News

# [FedNow is finally live in the US](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/fednow-is-finally-live-in-the-us/) The U.S. government’s instant payment system, FedNow Service went live this week. Here’s a quick refresher on what that is: FedNow is an instant payment infrastructure for transferring money that promises to be a faster payment rail for financial institutions, offering immediate access to funds no matter the day or time. As you know, this \[…\]

# [AMC scraps plan to charge more for better seats](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/amc-scraps-plan-to-charge-more-for-better-seats/) AMC Theaters has announced that it’s dropping plans to charge more for preferred seats and less for front row ones through a tiered pricing system. The plan, called “Sightline,” was being tested in three U.S. markets since March. The company says it saw “little or no increase in patronage of front row seating, despite a \[…\]

# [Redditors prank AI-powered news mill with “Glorbo” in World of Warcraft](https://arstechnica.com/?p=1955675) "Glorbo" isn't real, but a news-writing AI model didn't know it—and then it wrote about itself.

# [Save the Planet, Put Down that Hamburger](https://web.archive.org/web/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/climate/diet-vegan-meat-emissions.html) Researchers examined the diets of 55,500 people and found that vegans are responsible for 75 percent fewer greenhouse gases than meat-eaters.

# [Tesla’s margins remind us that it’s an automaker, not a tech company](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/tesla-earnings-stock-price-down/) Tesla's stock price took a hit after it reported decreased Q2 margins and problems that are unique to automakers, not tech companies.

# [TechCrunch+ Roundup: Generative AI marketing, European edtech report, falling fintech valuations](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/techcrunch-roundup-generative-ai-marketing-european-edtech-report-falling-fintech-valuations/) There’s a lot of performative behavior in startup land, such as foosball tables in reception areas and kitchens with kombucha taps.

# [OpenAI's head of trust and safety is stepping down](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/tech/open-ai-trust-safety-head-exit/index.html) OpenAI's head of trust and safety announced on Thursday plans to step down from the job.

# [Lana Del Rey spotted serving customers a Waffle House in Alabama](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/entertainment/lana-del-rey-waffle-house-alabama-music/index.html) Lana Del Rey is serving up waffles.

# [Department of Transportation investigating lengthy Delta Air Lines delay in triple-digit temperatures](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/delta-delay-las-vegas-heat/index.html) Federal officials are investigating a Delta Air Lines flight that taxied around the Las Vegas airport for nearly 90 minutes on Monday in triple-digit temperatures, causing at least one person to need medical treatment.

# [Justice Department planning legal action against Texas over floating border barrier](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/politics/doj-action-texas-border/index.html) The Justice Department told Texas Thursday that it intends to file legal action against the placement of floating barriers in the Rio Grande as part of the state's operation along the Texas-Mexico border, according to sources familiar and a letter obtained by CNN.

# [Michael Cohen reaches settlement with Trump Organization in dispute over unpaid legal bills](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/politics/michael-cohen-settlement-trump-organization/index.html) Michael Cohen reached a settlement with the Trump Organization in a dispute over nearly $1 million in unpaid legal bills, averting a civil trial set for Monday.

# [New Jersey sues over New York City's congestion pricing plan](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/business/congestion-pricing-new-york-city-new-jersey-lawsuit/index.html) New Jersey is suing to stop New York City's landmark congestion price plan to charge drivers entering downtown Manhattan.

# [Democratic worries bubble up over Cornel West's Green Party run as Biden campaign takes hands-off approach](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/politics/cornel-west-green-party-president-biden-democrats-worry/index.html) Cornel West's candidacy on the Green Party line confuses some of his longtime political allies and friends -- while also alarming top Democrats and Black leaders as a potential ticking time bomb for President Joe Biden in next year's election.

# [Florida group files federal lawsuit against DeSantis and other state officials over voting rights of prior felons](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/politics/voting-rights-felon-florida-amendment-4/index.html) The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, a voting rights group, and several Florida citizens this week filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials, alleging they created "a bureaucratic system around the implementation of Amendment 4," preventing Florida citizens with prior felony convictions from voting.

