-electric, solar- and battery-powered, microgrid communities in California. The homebuilder has partnered with multiple entities including the U.S. Department of Energy and SunPower Corp. to test the energy-efficient and resilient new homes, which will be equipped with smart technologies and a backup battery, plus community microgrid connectivity designed to provide a self-supporting energy system that powers a specific neighborhood with a community battery that can operate independently during a grid outage.
Hong Kong’s proposed smoking ban: Hong Kong”™s Council on Smoking and Health is proposing that all Hong Kong residents who were born in 2009 or later should be banned from purchasing cigarettes beginning in the year 2027. The Council is also proposing other measures to create a smoke-free generation, including the doubling of the tobacco tax and expanding the non-smoking areas to include taxi and bus stands plus spaces within 32 feet of hospitals, schools and community facilities. Less than 10% of Hong Kong”™s population are smokers.
CNBC pulls plug on Shepard Smith’s show: CNBC has announced it will be cancelling Shephard Smith”™s nightly news program. Smith left Fox News in 2019 after a highly publicized feud with Tucker Carlson and joined CNBC in the fall of 2020. The network plans to broadcast the last episode of “The News with Shephard Smith” later this month and replace his 7:00 p.m. time slot with an hour-long business news program that will debut in 2023. Smith”™s program never matched the audience levels of the rival cable news networks, although CNBC executives praised the show for performing better than previous programming in its time slot. Smith will leave CNBC after his show has ended.