# [Amsterdam to Bar Cruise Ships From Central Terminal](https://web.archive.org/web/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/world/europe/amsterdam-cruise-ships.html) The Dutch capital will stop cruise ships from docking in the city center as part of a campaign to curb pollution and reduce the flow of tourists.

# [Amazon is building a $120M facility in Florida for Project Kuiper satellite processing](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/amazon-is-building-a-120m-facility-in-florida-for-project-kuiper-satellite-processing/) Amazon will spend $120 million on a new satellite processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), as the company gears up to launch the first batch of Project Kuiper prototype satellites in 2024\. Construction is already underway on the new facility, the company said Friday. It will be strategically located near the launch operators \[…\]

# [Cirque du Soleil Hopes to Expand Audience by Luring Gen Z](https://web.archive.org/web/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/business/gen-z-cirque-du-soleil.html) Cirque du Soleil is hoping that it can expand its audience, perhaps with perfume that smells like a trapeze artist or a couch that embodies the spirit of clowning.

# [Astranis moves to Plan B after first commercial internet satellite malfunctions on orbit](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/astranis-moves-to-plan-b-after-first-commercial-internet-satellite-malfunctions-on-orbit/) Space-based internet startup Astranis said Friday that its first commercial internet satellite will be unable to provide continuous coverage to Alaska due to a malfunction with both spacecraft’s solar panels. The San Francisco-based company launched the dedicated internet satellite for Alaska, called Arcturus, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy at the beginning of May. Shortly after, \[…\]

# [Red Hat saved IBM’s bacon this quarter](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/red-hat-ibm-earnings/) IBM reported earnings this week, which weren't exactly stellar, but without Red Hat's revenue, it could have been far worse.

# [The makers of Camera+ releases Photon, a new image capture app for pros](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/the-makers-of-camera-releases-photon-a-new-image-capture-app-for-pros/) The developers of the popular iPhone app Camera+, LateNiteSoft, have launched a new iOS app called Photon. This new app is focused on pro image shooting. The developers are banking on the app’s simple interface and multi-format support to attract users. The app will let you shoot in auto mode from the get-go, but it \[…\]

# [Man who stole 200,000 chocolate eggs jailed](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/uk/cadbury-creme-eggs-thief-jailed-scli-gbr-intl/index.html) A man dubbed "the Easter bunny" by police has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing 200,000 chocolate eggs.

# [News outlets seek unsealing of newly revealed search warrants in Trump documents probe](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/politics/trump-documents-probe-warrants-unsealing/index.html) Media organizations, including CNN, asked a magistrate judge Friday to unseal court filings related to seven search warrants the Justice Department sought in the investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents.

# [Korean War Fast Facts](https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/28/world/asia/korean-war-fast-facts/index.html) Read CNN's Fast Facts about the Korean War. Although hostilities ceased in 1953, there has been no formal end to the war.

# [Fragments of skull believed to be Beethoven's returned to Vienna from US for scientific analysis](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/beethoven-skull-fragments-vienna-scli-intl-scn/index.html) Fragments of a skull believed to have been that of composer Ludwig van Beethoven have been donated to a university in Austria after spending decades in the United States.

# [Inflation, interest rates and whales: Why offshore wind projects are on the rocks](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/us/offshore-wind-delays-inflation-whales-climate/index.html) Inflation, high interest rates and even dead whales are lining up to delay the fledgling US offshore wind industry from taking off.

# [Harris heads to Florida ready to forcefully condemn state's new Black history standards](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/politics/kamala-harris-florida-education/index.html) Vice President Kamala Harris will travel Friday to Jacksonville in a last-minute trip to forcefully condemn a newly approved set of standards for teaching Black history by the Florida Board of Education, directly wading into one of the cultural flashpoints that have assumed new prominence ahead of the 2024 election.

# [Q2 fintech funding: LatAm, Caribbean more than doubles while payments takes a big hit](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/q2-fintech-funding-latam-caribbean-more-than-doubles-while-payments-takes-a-big-hit/) CB Insights released its Q2 State of Fintech report last week, and unsurprisingly, global funding in the space was down — plunging by nearly half to $7.8 billion, its lowest level since 2017\. But at least one region didn’t have a bad quarter. Latin America experienced a surge in global investor interest in recent years \[…\]

# [United States vs. Vietnam: How to watch Women's World Cup match](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/football/uswnt-vietnam-womens-world-cup-spt-intl/index.html) USWNT begins quest for World Cup history against minnows Vietnam

# [It's opening weekend for 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie'](https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/live-news/opening-weekend-oppenheimer-barbie-movies/index.html) It's the summer's biggest weekend at the movies, with the release of Christopher Nolan's historical epic "Oppenheimer" and Greta Gerwig's technicolor "Barbie." Here's your guide to "Barbenheimer" weekend.

# [Michael Cohen Expected to Settle Lawsuit With Trump Organization](https://web.archive.org/web/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-org-lawsuit.html) Donald J. Trump’s former fixer had accused the company of failing to abide by the terms of a deal and refusing to pay more than $1 million in legal costs.

# [Paradigm’s CEO dives into diversity on the Builder Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/paradigms-ceo-dives-into-diversity-on-the-builder-stage-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2023/) Despite current culture wars turning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies into a political punching bag, most business leaders understand that they’re very good for business. Yet in a more conservative VC market, the discussions focus more on financials than on how to construct an intentional culture. However, younger generations are bringing updated values and \[…\]

# [Pitch Deck Teardown: CleanHub’s $7M seed deck](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/21/sample-seed-pitch-deck-cleanhub/) Plastic in ocean bad. Plastic not in ocean good. That’s, in a nutshell, the pitch for CleanHub. The company has designed a whole business model and a track-and-trace model around that, so brands can rest assured that their plastics don’t end up in the oceans. Who these brands are, and what happens to the plastic \[…\]

# [Texas A&M President M. Katherine Banks Resigns Amid Fallout Over Journalism Program](https://web.archive.org/web/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/us/texas-a-m-president-resigns.html) The university said M. Katherine Banks would retire “immediately” after political pushback over the appointment of Kathleen McElroy to lead its journalism program.

# [New Jersey Sues Over Congestion Pricing in N.Y.C.](https://web.archive.org/web/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/nyregion/nj-congestion-pricing-nyc-lawsuit.html) In its complaint, the state said it was challenging the Federal Highway Administration’s “decision to rubber-stamp” its approval of the plan.

# [Italy starts removing lesbian mothers' names from children's birth certificates](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/europe/italy-lesbian-couples-birth-certificates-scli-intl/index.html) The northern Italian city of Padua has started removing the names of non-biological gay mothers from their children's birth certificates under new legislation passed by the "traditional family-first" government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

# [More states want to let kids work as bartenders](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/business/child-labor-alcohol/index.html) More states are letting teenagers serve alcohol at bars and restaurants, part of a growing rollback of child labor protection laws across the United States.

# [Prosecutors accuse Sam Bankman-Fried of leaking ex-girlfriend's private notes to the New York Times](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/business/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-leak/index.html) Federal prosecutors have accused former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried of witness tampering after he allegedly leaked the personal writings of his former girlfriend and business partner, Caroline Ellison, to the New York Times.

# [Netanyahu isn't backing down on judicial overhaul despite pressure from Biden](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/middleeast/biden-pressure-netanyahu-overhaul-mime-intl/index.html) Despite the tens of thousands of protesters, the increase in refusals to serve by military reservists and even a very public and harsh criticism of the judicial overhaul plan by US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu refused to back down.

# [Nigerian artist Ayobola Kekere-Ekun creates her colorful works from folded paper](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ayobola-kekere-ekun-quilling-spc-intl/index.html) Mixing childlike, colorful imagery with themes like sexism and Black identity, Ayobola Kekere-Ekun's art is created by rolling and shaping paper in a process known as "quilling."

# [Trump Mar-a-Lago classified files case: Judge sets 20 May trial date](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66272153?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA) A judge rejects Mr Trump's bid to have the case delayed until after next year's White House election.